The Cosmic Language

In Franz Bardon's third book,  The Key to the True Quabbalah, he lists
twenty-seven cosmic letters.  These letters are the building blocks from
which nature, man, and spirit have been created.  They are the link
between matter, energy, history, consciousness, and spirit.  Bardon
explains a very specific way of training with cosmic letters and says one
lifetime may not be enough to master them.
    The idea of a magical language which embodies both awareness and power
is not new in any way.  Language, in many ancient traditions, was imagined
to possess magical powers.  Almost every major esoteric tradition offers
its own version of the way in which the spoken word, the holy sounds, are
the source sustaining all that exists and from which everything arises.    
     In the Hindu and Tibetan tantras, the chakras or psychic centers in
our bodies embody different letters.  For example, one of the Sanskrit
letters "written on a petal" of the second chakra, the psycho-sexual
center, evokes the dream state of mind.  On the one hand, the psychic and
auditory vibration in this letter/sound grants the power to perceive from
within the depths of the inner psyche.  And, on the other hand, here is
also a temptation or invitation to rely on daydreaming, fantasy, and
flights from reality as a way of finding a brief feeling of release.  
     For the ancient druids, there was a secret alphabet based on the
trees called Ogham. There are now several decks of Tarot cards out which
attempt to reconstruct this system.  An example of a letter in this
language,  according to Liz and Colin Murray in The Celtic Tree Oracle, is
Duir, a word in Gaelic and Sanskrit, which stands for "solidity,
protection, and the Oak tree." Although representing the month of May and
the fertility of Beltane,  the Oak also symbolizes the druid whose wisdom
is the still center of the seasons of life and the changing nature of time
and history.  
      In Hebrew lore, the letters of the alphabet are magical powers,
symbols, and also keys to different spiritual domains.  The Chinese
characters are used by magicians in Taoist monasteries to accomplish
different magical feats.   And I mention  in the story of Istiphul how a
Tibetan priest had a student visualize one letter pertaining to the throat
chakra for six hours at a time.  In one Tibetan tantra, the Kalachakra, a
single mantras includes within itself the vibrations for each of the
psychic centers in the body as envisioned from the point of view of the
enlightened mind. 
     In Bardon's system, the context and reference of the letters are not
the possession of any particular culture as much as they are intended to
represent the energies and states of consciousness of all that exists
within our solar system from the densest matter to the highest spirit.
And so we are back to our example of the mage who knows the magical name
of the spirit with whom he works.  If he has sufficient skill, he can
"call" the spirit using its name the way we can dial a phone number and
talk to someone we know or the way we can get in our car and drive to the
house of friend.   
    If I want to order, for example, some art work--a set of artistic
postcards--I can go to a store or call a certain number, give them my visa
card number,  and then receive what I ordered through the mail.  A charge
is placed against my account but I get what I want.  If I have dialed the
right number and understand what I am doing, the other party is very
pleased to work with me.  It fulfills the other's life as well.  
     I can also learn art and make my own postcards.  I do not need to go
to another party and rely upon their skills and available resources to
fulfill my purposes.  Magical language is similar.  The letters summarize
the skills, awareness, and powers used by all spirits through the whole
spectrum of natural and divine activity.  I do not need to actually work
with a spirit because I can, through my own initiative and practice with
the cosmic language, acquire whatever skills that spirit possesses.  
   But on a practical level, if your son wants to learn soccer, he might
do better joining a soccer team and learning under a coach than kicking
the ball around a field by himself.  Some things are best learned in
association with others. Similarly, to master particular letters, I often
will meditate with a spirit who has that letter in his name.  Some
spirits, of course, are fully competent in working with all the letters.
Still, when I am stumped in trying to understand the nature of a
particular spirit's abilities, I often refer back to the letters in its
name as a way of gaining the insight I need into how it perceives things.
     Let's take a look at the first letter, "A."  Since these letters
correlate the microcosm--the human being--with the macrocosm--the
universe--the letter "A" has a reference in the human body.  It is
analogous to the chest and specifically to the lungs.  In acupuncture,
individuals who have trouble with their lung meridian may have the feeling
of anxiety or being held back as if someone is pressing against their
chest.  With the meridian open and the energy flowing freely there is a
feeling of moving unhindered and with balance into the future.  The letter
"A" encompasses this personal/physical set of sensations, feelings, and
life force as well as far more.
     As with each of the letters, the letter is an energy combination or
fusion generated from concentrating on a color, sound, and elemental
sensation.  With "A," the color is light blue,  the note of "G" on the
central C scale, and the sensation of weightlessness.   By working with
three sense concentrations at once, a greater amount of the brain is
employed. And there is also a dynamic tension, at times, set up between
the color, sound, and sensation depending on the extent to which these
three concentrations blend harmoniously or generate energy through a
polarization of opposites being bound together. 
