Deluxe Color Edition

Originally created in 1998, "The Eight Temples Meditation Project" presents a series of eight experiential meditation rituals, one for each of the planetary spheres of the Qabbalistic Tree of Life. Each meditation ritual is focused around a guided experience within a magically created astra-mental Temple which is meant to introduce the participant to the corresponding Qabbalistic sphere. Each chapter opens with an informational section that explains the nature of the Qabbalistic sphere and the intent of the meditation ritual. This is followed by a description of the meditation ritual itself, replete with images. Each chapter closes with a section titled, "Follow-up Work" which contains suggestions for practical ways in which you can make use of and deepen your experience. This is the "Deluxe Color Edition", with 20 color images of the Temples, a comprehensive index and an appendix containing a related article titled, "Beneath An Astral Moon."

From the Author
To my mind, the Qabbalistic Tree of Life is like a map of a foreign country. I can learn some things about this country just by studying the map and I can, to some small degree imagine the topography, but still, the only way to truly know the place is to travel there. To meet the residents, to see the countryside with my own eyes, to smell the air and taste the water, I must do more than just read a book. This is the spirit in which I created "The Eight Temples Meditation Project." Pursuing these eight meditation rituals is the same as taking that journey to a foreign country you've only seen in maps or read about in so many books. And if you want, it can lead to more than mere tourism and become a life-long tool for self-growth. I designed "The Eight Temples Meditation Project" with the student of Franz Bardon's "Initiation Into Hermetics" in mind. Therefore, pursuing these meditation rituals presents no conflict for someone following Bardon's system. It also serves as a good experiential (as opposed to just intellectual) introduction to Qabbalah, whether or not you are pursing the Bardon system of initiation.

From the Inside Flap
THE EIGHT TEMPLES MEDITATION PROJECT: Exploring the Planetary Spheres of the Qabbalistic Tree of Life. A very practical introduction to the specific structure of Western Hermetic Qabbalah. "Each of the meditation rituals is an experience that illumines both the inner and outer significance of the realms explored. The eight astra-mental Temples outlined in the series are designed to become lifelong tools. Once introduced to the Temples, the initiate is free to return to them at any time and pursue further, more detailed work. Thus the astra-mental Temples themselves, as well as the initiate's relationship with them, evolve over time. With repeated usage, their inherent structure aligns the initiate's inner and outer worlds, and establishes the solid, integral foundation which serves as the initiate's springboard to continual self-expansion."

Also by Rawn Clark:

"A Bardon Companion"

About the Author
Rawn Clark lives in Northern California (USA) and is a modern practitioner of the Hermetic Arts. A prolific writer, he is best known for his commitment to the work of Franz Bardon and for his support of modern day students of the great Czech magus.

Excerpted from The Eight Temples Meditation Project by Rawn Clark.

Copyright © 2002. Reprinted by permission.
All rights reserved.

Project Outline
The 8 Temples Meditation Project evolved out of an earlier project in which a small group of us experimented with meeting regularly at an astra-mental locale. That original experiment ran for two years (Nov.'95 through Dec.'97), during which time we learned many valuable, and ultimately practical, lessons about the astra-mental realm itself and about meeting there. [For more information along these lines, see "Beneath an Astral Moon", located in the appendix.] As the experimental phase of our work together came to a conclusion, I considered instigating a new project, one based not upon learning new lessons, but upon proving out and making good use of the lessons we had already learned. Around that same point in time, two different friends spoke of their desire to learn more about the Qabbalistic Tree of Life and about the practical meanings of the planetary symbols.

So, I designed the Project to incorporate both the aforementioned lessons about astra-mental time-space, and my own knowledge of practical Qabbalah and astrology. The 8 Temples Meditation Project ran for eight months -- starting with the late-December, 1997 new moon and ending with the early-August, 1998 full moon. Around the day of the new moon each of the participants received a packet of information in the mail. These "New Moon Packets" each contained an explanatory introduction and an outline of the upcoming meditation. The meditations were scheduled on or near each month's full moon, so all the participants had two weeks to study the written material. During those two weeks, I constructed the astra-mental Temples and then I conducted the meditation ritual as scheduled. Within a week after the meditation, each of the participants submitted a report detailing their experiences. Copies of these reports were then forwarded to the participants in the following New Moon Packet. This particular practice allowed for two things: 1) It allowed each participant to see what others had experienced. 2) It allowed me to gauge the effectiveness of what I was doing, as I was doing it. Each month I analyzed the reports in receipt and used that information to fine-tune the upcoming meditation. The Project followed a standard "Path of Return" approach to the Qabbalistic Tree of Life.

The meditations began with sphere 10, Malkuth/Earth, and worked up the Tree to sphere 3, Binah/Saturn. Each meditation built upon the experiences of the one preceding it, so there is a clear continuity throughout the series. One desire I held for the Project was that it would achieve a balance between "script" and "spontaneity". On the one hand, the earlier group work had taught me how powerful a focusing influence a predetermined structure can have upon an astra-mental meeting. But on the other hand was the equally clear lesson that only spontaneity can raise such a structure from the level of "theatrical delusion" to the realm of true magic. Therefore, each of the meditations includes a period of un-scripted, self-directed time, during which the participant interacts spontaneously with the environment at hand.

I am a magician. For me, this Project is a work of magic. After finalizing their design, each of these eight Temples were ritually constructed out of the astra-mental substance, using all the various magics I am familiar with. Their individual construction took anywhere from an hour to several months to complete, varying radically from Temple to Temple.