Hell, p.21
Hell, page 21
After removing her robe, she took a seat, a bundle of frazzled nerves. She had so many questions she didn’t know where to begin. Finally she settled on the broadest, “What is this place? what do you do here?”
“This is an establishment of singular importance, built specifically for the enabling and working of high-level ritual magicks.”
“Magic?” Tat asked, trying her best to sound skeptical, but inside she was gripped with excitement; could these women help her to understand her power after all?
“Not like what you’re thinking, we are not witches or any such nonsense. Ever heard of Qabalah? Hermetic Alchemy?” She spoke sarcastically, as if it was a foregone conclusion.
The single word Tat recognized was the last. “Alchemy? Like the Aurum Solis?” She recalled the name from the letter Yurgis had received that morning.
“We do have ties to that paltry organization, though we are largely independent, due in part to our grant from the crown. And frankly, the workings we perform here are far more efficacious.” She boasted, draping one leg over the sofa arm and kicking off her shoes.
“What is Alchemy?”
This question was met with shock, “Are you joking? Or is this a test?” The questioning look on Tat’s face was answer enough. “You are the daughter of Maria Seldeen, granddaughter of Esion himself,” Tiphareth scoffed, unbelieving. “Have you been taught nothing?”
Instead of meekly apologizing, Tat felt anger rise within her, “I have not led the sort of life you’re imagining. Until yesterday I’d never even met my mother, never even knew she still lived! So, no, I’m sorry, I don’t know what Alchemy is.”
“Wait, you met Maria yesterday? Who is your father?”
“Just answer the damned question.” Tat growled.
Tiphareth lay back with a frustrated sigh, “You want the long answer or the short?”
“I guess the short.”
“Turning lead into gold, is what the history books would have you believe. This is a metaphor meant to appeal to mankind’s intrinsic greed, thereby attracting those who need its teachings most. The true aim of Alchemy is the perfection of the soul. In the beginning, all souls are as lead; base, largely worthless. Through a torturous process, that lead may be transmuted into the noble gold of the earthly manifestation of divinity.”
Too confusing, Tat decided, changing the subject.
“Who is Kether?”
“She is the best of us, the shining jewel in the crown, our leader, if you will.” She spoke these words without the slightest trace of jealousy.
“Tell me about the magic you perform here.”
“Alright, but to one with no prior knowledge this may be hard to follow so I’ll start slow. In Qabalistic philosophy there is a structure known as the Tree of Life, a pattern of ten nodes called sephiroths, connected by twenty two paths. These nodes represent archetypal energy fields upon the way of return from the physical to the source. The pattern as a whole representing the energetic path of divinity as it descends into physicality in an unbroken continuity through the four worlds.”
“I’m afraid you’ve already lost me.”
Tiphareth reached into her discarded gem-bag, pulling out a sheet of folded paper. She rose and approached where Tat was seated, squeezing in next to her on the settee.
“This is a diagram of the tree, it should help you get a better idea.”
As she leaned close, her breasts brushed against Tat’s arm. Whether the contact was deliberate or accidental was impossible to say. She was so close that Tat could smell her hair. It was so unexpectedly intoxicating that she pulled back, scooting away slightly and focusing her attention on the paper. Only pure thoughts...
She saw an arrangement of ten circles, three triangular groupings organized into three columns with one lonely circle at the bottom. They were all connected by lines denoted by numbers and strange letters, Hebrew, maybe.
“Now, know that this building is a near-exact approximation of this diagram built in three dimensional space, the four floors representing the four worlds and hallways and staircases joining all the chambers. My spiritual sisters and I, ten in number, each take our name from one of these sephirah based on the archetypes we correspond with,” starting from the bottom she touched each in turn. “Malkuth, Yesod, Hod, Netzach, Tiphareth, Geburah, Chesed, Binah, Chokmah and Kether.”
“How does any of this help you do magic?” Tat was losing her patience.
“Settle down, I can’t very well explain a thousand-year old esoteric thought system in five hundred words or less, can I? I shouldn’t even be telling you any of this, it is not my place to educate you, but after what you did for me… I’d like to return the favor.” She laid a hand on Tat’s knee.
She stiffened, scared to death. Was Tiphareth trying to seduce her? Instantly seized with the impulse to run, to get as far away as she could; this was unnatural, a perversion. With a fair amount of difficulty, she overrode this primitive flight instinct and forced herself to calm down. Trying her best to act casually, she demurely brushed the hand away under the guise of adjusting her robe; she needed more information.
“I’m sorry, please go on, I won’t interrupt again.”
If Tiphareth registered the rejection, she didn’t show it, drawing slightly closer to Tat, closing the gap left by her earlier withdrawal.
“This physical world all around us is named Assiah, it consists of everything you have ever seen, heard, smelled, tasted and touched. But, there is another world immediately beyond the physical, known as Yetzirah, the astral plane. It is where we go when we dream. There, human thoughts and intentions have great creative power, and semi-permanent structures and channels can be constructed by those with sufficient energy and will. Using these structures, one can make contact with the world of Briah, the realm of archetypes.”
