Liber 418 study group - 27th Aethyr: ZAA

Aeon418

Aleister Crowley said:
27. ZAA - The Vision of the Initiation of Hecate (Atu XIV) The Redemption of the Woman of Witchcraft by Love. - Hecate appears—her son, the son of a Virgin, a magus, is to bring the Æon to pass. And she, the herald, her function fulfilled, withdraws within her mystic veil.
The Cry of the 27th Aethyr,
Which is Called ZAA

1. There is an angel with rainbow wings, and his dress is green with silver, a green veil over silver armour. Flames of many-coloured fire dart from him in all directions. It is a woman of some thirty years old, and she has the moon for a crest, and the moon is blazoned on her heart, and her sandals are curved silver, like the moon.

2. And she cries: Lonely am I and cold in the wilderness of the stars. For I am the queen of all them that dwell in Heaven, and the queen of all them that are pure upon earth, and the queen of all the sorcerers of hell.

3. I am the daughter of Nuit, the lady of the stars. And I am the Bride of them that are vowed unto loneliness. And I am the mother of the Dog Cerberus. One person am I, and three gods.

4. And thou who hast blasphemed me shalt suffer knowing me. For I am cold as thou art cold, and burn with thy fire. Oh, when shall the war of the Aires and the elements be accomplished?

5. Radiant are these falchions of my brothers, invisibly about me, but the might of the aethyrs beneath my feet beareth me down. And they avail not to sever the Kamailos. There is one in green armour, with green eyes, whose sword is of vegetable fire. That shall avail me. My son is he, --- and how shall I bear him that have not known man?

6. All this time intolerable rays are shooting forth to beat me back or destroy me; but I am encased in an egg of blue-violet, and my form is the form of a man with the head of a golden hawk. While I have been observing this, the goddess has kept up a continuous wail, like the baying of a thousand hounds; and now her voice is deep and guttural and hoarse, and she breathes very rapidly words that I cannot hear. I can hear some of them now.

7. UNTU LA LA ULULA UMUNA TOFA LAMA LE LI NA AHR IMA TAHARA ELULA ETFOMA UNUNA ARPETI ULU ULU ULU MARABAN ULULU MAHATA ULU ULU LAMASTANA.

8. And then her voice rises to a shriek, and there is a cauldron boiling in front of her; and the flames under the cauldron are like unto zinc flames, and in the cauldron is the Rose, the Rose of 49 petals, seething in it. Over the cauldron she has arched her rainbow wings; and her face is bent over the cauldron, and she is blowing opalescent silvery rings on to the Rose; and each ring as it touches the water bursts into flame, and the Rose takes new colours.

9. And now she lifts her head, and raises her hands to heaven, and cries: O Mother, wilt thou never have compassion on the children of earth? Was it not enough that the Rose should be red with the blood of thine heart, and that its petals should be by 7 and by 7?

10. She is weeping, weeping. And the tears grow and fill the whole stone with moons. I can see nothing and hear nothing for the tears, though she keeps on praying. "Take of these pearls, treasure them in thine heart. Is not the Kingdom of the Abyss accurst?" She points downward to the cauldron; and now in it there is the head of a most cruel dragon, black and corrupted. I watch, and watch; and nothing happens.

11. And now the dragon rises out of the cauldron, very long and slim (like Japanese Dragons, but infinitely more terrible), and he blots out the whole sphere of the stone.

12. Then suddenly all is gone, and there is nothing in the stone save brilliant white light and flecks like sparks of golden fire; and there is a ringing, as if bells were being used for anvils. And there is a perfume which I cannot describe; it is like nothing that one can describe, but the suggestion is like lignum aloes. And now all these things are there at once in the same place and time.

