Lion & Serpentq in C, Anno IVix ~ Volume 6, Number 2

Elyxir Child born within the Cauldronthat hides within the TreeFrater ZyGoat, Anno IVix ~ Pen & Ink

Ordo Templi OrientisP. O. Box 684098

Austin, TX 78768-4098www.otohq.org

Sekhet-Maat Lodge, O.T.O.P. O. Box 15037

Portland, OR 97293-5037hank@sekhetmaat.comwww.sekhetmaat.com

Publisher – Sekhet-Maat Lodge, O.T.O.

Editor & Layout - Frater HydraLVX

Proofreading - Frater Diapason

Production & Distribution Assistants:Soror Ariche, Frater Balise d’Anubis

For all letters, submissions, subscriptions, and other information, contact:hydralvx@parsifal.net

Contents Copyright © 2001 Ordo Templi Orientis and individual authors.All rights reserved.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do notnecessarily reflect those of the O.T.O. or of Sekhet-Maat Lodge.

Lion & Serpentthe Official Journal

of Sekhet-Maat Lodge, O.T.O.q in C, Anno IVix

Volume 6, Number 2

Untitled by Frater ZyGoat ....................................................... Front Cover

Contact Information ...................................................... Inside Front Cover

Table of Contents .............................................................................. 3

The First Page by Frater Diapason .......................................................... 4

Lion & Serpent: Past, Present, and Future by Frater HydraLVX ....................... 5

The Formula of the Cup of Babalon by Frater V. I. L. ................................... 6

Untitled by Anonymous ....................................................................... 8

Pleasure by Soror S. D. M. .................................................................... 9

Applications of the Godform of Hoor-Paar-Kraat by Frater ZyGoat ................. 10

The Gnostic Catholic Creed: Seeds of Self Knowledge by Frater HydraLVX ....... 14

*stars by Soror R Golden .................................................................... 21

Prism by Frater la-gv~ar 671-31 ........................................................ 22

Adam’s Apple by Frater la-gv~ar 671-31 ............................................... 23

Book Review by Frater Diapason .......................................................... 24

Drowning in the Key of Chan Marshall by Frater Balise d’Anubis ................... 26

Classifieds ................................................................... Inside Back Cover

Babalon... by Soror S. D. M. ...................................................... Back Cover

Table of Contents

4

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Now that Spring is steadily under way, it looks likemany of our members have begun to do the annual"residential shuffle": a more rigorous version ofSpring Cleaning where, instead of just clearing outlast year's junk and tidying up a bit, you actuallyput everything you own in boxes and move to a newapartment or house. Must be some kind of seasonalmigratory thing… (or maybe it's simply that no onewants to move when it's raining). In any case, thesemoves always promise to bring with them a steadyflow of housewarming get-togethers. It's also kindanoteworthy that in addition to financial and spaceconsiderations, many folks actually seem to beincluding "walking or easy driving distance to thePTCC" as one of their criteria for new residenceselection (…what hath OTO wrought?). Speakingof… we're rapidly approaching the first yearanniversary of the Center Construction Project, and,personally, I intend to stay as far away from powertools as possible this Summer… which reminds me,if you haven't registered yet for NOTOCON2001,make haste -- it's gonna be a good one. Okay, timefor me to return to updating (yet again) the entriesin my address book… and happy moving days toall concerned.

News Briefs:

Cairomancy: Three very impressive days of LiberAL readings in April. Well done, and thanks toeveryone involved.

Take Init to the Limit: Congrats to the new Firstsand Thirds.

Windy Wedding: Fra. H and Sor. E took a littlemidwest jaunt to officiate at the nuptials of Sor. Sand Fra. C.

Eight Days a Week: Sor. B has once againresurfaced and rejoined the world of Summerleisure, after successfully getting through yetanother of her overwhelming work seasons.

Mass Appeal: Fra. K and Sor. C headed up to Seattlefor the weekend as a visiting Mass team.Meanwhile, Fra. D and Sor. N are helping to hoistthe local ecclesiastical banner.

Get Back: Fra. T and Sor. A paid a brief weekendvisit, as part of their plan to return to PDX full timethis Summer. It'll be great to have ya back in town.

Love is the law, love under will.

The First Pageby Frater Diapason

5

Lion & Serpent:Past, Present, and Future by Frater HydraLVX

I have always loved L&S, since the first issue Ireceived in Anno IVvii, which featured Sr. Viktoria’swonderful Evocation Method I: Babalon, among avariety of other interesting essays, poems, andartwork. This of course was not the first issue. Lion& Serpent was in at least its fourth year of publicationat that time, not counting the previous incarnationof a similar zine called Babel. Those many years,the existence of both journals was thanks primarilyto the hard work and tender care of Fr. V.I.T.R.I.O.L.,who tirelessly brought each issue to members fromstart to finish: soliciting submissions, editing,typesetting, copying, stapling, folding, anddistributing hard copy as well aspublishing on the web with minimaloutside assistance.

About the time I received my firstcopy, things were changing. Fr.Mick had volunteered to ease ourbrother’s workload by taking upediting the journal, while Fr.V.I.T.R.I.O.L. continued with layout,production and distribution. Just a fewshort months later, Fr. V.I.T.R.I.O.L.had placed a number of new pots on hisstove, and asked me to take the reigns of layout anddistribution. I was delighted at the opportunity toapply my skills, and he was better able to focus onother projects. He continued to publish the webversion until recently giving that responsibility toFr. Aleksei-Ra. What I find amazing, and a testamentto Fr. V.I.T.R.I.O.L.’s dedication and hard work, isthe fact that our publication now takes about fivepeople to do the work that he did alone for so manyyears.

After getting our bearings, Fr. Mick and I workedlike a well-oiled machine to produce issues for aboutthe last year and a half, with much appreciated helpfrom Fr. Diapason, Fr. Balise d’Anubis, Sr. Aricheand others. Fr. Mick’s leadership and vision haspropelled Lion & Serpent along a path of continuedimprovement since the day he put his shoulder tothe wheel. In that time, we have seen more numeroussubmissions, even including some from outside our

valley. Distribution has broadened to include manyother U.S. O.T.O. bodies, three bodies in othercountries (which change each issue), a robust list ofGrand Lodge officials, and public distribution pointsin Portland and Seattle. Overall, our distribution hasincreased three-fold in the last year and a half. Fr.Mick’s focus on widening distribution, requiring thatall submissions be original work, and giving priorityto publishing the work of local members has broughtLion & Serpent to where it is today.

The day that Fr. Mick asked me to take over for himas editor a couple of months ago was one of mixed

feelings. Of course I was excited to take thejob. I was also very sad to see Fr. Mick

go, because his influence has beensuch a positive one on our journal,and I know that he loved it so. I amglad, however, that he will be moreavailable to the Prison OutreachProgram as well as his family andcongregation, according to his

will.

I am excited about the future of ourjournal. I plan to continue the trends and

policies that Fr. Mick has set, as well as settingmy own goals for improving Lion & Serpent. Lookfor the following milestones in our near future:

; A regular production schedule, with a new issueevery two months (so far, so good!).

; Distribution to occult bookstores throughout thePacific Northwest, especially including those incollege towns of low population.

; Improved paper quality and full-color printing.

