Alchemy and the Tetragram Samael Aun Weor This is a transcription of the audio lecture Alchemy and the Tetragram, which you can download for free. The Conjuration of the Four is a powerful conjuration that the magician uses in order to invoke the higher forces of the world of Yetzirah (the world of the angels, the world of formation) in order to reject negative forces related with the four elements of nature, which are related with our psychosomatic nature. The world of Yetzirah in Kabbalah is related with the lower Sephiroth of the third triangle of the Tree of Life, which is formed by Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. Our mind relates to Netzach, our emotions to Hod, and our sexual/motor/instinctive brain to Yesod. The Sephirah Malkuth, which is below the third triangle, relates to the physical body. All of these Sephiroth are precisely represented in the graphic of the Star of David (the six pointed star) with the four holy creatures, which in Hebrew are named Chaioth ha Kadosh. The four holy creatures relate with the top of the Tree of Life in the world of Yetzirah, which relates to the Sephirah Binah, the Holy Spirit. In the world of Atziluth the Holy Spirit, Binah has the sacred name Jehovah God or Jehovah Elohim. In previous lectures where we addressed the three mother letters Aleph, Shin, and Mem we stated that Mem relates to the third triangle and also to Binah, the forces of the Holy Ghost. Thus, in Binah we find the name Jehovah Elohim, which is the Kabbalistic name of הוהי Yod Hei Vav Hei, the four lettered name of Elohim, God, which is symbolized here by these four creatures At the bottom of this image you see the Hebrew letters Aleph, Daleth, Nun, and Yod which form the word ינדא Adonai. The word Adonai means “my Lord” in Hebrew. Adon is lord. Adonai or Adony means “my Lord.” Adonai is another Tetragrammaton or “four lettered name.” The Conjuration of the Four addresses the Tetragrammaton. Tetra means “four” and gramma means “graphic or letter.” Tetragrammaton therefore means the “four lettered name of God,” which we always state is הוהי Yod Hei Vav Hei, yet here we also say it is Adonai or Adony, since Adonai also has four letters, namely Aleph, Daleth, Nun and Yod. In other words Adonai is another Tetragrammaton or another Tetragram. So the Tetragram ינדא Adonai relates to the world of Malkuth, which is symbolized by a cross in the middle of a circle. The cross relates with the four elements, with the four cardinal points. These elements in alchemy are salt, sulfur, mercury, and azoth. Why are we talking about these four elements of alchemy? Because when we go into the world of Yetzirah, we go into that which is called “the world of priesthood” related to the triangle of priesthood or magic. Priest comes from the ancient word mag, which means “priest.” So when we are talking about a priest or a priestess, we are talking about a mag, a Magi, a magician. In order to be a magician, a priest, or a priestess, we have to perform three types of priesthood, three types of magic: 1. Yesod is related with the sexual/motor/instinctive brain, and therefore it is related with sexual magic: Tantra, sexual tantric priesthood. 2. Hod relates with ceremonial magic or ceremonial priesthood, those rituals performed in different religions which are always related with the four elements. Any mass, any ritual, relates with Hod, which is related with the heart. In Hod, we find mysticism. 3. In the head, Netzach, we find hermetic magic or the hermetic priesthood, in which you exercise power over the mind and over the forces of nature. As you observe, these three aspects of magic are related with our three brains, which are the intellectual brain, the emotional brain, and the sexual motor instinctive brain. This is why when we enter into this path, which is the path of priesthood, the path of magic, in which we have to acquire the level of human being. We emphasize that we need to work with the three factors which relate with the three brains. The three brains relate with the three primary forces. The three brains in the physical body imply the Tetragram. Three in Christianity are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are the Holy Affirmation, Holy Negation, and Holy Conciliation, which act through the three brains. In Christianity, it is stated that there are three persons in one God, or three forces in one triangle. When you see a triangle, you see a unity (1), but within that unity you see three points (3), three lines, three forces. This is how in geometry we explain that three (3) in one (1) means the Tetragram (4), the four letter name of God or the four forces. This is what we are. If you observe, we have three brains in one body. This is why in alchemy