Descriptions:
Video Description
Walking down an ordinary street while seeing every level of reality at once sounds impossible, yet that is the skill Lyam Christopher describes in this short follow-up video. Students of the Kabbalah magic work are not climbing away from the world, he says; they are learning to hold spirit and matter together in the same breath. The entrance is a simple pair of words: form versus substance.
He traces the journey upward through the same four worlds, Asiyah, the action world where bodies move; Yetzirah, the formation world of image and dream; Beriah, the creation world of pure potential; and Atziluth, the undivided source. From the highest level an empty, womb-like substance opens so that forms can begin to arise, much as a dream takes shape at night. When this is seen clearly, the street becomes like a vast relief sculpture, revealing its deeper layers as you walk.
In that view, the magician is not escaping the physical world but working inside the world of Yetzirah, where forms are still soft. By noticing what is trying to emerge, a person can meet it there instead of being ambushed later. This is the way the practice in Kabbalah, Magic & the Great Work of Self Transformation gradually teaches the eyes to see. The promise is not to leave ordinary life but to find all four worlds already shining through it, here and now.
Full Video Transcript
all right this week i wanted to release a quick video in response to the last video it’s kind of
funny because for the last video i really wanted to say something specifically about the four
worlds and i didn’t end up saying it so the four worlds of kabbalah and so the students of the
kabbalah magic book what you’re working up to is a way of experiencing all four worlds of the
kabbalah at once okay like you know spiritual world material world together all at the same time
and in kabbalah it is the world of asia well okay supposedly the world at the bottom where we all
live is asia and then the next higher world is yetzira and then the next higher world up for
that is berea and the highest world is absolute okay and the way that these are laid out on the
the tree, usually, at least for the student in the Outer Order, is that they are layered one on top
of the other. So we start in Asiya, and we work our way up through to Yetzira, to Berea, and then
eventually Matzaluth, where we have complete enlightenment and the spiritual plane of
existence. And what we eventually uncover in the grade work is that all of these levels of
existence are present right now and we can experience them as we’re walking
down the street so in order to show you this I just want to present the idea of
form versus substance all right and the main the main thing to grasp when it
comes to the difference between form and substance is the transformation of the
word of Berea into Yetzirah. All right, so let’s go on a little journey up the tree first. So
if you’re doing the Kabbalah magic work, which is like the outer order curriculum of the Golden
Dawn, you start in Asiyah, the lowest level, and you move up to Yetzirah, up to Berea, and up to
Atzaluth. And by the time you reach the highest levels of Yetzirah, supposedly, you are an adept.
there’s something you can do at that level that makes you a wizard a magician right uh and some
people say it’s the knowledge and conversation of the holy guardian angel or things like that
or it’s the adeptus minor initiation all right so let’s let’s uh explore how that works so in
the zolotar grade which is the grade of earth the um the daily work involves visualizing just
the physical body and there’s work done with the body in that grade that is called proprioception
or simply observing the body the sensations of the body how the body feels how the body sits in the
chair how it uh how how the feet feel while they’re walking okay all these sensations lots
of that going on in uh also in acia there’s the sense of um identifying with the physical body
so you identify with this thing that sort of can be kicked around by life you identify what with
what it’s like to be a physical object in the world and this is mainly the problem that um
we experience as unenlightened beings that we think we’re nothing more than just the physical
objects and we then treat other people as though they are nothing but physical objects we objectify
them right uh not not sensing or not believing in or not um perceiving the uh the deeper dimension
that connects them to the higher worlds okay in other words we are we are all one we are not
separate physical objects but the problem is that we have lost the ability to recognize that we are
all part of the same thing okay most of us have anyway some people are born having still retaining
the the obvious sensation that we were all part of the same thing and and some
people even claimed that when they were a child they they knew it was true they
could feel it was true I’m not sure I ever had that I as a child I always felt
a bit disconnected from everything and it was only through the practice of
magic that I was able to regain a sense of that underlying unity behind
everything where the real magic happens and then in the uh the great of the oricus that is the
great of air we move into the world of yatsira the world of formation the world of form and as this
video is called uh form versus substance there’s something very important about formation okay and
