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The Game of the Twelve Rays

by Frater Pyramidatus

© Copyright 2011 Brian Adam Newman

(Note Bene – I cannot feasibly copyright a diagram based on the Tree of Life, nor any way of using
it as a board game, or any other application. I simply ask that this document is not copied for
commercial purposes. If someone wishes to market a board game such as this, be my guest, but do
not put my name or this essay within any said product or products. This document may be copied
freely with only nominal fees given in return for printing costs, for instance with a group facilitator
who needed to be reimbursed by any particular group for ink and paper.)

The board is the Tree of Life repeated four times, yet sharing a simultaneous first Sphere (Kether).
The southern section is outlined red, the north black, the east yellow and the west blue. The
individual spheres are filled in thus:

10, Malkuth is black


9, Yesod is yellow
8, Hod is blue
7, Netzach is red
6, Tiphereth is yellow
5, Geburah is red
4, Chesed is blue
between 3 and 4 is Daäth which is black
3, Binah is blue
2, Chockmah is red
1, Kether is white

The pieces are four for each player, 16 in total, a Knight, Queen, Prince and Princess. They are all
either red, blue, yellow or black, according to the perpendicular direction of the player. However,
they are styled differently according to the analogy of chess pieces.

The cards are 16 in number, with each player having four each. Each player has one red card, one
blue, one yellow and one black. One side is identical to the colour, or Element, of the player. So
the player in the red, or Fire, quadrant, has four cards with red on the obverse, yet all four different
colours on the other side.

The object is to move all your pieces, a Sphere at a time, up to Kether (the centre of the board), at
which point you have won.

The rules:

1) The red player moves first, then blue, then yellow and lastly black.
2) Only one piece per player can be on the board at a time, until is achieves Kether; and it is
then replaced by the next piece in the order of Knight, Queen, Prince and Princess. The
exception to this is rule 4). Each piece begins on the outermost Sphere of the board, or
Malkuth.
3) Prediction. Before a player moves the person before him, or her, lays one of the cards, face
down, on the table (not the board). If the Element of the card and Sphere moved to are the
same the player has to move his, or her, piece to its previous position, ie. forfeit a turn.
4) When a piece reaches Kether it may, instead of being relinquished, turn and attack other
pieces. If captured rule 2) takes effect, and the next piece is placed onto Malkuth, otherwise
it must proceed to Kether again to be relinquished. It may not travel back to its home
quarter.
5) You cannot miss a turn.
6) Rule 3) does not apply to taking pieces. Instead Elemental superiority allows a piece to be
captured: A Knight can never be taken on a red station; a Queen can never be taken on a
blue station; a Prince can never be taken on a yellow station; a Princess can never be taken
on a black station.
7) You can only try and block an opponent by prediction if he, or she, has no foreign pieces in
their quarter.
8) Optional Rule. We take a Tarot deck, removing the Tens and Princesses first. Each player
picks one card at random, and the corresponding Path or Sphere is unable to be moved onto.
This part of the board is blocked for all players, including a piece that has foregone
relinquishment in Kether and attacked an opponent. Aces, if picked do not apply, as
blocking the centre of the board is futile to the purposes of the game. If a player is lucky
enough to draw an Ace then his quarter of the board is free, even if the other quarters are
blocked. If a Ten of any Suit is picked, or a Princess, then that player forfeits an entire
game. If all players draw either a Ten, or a Princess, the deck is reshuffled.
9) Optional Rule. The player arranges his four cards, in order from right to left. And this
represent the order in which his, or her, four pieces enter play. They are thus arranged ready
to enter play in a different way, below the tenth Sphere.
10) Points system. This is only useful over several games to gauge the ability of each player
over time. Reaching Kether: Knight 10, Queen 5, Prince 2, Princess 1. Capturing: Knight
15, Queen 5, Prince 2, Princess 1. Finishing: First 100, second 50, third 40, fourth 5.
11) Recording moves:
Earth, or black – L Air, or yellow – M Water, or blue – N Fire, or red – O
Knight – K, Queen – Q, Prince – P, Princess – Ps
Capture – X
Sphere as number, with 'D' for Daäth

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