7 (?) Heads of the Beast

tink27

From what I understand of John's Book of Revelations - it shows a dragon who heralds the rise of a lion-leopard-bear beast with seven heads who rises from the seas. A second beast with the horns of a lamb comes after the seven-headed beast, and this mysterious creature is supposed to be the number of man. Hence the number 666.

I'm new to Thoth. ravenest wow! what you just described in your last post - it will take me a while to understand. I appreciate your incredible knowledge.

tink
 

Aeon418

ravenest said:
- x) is the satyr and 1) & 7) are 2 versions of the Lion looking at each other (one únsepentized and the other serpentized)
I've always thought that face X was the satyr. The loop behind the eyes look like satyr horns to me anyway.
 

ravenest

yeah!

Aeon418 said:
I've always thought that face X was the satyr. The loop behind the eyes look like satyr horns to me anyway.
Okay so what is that beasty up the top in spot 1 ?

{Perhaps the essence of AL is in the artwork and we are all going a bit trippy when we look into the Beast.
I once painted a solar emblem with a profile of Ra-Hoor in the centre for use in temple. Some people went,"That's really good." then someone else looked at it and said; "Why the turtle in the middle." But then, I'm a crappy painter.}

I like tink27's take on the top head.

It also looks a bit like a gargoyle - and a Leo / (chinese)Tiger I know!
 

wizzle

Aeon418 said:
He equated the Crone with the Dark Moon and seperate from the Triple Goddess who is joined with the Sun in the creation of life. All the magical formulae are sexual in one way or another.
Crowley saw the Crone as being sexually dead. So she wasn't even the waning moon.
The Crone is quite alive magically but as Dion Fortune said
There is a commonplace relationship which you can have with any female of the species and there is a subtle, magical relationship that is very rare. Which do you prefer?
His understanding was limited to the commonplace and I think that is pretty clear when you examine his personal relationships. As a far greater teacher than he said, "by the fruit shall you judge the tree." Crowelys kids and most of his neophites left him. Not a good recommmendation for a mage.

He "re-discovered" sexual magic in I think western terms. And it certainly needed re-discovering in it's day. But I don't think he got much past fluids and other basics if he couldn't understand and value the crone.
 

Aeon418

wizzle said:
His understanding was limited to the commonplace and I think that is pretty clear when you examine his personal relationships.
A closer reading reveals that the commonplace and the spiritual were one and the same to Crowley. ;)
wizzle said:
As a far greater teacher than he said, "by the fruit shall you judge the tree."
Very true. That same "great?" teacher ushered in an era of over 2000 years of war, murder and intolerence in his name.
 

wizzle

Aeon418 said:
A closer reading reveals that the commonplace and the spiritual were one and the same to Crowley. ;)
So true. But by that very test how well did he do? He lost a fortune. His children hated him. His own "revelations" about drugs turned out to be untrue. He was hooked on drugs when his spiritual "masters" they told him they were all harmless. Hmmmm. He could only move from one lover to another and never could deal with the commonplace at all. He never really could find magic in the commonplace, poor fellow. He could only find it on the "edge" as we would say today.
 

Aeon418

wizzle said:
He lost a fortune. His children hated him.
Not the only person that has ever happened too. Big deal.
wizzle said:
His own "revelations" about drugs turned out to be untrue. He was hooked on drugs when his spiritual "masters" they told him they were all harmless. Hmmmm.
What's the difference between having a drink and becoming a alcoholic?
Crowley was well aware of his own drug addiction. He blamed it on himself as his diaries reveal.
wizzle said:
He could only move from one lover to another and never could deal with the commonplace at all. He never really could find magic in the commonplace, poor fellow. He could only find it on the "edge" as we would say today.
Crowley lived his life the way he wanted to without fearing what other people might think or say. It's a sad fact that so many prudish people are afraid to even live these days because they fear what the neighbours might think. Sheesh!

What's the difference between Aleister Crowley and, for example, Jesus Christ. In Crowley's case we know almost everything about his private life. We know all his dirty secrets. What do know about Jesus that hasn't been edited out or white washed away by his followers. We know nothing about his private life. There's the difference.

There's no such thing as perfect spiritual masters just as there's no such thing as perfect people. I can think of some very enlightened Buddhist masters who were also completely messed up in their every day lives. Does that mean they were failures? Of course not. They just failed to live up other peoples unrealistic expectations of what spiritual experience means.
 

wizzle

Well, Crowley wanted to be a world teacher and wanted it very badly in terms of announcing a new aeon. From my perspective he got women wrong totally. He made them 4th class citizens where before we might claim to be 2nd class.

Now, in terms of getting to the level of world class, would you want to emmulate his life? He was at best a jerk, personally

Countless millions did want to emmulate Christ's life. Even from the fragments we know. This is also true of the lives of his followers such as Paul. And then we can go on to the many saints who are truly inspirational.

Where are Crowley's saints (assuming we can whitewash him)?

I'm not a Christian, btw.
 

Aeon418

wizzle said:
Well, Crowley wanted to be a world teacher and wanted it very badly in terms of announcing a new aeon. From my perspective he got women wrong totally. He made them 4th class citizens where before we might claim to be 2nd class.
You're opinion to which you are entitiled. My opinion differs, so what?
Crowley understood the equality of the sexes on an intellectual level. Did he always live it? No he was riddled with the Victorian misogyny he was brought up in as a child. If Crowley's attitude was particular to him alone I would agree with you, but his attitude was symptomatic of society at that time. If you wish to beat Crowley for it you must also apply the same rule to every other man of his period and before.
wizzle said:
Now, in terms of getting to the level of world class, would you want to emmulate his life?
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. ;) It's the central theme of Crowley's philosophy that you surely can't have missed? You follow your own path, no one else's. Crowley lived his life the way he wanted to without worrying what other people might think.
Emulation of other people is robot behaviour. I prefer to think for myself. ;)
 

ravenest

I've seen em!

wizzle said:
Where are Crowley's saints (assuming we can whitewash him)?

.

Clearly listed in the Gnostic Mass. The study of their history and the time and devotion many put into the sacred traditions (not to mention their fights, tortures and death at the hand of oppresive energies, regimes and people) is worth reading. These people (and it does include mythological or achetypal people) are our spritual/hermetic ancestors and we comfortibly (sometimes) sit on top of the pile of their researches, joys and sufferings.

I know woman are not listed, I'm not getting into that one as I dont agree with it. I believe now (or soon) we may be enlightened enough to publish their identies (they certainly exist) and still protect them from retribution (see the life of Ida Craddock).

The best Gnostic Mass I went to (for me) I distinctly felt and then 'saw' these dudes filling up the temple when they were invoked, ..... hey, but thats just me.