The Wand or Lamp, Pyramid of B is one of the most cryptic magical weapons listed in the correspondences of the 32nd Path. The glyph designated by the letter “B” likely refers to Binah—Understanding, the third Sephirah on the Tree of Life—and the Pyramid is its architectural symbol. In this context, the “Wand or Lamp” does not denote a literal implement but rather the spiritual Will (Wand) and the astral Light (Lamp) that have been crystallized into a fixed, triangular form after passing through the Gate of the Abyss. The Pyramid of B is thus the perfected, stable vehicle of the magician's aspiration beyond the Veil of Paroketh.

Position on the Tree of Life

The subject belongs to Path 32, which is the last of the 32 Paths of Wisdom. In the Western Kabbalistic system, the 32nd Path corresponds to Tav, the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and is associated with Saturn, darkness, and the material world as the “Gate of Death.” The Pyramid of B (Binah) is the form that the Wand/Lamp takes when the magician has descended into the densest levels of manifestation. It is the weapon of the Adept who has balanced the fiery Light of the Wand with the receptive, sculpting darkness of Binah.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

Saturn (Shabbathai) is the planet of Path 32. The Pyramid as a structure is inherently Saturnine: heavy, enduring, black, and foundational. The “Lamp” here shines from the base of the world-egg, illuminating the underworld of Malkuth. The “Wand” is the backbone of the Saturnine serpent, the staff of the Old One that measures and sets boundaries.

Historical context

The earliest source for the “Pyramid of B” as a magical weapon is likely the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where it appears in the Book of the Concourse of the Forces (also known as the 777 correspondences). The symbol is descended from the alchemical Vas Hermeticum (Hermetic Vessel) which was often depicted as a triangular flask or a pyramid-shaped furnace for the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone. In Egyptian magic, the pyramid shape was the benben stone—a primordial hill of creation—but the Golden Dawn applied it to the Qlippothic shells. The “B” (Bet(h)) may also be a reference to the Hebrew word Bayit (House), making the Pyramid of B the “House of Understanding,” a matrix for the Oracular Lamp. In the later Thelemic tradition (Crowley’s Liber 777 Revised), this weapon is the material support for the Lamp of the Silent Watcher.

Closing

In table 777 at step 32, the Wand or Lamp, Pyramid of B represents the ultimate, fixed state of the magician's working instruments—the Will and Light condensed into a tomb-like vessel of Stone that serves as the Foundation of the Great Work.