| Esoteric Mystery School | ||
Lesson Two
Catechumen Phase
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Ideas How to Complete the Lesson: Some
students print out each lesson, fill in the blanks with an ink pen and then
store the pages in their magikal notebook. When you have completed the lesson
by hand this way, you can get on line and come to this webpage, read from
your printout, type in all your answers and submit the entire lesson at
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If you do not have a printer: it is difficult to
complete the whole lesson at once, so you may submit the lesson in
parts.
PART I:
YHVH Breath-Chant
The YHVH Breath-Chant is an ancient exercise passed down quietly and secretly for centuries. It is good to keep an attitude of skepticism when studying supposedly ancient practices. So much in the “new age” movement has been literally made up under the disguise of being “discovered.” It is, however, possible to find true lineages leading back to original teachings, if you know where to look, and if you’re careful to keep a grip on reality. In defense of those new traditions “made old,” it is possible for people to re-discover old teachings. We certainly must admit it’s possible for two separate cultures to figure out at the same time that the earth is round, wheels are great, horses can be ridden, etc. Esoteric mystery-science teaches of a divine Spirit or Energy (a Source) that lives inside each of us, gently stimulating thoughts, guiding, but not forcing. It’s likely then that sacred teachings are often “given” again in dreams or through automatic writing, the same as they were given the very first time in ancient days.
CG Jung called the Source of all knowledge our “collective unconscious.” Another term for the collective unconscious is the Overmind. Tapping into its knowledge and resources is like accessing the Internet to find answers, and is called overmind thinking. Maybe we should call it overmind surfing? The Overmind is an inborn universal library of ancient symbols, patterns, teachings and secrets that we can all tap into…. To carry this Internet metaphor a bit further: we are born with the modem (our higher mind), but we have to create the phone cord that connects the modem to the Internet. Esoteric studies show you how to create and attach that phone cord. Uplink yourself!
We will now look a little more closely at the YHVH breathing exercise. This exercise is most likely a legitimate ancient practice because it is not complicated and doesn’t have any modern “new age” earmarks. It is so simple, so basic, that it rings true. For a practice to survive thru the ages, thru persecution and centuries without the printing press–from teacher to student, and sometimes student to student–that practice has got to be simple and easy to remember. And of course such an ancient teaching must be profound and powerful as well. Put simply: it has to work. Otherwise it’s useless and probably fraudulent. The sheer purity, elegance and simplicity of the following YHVH exercise speaks loudly for its authenticity. This exercise is similar to the Ham-Sa breath-watching exercise of mystical yoga and similar to Tibetan Buddhism’s out-breath observation exercises. The Buddhist and Indian/Hindu breath mantra are clearly documented as ancient, from at least 500 BC. It’s very likely the YHVH stems from the same era. The magi and learned men did manage to travel and exchange ideas. If they hadn’t, the Great Library of Alexandria and the intellectual community surrounding it (similar to a modern university town) would have been empty.
Pronuncing the letter names Y H V
H
These are four Hebrew letters that have names which are similar to, but not exactly like, their sounds. We also do this with our Latin alphabet—we call this letter [ A ] the “aay,” but the sounds it represents are Ah, Anh, Aay and even Uh.
| Y = “yahd,” | Take an in-breath |
| H = “heh” |
Breathe out |
| V = “vahv” |
Breathe in |
| H = “heh.” | Breathe out |
Some kabbalist scholars pronounce the Y as “yud.” Our tradition teaches “Yahd,” which is based on the ancient semitic Hebrew studied by scholars, not modern or even Biblical Hebrew. The ancient way of speaking comes from the days when the Jews were called the People of Eber, or the Eberu people. (You can hear the word “Hebrew” in the sound Eberu if you say “Eberu” out loud). Nobody really argues about the names of the other three letters, though some scholars in the past turned the V into a W (as in Yah-weh, which should accurately be Yah-Veh). Misspellings such as Yahweh and Jehovah are examples of mutations that occur in all languages over time.
What do the YHVH letters stand
for?
