Powers of the Adept
Each path on the Tree of Life represents a discipline, a level of consciousness attained by practicing the discipline, and a resulting potency associated with that level of consciousness. These potencies or powers are among the siddhis of the Greater Adept. One statement of such powers is found in the Introduction to The Dogma of Transcendental Magic by Eliphas Levi which gives the "powers and privileges of him who holds in his right hand the Clavicles of Solomon, and in his left the Branch of the Blossoming Almond." Levi cites an unspecified Hebrew manuscript of the sixteenth century.
It should be noted that Levi uses a blind of mis-attribution of the Hebrew letters to the Tarot Keys later in this work. He attributes Magician to Aleph, the High Priestess to Beth, and so on, until The Last Judgment which he assigns to the Fool. He leaves the World assigned to Tav, but calls it Number 22.
In the list of letters and powers given by Levi there is internal evidence that these are also blinded and require rectification. The cipher used for some of the letters and powers appears to be a simple parallel exchange. Those exchanged are within blue cells. The numbers refer to key number and not path or letter value.
9 | 10 |
8 | 11 |
7 | 12 |
6 | 13 |
5 | 14 |
4 | 15 |
3 | 16 |
2 | 17 |
1 | 18 |
0 | 19 |
21 | 20 |
Making the substitutions yields the following list of powers:
Rectified Key | The Powers of the Adept | Notes |
0. Aleph | Beholds God face to face, without dying, and converses familiarly with the seven genii who command the entire celestial army | Similar to the Spiritual Experience of Chokmah |
1. Beth | He is above all grief's and fears | The tranquility of the Transparent Intelligence |
2. Gimel | Reigns over all heaven and is served by all hell | From control of the astral plane |
3. Daleth | Rules own health and life and can influence equally those of others | Related to the Isis of Nature |
4. Heh | Can neither be surprised by misfortune or overwhelmed by disasters, nor can he be conquered by his enemies | As a true Emperor |
5. Vav | To know at a glance the deep things of the souls of men and the mysteries of the hearts of women | Hallmarks of the true Teacher |
6. Zain | To speak learnedly on all subjects, without preparation and without study | Which results from inner guidance |
7. Cheth | To have the Ars Notoria which gives the Universal Science | The language of symbols |
8. Teth | To subdue the most ferocious animals and have power to pronounce those words which paralyze and charm serpents | Fully symbolized by the tarot key |
9. Yod | To change into gold not only all metals by also the earth itself and even the refuse of the earth | Which refuse is found in the secret place of Virgo |
10. Kaph | To know the laws of perpetual motion and to prove the quadrature of the circle | Aptly symbolized by the wheel |
11. Lamed | To possess the Universal Medicine | The Elixir of Equilibrium |
12. Mem | To find the Philosophers Stone | Found in the body of the adept |
13. Nun | Possesses the secret of the resurrection of the dead and the key of immortality | Thus the last enemy is conquered |
14. Samech | Knows the reason of the past, present, and future | The reason for all things is the perfecting of the Soul |
15. Ayin | To force Nature to make him free at his pleasure | Overcome the illusion of being captive to Nature |
16. Peh | To foresee all future events which do not depend on a superior free will, or on an undiscernible cause | Thus avoiding unexpected catastrophe |
17. Tzaddi | To give at once and to all the most efficacious consolations and the most wholesome counsels | The fruit of meditation |
18. Qoph | To triumph over adversities | Achieving the end of the quest |
19. Resh | To conquer love and hate | And build the solar body |
20. Shin | To have the secret of wealth, to be always its master and never its slave | Riches hidden within the psyche |
21. Tav | Rules his elements, stills tempests, cures the diseased by his touch and raises the dead! | Cosmic Consciousness |
It is possible that additional letters are interchanged, but only those which seem obvious are rectified above.
Prepared by Emmanuel Rose
Ó Emmanuel Rose 2000