; Occasional or annual Special Edition issues,including full color artwork, more guest articlesfrom other areas, and paperback binding.

Lion & Serpent would be nothing without theauthors, poets and artists who contribute to it. Withyour continued good works, and the donations,advertising and subscriptions of others, the goalsabove will be easily realized.

6

Of the Thoth tarot trump, The Chariot, AleisterCrowley writes: “The central and most importantfeature of the card is its centre--The Holy Grail.”1

So important is this Cup that Crowley'sCharioteer is charged with only one task: “Hisonly function is to bear the Holy Grail.”2 Weknow from Crowley's Magick in Theory andPractice and other works that the Holy Grail issynonymous with the Cup of Babalon. However,the formula of the Cup of Babalon, that whichdescribes its function and purpose, is neverclearly defined. To understand the importanceof the Grail/Cup, we must investigate theformula.

Before we proceed, it is important to understandthe nature of Babalon. Babalon is the Lady ofthe City of Pyramids, the destination of the adeptcrossing the Abyss. She is the Thelemicpersonification of Binah, the Great Mother. TheCup of Babalon symbolizes her womb, theUniversal Womb spoken of in the Gnostic Mass“wherein all men are begotten, and in which theyshall rest.”3

The formula of theCup of Babalon isrevealed in the first sixverses of “Liber Chethvel Vallum AbiegniSub Figura CLVI”, oneof the Holy Books ofThelema:

1. This is the secretof the Holy Graal,that is the sacredvessel of our Ladythe Scarlet Woman,Babalon the Motherof Abominations,the bride of Chaos,that rideth upon ourLord the Beast.

2. Thou shalt drainout thy blood that is

thy life into the golden cup of herfornication.

3. Thou shalt mingle thy life with theuniversal life. Thou shalt keep not back onedrop.

4. Then shall thy brain be dumb, and thyheart beat no more, and all thy life shall gofrom thee; and thou shalt be cast out uponthe midden, and the birds of the air shallfeed upon thy flesh, and thou bones shallwhiten in the sun.

5. Then shall the winds gather themselvestogether, and bear thee up as it were a littleheap of dust in a sheet that hath fourcorners, and they shall give it unto theguardians of the abyss.

6. And because there is no life therein, theguardians of the abyss shall bid the angelsof the winds pass by. And the angels shalllay thy dust in the City of Pyramids, andthe name thereof shall be no more.4

The blood the adeptdrains into the Cupsymbolizes thepersonality or ego thatmust be annihilated inorder to traverse theAbyss. As stated inLiber ABA, “...theEgo-idea must beruthlessly rooted outbefore Understandingcan be attained.”5

This blood issometimes referred toas the blood of thesaints, a saint beingone who sacrificeseverything, even hislife, in devotion to adeity or the principleof enlightenment.“Blessed are the saints,

The Formula of the Cup of Babalonby Frater V. I. L.

7

that their blood is mingled in the cup, and cannever be separate any more.”6

To aid him in accomplishing this task, LiberCheth advises the adept to “divest thyself of allgoods,” specifically identified in the text aswealth, health and love. The Cup of Babalon isthe Universal Womb, and the blood therein isthe Water of Universal Life.7 When the adeptmingles his blood with the blood in the cup, hedissolves his ego in the Universal Life. Theannihilation of the Ego must be absolute or elsethere will be dire consequences:

11. For if thou dost not this with thy will,then shall We do this despite thy will. Sothat thou attain to the Sacrament of theGraal in the Chapel of Abominations.

12. And behold! if by stealth thou keep untothyself one thought of thine, then thou shaltbe cast out into the abyss for ever; and thoushalt be the lonely one, the eater of dung,the afflicted in the Day of Be-with-Us.8

When all of the ego-blood is drained from theadept, he dies and his body is left to decay inthe Sun. The fourth verse of Liber Chethdescribes the alchemical process of putrefaction,the spiritual or symbolic death of gross matterthat must occur in order for the soul or spirit tobe purified and reborn.

The little pile of dust that remains is the essentialessence of the adept, his True self. It is the “lifewhich has no consciousness of ‘I’”, now nolonger fettered by the ego. The dust is gatheredin a sheet with four corners, which representsthe position of the Abyss between the ideal andthe actual in a geometrical sense. For the sheetis a plane, that which is attributed to Binah inthe Naples Arrangement,9 yet it has four corners,and is thus a square, a symbol of Chesed andmanifestation.

This dust is carried by the “angels of the winds”and given to the guardians of the abyss, andbecause there is “no life therein,” the guardiansallow it to pass to the City of the Pyramids inBinah. There the adept is “...received andreconstructed in the Third Order, as a Babe inthe womb of our Lady BABALON, under the

Night of PAN, to grow up to be Himself whollyand truly as He was not previously...”10

The adept is reborn in the Cup of Babalon fromthe Water of Universal Life. His name, a symbolof the ego or "I" consciousness, “shall be nomore,” for in Binah the adept becomes NEMO,Latin for “no man.”

The formula of the Cup of Babalon can besummarized as follows: The adept drains hisblood (ego) into the Cup of Babalon, minglingit with the Water of Universal Life. He dies andputrefies into a little pile of dust (the True Self).This dust is carried across the Abyss, andbecause there is “no life therein” (no ego), thedust is allowed to pass to Binah. There the adeptis reborn as NEMO in the Cup (womb) ofBabalon.

This completes our brief analysis of the formulaof the Cup of Babalon. Further examination andcontemplation of The Chariot and Liber Chethis highly recommended for a more perfectunderstanding of the Mysteries of Babalon.

1. Crowley, Aleister. The Book of Thoth, pp. 85-86.

2. Ibid.

3. The Gnostic Mass (Liber ABA, page 573).

4. Liber Cheth is found in Liber ABA, pp. 651-652.

5. Liber ABA, p. 78.

6. 12th Aethyr of Liber 418 (Equinox IV:2, p. 151).

7. See Atu XVII, The Star.

8. Liber ABA, p. 651.

9. The Book of Thoth, pp. 12-16.

10. One Star in Sight (Liber ABA, p. 483).

8

UntitledAnonymous, Anno IVix ~ Digital Art

9

Bare-breasted night bird

sits and sings the love-death song

tickling clicking wicking slowly

licking lambent flame of blue,

tastes a feast of eagle’s wings

of lust and things

hissing wishing softly

kissing the soul of infinite space -

tell a story of Victory and Glory

transmission of death to life -

wheeling reeling rapid feeling

twine entwine around the heart

force and feeling reeling wheeling

thunder in the star-filled

dark -

by Soror S. D. M.

Pleasure

10

Greetings Brothers and Sisters of the Crownedand Conquering Child!

These energetic applications of the Sign ofSilence and godform of Harpocrates have arisenfrom the daily experimentation with its use inconjunction with QiGong practices andalchemical meditations. They are presented foryour enjoyment and edification as part of theongoing series of Psychic Technology essaysthat are now drizzling from ZyGoat's MentalLingam.

