Estadística inferencial

In the teachings of the Golden Dawn taken from the Zohar, it is clear that the Nephesh has two functions: one. as we have described, is fixing the subtle energies into the physical body, and a second Is similar to the astral body that can project and be separate from the physical body for a period of time. From this we can say that there is a "higher Nephesh," or an ethcric body that relates to the sphere of Yesod, and a "lower Nephesh,"

or an etheric body that is strictly the framework the physical body is built on and nourished from.

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The solar plexus seems to be the most commonly rcferrcd-to physical location where they meet and interact. The solar plexus acts as a general psychic and physical tuning fork for the body (taking the energy generated from centers below and distributing it), as well as the most common place for projection of consciousness, or astral projection.

From the solar plexus, the ethcric energy and lower pitched psychic energy is distributed across the etheric body into the physical, as well as its connecting link to the

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astral, through the seven primary psychic centers, or chakras, and their corresponding nerve plexuses in the body.

The primary function of the Nephesh, or etheric body, is to regulate and pass on energy, and also information, between the physical and psychic planes. This works in both directions, as energy that is directed toward the body produces health and well-being. The energy that is directed toward the higher pitch of the ethcric, or lower psychic, produc es visions, flashes of psychic response, and clairvoyant images, particularly in response to persons or objects in close proximity.

On an energetic and psychological level, the etheric body deals exclusively with creative energy. While this is referred to as libido, or sexual drive, the quality and quantity of energy utilized is far more than physical. Its creative power is not limited to forcing the union of egg and sperm. This creative impulse is what lies behind every action we undertake—and even our very drive to be. It is the hidden psychic seed forcing our Becoming through action.

When wc act, we create, if only in some small way. When we do not act, we are dead, inert, or impotent. We can still our body to create with our mind,just as we can still our mind to drive energy into the body to create with it, either through sex or through activities in the physical world with physical tools and products. Whatever it is. this energy is in us. It continues to How into and through us, anil it must be utilized, or blockages are created. These blockages become the basis for physical and mental-emotional illness,as has been documented by Freud,Jung, Reich, and others.

This cthcric energy is absorbed from two places: the nutrients wc consume as food and the air we breathe. From our food, our body derives nutrition and takes in the etheric energy of the plant or animal eaten. This energy can only be used for physical health. As the saying goes,⁴⁴ You arc what you cat." Etheric energy from the air comes from the energies of the sun, which vitalizes the air and, in turn, vitalizes us as we breathe. This is easily demonstrated by the fact that the energy of the air, or niter of alchemy, is highest in the spring and summer months. As such, the cthcric energies of the air arc affected by astrological cycles. This energy is unified as it emanates from the sun and is polarized upon reaching our atmosphere. This polarity gives rise to what we call the elements, or four divisions of cthcric energy: fire, air. water, and earth.

It is easy to see, then.as this energy forms the four dense vibrations that give rise to physical life. Their energies are individually identifiable and yet are so intermingled that an experienced adept can "breathe in" the cthcric elements of water and earth for emotional and psychical health just as easily as eating chocolate or a nutritionally rich meal. We can also see why alchemists keep referring to the Secret Fire hidden in the

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earth. This fire is both the real molten core beneath the earths mantle and the solar energies that condensed to form all of life as wc know it.

Because the etheric energy is further refined into the various elemental expressions, it is also affected by the dux and cycle they experience across the day and across the year. This daily fluxing of energy begins with sunrise, reaches its apex at true noon, or the actual midpoint of the sun across the sky,and continues into the evening and night. This divides the day into four major zones, each with its dominant element or etheric energy. Each of these zones can further be subdivided through groupings of hours and minutes, ad infinitum to the point at which the cycles happen so frequently that they are useless on the practical level. This is identical to the idea of planetary hours, except it uses the elemental (etheric) energies rather than the planetary pulses.

From this it can be easily understood why color,sound,and smell (the core elements of ritual) affect the etheric body, first through the emotions of the astral and then into the etheric and then physical body, as well as why physical stimuli of heat, warmth, cold, wet, or dry affect the body and, through it, stimulate the emotions in the reverse direction. By understanding these interactions and using them consciously, we become more efficient 111 our daily life and take greater control of our health and happiness.

One of the more interesting aspects of the psychic body as it relates to the physical form is the concentration of energies around the heart and the radiation of energies from the hands and fingers. These two points have the greatest of practical applications in spiritual healing for ourselves and others.

The Heart

The heart is the means whereby the etheric energies of the sun. absorbed through the air, enter into the bloodstream and circulate to the organs of the body. It contains the most powerful energies in the body next to the sexual organs. When combined, these two sources of material (earth and water) and spiritual (fire and air) energy create the Philosophers Stone within the human body. In tlieni, the body becomes the Philosophers Stone.

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144 / Chapters The Hands

The hands are the chief means of projecting energy into the world, both physically and psychically. Just as each side of the body has a dominant charge of negative or positive, so does each hand. Each hand also has dominant fingers. Eliphas Levi stated that the thumb and first two fingers of each hand arc the most powerful for emitting energy, and as such they arc the most often used in blessings and healings, as can be seen on icons and religious statuary. Each finger also has a dominant charge of etheric energy.

Knowing this, we can be specific in the type of energy we arc giving to a person, if need be, and we can also know where to find its source. Earth and water w ill come primarily from Malkuth, as will the passive aspects of breath: fire and air and the active aspects of breath w ill come from Kcthcr. In short, a sort of Hermetic pranayama can be easily developed to demonstrate this relationship of the ethcric elements to the breath and their root source.