substance form and substance are not the same thing and in the uh i’m going to say this just
take it at face value for now in the unenlightened mindset form is higher than substance substance is
considered sort of uh you know material uh ugly um material existence and it’s just stuff right
matter and then uh what happens is form gets imposed upon matter it makes things out of it
and then the form is some kind of pure abstraction that is wonderful and nice okay what we discover
in the um the tantric and the non-dual traditions or in the hermetic traditions if you’re lucky
is that it’s this is actually reversed form is actually of a higher level than sub then
i’m sorry substance is actually of a higher level than form and i’m hoping to convey that to you
during this video okay that was the main reason i was i did the last one about the four worlds
and so when we reach the uh practicus grade then that corresponds to the world of berea the world
of creation and the world of creation is where form comes from okay it is not the world of form
necessarily it is the world is where form comes from okay and so since it is the place from which
form emerges it is the true substance of reality just the substance of reality and from the
substance emerges various forms okay and then the highest world is the world of pure potentiality
and this cannot really necessarily be visualized but it can be felt as you know seeds of
potentiality that sort of exists behind everything and to to visualize this we simply superimpose the
the tree of life diagram over the body which is to say that um the entire universe is being
projected upon our body and manifesting within this body okay and it manifests within the aura
let’s say of the briatic body and then the um and of course begins to crystallize or form it
turns into the physical form in the tzira let me go backwards here okay so we have the seeds
of potentiality which are not really there yet but they want to be born right and so um and so they
they they come down into berea in this sort of womb and through this womb of of berea they uh
emerge as form okay and this is you emerging as your physical form then okay and so the world of
form though is not necessarily material yet it is actually just um uh an illusion a sort of a a
perceived uh entity that is perceived to be separate from everything else okay that is not
actually real nothing is truly separate from everything else okay so the world of form is
sort of a world of illusion a world of deception okay and it’s a world that the nervous system
creates you know we’ve evolved into the state of being able to perceive various things and this is
the nervous system superimposing form upon substance okay and then of course we have the
physical body crystallizing somehow out of that okay which is not really contained self-contained
and isolated the way we think it is just take a physical body and put it on the surface of mars
and watch it die very quickly
because it is completely dependent upon the conditions
that are on this planet.
In other words, it has emerged from the substance of this planet
and is dependent upon the conditions of this planet to survive.
And it would very quickly cease to be this entity or thing.
It would very, very quickly die and just return to mush or whatever
and just be inert.
okay let’s go back to this world okay so we have this listing of the four worlds
SIA being the lowest and that’s a loose being the highest okay so what you can
see then is that there’s pure potentiality and absolute and absolute
experiences a division in itself light and darkness okay and this is the this
is god basically separating out from himself so that he can experience him in a space where he
is not okay so in that realm of empty space that he creates within himself um that is berea that’s
the womb of creation and from that womb of creation this dark abyss let’s say right um then
form can then emerge within it and of course form then is the world of formation that’s yetzira so
whatever emerges within that womb of creation is yet ceratic it is it is now being born of that
womb inside the womb and then it eventually crystallizes into the physical world into
messiah okay but you can experience these forces as you’re walking down the street
all of them at once the pure potentiality the um the womb-like substance from which form emerges
and then the physical uh manifestation which is uh what your physical senses are are reacting to
and so and so the world begins to be experienced as though it’s like one big relief sculpture okay
so you might want to see the highest world of that saluth as pure um non-duality there’s no
distinction there are no objects within it of course there are no forms there’s no substance
really because we haven’t separated substance from potentiality yet and so what happens is that um
it’s in the highest level of of creation let’s say um the pure potentiality separates out
from itself and produces this empty space where substance is now there and of course some kind
of potentiality is there now present to act upon that substance and produce form out of it this is
like a proto substance it’s not matter per se it’s more like a proto substance and then uh it’s like
when you’re in a dream world when you’re having a dream at night uh the stuff that your the dream
world is made out of is really that um the substance of the dream world is briatic but the