We begin with the “when, how and why” ofthis sign and visualization. After each outgoingmovement of a ritual,there is a counter-balancing in-drawingmovement. This mirrorsthe perpetual sacrament ofbreathing and the specialsacrament of sex. TrueRitual is both a Breathingand a Copulation betweenthe Microcosm and the Macrocosm. We sendforth the Pentagrams, Hexagrams or other Will-symbols, which bear our Intent into the fertileWomb of the Limitless Void. This is done inthe Sign of Ra-Hoor-Khuit (sign of theEnterer), and the sign of the Proclaiming ofthe Word. When this Word is exhausted andthis microcosmic (personal) energy is projected,the Magician returns to the Center in the Signof Silence. In this Sign, the response from theMacrocosm is received and the magicianbecomes a Child born anew from this Union.

Here we behold the rhythm of polarity betweenWord and Silence, Center and InfiniteDirection. The Sign of Silence occurs wheneverthe magician is withdrawing the Force into hisor her center. Within Tai`chi, QiGong and somemartial arts, there is a phase called “Taking backthe Chi” which occurs at the end of each section

of a form and at the completion of each session.This phase generally consists of a relaxedgathering of the energy that has been circulatedand “worked” during the exercise. The Chi isgathered into the Tan`Tien or Hara center,which resides within the lower abdomen. Someexercises even include a turning to each of thefour (or eight) directions to gather back the chifrom all of space. The idea of this inwardmovement is to prevent the energy from beingdissipated or from causing random harm if leftundirected. The methods used to accomplishthis gathering range from simple inhalationswhile focusing on the navel, to visualizations,

to internal rotations of a“chi ball” in the abdomento elaborate hand-bodymotions. The generalprinciple of intent is thesame, however. The Pearlof Great Price is beingkept and warded within itsSanctuary.

Over-extension leads to loss of balance andthus, loss of Strength. The Yang phase of aritual is followed by the Yin phase. Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Hoor-Paar-Kraat form a rhythm ofPower. In order for the Magician to have asufficient force to launch into the LighteningBolt of the Sign of the Enterer, all of thepersonal energies that have been scattered tothe Four Directions must be withdrawn andconcentrated into the Hara. Our personal Forcebecomes involved in thoughts, worries,expectations, projections, remembrances, andmany other entities. These scatter the Force intothe periphery of our consciousness and therebyweaken the center. The Sign of Silence can beused even before the initial banishing to inhale,withdraw, return the Force to its center,consolidating it into the form of the Child.

Applications ofthe Godform of Hoor-Paar-Kraat

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

11

The Visualization used is that of a Childstanding within a blue Egg of Spirit upon alotus, or upon a crocodile…a Prince’s Lockupon His head, thumb or forefinger to lips.There is variation within the exact form, yetthe guiding Intent is what connects the symbolsto their function. The form that I prefer has achild-like body of pure gold, crowned by thewhite orb of Kether, bathed in the Orgone-blueradiance of the Egg of Akasha. Each of thesesymbolic details contains much meaning. TheGold is the metal of sunlight condensed intoenduring form. It is very malleable yetincorruptible. Most importantly, it is highlyconductive of electricity. These arecharacteristics of the well-developed Body ofLight.

I frequently use an extended assumption of theGodform as a connecting transition from theLesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram tothe Chi cultivation exercises that I doimmediately after.The Pentagramprepares the Fieldfor the Cultivation.The ImmortalEmbryo, TheGolden Child ofMystery is the Seedof Intent plantedwithin this field. TheChi-Gong practicesare the fertilization,watering, warming,and airing of thisGod-Sprout.

In the PentagramRitual itself, aftereach movementoutward, I withdrawinto the Sign of

Silence as I inhale into my Hara with fullattention thereon. Thus, I link each of theDirections to my personal Center. This servesto return all of the Force that had been scatteredthrough the imbalances of dispersion thatpillage us daily. This energy once gathered maynow be used in service of Will. As I invokeeach of the Archangels, I inhale its Elementinto my Hara…the four elements I draw intothe Cauldron to be fused into Spirit. Thiscauldron in the Center of the Circle is like anEgg born from the Union of all forces invoked.It receives all that is called into it andformulates it into a fortified life force that couldbe called Medicine. These are Intent-forms thatI maintain as I move through the Ritual of thePentagram. The Godform of Harpocrates isintimately linked with this AlchemicalCauldron of the Hara Center. When we breathewith the relaxed abdominal fullness of a child,we are nourishing this Center. Much emphasisis placed upon this child-like breathing by

Taoist texts. Rememberthat Aleph, the DivineBreath, is also theemergence of this OriginalEnergy from the womb ofNaught. In working withthe Rituals, we are sendingforth great Force throughthe vibrations of theGodnames upon theBreath. Let us not forget theReceiving of that energyalso!

As a practice unto itself, theassumption of thisGodform is most valuable.After the entire sequence ofthe pentagram Ritual,

by Frater ZyGoat

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standing for moments or minutes within thevisualized Aura of living energy, I affirm tomyself the qualities of this Image. I am still inthe stage of development where I amconsciously programming my psychictechnologies with Intent through repetition ofcorresponding ideas. This is but an awkwardtransitional phase in preparation for the majestyof the stages to come, when my subconscious

reflexes have been trained and the Godformsare truly vessels of silent rapture. Presently, asI hold the Image around my body, I affirm “Iam the Crowned and Conquering Child ofHeaven and Earth: Born from the Navel,Shining from the Heart, Crowned with Spirit.”I feel the newness and all-potential of myChildlike body. I feel that fearlessness of thelimitless One. I feel the Egg of Space aroundme, shimmering with Orgone, open to thereception of Prana from all directions, yet everresilient against pernicious influences. In short,I program my energy field. Once this form andits essential qualities are connected within myawareness and my body-feeling, I carry it intomy cultivation practices, whether thy aremovement-based, standing or sitting. This can

be done in a number of creative yet simple waysdepending on the nature of the exercise. It canalso be used as its own form of Chi-meditation.I often assume this Godform at just the sametimes during Chi-Gong exercise that I wouldin a ritual sequence…at any time that I wish toabsorb, integrate, store or complete my workwith the energy or consciousness being moved.Simply visualizing this Form before fallingasleep has a notable effect upon Dreams. Beforea meal, it can be used (along with gentle Harabreathing) to withdraw the scattered body-energies into the present moment for the Feastat hand. This may sound like a trivial ormundane use of a Divine Image, but it makesall the difference in the assimilation of theSunlight Embodied within the food. Inwardlyvisualized within a conversational or socialsetting, it protects the aura from unconsciousleakage…and has the uncanny effect of makingthose around you feel like you are the onlysober one in the room.

Here is a brief outline of an energy-meditationsequence based upon the Godform of Hoor-Paar-Kraat:

Sitting, standing or lying, still or moving, itdoes not matter. Become aware of an endlessOcean of Life, Orgone Blue and All-Penetrant.Allow your breathing to become the ebb andflow of the waves within this Ocean. Allowyour personal boundaries to dissolve into thisOcean until a sense of permeability is attained(for those who feel the need, you can alwaysPentagram first).