Tat remained silent, allowing her to go on. Her soft, musical voice, painting a fantastic picture of a hitherto unknown reality, worming its way into her mind…
“Over the millennia, human dedication to, and worship of, various Gods and Goddesses coalesced into substantial thought-structures in Briah. If enough people devote enough thought-energy over a long enough period of time, these structures become imbued with Auric flowing directly from the highest world of Atziluth, where resides the unlimited potency of Divine Mind. This endows these god-forms with a rude, inorganic consciousness, a distinct existence, separate from the humans who created and maintained them.”
The hand found its way back onto her knee, and began to wander… at the same time, another reached up, brushing her hair back behind her ear…
Her heart was racing.
“Our purpose here is to mentally construct astral temples and channels through which we may contact and treat with these autonomous god-forms, thereby gaining access to the very font of creation itself. To achieve this we harness the most potent force at our disposal. Human sexual energy.”
She leaned close, kissing the hollow of Tat’s throat.
With those three little words, it all fell into place. The rundown neighborhood, the high security, lack of windows, Geburah’s focus, and the distinctly sexual nature of the energies running through this place…
“You’re whores!” She cried, breaking the spell, pulling away and standing up.
Tiphareth managed a laugh, though her face bore an expression of hurt frustration. “Well, you certainly don’t mince words, beautiful one. Now that you’ve figured it out, please, regale me with your condemnations and puritanical beliefs. Tell me how I’ve offended your delicate modesty. Tis nothing I haven’t heard before.”
Tiphareth’s complete, unrepentant lack of shame was shocking. Tat was at a loss as she felt her outrage fizzle and turn back upon herself. Who was she to judge this woman? At least she was clear about who and what she was. Tat instantly regretted her outburst.
“I apologize. I was out of line. Please forgive me.”
“For what? Telling it like it is? We… I… allow men, and yes, women as well, to ravage my fair body for monetary recompense. But, something far more important than their money is received in the process. When two people couple, their auras merge and there is an ungoverned exchange of Auric, the universal creation-force. Normally, during the undisciplined act of sexual intercourse this precious resource is wasted, or worse, used to feed the fires of the ego. We’ve developed our ability to gather it together and repurpose it to more… creative ends. Everybody benefits.”
“I’m afraid I do not share your positive associations with the physical act of love.” Tat replied, disgusted.
“The physical act of love? Are you for real?” Tiphareth asked, giggling. “Was I ever so innocent?”
Tat didn’t much care to be made fun of, though now was certainly not the time to reveal the substantial reasons behind her hatred of her own sexuality; she remained silent.
Tiphareth must’ve sensed she’d offended her, “I’m sorry Tatiana, sometimes I forget the feelings of others. It’s a defense mechanism. The fact is, you helped me feel something today. Something incredible, something I’ve never experienced before, and I’ve realized now that I don’t want to settle for anything less ever again…”
A crash startled them both as Hod and Yesod practically tumbled into the room. Hod was upset, pale cheeks flushed with color. “Here you are. We’ve been looking all over for you and of course we find you here, keeping her all to yourself.”
“What can I say? Guilty as charged. A shame you had to come along and ruin all my fun.” Tiphareth playfully countered, coquettishly licking her lips.
It was timid Yesod who spoke up, “Now be nice, you two. Anyway, we’ve kept Kether and Maria waiting for nearly ten minutes, which is nine minutes too long. Tatiana, please accompany us if you will.”
“You stay.” Hod commanded, as Tiphareth lay back on the settee with a sigh.
They ascended the highest floor by means of a massive spiral stair that directly linked Tiphareth’s chamber with Atziluth. Flanked by Hod and Yesod, acutely ashamed and confused, sure that they knew what Tiphareth had tried to do, afraid that they would think she herself was like that. The mural of the high priestess on her throne betwixt the twin pillars of good and evil seemed to judge her, and find her wanting...
“I’d like to personally apologize for Tiphareth’s actions. We’re not all like her… that aggressive, I mean.” Hod’s doe-eyed expression, seeking to hold her attention.
Yesod’s evaluation was a little more academic, “You must forgive her. Though she is a wonderful person with a good heart, her sphere is that of the archetype of beauty, and I fear she sometimes unknowingly slips into its qliphoth, vanity and desire.”
Here Hod once again took up the dialogue, “The last thing we want to do is frighten you or drive you away. You are Seldeen, and as such we owe you more than we can ever repay.”
“Did either of you know my grandfather?” Tat asked, desperate to change the subject.
“I had the honor of meeting him on several occasions,” Yesod replied. “I replaced the previous Yesod about four years ago, three months before Esion died.”
“I’ve only been here for two years. I never got to know him.” Hod lamented.
“Well, Hod, that is something we have in common,” Tat flashed her a forced smile which was enthusiastically returned. “What was he like, Yesod?”
She lit up, pleased to have something to add, “If I had to say, I’d describe him as a king without a crown... no that’s not quite correct. A king that needed no crown. The most amazing, yet frightening, person in the world,” there was a dreamy look in Yesod’s eye as she remembered him. “Anywhere he went he was the center of attention, practically radiating power and elegance. The thing I remember about him most were his eyes. When he looked at you, it was like he could see into your soul, like there was nothing you could hide from him.”
