Also Sprach Zarathustra: Extras Chapter 7: The Templar System, a toaru majutsu no index/とある魔術の禁書目録 fanfic

Chapter 6: The Templar System.

This page discusses the mystery of the temples and the various things related to it.

The Twin Pathways of Ascension/Descent:

There exists two ways by which one may ascend to Adam-Kadmon or descend to Ahra. They are:

1) The Golden Path:

AKA: The Moral Way, the Unfair Way, the Old Way.

Summary:

Ascension by inner conquest is called the "Golden Way." It deals with refining one's spiritual awareness to higher and higher states (sephiras) to finally ascend into Adam-Kadmon. It deals with internal conquest of one's spirit and soul. Similarly, one can degrade one's spirituality to reach lower and lower states (qlippahs), eventually becoming able to descend into Sitra-Achra itself. This way is called the "Golden Way" or the "Way of the Sage."

Pathway:

There exist two pathways in the Golden Path. They are:

1) The Ascension Path: Malkuth to Yesod to Hod to Netzach to Tiferet to Din to Chesed to Binah to Chokhmah to Keter and then finally to Adam-Kadmon. [This is the Golden route of spiritual ascension.]

2) The Descendant Path: Malkuth to Nahemoth to Gamaliel to Samael to A'rab Zaraq to Thagirion to Golachab to Gha'ag Sheblah to Satarial to Ghagiel to Thaumiel and then finally to Sitra-Achra [This is the Golden path of spiritual descent]

The Golden Path is the proper way of traversing the Trees of Life/ Death. Formed by the forces of Shevirah and Tzimtzum, the Golden Pathway of Ascension has existed since the time of Genesis.

But that being said, it is almost impossible for a mortal to ascend into Adam-Kadmon via this method. This is because mortals, irrespective of what they are, are always transformed into ideas on the stages beyond Chesed. As such, it is also called the "Unfair" Way.

2) The Silver Path:

AKA: The Immoral Way, the Fair Way, the New Way.

Summary:

Ascension by external conquest is called the "Silver Way." It deals with crusading across various Heavens/ Hells to reach Adam-Kadmon/ Sitra-Achra. Rather than spiritual purification, it relates to asserting dominance upon others. Hence it is called the "Silver Way" or the "Way of the Tyrant."

Pathways:

Like with the Golden Path, there are two pathways in the Silver Path as well. They are:

1)The Ascension Path: From Normal to Vilon to Raquia to Shechaqim to Zebul to Maon to Makhon to Araboth and then to Adam Kadmon. [This is the Silver way of ascension. It has nothing to do with sephiras, mandalas or even spirituality. Only one's willpower matters.]

2) The Descendant Path: From Normal to Gehenna to Tzelmoth to Sharimoth to Titahion to Bar Shachath to Abaddon to Sheol, and then finally to Sitra-Achra. [This is the Silver way of descent. Similar to the Ascension Path, it, too, has nothing to do with sephiras, mandalas or even spirituality. Only one's willpower matters.]

The Silver Path is the short-cut for traversing the Trees of Life/ Death.

This is the only way for mortals to keep their sense-of-self intact while ascending. As such it is also called the "Fair" Way.

It didn't always exist, and is relatively very new. The reason/ purpose of its existence or how it came to exist at all is unknown.

Temples:

A place where magical energies of the world congregate into vast spiritual vortexes.

Based on Golden Dawn and Rosicrucian Leylines, it takes the appearance of an independent city-sized world that is cut off from the rest and operates on rules of its own.

The owner of the temple is called a guardian, and the temple bestows upon them limited godlike (reality-warping) powers within its dominion.

In return, the guardian must protect the temple from any and all harm.

In the event of the guardian's death, the temple is liberated, and will lose its power until some other guardian claims it through conquest.

As of now, there are seven temples in the story and each of them are interconnected. The temples are inaccessible for the most part, and only by clearing a lower temple can a person be able to challenge a higher one.

Each temple aligns to a step upon the Silver Path of Ascension. As such it corresponds to numerous Heavens of Kabbalah and Judaism.

It came into existence upon the creation of the Silver Path, and the reason/ purpose for this is unknown.

Although the temples exist throughout all worlds in the Qlippothic Abyss, the entrance to them (i.e— the entrance of the First Temple) appears only in one.

As such it can only be accessed from one single world throughout the entire Abyss.

This world is called the "Chosen World."

Even though it is unknown as to why the entrance to the Vilnius temple appeared at St. Maurice, it is the main reason a lot of Secret Chief powerhouses have been drawn towards the said world.

There are seven temples that correspond to seven Heavens. They are as follows:

First: Thoth=Hermes Temple.

AKA: Alpha Temple, the Vilnius Temple.

Location: Vilnius (Lituania) (Elizalina Alliance)

Real-life counterpart: Thoth-Hermes Temple, Chicago.

Guardian: Elizabeth Bathory.

Silver Path Correspondence: Vilon.

Second: Ahathoor Temple.

AKA: The Beta Temple, the Paris Temple.

Location: Paris (France)

Real-life counterpart: Ahathoor Temple, Paris.

Guardian: Kuznetsova Marina (Book 1), Solon Ehrenstein (Book 2)

Silver Path Correspondence: Raquia.

Third: Ma'at=Heru Temple.

AKA: The Gamma Temple, the Sarajevo Temple.

Location: Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Real-life counterpart: Ma'at-Heru Temple of the Golden Dawn, Greater Toronto (Canada)

Guardian: Yanai Kaito

Silver Path Correspondence: Sheqaqim.

Fourth: Unknown.

AKA: The Delta Temple.

Location: Cordoba (Spain)

Guardian: Solon Ehrenstein (Book 1), Unknown (Book 2)

Silver Path Correspondence: Maon.

Fifth: Ra=Horakhty Temple.

AKA: The Epsilon Temple.

Location: Inapplicable.

Real-life counterpart: Sanctuary of Ra-Horakhty, Amentet [United States].

Guardian: Liber Al Vel Legis (temporary)

Silver Path Correspondence: Makon.

Sixth: Amen=Ra Temple.

AKA: The Zeta Temple, the Heidelberg Temple.

Location: Inapplicable [Heidelberg [Germany] in appearance]

Real-life counterpart: Amen-Ra Temple, Edinburgh [Scotland]

Guardian: Noah.

Silver Path Correspondence: Zebul.

Seventh: Isis=Urania Temple.

AKA: The Omega Temple, the London Temple.

Location: Inapplicable [London [England] in appearance]

Real-life counterpart: Isis-Urania Temple, London [England].

Guardian: None.

Silver Path Correspondence: Araboth.

Fallen Temples:

Although it has not made an appearance in the story, there exist seven fallen temples as well.

This is because, similar to the Golden Path, the Silver Path of Ascension also goes both ways.

Much like how the Temples have manifested themselves as a means to ascend to Adam-Kadmon, so do the Fallen Temples serve as a means to descend into Ahra.

Their locations are unknown, but there are seven of them— each of which corresponds to a Hell in Kabbalah/ Judaism.

Their names are as follows:

First: Urania=Isis Fallen Temple.

AKA: The Alpha Fallen Temple,.

Location: Unknown.