In ancient times, before students of the mysteries were given the breath-chanting exercise they were supposed to have studied the symbolic significance of the Hebrew letters. (Modern Jews have to be 40 years old before they are allowed to start studying Kabbalah). So it’s a good idea to at least have a look at the mystical significance of the letters. We will cover this more fully in later discussions, especially in the Order of Melchizedek because it is the priesthood of the YHVH Godhead.
Strict Kabbalah teaches that the first letter is the Father, the second the Mother. They “get together” and have the third one, the V, which is a pair of boy-girl twins, or as some Kabbalists maintain, just a son. This son then splits into two, himself and a twin sister. The V twins then get together and make the manifest world, the final H.
Another view, the Quaternity theory, teaches a perfectly balanced Four-part Deity and no manifest universe in the holy name. The V is the sacred son, and the last H is the divine daughter. She is the V’s Sister-Bride, mentioned in Sumerian texts and in Song of Solomon in the Bible. A famous line from the Song of Solomon, also called Song of Songs and Canticles, is spoken at Jewish weddings and during the passover dinner. “My Sister, My Bride, My Lover, My Friend.” God the Father and Mother both sing that line to each other: the Goddess’ line says, “My Brother, My Husband, My Lover, My Friend.” This chant is used in the Bridal Chamber mysteries studied in the Order of Mary Magdala and the Daughters of Tsion. It is discussed in the Knights Templar and dealt with thoroughly in the Priesthood/Priestesshood of YHVH—our Order of Melchizedek.
When to do the
Exercise
The YHVH breath-chant is very effective when you are on the threshold of consciousness, when you are between waking and sleeping. Your state of mind as you are drifting off to sleep is called the hypno-pompic state (“carrying into sleep”). This is a time when the veils in your mind are thin and the doors all come open. Your state of mind as you are waking up, the hypno-gogic state (“carrying out of sleep”) is also a great time for practicing any mantra, for connecting to your internal computer/subconscious mind. You may also practice your mantram more formally in a meditative state heightened with incense, candles and even music.
The Hard Part
The most difficult part of any breath-watching exercise is to avoid (somehow!) interfering with your breathing rate. Your breathing changes the minute you begin observing it. It’s as though it gets embarrassed and can’t behave properly. Nurses know this. Every time a nurse takes your pulse, they hold their fingers on your wrist for 30 or 60 seconds. They count your pulse first but then they switch and count your breaths. They watch your chest rise and fall. But they still hold their hand on your wrist making you
think they are continuing to check your pulse. If nurses announced, “Now let’s count your breathing,” patients would become agitated, their breathing would become big or ragged, and the nurse would never get an accurate count.
Pointers to Performing the
Exercise
Remember that there is no counting, no holding of the breath or pausing in between breaths. Just watch your own normal breathing and assign the proper letter to each in or out breath. Keep your breathing as natural as possible, but don’t worry that you’re not doing it right. Just relax and say to your breathing, “Fine. Get jagged, get choppy, make me lightheaded, go ahead. As long as I am saying the right syllable in and out, it doesn’t matter.”
Now reverse the process and say the Yahd and Vahv on the out-breaths and the Hehs on the in-breaths. Think of all the masculine & feminine symbolism that goes with ins and outs, taking energy in, absorption vs. throwing it out, projection, manifestation. We will use that “reverse” method in several of our clergy techniques later, such as the Sending of Solace / Healing to people or groups. But for the true YHVH Breath-chant technique you must breath IN on the Yahd and Vahv and out on the Hehs. There is a great mystery behind this, going all the way back to Creation. Remember Adam and Hava (Eve)? They received the breath of life from the masculine member of the Creator team while their bodies were made up of the “clay” or “dust” of the earth, the energized matter of the Great Goddess. Matter is infused with her ruach, or spirit. Ruach (also spelled Ruah) is a Hebrew word which means basically, Holy Spirit, or life-giving wind-spirit. One of our Initiates, Saules Meita wrote:
“Ruach” — Spirit or Wind. It’s more “stormy” sounding than the words “Breeze” or “Wind”, takes a lot of air just to say it! There’s some days that I feel like I am caught up in a whirlwind, too, whether from too many activities, or sometimes when praying, when I hit that sort of trance-like spot, the “center” and feel the power of the Spirit in the world around me and within me.
