Coming off my last post about Qabalah, I thought it would be useful to discuss a passage of the Wake in which the yogic “energy centers” of the body appear. This is another piece of occult beliefs that Joyce probably first encountered as part of Theosophy: in some traditions of yoga (that is, Indian systems of mysticism), there are said to be seven energy centers or “chakras” running down the body, along the spinal cord. In Western occult traditions, a similar belief in energy centers was endorsed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which attributed five energy centers to some sephiroth of the Tree of Life, the central column of spheres called the “Middle Pillar.” The idea is that the Middle Pillar is balanced between the pillar of severity and the pillar of mercy, just as Tipareth (the central sephirah) balances also the spheres above and below it (and thus is the union of the physical and the spiritual, the human and the divine).

Read on for my discussion of Joyce’s attribution of Irish writers to these energy centers.

Allow me first to give a brief description of some beliefs surrounding these energy centers. The next three paragraphs should be taken not as me claiming that these energy centers actually exist but as me laying out the kinds of ideas people have about them. Then, I will note the lack of evidence to support these beliefs but also discuss how the chakras or sephiroth might be useful as symbols or as the basis for imagination exercises whose effects are purely psychological and not rooted in any real “energy.”

There’s a practice that (I believe) originates with the Golden Dawn called the Middle Pillar Ritual, where a magician envisions five spheres of light in the body along the spine (corresponding to the central pillar on the Tree of Life diagram). The practitioner proceeds from the crown of the head to the feet, feeling divine light flowing down the entire body. This technique was used to generate “energy” that could be used for “magical” purposes, such as enchanting talismans to attract certain desired outcomes in life.

This Middle Pillar Ritual is the inverse of a technique in yoga, where a practitioner strives to raise energy from the base of the spine up through seven energy centers in the middle of the body, eventually reaching the “third eye” in the forehead and finally the crown of the head. This energy — called “kundalini” and envisioned like a snake of light — is supposed to “purify” these energy centers and remove “blockages” in them: these blockages are thought to produce defects in the personality that create problems in a practitioner’s life by impeding the flow of energy. By opening the chakras or purifying them, or whatever terminology one prefers, practitioners are supposed to improve their lives.

At the same time, there is a tradition that sees the raising of kundalini as “dangerous”: it is said that if energy is raised too quickly or in an improper way, it could overwhelm the individual and lead to insanity, sickness, or even death. There are no end of urban legends of people who have supposedly gone mad, or who have been met with catastrophes of various kinds, after studying and practicing occult subjects. The Middle Pillar Ritual is considered a “safer” practice because it deals with having divine light come down to flood and purify the body and the material world, rather than raising the individual’s energy up the other way, through the muck of the blockages.

Okay, first things first. There is no evidence that any actual, measurable “energy” of any kind can be “raised” or “lowered” along “energy centers.” The fact that there is no evidence for this does not “prove” that these centers don’t exist…but it does mean that nobody has any good reason to think they exist as a part of the universe (in the way that, say, my chair does). As with any other claim, the default position is to not accept it until there is good reason to do so. That doesn’t mean we should actively believe the claim to be false — just that we should withhold belief.

Let me also say that there definitely are cases of people who get involved in occult practices and end up with mental health problems or other issues. But this appears to me to be adequately explained by several factors. First, self-fulfilling prophecies. Someone really convinced that they are doing something that could drive them mad might just end up talking themselves into having a mental health episode, especially in those relatively rare cases where they have an undiagnosed predisposition for psychosis. Similarly, the mind/body connection could produce psychosomatic symptoms in those who continually tell themselves that their practices might make them sick. And finally, we should not overlook the fact that people who get interested in alternative beliefs often already have significant problems in their life that have prompted them to seek out “magic” or whatnot in the first place as a potential solution. It shouldn’t surprise us that someone who takes up these practices might already be on the verge of various calamities in their personal lives, which would have occurred with or without them practicing “magic.”

All of this is to say: there very well may be a danger associated with the occult, for reasons entirely different than those that true believers give. But I see no reason to suppose that exploring these beliefs or practices, in themselves, is in fact any more dangerous than any other common activity, like, say, learning how to ride a bike.

With that being said, it’s worth noting that these energy centers or spheres or sephiroth could potentially be useful as symbols, providing the framework for thinking about the relationship between different ideas.

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Here are the chakras, and ways of thinking about how to map them to the Middle Pillar:

Muladhara: located at the perineum or the base of the spine. Attributed to the element of earth, the (experience of the) physical world. It corresponds to Malkuth (10) on the Middle Pillar (which is also sometimes placed at the feet). Could be attributed to materialism (in the sense of lust for money or possessions over wisdom), distractions from enlightenment. But could also be associated with physical stability, such as working on one’s health, finances, etc.

Svadhishthana: located at the genitals, attributed to the element of water, corresponding to Yesod (9) (which also connects to the moon, the mind, the imagination, emotions, and the unconscious). Could be attributed to valuing sex over other goods in life, being overly emotional or delusional. But could also be attributed to balancing the emotional life, cultivating empathy, developing a healthy relationship to sexual desire, coming to terms with your sexuality, etc.

Manipura: located at the navel, corresponding to the element of fire. Could be attributed to anger, violence, but also to passion and enthusiasm that can be pressed into the service of positive goals.

Anahata: located at the heart, corresponding to the element of air. Both Manipura and Anahata can be attributed to Tipareth (6), in the center of the body, and associated with the sun (which has connections to both air and fire in esoteric symbolism). Could be attributed to pride, but also to intimate knowledge of yourself, free of delusion, and confidence in yourself.

