Book of Thoth Study Group: Part 1 - Section 2

Originally posted by ravenest:
Tarot and Formulae of Tetragrammaton (p.16) the daughter as seen as light and heat given off by explosion of gases (from male and female) and the substance resulted is the Son.
Is this not a very different idea than usual? I have always thought of the daughter as some continued result coming via the son. The above seems to be a process at the same time or even before the Son is formed. P.18 says “(the daughter) has been explained above as the spiritual ingredient in the result … but this is only one interpretation.”
Any others?

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My take on the passage about the son and daughter is that they are the same "being" - the son is the physical manifestation and the daughter is the spiritual. They are equal but different or different, equivalent parts of a whole.

valeria

Ventrue said:

I was wondering what different views people have on this passage. I personally glean a lot from it. Their are so many vastly different powers at work in our world, it would seem contradictory for one being to create them.

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It doesn't seem contradictory if you suppose that the "many" is the "one". How can a perfect "one" explore it's own nature and powers? Within the perfect "One" no change is possible because if it were it wouldn't be perfect. Therefore the "One" becomes the "Many". This creates a seeming imperfection because now there is created the whole dynamic of position and relationship between all the individual parts. Some of these relationships between the many parts are positive, others are negative.

This is a simple description of our perfect universe. A perfect universe that seems, from our limited perspective, to be full of imperfection. But these imperfections are illusions and defects of perception. Good and Evil are all parts of the perfect One who is None. 0=2

This of course is in complete contradiction to conventional religious ideas of God. In the world of conventional religion God = Good. To explain the problem of evil you have to invent a Devil. But once you invent the Devil as an excuse for evil you challenge the notion of God's omnipotent power. And before you know it you end up spewing torrents of self contradictory hoggwash like the old theologians did.

It's also important to note the relationship that Crowley draws on p.13-15, between the creation of the Universe via the qabalistic scheme and the development of consciousness. In one fell swoop Crowley points out the identity of the two. Human consciousness matches the Universe at every step and this is mapped out on the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

Right at the start of The Book of Thoth Crowley says this about the Tarot:

THE TAROT is a pack of seventy-eight cards. There are four suits, as in modern playing cards, which are derived from it. But the Court cards number four instead of three. In addition, there are twenty-two cards called "Trumps", each of which is a symbolic picture with a title itself.
At first sight one would suppose this arrangement to be arbitrary, but it is not. It is necessitated, as will appear later, by the structure of the universe, and in particular of the Solar System, as symbolized by the Holy Qabalah. This will be explained in due course.

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The Tarot is therefore not just a symbolic map of the Universe but a map of yourself. "As above, so below"

ravenest said:

Tarot and Formulae of Tetragrammaton (p.16) the daughter as seen as light and heat given off by explosion of gases (from male and female) and the substance resulted is the Son.
Is this not a very different idea than usual? I have always thought of the daughter as some continued result coming via the son. The above seems to be a process at the same time or even before the Son is formed. P.18 says “(the daughter) has been explained above as the spiritual ingredient in the result … but this is only one interpretation.”

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I think Crowley's chemistry analogy is designed to show that the Daughter is of a different order of being from the Father, Mother, and Son. The Son is the combination of the Father and Mother in one. You could convert the Son back into the Father and Mother again, but not the Daughter.
In a way the daughter is already present before the formation of the Son. IHVH.

EDIT: Plus there's the fact that Earth (the Daughter) isn't a true element unlike Fire, Water, and Air.

Yeah, that seems to suggest the 'pendant' thing, the 3 together make the 4. But I like your other comments, I am going to concentrate more on this equivlancy and spiritual componant (in the Princess) of this formula for future readings and seethe difference.

Ventrue said:

I understand what you are saying about new aeons, but SOMETHING had to have happened for him to say it began on March 21, 1904. It cant be arbitrary, I guess it could have been a vision he recieved on that particular day. I was just looking for some physical event to have manifested on that day to rectify him giving that particular date.

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I suppose this would account for the March 21, 1904 date. Though not a direct quote, here is the gist of the story from Megatherion, The Magickal World Of Aleister Crowley; Francis King; Creation Books, 2004; Pages 40, 41.