Adam Kadmon and Hava Kadma (the Kad- titles are used in kabbalah) received God’s OUT breath, with one of their own IN breaths and then they released outward (in order to share in the life of the living) the Ruach “stored” in their previously lifeless, but nevertheless made of matter, bodies.
This exercise is quite intimate and part of a personal relationship with the Deity. During our IN-breath we receive from God (male) his OUT breath, and then our out breath occurs as we release our own personal Ruach-Spirit which, feminine, is infused throughout our bodies (matter is feminine, too).
Here is modern Indian-born yogi Nandhi’s description of the wondrousness of in and out breaths: “The breath is held as a song with each breath more deep with the need to merge with the divine. Elongated deep breath with the urge to merge in the divine provides the ‘intoxicating’ feeling and in turn allows for even deeper breathing as an inward whirl into the divine. Drunk in this divine, set yourself free of the thoughts and in that emptiness alternating in fullness, feel the presence of the divine within yourself.” — http://www.nandhi.com/yogitip2.htm
How does it work?
This exercise is so simple. Just keep breathing, saying the names of the letters in your head. Soon they will start to blend into Heh Vahv Heh Yahd. Let the sounds turn into a wheel: Heh Vahv Heh Yahd Heh Vahv Heh. Eventually the sacred Ineffable Name will be “whispered” to you. You will suddenly know how to pronounce it. It is an unexplainable mystery how the Ineffable Name comes to you in this state.
However, Dr. Katia will here lamely attempt to explain this unexplainable phenomenon. It’s all about phonics. Think of teaching a child how to read. If they know the alphabet sounds, or at least the
names of the letters, you can help them sound out the words. The process for reading the word BOOK sounds like this: “Buh uh uh Kuh—makes BOOK!” And “Suh Puh Ahh Tuh—says SPOT!” The word, as if by magic, pops into their understanding. I believe this is the same way that the Ineffable Name comes to us during the YHVH breath-chanting exercise. (Sorry for the Hooked on Phonics lesson.)
During the days when a Temple stood in Jerusalem (called the temple period), only the High Priest (Kohan Gadol) knew the Holy Name’s pronunciation. Actually, his successor was also possesed of it, when his training was complete. The High Priest spoke the Name only once a year, in the Holy of Holies, on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
People have spent lives and fortunes just to be told the pronunciation of the Ineffable name. In the Middle Ages, Christians, Jews and Muslims believed the pronunciation had awesome powers, called the “power of the Name.” The term Ha-Shem, used by modern Jews, is Hebrew for “The Name.” Modern Jews won’t even say YHVH, because it is considered so sacred and ineffable a sound. In the Middle Ages, many seekers incorrectly believed Jewish sages and rabbis all knew the true pronunciation. Some Kabbalists claimed they knew the secret and many sold it, but what their customers received were only the garbled mispronunciations which we are all familiar with: Yahweh or Jehovah. Of course it’s not possible to buy the secret name.
It is interesting to note that in Sanskrit / Hindu traditions, the Sacred Ineffable Name is called simply “Nama.” In Hinduism God/dess names are repeated over and over; that’s where mantra chants come from. Sanskrit is more akin to English than Hebrew is, and we can clearly see that our word Name came from Sanskrit “Nama.” English is an Indo-European language after all. Sanskrit is said to be the grandparent of all Indo-European languages. Judeo-Christianity is a Semitic desert religion, with the Hebrew language as its base. Hebrew, Arabic and some others are members of the “Aramaic” language family. “Semitic” is an ethnic term, not a linguistic one. Celtic Paganism, Teutonic (and Norse) “heathenism,” sometimes called “the Old Religions,” and Buddhism are Indo-European religions based on Indo-European languages. This is probably why these religions are so appealing to westerners and often resonate more fully with Anglo and European genetic memories than the three desert religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam). The challenge is to combine the Western and Eastern esoteric teachings and throw in our Northern European religious heritage, too. Luckily our ancestors wouldn’t give up all their pagan-heathen customs and what we call Christianity is a hybrid Christo-Paganism.