and Kabbalah the four creatures represent the three brains. The lion represents the heart, the fire. The eagle represents the head, which is the mind, the air. The bull represents the forces or the sexual energy of Binah. Remember that we always indicate that Binah is the winged bull, and also that Geburah is the winged bull that goes down to Malkuth, the earth. In the middle of these creatures we find the angel who is the man, Adam, made from the earth, but that resides in the world of Yesod, which is the water. The man is the water, the bull is the earth, the lion is the fire, and the eagle is the air. In other words, we as Adam, symbol of the physical body, have three brains. We are that Tetragram. This is why in Kabbalah, when we name the Tetragram, sometimes we address ינדא Adonai, “Adony” my Lord, because the word Adonai also has four Hebrew letters, which are synthesized in the physical body. Adonai or “Adony” is the holy name of God in physical matter, in the physical body. This is why you see in the graphic that Adonai is the one who stands out on this graphic because all these holy creatures work under the command of Adonai, who, individually speaking, is an angel. One thing is Adonai as an archetype, and another is Adonai the angel. The angel Adonai is an angel of the Moon. He works under the command of Gabriel, the archangel of the Moon. Within u us Adonai is an archetype. Each one of us as has his own particular individual Adonai. In Samael Aun Weors book The Three Mountains, he explains that Adonai is his best friend. “My good friend,” he says “the angel Adonai,” who of course works with every initiate. Adonai is the companion of any magician when he enters into the path, and this is why when we speak the Conjuration of the Four, we are addressing the four elements of nature that relate to us, to our nature, and to the superior nature or the world of formation, the world of angels. The angels in the world of Yetzirah control the sylphs of the air, the salamanders of fire, the gnomes of the earth, and the undines of the water. Those are the elementals of nature that relate to our body, physically speaking as well as psychologically. When we enter into this path, we have to fight against the negative forces of nature that work through our ego. The devolving forces of nature fight not only within us - individually speaking - but also through the left side of the Tree of Knowledge, which we call “evil,” where we find black magicians or black priests who exercise power over the devolving forces. They can commandthe elementals, yet in the evil way. To understand this, we have to observe the Tree of Life. In the Tree of Life are three columns. The column on the right has Chokmah, Chesed, Netzach. The column on the left has Binah, Geburah and Hod. The column in the middle is composed of Kether, Tiphereth, Yesod and Malkuth. We also find in the middle column that mysterious Sephirah called Daath. So on the right side of the Tree of Life, we find the lion, which represents Chokmah and Chesed. On the left, we find the bull, which is related with Binah and Geburah. In the center is Tiphereth and Kether, which relate to the eagle in the upper triangles above the world of Yetzirah. Adam or the angel among the four creatures belongs to the two lower Sephiroth, Yesod and Malkuth. The right in Hebrew is what is called Tob, “good,” and the left in Hebrew is called Rah, “evil.” So in the left is where we find that tempting serpent that can fall or go up according to our sexual behavior, emotional behavior, and mental behavior, because remember that we have three brains. The serpent can fall not only by fornicating, but also by committing treason through the heart. In sex is the source and very foundation of the forces of God or the forces of the Holy Spirit, yet in the heart we also find the energies of the Lord related with faithfulness, devotion, love; thus, treason can send the serpent of the left downwards to hell to develop in evilness. Through the mind, likewise, because there are many sorcerers, black magicians who utilize the mind for evil. They know how to command the elementals of nature with their mind. The Gnostic also knows how to control the forces of nature, the elementals, with his mind, but he always respects freewill and the will of the angels of Yetzirah. When we want to exercise control over any plant we utilize our mind in order to command the elemental related to that plant, but always we ask permission of our inner God in order to do it, because God is the one who does that type of magic, which is called hermetic magic. Our inner God in his turn asks permission to the angels of Yetzirah - the ones who command the elementals of nature - in order to exercise