On the quabalistic tree of life
C(h)oronzon represents the Guardian of the the 2nd veil, who resides
in the sphere of
Daath.
In the words of Aleister Crowley:
This doctrine is extremely difficult to explain; but it corresponds more or less to the gap in thought between the Real, which is ideal, and the
Unreal, which is actual. In the Abyss all things exist, indeed, at least in posse, but are without any possible meaning; for they lack the substratum
of spiritual Reality. They are appearances without Law. They are thus Insane Delusions.
The 2nd veil is often referred to as the veil or gateway of the
abyss. In order to cross
the 2nd veil is requires conquering the Ego and confronting Choronzon. Which magicians state requires the death of ones self or identity.
Here is a tidbit regarding Da'ath:
"Da'ath," the Hebrew word for "knowledge" and the dreadful "False Sephira" upon the Qabalistic Tree of Life, poised as the apparently
endless gulf separating the ideal reality of the Supernal Triad from the manifested lower Sephiroth ruled by the Fourth. The number of Da'ath is
eleven because it is the "one beyond the ten."
Much has been written about this dimension, often referred to as the Abyss, particularly the Abyss of Reason. "The Abyss of Hallucinations hath Law
and Reason, but in Truth there is no bond between the toys of the Gods," wrote Frater Perdurabo in his blasphemous "Book of Lies." Another favorite
comment of mine on the matter of the existence of the "False Sephira" comes from the rather famous Benjamin Rowe, a modern Enochian magician. I will
paraphrase: He writes that the idea that there is actually an existent eleventh sephira between the crown of the tree and the center is one of the
most damnable deceptions ever perpetrated upon humanity, as the very appearance of Da'ath itself only arises due to the reflection of Tiphareth (the
central sphere) in the gulf around the Supernals.
Of course, Kenneth Grant, once the Outer Head of the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis, would probably beg to differ, as he seems to regard the Abyss as
an actual essential gateway into the parallel universe of the Qlippoth, a realm of the broken remnants of primal reality. Of course, much of the
reason the Abyss often becomes such an obsession for magicians is that many seek to cross it. This is the famed and dreaded "Ordeal of the Abyss."
If one is successful in this task, one's entire personality is annhilated, and one becomes "no-one," and thus, transfers consciousness into Binah,
the "lowest" of the Supernal spheres, and is called a dweller in the City of the Pyramids. If one fails, one ostensibly becomes lost in the Abyss,
and destined to either wall oneself up in a solipsistic prison and eventually be devoured by the Demon of the Abyss, or just give in and be driven
completely insane immediately. Obviously not an Ordeal for the timid or the unprepared.
The name of the Demon of the Abyss is Choronzon, which enumerates to 333 in Hebrew.
A final note, for the interested or curious: The Abyss is sometimes referred to as the Desert of Set.
Just remember when you look into the abyss, the abyss looks also into you.