Let this permeable sense fill your body…thecells themselves are breathing…each onepenetrated by Nu-life energy. Breathing withyour cells in this way, you are as an embryo inthe Womb of the Ocean of Life…Your Aurabecomes like a Placenta, drawing all that youneed to you and feeding it into your systemthrough your navel as well as through the entiresurface of your body. Become the Child of theEndless Mother and realize that you have accessto all of the energy that you need. Maintainthis breathing-absorbing until you feel ready

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to condense the energy into a form. At thispoint, visualizing the golden body of the Sun-Child will help as you feel the energy gatheringinto it. When a degree of solidity is attained tothis image, rest for a while centered within thenaval-cauldron and affirm the reality of thislink to the flow of energy around you. Similarly,end with the visualization of the Egg of Blue,understanding it to be protective yet permeable,filtering yet open.

The Godform is also useful in any workingintended to conjoin various polarities of Power.Hoor-Paar-Kraat is seen as the Child of Isisand Osiris, of Nuit and Hadit, of Babalon andTherion depending on the scope or emphasisof the work at hand. This is a direct andpersonal link into the center of many mythicimages or formulae. The Egg of Creation fromwhich the universe was formed, beingcomposed of silver and gold intermingled. Inexercises to attain a more profound grasp ofthe consciousness of the Center, one cancontemplate each pair of extremes and thenintegrate into one's self as ones parent-energies.Above and Below or Heaven and Earth…uniting Here at the point of contact as You,their Child, the inheritor of the horizon. Theancestral past and the emerging future unitingNow in the point of transmutation, thealchemical fulcrum that you are. Ida andPingala, Sun and Moon merging into theElectrum of your nervous system. The sleepingself and the waking, self-begetting the One whofulfills them both. Whichever polarity you wishto work with, the Orphic Egg or alchemicalchild image serves as in interface or neutralsynthesis between them. The more polaritiesone weaves in this way, the more one is able to“return to center” as the “default setting” ofone’s psychic reflexes.

So ends this stroll down the path of theGodform of Hoor-Paar-Kraat and the Sign ofSilence. No words can express the nature ofthis Sign, so please regard all of the above asan attempt to seduce you into distraction fromthe True and Ineffable Way.

Love is the law, love under will.

14

The word “creed” is defined as a briefauthoritative formula of religious belief. It is alsosynonymous with religion and ideology. TheGnostic Catholic Creed may therefore beconsidered a declaration of the beliefs of thecongregation, as well as a symbolic representationof the Ecclesia and of the Mass itself. Anunderstanding of this formula may begin withstudying the correspondences of the symbolismpresented line-by-line and from a holisticperspective. Such symbolic correspondences canbe found by examining the qabalistic significanceof specific words within the creed and by relatingpassages to other symbol sets, including the Treeof Life, the Tarot, and western mythologies. Inaddition, an informal interpretation of the morereadily understood passages will be fruitful. WhileI have attempted to collect and summarize a widevariety of interpretive information here viaresearch, such data can only point weakly towardthe true mystery, which arises with practice,meditation and visualization.

“I believe in one secret and ineffable LORD;”

Throughout the rest of the Creed, Crowley usesall capital letters on words that are either knownto be of Greek or unknown origin, or words towhich he applied isopsephy (Greek gematria) inother works. The word “Lord” stands apart fromthe others, as it is clearly an English word.Nevertheless, the application of isopsephy to thisword, transliterated to the Greek alphabet, revealslayers of meaning.

If we resolve the “O” in LORD to the Greekdigamma, the total value of the word becomes140. Crowley was occasionally fond of makingthis liberal transliteration, probably because ofthat letter’s origin in the Phoenician waw. AnotherGreek word, which also adds up to 140, is ¹donh,meaning lust, delight, or joy. The implication isthat in some way, this LORD is identical with¹donh, and also that ¹donh is secret and ineffable.This is an apt association by my reckoning,

especially given the Collect, entitled “The Lord,”which reads as follows:

“Lord secret and most holy, source of light, sourceof life, source of love, source of liberty, be thouever constant and mighty within us, force ofenergy, fire of motion; with diligence let us everlabour with thee, that we may remain in thineabundant joy.” (Crowley, 1997)

What is truly remarkable, however, is that theword ¹donh (pronounced “hedoneh”) has astriking phonetic similarity to the Hebrew y n da

(“Adonai”), which means, in English, “Lord,” andis used throughout the Bible to refer to that God,who is also secret and ineffable.

This Lord corresponds to Hadit, to Kether on theTree of Life, and to the Stélé of Revealing in theMass.

The Gnostic Catholic Creed:Seeds of Self Knowledge by Frater HydraLVX

15

“and in one Star in the company of Stars ofwhose fire we are created, and to which we shallreturn;”

It can be argued that Crowley is talking aboutsomething else here, something separate from thesecret and ineffable Lord, due to the structure ofthe sentence. Also if the Lord is secret andineffable, then this passage cannot, by definition,be a description of it. Throughout the Mass,Crowley refers to the Lord in two contexts, andprobably means two different things. For example,“In the name of our Lord the Sun, and of our Lord… ,” [sic] where the second “Lord” referred tocannot be named, and an ellipsis is apparentlyused in place of any name or description. (Helenaet al., 1995)

The description above can refer to the sun, Sol,materially. The sun’s light gives us life throughthe energy it provides to vegetation, which is thebasis of all our nutrition. In this way, we areliterally created of the sun’s fire. Our physicalbodies will return to this source by the samemeans, as we are digested by various insects thatthen pass us on to the plants. The plants then

convert our carbon to sugars in the process ofphotosynthesis, where the sun’s fire finally rendsour very molecules asunder.

A more esoteric interpretation could be that eachof us is a Star in the company of Stars; that weare the Gods of our own creation; that we createour bodies and minds and return to our originalstate after death.

This Star corresponds to Ra-Hoor-Khuit, toAiwass, to the Holy Guardian Angel, to Tipharethon the Tree of Life, and to the Host in the Mass.

The company of Stars of which this Star is amember corresponds to Nuit, to the negative veilssurrounding the Tree of Life, and the Priestessand Paten in the Mass.

“and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery,in His name CHAOS, the sole viceregent of theSun upon Earth;”

Here Crowley identifies a Thelemic deity byname. Chaos, in Greek, is spelled Caos, whichevaluates to 871. Other words that share this valueinclude: acos, pain or sorrow; skotaios, secretor dark; faros, a web or cloak; agnizw, to purify;and akwn , “against one’s will.” Theseassociations may seem confusing at first orcontradictory to the nature of deity, but they matchwell the visions described in the 14th Aethyr ofThe Vision and the Voice where Chaos speaks toCrowley:

“His voice comes in a whisper: O thou that artmaster of the fifty gates of Understanding, is notmy mother a black woman? O thou that art masterof the Pentagram, is not the egg of spirit a blackegg? Here abideth terror, and the blind ache ofthe Soul, and lo! even I, who am the sole light, aspark shut up, stand in the sign of Apophis andTyphon.

“I am the snake that devoureth the spirit of manwith the lust of light. I am the sightless storm inthe night that wrappeth the world about withdesolation. Chaos is my name, and thick darkness.Know thou that the darkness of the earth is ruddy,and the darkness of the air is grey, but the darknessof the soul is utter blackness.”

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And again in the 4th Aethyr:

“Blackness, blackness intolerable, before thebeginning of the light. This is the first verse ofGenesis. Holy art thou, Chaos, Chaos, Eternity,all contradictions in terms!”

