The Underworld & it's Inhabitants

This blog article is going to carry on from a certain point I made about the underworld in my last blog entry, called Summer's End. But, before I start, I would just like to say that my ideas I present here are not just theoretical musings! They are an accumulating data of knowledge that I have specifically asked the spirits I have worked with to help me understand. The spirits I have worked with in order to gain a knowledge of the Mysteries and an understanding of particular systems of magic, range from the Egyptian neteru and the Greek deities, to the spirits of the medieval and Renaissance grimoires. Such as; the Heptameron, Ars Goetia and Rudd's Nine Angelic Hierarchies.

Now it is all good and well for me to say that the information I am giving forth here on my blog is based upon received gnosis from actual magical work with specific beings. But, unless it can be backed up through research and evidence, it basically means diddly-squat! This is where many go wrong in their magical works because they are all to keen to trust what the so called spirits have said to them, often to the total neglect of academic research. When the magician is on the right track, being properly guided by the beings he/she chooses to work with and not by fictitious phantasms of their own creative imaginations, then he/she will find the evidence through research to back up their magical experiences. It is with this in mind that I share with you the realisations I have come to understand and find out about the underworld and it's inhabitants.

As I said previously, this article is a follow on from a specific point a made in my last blog entry about the underworld. So just to recap, the point I made was this:

“The kingdom below the spiritual world is none other than our very own earth, physical matter. This, unbeknown to almost everyone in the occult scene at the moment, (unless of course they have kept very quiet about it) is the underworld!”

Looking at the creation myths in the ancient writings it often shows that they are consistent on dividing two realms of being; heaven and earth, sky and sea, or spirit and matter. Each representing an upper and a lower realm of being. The upper realm is considered to be divine, and is known as the celestial world, while the lower world is the material plane that is also called the sub-lunar world because it resides underneath the moon, which we naturally see when we look up from the earth. Therefore, the underworld can refer to nowhere else but the physical level of here and now, where we presently live and experience our everyday lives. Even though it is known as the underworld it is not underneath the earth as most people often surmise. This is because it is the level of reality that is underneath the spiritual world which is classed as being up there, in regards to the natural world which is down here. This can be seen by the context in which the word “life” is used in the ancient writings, where it always equates its meaning to spiritual consciousness. As is often shown in the Bible: “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life” (John 3:36). And in Job 7:7. “O remember that my life is wind ”. Here wind is used as a symbol to represent life as something that is spiritual because the word spiritual pertains to wind, breath and air.

It is not just within the Bible that such words are used in the same context to refer to the spiritual nature. In the “Mystical Theology And The Celestial Hierarchies” the context of the word life is clearly set forth:

“proclaiming the Intellect and wisdom of God, both essentially, as the source of being, and also as the true cause of existence; and they make it equivalent to Light, and call it Life ” (Dionysius the Areopagite)

According to the writings of Pietschmann, the Egyptian god Thoth was perceived as the god who gave life in the land of the living and; “The Land of the Living was the Invisible World, a glorious Land of Light and Life for the seers of ancient Egypt” (G.R.S. Mead,1906, p,51).

In the writings of Plutarch: Concerning the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris, he says; “Moreover, we hear Homer also on every occasion calling the good variously “godlike” and “equal to gods”, and as “having directions from gods”” (Ibid, p, 299).

What about the context of the words used in association to the underworld. The most obvious example is with the word “death”. But one must bear in mind that this is not meant in the sense of physical death but a spiritual death; as is explained by Mead:

“the Italian Cardinal Patrizzi appends to his labours the following beautiful words (attributed by some to a 4^th century A.D. Platonic Philosopher called Chalcidius)

“Till now my son, I, banished from my home, have lived expatriate in exile. Now safe and sound I seek my home once more. And when but yet a little while I shall have left thee, freed from these bonds of body, see that thou dost not mourn me as dead. For I return to the supreme and happy state to which the universe's citizens will come when in the after-state. For there the Only God is supreme lord, and He will fill his citizens with wondrous joy, compared to which the state down here which is regarded by the multitude as life, should rather be called death” (Ibid, p19-20)

There are plenty more examples in the Bible too, but to finish of this part of the article an appropriate one is; “For to be carnally minded is death : but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” Romans 8:6. Now that we have ascertained that the proper location of the underworld is where we live out our earthly lives, lets take a look at some of its more well known inhabitants.

The first inhabitant of the underworld I am going to discuss is the one who is associated with the soul's entrance into Hades, this is the ferryman called Charon. He is the son of Nyx (night) and Erebus (darkness) who is said to ferry the newly dead across the marshes of the river Styx, or the river Acheron, also known as the river of hate and the river of woe. He holds a pole in his right hand leaving his left hand free to receive the dead from Hermes. In order for the dead to cross over into Hades, a payment of a low valued coin called an obel has to be made to the ferryman. According to Virgil (Aeneid. Bk VI. 299) only those who had received a proper burial were allowed aboard Charon's vessel, while the unburied were left to wonder the shores for 100 years like ghosts.

To enable us to understand the esoteric meaning of Charon's myth, we must keep in mind the allegorical meaning of death, as the ancients used it. That is, it refers to the death of the divine part of the soul as it is plunged into the sea of matter, not the death of the physical body! Once this is grasped, a whole new light of understanding should enable us to interpret the myths associated to the underworld with much more clarity of thought.

