Working with Yesod
and The Sea Priestess
Number of meditations: 8 + Ritual
Possible time frame: 2–3 months
Moving from Malkuth to Yesod, we take the work deeper, addressing the foundations of life and magical identity and learning the art of the magical image. The nature of the work encourages fluidity, yet still we keep our barriers clear between our inner and outer states.
As before, use the preparatory exercises, and before beginning this sequence perform again the meditation on Lilith (from chapter 16), for she is the guide and psychopomp in this work. Let her advise you as to how to begin this stage and build on the work of Malkuth. Be prepared to sit with her and do not be concerned with explicit instructions that might or might not come. Instead, trust your feelings, instincts, and intuition.
When you feel ready to embark, you will repeat the first part of the Lilith meditation before every meditation:
You form and step into the body of light and connect to the ancient city of London, walking along the banks of the Thames on a misty evening.
Feel the rhythm of walking into the mist, into mystery and silence … A little way ahead of you, become aware of the figure of a woman with a broad-brimmed hat and a black cloak.
Let yourself follow her—your rhythm matching hers as she leads you onwards, across a bridge to the other side of the river …
Meditation 1: Wilfred Maxwell’s House—
Malkuth of Yesod
You find yourself stepping into the beginning of The Sea Priestess … Sense that you are in a small town, confronting a Georgian house of two storeys, with an open front door that leads into a hall.
On the right is the main door to the offices, and opposite it on the left is the front door of the home Wilfred shares with his mother and sister. Begin by seeing Wilfred Maxwell as he walks from one door to the other, feeling his sense of entrapment due to his father’s legacy and his mother and sister’s incessant demands. As you did with the figure of Hugh Paston, let Wilfred’s life meet yours, feeling the sense of blocked life and frustration as he roams round the anodyne office and prowls round the pretentious, stuffy furnishings of the family home.
Contemplate all in your life and environment that imprisons you.
Contemplate Wilfred’s mother and sister and his inheritance from his father. Where are these figures in your life? What is the inheritance that keeps you chained? What roles have you been expected to adopt?
Explore Wilfred’s family house and feel into his persona, his vital energy and psychism. Walk up the staircase to his bedroom, the one place where he can have space. Yet even here, feel his sensitivity and the negativity of his personality that makes him unable to activate his will in these surroundings.
Be aware that by simply identifying and noticing, you are starting a process of personal change that will free up your creative connection to your present life.
Let the image of Wilfred fade, and as you turn and walk back across the bridge, find yourself sitting robed and hooded in the body of light and contemplate the resonances in your body and life. When you are ready, consciously let those feelings sink deep within. Allow the presence of your physical self to reestablish its supremacy and rejoin your normal life. Through your awareness, the process of integration has begun.
This meditation should be pursued for about a week, and it is good practice to write notes afterwards.
Meditation 2: The Underworld Way—
Malkuth to Yesod
After performing the preliminary exercises, the next step into the meditation, after following Lilith along the Embankment, is to imagine yourself as Wilfred lying on his bed and contemplating the night sky. As you lie there, it is as if you are floating on a deep black sea, and within this womb-like stillness you witness the rising of the moon.
Meditate on the moon, contemplating the bright moon and the dark, the waxing and the waning.
Then contemplate this phrase each time you revisit the meditation:
I let my mind range beyond time to the beginning. I saw the vast sea of infinite space, indigo-dark in the Night of the Gods; and it seemed to me that in that darkness and silence must be the seed of all being. And as in the seed is infolded the future flower with its seed, and again, the flower in the seed, so must all creation be infolded to infinite space, and I along with it. 79
Centre yourself in the body of light and return over the bridge in the usual way, allowing the body of light to sink deep into the body.
Spend at least a week on this meditation.
Meditation 3: The Sanctuary of Yesod
Follow Lilith across the bridge as usual and allow the scene to change so that you are again lying in bed contemplating the moon. Rise from your bed, descend the stairs, and go out into the back garden. As you step through the door, you are stepping into the garden, finding a long-lost overgrown path that leads to the bottom of the garden. Push through the overgrown laurels until you come to a brick wall with a small door with a pointed arch, like a church door. Pause on the threshold of Yesod.
As you open the door and step forward, you find yourself in the sanctuary of Yesod. Sitting in the kitchen by the hearth is an old woman with bright button eyes. She keeps the hearth and feeds the fire; she has seen all the cycles of the moon and knows its ways. Commune with her for a moment, and take the stairway up to the first storey.
Here you find a room with a peat fire burning on the hearth and a chair placed in front of a lectern with a great book upon it. Sit in the chair and open the book, seeing in it scenes and images from your past. Look deeper into the book and you may find or sense scenes from your past lives and the life and history of the land. Step into the images of self and world and learn the secret ways of the dark side of the moon; feel your place as an ongoing part of the hidden processes of the universe.
Conclude in the usual way, coming back easily to your everyday state of awareness in a relaxed way that allows you time to record your experience fully.
