Footprints In The Chamber

Towards A Quantum Qabbala

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The Qabbala has through the ages been used as a directory towards the understanding of the universe and man's relationship to it. Since former Eons of magick have had their perceptions rooted in the observance of simple cause and effect relationships, the Qabbala itself, having attained its nascence in the earlier traditions, was unfortunately bogged down by this limited apprehension of the universe. Here mathematics as used in a more or less Pythagorean context provide a sort of key with which to approach the unfathomable nature of human consciousness.

To this very day there are groups which still adhere to and openly practice the more traditional ramifications of Qabbalistic principles which are still firmly rooted in the mire of Nineteenth Century Newton-sewed-it-all-up-there-are-no-more-mysteries physics. But of course, owing to the leaps and bounds acquired by a very unpredictable but consistent quantum model of reality as observed in our laboratories, this simplistic view is necessarily obsolete. We no longer live, we have learned (if indeed we ever did) in a simple cause and effect universe where the source can always be gleaned from observable effect. For the same reasons, Newtonian-based magic must give way to a more quantum model. Newton's apple must now take into consideration Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. The secret wisdom must follow suit towards quantumization.

Another unfortunate tendency of some modern practitioners of Qabbala is to continue to regard everything from the standpoint of the Demiurge, Yahweh, which of course is the basis of the now obsolete (and dangerous) Judeo-Christian foundation of religious thought which has held western civilization in its thrall for about two thousand years. Personally I find it amazing that modern practitioners, who despite no real Semitic disposition still practice an unmistakably orthodox Jewish mysticism. It was Aleister Crowley, that great Qabbalistic agent provocateur, who initiated the process of liberating the Qabbala from its otherwise Judaic orientation. (This is not anti-Semitism but a necessary step towards individual development. It must also be stated that a Qabbala had been in use centuries earlier by the Egyptians. The Jews merely adopted it to their own religious precepts. They didn't invent it. The actual origin most likely predates Egyptian history.)

Crowley emphasized that the enlightened magician must, after careful study and application of his knowledge, develop his own Qabbalistic framework. By virtue of this the magician has arrived at a more chaotic paradigm in opposition to a purely empirical view. Crowley, by adapting the Qabbala to a Thelemic context initiated that first leap forward into the quantum age. Thus, the foundation for a more quantum/chaotic system was lain.

I would like now to redefine the secret wisdom in terms of quantumization as follows:

"The Qabbala is a table of observed synchronicities wherein multidimensional potentia overlap into the field of perception implying a correlation/interaction as perceived on a three-dimensional plane." The sum of the parts of the whole is determined by conceptual visualization and the observer's ostensible observation thereof. It is therefore merely a perceptual tool for perceiving hidden meaning in the world determined entirely by the perceived-perception of the perceptor (in the language of Satre), which will alter its form and content (via expansion and contradiction) according to the perceptor's own innate tendencies.

The Qabbala is no longer merely a mathematical construct of an ordered universe as conceived by divine will. Instead it becomes a kind of computerized network of extra-sensory information. Even the idea of a prima causa itself may be inadequate as well. This idea is based solely upon a linear time frame and is therefore a corollary of our erroneous perception of time whose actual nature may tend more towards the cyclical. Primitive man, for example was very well aware of this fact, and acted in accordance with it. (This may have to do with primitive people being more in tune with their own circadian rhythms. This expresses a more lunar-intuitive cycle rather than our own solar one.) If perception of time is based upon natural rhythms which effect the body coupled with our observance of nature, then our concept of time is entirely contrary to what nature itself is telling us. We are thus unaligned with a proper time framework. Since a cycle is essentially a circle, no beginning or ending can be found. And, it is already been theorized that there are other dimensions of reality in which time as we know it (in a durational, linear sense of perception) simply cannot exist.

The universe has again and again defied our attempts a definable order upon it. Yet, mysteriously it does seem to act intelligently, even though this cannot be grasped by a rigid point A to point B structure. What emerges is a kind of chaotic mandala structure, and it is the task of quantum qabbalism to apprehend, as much as is possible, the interior of this structure. This opens the doors to practical mysticism as opposed to impractical mysticism. The Qabbala must then be updated to accommodate this vital realization in regard to its properties of being able to regulate perceptive awareness via interacting forces springing from more or less hidden dimensions whose effect is known but not the cause.

The understanding of the intention of creation is a product of the mind of the qabbalist himself. The fabric of reality is thereby flexible, effected by his own experience of it, and in turn, this experience determines his perception of it, which is altered by the interaction of these elements, more clearly understood as a transaction. In other words, one perceives his environment and that environment by virtue of one's perception of it begins to act accordingly to the reality model which is believed to be true. This could be described as a kind of Copenhagen Interpretation as applied to Qabbalistic principles. The qabbalist then shares a unique position of receiving Qabbalistic impressions via observable systematic synchronicities by means of inclination represented in his own psyche. These impressions will translate back as meaningful data insofar as the transaction between observer and the observed becomes enacted. His perception modifies the universe and in turn, the universe modifies his perception. (This can serve as a representation of the union of microprosopus and macroprosopus.) The feedback of this required information will be meaningful to him alone as it is a byproduct of his own psychic field. He becomes a kind of decoder of esoteric information which he has learned to process.

From this quantum/chaos framework the Qabbala can be regarded as a four (or five) dimensional transaction as revealed in the mundane world, whereby an enriched quality of information provides the key to a higher understanding of the universe and of oneself, provided the person in question is capable of processing this information. From this perspective, ghosts, poltergeists, and other enigmas of paranormal phenomena can be understood as failed communication or remnants of a highly coded system which hasn't been solved. The problem arises when one dimension fails to adequately "translate" into another. You might term this the Tower of Babel Effect. The information being received is misinterpreted due to inadequate tools of reception and perhaps an inability to use tools properly. There is also a basic misunderstanding of what this information means and to what extent the source can be determined. This is a little like trying to demonstrate fourth dimension physics by a purely three dimensional means. The instances of paranormal phenomena as described above, may be due to a discrepancy of overlapping dimensions which allows for a greater margin of error which impedes effective communication between the dimensions themselves. One is reminded of Plato's parable of the cave, wherein the shadows of the things observed on the wall of the cave are mistaken for reality itself. Granted, a shadow does resemble the object projecting it, but it is hardly the object itself. It is the task of the quantum qabbalist to make allowances for this margin of interpretive miscalculation by preparing for it in advance and thus integrating this possible glitch into his Qabbalistic computer. He makes allowances for this possible occurrence of organizational entropy and thus he is able to use it to his advantage.

The idea of a Qabbala based upon an exploration of prima causa is no longer valid in the quantum age. The quantumized qabbalist learns to regard himself in the mirror of chaos. For him, the old Gnostic dictum of "there is no part of me which is not of the gods", is literally true. His "Tree of Life" is based squarely upon the apprehension of his own enigmatic existence. He is more interested in a practical application of his Qabbalistic ideas and principles for himself and others, than a cosmological game of hide and seek wherein one searches for a prima causa "God" figure. But even for this, he has an explanation: By careful observation of himself within the mirror of chaos he has learned that the miracle of creation is somehow a byproduct of his own consciousness and that he has played an inexplicable role in the very act itself. ("Did ye not know that ye were gods?") Joyously he has found that the tracks of God etched across the illimitable sands of time in the accelerated particle chambers of his own expanding consciousness. Thus has he learned to adore the divine mystery of existence donning the masks of creation.