Art and Death

[Zephyros]

The fertility of the Earth is maintained by rain and sun; the rain is formed by a slow and gentle process, and is rendered effective by the cooperation of air, which is itself alchemically the result of the Marriage of Fire and Water. So also the formula of continued life is death, or putrefaction. Here it is symbolized by the caput mortuum on the cauldron, a raven perched upon a skull. In agricultural terms, this is the fallow earth.

BoT, page 100, Art

I asked this in the meanings of the Death card thread, but it was drowned out there, so I thought I would ask this here. I think I've made public my distaste for "New Age" decks that portray Death as Transformation and similar things, and for me, Death has always been Death. Even the Thoth Death, with its "life bubbles" is still Death for me. The putrefaction of old matter, certainly, but not "Transformation" in its "New Age" sense of the word. I wonder if the "birth" aspect of Death is illustrated in the Art card, as the alchemical elements combining in the pot may be losing their own coherency, but are in fact creating something new. This is a far cry from the "traditional" death of ending and dying (similar to the Black Death depictions in the RWS and traditional decks).

Is Crowley saying here that he is the original "New ager?" What then, does Death mean in the Book of Thoth? I have written at length in that thread about how Death is the end and at the same time not rebirth, but birth itself, since in the destruction of one thing, you are actually creating another, but I do wonder as to this hypothesis.

With the sweep of his scythe he creates bubbles in which are beginning to take shape the new forms which he creates in his dance; and these forms dance also.

I'm also sipping some vodka at the moment, so forgive me if I'm not explaining myself completely as I would wish

 

[Maskelyne]

New Age, New Aeon, what difference? I don't think Crowley in any way contradicts the TdM sense of Atu 13, he just puts in in a more explicit perspective. Not having died that I can remember, anything I have to say on the subject is necessarily hypothetical, but I'd say that whether or not death equals transformation depends on one's point of view. For the one who is dying, death is indeed final, the end of one's unique viewpoint on creation. From a broader perspective, however, individual deaths are just a part of the cycle of nature. I think this is implicit in the original structure of the tarot, given that there are another 8 trumps that follow. I generally interpret the Death card as referring to one's awareness of mortality and finitude rather than actual death.

The pop spirituality usually indicated by "New Age" is as debased, simplistic, and delusional as the sort of Christianity that anticipates an after-life spent singing hymns with the angels and picnicking in the park with departed loved ones.

As for transformation, it implies that the essence remains but in a new form. Whether death is transformation or ending depends on what you perceive as essence. From the occult perspective, there is also the death of the self that must be undergone to cross the abyss, which is what Crowley is also referring to. Again, I think you could read this into the TdM. Transcendence is probably a more apt word than transformation here.

 

[Aeon418]

This quote is from Robert Wang's, The Qabalistic Tarot. It may be of use to you.
(By the way, if you haven't got a copy of Wang's book, get it! )

p.181-182

It will be seen that while the Tree of Life has a Path called Death, there is no opposite Path of birth. This can be explained in two ways. The first is that The Devil, which enchains in matter, is in some ways the card of birth. But, more important is the fact that both birth and death are essentially the same transition. As one is born into this world, he dies to an inner world; as one dies to this world, he is born back into the same inner world of origin. So this card represents the symbolic passing through a gateway which is at once the utter destruction of one phase of energy and the transformation of that energy into something else. But the transformation is directed from above. Thus is the Tarot Key called The Child of the Great Transformers. It is also the Lord of the Gates of Death. Nun is not the Great Transformers themselves, he is their Child. Nun is not Death, rather he is the keeper of it's Gates. Herein lies an important principle for the real understanding of this card.

Another symbolism which may be very helpful is an alchemical one. To this Path is attributed putrefaction, the decaying black mass in the crucible which eventually turns into gold. It is the emergence of new life from death. Of the four cards shown, only Crowley's suggests this idea. The Crowley, Golden Dawn, and Marseilles versions all show the skeleton of Death wielding a scythe, a tool of the harvest which is also a symbol of time, and thus of Saturn-Binah, giver and destroyer of Life. Only in Crowley's card does the destructive sweep of the scythe also produce bubbles in which new forms of life are seen to be developing. This is the resurrection which follows the transformation of death. In fact, both Crowley and Mathers attribute the skeleton to Osiris, a god slain and resurrected.

I hope that wasn't too new agey for you.

 

[Zephyros]

I hope that wasn't too new agey for you.

Actually, it's a definitely a thinker, but I think it fits perfectly, thanks
i'll have to think about it and digest it a little, and I'm already working on getting the Wang.
I mean the book

 

[Abrac]

It used to be a popular belief that life came from non-life (inorganic matter or dead organisms). A common example of this is when maggots form on decaying matter. It was thought that the dead organisms were giving birth to new life, but in fact the maggots are fly larvae. Occult philosophy is full of this belief.

I don't know enough detail about Crowley's thoughts on this, but from the examples of his writing you posted it sounds like he's following the old occult beliefs, i.e. life comes from death.

There's no scientific evidence that life can come from inorganic matter or dead organisms. Life begets life.

 

[Aeon418]

I don't know enough detail about Crowley's thoughts on this, but from the examples of his writing you posted it sounds like he's following the old occult beliefs, i.e. life comes from death.

Not quite. The Change we call life and death are the undulations of one Serpent.

 

[Aeon418]

I always like the little verses that Crowley wrote for each card.

Death

The Universe is Change; every Change is the
effect of an Act of Love; all Acts of Love contain
Pure Joy. Die daily.
Death is the apex of one curve of the snake Life:
behold all opposites as necessary complements,
and rejoice.

 

[Aeon418]

Wang's statement that the Devil is, in a certain sense, the birth card is interesting. If you get your Thoth deck out and place the Aeon above the Devil you have a pictorial representation of Crowley's 0=2 formula. Shin-Spirit enters into matter and duality (the testes) to experience individual existence. When it's had enough fun it "ejaculates" itself back through the Gate of Death and returns to the source. What fun!

Incidentally the Hebrew word spelt out by these two cards is O'Sh, Creation.

 

[Zephyros]

I did as you said, and it's far more explicit than I would care to admit, especially as the figure is transparent like... and it's pointing towards Nuit's midsection... well, no need to go on, I'm sure everyone got the point.

But what he said about the Devil really does make sense, especially on the Tree of Life. I always wondered why there was a Death Card, but no Life, and the Descent into Matter makes such perfect sense, I had a d'oh moment, how hadn't I seen it before!

This is affirmed by what is said about the Devil:

On the Tree of Life, Atu XIII and XV are symmetrically placed; they lead from
Tiphareth, the human consciousness, to the spheres in which Thought (on the
one hand) and Bliss (on the other) are developed. Between them, Atu XIV leads
similarly to the sphere which formulates Existence. (See note on Atu X and
arrangement.) These three cards may therefore be summed up as a hieroglyph
of the processes by which idea manifests as form.

And there we have it, the sexual encounter of Art between unhindered Creation on the one hand, and Death on the other, from the beautiful Thought of Tiphareth to the matter of Yesod. That's perfect!

On another note, the cobwebby things in the background of the Devil seem to look like DNA or mitochondria, further establishing the creative Life aspect of the Devil. I wonder if this is deliberate.

 

[Aeon418]

I'm sure everyone got the point.

Actually, that's the big problem. Everyone doesn't get the point because our Ayin/Eye is either closed or looking in the wrong direction and this leaves us with a limited and fearful perspective on life and death. Usually it takes an Eye opening Tower experience to wake us up to the realization that "existence is pure joy!"