The whole series of events was initiated by an invocation which Crowley performed to enable Rose, his wife, to see the elemental spirits of water. Supposedly the only reason he did it was to entertain her. She didn't see any elementals, but went into a trance and began repeating, "they are waiting for you." It is at this point that Crowley, desiring to know more, invokes Thoth. Thoth, speaking through Rose informs him that it is Horus who is waiting, and that he should perform an invocation to him. So on March 20, 1904 Crowley carries out a rite of invocation to Horus per the instructions given him by Thoth. The result of this invocation was a "psychic message" from Horus stating a new epoch in human history had come, and that he (Crowley) was destined to be its prophet.

Apparently Crowley, not wanting to waste any time, declared the that the new aeon had begun March 21, 1904.

-fof

fools_fool said:

I suppose this would account for the March 21, 1904 date. Though not a direct quote, here is the gist of the story from Megatherion, The Magickal World Of Aleister Crowley; Francis King; Creation Books, 2004; Pages 40, 41.

The whole series of events was initiated by an invocation which Crowley performed to enable Rose, his wife, to see the elemental spirits of water. Supposedly the only reason he did it was to entertain her. She didn't see any elementals, but went into a trance and began repeating, "they are waiting for you." It is at this point that Crowley, desiring to know more, invokes Thoth. Thoth, speaking through Rose informs him that it is Horus who is waiting, and that he should perform an invocation to him. So on March 20, 1904 Crowley carries out a rite of invocation to Horus per the instructions given him by Thoth. The result of this invocation was a "psychic message" from Horus stating a new epoch in human history had come, and that he (Crowley) was destined to be its prophet.

Apparently Crowley, not wanting to waste any time, declared the that the new aeon had begun March 21, 1904.

-fof

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I think this is correct. March 21 was the Equinox (when the Sun enters tropical Aries = beginning of Spring (in classical astrology)), and Ra-Hoor-Khuit announced to Crowley in the Book of the Law "Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods" (quoting from memory, may be wrong).

The Ritual (did it pass between March 20 and 21?) Crowley performed was the terrestrial equivalent of a cosmic spiritual event - the passing of the throne from Osiris (which Crowley saw as Christ, the Aeon of Christianity) to the Son, Horus. The ritual marked the event, which took place on the Equinox of 1904 e.v.

ravenest said:

In the Naples arrangement 7,8,& 9 are compared to Sat, Chit, Ananda. Yet the 3 elements are compared to the 3 Gunas; Satvas, Rajas and Tamas. If these three are known as the Gunas what are the other three known as?
I think I have had these two groups of 3 mixed up with each other.
Any ideas or further explanations?

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Alas, just more of the same question:

Ok, So far I've got:
7 = Bliss; 8 = Thought/Knowledge; 9 = Being

My Sanscrit is a bit rusty--Which is Sat, Chit and Ananda? And I ask with ranvest what is this group called?

And then there are the other groups of three. What do you think the correct attributions should be?

Sephiroth -- 7, 8, 9
? -- Bliss, Thought/Knowledge, Being
Elements -- Fire, Water, Air
Gunas -- Sattvas/Calm, Rajas/Activity, Tamas/Slothful Darkness (What's a Guna, anyway?)
Alchemical elements -- Sulphur, Mercury, Salt
Knight, Queen, Prince

The answers to the Sancrit/Hindu question can probably be found in an Alan Watts book. I'll take a look when I get home, but any and all ideas welcome!