certain rituals in favor of something or somebody. The black magicians know how to do magic, but they do not ask permission to any heavenly being, not even to their own God, because they are not even following their own God. They just want to develop powers. They do not care about the will of the angels of Yetzirah. Black magicians only perform whatever they want, by their own whim, better said, by their evil- will. By evil-will I am addressing their ego, because such is the nature of the black magicians; they walk on the path of magic and priesthood not with Chesed, their Being, but with their ego - yes, with their ego-will of Klipoth. In this day and age, as you can see, there are people who are unconsciously making catastrophes in nature, like that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They did not ask permission of the angels in order to drill there, in order to take the petroleum out of bed of the ocean. Thus, you can see the catastrophe they unleashed because they are doing their own whim. Through their selfish way they originate karma. On the other hand, the white magician respects nature and asks first to his inner Being. If the Angels allow his inner Being, then the operation is done, because the angels also do their work under the law of karma. Thus, if the law of karma allows it, then they give permission to do it. So, in any magical white work, everything is done through an organized hierarchy. Nevertheless, unfortunately, since we have the ego very alive, we have to know how to conjure the negative forces, beginning with those within ourselves, and then the negative forces from nature, in order for us to have a positive effect in our psyche, spirit, and body. Thus, for that purpose, we always invoke the higher forces of the Tetragram to unite with our lower forces, in order to reject the inferior forces. Here below, physically, we are a Tetragram: three brains in one body, which equals four, one unity. Such a three in one also exists above, not only in Yetzirah, but also in the world of Briah, which is the world of creation, and beyond, in the world of Atziluth, the world of archetypes. So those Tetragrammatons above are the three triangles of the Tree of Life, namely Yetzirah, Briah, and Atziluth. The three Tetragrams in the three worlds make twelve: the three worlds and the four Tetragrams, one in each world; three by four is twelve. This is the magic of the number twelve, which is symbolized in the Star of David. This is why on the Star of David you find six points (masculine) and six entrances (feminine) which makes twelve, indicating that the power over the four elements, the power over those creatures, is related with the superior worlds. The angels of Yetzirah control the four elements (Tattvas). The angels are controlled by the archangels or the world of Briah. The archangels of the world of Briah obey the will of God of the world of Atziluth, which is the world of the Logos. So everything is mathematical, and comes down to us in a mathematical way. This is why we insist that the three factors of the revolution of the consciousness that we teach in the Gnostic tradition is not something that we invented. It is something we have to do, because we have three brains, three forces. The three primary forces create, if you analyze, in every way. For instance, right now I represent in this lecture the holy affirmation. I am affirming things that I understand, that I comprehend. You are passive: holy negation; you are just listening. These are two forces. But at the end of the lecture, we always invite you to ask questions, because there has to be a communion between the negative force and the positive force (affirmation and negation) in order to conciliate both through a third force. I don’t know if you understand what I understand, thus this is why it is good to have questions and answers, because through the third force, the questions, comes the fourth, which is comprehension of what we are talking about. You see four; affirmation (speaker), negation (listener), questions or reconciliation of both, and conclusion or understanding of the topic in our own level. This is how you see the Tetragrammaton working in one unity. This is how the third factor, charity, works. We have to work with the three forces in order to create. In the factor that we call “to be born again,” which is alchemy or the transmutation of the sexual energy, the woman is the negative or passive force and the man is the affirmation or active force, and when they are in sexual union there is conciliation of both with the eventual awakening of the fire of the Kundalini, the fire of the Holy Ghost, which will become the fourth. This is why the Tetragrammaton is holy. This is why the higher