Charon is ferrying the souls of the newly dead who are literally the living, therefore he cannot be taking them to the hereafter, so instead the only logical explanation is that he must be taking the souls to physical matter to incarnate! Here is the answer as to why he will not take those who have not received a proper burial. This is because “burial” in the ancient symbolic writings is the metaphor for the soul being placed in to the body. Just as Plato suggests that the grave is the body which the soul is confined (buried) within.

“ Who knows whether being alive is being dead and being dead is being alive. Perhaps in reality we are dead. Once I even heard one of the wise men say we are now dead, and that our bodies are our tombs, and that part of our souls in which our appetites reside is actually the sort of thing to be open to persuasion and to be shift back and forth. ” (Plato, Gorgias, 492e-493)

And therefore it is common sense to say Charon cannot take the souls who do not have a body to gain entry into Hades (physical life) with. What about the low valued coin you may well ask. It is obviously symbolic because money is used to acquire material things, and therefore has no use in the realm before life, or even after life. The act of giving away the thing that enables one to purchase material desires with, must therefore be a purely symbolic gesture that betokens a sacrifice of the lower desires in order to progress and spiritually develop through the material level.

As now can easily be seen, the ancients who created these myths, did so out of common sense with purpose and meaning, and not out of superstition of some long forgotten ancient rite. As many would have us believe.

Another Greek spirit associated with the underworld is Thanatos, also being a son of Nyx and a brother to Hypnos (sleep).

“In Roman sculptural reliefs he was portrayed as a youth holding a down turned torch and a wreath or butterfly symbolizing the soul of the dead ” (http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Thanatos.html).

The symbol of the butterfly is most interesting because the word for soul (which it symbolizes) in many languages means life, consciousness or spirit. The torch that has been turned upside down must signify the light of spirit from above, which has been placed in to the underworld of our earthly existence. Another interesting image depicting Thanatos is given by Pausanias in the c2nd A.D. where he describes Thanatos as an infant child being held with his brother Hypnos in each arm of their mother Nyx (IBID). The intriguing point of this description is that each child is said to have their feet turned in different ways. I would think this means that death brings the soul downwards through the last phase of the journey of involution towards life on the physical plane. While through the sleeping state (as certain Greek philosophers describe people to be in) the soul starts the walk of evolution in the opposite direction upwards, towards the divine spiritual state of being.

The imagery of using an infant child to represent death in its metaphorical context is again suggestive that Thanatos represents the stage in which the state of physical life begins, while being held in the arms of night. The darkness of night is another symbol for the lower life on the material plane. In the writings of Euripides called Alcestis, there is an account of how Thanatos prepares Alcestis for death:

"Talk all you will, you get no more of me! The woman shall go down to the dwelling of Hades. Now must I go to consecrate her for the sacrifice with this sword; for when once this blade has shorn the victim's hair, then he is sacred to the Lower Gods ” (Euripeds nd).

The shaving of hair is seen as a sign of contrition as the soul becomes subject to the natural law of sin for being born into the lower carnal nature of the body. In the ancient Egyptian mysteries Isis is said to have cut off a lock of her hair and put on a morning robe when she heard of the death of her husband, Osiris (Plutarch). This is explained by Isis representing the force that is seen as the wisdom of the spiritual nature. She laments for the death of the divine part of the soul (the god Osiris) which has to naturally die in order for the soul to incarnate into matter. This is because divinity is achieved through the spiritual evolutionary development in life on the physical plane of matter, the names of which from different cultures include; Amenta, Sheol, the Underworld, Hell and Hades, which actually means 'that which cannot be seen.' This is because the divine part of the soul cannot be seen on the material level. That is until its awakening through some type of spiritual development process, such as ceremonial magic.

The next god that we shall take a look at is Hades. The son of Cronus (time) and Rhea (space). Also known as god of the dead. Now considering we now realise that “the dead” is a metaphorical statement that the ancients used to refer to everyday people living lives on the material plane, it will therefore go to show that Hades is in fact the god of the living. When seeing him in this light, all of his attributes start to make a lot more sense, as we shall now see.

First of all he is said to own the helm of darkness or cap of invisibility. This was given him by the Cyclopes and on occasions it would be borrowed by other gods and heroes, such as Perseus, who received it from the water nymphs. The obvious reason for Hades possessing this helmet of invisibility, would be for it to symbolise the fact that he represents the hidden god in nature, or life on earth. During life in the lower nature of the body and mind on the physical level, the divine nature of the soul is generally kept hidden away from us by the earthly temptations and desires of the flesh that occupy the thoughts of our minds. Hence the invisibility symbol being a helmet which covers the head, just like the material thoughts and desires which hide the doorway to the divine state within our own minds.

Hades was also called Pluto, giver of wealth and riches. Now this title could quite easily have a double meaning, for no where else but on the material level of life are wealth and riches experienced. It is also because of such lusts and desires for material riches that can also be a contribution to the cause that keeps the spiritual nature of the soul hidden and kept from being discovered. But, when this title is interpreted from a spiritual perspective, it's meaning can be given a different twist, which represents the wealth and riches of divinity that lay hidden deep within the soul awaiting discovery.