Seems to be a common "trinity" in yoga -
"In Indian philosophy, the Absolute is conceived of as being Sat-Chit-Ananda, of the nature of pure Being, Consciousness, and Bliss."
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Aurobindo/Sachchidananda.htm

Sat - Existence
Chit - Knowledge
Ananda - Bliss

I think in the Naples Arrangement Crowley is going by the GD planetary assignments -

7 = Venus = Bliss = Ananda
8 = Mercury = Knowledge/Thought = Chit
9 = Moon ; the connection with "Being" or "Existence" escapes me, unless one can see a relation with incarnation, into the sublunar realm.

http://en.mimi.hu/yoga/satchitananda.html

The connection between the "absolute" in Indian philosophy, as per Sri Aurobindo in the first quote, and the Naples Arrangement, is that the Naples Arrangement is an expansion of ten qualities of a point (Sat-Chit-Ananda are the "point's idea" of Being-Consciousness-Bliss, not Being-Consciousness-Bliss itself). This "point" is the God-nature of each person in Crowley's philosophy, which extends itself with these ten qualities in order to experience everything (otherwise it experiences nothing and cannot exist). So the Naples Arrangement explains the Absolute nature of each individual.

Thanks for the info. Just what I needed to know!

Ross G Caldwell said:

9 = Moon ; the connection with "Being" or "Existence" escapes me, unless one can see a relation with incarnation, into the sublunar realm.

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I have a bit of insight on this. I hope I can explain it clearly. When researching angels and the Tree, I found Gabriel as the archangel of 9-Yesod. His name means "Strong One of God" or "Strength of God." With the help of Place's and Huson's books, we can equate the four suits with the four Cardinal Virtues. One traditional icon of Strength is a column or broken column, therefore we can connect Strength with wands/rods. Gabriel announced the conception of Jesus to Mary. Was he the personification of the Holy Spirit that conceived the child? Look at the Tree as a (male) human body and the location of Yesod. So it's possible to think of Yesod as the masuline generative "strength" (rod!) of God, and the Moon as the fertile, generative Moon of the Moon card with droplets/Yods all around.

Ok, not to be crude, but we're talking about sex, here. So there is a direct connection, as you say, to existance/being as incarnation--conception and birth.

So when I saw in this section that AC relates 9 with Being, I just thought, ah, of course.

rachelcat said:

I have a bit of insight on this. I hope I can explain it clearly. When researching angels and the Tree, I found Gabriel as the archangel of 9-Yesod. His name means "Strong One of God" or "Strength of God." With the help of Place's and Huson's books, we can equate the four suits with the four Cardinal Virtues. One traditional icon of Strength is a column or broken column, therefore we can connect Strength with wands/rods. Gabriel announced the conception of Jesus to Mary. Was he the personification of the Holy Spirit that conceived the child? Look at the Tree as a (male) human body and the location of Yesod. So it's possible to think of Yesod as the masuline generative "strength" (rod!) of God, and the Moon as the fertile, generative Moon of the Moon card with droplets/Yods all around.

Ok, not to be crude, but we're talking about sex, here. So there is a direct connection, as you say, to existance/being as incarnation--conception and birth.

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Well, as a one-time theological student, I have to tell you I think your idea that Gabriel is the personification of the Holy Spirit is simply brilliant.

Gabriel is *literally* the Power of God that overshadowed/impregnated Mary!

Naturally, Gabriel means "God is my strength" - (Gebur-i-El; "Gabr" here is the Greek form of the same root as "Geburah", the feminine personification of the power of God, Strength, the fifth sefira). But he works as a messenger (Greek "Angelos") rather than a warrior like Michael; so Gabriel bears the announcement or "word" of God.

Incidentally, the New Testament Greek word in the account of the Annunciation is "dunamis" (dynamis), Luke 1:35; the word dynamis is semantically equivalent to the Hebrew gevurah (=geburah; you have to know that the word is pronounced with a soft, "unpointed" b, hence "v"; the Greek has the same distinction between a hard and soft b/v, so they pronounce most words with beta as if it were our "v"; the hard "b" of Gabriel, Geburah etc. has come to us through lazy Latin). So the "power" (dynamis/gevurah) of God is *literally* Gabriel!

In uniting him with the Sefira of the Moon, Yesod, the Foundation, we have the Incarnation - the *identity* of the male Power of God and female Power of the Moon...

(please no "the Moon was male to Sumerians and Norsemen" complaints! we are speaking of Hebrew and classical mythological gendering)

and thus the conception of the physical being, the final step before birth, Malkuth = "real" existence, as experienced.