To intellectually resolve the seeming contradictionof finding this dark desolation as the Father ofLife, we can turn to the natural sciences. As theFather of Life, it makes sense that His naturewould seem to suggest death and an absence oflife – for life is born of these things in nature. Inthe physical universe, conservation of energydemands that no energy be lost or gained – thereis always the same amount of energy in theuniverse. This being the case, utter desolationwould indicate the absolute maximum in potentialenergy, without form. This is the beginning ofcreation.

We can qabalistically verify that He is the Fatherof Life. This can be done through pythmenes(Greek aiq beker – adding the numerals of aword’s value to reach a kind of “root value”) andnotarichon (corresponding initial letters to coreconcepts). The value of Caos is 871, whichreduces through pythmenes to 7, the value of theletter zeta which, traditionally in Greeknotarichon, stands for Zoe (Life).

There is one passage in The Vision and the Voice,which possibly suggests an alternate spelling.While this spelling is certainly unconventional,it does indicate new depths of correspondence.From the 7th Aethyr:

“Now there is a word of four letters that containethin itself all the mystery of the Tetragrammaton,and there is a word of seven letters which itconcealeth, and that again concealeth the holyword that is the key of the Abyss.”

There is a good deal of commentary on thispassage, which seem to be summarized in footnote5:

“These words are probably BABALON, ChAOS, TARO”

One way that Babalon could conceal Chaos is ifthe latter were spelled, in the Hebrew, “s wuk,”totaling 156, the same value as Babalon. These

correspondences, along with some furthersuggestions in the commentary on the abovepassage, deserve further research and meditation.

According to Crowley, only a Master of theTemple may comprehend the mystery of Chaos.(Crowley, 1997)

Chaos corresponds to Chokhmah on the Tree ofLife, and to the Priest in the Mass. Chaos, asviceregent (Priest), performs the function of thesun (Holy Guardian Angel) through the mediumof the Air (the Lance – see below).

“and in one Air the nourisher of all thatbreathes.”

Air is one of the four Alchemical elements. Theoriginal Greek word is ahr, and it carries theadditional translations of mist and cloud. Withoutair, no life on earth (that we know of) couldtransmute base matter into energy. Indeed, thelowest forms of life, such as algae, all requiresunlight and air at a minimum to survive (thosethat live in water extract oxygen and nitrogengasses thence). In this physical sense, nourishmentis indeed provided by air to all that breathes.

The value of the word is 109, which correspondsto Hra (Hera), the second wife (and sister) ofZeus. Hera is known as “The Perfected One” andShe is known for ultimate and equal rulership,with Zeus, of the world of the Greek Gods andthe Earth. Philolaos, a Pythagorean, relates theelement of air to Dionysos. Eusebius, bishop ofCaesarea, attributed air to Athena. Platocorresponded air to the octahedron, one of the fiveperfect solids. (Barry, 1999)

Using pythmenes, the value of the word is reducedto 1. The Greek initial a is traditionally attributedto air by notarichon, as is the Hebrew a. Theseboth have a value of 1. The Greek a is also thefirst letter of anatolh (east, sunrise).

The one Air corresponds to the path of a on theTree of Life, to The Fool (Atu 0) in the Tarot, andto the Lance in the Mass.

This fragment concludes the first sentence in theCreed. The four parts of this sentence are allrelated in the sense that they all havepredominantly masculine attributes.

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“And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of usall, and in one Womb wherein all men arebegotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mysteryof Mystery, in Her name BABALON.”

The sentence structure in this passage is slightlydifferent than that above. In this case, there arethree parts to the sentence, and mere commasrather than semicolons separate each part.Therefore, it can be argued that they all referdirectly to Babalon. Still, Crowley capitalized theinitial letters of Earth, Mother, and Womb, whichmay offer additional hints to the nature ofBabalon.

Earth, in Greek, is gaia, which evaluates byisopsephy to 15. Other words sharing this valueare: qea, goddess; dia, asunder or through; andei, “thou art.” Pythmenes reveals that the rootvalue of 15 is 6, which corresponds to abba, orfather. This fact (in addition to the mysteries ofChaos explored above) may shed some light onthe passage in the Anthem of the Mass, whichreads, “Male-female, quintessential, one, / Man-being veiled in Woman-form.” The initial letterE of Earth probably transliterates to the Greek h,which in and of itself is a word in Greek meaning“I was.” The meaning of h by notarichon is,curiously, Hera. The initial letter g of gaia has avalue of 3, clearly corresponding to Binah on theTree of Life.

Mother, in Greek, is mhthr, which evaluates to456. Curiously, this is exactly 300 more than thevalue of Babalon. Using pythmenes, we againarrive at the values of 15 and 6 (see Earth above).Other words with the value of 456 include:metabolh, change; diakaiokrisia, righteousjudgment; diobolos, hurled by Zeus; and zeugma,bond.

Womb, in Greek, is delqus, which evaluates to1139. Another word with this value is gelwta,laughter. This value does not reduce to 15 or 6,like those above, through pythmenes. Rather, thedigits add up to 14, which breaks down further to5, the same as the value of ad, Had or Hadit.Again, this is an ultimately feminine symbol witha fiery and masculine association. The number 5is also related to the sphere of Geburah on theTree of Life, arguably the most masculine (butfundamentally feminine) member of the femininePillar of Severity. This seems appropriate. Of the

three concepts, Earth, Mother, and Womb, thelatter is the most easily related to generation, atypically (metaphysically) masculine trait. Theinitial letter W of Womb probably transliteratesto the Greek digamma, which carries the value of6, thereby maintaining the connection withMother and Earth above. It may also transliterateto omega, which by itself means the end, or thelast, and is symbolic of the seventh heaven of theChristian Gnostics.

Babalon is spelled Babalon in Greek, and Hervalue is 156. This number does not appear veryremarkable at first glance, as there are few andrelatively meaningless other words with the samenumerology. Pythmenes gives us 12, suggestingthe zodiac and the complete macrocosm.Applying pythmenes again, we get 3, the numberof Binah on the Tree of Life and the value of theletter g. The meaning of g by notarichon is gaia(see above) and gennaw, to beget or to be born.The associations to Earth, Mother, and Womb areclearly evident.

Crowley has a great deal to say about Babalon inThe Vision and the Voice and elsewhere. She bearsthe cup, and collects the blood of the saintstherein. Her consort is Chaos. A beautifuldepiction of Babalon can be found in Crowleyand Harris’ Thoth Tarot (Atu XI).

Babalon corresponds to Binah on the Tree of Life,and the cup in the Mass.

“And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion,Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET.”

The case of Baphomet is a curious one. The word’sorigin is unknown. In Crowley’s Confessions herelates the tale of his frustration at not finding thecorrect spelling of this name (as no spelling hecould devise yielded sufficiently significant valuesby his reckoning), and asking a spirit for guidance.In it, the spirit tells the spelling of Baphomet as itmight transliterate to the Hebrew: r t y m u w a b .Using the Hebrew gematria, this adds to 729,which is 93 and corresponds to Khqas, the name(which literally means “stone,” and in this context,the cubical cornerstone of the Church) that Jesusgave to Peter. (Crowley, 1989) The word skaqh,ship or vessel, also shares this value.