It was also said that Pluto holds a key: “ As to the key they say that what is called Hades has been locked up by Pluto and nobody will return back again there from. ” ( Pausanias. 5.20.3 Votive offerings in the temple of Hera).

I would take this to imply the necessity of reincarnation, which will keep on occurring to the individual soul until the realisation of its own divine reality that will unlock the door that leads to the spiritual life in the empyrean. Heaven being where the soul comes from, and when this state is realised again, it will allow the soul to escape from the prison of earthly confinement. This idea is what also seems to be expressed by the words of Jesus;

“ I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death ” (N.T. Revelation 1:18).

The wife of Hades is Persephone, whose mother is Demeter the Earth Mother, or more precisely, Grain Mother. Also called by the Romans, Ceres.

“All such figures - heavenly manna, bread, wheat, ambrosia, nectar, meat, corn, wine, honey, barley – are forms of typology suggestive of the deific life ordered to mortals for their immortal nutrient. The body of spiritual intellect, Ceres, which was true 'cereal' food for man was crushed into bits and then welded into a cake so that it might be 'eaten' by mortals ” (A . B . Kuhn, nd, p. 212 ).

From this interpretation it is easy to see how the symbolism of grain was used to indicate the spiritual significance of the role Demeter/Ceres represented in the Elusinian Mysteries. While in the exoteric meaning, Ceres represents the agricultural goddess who receives the seeds into the ground to bring forth the fruits of the earth for human consumption. While this seems to be the general interpretation for the uninitiated, aimed at a basic level of understanding, while at the same time it also exemplifies a deeper level of understanding to the initiated. This being that the seeds of divinity are sown into the soul's lower nature, (earth) and through their cultivation, will result in the fruition upon the higher levels of the soul. Or as Thomas Taylor notes:

“The philosopher Isocrates thus bears testimony “She (Demeter) gave us two gifts that are the most excellent; fruits that we might not live like beasts; and that initiation, those who have part in which have sweeter hope, both as regards the close of life and for all eternity. ” (T.Taylor, 1891, p 19).

This implies that unless the soul partakes of the divine fruit, then it will remain to live like an animal, dead to the higher divine nature. It is no wonder then that the Athenians were said to of called the dead “Demeter's people (demetrioi)" (Y. Bonnefoy. 1992, p. 155). This is because it is us in our deadened state while on the earth, who are to receive the divine nourishment from the Goddess to enable our spiritual development to take place.

The myth related to Demeter's daughter, Persephone, who is taken by Hades to the Underworld is suggestive of the demise of life in the dark half of the year, when nature seems lifeless and barren only to return again in the spring, when sprouting leaves and buds on the trees and the shoots of flowers in the fields portend Persephone's return to the upper world. But, as always with mythology the initiated interpretation remains veiled behind the outward general meaning, and in this case the myth of Persephone's abduction, is nothing but a clear indication of the descent of the soul to the lower world, where the soul becomes wedded to the lower nature, and lives in the darkness of life until it awakens to it's spiritual life. This awakening is symbolised by the spring time in the light half of the year when the sun starts to increase in light, which signifies the soul coming forth into the light of day, its divine spiritual nature. And here we have a perfect example of nature demonstrating for us, the outward objective manifestation of the inner spiritual transformation that can happen to the human soul. Nature is but a mirror that the magician peers into, to see the truth of inner spiritual reality reflected. As above so below.

 

Bibliography

Dionysius, 1965, Mystical Theology and the Celestial Hierarchies, 2nd ed. Surrey. The Shrine Of Wisdom.

G.R.S. Mead, 1906, Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Studies In Hellenistic Theosophy And Gnosis, Forgotten Books.

Virgil, Aeneid Book six.

J, M, Cooper, 1997, Plato Complete works, 1st ed, U.S.A. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

A.B. Kuhn, nd, Lost Light An Interpretation of Ancient Scriptures, Filiquarian Publishing, LLC. 

T. Taylor, 1891, The Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries, New York, Blibliolife.

Y. Bonnefoy. 1992, Greek and Egyptian Mythologies, U.S.A. The University of Chicago Press.

Summer's End!

Before I start I would just like to say that for ease of convenience when I use the term "man" in this blog post I am referring to both sexes.

It is that time of year when ghosts, goblins, monsters and witches come out to play. Yes, it is Halloween again, also called Samhain, which roughly translates as “summer’s end.” It is originally supposed to be a Celtic pagan festival when the year ends and the start of winter heralds forth the beginning of the New Year. Now then, I am not going to bore you by keeping on about the associations of Halloween with its ancient pagan origins and practices, but, instead, I am hopefully going to help you to step outside the box of what has mundanely come to be the normal excepted way of thinking about death, especially in regards to this festival. I will explain in a clear and easy to understand way the esoteric meaning to this most misunderstood time of the year.  Although, While doing so, my thoughts upon this topic are either going to be very much welcomed by those who have an open mind, or most earnestly rejected by many of those in the occult world through fear of jeopardising certain modern beliefs.

Halloween is said to be one of the times of the year when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, and therefore the dead are much more easily contacted. This makes perfect sense when looking at the astrological sign the Sun enters into at this time, which is Scorpio. The scorpion is the symbol of death, and therefore matter, because it is matter that brings forth death. In Greek mythology the earth goddess Gaia (in some versions Artemis) sends the scorpion to kill the god Orion by stinging him to death.

