Any thoughts on Aeon?

Any Thoughts On Aeon?

Ross G Caldwell said:

Another comparison/contrast between the old and the new card XX.

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The Aeon card is the spiritual equivalent of moving from the geocentric cosmos (Earth-centered) to the heliocentric cosmos (Sun-centered). This is just as Achad expressed it in "Stepping out of the Old Aeon into the New"
http://www.hermetic.com/browe-archive/achad/misc/Stepping out of the old aeon.htm
http://www.skepticfiles.org/mys5/newaeon.htm
etc.

In the old geocentric aeon, you are the geocentric earth, and you think everything revolves around you - one life, what you do with it - and you await final judgment on that life; in the new heliocentric aeon, you realize that your earth, your body and life, actually revolve around something much more eternal, and that the day and night of this life are just the shadows cast by your true self, the Sun.

"Truth comes bubbling to my brim -
Life and Death are one to him!"

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I like this revolutionary shift of perspective approach to Aeon. From the geocentric to the immanent heliocentric. I would add that synergy begins to lead the true self forward, not compartmentalizing distinctions such as Eastern philosophy contra Western philosophy, Heaven versus Earth, Christian versus Pagan, science here and spiritual-truth there. Mystics (as you mention, Ross) understand this more readily than dogmatists who are convinced that their minority of the elect will be heaven-bound, minus the many millions of non-believers hell-bound. Many fervently believe this. So the down and up distinction of older images, including the trumpet call, is not at all in the Aeon image. It's an Emerging and Birthing and Unifying, not a breaking apart of the below and the above, out of earth into Heaven, by the trumpet's call, although the older image could mean liberation or epiphany to the less literally symbolic modern interpreters. Earth in the Aeon is heavenized, changed from inside out, Self-evolved, over stretches of time to come, not instantly...

The deck was developed in the 1940s, less then 10 years after Pluto was found. Most texts I've read today assoicate the planet Pluto with Judgement / Aeon and I also make this assoication.

That said, Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio, but is said to rule death/rebirth and transformation.

In the Judgement card, we see the actual process of rebirth. The moument of decision in some decks where the Angel calls up the people to heaven. Because of this certain doors close and new ones open.

I see Aeon as a more after the fact card. Everything is finished, Transformation is complete. Things are differant now. You can still draw on previous experience to guide you in the new age, but there is a clear barrier between what came before, and what happens now.

-Fenier

Ross G Caldwell said:

Further with the Stele of Revealing analogy, I think Nuit as the "star-body" of the heavens is representing "Every Man and Every Woman is a Star", and every act is a sacrament, a pulse of a star in her body. In the Stele, Ankh-f-n-Khonsu is making an offering; in the new "stele", the card Aeon, the offering has been accepted and Ankh-f-n-Khonsu is going out a new creature.

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Yes, well put Ross. It appears AC used the form of the Stele for the base design of this card.
The Stele is a magical formulae of its time and specific to Ankafna Khonshu. The Aeon seems to be a similar 'talisman', for this age and for all of us.

[With the adorations from the Stele being recited in a few Thelemic rituals (including Resh - and that's done 4 times a day) I cant help wondering the amount of people, this century, that have recited AFK's stele and his name.
Since that helps ones immortality (the rememberence, the written form and the recitation of the Ren - the part of the soul incorporated in the name) he must be quiet pleased.]

Thank you everyone

Just got back to the thread - this is a great start for me on this card and I am going to soak up all you have had to say, thank you so much for sharing your minds and wisdom. It's always been a sticking point for me and so I am now going to explore this card further.

I am dreaming more of the cards of late - Science visited me last night. Waking and dream life now are combining which I like. I am truly connecting to my deck in many ways unlike the other decks I have used.

Thanks guys, this is my first posting so I look forward to sharing thoughts and perhaps readings with people soon. We should meet up on a chat room someday?

Neil

Nuit and the North Node

I notice too, that the figure of Nuit makes the shape of the NORTH NODE (i'm an Astrologer) and this is the point in our chart we are trying to reach. it's the 'omega' symbol too of course, so this would give credence to whats been said about the 'who are you going to be' and the 'futuristic' sense of this card's growth.

So in mundane readings for people I am thinking now Aeon represents the bigger picture of someones life and a shift/move/choice in that direction = the north node, the destination beyond the current place we find ourselves in?

The Aeon must be one of the most interesting cards, its one i like to focus on in workshops as it is one of the cards that AC made so different from most other decks.

I found N.W.A.'s orignal thread start interesting as that is what i used to do, take both RW and Thoth to markets and often not decide which deck to use until after checking out and talking to the client. In light of comments in this thread, perhaps the 'regular Joe' is one who is still 'focused' on the old Aeon and Judgement and those you feel need a more indepth reading (spiritual and psycological) are those in tune with the new aeon and the Aeon card?

