The following are the correspondences you need to commit to memory in order to move on to Knight.
The first of many symbols you need to know is –
The Tree of Life
000- Ain- Nothing
00 - Ain Soph- Limitless Nothing
0 - Ain Soph Aur- Nothing but Limitless Light
The four worlds are-
Atziluth- corresponding to- Fire, and Chochmah
Briah- corresponding to- Water, and Binah
Yetzirah- corresponding to- Air, and Tiphareth
Assiah- corresponding to – Earth, and Malkuth
There are two primary magical formulas you need to commit to memory-
The first is IAO-
(I)- symbolizes Isis- The Mother -and it signifies the beginning or birth.
(A)- symbolizes Apophis- The Destroyer- and it signifies the middle or life
(O)- symbolizes Osiris- The slain and risen God- and it signifies the end or death
Related to this formula are—
The three alchemical principles are –Sulfer, Salt, and Mercury
The Three primary Hindu Gods-
Brahma- The Creater
Vishnu- The Sustainer
Shiva- The Destroyer
The Three primary Thelemic Gods-
Nuit- Love
Hadit- Knowledge
Ra Hoor Khuit- Power
The next formula is Tetragrammaton or YHVH-
Another related formula is called either The Abrahadabra, or YHSVH formula (which add a 5th and or 6th and 7th component to this formula) are the elements-
Now we move to the planets, many of the correspondences are also found in the Tree of Life section so to avoid repetition I will not include those here.
Now we will explain a little about the symbols that represent so many more things than we have explained thus far.
To start I will begin with the Cross. This symbol has come to mean many things. To start with there are several different varieties.
The Calvary cross- which is the one used by most Christians-
symbolizes life. This also symbolizes Light.
The equal armed cross-
symbolizes the elements and equality.
The rose cross-
symbolizes the combination of Male (the cross) and the Female (the circle).
The Ankh or Crux Ansata-
symbolizes eternal life.
The Golden Dawn Rose Cross takes most of the symbolism of the Hermetic and Magickal arts and puts then into one symbol, within it you find the elements, the planets, the tree of life including the paths, the zodiac, the alchemical principles and much more. We adopt this symbol as our own not only to show that we are influenced by the Golden Dawn but also the entire Hermetic Tradition.
This is that Symbol-
The next symbol has obvious meaning to us- It is the Black Cross as used by our Order-
It has the symbolism of the Rose cross in infinite proportions as it has the symbolism of the Rose being the Star of Babalon and that of the cross. It is a symbol of light yet it is black. It has a masculine sun in the center with it’s color being the female silver. The primary colors are the masculine red on the female star, and the Feminine Blue on the male Cross. It is also a glyph of the Tree of Life. At the top of the glyph is the Sanskrit Ohm which is the androgynous and eternal god in both being Kether and the combination of male and female. It should be pointed out that it is the white masculine in the outright female black. It has five colors Red= Fire, Blue= Water, White= Spirit, Silver/ or grey= Air, and Black= Earth. So as you can see it combines all of the crosses from above. It is a symbol of light and life= Calvery Cross. It is a symbol of the elements= Equal Armed Cross. It is a symbol of the combination of Male and Female= Rose Cross. It is a symbol of Eternity being a cross symbol of life yet black, a color of Death, and has an Ohm on it= Ankh. It is a symbol of the occult forces especially the Tree of life= The Golden Dawn Rose Cross. It is the True Symbol of our Order.
Moving from the Crosses to the Stars- We have the five pointed star or pentagram
Which not only symbolize the elements but also Man, It is a Glyph of the name Jesus which in Hebrew is YHSVH-
which is the magickal formula mentioned earlier as the elements plus spirit. It in essence is the Microcosm, or the so below part of the statement “ As Above, So Below.”
It extends to the Abrahadabra formula which is made when you extend the Shin to include the three parts of that symbol as IAO making the total number of seven. To show that in letters it would be
Y H I A O V H.
Now we come to the Six pointed star or Hexagram which is a symbol of God, the “As Above” or the Macrocosm. It also links us to the Hebrew Tradition that gave us Kabbalah. As shown above it also symbolizes the planets.-
An extension of both the Pentagram and the Hexagram is their combination, The Unicursal Hexagram which symbolizes God in Man or Man is God depending on your perspective.
The next star is the seven pointed star which has two primary varieties.
The first is the planetary star which is an extension of the hexagram but giving the sun it’s own point.-
The next star is The Star of Babalon which represents the goddess for which it is named. You surely have noticed it frequently in our symbolism.
The symbol also plays a huge part in the symbol of God known as The Sigillum dei Aemeth .-
Now we move to the zodiacal correspondences
This completes the study guide for the student. You should be able with this to learn and understand the symbols that we use within our Order. You should know that the Student Grade is not designed to be a stopping point within the Order. It is a place to learn and give you a taste of the pathway we open to the divine. You should diligently work to learn the simple concepts within this document in order to move on to the Knight Grade. Please ask any member if you have any questions. The symbolisms in this document might be disputed by any number of other texts but this is how we use the symbols, words, and correspondences.
To advance to the knight degree you must take a test that covers all of the information from the serpent and egg to here. You also must be able to set sacred space in whatever fashion you choose, and perform Liber Resh.
Congratulations!!!
En Nomine Babalon
Anpu Azrael Aleph
Grand Hierophant
The Gnostic Order of the Black Cross