The Abyss, like angelic beings, has been the territory of mystical Kabbalah to the point of almost exclusivity. The complexity of real Kabbalistic training has so many tangles, filters, and dead ends that it can encourage the practitioner to become focussed upon patterns to the extent of truly missing what they are attempting to work with.
Some of that structure was originally woven into the training methods as a safety valve, not only to discourage idiots and casual glances, but also to create a ‘firewall’ from an inner point of view. When you work with an angelic being, you are potentially playing with a ‘nuclear’ type of power. The names, attributes, patterns, shapes, and rituals that are connected to the contact and interaction with such a being filter and form the power that you work with.
So you get a focussed, filtered, power controlled contact that does specific things and does not move out of its structure. Although that is still powerful and dangerous, it is much safer to work with as a magical practitioner.
If you do not use these filters, shapes, and patterns, then you are faced with the true power of the angelic being in all its glory and you have to be extremely focussed, unconditional, and balanced. You also have to be willing to die if it is necessary.
This rule is also true for working in and with the Abyss. If it is approached with its magical filters then it can be worked with safely but in a limited and filtered way. The more patterns, attributes, and rules we apply, the less of the Abyss we are able to access.
And yet accessing the Abyss without such filters is asking for trouble, unless you know what you are doing. Many a hapless magician has been burned to a crisp by reaching down or up the realms of the Abyss in pursuit of power. If you reach into the Abyss for power, it will destroy you in one way or another eventually.
When you reach beyond the surface world in magical practice, you reach into worlds of beings and power. If you reach beyond that level, you begin to touch upon the workings of the universe and the structures/beings that ensure the universe exists and functions (the universal boiler room). If you are stupid enough to think that you can reach into the boiler room to tap into that power for personal gain, then you are an idiot.
If you want to reach into the boiler room to be of service, then you are still probably an idiot (it is extremely dangerous) but at least you are a worthy idiot and with such selfless intent, you will probably be protected to an extent. If humanity does not create its own filters, then the inner worlds will do it for you, and theirs tend to be far more workable.
The inner filters work to protect you from complete destruction, but they will allow enough power though to do the job and teach you something—bear in mind that humanity always learns the hard way. So it can be a very difficult lesson, though usually a very important one.
So what is the Abyss? If you strip all the formal padding away that has been attributed to it, you are left with a multi-dimensional freeway for power and consciousness. The way that we see it when we look at it from an inner point of view is just the way our brains perceive it—it has no real form as such.
The Abyss is a highway from the highest form of consciousness to the lowest: the two extremes meet one another and are of one another. It is mirrored in the tree of life with Divine Being at the top and Humanity at the bottom, so the Abyss is Divine consciousness without form at the ‘top’ and the densest of beings at the ‘bottom.’ If I try to describe the shaping too much I will really get my knickers in a twist, because the dimensions of this structure are many and are beyond our ability to grasp. But here is a simple(ish) pattern to follow (then I can get on with discussing what it does).
Divine Being is at the top, then archangelic and angelic beings, at the line is humanity, below the line is demons, bigger demons and then Divine Being in its densest form (which is also humanity). In between those levels are lots of interconnections, levels of consciousness, and a wide variety of beings. The structure also bends in on itself, so that the top and bottom are the flip sides of one another. Humanity in the middle is our balanced state between good and bad, no form and density—we are the fulcrum in the tree.
When magicians figure this out (that humanity is the fulcrum) many tend to trip out on being the master species. Those tend to be the stupid ones. At the fulcrum is also the rest of our physical world—the animals, plants, etc. Everything that is physically manifest is in our realm of the fulcrum. The other levels are different worlds/states of consciousness—hence shedding your humanity is one of the keys to exploring and working with the Abyss.
In reality humanity tends to veer from that centre line in both directions—so the Satanists dive down and the messiahs reach up (they tend to get nailed to bits of wood if they go too high up…). The goal of Humanity is to stay at that midline—to keep the balance of substance/non substance, good/bad in perfect harmony, and to stay in their own realm.