But there is an important point we seem to be missing (or maybe I just missed it) that the Judgement card is showing a pecular piece of Christian doctrine, ie, the people are not being reborn, or going to heaven, nor are they spirits. They are dead bodies bought to life and rising up out of graves, resurrection. I have talked to Christians about this doctrine and it is very strange idea. One guy, I worked with in a hospital was adament it was true, I asked him how he would feel if the time came when he was working in the mortuary and all the dead bodies started to sit up and walk around - he was totally freaked and became scared about the idea (so much for for belief!) - I mean will they be skeletons, half decomposed or will God make every one whole again (at what age?) reminds me of the story about the minister thundering in church that in hell the there will be a great gnashing of teeth of the suffering. An old lady cried out, "But I have'nt got any teeth." To which the minister replied, "The Lord will supply teeth to those who should be gnashing them."

I am wondering how much this concept was influenced by the Egyptian ideas behind mummification? - Or maybe I have just seen too much Hollywood Egyptiana ?

Ross's comments on Axial age are interesting, on some thread somewhere I talked about this and astrological ages, Aeons - Thelema, progressive revelation - Bahai's, but he seems to have hit the nail right on the head when he says; "It lies to us, and all living people to interpret older expressions into something meaningfull for ourselves and our contempories."

I feel this is the crux of aonic progression. We are evolving, so of course we develop and need new and wider ideas, religions theologies and philosophy, (wouldn't it be nice if we all realised it and stopped fighting about right and wrong, true or false?) For me it's all tied up with evolution, an age, a cycle, an aeon, a civilization all go through cycles with identifible parts, eventually the crisis part is reached, the big test of intellegence and ability to mutate to a new sucsessfull form, it is up to us, shaman, prophet, etc to discern the new way, the new solution to deal with the challenge ... otherwise the old dies off, taking any potential further evolution and adaptation with it.

Ankh-f-n-Khonsu as Hoor-paar-kraat (Harpocrates) will be saying

Quote:
"I now go forth,
and with thanksgiving,
To do my pleasure on the earth
Among the legions of the living."

This seems to represent some idea of reincarnation? AFK isnt saying, I go forth into the Duat or I will reside amongst the never dying stars of the north celestial pole, the words earth and legions of the living are quiet clear (but what does the original say?) Did the Egyptians believe in reincarnation?
The new-age idea of reincarnation sits more comfortibly with me than what's on offer. But I realise I haven't got the process worked out properly (Rats! Just when I was getting comfortible!) I have been trying to understand this death and post mortum process as understood by the Egyptians as that is what I think AC based his belief and teachings on but I doubt AC and his contempories understood half as much about the ancient Egyptians as we do today.

On the other hand if we see HPK (who was AFNK) as saying that, we see a god (residing in the Duat) coming forth to the earth and the living ie. inagurating a new Aeon.

Somewhere I read that (Thelemaegyptology) sees the gods as somehow lined up in space and each one in turn takes their seat in the east (at the vernal equinox?). I havnt been able to find this anywhere or attribute it to any star patterns.
However, Rosemary Clark makes a good point that the sign Leo should be attributed to Horus and not Sekhmet. Now with the age of Aquarius coming there is an intersting dynamic in the southern hemisphere. Our age, as judged by the spring equinox in the southern hemisphere (where i am) is Virgo precessing to leo - so the age of Horus is immenent (but not starting at 1904 and also that would make the last age in northern hemisphere Pisces - Nuit ... rats again!)

Has any one heard of or know of this theory of the gods taking their seat in the east in turn and what it represents, if anything, astrologically, and what is the order of their placement?

ravenest said:

However, Rosemary Clark makes a good point that the sign Leo should be attributed to Horus and not Sekhmet. Now with the age of Aquarius coming there is an intersting dynamic in the southern hemisphere. Our age, as judged by the spring equinox in the southern hemisphere (where i am) is Virgo precessing to leo - so the age of Horus is immenent (but not starting at 1904 and also that would make the last age in northern hemisphere Pisces - Nuit ... rats again!)

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Crowley talks about the influence of the opposite sign of Leo being very strong in connection with the characteristics of the Aeon of Horus. Trouble is I can't remember which book it was in. Maybe in the commentaries.

The last astrological age, Pisces opposite Virgo, fits nicely with Christianity, i.e. Fish and Virgin symbolism. The current symbols of the age, Aquarius opposite Leo, remind me of Revelation 13:1.

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names.

ravenest, what has Nuit to do with Pisces?

ravenest said:

Has any one heard of or know of this theory of the gods taking their seat in the east in turn and what it represents, if anything, astrologically, and what is the order of their placement?

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I didn't think there was an astrological basis. I thought it was all based on the symbolism of the Golden Dawn temple and the changing of the officers within the temple.

What if we saw the Aeon as just one big gigantic and complex sexual molecule with a female center? The writhing snake, mother nature?

tink

Aeon418 said:

ravenest, what has Nuit to do with Pisces?
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Sorry, my mistake, to be more precise, Rosemary equates Nut (hence not the Thelemic concept of Nuit) to Pisces. From memory, Nut is the great starry heavens or stella ocean to which we return, Pisces is the ocean and at the end of the astrological cycle before it is renewed again in Aries / Osirus ... I can add more if you like after I check her book?