Sunday, August 4, 2013

Initiation into the Sphere of the Moon: Part II - Some Preliminary Results

Early In July, RO and I performed a ritual wherein I was initiated into the Sphere of the Moon.  It was a wonderfully intense experience and I observed some of the most intense visuals ever – I fully intend to write more about that shortly, but I wanted to actually discuss the results, which came hard on the heels of the ritual.

Since the day in early July that I requested Gabriel’s entry into the Sphere of the Moon, I have been compelled to deal with a problem that I’ve had for many years, hyper-menorrhagia.  The bleeding during my menses is so intense that when I call the insurance nurses for advice, they tell me to go immediately to the emergency room.  It’s frightening and inconvenient, and leads to chronic anemia.  It’s also been going on for years.  Doctors say that there’s no physical cause for it, and all their recommendations for a cure are intrusive and violent, so I have allowed it continue.  Suddenly, I am searching for a solution.

I am doing due diligence with doctors and have updated my nutritional supplements to cope, but I have also become much more familiar with the lore of the lunar sphere.

The Lunar Sphere itself is an idea out of Chaldean theology that comes down to the hermetic magic community as the place where ideas from God’s mind are actually brought into form.  This makes sense because of the Moon’s relationship with “increase and decrease;” i.e. the polarities that make motion and create bodies.  Macrobius says in his Comments on the Dream of Scipio:

 “…from the sphere of the Moon, it acquires the strength needed to propagate by the generation and increase of bodies. This lunar sphere, which is last and lowest with respect to divine bodies, is first and highest with respect to earthly bodies. This lunar body, as it were the sediment of celestial matter, at the same time is found to be the purest substance of animal matter." (Ch.XIl) 

Later he states:

“The Moon is the nearest planet. She receives and transmits to the observer the action of all the other celestial agencies.”

Therefore, the Sphere of the Moon is the place where we receive bodies upon creation – the funnel of the energy of all the higher spheres into Earth-life – but is also sexual in nature.  This is mapped onto the Kabbalah as the sephira of Yesod and into the chakra system as Swadhisthana chakra.

An appetizer about Yesod, from Wikipedia:
“The sephirah of Yesod translates spiritual concepts into actions that unite us with God.
It is often associated with the Moon, because it is the sphere which reflects the light of all the other sephirot into Malkuth, and it is associated with the sexual organs, because it is here that the higher spheres connect to the earth.
It plays the role of collecting and balancing the different and opposing energies of Hod and Netzach, and also from Tiferet above it, storing and distributing it throughout the world. It is likened to the 'engine-room' of creation.

The archangel of this sphere is Gabriel, and the Cherubim is the Angelic order.

Yesod was taught to be the sephirah of Sabbatai Zevi.”

The Swadhisthana chakra is the one a couple of fingers higher than Muladhara and is the sexual/creative chakra.  It is tied with the unconscious, with emotion, with the element of water, with the sense of taste and with sexual reproduction.  Wiki says with regard to this topic, “The location of Swadhisthana is just in front of the spine, in the sacral region, and its kshetram or activation point is in the pubic region. Being connected with the sense of taste, it is associated with the tongue, and being connected with reproduction, it is associated with the genitals.

It is often associated with the testes and ovaries. These produce the hormones testosterone or estrogen, which are important factors in sexual behaviour.”

Now it’s getting very clear how this entire concept relates to the symptoms of irregular menses.

This chakra also pertains to unconscious desires, especially sexual desire.  Because of this, it is allegedly very difficult to raise the kundalini shakti (energy of consciousness) above the Swadhisthana chakra.  Fully open and operational Swadhisthana is said to bestow the yogic super-powers of freedom from all enemies, eloquent speech and awareness of astral entities (still looking to attribute this statement).  In kundalini yoga, there are two bandha (locks) that support the development of the Swadhisthana chakra vajroli mudra (contraction of the genitals) and ashvini mudra (contraction of the anus).  There are also asana and various pranayama that are recommended.

On a more mundane (but highly related) note, gushing menses are related by some alternative health practitioners to a condition called estrogen dominance.  This is (massively oversimplified explanation to follow) the state of the system being out of balance with excess estrogen or deficient progesterone.  Being in this condition can be caused by too much estrogen, of course.  This can be a hormonal problem or it can be exposure to xenoestrogens.  People with ordinary modern habits are exposed to many estrogenic compounds in their environment and diet (factory meat, insecticides, certain kinds of plastic…), so this is not an unlikely cause.  In addition, some of us are not spring chickens anymore, and progesterone production has been measured to decrease with age.  If you’re me, the impact of all these entwined factors is my dramatic symptom. 
An interesting thing – the liver is the chief processor (read removal mechanism) of excess estrogen.  If it’s busy processing beer or drugs (yes, even those that the doctor gives you), it is measurably less efficient at estrogen removal. 

So, what will I be doing about this?  Well, on the mundane level, I guess I’ll be drinking more water (i.e. fewer martinis), taking iron and using topical progesterone.  I’ll also be working toward a more complete understanding and experience of the Lunar Sphere, and having some heart-to-heart conversations with Gabriel.

Note: I’m not a medical doctor.  If you’re having issues like this, get information from your doctor, your body and from reliable medical sources.  Don’t do what I’m doing without having conducted your own research.

Blessed Be Thou

photo by Harper Feist, please don't use without permission.