>>41348141
>>41348147
"PILLAR AND SPHERES

In The Sorcerer's Secrets I gave some words for each point, but in this book I would love for you to simply breathe and focus on the element. For this ritual to really work, you have to know the qualities of the elements and let them release in the body. Aristotle described the four elements main according to a system of being wet or dry and hot or cold. Earth is dry and cool. Fire is hot and dry. Air is warm and wet. Water is cool and wet. There is a certain symmetry here where Fire and Water are opposites, as are Air and Earth. In addition to these qualities I would add qualities that speak to how these behave in their gross physical manifestations: Earth is stable, Fire consumes and expands, Water flows and fills, Air blows and moves rapidly.

When we do the Pillar and Spheres, we place Earth at the root not only because it is firm and solid, but because it gives the material that fire can consume. As we build the fire just below the navel, we consume the material below it and start heating everything above it. Water gets placed at the heart, which is brought to a boil by the fire below it. Steam rises from the water (remember Air is warm and wet according to Aristotle), which then melts the seed of Spirit/Space at the crown of the head. The wisdom of Spirit/Space then descends over the body, blessing each of the elements and making them even more potent and subtle. This is internal Alchemy: the rise of vitality and passion and the descent of ennobling wisdom.

The whole picture is rather like a Witch's cauldron inside the body. Earth is the ground and wood that the fire is built upon. The cauldron is set upon that fire and heats the water within it, releasing the cloud of steam and scent that rises to heaven.

What happens is that the entire body is sublimated and made more subtle, more spirit like."