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What is odd about this spelling is that it ends inresh, which transliterates to the English letter “r.”Crowley felt that this spelling resolved theetymology of the word, because it has a phoneticsimilarity to a title meaning “Father Mithras.”(Unfortunately he does not reveal what title thismight be.) Another etymological theory thatCrowley liked, but which was not supported bythe new spelling, was that Baphomet was acorruption of baqh mhtoes, baptism of wisdom.(Crowley, 1989)

The name Baphomet dates back at least as far asthe Knights Templar. Other similar deities dateback at least as far as the Manicheans and otherChristian Gnostics. The ideas that Baphometrepresents have always been thought of as evil bydualists who believe that flesh and matter aremanifestations of evil forces. Baphomet representsgeneration, and any symbol depicting generationor incarnation is in harmony with Him. (Helenaet al., 1995)

The association of the lion and serpent toBaphomet gives further clues to His nature. Thereis a Christian Gnostic depiction of Yldaboath asa lion-headed man with a serpent wrapped aroundHim. Yldaboath, in the Christian Gnosticmythology, is the deity responsible for the creationof the Earth and its inhabitants. He was a blindidiot God, who could not see the other deitiesaround Him (actually above Him) and thereforemistakenly thought He was the only God. Manysects of Christian Gnosticism regarded Him asevil because of His essential flaws, and becauseof the flaws of His creation. However, mostThelemites do not equate flesh and matter asintrinsically evil, so therefore Baphomet, ourequivalent of Yldaboath, is not regarded as evileither. He is the result of the union of Chaos andBabalon and He symbolizes the union ofopposites.

Baphomet corresponds to Tiphareth on the Treeof Life, and the Deacon in the Mass.

“And I believe in one Gnostic and CatholicChurch of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, theWord of whose Law is THELEMA.”

It is doubtful that the potential readers of thisdocument will require much elaboration on themeaning or numerology of the word qhlhma. Itmeans “will” and its value is 93. This value isshared by agaph, love.

That our Church is Gnostic and Catholic simplymeans that we believe in direct, unmediatedknowledge of deity, and that our Church isuniversal and comprehensive. (See Dictionarydefinitions of the terms.)

The repetition of the initial letter “L” in “Light,Life, Love and Liberty” draws attention to itself.The value of the letter l is 30, and its meaning bynotarichon is “lion.” The repetition of four lsgives us a total value of 120, the number of on(the Greek word for “being” and the Egyptianword for the sun). There is also a symboliccorrespondence between these words and theh w h y formula: Light = y , Life = h , Love = w ,Liberty = h .

The Church and the word qhlhma correspond toMalkuth on the Tree of Life, and the physicalcongregation and temple in the Mass.

“And I believe in the communion of Saints.”

Up to this point in the Creed, there seems to be akind of chronological cosmology depicted. TheCreed begins with the most ineffable and here weare at the level of the most physical. Likewise,the majority of the Mass seems to be a pageantdepicting the same. At this point in the Creed (andin the Mass), the trend begins to reverse itself inthe act of communion.

Communion in the Mass consists of eating thephysical manifestation of Chaos (the body ofGod), and drinking that of Babalon (the blood ofGod). But the wine is also the blood of the Saints– our ancestors. These were individual humanbeings and characters from myth that embodied,in some way, the phallic principle in our culture.Whether Gods, or bards, or mystics, martyrsmythological or literal, or what have you, theSaints listed in the Mass have universally been apositive, generative force in the Western EsotericTradition. That list is far from comprehensive (oreven representative), and it may be argued thatall those who actively participate in our mysticalcurrent will become Saints at death, for we all

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must rest in the Womb of our creation. We mustalso return to the Star in the company of Stars.Thereby, in addition to being the body of God,the host in communion may be seen as the Saints’bodies just as the wine is the blood.

This act of communion represents the realizationof a spiritual union between the congregants andthe tradition. It also is an act of sharing betweencongregants, and stimulates feelings of intimatefellowship and rapport – toward each other andtoward our predecessors the Saints. We aremembers of their community, and we were beforewe were born. Communion is communicationalso, and therefore suggestive of Knowledge andConversation with the Holy Guardian Angel.

The communion of Saints corresponds to the pathof s, and to the communion in the Mass.

“And, forasmuch as meat and drink aretransmuted in us daily into spiritual substance,I believe in the Miracle of the Mass.”

The Miracle of the Mass occurs in theconsumption and digestion of the Eucharist. Thisis the process whereby we unite opposites withinourselves, taking in Chaos and Babalon to becomethe child, Baphomet.

We eat every day, and we unite oppositesconstantly in this way through the very functionof our bodies. Daily we perform transmutation;daily we turn the lead into gold; and daily ouractivities nourish the spirit. It is perhaps theconsciousness of these processes, and theawareness of their relationship to the rest of ourworld, which makes it a miraculous occurrence.

This Miracle takes place – not at Mass, or evenin the twelve hours it takes to digest the materialsafter Mass – but over the course of years or evendecades, as nutrients are stored, deposits left inarteries, practices observed, and awarenessexpanded in the body, mind, and spirit. There isno completion to this Miracle. Even after death,the process continues. It is the process, and notthe result, which is miraculous. It is actuallyphysically miraculous because it represents anisolated anomaly at extreme variance with the restof the known universe. The Second Law ofThermodynamics states that entropy alwaysincreases. Perhaps a caveat should be added forour experience: that as Chaos increases, so shallHe multiply.

The Miracle of the Mass corresponds to the pathof f, and to the moment in the Mass when thePriest and Priestess cry, “HRILIU!”

“And I confess one Baptism of Wisdomwhereby we accomplish the Miracle ofIncarnation.”

This confession is foreshadowed immediatelyprior to the commencement of the Creed, whenthe congregation performs the step and sign ofMan and Brother, Woman and Sister – the oldMasonic step and sign of the first degree,symbolizing birth.

Physically, there is only one way to accomplishthe Miracle of Incarnation without theintervention of advanced medical technologies.The Baptism of Wisdom is it. The act of sex isnot the terminal meaning of this symbolism,however, for sex is itself symbolic. Our ownBaptism of Wisdom came at conception, buteverywhere is conception taking place. Ourthoughts, our actions, our love, every physicallaw of nature and every magickal practicefacilitate the process of intercourse – of union.

Nevertheless, this passage is far more materiallybased than that of Baphomet, which is alsoconcerned with the union of opposites (note alsothe possible etymological relationship betweenBaphomet and the Baptism of Wisdommentioned above). It is the first of the twoconfessions in the Creed. The word “confession”implies that this is not a metaphysical metaphor,but a physical fact, for to confess is to makesomething known. We are making known thatsexual intercourse alone brings incarnation.

The symbolic and reverent language of thisconfession of the sex act supports the popularThelemic doctrine that sex and sexualsymbolism are divine, and that sexual taboo isunnecessary.

The Baptism of Wisdom corresponds to Yesodon the Tree of Life, and to the font in the Mass.

“And I confess my life one, individual, andeternal that was, and is, and is to come.”

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Works Consulted

Barry, Kieren (1999). The Greek qabalah:Alphabetic mysticism and numerology in theancient world. York Beach: Samuel Weiser.

Crowley, A. (1988). The book of lies. York Beach:Samuel Weiser.

