People in the Shin on Aeon

Grigori

Inside the letter Shin on the Aeon card are three human figures. BoT says

The three yods are occupied by three human figures arising to partake of the Essence of the New Aeon

Duquette gives nothing more, but uses the word "embryonic".

Can anyone flesh this out a bit for me. What are these people doing? Why does "the Essence" get a capital "E" and what is the Essence? Is that a specific or general reference?

Any other information, personal or referencd would be really helpful. Thanks :)
 

Abrac

From "The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook To The Cards" -

"three human figures: a small child, an adult, and an old man."

Looking at the card, the slightly plump figure on the left seems to me to be a woman, the one on the far right a man with a beard, and a child in the center. From this perspective they are basically the same archetypes we traditionally see on this card.

As for the capital E in essence, is it possible that the entire phrase should be read in caps, with only the words "of" and "the" in lower case? Thus we would have "Essence of the New Aeon."

The Essence of the New Aeon is Horus the Child.

-fof
 

Ross G Caldwell

similia said:
Can anyone flesh this out a bit for me. What are these people doing? Why does "the Essence" get a capital "E" and what is the Essence? Is that a specific or general reference?

In BoT, he also says the Shin is "suggestive of a flower", a word which just about shouts "yoni" to anyone who knows Crowley.
I suppose "Essence" could be an allusion to sperm, semen, the fertilized ovum or the embryo. It could be a nod towards "quintessence" (literally "the fifth essence - an ancient philosophical term for the element of aethyr, used later in alchemy), with much the same meaning in Thelema.

So this "Partaking of the Essence of the New Aeon" is also very suggestive of sexual freedom, something most of us take for granted today.

Thus the Shin is the active cauldron of creation, and the figures therein the children of the New Aeon, i.e. us.

There is also a passage I'm searching for from Crowley, relevant to the infinity in the seed idea, which I'll post when I find it.
 

Grigori

Thank you both, that is very helpful. I'd love to see that passage if you are able to find it Ross.
 

ravenest

Dont know why, but when I read the post I got; Prophet, Priest and King.
That might be an old aeon formulae as it doesnt include the Priestess, so maybe she is the womanly type figure.

We have had a Prophet, we (Thelemites) are all to be Kings and each one, when activating the forces or sacrement of the Aeon, are priests and priestesses. maybe that is a version of the Essence.

AC liked using capitals a LOT. It gives Certain Things more significance and sets them apart from their Mundane Understandings.

I like the idea of the three ages of 'Man' being represented as well.
 

Ross G Caldwell

similia said:
Thank you both, that is very helpful. I'd love to see that passage if you are able to find it Ross.

Found it!

It is "Every drop of semen which Hermes sheds is a world". This statement seems not to have been made by Crowley, but by Victor Neuburg during a series of visionary rituals known as "The Paris Working", in 1914.
http://www.rahoorkhuit.net/library/libers/lib_0415.html

Here is the context:

Every drop of semen which Hermes sheds is a world. The technical term for this semen is KRATOS. Those worlds are held in chains, but invisibly. People upon the worlds are like maggots upon an apple -- all forms of life bred by the worlds are in the nature of parasites. Pure worlds are flaming globes, each a conscious being. Number of worlds ejected, 7,482,135.

The name of this Phallus is Thoth, Hermes or Ma. Ma is the god who seduced the Phallus away from the Yoni; hence the physical Universe. All worlds are excreta; they represent wasted semen. Therefore all is blasphemy. This explains why man made god in his own image.

The feminine side of Ma is Pan, which explains why Pan is a devil. The only way to be really born is by annihilation -- to be born into Chaos, where Pan is the Saviour.

I may say no more because the process is secret.

With regard to Genesis; when Adam died, Heva became masculine, in order to escape the temptations of the serpent; but she failed. Her failure cut the serpent in two; hence the Caduceus: because if there were only one serpent, Hermes could not be the messenger of the gods. It is the quality of this serpent business that gives Him power to travel. This again is blasphemy; but lawful, because the law of the Jews is founded upon it.
It is the fixed Mercury, of which the physical form of the god is made. This fixed Mercury is the result of the mind.
Semen itself is Mercury, the river of life flowing throughout the generations. That is fluid Mercury. What is (from the point of view of life) waste, is knowledge. Hence the opposition between knowledge and life. One is homo- and the other hetero-sexuality. Those are reconciled in Mercury, who is wisdom.

It will be difficult to appreciate this sort of thing without going deep into Crowley, and his methods.

Soon you will find yourself saying similar things.
 

Grigori

Thanks so much for hunting that down Ross! I will look up "The Paris Working" again as its details have faded into obscurity since I read about it.

Ross G Caldwell said:
Soon you will find yourself saying similar things.

Well hopefully I will say them a little clearer... :D haha

Actually my reason for asking about the detail on this Shin, is I'm thinking of using it as a detail for a tattoo. I have a beautiful thought in my head about what Shin/The Aeon/Pluto means to me, and my desire to claim that energy more strongly for my life at the moment in a positive rather than destructive way (hence the tattoo). Of couse right next to that description is now a part of my brain telling me about the yoni and the semen and the excreta. (The latter being what I am going to say to people when I am sick of them asking what it is }) mwhahaha)
 

ravenest

A tattoo of a Thoth symbol ... have fun with that! Tatts of magical symbols are quiet potent! (I know from experience) but of course, you probably already know that and that is exactly why you are doing it :)
 

Grigori

That was kinda the plan ravenest, although the words "pandora's box" did come to mind... *throws open the lid* :D

I'm actually not 100% sure yet if I will clone that feature, or perhaps just a simple Shin. I will not do a yellow tattoo as it will just look like I've got a rash LOL But as the card was a big part of the inspiration for the idea, I did want to explore the detail anyway.
 

ravenest

Come to think of I have seen a Shin tattoo, and it was an orangey yellow colour but outlined in red flames (like those Tibetan tantric pics) looked great!