LESSON 11
The Seven Zones and the Ruler of the First
This is a more theoretical lesson, with two goals: to give you some time to consolidate the practices you have learned so far, and to deepen your understanding of some of the main concepts involved in this system of magic.
This lesson is about an intelligence known as a Ruler, as you certainly saw mentioned in the Pymander. More specifically, it concerns the Ruler of the First Zone. If you don't remember what the Zones and Rulers are, go back and read the Pymander again.
As you study this lesson, you will perhaps be confronted with ideas and concepts that are either totally new to you or of which you do not have a very clear grasp. You are expected to do some research in order to have a good understanding of what is being explained here. One of the risks of self-teaching, even in a guided study program like this one, is to fool yourself into believing you "know enough" about a subject. However, with a weak grasp
on basic concepts, you will eventually give up on your studies because the more advanced lessons will sound perplexing. Remember that you are responsible for your own learning. Never be ashamed to go back to previous lessons, and only advance to a new one when you are certain to have learned what all the previous ones have to teach. While you study this lesson, keep up the practices from previous lessons as much as you can. Keep writing on your journal, and perform the Rite of Opening at least once a week.
THE SEVEN ZONES
Hermeticism emerged at a time when the Ptolemaic system was the standard theory on astronomy. Ptolemy proposed what is now known as a geocentric model of the universe: the Earth would be at the center of the cosmos, with the planets of the solar system (and the sun itself) revolving around it and the more distant stars placed beyond. The text of the Pymander does not mention Ptolemy or his work directly, but many students of Hermeticism assume, not without reason, that it subscribes to the Ptolemaic model. Let us examine why.
In his book called, among other titles, Almagest, the Ancient World astronomer Ptolemy gives an explanation of his cosmology. This is a purely scientific treatise, heavily based on math, Aristotle's cosmology, and Ptolemy's own observations. In this book, Ptolemy represents the universe as having the Earth immovable at its center. It also establishes the Earth as a sphere, with a spherical firmament revolving around it. Ptolemy then pictures each astronomical body in the solar system as occupying a perfectly circular orbit, with the orbits stacked like spherical layers. The order in which these layers, os planetary spheres, are arranged is given by Ptolemy as follows: the Earth at the center of the universe; surrounding the Earth, the sphere of the Moon; surrounding the sphere of the Moon, the sphere of Mercury; and then, successively stacking outwardly, the spheres of Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Finally, enclosing all planetary spheres, Ptolemy envisioned an additional sphere holding all the immovable stars: the constellations, of which he identified 48.
The scientific work in the Almagest was so groundbreaking that it remained in use for over 12 centuries, until it was challenged by Copernicus. Its pervasiveness and importance, as well as its origins in the 2nd century Alexandrine milieu, already support the idea that Ancient World Hermeticists would adopt it as a basic model of the universe.
In the Pymander, we indeed find some evidence that Ptolemy's model was at least partially adopted. The "enformer" or "craftsman" which creates and organizes the planetary spheres. In the G.R.S. Mead translation of the Pymander, we find this explained so:
And God-the-Mind, being male and female both, as Light and Life subsisting, brought forth another Mind to give things form, who, God as he was of Fire and Spirit, formed Seven Rulers who enclose the cosmos that the sense perceives. Men call their ruling Fate.
Whereas Copenhaver translates the same passage as:
The mind who is god, being androgyne and existing as life and light, by speaking gave birth to a second mind, a craftsman, who, as god of fire and spirit, crafted seven governors; they encompass the sensible world in circles, and their government is called fate.
In this passage, we can see how seven Rulers or Governors are created which are somehow responsible for the fate of mortals and also "enclose" or "encompass" the cosmos. This understandably suggests the planets (including the Sun and Moon) that were supposed to orbit the Earth. Furthermore, Copenhaver uses the phrase "in circles" to describe how the Rulers encompass the sensible world. This suggests further likeness to Ptolemy's astronomical model. Mead does not speak of circles in his translation, and that may be due to his aversion to astrology, which also leads him to avoid zodiacal references in his translation. John Michael Greer comments, on his introductory notes on "The Sacred Sermon" text in Mead's translation of the Corpus Hermeticum:
...one of Mead's few evasions can be found in section 12, where he relates the twelve Tormentors to the "twelve types-of-life". This should more simply, and more accurately, have been translated as "the twelve signs of the Zodiac". The Theosophical distaste for astrology may well have been involved here.