Buddha spoke a language like
ours.
Jesus may have used the Greek language when teaching quite a bit more than scholars used to think. Greek was the commercial language of his day. He may also have used Hebrew, the formal temple and synagogue language, but most likely he taught the masses in the common tongue, Hebraic Aramaic. There is also a Syriac form of Aramaic and since Yeshua was from the farthest northern section of Israel–Galilee of the Gentiles, he may have had plenty of Syrian blood in him. Either way, Aramaic is a NOT an Indo-European language. It’s an Indo-Persian one. (!)
Buddha, a sanskrit-speaking teacher from India, did teach in an Indo-European language and had a mindset similar to English speaking peoples today. It was only over the centuries, after Buddha’s death that Buddhism lost its its original “Indian feel” and took on the far eastern flavor that it retains today. That’s Chinese buddhism. But Tibetan Buddhism as espoused by the Dalai Lama, is awesome stuff and very close to the Buddha’s original teachings from 500 BC. Buddha taught his followers to “do away with desire to avoid further suffering” and to “relax the stomach”–why torture yourself and wear your body into an ulcer and a heart condition. Look around and end suffering, your own and that of others. Because of the Eastern feel of Buddhism, westerners sometimes have to work hard to make Buddhism “fit” into their interior life. However, some Buddhist teachings still resonate strongly with us and are identical to Yeshua’s Way.
If you are intrigued with Hinduism / Vedanta and Tibetan Buddhism being similar to earliest Christianity, you simply must read the book,
The
Gospel of Mary Magdalene (written in 150 A.D.) translated and with commentary by Jean Yves-Leloup.
Buddha Breathing: an advanced technique of
the YHVH Breath-mantra.
Buddha’s “relax the stomach” teaching is very important in everyday life. Constantly ask yourself, is my stomach relaxed? It hardly ever is. When you have mastered the YHVH breath-chant you may wish to try the advanced technique of Buddha-breathing. Buddha-breathing is simply relaxing your stomach, even distending it a bit, while breathing. You should breathe with your diaphragm not your chest. Like the natural deep breathing of an infant, your belly not your chest rises and falls when you Buddha-breathe. The rib-cage is a limited confined space, and cannot expand to accomodate true deep breathing. When you Buddha-breathe you drop your diaphragm down, rather than pushing it when chest breathing. Our tendancy is to chest breathe, which is improper and leads to chest pains when doing mystical breathing exercises. Remember, the Buddha is often depicted with a pot-belly in statues, even though in real life he was a thin fit guy. The statues are not supposed to be there to tell us what he looked like. They are billboards. Textbooks. Those pot-bellied Buddhas remind us of his famous teaching to keep a relaxed stomach and to breathe with the belly, not the chest. Buddha taught that not only are tension and stress the enemies of spiritual magik/enlightenment, but they are the enemies of life itself.
Breathing Exercises can be a
pain–literally.
Breathing exercises can be difficult for many people, and even cause chest pains in advanced adepts. Whether you personally have these difficulties or not, it is important to note that the Yahd-Heh-Vahv-Heh chant is much
more than a breathing exercise. Remember, the YHVH mantra-chant has the power to reveal to you the Ineffable pronunciation of the Name. Try every way you can to connect to this revelation. Make it your first choice of personal mantra-chants. Try repeating it over and over to the rhythm of any four-beat song. You will find that the chant will become automatic in your thoughts. You can adjust the rhythm to match your mood. Anytime you feel agitated or anxious, you can speed the chant up, saying a Yahd-Heh-Vahv-Heh once every second. Then to reduce your agitation, you can gradually slow the chant down and watch yourself become calm. Another useful way to internalize the Ineffable name is through walking meditation. Take a walk and chant Yahd-Heh-Vahv-Heh to the rhythm of your steps. Say the Hehs with your left footfalls, and the Yahd and Vahv for your right footfalls. The more time you spend repeating this mantra, the closer you will become to the power of this divine Name. Try these suggestions and see which exercises work best for you. Find ways to work this mantram into your day. You will find that it is worth the effort!
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