     The letter is not, then, a function of or derived from any cultural
image or even any human thought, symbol, or conception.  It is simply an
energy field which is extremely malleable and susceptible to being shaped
by consciousness and will.  At the same time, it amplifies energy.  The
stronger your concentration the more of it you create.  
     Still, each of us will find these letters bare strong analogies to
much that is already familiar to us.  The particular color, for example,
may relate to a specific planet and it may be very easy for you to relate
the letter on different levels to different forces active in nature.  If
you want to develop your will power, something the spiritual world is
always screaming at me to do, you can study those letters which have a
fiery hot sensation in them.  
     And yet, the entire system is extremely flexible as it must be if it
is to be able to represent and embody the energies of the universe.  For
example, you can also explore will and power through mastery of certain
letters relating to water.  The undine Istiphul is very empathic and
inviting..  But her aura, like a magnetic field in an electric power
plant, generates energy when masculine force comes near to her.   Her yin,
receptive nature amplifies the subtle electrical energy in a man's body.
Though her beauty is analogous to that of a loving woman, her female
polarity can assemble the charge that causes lightning to strike. 
     To put it another way the cosmic language is a summary of the entire
set of mystical and magical experiences which exist on earth and
throughout all spiritual domains.   Though pure energy and awareness, each
letter also contain within it very specific realizations which can be
distinguished clearly from each other. 
     Bardon also insists on practicing the letters on four levels, the
akashic, the mental, the astral, and the physical.  The akashic level of
awareness is a state of mind which penetrates through space and time.  You
imagine you are able to perceive and be anywhere and that your
consciousness is a vast, limitless expanse of awareness.  
    In working with the akasha, there is no need to be shy or timid. There
is no premium for feeling unworthy or separate from the divine world.  You
practice at perceiving and acting as a divine being.  You join yourself on
the akashic level to Divine Providence, to spirit, to light, to the
imagery of the enlightened mind, however you wish to express it.  
    But again, this is what a magician does.  You seek to embody within
yourself the principles, ideals, and energies of  universal and cosmic
order.  As a result, you begin to act with the creativity of the divine
world--slowly, step by step, your presence begins to reflect the power,
the beauty, the order, the harmony, and the love inherent in  the
universe. 
    Akashic Level.  The letter "A" on an akashic level represents cosmic
wisdom and illumination and the purity of ideas in their most universal
and clearest conception.  Let us consider this briefly. When I practice on
this level, I get that feeling that I have been exploring various Buddha
realms.  There is in the blue light a feeling of the expansive openness of
the sky. There is no end to the open spaciousness of the mind.  There is
no need for reference points or limiting perspectives.  There is a sense
of freedom which is boundless, unobstructed, and indestructible. 
    Of course, being able to enter into a meditation like this does not
mean in any way that you are able to bring your mystical experience back
into your life so that some of this wisdom carries over and transforms
your personal affairs.  Buddhist teachers like to insist on learning to
"stabilize" our spiritual realizations so that they become a permanent
part of us and are always present.  And so learning to master such an
energy takes a great deal of patience and commitment. 
   Here is an illustration.  If we meditated with Aziel of the Mercury
sphere, the "A" on the akashic plane of the earthzone, we would get that
sense of Mercury with its emphasis on being a spokesman for the light and
its interest in mental vibrations.  Aziel might say, for example, during
the meditating, "This is what it is like to walk in and follow a path of
light.  This is the harmony which the mind can create under all conditions
of life."   
    Mental Level.  Practicing the "A" on the mental plane leads to a
brilliant, crystal clarity in mental thought, perception, and
understanding.  In other words, the depth and vast expansiveness of
awareness on the akashic plane is now brought down into the way we
actually think.  The mind is then both detached and, in the same moment,
astonishingly receptive to and capable of understanding all aspects of any
problem or situation. 
    The "A" in Jah-Hel's name, for example, the sixty-second spirit in the
Mercury zone, can be applied to the mental plane.  In this case, you would
do more than practice imagining your mind is vast and clear like the sky.
He would show you how to rest your mind in a space of  luminous
self-awareness which encompasses everything that exists.  In terms of
human brain waves, Jah-Hel is merely focusing on how  the light-blue color
oscillation has this mode of perception inherent within it.  When it comes
to mental clarity, every being, no matter its nature or evolution,  shares
in common with all others a power which arises from the spoken letter of
"A."
    Astral Plane.  Now if we were just to sit in a monastery somewhere or
an academic institution working on these two previous planes, we could
become an enlightened guru or a brilliant and inspiring scholar.  But when
it comes to interacting with and engaging the world around us, we would
tend to be abstract and distant.  