That is why it is so important when you work deeply in the inner worlds that first you go through the void and shed your everyday world. Then you approach the Abyss unconditionally, without selfish intent, and with proper focus—that way you cannot be dragged to one extreme or the other. This is also the reason why, when you first begin working in the void, you are often asked if you are willing to give up your life. You have to be willing to let go of everything, therefore nothing can be used to seduce you, and nothing can hold you back. If you can shed life within life, then you are a step further on in the mysteries (this is the root of the death-within-life initiation).
Another point to look at with this pattern is what happens at conception—the act of making love reaches through the worlds in search of a consciousness to bring into form. If you imagine that the couple is making love at the bottom of the structure (and also at the fulcrum) they open an inner vortex that stretches up through the Abyss until it reaches as far as it can go. Then a soul tumbles in from that level and falls into conception.
This is the basis for the sacred union: the sex between priest and priestess, Queen and King, etc. Their lovemaking would be focussed with the spiritual intent for bringing through a sacred child. They would go through a variety of preparations for both mind and body, and the act itself would be held in a sacred space. The method used is also mirrored in the mysteries of Tantra.
The flip side of the sacred union is debauched, unhealthy, and unconnected sex, where the vortex does not reach very far up and brings through unhealthy beings.
Faery children are born when the Vortex reaches to the faery realm—one or both partners mediate a faery being while making love so the Vortex reaches up to that frequency.
It is like tuning a radio: whatever frequency/wavelength you are on, that is what you will bring into your body. And it does not have to be a physical child—this can also bring through inner beings when done with intent.
So, back to the Abyss. Not only is Divine Being ‘up,’ it is also ‘across.’ When you cross the Abyss, you are into the realm of Divinity in the process of polarisation and preparing to manifest. To understand this better, look at the Tree of Life: you cross the Abyss and you hit Divinity split into Male and Female (Hochmah and Binah), beyond that is God without Form but in preparation (Kether).
This split into Male/Female is purely for the fulcrum/human realm—we are by nature polarised beings (male/female/positive/negative) as is the world around us. Divinity filters through that polarisation, so that Divinity and Humanity can be aware of each other. The further away a being is from the Fulcrum, the less aware of Humanity it is.
The dimensions and twists of the Abyss can be mind bending: God is up and also across. And Divinity is also down in its most dense twisted form, as is the human form—which brings about the reflection of the ability within humanity for great good or great evil. It depends which part of the pole you are sliding down (or up). The best way is to get blindingly drunk, then it all makes sense.
In practical terms you would work in the boiler room (remember the boiler room?) for specific reasons rather than sightseeing, or personal gain. If you are in the business of creating a sacred or faery child, if you are working with Angelic consciousness, if you are working within the realm of death, if you are an exorcist, a worker in Universal service, or if you are stupid enough to want to stand at the foot of God, or connect with a demon, then the Abyss is for you.
The closer to the fulcrum a being is, the more aware it is of humanity and it is either ‘friendly’ towards humanity or ‘unfriendly.’ The further a being is away from the fulcrum the less aware of humanity it is and is therefore neither ‘for’ nor ‘against.’ Also, the further away from the fulcrum a being is, the more powerful and less physically formed it is, and the less ability it has to manifest in the physical realm. It has to pass down the Abyss towards humanity to appear in our world—hence the angels and demons taking human/animal form.
To work with true angelic form without a human filter, you have to go up the Abyss to its own realm and meet it as an inner being. The same is also true for what we call demons. The two sides of the Abyss beyond the fulcrum reflect for us the two sides of power—threshold mediation power becomes angels and demons, the extremes become Divinity in dense form or formless.
All the levels in between have their own ‘fulcrums’ that appear as tunnels and as the beings of those levels come to the edge of the Abyss, they have their own ‘up’ and ‘down.’ Many a magician has been pulled off track by getting glamorised by the ‘tunnels’ and the beings that exist at those levels. All of the tunnels/levels have a glamour that can draw a human in and trap them in endless meaningless communications, therefore holding them back from evolving. Our spiritual evolution is about being cast ‘down’ and finding our way back ‘up’—falling into physical manifestation and striving to move back to formlessness.