Vishuddha: located at the throat, corresponding to space (“akasha”). On the Tree of Life, it is the equivalent of Da’ath, which is an imaginary 11th sephirah below the upper three sephiroth. It is placed in the “Abyss” between ideal and phenomenal reality, and it corresponds with reason. If we take the supernal triad to represent the undifferentiated flux of existence, our human reason divides it up into separate “things” and thus produces an actual reality (sephiroth 4-6) and our personal experience and our understanding of ourselves (sephiroth 7-10). Could be attributed to the misuse of reason, valuing thinking of oneself as “purely rational” over having concern for others. But it also can correspond to using reason as an appropriate tool, evaluating reality accurately.

Ajna: the “third eye” in the center of the forehead (sometimes placed between the eyebrows). Associated with enlightenment, seeing reality as it truly is. I might associate this chakra with the flaw of “spiritual materialism,” turning self-growth and wisdom into sources of pride. But it also can stand for seeing through false ideas about the self and the universe.

Sahasrara: placed in the crown of the head, associated with unity with the divine. This chakra and Ajna can correspond to Kether (sephirah 1). This is full self-actualization, the goal of contemplative work.

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As you can see, the sephiroth and chakras can be attributed to many different things, including virtues and vices that people can work on as part of self development. The “raising” of “energy” through these chakras — or, alternatively, imagining “divine light” flowing through the sephiroth and “purifying” the spheres one at a time — can symbolize resolving the character flaws of each one and cultivating the virtues.

Seen in this way, yoga or Western occult systems could be taken as kinds of meditation that help people focus on the practical work of examining themselves and developing habits that benefit one’s life. One need not believe in anything supernatural at all to use them as convenient symbols or enjoyable meditations that keep oneself attentive to self-growth.

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Okay, great, but what does any of this stuff have to do with Finnegans Wake??!

In Chapter II.2 — the one that mentions Qabalah several times and ends with the ten syllables — Shem incenses his brother with displays of wit, which culminate in his attributing various Irish writers to the seven chakras.

After the math problem, Shem/Jerry writes and signs a version of the Letter, “having caught at the bifurking calamum in his bolsillos [that is, he masturbatorily grabs at the pen in his pocket] […] signing away in happinext complete […]  intrieatedly in years, jirryalimpaloop.”

He then bids Shaun to look at the “charictures in the drame,” all the dream people in this work of fiction called life (which is also the Letter, which is also Finnegans Wake itself). Sounding like the guide to the “Museyroom” in I.1, who repeats the word “tip” and the sentence structure “This is ___. This is ___,” he says:

Tip! This is Steal, this is Barke, this is Starn, this is Swhipt, this is Wiles, this is Pshaw, this is Doubbllinnbbayyates.

Shaun’s note in the margin reads,

Force Centres of the Fire Serpentine: heart, throat, navel, spleen, sacral, fontanella, inter-temporal eye.

And there we have it. The seven chakras (centers of the kundalini or “Fire Serpentine”), out of order.

Putting the two passages together, we get the following attributions:

Muladhara (base of the spine, or “Spleen” here): Jonathan Swift (“Swhipt”)

Svadhishthana (the genitals, “sacral” for sacred or for the “sack” located there): Oscar Wilde (“Wiles”), condemned for his sexuality

Manipura (navel): Lawrence Stern (“Starn”) [Swift and Stern often stand for Shaun and Shem; in this attribution, they are positioned on either side of the sexual impulse]

Anahata (heart): Richard Steele (“Steal”)

Vishuddha (throat): Edmund Burke (“Barke,” maybe because he’s all bark and little bite, a conservative “reasoner” who opposed the French Revolution)

Ajna (third eye or “intertemporal eye”): WB Yeats (“Doubbllinnbbayyates,” mixing his name with Dublin Bay)

Sahasrara (crown or “fontanella” on top of the head): George Bernard Shaw (“Pshaw,” a term of dismissal)

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There’s plenty to consider here in these attributions. It could be quite a project to pick one of these writers, read his biography, read up on some of his most famous work, and figure out why Joyce places him at that particular chakra and what the correspondence suggests.

Obviously, Joyce is poking fun at Yeats, Mr. Golden Dawn himself, by placing him at the third eye. But what about his placement of Shaw, an atheist and critic of Christianity, at the highest level? Is this more mockery, or is Joyce suggesting that a skeptic has a more enlightened view of the world than a believer in the supernatural? Or could Joyce intend this as a joke but actually (and maybe inadvertently) reveal something deep? A lot of truth is said in jest, after all….

Attributing Swift to the spleen — which was at one time thought to produce depression — might be related to his supposed misanthropy, or his satire. I’m most intrigued by placing Steele at the heart and calling him “Steal”…but it would take some research for me to come up with an interpretation.

Anyway, I hope this post inspires people to investigate these correspondences more thoroughly and reflect on their connections with literature. As with the schema for Ulysses, which attributes chapters to different body parts, Joyce seems to be giving us a map for connecting our bodies to literature.

I wonder if it would be possible to develop an alternative to the Middle Pillar Ritual or the kundalini raising practices that involves studying literature associated with the different spheres and using this study as a way to focus one’s own self-development. The trick, I think, would be to avoid getting sucked into the delusion that mere reading or thinking or daydreaming on its own is the equivalent of self-improvement. Actual self-improvement requires assessing the self in everyday behavior and making concrete changes to actions. But literature, like esoteric symbolism, could be a useful tool along the way, so long as one uses it properly.