Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
The Pattern on the Trestleboard
Recite, slowly and with realization, a fixed set of eleven affirmations (an opening statement plus ten keyed to the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life) so that their truths are impressed on the mind and lived as one’s settled orientation to life.
Pattern on the Trestleboard: Settle and breathe. Open: “All the Power that ever was or will be is here now.” Then slowly recite the ten statements in order (centre of expression for the Will-to-Good. the Kingdom of Spirit embodied in my flesh), pausing on each to realize it as true. Use daily, ideally on waking. Realize, don’t rattle off; affirm as present fact, not a wish.
What it is
The Pattern on the Trestleboard is Paul Foster Case’s best-known affirmation: a concise statement of his whole Hermetic-Qabalistic philosophy in eleven lines — an opening declaration numbered 0, “All the Power that ever was or will be is here now,” followed by ten numbered statements keyed to the ten Sephiroth (the divine emanations) of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.
(A “trestleboard,” in Masonic imagery Case borrows, is the board on which the master draws the plan the builders work to — so the Pattern is the design of the spiritual life held up for daily reference.) It is at once a creed and a meditational/affirmation technique: B.O.T.A. students recite it slowly each day, dwelling on each statement until it is not merely read but realized.
Read plainly, it is a fixed, carefully ordered affirmation of identity and orientation, repeated daily to impress its outlook on the mind.
The Method
A faithful daily working drawn from Case and B.O.T.A. practice:
- Settle. Sit upright, relax, take a few slow breaths, and bring attention to a quiet, receptive focus.
- Open with statement 0. Say, slowly: “All the Power that ever was or will be is here now.” Pause and let it register as present fact, not a wish.
- Recite the ten statements in order, each one slowly and with attention to its meaning:
- I am a center of expression for the Primal Will-to-Good which eternally creates and sustains the Universe. 2. Through me its unfailing Wisdom takes form in thought and word. 3. Filled with Understanding of its perfect law, I am guided, moment by moment, along the path of liberation. 4. From the exhaustless riches of its Limitless Substance, I draw all things needful, both spiritual and material. 5. I recognize the manifestation of the Undeviating Justice in all the circumstances of my life. 6. In all things, great and small, I see the Beauty of the Divine Expression. 7. Living from that Will, supported by its unfailing Wisdom and Understanding, mine is the Victorious Life. 8. I look forward with confidence to the perfect realization of the Eternal Splendor of the Limitless Light. 9. In thought and word and deed, I rest my life, from day to day, upon the sure Foundation of Eternal Being. 10. The Kingdom of Spirit is embodied in my flesh.
- Realize, don’t rattle off. The point is realization — pause on each line, feel it as true, let its meaning sink in, rather than reciting mechanically.
- Use it daily. Repeat once or more each day so the Pattern becomes a settled orientation; many recite it on waking.
- Carry single lines. A given statement may be taken as a day’s focus, or recalled when its theme is needed (e.g. statement 4 for supply, 5 for accepting circumstances). (Sourcing note: the eleven statements are quoted as Case set them down; the recite-slowly-for-realization daily practice is B.O.T.A.’s standard use.)
Source & Lineage
Case gives the Pattern in The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages (1947) and throughout the B.O.T.A. materials; the ten statements correspond, in order, to the ten Sephiroth of the Tree of Life (Kether/Will, Chokmah/Wisdom, Binah/Understanding, Chesed/Substance-Mercy, Geburah/Justice, Tiphareth/Beauty, Netzach/Victory, Hod/Splendor, Yesod/Foundation, Malkuth/Kingdom).
It carries forward in B.O.T.A. (continued under Ann Davies) and the Fraternity of the Hidden Light, and sits squarely in the broader New-Thought/affirmation current Case knew. → (Paul Foster Case node,.
Common refinements
Rote rattling. The whole value is in realization — say each line slowly and feel it; speed kills it.
- Reciting as a wish. Statement 0 and the rest are framed as present fact (“is here now,” “I am”) — affirm them as so, not as something hoped for.
- Skipping days. It works cumulatively; daily repetition is the mechanism.
- Provoking resistance. If a line feels impossibly far from how you feel, slow down and dwell on its meaning rather than straining to “believe” it; meaning carries belief over time.
- Treating it as magic words. It reorients the reciter; it is not a substitute for handling real material needs.