13. Now a veil of olive and silver is drawn over the stone, only I hear the voice of the angel receding, very sweet and faint and sorrowful, saying: Far off and lonely in the secret stone is the unknown, and interpenetrated is the knowledge with the will and the understanding. I am alone. I am lost, because I am all and in all; and my veil is woven of the green earth and the web of stars. I love; and I am denied, for I have denied myself. Give me those hands, put them against my heart. Is it not cold? Sink, sink, the abyss of time remains. It is not possible that one should come to ZAA. Give me thy face. Let me kiss it with my cold kisses. Ah! Ah! Ah! Fall back from me. The word, the word of the aeon is MAKHASHANAH. And these words shalt thou say backwards: ARARNAY OBOLO MAHARNA TUTULU NOM LAHARA EN NEDIEZO LO SAD FONUSA SOBANA ARANA BINUF LA LA LA ARPAZNA UOHULU when thou wilt call my burden unto appearance, for I who am the Virgin goddess am the pregnant goddess, and I have cast down my burden even unto the borders of the universe. They that blaspheme me are stoned, and my veil is fallen about me even unto the end of time.

14. Now there arises a great raging of thousands and thousands of mighty warriors flashing through the aethyr so thickly that nothing is to be seen but their swords, which are like blue-gray plumes. And the noise is confused, thousands of battle-cries harmonizing to a roar, like the roar of a monstrous river in flood. And all the stone is dull, dull gray. The life is gone from it.
There is no more to see.

Sidi Aissa, Algeria. November 24, 1909, 8-9 p.m.
Plain text versions of Liber 418 with Crowley's footnotes:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/418/418.htm
http://hermetic.com/crowley/the-vision-and-the-voice/

Liber 418 in PDF format with images:

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/cr...s/Liber418.pdf
 

Aeon418

General observations

ZAA. Pronounced "Zoad-ah-ah" in the Golden Dawn's Enochian dialect.

Netzach in Yetzirah.

Z = Leo, Teth, XI Lust.
A = Taurus, Vau, V The Hierophant.
A = Taurus, Vau, V The Hierophant.

Teth(9) + Vau(6) + Vau(6) = 21.

21 = 3 x 7. This suggests Luna and Venus (Atu's II & III?). Also Binah and Netzach. These traits seem very evident in the appearance of the angel of the Aethyr.

21 is also the mystic number of Tiphareth. This may be a link to the "Son" mentioned in line 5.

Line 1. The rainbow wings suggests the Path of Samekh. And this vision does bear a striking resemblance to Atu XIV Art. The angel is dressed in Venusian green and Lunar silver. The flames may indicate the letter Z in ZAA or the maybe the fire of Netzach. She wears three emblems of the Moon. The Lunar crest may be the Path of Gimel (Atu II). The one on her heart may be Yesod. And the moon-sandals may relate to Atu XVIII, The Moon via the sign of Pisces which rules the feet. The threefold Moon dressed in the green of Venus.

Line 2. Lonely and cold - the Virgin moon?
Heaven - Gimel, Atu II.
Pure upon earth - Yesod, the Pure Consciouness. (32 Paths of Wisdom)
Hell - Qoph, Atu XVIII.

Line 3. More threefold lunar symbolism.

Line 4. This line suggests the reflective nature of the subconscious mind. The Moon reflects the light which is cast upon her, but is influenced by her 'phase'. The war mentioned in this line suggests that something is not in order. The war between Aires and the elements may refer to the Union of Spirit and Matter. The passage of the grades before Tiphareth?

Line 5. I'm not altogether clear who the sword bearing brothers are, but I suspect it relates to the Path of Gimel and and Daleth. It may possibly be a reference to the four Kerubim and the flaming sword placed at the East of Eden.
The Kamailos is a rope. This may be the Path of Gimel that spans the Abyss. The Son may be the HGA clothed in the green of the Path of Daleth, but there seems to be some sort of wrong. "How shall I bear him that have not known man"? This suggests the lunar subconscious that is still 'closed off' prior to K&C.

Line 6. This may be the fiery ordeal on the Path of Samekh. The destructive rays are reflections from the moon. The answer to this is to assume a Solar godform in and egg of spirit. This may be symbolic of the pre-Adept stage of the work. The angle now appears to take on a malevolent form suggesting Hecate. The light of Gimel reflected into Samekh is distorted by the personal subconscious until 'right relation' is established.

Line 7. An incantation in the Moon language.
"Ye hounds! Ho! Ho! Tally-ho! sent the poison of the path—Here! There! Bark! Sweep around! There goes the quarry down the glade of mossy rock. The foremost has caught him. Tally ho! Tally ho! Tally ho! pull him down! Tally-ho boys! Wind the mort! Tally ho! Tally ho! The hunt is ended."