There is a really interesting story in ancient Egyptian mythology, as is shown on the back of the Metternich stela, which has an image of Horus standing on crocodiles while holding snakes and scorpions in his hands. The young Horus (Harpokrates) is killed by the sting of a scorpion not long after he is born. This causes his mother Isis, to utter many heartbreaking laments which are heard by her sister Nephthys, (who is also weeping for Horus) who comes from the marshes with the scorpion goddess Serqet. The scorpion goddess advises Isis to pray to the gods of heaven, and after doing so her voice reaches the Boat of Millions of Years, and causes the Sun to stand still. Thoth then descends from the celestial boat, and comes down to utter his magic spell, raising Horus back to life from the dead. (E. A. Wallis Budge, 1912)

Although the previous story is ancient Egyptian, it has some particular interesting associations to Halloween. What with death by a scorpion, lamenting, and the raising of the dead, you could easily be forgiven for thinking you are reading about Goetia! In the ancient writings, such creatures like scorpions and the like, were seen as manifestations of negative forces. As is also shown in the Bible with the words of Christ:
“Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10: 18.)

Besides just possibly being arbitrary associations to this time of the year, what does all of the above have to do with Halloween? To explain this we first need to briefly turn back to the autumn equinox, which is the previous pagan festival falling around September 21. This is when the hours of light and darkness are of the same length. It is at this period (which just so happens to be called the “fall”) when life in nature appears to be dying as the light of the Sun begins to wane. Esoterically, this symbolises the death of the divine soul, and the divine part of the soul is always symbolised as the Sun in the ancient writings. Also at this time the Sun enters the astrological sign of Libra, which signifies balance. This, according to esoteric knowledge is the balance between the forces of spirit and matter. Which are always symbolised in pairs of opposites, like light and darkness, or day and night. From here on the forces of matter take predominance, and the soul becomes subjected to the woes of matter's influence. This is the reason why in many myths the innate divinity is lamented, because it has to die to its spiritual state in the heavenly realm above, in order to incarnate into the kingdom below.

The kingdom below the spiritual world is none other than our very own earth, physical matter. This, unbeknown to almost everyone in the occult scene at the moment, (unless of course they have kept very quiet about it) is the underworld!! I hinted at this in one of my previous blog posts about the “Penitential Psalms” where I spoke about the esoteric meaning of the so called “dead,” here: http://theoccultscrivener.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/seven-penitential-psalms-their-purpose.html

The etymology of the word “underworld” taken from Chambers, suggest exactly this premise: “underworld. 1608, the lower world, Hades, 1609, the earth as distinguished from heaven” (Chambers Dictionary of Etymology 1988)

This is in accordance with how Apuleius describes the celestial and infernal gods in The Golden Ass:

 “I approached near unto hell, even to the gates of Proserpine, and after that I was ravished throughout all the elements, I returned to my proper place: about midnight I saw the sun brightly shine, I saw likewise the Gods celestial and the gods infernal, before whom I presented myself and worshipped them.” (Apuleius, n.d.)

Here in the spiritual awakening of Apuleius, he describes where man will stand, which is on earth at midpoint between the infernal beings below him, and the higher spiritual beings above him. A relevant etymological link that could easily apply here is with the word “man”, which is linked to the root “men” - to think. Because it is the thinking capability of the mind that makes us human. Therefore, the conscious mind of man is exactly midpoint between the influences of the material forces of hell below that act through the sub- consciousness, and the spiritual forces of heaven above, which act through the super-consciousness. Heaven, earth and hell are states of being reflected through the mind of man, and which can all be experienced here on the physical plane! Cue the music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngmakCXGe7M  :D

This type of perspective can also be seen to be prevalent in the grimoires of the Renaissance period, as shown in Stephen Skinner and David Rankine's Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic -Volume 2. The Keys To The Gateway of Magic, being a transcription of a British Library Sloane MS 3825, called Janua Magica Reserata. Where it says:

“As therefore amongst, the good spirits, there is a proper Keeper or protector, Deputed to & set over every one corroborating the mind of man to good &c – so from amongst orders of Evil Spirits, there is by Divine permission, sent forth an Enemy ruling over the flesh, & the desires thereof; & the Good spirits fight for us as a preserver against the Enemy of the flesh. Now man lies between those two, in the middle, & safe (amidst those contenders) in the Hand of his own Counsel, to which of them he will give Victory” (Anon., n.d.)

The festivals of the year are the celebrations of the turning points in the evolution of man’s spiritual development. Therefore the equinox represents the fall of the divine soul to its incarnation into matter; this was symbolically termed the death of the soul! Halloween is the festival that esoterically celebrates the death of the soul, not the death of the physical body!

It just so happens that the period between the autumn equinox and Halloween is forty days long. This is a significant number that is used in the scriptures numerous times. For example; Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness, while being tempted by the devil (Mathew 4:1-2). The Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years (Deuteronomy 8:2). So what does this significant number represent? This is lucidly put forth with these words:

“Forty days was the ancient cryptogram in number for the period of the seed’s incubation in the ground or matter before germinating, therefore a glyph for the general fact of incarnation, the end of all the forty day periods would signalise the perfection of the product of the incarnational experience. Halloween ends the forty days from the vernal equinox, as Easter ends the forty days of Lent. So Candlemas ends the forty days from Christmas. The conclusion of the period of the soul’s tenancy of the body is presumed to have raised the constituent matter of the body in which it was housed to final purification” (A.B. Kuhn, 1948).