interaction of forms within that dream is yetzeratic so both the worlds exist together
okay both the world of bria and yetzira exist together in your dream world okay and so um and
this mysterious empty space where forms can emerge is uh is what we know in kabbalah as daath the
world of knowledge which is um the shadowy 11th sierra of the tree of life dot is really you know
just the abyss where the space opened up and that womb was created and uh it can be a frightening
place because it’s a place of separation where things can now emerge as separate objects and
then feel like they are just um when we emerge as a separate object in the world we are orphaned we
are we’ve washed up on the beach and we don’t know who or what we are we’re we have emerged in this
form what am i and who i must have been kicked out of heaven or something like then i’ve fallen here
and now i don’t know what to do i don’t have the original knowledge of what where i came from or
what I am okay so and that can happen in the yet erotic world already and of
course we are supposedly down in the ASEAN in the world of action okay so if
you want to experience all four worlds as you’re walking down the street you
can kind of tune into these things all at once first of all you know that
everything is one and that the separation between things is sort of
imagined as the as the potentiality of God withdrew from the this empty space
within himself right and within that empty space then these forms began to emerge okay the empty
space is really a type of substance and when and the potentiality begins to exert itself okay in
fact we can look at the tree of life here and those two spheros the one to the left of this
guy’s head there that is akma that’s it the one to your right the one to his left okay and the one
to his right is bina and hakma is basically the uh the sphere of um where emerging potentiality
so what has happened at the highest level of the tree that sphere that’s over the guy’s head there
it has divided from itself it has opened up a space within itself which is doth which is right
at that person’s neck okay and that and the space of doth consists of the separation between pure
potentiality and actuality in other words and and uh there’s potentiality and then there’s substance
so hakma is the potentiality that’s emerging now and the bina is the substance in which that
potentiality emerges it’s like a proto substance maybe like an astral substance we can call it
the astral light actually uh many people would say the astral light doesn’t exist on that level
and in a sense they’d be correct because the astral world is more world of formation so as
so as hakma begins to exert its potentialities upon the substance or the proto-substance of bina
then various forms begin to emerge within that proto-substance or dream forms and this is the
world of yatsira which is um all the spheroth down below that the world of yatsira now begins
so any place where you have interacting forms where they can now look at each other and have
a drama and things like that this is the word of dreams uh this is the world of yatsira and you
have to remember the world of yatsira consists of the world of atzaluth exerting itself upon bria
the pure potentiality is exerting itself upon that proto-substance of bria and then the forms begin
to emerge in yatsira if there are no separate forms that are interacting then there is no yet
tzira okay so these are all things they’re all happening all at once so if you’re having a dream
the substance of everything you’re looking at is is bina you could say and that’s the
briatic world and the absolutely world is the pure potentiality that is exerting itself to
do something with that substance to make it emerge in these various forms and of course in the world
of yet sira these forms emerge and they emerge in a very phallic sort of way too they stand forth
from the background okay and this is the power of hakama which is phallic remember the bina is the
womb and hakama is the phallus and so this um action of potentiality pushing up upon the
proto substance then causes the form to emerge in sort of phallic sort of way i should show a
picture of the tetragrammaton that would make it even clearer but anyway and so what we have then
is this experience of the world that is simply pure potentiality exerting itself upon the
proto-substance whatever that is and then of course then these various forms begin to emerge
okay as you walk down the street and and your mind is creating separate objects out of all of
this proto substance oh that’s a tree oh that’s a car oh that’s a person oh that’s a dog that’s
a fire hydrant um that’s not really what’s out there but these are this is all proto substance
that is being sort of packaged by your nervous system to be whatever whatever it is right uh
and of course a dog looking at a fire hydrant doesn’t see a fire hydrant okay so um so in other
words uh the the form making element of the of your consciousness is not real it’s only real as
a form maker and this is the word of its era constantly in action around us okay and eventually
that that causes more drama to emerge in the realm of asia okay and asia asia is the world of action
where we can get really confused and no longer see the higher worlds in operation
and our job in asiya is to recover the ability to see all four worlds acting at once from all