Line 8. The image is of a witch before a cauldron. "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble." This may be emblematic of the transformative ordeal on the Path of Samakh.

Line 9. She lifts her head and raises her hands to heaven! A clue that process is beginning to work. The consciousness appeals to something higher and longs to 'open up'. Compare with the last section of line 5.

Line 10. The weeping suggests further softening and surrender. The Pearl is a precious stone of Binah.
The Dragon in the cauldron is the 'Black Dragon' stage of alchemy. "I watch, and watch; and nothing happens." Nothing seems to be happening, but the cauldron is pregnant with change.

Line 11. The completion of the Nigredo stage. The corruption and blackening before the new birth.

Line 12. The breakthrough! The initial opening into the sphere of Tiphareth and the overwhelming of the senses by the sudden influx of L.V.X.

Line 13. Basking in the 'after glow' and the fading of the 'climax'. The sense of separation still remains but the link has been made. MAKHASHANAH = 418.

Line 14. The exiting of the vision and the return to normal consciousness.
 

Owl Tarot

I wanted to respond earlier here but I was waiting to see the letter associations Aeon, so I'll give it a go with my inadequate knowledge right away!

Taking into account the Tarot paths corresponding to the letters, we have The Hierophant and Lust. This, I find helpful since both have a form of Love- Venus and Babalon. Babalon is also depicted in The Empress card, the Divine Love above the Abyss. All those are relative to the ideas of the Moon as a feminine symbol on multiple levels as you said Aeon.

In line 1, the figure really reminds me of Diana as depicted in Atu XIV. In the said Trump, Diana has two rainbows on her brow if I recall correctly, connecting her to the Path directly above her (Atu II).

Line 2, I can think of the Priestess as the Eternal Virgin having such qualities.

Line 3, has Lunar symbolism, but I also recalled something useful while thinking about it: Cerberus as described in Liber Jugorum and connected to human characteristics, namely speech, action and thought. Before K&C, those are not "tamed".

Line 4 describes the war which occurs to man before harmonizing Cerberus within-As yu said Aeon.

Line 5 I suspect the sword bearers to be the same as seen in The Lovers. Vegetable life needs the Sun, as much as the Spirit of Man needs the Son.

Line 6 I can see the powerful light of the Sun, the mighty hand of Horus saving one from the rays of the beast when not tamed, if you may.

Line 7, the hunt is over. Diana, the Goddess of Hunt, has caught her prey, who now is pulled towards the Sun!

Line 8, the tranformational power of Death (Atu XIII) is taking place within the cauldron, in which the "victim" is burning.

Line 9, Diana is refering to the one above her (Priestess) who is the one feminine figure who "takes to itself a masculine correlative, by formulating in itself any geometrical point from which to contemplate possibility" (Book of Thoth). The offering of her own blood is what the Alchemists depicted as the Pelican offering the blood of it's heart to feed it's children, which is Love as depicted in Atu III, another manifestation of Isis.

From there onwards we have different stages of the Alchemical process taking place within the cauldron until completion of realization. Yet another beautiful Aethyr here, thank you a lot for this Aeon, the Aethyrs are of profound importance to understand many things about the Thoth Tarot and Thelemic magick, so they are great material to work with!
 

Aeon418

ZAA said:
And these words shalt thou say backwards: ARARNAY OBOLO MAHARNA TUTULU NOM LAHARA EN NEDIEZO LO SAD FONUSA SOBANA ARANA BINUF LA LA LA ARPAZNA UOHULU when thou wilt call my burden unto appearance, for I who am the Virgin goddess am the pregnant goddess, and I have cast down my burden even unto the borders of the universe.
Eshelman describes this as an invocation of Shekinah. Here is Crowley's somewhat colourful translation.
Hither, O Holy one/ whose burden pulls at thy spine/ Ho! Ho! Ho! The two-headed God (Janus) ploughs thy back/ sows habitations upon thy back/ thou many-phallused queen/ of princely loves/ which are all sodomies/ so that the holy ones laugh and shake with laughter/ while the lords of mischief/ spend upon thee/ TUTULU. down bounces from thy back/ the merry mad foetus-faces/ an emission/ Gather ye sun-roses, sun-roses gather ye from the split backside of the Virgin (Earth).
"I who am the Virgin goddess am the pregnant goddess" sounds like the intersection of the Paths of Gimel and Daleth, or put another way, the II The Priestess crossed by the III The Empress. Her burden is her Son and her spine is the Middle Pillar. The Middle Pillar is also 70 (Paths 13, 25, 32) and so Ayin, the Phallic Devil of laughter and Mirth. He also corresponds to the buttocks and anus.