What happens when the soul incarnates into matter? It houses itself into a body of flesh which is governed by the natural animal instincts and desires. Just like Virgil said: “The lower part a beast, a man above” (The Aeneid, n.d.)

In the Chaldean Oracles, according to Thomas Taylor in one of his footnotes in Iamblichus's, On The Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans and Assyrians.  It says: “The wild beasts of the earth shall inhabit thy vessel” (Anon, n.d.)

The divine soul that dies when incarnating into an animal body, and hiding behind the mask of the personality, brings a much more logical meaning to the revelries of Halloween than does the current exoteric interpretation that is excepted by the masses!

The day after Halloween celebrates the Christian feast of All Saints day, what can this mean, but to imply after the incarnation into matter the soul seeks to attain its spiritualised state of mind. Halloween is about the development of the animal, which must come before the development of the spiritual. 

 As St Paul said:

 “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural: and afterwards that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven” (Corinthians 15:46-47)

I could go on and on with more references and quotes from the ancient writings that confirm all these ideas presented in this blog post. But, that will be enough to take up a book! ;-)

References

E.A. Wallis Budge., 1912. Gods of The Egyptians. Dover Publications June 1, 1969

Anon., 1988. Chambers Dictionary of Etymology. 10 ed. Croydon: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd.

Apuleius, L., n.d. The Golden Ass. s.l.:s.n.

S. Skinner & D. Rankine. 2005. The Keys to the Gateway of Magic: Summoning the Solomonic Archangels and Demon Princes.1^st ed. Singapore: Golden Hoard Press.

A.B. Kuhn. 1948. Who Is This King Of Glory. San Diego. The Book Tree.

Virgil, n.d. The Aeneid. Book Six.

Iamblichus, n.d. On The Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans and Assyrians. 1^st U.S. ed. Miami. Cruzian Mystic Books

Anon, n.d. The Bible.

The Goddess of Love

“Heavenly, illustrious, laughter-loving queen, Sea-born, night-loving, of an awful mien; Crafty, from whom necessity first came, Producing, nightly, all-connecting dame” (1).

Aphrodite, the goddess of love who was born from the sea foam which came about around the castrated genitals of Uranus, after his son, Cronus, had thrown them into the sea. This is a tantalizing explanation for the birth of a goddess, but what can it mean? To find out we need to understand what principle Uranus represents.

Uranus represents the primordial power of heaven, and therefore spirit, the polar opposite to matter. The castration of Uranus is a symbolic expression to denote the cessation of involution when its time is fulfilled, (2) and which signifies the separation of spirit and matter, for after this event it was said that the “Sky came no more to cover the Earth at night.” (3) The earth is one of the symbols for the lower nature of the soul that becomes separated from spirit at the end of involution and the commencement of physical life, which is symbolised as night. This brings us to the beginning stage of evolution where the creative powers of spirit, symbolised as the genitalia of Uranus, are implanted into the sea of matter.

Another symbol for spirit as it progresses down the planes towards manifestation is air, which represents 'mind', therefore; “A common form of air and water mingled with some violence is foam or bubbles. Froth arises when air is forcefully associated with water. Here beyond doubt is the clue to the esoteric riddle of Greek symbology, which represented the birth of the goddess Aphrodite from the sea-foam. Here is the beautiful poetic figure hinting at the truth that Love is born in the evolutionary process when the energetic injection of god's power of fiery mind into the emotional life effects the blending of air (mind) and water (emotion) in the consciousness.” (4)

A good practical analogy to represent the above idea can easily be shown with a saucepan of water placed on a heated stove. For when the fire (divinity) heats up the water there arises foam/froth on top of the water in the saucepan. “Is not love the product of the conjunction of mind and emotion? Froth would indicate the elevation of emotion to the plane of thought, the injection of mind into feeling. The emergence of bubbles of air to the surface suggests how thought is generated out of the mud (sensation) and water (emotion) of the bodily experience.” (5)

In the Greek Magical Papyri it says : “Aphrodite's name which becomes known to no one quickly is NEPHERIERI – this is the name.” “Nepherieri is the Egyptian Nfr-iry.t, 'the beautiful eye' a suitable epithet for Aphrodite.” (6) If we take a look at the Egyptian version of Aphrodite, most commonly known by the Greek name, Hathor, we shall see that “she is most often shown as a beautiful woman wearing a red solar disc between a pair of cow horns.” Her name in Egyptian is “HWT-HR (Het-Heru) and means 'domain (or mansion) of Horus, which may make her the original mother of the celestial falcon. In the Pyramid Texts, the domain of Horus was a special part of the sky where the dead king would be rejuvenated. As Lady of stars, Hathor was associated with the nocturnal sky. As the Eye of Ra, she could be identified with the solar disk or the morning or evening star (Venus).” (7)

This sounds all well and good, but how does this apply to ourselves from a spiritual perspective? The answer to this lays in understanding how to interpret the symbolism that the ancient Egyptians used. After all, their religion was a very practical one being used to turn the Pharaoh into a god, so everything they have written has a purpose and meaning. Most of this is hidden behind the veil of their symbolism.