the way from pure potentiality to proto-substance to form and then to actualize physical substance
or physical physical action there really is no such thing as physical substance there’s only
proto-substance okay um and the kabbalists knew that they the lowest world is not the world of
matter per se it is the world of action and matter consists only of action or the vibration of that
proto substance okay so and of course in physics we know this to be true now like everything is
in vibration and uh physical substance is only something that we have we are that we are
experiencing because of the ability to to create various forms out of it yeah yeah so the in fact
no matter where you’re looking you are in a dream world pretty much okay um however it is possible
to go all the way to the very source of creation um you can pers your your consciousness can
proceed deeper and deeper and deeper even beyond the womb of creation into absolute itself where
there’s nothing but pure potentiality that can be experienced and then of course um the body will
eventually draw the consciousness back down into um asia but what you bring back with you is the
the ability the ability to recognize all of these levels of activity happening at
once and even the ability to begin to play along with those manifesting
potentialities and to act as a sort of gardener to sort of encourage different
potentialities to emerge you know the ones that you want let’s say they have
to be already emerging to begin with in order for you to do magic with them but
But yes, you can act as a magician and then rightly conjure those forces into existence.
The interesting thing is that, let’s see, at the level of Yetzirah, here you have emerged as a form.
So this is your dream body.
And then the dream body can sort of turn around and look at the dream substance that’s all around it.
and on the level of yetzira can actively stir that proto-substance and this is what we do in ritual
you stir the proto-substance to basically show you its potentialities uh it can it can ripen
the cosmic seeds of karma uh that and they’ll come forth faster and so when you do the lbrp
and things like that you’re apparently you are ripening your karma faster your these things are
now coming forth more quickly. And if you are able to process
them and make meaning out of them, let’s say in the pages of
your journal, you can head them off before they become harsh
external, physical, physical reality, you can head them off
in the dream world, before they become harsh conditions in the
external world. That’s, that’s one of the main aspects of magic
that is terribly overlooked. You know, people just do magic to
get what they want and I think one of the most important aspects of magic is
that you can keep the confrontations and karmic the potential dualistic problems
that are emerging as potentialities you can resolve these on the level of the
dream world before they manifest in the supposed material world and then it
looks like you’re leading a charmed life and conjuring things to get what you want yeah which
is also possible but remember the magician because he works in the realm of yetzira can actually see
the proto substance of bria and stir it like with the magic wand and conjure things forth from it if
he’s skillful at doing that he can also conjure forth horrors and difficult things if he’s not
ready to deal with the karmic repercussions all right this was a pretty deep video i can tell
okay so yeah i kind of wanted to convey that um sensation of being able to walk down the street
and experience uh the entire world as a sort of relief sculpture everything is made of the same
proto-substance emerging in different forms no matter what element you think you’re looking at
like uh oh that’s helium that’s oxygen or that’s silicon or that you know they’re all
proto-substance that have passed through the realm of Yetzira where forms are emerging
and then getting very intricately tangled up you know into together into a world of confusion
massa confusa that the alchemists call the massive confusion or the prima materia and as we emerge in
the physical plane in this massive confusion we have to recover the ability to see that proto
substance again and the pure potentiality behind it and so the magician mainly operates in the
realm of yatsira where he can still see or at least know that every form he sees is made of
the same proto substance or the astral light and behind that is the pure potentiality that’s trying
to actualize and then he can start to work with that work with that potentiality that’s trying
to emerge within the proto substance which will eventually crystallize down into physical
manifestation or not so he so there’s things that are trying to come out that are kind of horrific
which he can prevent from having to emerge fully because he can process them on the level of the
dream world of zero okay as usual i’m afraid that’s not going to make much sense um it’s
probably true that uh people should have been following my videos for some time in order for
some of this to make sense or at least if you’ve been doing consultations with me or been doing
the kabbalah magic curriculum work these things begin to make sense and you can then walk around
in the world experiencing all four levels of manifestation at once all right well until next
time
Source: Lyam Christopher