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Kabbalah:
Kabbalah is a way of understanding all aspects of ourselves and is a rewarding
guide for personal and spiritual development.
Based on a map of consciousness called the Tree of Life, Kabbalah, or Qabalah
(an alternative spelling), is relevant to modern everyday life, offering
greater freedom and fulfillment through including the experience of both
our spirit and shadow sides.
Want to know more about Kabbalah, Qabalah and the
Tree of Life?
What is the difference between Kabbalah
and Qabalah?
Is non-Jewish Kabbalah authentic
or not?
What group courses do you offer?
What books can I read about Kabbalah?
Do you have any articles I can read
about Kabbalistic topics?
What does Kabbalah say about sex
and parenting?
Is Kabbalah a kind of therapy?
What is the link between Kabbalah
and Christianity?
What are energy bodies and how
does Kabbalah describe them?
What does Kabbalah say mediumistic
or channeled material?
What links do you have to Kabbalah,
Qabalah and related topics?
Want to know more
about Psychosynthesis?
Psychosynthesis brings together the two traditions of psychology and mysticism.
Psychology is then infused with a sense of soul and meaning, whilst the
mystery traditions benefit from the grounding and reflective qualities of
psychology.
Psychosynthesis is a practical system which is not about the application
of techniques, but learning to live with a vision that comes from deep within
oneself.
What is Psychosynthesis?
(a longer answer)
What group based courses do you offer?
What books can I read about Psychosynthesis?
Do you have any articles I can read
about Psychosynthesis topics?
Can I have Psychosynthesis counselling
or therapy?
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sites?
Anything we haven't covered, please let us know
Available Now!
Psychosynthesis:
The Elements and Beyond
everything ypu need
to understand and use
the visions and technques
of psychosynthesis
Path of the Nose and Mouth
is the 14th Path on the Tree of Life
On the Tree of Life, both the internal and external structures of the nose
and mouth are attributed to the 14th path, which also corresponds with the
Empress tarot card and the letter Daleth. The primary concern of both the
nose and mouth are the act of breathing. Many (even most!) systems of spiritual
development attest to the importance of learning to breath properly, or
in a particular way. Often at the beginning of exercises, particularly in
groups, I make a joke, telling the participants not to try breathing in
any special yogic way but just allowing their own breath to enter and exit
the body easily at its own rate. Of course, the hidden joke in this is that
this is the most esoteric way to breathe! And, interestingly, it is the
most difficult.
For all breathing exercises, unless otherwise told to do something different,
it is a good idea to keep your breathing connected: that means, as soon
as all your breath is out, you breathe in, and as soon as it is all in,
your breathe out. (That is, there are no gaps or stops between your in and
out breaths.) Spend a few minutes now just breathing, letting the air enter
your body, fill your lungs, then pass out again easily, without effort.
As you do so, pay particular attention to any holding patterns that you
become aware of in your body. Now place a hand on your belly and breathe
in a way that causes your belly to expand and push your hand away; then
as you breathe out, feel your belly contract and at the end of the breath
use your hand to just lightly push your belly in (and, as it were, the remainder
of the air out). Then as you breathe in again feel your belly expand and
push your hand outwards. Continue breathing like this for a few minutes.
Now place your hand on your chest and do the same, feeling your in and out
breath alternately push your hand away and fall under the (light!) pressure
of your hand. Do you habitually breathe from your chest or belly? Dont judge
one better than the other, but notice which is your habitual pattern. Whether
you usually breath from your belly or chest, consider the other (i.e. if
you tend to chest breathe, then consider your belly and vice versa). What
might you be holding onto in this part of your body?
Now breathe in the fullest way you can for a few minutes. As you breathe
in, first feel your belly expand then your chest until you feel completely
full of air in your whole body. Then effortlessly let the air out until
you feel empty, and repeat the process. Do at least 20 of these full breaths
and note any particular effects, immediately and for a short while afterwards.
There are a series of breathing exercises that connect different patterns
of breathing with the five elements of spirit, fire, water, air and earth.
There are different versions of this, but try experimenting with the following:
fire breath: nose out, mouth in
water breath: nose in, mouth out
air breath: nose in, nose out
earth breath: mouth in, mouth out
spirit breath: mouth/nose in, mouth/nose out
After preparation, do a walking meditation in which you practice these different
ways of breathing. Note any effects.
Apart from breathing, the nose and mouth are also concerned with the senses
of smell and taste. It is said that a dog has somewhere in the order of
30 times stronger an olfactory sense than humans, and some (rather surprising)
creatures, such as for instance a moth, have 30 times greater olfactory
sense than a dog. Salmon are said to find their way from the depths of the
ocean back to a distant river, to their original spawning ground, through
their sense of smell! Smell and taste are chemical senses, receptors in
the nose and tongue responding to chemical stimuli. It is interesting to
note that smells entering the right nostril and tastes affecting the right
side of the tongue pass to the parietal lobe of the opposite, left side
of the cerebrum, and vice versa. This tells us something of the functioning
of the 14th path in the Yetziratic and Assiatic worlds.
Another function of the mouth is for eating. Many of our psychological functions
have a parallel with eating (and eating disorders are not just common, they
are pretty well universal, to some degree or another, with all human beings.)
Hes bitten off more than he can chew; she finds that hard to swallow; the
idea of doing that stuck in my throat; chew on that for a while; come on,
spit it out ... these and other similar well known phrases apparently originate
from eating analogies but are used to describe psychic functioning.
The Mass of the Holy Ghost, or the sacramental supper, involves the imbibing
of commingled male and female essences. To smell, taste, and ingest this
elixir is said to confer magical powers and be the true meaning of the stone
of the wise or elixir of life. The particular charge of the elixir is varied
through the particular state of the emanations involved, for both the male
and female. Kalas are described as the female emanations (or vaginal juices).
Kala is a Sanskrit word meaning star and also perfume. At different times
of the month (the cycle of existence) the kalas vary (after menopause as
well as before.) This is true also for male scent and bodily fluids. The
perfect elixir is said to be sweet smelling like the finest honey, and is
the closest human equivalent to the emanations that pour from one sphere
to the next on the Tree of Life in the creative process. This has particular
relevance to the 14th Path which, joining as it does Chockmah and Binah,
can be considered the primary holding force of the universe. Treat your
breathing, smelling, and tasting with the same significance, and come to
your senses!
Article first appeared in Phantasmagora Journal, 2000
Will Parfitt is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and an experienced
and innovative group leader. Trained in Psychosynthesis, he has more than
thirty years experience of working with psychospiritual development, and
he travels internationally to run courses on a variety of subjects including
kabbalah and psychosynthesis. Will is author of several books
including 'Kabbalah for Life' and 'Psychosynthesis: the Elements and Beyond'.
© Will Parfitt 2006 (v7.1)