  In “The Book of Going Forth by Day” commonly referred to as “The Book of the Dead” it says : "Hathor, Lady of the West; She of the West; Lady of the sacred Land; Eye of Re which is on his forehead; kindly of countenance in the Bark of Millions of Years; a resting place for him who has done right within the boat of the blessed; who built the Great Bark of Osiris in order to cross the water of truth." (8) The way to interpret this is to apply the Ancient Egyptian esoteric law of “As Above So Bellow.” In other words one should apply this objective symbolism to the internal spiritual world. (See my previous blog entry on this here=http://theoccultscrivener.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/as-above-so-below.html ) The West is the place where the Sun sets, and the Sun is always the symbol of the divine part of the soul, so in the symbolism of the setting sun it is figuratively explaining the descent of the divine part of the soul into matter. The boat, and the bark is described as a resting place for the divine part of the soul, Osiris. This is because it is the body where the soul rests while sailing across the sea of matter until it breaks free from it, to reclaim its divine rite of rulership in the heavens. This is also confirmed in “The Theban Recension of The Book of Going Forth By Day” where it says : “I know the Souls of the Easteners; they are Horakhty, the sun-calf and the Morning Star.” (9) The souls of the 'Easterners' are those who have realised and awakened their divine state, because the Sun rises in the east, and is therefore used as a symbol of the awakened and risen divinity. “Horakhty is 'Horus of the Horizion' : the sun god, usually falcon headed.” (10) The horizon is a brilliant symbol to use to represent this, because the horizon is the place where sky and earth, spirit and matter, or consciousness and unconsciousness meet to give birth to that third state of super consciousness. This is the divine state of being, also known as the divine son, the product of its Father (spirit) and its mother. (matter)

It is through the beauty of the goddess of love in her many different forms that one can give birth to the divine state of being within ourselves. So let her of the beautiful eye open up to see and feel the love of divinity, so that we may unify the lower with the higher, and become more fully realised spiritual beings.

Dedicated to somebody I used to know ;-)

Notes

1. Orphic Hymn of Venus

2. Dictionary of All Scriptures & Myths. G. A. Gaskell. Page 780.

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus_%28mythology%29

4.The Ultimate Cannon of Knowledge. A.B.Kuhn. Page 138

5. Ibid

6. PGM IV. 1265-74

7. Egyptian Mythology. Geraldine Pinch. Page 137.

8. The Book of Going Forth by Day. The Papyrus of Ani. Plate 37. Chapter 186.

9. The Theban Recension. Chapter 109.

10. The Book of Going Forth By Day. Page 174 Chronicle Books.

"Occult Traditions" A Review!

Well, it has been a while since my last blog entry, because the topics I was going to discuss I decided to keep quite about for a little while longer! But here is something that I am not going to keep quiet about because this is worth making some noise about, and this noise is my review of “Occult Traditions” edited by Damon Zacharias Lycourinos, and published by Numen Books.

When I found out about the future publication of this book I was really looking forward to it, this was mainly because the list of topics by the contributing authors (some of which are well known in the occult world) looked rather intriguing. I did have some hesitation though which stemmed from a couple of previous occult books I have purchased of a compilation of different authors, which were not as good as I had hoped. This was mainly because some of the chapters in these previous compilations have ended too soon, therefore, not containing enough information to grip hold of my attention and whet the appetite for more. That was not the case with this book though! From start to finish my attention was captivated by the knowledge, skill and scholarly depth of insight that this book gives from all the different authors. That is right; ALL the different authors!

The book's first two chapters are conjured up by Damon Zacharias Lycourinos, and these are : “Conjuring Magical Assistants in the Greek Magical Papyri”, and: “The Spell of Pnouthis as a Mystery Rite in the Greek Magical Papyri.” These two chapters are bursting forth with information that will form links with the reader's own ideas, and help to illuminate them to new levels of understanding within his or her own field of magical knowledge. For example on page 35-36 Damon (through his knowledge of the Greek Magical Papyri) notes “the magicians of the PGM did not distinguish between magic and mystery cults.” He explains this by showing that the magician refers to himself as an 'initiate' while those who are not are called 'uninitiated'. Damon then goes on to say: “This clearly shows that the magicians of the Greek Magical Papyri, in various parts of the body of texts, magic and the mysteries belonged to the same sphere of ideas and operations.” This is just one of the thirteen notes I took from just these two chapters, because this point that Damon makes lends more supportive weight to my own ideas that the the mystery cults' teachings which were taught in allegory and analogy, are the principles that are used as a foundation for the magician of the PGM to know how to work magic!

Most of the book was full of little gems like this for me, especially the other chapter to do with the PGM by Aaron Cheak called: “Waters Animating and Annihilating Apopheosis by Drowning in the Greek Magical Papyri” This is a most intriguing chapter that contains so much information that I don't have the time or space to go into here. But, it was great to see that this author used less well known books to quote from that are part of my own occult library. Like one of my favourites 'Fulcanelli' “Le Mystere des Cathedrales.” Yet again, this was another chapter containing many bits of information that I will find useful to quote for my own writings.

The next few chapters move on from these previous ones in a kind of time line fashion. Starting with Christopher A. Plaisance' “The Hierarchical Cosmos Occult Theology as a Direct Continuation of Neoplatonism.” This was a lucidly explained chapter giving excellent analogies to explain what can be seen as difficult concepts to comprehend. Such as using the simple idea of a brown horse running across a field to explain in an easy to understand way the emanative process of Neoplatonism.

