The "Celestial Globe" in The Star

ravenest

As for it being a quantum leap from the name Star to the name Earth, it doesn't seem that big of a deal when it changes the tarot sequence from Star-Moon-Sun to Earth-Moon-Sun. The sequence is still astronomical.

I meant there was a gap in the line of logical reasoning you were trying to outline,

Plus the fact that there is a gigantic globe on the card that overwhelms every other aspect of the imagery.

You talked about Occams razor, what happened to it here? yes, there is a big sphere on the card and what does crowley say it is ? if the big "globe" is the Earth ... please explain where, on the card, is this prominent Celestial SPHERE Crowley writes of ?

Also if it is Earth (although it looks nothing like it) from where is the POV ? The Moon ? Another planet?

As you pointed out, if we change the letter on the card, that means another card has a changed letter, the same here, if you change the sphere to globe where is the Celestial Sphere now?
 

RLG

And outside of that particular context it's irrelevant? Okay....

But Crowley's entire symbolic framework is based around the relationships inherent in the Kircher Tree. As soon as you try to transplant it outside of that framework you are working with something completely different that is totally individual to yourself. Of course there's nothing wrong with that. But to turn around and start making statements from that same idiosyncratic position as if it were part of the 'shared common view' is only going to lead to confusing apples with oranges. The direction that this thread has taken is a case in point.

Dwtw

And when did I claim anything I said was part of the 'shared common view'? I'm well aware of Crowley's symbolic framework, and how it differs from the Tree of Return, and I began my contribution by saying that the detailed information was in a separate essay.

As for the direction the thread has taken, let me summarize my position regarding the topic: I think the 'celestial globe' on the Star card is actually the Earth. Which would also be a good name for the card. My reasons for that are detailed in a separate essay.

Thanks for your time and thoughtful replies.

Litlluw
RLG
 

Zephyros

I think it's actually in interesting theory, although I don't really have anything to back up my thinking so. A possible interpretation could very well be that no switch is necessary, and may even hint at a hitherto unknown Trump. I couldn't venture a guess at what that Trump is, but it may unfold in the course of the new Aeon. I don't agree with "Earth," though.

However, that would entail a radically different paradigm than the Thoth, as it and all the literature supporting it are built around the switch.
 

Michael Sternbach

Dwtw

I think the two stars/septagrams are two different ways of marking the polar axis. IMO, the large globe on the Star card is the Earth. This identification provides the card with a new name, as per Liber AL I:57.

My thesis is much too long to post here, but can be read on scribd if you like:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/235644104/The-Tree-of-Return-in-the-Light-of-Liber-AL-I-57

In a nutshell, the idea is that verse I:57 indicates certain paths on the Tree of Life, namely the three horizontal ones of Dalet-Tet-Peh, (which coincidentally indicate the Three Grades of Thelemites). When these three paths are activated on the Tree of Return from the Lurianic Kabbalah, they point to a symmetry that involves the paths of Yod/The Hermit, and Kaf/the Wheel. In turn, the symbolism of Tzaddi/The Star is implicated.

The Star of trump XVII is, in one sense, the pole star, the fixed axis of the heavens. But when Hipparchus discovered the precession of the Equinoxes, that meant that the pole star was not fixed. In fact there is no pole star. The pole is the axis of the Earth itself. So the name of the card is changed from the Star to the Earth. This makes the three bottom paths on the Tree of Return attributed to the cards of The Moon, the Sun, and the Earth.

It is not the celestial globes that rotate around the Earth; it is the Earth that spins through the heavens. The axle of this wheel, the Hadit point, is the center of the Earth, and the North and South Poles are the poles of spin. Note that the letter-name Tzaddi means 'fish-hook', and this hook is seen on the Universe card, hanging from the radiating eye of the Cosmos, acting as an anchor point, like the imaginary pole star. Also cf. the Book of Lies cap. 28, symbolizing the 28th path of the ToL, i.e., Tzaddi.

There is a third septagram inside the upper bowl that the virgin pours over herself. This indicates that the flow from the top to the bottom bowl is also a type of axis, around which the forces spin. And while this one and the other one on the globe are true polygons, the one in the 'sky' seems to be more of a polyhedron, which appears from a certain perspective to show the outline of the 'star of Babalon'. It actually has the other septagram drawn inside it, and the combination of both types gives it more of a three-dimensional appearance.

As an aside, Crowley noted that if one draws a heptagon and marks the seven points with the planets in the Chaldean order, then drawing along every 4th point with a septagram gives the days of the week. He does not mention that the other possible septagram, (using every third point, i.e., the Star of Babalon) indicates the order of the planets based on the atomic number of their alchemical metals: Iron-Copper-Silver-Tin-Gold-Mercury-Lead, or 26-29-47-50-79-80-82.

The total of these atomic numbers is 393, which has an interesting gematria resonance in Trigrammaton qabalah:

393 = Every man and every woman is a star.



Litlluw
RLG

That's an interesting theory. I thought something along these lines myself.

In the way each planet traditionally has a metal attributed to it, Earth is represented by antimony whose atomic number is 51. This number is dividable only by 3 and, hey - 17. In Alchemy, processing stibnite (antimony ore) to obtain metallic antimony or a star regulus is an important part of the Great Work in the Dry Way employed by Nicholas Flamel, George Starckey, Isaac Newton and others.

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/markh_1.html

This can be understood as 'opening up' the metal to celestial influence.

In this regard, it should be noted that The Star really has two sides to it - it represents earthly manifestation as well as cosmic vision.

RLG, your link doesn't let me access your thesis, it looks like you have made it private. Please post (or PM me) another link, I'd love to read your ideas.