Considering the textual evidence above, you will not find it difficult to understand why certain occultists consider the Zones mentioned in the Pymander as corresponding to the planetary orbits in Ptolemaic astronomy. The Western Esoteric Tradition incorporates this correspondence, and you will often find texts on magic that deal with "planetary" metaphysical concepts. Sometimes you will find tables telling you which Angels or Archangels rule over each planet, or which planet has power over which day of the week; sometimes, the Ptolemaic sequence of planetary orbits is applied to the Kabbalah, and then you find notions such as "the sefira Yesod is the Sphere of the Moon." This is to say, Ptolemy has been a very influential figure in the Western Esoteric Tradition.
A similar concept applies here, in the magical system you are studying. There is a part of the cosmos that is organized in seven Zones ruled by seven intelligences, the Rulers. You do not need to understand these intelligences as the planets of the solar system, as the gods of the Greco-Roman mythology, or as Abrahamic angels. In fact, there are a number of confusing missteps you run the risk of making if you try to force such associations into your study. There is no strict need to anthropomorphize or personalize the Rulers, and I advise you to avoid doing it at first. At least in your first efforts, try to think of the Rulers as abstract forces that push the cosmos towards certain phenomena and contingencies. Their interplay results in the world we experience at every moment: We call their ruling fate. You should NOT try to interact with the Rulers at all. Pray to God only, and ask It to determine that the powers of the Rulers may be manifested through your thoughts, words, and actions in daily life.
In later lessons, you will learn more and more about the role of the Zones in mundane life and in the metaphysical model you are working with. For now, be content with what you can learn from reading the Pymander and the basic instructions in this lesson.
THE FIRST RULER
The Ruler of the First Zone is the intelligence most closely connecting the natural/physical dimension of the cosmos with its mental dimension. These two aspects of the universe are not isolated from each other, however we need to conceive them as separate "worlds" or "planes" in order to understand how they interact to make up the cosmos we live in and experience. The First Ruler can be better explained at this point in terms of bi-dimensional lines. Imagine two lines intersecting at a right angle, i.e., two lines forming a vertical and a horizontal axis. Each "arm" of this cross will represent one of the main actions of the First Ruler in the cosmos.
Beginning with the vertical axis, if we imagine that the First Ruler has an "upwards" action and a "downwards" one, and that the upwards action means a movement towards the Divine, while the downwards action means a movement towards material nature, we can define this Ruler's action as one that binds our consciousness to the material world--making it possible for us to experience it in its own terms and also see ourselves as individuals--while also allowing us to transcend those bounds if we wish to do so. The power of the First Ruler is Gnosis, the virtue that conquers Ignorance (of divinity).
In this sense, the First Ruler can be said to be an intelligence of religion, piousness, mysticism, spiritual knowledge, prayers, meditation and divination. It is also a preserver, to some extent, of what keeps our consciousness from being too diffuse to be able to function as an individual. In this sense, the First Ruler is an intelligence of mysteries, secrets, fate and destiny, fortune and luck, and other limitations to our knowing.
Examining the horizontal axis of our diagram, and assuming that this line shows a "forward" and a "backward" movement, the former towards a Detachment from the useful binds and limitations of mortal life, and the latter towards a recognition of those limitations as inevitable and/or natural, we can see the First Ruler as an intelligence operating the complementary ideas of mortality and immortality, of births and deaths, of material necessities and psychic freedom from such.
In the performance of your Rites, you will often recite the motto of the First Ruler: Quaerite primum regnum. This is a Christian Latin saying that can be found in the New Testament. Do a bit of research on the phrase and its possible meanings, and try to understand how it expresses the action of the First Ruler in the cosmos and in your life.