After this chapter, we are given an informative look at the history of the grimoire tradition, by David Rankine, which is another brilliantly written chapter taking us from the beginning to the end of the grimoire period. This is followed by more on grimoires from Ioannis Marathakis, who delves into the source of the Key of Solomon. The chapter after this was a lovely surprise about a late-eighteen century Icelandic Galdrabok that I have not come across before. This is a type of grimoire that uses runes for everyday wants and desires, including spells to make someone fart a lot! LOL. Then, there is yet another excellent chapter by Christopher A. Plaisance who shows very aptly the similarity of purpose between Agrippian magic, medieval magic and Iamblichus' ideas that all pertain to the spiritual development of the soul.

Do not think that all this book is about academic knowledge and history, for you would be greatly mistaken. The other chapters contain much useful information too, even for someone who wants to try things out on a practical level. For example in one of Gwendolyn Toynton' chapters called “Wizards at War Buddhism and the Occult in Thailand” there is to be found a practice called 'Wong Dai Sai' 'Encircling with Holy Thread' this is a technique using cotton that is fixed to a Buddha and then stretched out around the place to be protected, and then wound back in. This practice could easily be adapted by the innovative magician with their own choice of deity. In another chapter by Ioannis Marathakis about 'incenses' he gives a useful comparative table of grimoire planetary incenses, as well as an excellent short glossary of incense substances.

The books last four chapters contain rituals of a Eucharistic Feast of Agathodaimon, A Rite of Solar and Lunar Mysteries of Eros for the Consecration of the Talismans of Helios and Selene, a further two other rituals of adoration and invocation. Plus, there are a couple of chapters on Wicca, one by Melissa Harrington giving forth a detailed account of a Wiccan ceremony, while another chapter by Sorita d'Este eliminates the misconceptions that have been built up around The Wiccan Great Rite. I actually found this rather interesting, which pleasantly surprised me because I don't have much interest in Wicca, but my attention was well and truly gripped by Sorita's enchanted way of writing!

This book is a gold mine of information and knowledge, containing things that I have not even heard of before, (which, if we are honest is quite difficult to come by now in this day and age) such as information on an Indian esoteric text from the fourteenth century that uses dogs for divination! You will also find a fascinating account of a Canaanite view of death and necromancy, by Tes Dawson. There is much more to be read within these chapters, and for an all-rounder on occult traditions, I can see this book taking a prominent place on the bookshelf of many an occultist library. This was a very enjoyable and illuminative read, and I can't recommend this title enough!

Contents 

Conjuring Magical Assistants in the Greek Magical Papyri - Damon Zacharias Lycourinos


The Spell of Pnouthis as a Mystery Rite in the Greek Magical Papyri - Damon Zacharias Lycourinos


Waters Animating and Annihilating Apotheosis by Drowning in the Greek Magical Papyri - Aaron Cheak


The Hierarchical Cosmos Occult Theology as a Direct Continuation of Neoplatonism - Christopher A. Plaisance


From Roots to Fruits: A History of the Grimoire Tradition - David Rankine


A Source of the Key of Solomon- The Magic Treatise or Hygromancy, or Epistle to Rehoboam - Ioannis Marathakis


The Icelandic Tradition of Magic: Analysis of a Late-Eighteenth Century Icelandic Galdrabók - Christopher A. Smith


From Conjuror to Philosopher: A Comparative Analysis of Medieval and Renaissance Angel Magic - Christopher A. Plaisance


Dining with the Dead: A Canaanite View of Death and Necromancy - Tess Dawson


Composite Incenses and Incense Attributions: A Historical Survey - Ioannis Marathakis


The Science of Omens: Divining the Will of the Gods - Gwendolyn Toynton


Seth, the Red One of Chaos and Equilibrium - Damon Zacharias Lycourinos


Evolian Sex, Magic, and Power - Damon Zacharias Lycourinos


Wizards at War: Buddhism and the Occult in Thailand - Gwendolyn Toynton


Woman was the Altar: The Wiccan Great Rite: Sex, Tea, and Religion - Sorita d'Este


Treading the Spiral Maze: Changing Consciousness in Wiccan Ritual - Melissa Harrington


Akephalos Being an Attempted Restoration of the Rite of the Headless One, according to the Stele of Jeu the Hieroglyphist - Matthew Levi Stevens


The Holy Guardian Angel: A Golden Thread in the Tapestry of Being and Becoming - Companion Abraxas


The Eucharistic Feast of Agathodaimon - Companion Abraxas


The Rite of the Solar and Lunar Mysteries of the Altar of Eros for the Consecration of the Talismans of Helios and Selene (this needs to be moved so it is aligned with `The Rite')


The Calling and Adoration of Aion, and the Spell of the Mystic Flame


The Hymnic Adoration and Invocation of Thoth''

The Seven Penitential Psalms & Their Purpose in The Grimoires.

