From: ahaigh@unixg.ubc.ca (A.B.Haigh)
Subject: Ritual of the Middle Pillar
Date: 4 Oct 93 23:08:52 GMT


	I wasn't going to bother posting this, but since it was
        requested here it goes. Posted without permission from `Modern
        Magick' by Donald M. Kraig; Llewellyn pub. 1988 pg.74-6

	The Ritual of the Middle Pillar
	[bracketed comments mine :]

Step one; Do the relaxation ritual
	[this is a visualization meditation for relaxing the body]

Step two; Do the LBRP [the lesser banishing ritual of the
pentagram]. When finished, stand behind your altar (if you have one)
with your hands at your sides, eyes closed, steady relaxed breathing
and, above all, try to get your mind into a still, quiet, and calm
state.
	[the LBRP is a banishing ritual designed to set up a `sacred
         space'	for the purpose of meditative or ritual work.]

Step three. Focus your attention just above the top of your head. As a
result of the LBRP there should be a sphere of white brilliance at
this point. If not, visualize it. Take your time. Regard this white
brilliance with a sort of awe: it is the spatial equivalent to the
vital core of your being, your higher self, your link with the
Divine. The result of this contemplation should should be that the
brilliance becomes even brighter. Now vibrate the God name, EH-HEH-YEH
three or four times. The sphere should get brighter still.

Step four; Now visualize a slender beam of light descending from the
brilliance through the center of your head, and stopping at the nape
of your neck. Here the beam widens into a ball of light, although not
as big as the one above. At this point you should be visualizing
simultaneously the brilliant sphere above your head, the smaller ball
of light at the base of your neck, and the beam of light connecting
the two. Understand that this is the link between your concious and
your higher self, and the ball of light at your neck should grow in
size and intensity. Vibrate the God name, YUD-HEH-VAHV-HE EL-OH-HEEM,
three or four times

Step five; Keeping the above in mind, cause a beam of light to descend
from the ball of light at your neck, go down your torso, and light up
your solar plexus in the form of a sphere. Understand that this
represents your conciousness, and the ball should increase in
brightness annd intensity. You may feel as if you are being warmed by
an internal sun. Vibrate the God name YUD-HEH-VAHV-HE
EL-OH-AH-V'DAH-AHT three or four times.

Step six; In the same manner, see the light descend to the area of the
genitals and form a sphere. Here, regard yourself as master of your
`lower' self. The God name to be vibrated three or four times is
SHAH-DAI EL CHAI.

Step seven; Again the light should descend, here to form a sphere
which encompasses both feet and the ground; that is, the sphere should
be half above the ground, covering the feet, and half below the
ground, under the feet. The God name to be vibrated three or four
times is AH-DOH-NYE HA-AHR-ETZ.

Step eight; At this point there should be large spheres of light above
the head, at the throat, at the solar plexus, at the groin and at the
feet. Each sphere of light should be connected with the sphere above
and below by a beam of light.

Step nine; Stay in this state for as long as you desire. Then, take a
deep breath, and as you exhale, visualize the images fading and
becoming invisible.  They are still there, but they cannot now be
seen. This completes the Middle Pillar Ritual.

	[What this basically is, is a meditation focussed on the
chakra. The aim of the exercise is to activate each chakra in turn,
bringing light down from the higher self, through each chakra in turn,
downto your feet. Vibrating the God names is a device designed to
promote recognition/perception of each chakra. The actual names/words
vibrated are unimportant, what is important is to develop a feel for
each chakra, to `see' them in the subtle body, and to `feel' their
particular vibratory rate (and each chakra vibrates at different
frequencies).

	Variations on this theme include visualizing the light flowing
through your subtle body, down through each chakra, from above and
down into the earth.  Another variant is to bring light/energy up from
the earth at the same time as bringing it down from above, letting it
co-mingle in the solar plexus. With this variant the energy flows in
both directions at once, the energy coming up from the earth can be
thought of as being red in colour, the energy coming down, blue. There
are many other variants on this theme, everyone will have their own
method which works best for them, only experimentation will determine
what symbolry/imagery/visualization techniques will work the best for
you.]

ahaigh@unixg.ubc.ca