Crowley, A. (1989). The book of Thoth: A shortessay on the Tarot of the Egyptians. The Equinox,III (V). York Beach: Samuel Weiser.

Crowley, A. (1989). The confessions of AleisterCrowley: An autohagiography. London: ArkanaPenguin Books.

Crowley, A. (1997). Magick: Liber ABA, Book4, parts I-IV (2nd rev. ed.). York Beach: SamuelWeiser.

Crowley, A. (1998). The vision and the voice withcommentary and other papers. The Equinox, IV(II). York Beach: Samuel Weiser.

Crowley, A. (2000). 777 and other qabalisticwritings of Aleister Crowley. York Beach: SamuelWeiser.

Helena, T. Apiryon & Crowley, A. (1995). Thegnostic mass with annotations and commentary.The hermetic library: The invisible basilica ofSabazius. Retrieved January, 2001 from the WorldWide Web: http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/gnostic_mass.htm

Helena & T. Apiryon (1998). The creed of theGnostic Catholic Church: An examination. Thehermetic library: The invisible basilica ofSabazius. Retrieved January 2001 from the WorldWide Web: http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/creed_egc.htm

Fr. RIKB (n.d.). The Greek gematria database.Horus Set: The Greek gematria database.Retrieved January 2001 from the World WideWeb: http://www.horusset.com/greek/

After conception and birth, we experience life.Each of us is singular, existing as a distinct entityforever. Furthermore, we will forever have apast, present, and future that we relate to. Theconfession made here describes the Holy GuardianAngel, our “higher self” that is independent ofour worldly identity. The Creed has methodicallyprogressed from the passage above regarding theGnostic and Catholic Church – the material basisof the congregation – to the divine and separateself in each of us.

My life corresponds to Tiphareth on the Tree ofLife, and to the censer in the Mass.

“AUMGN, AUMGN, AUMGN.”

Crowley transliterates aumgn to ajmgn,demonstrating again that numerology is of fargreater importance than phonetic spelling whenit comes to words of this nature. (Crowley, 1997)Rightfully so, for it is in the correspondenceswhere we find meaning in the word. Its value is100, corresponding to the Greek lagneia (lust)– again the underlying principle of the union ofopposites. By pythmenes, the value is the sameas that of Air.

This word is a Thelemic mantra. As such, itliterally represents the aspiration of thecongregants, as they conspire to unite in breathand vibration, raising the spiritual consciousnessof each. It is also suggestive of our immanentoneness with God and the divinity of our selves.

Our mantra corresponds to the three Supernalspheres on the Tree of Life (Binah, Chokhmah,and Kether), and the altar in the Mass. Thisconcludes the line-by-line analysis.

Looking at our Creed as a whole, there appears tobe a correspondence to the Gloria section ofCrowley’s Star Sapphire ritual (see The Book ofLies). It may be appropriate to examine andcompare the Gnostic Mass to the Star Sapphire,as well as other eucharistic rites (such as the Massof the Phoenix). Also, I have found a kind ofrecursive expression of the h w h y formula withinthe Creed. These findings, and the majorattributions identified previously in this essay, areshown in the attached table.

The Creed depicts the act of creation, and theaspiration of the created. It foreshadows futurerepetition of this cycle, demonstrating by examplethat there is no part of us that is not of the gods.

It is in the best interest of any that study and attendthe Mass to perform such an exegesis as this, orto meditate upon the meaning of the Creed inanother manner. In either case, it is my hope thatyour path to gnosis be made quicker by this briefexploration of the symbols therein.

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I sing death’s songit echoes in the darkan uncreated mysterythat questions wherelooking for the starswaiting to blink out

Soon I will go outcalled by the cabal’s songto stand in a circle of starstaking my place in the darkto ask myself whereand search out will’s mystery

they hold the mysterynot a single word let outso I barely know wherenot even the tune of the songI am completely in the darkstaring at the night sky’s stars

thinking how we’re all starswith individual mysteryshining through the darkwatching the moon come outto the sound of a primal songringing through time, ever where

until I am here and no wherea star among starssinging my own will’s songin a self-created mysteryresult of my reaching outa longing in the dark

I stare into the darkI am wondering whereand when they will come outleading me, oh starscrying mystery of mysterygod or goddess, chaos song

led in the dark some whereby a song of mysterystar of stars, led out

*starsby Soror R. Golden

22

Swiftly stream the sands,hourglass soon empty.

Westward soars the home-star,sundial steeped in shadow.

Whose eyes scrutinizethe hand, who calculates

the hour? A newmillennium dawns,

dazzling.

Never has the sun risenin the west, yet the pole-star's

not exempt from zodiacal procession:Water-Bearer feeds the stream,

the Fishes swim therein.Ram leaps high on mountaintop,

Bull bellows across meadow.Isis/Nephthys, Osiris/Set

royal Twins, white and black.Crab yields to the King of Beasts.

Vestal Virgin, barren helpmatekindles Balance's adjustment.

Scorpion stings, yet Archer's arrowflies true. Horns rend, hooves

slash: satyr-like, Goat cavorts supreme.

Subtle tides ebb and flow,alter shorelines over eons:

from one hour's deaththe next resurrects;

from pyre, PHOENIX.

White light shatters,newborn in shimmering

rainbow hues - then fades.

If not for the darkness,what virtue the light?

Life teeters,breathless, on the threshold.

by Frater la-gv~ar 671-31

Prism

23

First cuckold, the poor guy nevereven saw it coming. Neglect demandsattention; every itch gets scratched, eventually.

Read between the lines: Jehovah excluded that lessonwhen he taught Adam and Eve to dwell in the garden. . . like vegetables.

It was swollen, ripe, beautiful to her eye –alluring, forbidden to magnify its charm.

The serpent slithered, caressed with forked tonguethe tender flesh. “An apple, my sweet?” he tempted,“A bit of knowledge, something tasty – a treat you neverdreamed existed before I came! Has your husbandshown you this? Its rightful use, how best to enjoyit’s . . . savor?”

A blaze kindled from his father’s inferno,Cain arose. Though his hands were red,his thumbs, green. Instinctively he sewedthat kinsmen arise – Tubal Cain,1 Hiram,2

De Molay,3 Wieshaupt,4 Crowley5 –that bare earth bear life when he came,that proud stalks leap heavenward,challenge the craven god.6

by Frater la-gv~ar 671-31

Adam’s Apple

1. Tubal Cain of Biblical lore, first artificer of metals.

2. Hiram of the same source, master builder of KingSolomon’s Temple.

3. Jaques De Molay (d. 1314), last Grand Master of theKnights Templars.

4. Adam Wieshaupt, founder of the Bavarian Illuminati(1776).

5. Aleister Crowley (d. 1947), Outer Head of the quasi-Masonic Ordo Templi Orientis.

6. Some consider these men and their spiritualdescendants “Sons of Cain, Children of the Light” (i.e.possessors and transmitters of the creative impulse/energy).

Versluis, Arthur. Theosophia: HiddenDimensions of Christianity. Lindisfarne Press,1994.

Faivre, Antoine. Theosophy, Imagination,Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism (C.Rhone, trans.). SUNY Press, 2000. (Originalwork published in 1996).

