In the 21 Stages, we can see from the diagram that before we move on from each stage to the next, we first look back and consolidate the work that we have done so far, completing the various triangles which connect the Sephiroth. Broadly speaking, stages which fall directly on particular Sephiroth represent definite levels of awareness, in the same way that the Sephiroth represent definite principles. The paths which connect them represent the activity of that awareness in its development.

With these basic principles to guide us, we can attempt to describe a journey in awareness portrayed as a return path from Malkuth to Kether. This begins in Malkuth and follows through 22 stages. As one is a stage of preparation, we speak in practice of 21. Here we describe the return journey as far as is practical for us, which is as far as the place of Daath. These may be described as seven steps, one for each Sephira from Yesod to Daath. (On the higher scale of the Ladder it is seen see that as we reach a stage of genuine knowledge - as distinct from theory - each Daath or Knowledge stage is transformed into a Yesod or Foundation stage for the next level or world above).

(The whole arrangement of the 21 stages properly belongs in the world of Yetzirah on the scale of the Ladder as delineated in Part Three. The significance of this cannot be over-emphasised). To reiterate what has been said elsewhere, the four worlds have a direct correspondence in the Christian tradition, which may be expressed thus: Heaven (Atziluth); Paradise (Briah); Purgatory (Yetzirah); and Hades (Assiah). If we choose to equate Hades with Hell, as is sometimes done, then is this not an accurate description of the world in which we find ourselves? The classic descriptions of “Hell” leap out at us every day from our newspapers and television screens. We call it “The News.”

Who is to blame for the evil conditions and events which continually take place?
The atrocities and horrors of this or that war in this or that part of the world? The rape and torture of women and children? The ever-increasing ability of human beings to devise “better” ways and means of inflicting the greatest possible agony upon each other? What kind of God, many people ask, created such a world for us to inhabit? The answer is, or course, that no kind of God did any such thing. We have created these conditions ourselves, and it is our responsibility to change them. For each one of us, the only change we can make practically is a change within ourselves. It is easy to see that this or that world leader, dictator, politician, political movement, etc., is to blame for this or that condition or sequence of events. It may be that the blame we so readily apportion truly belongs where we allocate it, but allocating blame does not change things.

As long as there are human beings ready to perpetuate such evil, and other human beings who are willing to allow it to take place then it will continue as it has done for centuries. If we are honest with ourselves as individuals, we will acknowledge and recognise that we all, each one of us - and especially ME - has the capacity for evil, possibly as great as the most evil person in history. If we have any hope at all of changing the world order, then the first and most practical place to begin is on our own doorstep, that is with ourselves.

This, according to the Teaching, is the work which we each undertake in the world of Yetzirah, of Purgatory, of Purification. One way of depicting this work is shown by means of the 21 stages. The arrangement outlined here differs from works based on the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its derivatives. Any method, however, that is based on the Tree of Life will show a progression in reverse order of the “lightning flash,” as the present arrangement of the keter does with the Fool of the Tarot. The 21 stages do not attempt to show a progression into the highest spiritual levels.
This is due to the relative position of the 21 stages on the larger scale of the Ladder, to be delineated in Part Three. They go, in fact, as far as the “Daath” of Yetzirah, which then becomes the “Yesod” or Foundation of the world of Briah, Creation, or Paradise.

The value of this is that it provides a practical guide to those who wish to chart their own progress without the necessity of consulting self-styled Masters or Adepts. Another advantage is that it is most practical to begin with an arrangement of what is available to us, namely, the Sephiroth of Yetzirah. What immediately follows is, therefore, a partial system of the greater teaching of the Ladder, though it can be used independently.