name of God is הוהי Yod Hei Vav Hei; notwithstanding, if you observe there are only three letters in its name because the second letter, the ה Hei is repeated as fourth in order to indicate that the unity of the three is always found in the Hei, which is the Mother, the Holy Spirit. Thus, in us, the fourth letter, the Hei of Yod Hei Vav Hei, is the physical body. Likewise, when you work in the annihilation of the ego, if you analyze, there are always three forces working there. So, each force assists the other, helps the other. That is why Samael Aun Weor stated that there are not two factors but three, and you have to work with the three all the time. We have to work with three in different ways because the three create, yet the three forces also destroy when you know how to apply them. When the positive (male) and negative (female) are united, they utilize the third, the force of sex, in order to destroy what we need to destroy: the ego. So all the work of the four is a work of alchemy, and this is why the first four lines of the Conjuration of the Four (which is in Latin) read: Caput mortum, imperet tibi dominus per vivum et devotum serpentem! Cherub, imperet tibi Dominus per Adam Yod-Chavah! Aquila errans, imperet tibi Dominus per alas tauri! Serpens, imperet tibi Dominus Tetragrammaton, per Angelum et Leonem! The four holy creatures are named in these four lines. Who is Adam Yod-Chavah? Adam Yod-Chavah represents Adam who works with the power of Yod Hei Vav Hei, because this is how it is written in Hebrew: Adam Yod-Chavah. Yod Hei Vav Hei is the name Yod-Chavah. The creature called “alas tauri” (the spirit of the earth) is the winged bull. “Per Angelum et Leonem” - Angelum represents the man, Adam, the water. Leonem is the lion, the fire. Always understand that these forces are the four elements in one, as for instance, in the four sides of the pyramids of Egypt, and the sphinx of Egypt, which has these four symbols: the face of a human being (the water), the wings of an eagle (air), the paws of a lion (fire), and the hoofs of the bull or the ox (earth). These same symbols you can see in the book of Ezekiel in the four holy creatures that we are naming here. So the sphinx is a symbol related with the forces of nature. Anybody who enters into this path connects with the temple of Egypt in order to resolve the enigma of the sphinx, which is the enigma of the human being that we have to develop inside through alchemy. This conjuration has to be done before any work of alchemy, especially sexual alchemy, or any work of magic related with the three forces of the third triangle of priesthood: Hermetic magic, ritualistic magic, and sexual magic. In this way, we are assisted by the Tetragram. The conjuration has to be memorized in order for us to do it. You might ask, why do I have to pronounce it in Latin when I could do it in English? The answer is that Latin is a mantric language but English is not. Latin exercises power over nature; it is a beautiful language, and that is why Latin was adopted by the Catholic Church in order to do masses, but they lost power and started doing everything in another language. Sanskrit is also a mantric language. Hebrew is another mantric language. But English, Spanish, French, etc. are not. We must utter the main conjurations in Latin in order to invoke the superior forces. So the first conjuration says, “Caput mortum,” which means corpse’s head. Adonai command thee by the living and votive serpent. Dominus in Latin means the lord but the lord is Adonai, Adony in Hebrew. So the translation is; Corpse’s head, may the living and devoted serpent Adonia (cid:8)י(cid:10)נ(cid:11)ד(cid:12)א command thee! Cherub, may Adonia (cid:8)י(cid:10)נ(cid:11)ד(cid:12)א command thee by Adam Yod-ChaVah םדא הוחי! Wandering Eagle, may Adonia (cid:8)י(cid:10)נ(cid:11)ד(cid:12)א command thee by the wings of the Bull! Serpent, may Adonia (cid:8)י(cid:10)נ(cid:11)ד(cid:12)א the Tetragrammaton הוהי command thee by the angel and the lion! Now you know why we say “Dominus” which is a Latin word for Adonai. Adonai is Hebrew for “the lord” in English. So when saying the lord you know it is the lord but it is better to say Adonai because it is a Hebrew mantric word. If you say Dominus then this would also be good. Dominus Tetragrammaton means "Adonai the Tetragrammaton," because Adonai is written with four letters, which are Aleph, Daleth, Nun, and Yod. Adonai ends with Yod, while Yod Hei Vav Hei begins with Yod, which has deep significance. The lord from above (Yod Hei Vav Hei, Yod-Chavah) begins with Yod and ends with the “Hei” in Malkuth, whose feminine name is Adonai, a name that ends with Yod. So the letter Yod represents the beginning of the forces of Yod-Chavah הוהי in