Within most outward religious forms of anysignificant longevity, there are usuallyembedded, sometimes deeply, sometimes not sodeeply, genuine spiritual currents and streams.Arguably one of the most profound that has beenbequeathed to us by 17th century GermanChristianity is the so-called “theosophicalcurrent” associated with Jacob Boehme (“thecobbler from Gorlitz,” "the TeutonicPhilosopher”) and the various mystics andvisionaries who constellated around him. Twoworks published within the last decade,Theosophia: Hidden Dimensions of Christianity,by Arthur Versluis (published in 1994), andTheosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies inWestern Esotericism, by Antoine Faivre (originalFrench publication in 1996; English translationin 2000) provide important introductions to thisrich, but frequently overlooked, spiritual source.

The pervasive thrust of Versluis' book is thetimely reclamation of “Christian theosophy”from the hands of pedants: “far from being aforgotten province suitable only for scholars, [it]in fact represents in an era of unparalleledspiritual confusion an essential spiritualalternative within Christianity.” Conceived aspure “hiero-history” (the “history of revelationor of spiritual illumination”), he understandstheosophy, in the broad sense, to be essentiallysynonymous with gnosticism. More specifically,however, his focus is upon the “authenticGnostic tradition within Christianity, stretchingfrom Dionysius the Areopagite, through Clementof Alexandria and Origen, to St. Maximus theConfessor, John Scotus Erigena, MeisterEckhart, Johannes Tauler, Jacob Boehme,

Gottfried Arnold, Franz von Baader, and intothe present era.” His task is to demonstrate that“there is a continuity in this tradition recognizedby its exponents regardless of their historicaldiscontinuity.” Not surprisingly, he referencesthe work of Henry Corbin in support of his notionof the “vertical rupture in historical time” thattheosophy represents.

Theosophia is conveniently divided into threesections: the first section introduces the readerto the primary antecedents of Boehmeantheosophy by means of a survey of earlyChristian angelophany, gnosis, and celestialhierarchy, followed by a discussion of medievalChristian mystical eros as exemplified by, on theone hand, the high mysticism of Meister Eckhart,and, on the other hand, by the low mysticism ofthe minnesinger tradition. It concludes with aconsideration of key Platonic and Hermeticsources, before turning to an examination oftheosophy itself, through a series of synopsesbeginning with Boehme, passing through JohnPordage, Jane Leade, Johann George Gichtel,and Gottfried Arnold, and ending with LouisClaude de Saint-Martin, Friedrich ChristophOetinger and Franz von Baader.

The second section focuses upon the cosmologythat underlies Boehmean theosophy, especiallythe image of the temple and the pilgrim. It alsoprovides a nod to the significant influence ofParacelsian alchemy. The final section of thebook explores the key metaphysical concepts oftheosophy, particularly those surrounding theimage of the divine Sophia as it relates to thecelestial hierarchy. Appended to the main bodyof the text are two brief extracts fromtheosophical works, the most notable of whichis from the conclusion of Jane Leade's EnochianWalks with God. While Versluis is sometimes abit too insistent overall for this reader in hisappeal to "Spiritual Robinson Crusoes" to findtheir consummate solace and sustenance in atheosophy comprised of “a spiritual confederacythat is not bound by recorded history or the crises

Book Reviewsby Frater Diapason

of our times,” he nonetheless provides a readableand useful presentation throughout of theessential concepts, personages, and writtenworks that enervate the traditional Christiantheosophical corpus.

Considerably more robust and less sermonizingin tone than Versluis's book, is Antoine Faivre'sTheosophy, Imagination, Tradition. It ispresented as a companion volume to his Accessto Western Esotericism (1994). This earliervolume, more general in scope (and originallypublished in French as two separate books),surveyed and discussed various classical currentswithin Western esotericism, includingAlexandrian hermetism, Jewish Kabbalah, andNeo-Platonism, as well as more modern ones,such as Christian Kabbalah, Neo-Alexandrianhermetism, Parcelsism, theosophy, andRosicrucianism.

This more recent work focuses, however, more-or-less exclusively upon the theosophicalcurrent, its characteristic features, history, majorpersonages, and works (once again citing thetowering figure of Jacob Boehme: “With [him]the theosophical current acquired its definitivecharacteristics, the Boehmean work representingsomething like the nucleus of that whichconstitutes the classical theosophical corpus”).

In his Preface, the author elaborates upon themajor methodological issues involved in esotericstudies, focusing especially on criteriologicalconcerns (he includes, of course, a summary ofhis “six basic characteristics of esotericism,”often referenced in many of the published worksassociated with Faivre).

The first part of the book surveys variousdefinitions of theosophy, followed by adescription of “the genesis, development, andspecific features [of ‘classical theosophy’] in theframework of a periodic overview.” Specifically,he discusses its first Golden Age (the end of the16th through the17th centuries), the TransitionalPeriod (the first half of the 18th century), a

second Golden Age in the pre-romantic andromantic era (the late 18th through the mid-19thcenturies), and, finally, “its decline, and also itsendurance, from the mid-nineteenth centuryuntil the present.” This survey is followed bymore detailed studies of particular theosophers:an analysis of Valentin Weigel and Johann GeorgGichtel with reference to the pioneering workof Bernard Gorceix; and a consideration ofvarious theosophical points of view on the deathpenalty in relation to the works of Louis Claudede Saint-Martin, Joseph de Maistre, and Franzvon Baader.

The second section of the book looks at specificaspects of theosophical symbolism andmetaphysics, particularly the magicalimagination as exemplified in the image of the“divine mirror.” The concluding third sectionis devoted to topical discussions and theirrelationship to theosophical themes: the proto-Rosicrucian writings; the 20th century work ofValentin Tomberg with the 22 Major Arcana ofthe Tarot; and, finally, the enigmaticcontemporary figure of Raymond Abellio.Included in the last pages of the book is aBibliographical Guide to Research that is anextension of the monumental one published inAccess to Western Esotericism.

Antoine Faivre (along with Joscelyn Godwin anda few handfuls of others) is one of the leadingvoices and figures behind the recent emergenceof "esoteric studies" within the walls of theAcademy. His work is always meticulouslydocumented, comprehensive in scope, balancedin outlook, and clear in presentation. Itconstitutes essential reading for any seriousstudent of the Western esoteric tradition.

Drowning in the Key of Chan MarshallFrater Balise d’Anubis, Anno IVviii ~ Pen & Ink

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Do what thou wiltshall be the whole of the Law.

Iacchos Festival!The Exaltation of the Sun

Friday, June 22nd, 7pmRitual at 7:30, Party to follow.

A fund-raiser for thePortland Thelemic Community

sponsored by Sekhet-Maat Lodge.

Tickets:$10 in advance, $15 at the door.

Open to OTO members and their guests.

Love is the law, love under will.

Do what thou wiltshall be the whole of the Law.

Iacchos Festival!The Exaltation of the Sun

Friday, June 22nd, 7pmRitual at 7:30, Party to follow.

A fund-raiser for thePortland Thelemic Community

sponsored by Sekhet-Maat Lodge.

Tickets:$10 in advance, $15 at the door.

Open to OTO members and their guests.

Love is the law, love under will.

Babalon...Soror S. D. M., Anno IVix ~ Colored Pencil & Guache