    The amount of influence and the power in our connections to others
would remain limited.  We might be overly formal and bound by the idea of
some role, perhaps that of a sage, which we might imagine we are enacting.
An angel visiting us amid all our career and teaching successes would then
whisper in our ears, "You have failed to be fully alive."
     The energies of the astral plane bear the images, sensitivities, and
delight which enables us to feel animated--to embrace each moment as it
arrives.  The energy and awareness of "A" on the astral plane increases
our artistic, musical, and poetic abilities as well as the gift for
eloquence.  Because the air element has such acute sensitivity to faint
and distant vibrations, clairvoyance and also telepathy can be awakened.   
    Thie emotional sensitivity in "A" is like a gentle wind that is able
to flow through a tree touching every leaf with a delicate and exquisitely
tender caress.  Its nature is to mold itself to each situation softly
penetrating it without losing its own balance and lightness.  Though the
emotional involvement is completely immersed and absorbed in whatever it
is attending, it is also able to simply move on whenever it wishes.  
     Empathy of this caliber does not experience sorrow, regret, loss, or
the feeling something is missing after having given all of itself.   The
music in its soul is in harmony with the way life chooses to unfold in
each moment and not in what it seeks to control.   There are times when an
injection of the astral air element into our emotions is all that is
needed to lift us out of his depression, self-absorption, or obsession.
This level of delight, freedom, and playfulness sometimes appears briefly
in the enactment of a  little tradition that exists in Ireland--in a
chance encounter of musicians, e.g., at a bus stop.  Though complete
strangers, they will sit all night and play Celtic music until dawn like
those who have fallen under an enchantment. 
     The sylph Parahim is a good example of a spirit who embodies the "A"
on the astral plane in her aura.  She has the enchantment of a musician
who understands the magic of tones and who is also an intimate lover.  The
astral presence of this spirit takes the energy of your soul and blends it
into a feeling of peace and of being relaxed and free.  You feel like you
are in a realm that is beyond all sorrow and loss.  You can feel your body
actually vibrating inside as if she is the wind and your feelings are wind
chimes.  Great bards, poets, and Sufis are often intoxicated with such
astral wine--they see the beauty of the world and they let the fragrance
and taste of this beauty fill them with a love not known on earth. 
     Physical.  On the physical plane, the "A" relates to the chest,
breath, movement of prana as well as to the activities of the air element
in nature.   Its energy is buoyant, uplifting, and vitalizing.   The air
element can act as a protective force field in that it has the power to
neutralize other influences as in the idea of levitation in which the
force of gravity is suspended.  
    In astrology, an  Aquarian, in some cases, has the ability to
associate freely with many different kinds of people from all walks of
life without feeling the least bit uncomfortable or uneasy.   He
synchronizes his mind with the another's thought patterns and talks to
them in their own words without having caused any disturbance or argument.
He is physically comfortable and feels balanced in the presence of
conflict. 
      Summary: In this brief synopsis of the letter "A," I have discussed
the air element and given examples of its influences and activities on the
four planes.  The idea for a magician is to be able to work with all four
planes.  He joins eternity and time, the divine and physical
manifestations.  On the akashic level, an individual joins himself through
meditation with the light of akasha and Divine Providence.  With "A," he
perceives the harmony of the universe.  
     On the mental plane, he brings this awareness of boundless light down
to where it is active within his thinking and mental perceptions.  His
mind is open and clear.  And on the mental plane we consider what things
need to be done and the time frame in which to accomplish them.  We
consider the needs of the world from the perspective of eternity.
    On the astral level,  the light of akasha manifests as the ability to
embrace fully each moment in life as it arises.  There is sensitivity and
celebration of beauty and harmony.  Yet art, as an example of astral
sensitivity,  also possesses the ability to fill in for what is missing in
our lives.  Consequently, on the astral plane we create the feeling and
the vision of how we want the physical world to be.  A dream, like a
powerful work of art or intense feelings, speaks to us about the way we
live our lives--it inspires change.   
    Individual can talk about utopia or the way the world should be.  But
not much happens unless they embody that dream within themselves--unless
they live and feel its presence and its joy in every moment.  The
individual who can do this is generating the magnetic attraction which
help make the dream become real.
     On the physical plane, the three previous planes are woven together
into something permanent and which has enduring influence.  This can be,
for example, a manuscript which remains as a source of inspiration for
future generations.  This could also be the power of wisdom to take hold
of difficulties and so fill them with light that the tensions and negative
consequences dissolve in the presence of this illumination.  Community,
peace, and wisdom are then turned over to the next generation rather than
war, hatred, and illusions.