As an exorcist, this boiler room can be especially useful as it enables one to commune with beings at their own level in their own realm as opposed to how they express themselves when they are in our polarised worlds. It is also safer to approach some of these beings this way. The rule of the Abyss is as always though: be focussed, be in service, and have no wants or needs. True clarity and the void within keeps a worker safe in the deepest realms and keeps the inner filters in place.
That is not to say you won’t get the shit hammered out of you—you probably will. But that is just the side effect of working at such depth; it is not from any being attacking you. The deeper or higher you go away from your own realm or the fulcrum, the more of an impact it is going to have on your body. Even though you are working through your mind, the power filters through the physical body and you will feel like you have just built a house single-handed while being beaten with a cricket bat.
So what can go wrong? Oh lots! If you are a skinny, spotty, black clothed, chain-festooned luciferian intent of communing with demons to expand your power over women/groups and get a bigger willy, then one of three things will happen:
1) You will not manage it but will end up connecting with bottom feeder parasite-type beings. This will take you down a path of feeling terribly important and very depressed at the same time. You will become paranoid, depressed, withdrawn, and even spottier (the power flows through your body and will enhance any imbalance, therefore if you were spotty to begin with, it will get worse).
2) If you should happen to have natural abilities and are able to connect with beings, then you may, in fact, connect with a lesser (nearer to our realm) demon who may offer you just what you want and have a good amusing time at your expense, and your willy will not get bigger.
3) If you are truly naturally able to connect with beings you may reach a very deep ‘demonic’ or titan consciousness that will look at you in complete fascination, being unable to work out exactly what you are and what the hell you want. These beings can be disastrous for humanity, not because they are ‘bad’ but because of the sheer power they mediate.
The same is true of going ‘up.’ Angelic beings closer to our realm tend to be worked with in the Kabbalistic patterns (among others). You can also work with them out of those patterns but you do need to be focussed with your intent and concentration (otherwise all that will be left of you is a pair of slightly burned shoes).
If you have natural talent for connecting with beings, you might also reach up quite far and come face to face with an archangelic being (well, not quite face to face; as with the deeper demons, they are rather large) which, like the deeper demon/titan, will look at you with total astonishment before trying to communicate with you. If it does, not even your shoes will be left.
There are methods for working/communicating in both directions with these beings and the methods are simple, direct, and very hard to maintain. If you chose to toss aside the magical structures/patterns and don’t do it via drugs (which is the worst possible way), then working through the void or carrying the void within is your best option.
If you are working from an intention of universal service, then you will have the natural inner filters in place and working through the void will bring you to a fraction of the being you need to work with. (Note the use of the word ‘need.’ When you go through the void, you are connected to what you need for the job, not necessarily what you want.)
If you work through the pattern of the Abyss, take the void within you and the same filters will be in place. You have to try to maintain a balance though—if you are working in the Abyss, work in both directions. This not only ensures that you gain working knowledge of beings on both sides of the ‘fence,’ which is handy in any deep work, but it also maintains a sense of inner balance, which is also important if you are engaging in deep, useful magic.
Those workers who constantly reach up and work only with angelic beings, climbing higher and higher up the ladder of angels eventually stretch too far away from the fulcrum and ‘cease to be.’ This is known as ‘ascending’: the prophet Enoch ‘who walked with God and was not’ for example.
It has become a very popular term in new age circles: “Oh Trudi White Light Angel Flower? Yeah, she ascended after the third workshop.” (She actually went to go live in Wisconsin….)
And what happens if you only reach down the Abyss, going deeper and deeper? Well, I dunno really. I guess you become a conservative politician.
But for sensible, balanced, and powerful work, work on both sides and up and down. Work for true intent and with focus. And by true intent I don’t mean ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ I mean true intent, for a job, something that is not selfish. Good and bad is relative to your culture/religion—it depends on which end of the action you are on. But the difference between selfish and non-selfish acts is a big difference in the inner worlds. Selfish acts will work, but they only work to a point. Unselfish acts that are a part of service to the Universe have almost limitless access to power—it is all down to what you are capable of holding.