Kether, which end in Malkuth. This is why the letter “Yod” is shown at the very end of the name Adonai (cid:8)י(cid:10)נ(cid:11)ד(cid:12)א. So after that you name: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Anael So for the explanation of this, we need to go into the Pentagrammaton, because also in this conjuration you name the pentagram, which is the five pointed star. We find on the left arm of the pentagram the name Adam which is Aleph, Daleth and final Mem. On the right is Yod Hei Vav Hei, which is read Yod-Chavah, and is written or translated in the bible as Jehovah, but the right pronunciation is Yod-Chavah. Adam Yod- Chavah is always above. So when you are naming Adam Yod-Chavah in the Conjuration of the Four, you are attracting the superior forces of the pentagram, which symbolizes the Cosmic Christ. So this is why that conjuration is very magical, very powerful. It has a lot of force if you are an alchemist, because when you pronounce it you are utilizing the four forces of the elements in your body. Remember that you are utilizing the four elemental forces: fire, air, water (three brains), and earth (your physical body) below, that should become one with Adam Yod-Chavah from above. In other words, Adam Yod-Chavah - as we already explained - represents the twelve zodiacal forces from above. Now you know why there are twelve tribes of Israel, because these twelve Archetypes relate to the Tetragram הוהי in three worlds Yetzirah, Briah, and Atziluth. Three by four is twelve. Yet down here in the earth, in the physical body, we also have the twelve forces, the twelve archetypes. If you read any horoscope, you will see how the twelve zodiacal signs relate to different parts of your body. So that is why the twelve below relates to (cid:8)י(cid:10)נ(cid:11)ד(cid:12)א Adonai, and the twelve above to הוהי Yod-Chavah, which make the addition of twenty four. These have to be in union within the alchemist. We are explaining the Kabbalistic meaning, but you need to be an alchemist to exercise power. To be an alchemist is to work with the three factors of the revolution of the consciousness, because how are the salamanders of fire going to obey you in your body and in nature if you are easily angered, having no control of your fire? How are you going to command the gnomes of the earth if you are lazy? The gnomes of the earth are diligent, but if you are lazy they won’t obey you, because they obey the one who has power over them. They are diligent, so how is a lazy person going to command them, by yawning? The sylphs of the air, which control the clouds, the forces of the mind - how are you going to control them if you can’t control your mind, if you easily identify with your lustful thoughts or with your fantasies? How are you going to command the undines of the water if you don’t control your own sexual waters? So, alchemically speaking, you have to exercise control of your three brains, because the water is in the sex, the fire is in the heart, the air is in your mind, and you are representing Adam, who was made out of the dust of the earth. We are a symbol of the earth, Malkuth, in which we find the three brains. Behold the magical force of the three factors of the revolution of the consciousness. When you enter into meditation, you pacify your earth (your physicality), control your water (your sex), your fire (emotions), and start to control the air (your mind) in order for your Adam (your consciousness) to go beyond matter. When the consciousness in meditation goes out of the body, it is because that Buddha-dhātu has controlled the earth, the fire, the air, and the water; this is how it goes out. If during meditation you are a slave of any of those elements, you cannot experience any Samadhi. Remember it is the consciousness that has to control that. This is why Tiphereth, the Sephirah above Netzach, represents the consciousness, which is the human will that has to control the forces of nature. But, how do you do it? Listen, in the middle of the pentagram are the symbols of the four elements. It is easy to see when you use your intuition and your mind. On the left leg of the pentagram (not your left side but the left of the pentagram) is a moon, which symbolises the forces of Gabriel, the angel of the moon. On the right leg or the right part of the chest (because it is not really the leg but the chest) is the symbol of the sun' which is Michael. So in alchemy you always name Michael and Gabriel, and these are the two polarities, the sulphur and the water, which you have to work with. Below, in the very middle of the pentagram, you find the sign of mercury, which is a circle with a cross below and the moon above. That is Raphael, which symbolizes the mercury in different steps.