Meditation 4: The Road to the Sea Fort—
Yesod to Tiphareth
After the usual preliminary exercises and crossing the bridge, allow the scene to change and find yourself in Wilfred’s garden sanctuary. As you go upstairs, you notice a window formed of a thick blue-green glass, and as you look deeply into it you see beneath the house a ravine with a tidal river flowing in it. Let your attention rest in the ebb and flow of the water connecting the land and the sea: hear the tidal surge, and follow the ebb tide flow out to the Atlantic. The images through the distortions of the glass remind you of the moon tides of the cosmos, and you let your awareness descend into the deep. At the deepest point you perceive the image of a woman—the sea priestess—enthroned in the temple of the sea and stars, Vivien Le Fay Morgan. In that moment, if it feels right, you see and are seen, are chosen and assent.
You rise with her out of the depths and find yourself in the dragon boat coming towards land. You see in front of you the peninsula of Brean Down lying like a lion with its back to you, and you are dimly aware of a car making its way through the salt marshes and along the shore to the Down. As the boat touches the land, there is a sense of transition—a stillness and a movement—and you find yourself in the heart of the ruined sea fort witnessing Wilfred and Vivien coming together in the decision to build the sea temple here.
Meditation 5: Rebuilding the Sea Temple—Tiphareth
This meditation is in two stages. Progress to part 2 after a few days, when you have internalised the feeling of the sea fort as the meeting place of earth, sea, and sky—the creative coming together of form for a higher purpose.
Part 1
Crossing the bridge, you find yourself at the end of the Brean Down peninsula, with gorse, furze, and hawthorn clinging to its sides and rocky cliffs leading down to the swelling sea. You walk with Wilfred and Vivien around the ruined sea fort, feeling the rock beneath you vibrating with the intensity of the waves, feeling the intersection of sea and land.
You witness the fort being repaired and restored; see Wilfred at his work supervising repairs while Vivien looks on. Look through his eyes and Vivien’s, feeling the coming together of the sea temple. Contemplate the façade of sea creatures and the death of the craftsman Bindling’s son—what is the sacrifice that potentises the temple? By your attention, know that you are also bringing into being your temple within, and that every gain means a sacrifice, a shedding of something. What will you willingly give back to the sea, the primordial mother?
Part 2
Go to the sea temple once more, to be with Wilfred as he paints the walls of the temple. As the paintings come to life under his skilled hand, contemplate the four panels on the seaward side between the windows that depict the following:
• Wave piled upon wave, seeing the life of the sea elementals in froth and ebb and flow—the sea in sun
• The mysterious misty sea with the Flying Dutchman upon it
• The stormy sea with the sea horses and the battle riders
• The still and moonlit sea and the face of Morgan Le Fay
Feel the moods of the sea and find their correlates within you.
Meditation 6: Lighting the Fire of Azrael
Before embarking on this meditation, you might want to reread Wilfred’s vision in chapter 16 of The Sea Priestess.
After the usual preparations and crossing the bridge, sit with Vivien and Wilfred at the hearth as they light the Fire of Azrael. Bring to mind the juniper of the chalk and the green west, cedar from Lebanon, and sandalwood from the Far East. Let the essences of these trees combine together in fire, the sandal and cedar burning steadily, the juniper catching in showers of sparks until its ashes lie in a fine golden net above the red embers, and let Vivien lead you on a spirit journey that travels backwards in time to ancient Atlantis. Contemplate the rise and fall of civilisations—the use and abuse of knowledge, and the saving and furtherance of all that is noble and good from ancient times, made relevant for our use in the present time, and yourself on the path of service.
Accompany Wilfred as he paints the great sea palace on the landward side of the room: see the throne and the figure of the Moon Priest enthroned on it. Commune with the Priest of the Moon and let him teach you.
Come back gently across the bridge, allowing time for this experience to settle down into your being and journaling quietly to ensure you ground yourself before resuming your everyday life.
Meditation 7: The Road to the Sea—
Tiphareth to Daath
This meditation is in two parts.
Part 1
As before, let Lilith lead you across the bridge and find yourself in the sea cave of Bell Head. Sit upon a stone throne, contemplating the table altar and the two braziers at the cave’s mouth. The indigo robe of your preparatory work has become a heavy deep-blue velvet cloak around you, held with a massive silver trident brooch.
Look deep into the sea at night and slowly witness and become absorbed in the rising of the moon. Feel the connection between the moon, the sea, and the inner earth. Contemplate the priestly throne and the altar of sacrifice.
Let this meditation build for seven days before moving to part 2.
Part 2
Prepare … and sit in the cave. Feel the full moon flooding the cave with light and see the moon path across the sea to the horizon. Rise from your seat, make your way to the top of the cliff and then along the down, over the springy short grass following the moon path to the sea fort. As you enter the temple, you find Vivien seated on her throne, veiled and crowned with horns and the moon, and you take your seat opposite her, feeling the sea palace around and the Priest of the Moon behind you.
Feel the interplay between you, the sea priest, and the sea priestess.