Tat would surely agree about those eyes. Having only seen them in a grainy photograph, she could only guess what it must have been like to have that piercing gaze trained upon you.
“Netzach would be the one to ask, though, she knew him best.”
Tat could almost feel Hod stiffen. “Netzach scares me.” She said, her voice barely rising above a whisper, as if afraid she might be overheard.
“She’s my own sister, by blood, and she scares me.” Yesod replied.
Before Tat could inquire further, she continued, “Something awful has befallen her, she’s… changed. We fear she’s been possessed by a pernicious spirit from the lower astral. It’s a danger we all face. Yetzirah is teeming with inorganic beings with nothing better to do than to waylay the unfortunate traveler. Having no corporeal forms of their own, they are all eager to experience the earthly delights of Assiah, the carnal pleasures of the flesh...”
Tat couldn’t believe her ears. She’d always denounced tales of demonic possession as pure fantasy.
“Is there any way to help her?” She inquired.
Yesod was fast-becoming distressed speaking of her sister’s affliction, “Everything we’ve tried thus far has failed. The worst part is, ever since her change, she’s never been more powerful, and she exhibits a voracious sexual appetite that makes her, shall we say, popular with her foci. You will see what I mean when you meet her. She is not dangerous per se, just, abrasively eccentric.”
“Ha! She bit me during a ritual!” Hod exclaimed, pulling at her dress, revealing an unsettling ring of bite marks where her slender neck met her shoulder. They were quite deep, the skin scabbed over where blood had been drawn. “And she raked my back bloody with her damn nails! I swear, she’s like a wild animal.”
They were stopped on the landing below the final approach to Kether’s sephirah. Four pairs of women’s shoes were arranged on a small rug, one pair Tat recognized as belonging to her mother.
“Please remove your shoes, they are not allowed in the Most High.” Yesod requested, making no sign of removing her own.
“Are you two not coming with me?” Tat asked.
“Whatever happens in there is between you and the Supernals,” Hod said from behind her. “While we would love to stay, we have… other duties to attend to.” And with that they each embraced her in turn and descended the steps. Just before passing out of sight, Hod turned back.
“You’re very beautiful, by the way…”
Tat blushed as she watched them disappear around the curve of the stair. In spite of herself, she liked them; she found herself hoping for the chance to get to know them better. It had been so long since she’d had what could be considered a real friend.
Removing her boots as she was bid, placing them next to Maria’s, she climbed the last few stairs, filled with trepidation. Her trembling hand reached out, but before she could knock the door was opened, causing her to shield her eyes as stark daylight flooded forth into the candlelit gloom.
“Welcome, Tatiana Seldeen.”
The woman who greeted her was unlike any Tat had ever seen before. Though still young, not yet thirty, her hair was a blonde so sallow it approached pure white, falling to her shoulders in loose waves like a heavy dusting of new fallen snow; skin so clear and pale that it contrasted not at all with the spotless white gown she wore. It wasn’t until Tat looked her in the eyes, colorless save for a delicate tinge of light pink, that it dawned on her that she was what people referred to as an albino. For several seconds she was stunned, struggling to find words.
“Kether?” She finally managed.
In response, this magnificent woman inclined her head and stepped aside, allowing Tat to enter.
She could see why shoes were not allowed. This sephiroth, much like it’s namesake, was arrayed in brilliant white. Walls, carpet, furnishings, everything was devoid of color, save for the delicate blue of the sky arcing above the rooms vaulted glass ceiling, made all the more dazzling by comparison.
Maria was seated around a table with two other women. One with the long, straight black hair and almond-shaped eyes of the Far East. The other with a shaven head and skin like the deepest night. Neither looked particularly pleased to see her.
Her mother rose, embracing her.
“Are you okay, my treasure? They said something happened to you.”
“I’m fine, mother, really.” Tat replied, her embarrassment softened by the fact that Maria had no knowledge of her abilities, and couldn’t have known what occurred.
“Tell me what happened.” Concern evident on her face.
“Tatiana channeled an incredible amount of Auric directly from Atziluth, and, lacking the proper grounding, discharged it into Assiah,” Kether circled around, taking a seat between the two other women, who continued to eye her warily in silence. “A rare feat, not unheard of, but extremely dangerous.”
Maria and Tat took their seats opposite the three Supernals as Kether made the introductions.
“My left hand is Chokmah, representing the pillar of mercy, in the sphere of wisdom,” the dark-skinned beauty nodded without speaking, her smoldering coal-black eyes never straying. “And my right, Binah, head of the pillar of severity, archetype of understanding.”
Unlike her counterpart, Binah had much to say, “She shouldn’t be here. She has proven herself to be far too dangerous. It will take months to undo the damage she caused here today. And what of the harbinger? We have all seen what her coming shall bring…”
At this, Chokmah spoke up, “What we have seen could be interpreted any number of ways. If we send her away, we could be wasting a singular opportunity. She could lead us to new realms of knowledge in the advancement of our art…” Her careful English, colored with a heavy accent that sounded vaguely French.
“At what cost? She’s already nearly killed Tiphareth.” Binah shot back.