TUTULU appears in Liber 7 and is said to be untranslatable. But transliterating it into Hebrew yields the number 66 which is the sum of the numbers 1 to 11 and is also the mystic number of the Path of Aleph. Her Son is thus The Fool, Aleph, and the words said backwards are an invocation of the Solar-Phallic force down the Middle Pillar.
 

Always Wondering

Well I may be a little slow lately and I feel like I should know this but I don't. Are the three expressions of the moon the same as the doctrine of the three mothers? Or something else?

In spite of my shot concentration, I do find this vision lovely. I also understood the connections everyone is making including Eshelman's. I could see Lust/Teth and certainly The Hierophant/Yesod. So perhaps I am not so lost in the vision this time. But maybe next time. :laugh:

In my own dark moony times it is hard to remember Yesod and it's reflection of HGA, opening into the spear of the Sun in Tiphereth, as I am more focused on the dark, scary path. So I find this Aethry a great reminder and comfort.

Also Eshelman's reminder that the Moon reflects that which is shone upon it is a great affirmation for me this week as I had realized I was mucking up my own Yesod with some negativity and had to use some mental discipline to rise myself out of it. ;)
 

Aeon418

Well I may be a little slow lately and I feel like I should know this but I don't. Are the three expressions of the moon the same as the doctrine of the three mothers? Or something else?
I don't know if they are the same, but there may be a connection. After the break through experience of section 12, section 13 may indicate the correct attribution of, XVII The Star, to the Path of Heh. In this position she completes the Triune Goddess and delivers the Word of the Aeon. But it seems to be a temporary state and the voice of the angel recedes. The first taste begins to fade and once again the mind and normal consciousness begins to reassert itself.

"Sink, sink, the abyss of time remains. It is not possible that one should come to ZAA."

Section 14 could indicate Atu IV The Emperor is once more on the Path of Heh. But the Door has been opened and way back revealed.
 

Always Wondering

1. There is an angel with rainbow wings, and his dress is green with silver, a green veil over silver armour. Flames of many-coloured fire dart from him in all directions. It is a woman of some thirty years old, and she has the moon for a crest, and the moon is blazoned on her heart, and her sandals are curved silver, like the moon.

2. And she cries: Lonely am I and cold in the wilderness of the stars. For I am the queen of all them that dwell in Heaven, and the queen of all them that are pure upon earth, and the queen of all the sorcerers of hell.

3. I am the daughter of Nuit, the lady of the stars. And I am the Bride of them that are vowed unto loneliness. And I am the mother of the Dog Cerberus. One person am I, and three gods.



Well, it's almost two months where I imagined I was wandering away from Liber 418 working on something I felt was not connected at all. Not very much anyway.

I've been exploring the goddesses thinking I came up with such an original idea all on my own. :laugh:

Is anyone else finding these Aethyrs getting under their skin and initiating things?

AW
 

Always Wondering

:laugh:

From Crowley's introduction. . .

27. "The Vision of the Initiation of Hecate (Atu XIV)
The Redemption of the Woman of Witchcraft by Love."

I was wondering why I kept pulling The Two of Cups all week.
 

smw

I've been exploring the goddesses thinking I came up with such an original idea all on my own. :laugh:

Is anyone else finding these Aethyrs getting under their skin and initiating things?

AW

I think my inner Hecate may have prowled around a few times :joke:
 

Always Wondering

Yeah I guess this is how magical works.
It never does cease to surprise me though and I'm glad of that.