Within your being you are aware that, as Wilfred, you offer all: as Vivien you receive all, and become more vivid and somehow larger …
Vivien receives the presence of the Goddess into her body, drawing on the life within you to become the Goddess made flesh. As she manifests, the tide turns and the blessing of the Goddess rests on you in a reciprocal flow as you are claimed and live by and through her.
Behind her the window and walls dissolve, and it is as if the sea and the stars flow into the room. You are held in place by the presence of the Priest of the Moon, and you watch as the sea priestess steps into the deep beyond deep, being absorbed into mystery.
Conclude as usual, coming back easily across the bridge to your everyday state of awareness.
Meditation 8: Daath
Follow Lilith across the bridge and find yourself sitting in the sea temple feeling the presence of the Priest of the Moon behind you. As you look the walls of the fort seem to vanish and you find yourself in the midst of the sea. Contemplate the sea beneath you and the sea of stars above you. Feel the absence of the sea priestess and look into your heart. Contemplate the Deep within, feeling the inner tides and the outer—the tides of sea and cosmos. Dedicate yourself to the service of the cosmos.
Meditation 9: The Crowning Experience
As before, cross the bridge, and this time find yourself in the farmhouse at the foot of Bell Head. There is a feeling of settled harmony in the living room, and the Fire of Azrael is laid in the hearth.
Feel the density of the stone walls and the depth of earth beneath you. Light the fire and await the turning of the tide: as the moonlight strikes through the open window, you hear the rustling of the tide on the shingle. Above the fire place is a picture of the enthroned Priest of the Moon sitting between the black and silver pillars, and as the fire burns the smoke rises like incense and the picture becomes a three-dimensional opening out into the seascape, so that the Priest is enthroned on the western horizon and behind him is the vast shape of a woman.
As you sit and witness, the woman comes to shore along the moon path of the water. The tide flows in until it laps into the cottage around the base of the hearth fire, which is not extinguished but burns brighter in the rite of the cosmic earth of the great Goddess who rules both land and sea.
Sit at one with the sea, at one with the fire, at one with the woman.
Feel and see the union of Wilfred and Molly, the union of the deep earth and the sea of stars, and in your witnessing, be the enthroned Priest of the Moon and set a tide of divine creativity free in the world.
To compete the work with Yesod, perform this last ritual.
The Ritual of Yesod—
The Culmination
As with the culmination of the work of Malkuth, this simple ceremony completes the work of the sephirah Yesod. Your deepened imaginal sense will combine in magical relationship with the story, in this, the natural home of the imagination.
The ceremony need not take very long, but as always, ensure that you will be free of interruptions and allow time to prepare and to wind down afterwards, to make notes and gently return to the everyday world.
You Will Need:
• Space that you have cleared in preparation and with awareness
• Comfortable seating
• A candle the blue-green of the sea, rising from a bowl of water
• Essential oils of juniper, cedar, and sandalwood, and an oil burner
• Low light in the room—sufficient to read easily
• A copy of The Sea Priestess
• Optional: sea salt in a shell
Make yourself comfortable in a clear, clean space in front of the candle: light it with the intent to experience the culmination of the sephirah of Yesod and sit with your spine straight, thinking of the next sphere on the Tree of Life, as represented by the Moon.
Mix together the oils of juniper, cedar, and sandalwood, and light the oil burner.
Perform the preliminary exercises, aligning the body with the central axis and performing the middle pillar exercise. Summon the body of light so that it coincides with the physical body and focus your intent to manifest the energies of Yesod. Around you see a sphere of silver-mauve light spreading until it surrounds the room you sit in, and sense the mysterious ebb and flow of the cosmic tide. Feel safely held, aware of the indigo depths beyond and of the harmony of the universe, and your place in the stars.
Sense the presence of Vivien Le Fay Morgan behind you and, behind her, the Priest of the Moon. Feel the earth and solidity of the room you are sitting in, and invite in the sea and the moon. Let your attention travel to the west, to the great deep where drowned Atlantis waits, and create the connection. Find the plain of basalt beneath you, the circle of black Doric pillars around you and the moon above you.
Slowly, with attention to detail, read the final chapter of the book, with the witnessing part of you aware that you are receiving wisdom from the wellspring of deep connection.
Take your time and hear the final phrase echoing in your ears; feel it sinking into your being as the crucial teaching: “Take up the manhood into Godhood, and bring down the Godhood into manhood and this shall be the day of God with us; for God is made manifest in Nature, and Nature is the self expression of God.” 80
The silver of the moon mingles with the indigo vastness of the universe, permeating your being, and you are simultaneously human and composed of a million stars, with your own unique place in creation and the ongoing unfolding of the universe. The tide of your being ebbs and flows, now physical, now spiritual, constantly in flux and each part feeding the other. You are fluid and take and give for the benefit of yourself and all beings, constantly regenerating as your vital, creative self.
Sit with the energies, for a timeless moment, a still point in the flow: rest in the presence and bless the world.
Slowly this feeling stills, and you absorb the body of light into the depths of the body.
When ready, move on to contemplate the sephirah Tiphareth and the book The Winged Bull.