After listening to a fascinating talk by David Rankine at the Occult Conference in Glastonbury U.K. last week on Saturday, I decided to purchase from David and Sorita's Avalonia stall that they had at this event; “The Book Of Gold, Le Livre D'Or” A 17th century magical Grimoire of Amulets, charms, Prayers, sigils and spells using the Biblical Psalms of King David. By David Rankine and Paul Harry Barron. This is a wonderful book giving examples of simple magical spells using the Psalms mainly for the non-spiritual mundane reasons of everyday wants and desires for benevolent or malefic purpose; from blessing your house to stopping fishermen catching any fish!

After having a good look through this book it inspired me to write about the Seven Penitential Psalms, which are found (and sometimes just a verse from one of them) in some of the Grimoires; such as; “The Heptameron”, “The Key of Solomon the King”, “Of the Art Goetia” from The Lesser Key of Solomon, “The Goetia of Dr Rudd”, “Sepher Shimmush Tehillim” (found in The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses). “The Enchiridion of Pope Leo III”, “The Veritable Key of Solomon”, “Hygromanteia”, “The Book Of Gold”, and “The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet”.

The Seven Psalms are; 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. In the Septuagint their numbering slightly changes to; 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142. For this article to avoid any confusion, the former numbering shall be used.

Traditionally these Seven Psalms are used during each day of Lent as a focus on penance for the forgiveness of sins, and ends at Easter when Christ's resurrection from the dead is celebrated. It is no wonder that they can be found to take on a similar role within the Grimoires, mainly for the forgiveness of sins as a type of confession prior to magical work of conjuration or invocation,

For example in “The Veritable Key of Solomon” the magician is told to recite five psalms while casting the circle, one of these being Psalm 51, called "Miserere". Also on page 340, “Concerning the Fast, Care and Observations”, where it says after reciting the confession three times the master is to say: “Purge me, Lord, with hyssop and I shall be cleansed; wash me and I shall become whiter than snow”. (Psalms 51:7). This verse is often used in the Grimoires for purification purposes of either the circle, or of the magician when washing him or herself with water. The whole of Psalm 51 is used in “The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet” on page 128 in the section : “How you shall work to have sight and conference with one Good Angel ”, as the first of three Psalms used to prepare the magician prior to the prayer to call the angel. And again in “The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet” on page 229 in the section : “An Experiment of A Spirit called Bealphares” Psalms 51 is said three times before the circle is blessed with Holy water, and the conjuration to call the spirit commences.

Why is the forgiveness of one's sins an important prerequisite for the ceremonial operations of the Grimoires? To answer this we need to look at what “sin” means from the magical/occult perspective, which we shall be able to do by looking at the spiritual/esoteric interpretation of the scriptures. This will enable us to understand the spiritual nature of specific verses used in the Penitential Psalms.

To start us off is Psalms 6:5 : “For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” (King James Bible)

“For in death's realm there is no thought of thee, and who can praise thee in the world below?” (James Moffatt translation)

“For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” (English Standard Version)

There is only a slight difference between these translations, being that they either mention the grave, or the underworld, but, they do all point to the fact that God is not thought of, or remembered by the dead. So here is a quote from the writings of Plato that will shed a little light of knowledge and understanding upon this verse, as indeed it will also do upon many other verses found in the Scriptures about the dead!

“.Who knows whether being alive is being dead and being dead is being alive. Perhaps in reality we are dead. Once I even heard one of the wise men say we are now dead, and that our bodies are our tombs” (Gorgias 492e – 493)

This is probably one of the most lucid explanations in Plato's writings that reveals the esoteric interpretation of “death” as it was used in ancient Greece by the initiates of the Mystery schools, and those divinely inspired writers who have also used it in the scriptures. For “we” are the “dead” that are written about in the scriptures, not the physically dead, but the spiritually dead! Because we roam around the darkness of this world, plagued by the stresses and strains of everyday life that keep us from knowing the light (gnosis) of spiritual affairs! Just like God said to Adam and Eve about the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden: “Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die”(Genesis 3:3).

If we now return back to the concept of “sin” with an understanding of “death” as a metaphor for the living who are “spiritually dead”, we shall start to understand a lot more about how the concept of sin was originally meant to be understood, and why the forgiveness of sins is an important prerequisite for the magical operations found in the Grimoires.

Lets look at the words of St Paul: “For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death ” (Romans 7:5). And again: “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life ” (Romans 6:23). And also: “Even when we were dead in sins ” (Ephesians 2 :5).

These Biblical statements, and in particular the last two quite clearly imply that sin causes death. This only makes sense when death is understood in the metaphorical sense as explained above, which is also confirmed by Paul when he says: “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death” (Romans 7:9-10), and : “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin ” (Romans. 7:25).

It is perfectly clear in these words of St. Paul, quoted above, that when the command came to incarnate into matter, his spiritual self dies, while the laws of the flesh cause sin to come alive.

The law of God is the spiritual law that applies to the higher spiritual nature, while the law of sin is the natural law that applies to the lower animal nature, otherwise known as spirit and matter. This is exemplified with these verses : “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (1Corinrhians 15:44). “The first man is of the earth, earthly: the second man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:47).

In the Scriptures the aspects of the lower nature are always described in an allegorical way as afflictions of disease, disabilities, sorrow, suffering, and sometimes even crime or wickedness. As is explained in one of the Penitential Psalms : “My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh” (Psalm 38:5-7). And : “But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; And I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.” (Psalm 38:13-14).
 
Penitential Psalm 102: 19-20 says: “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth: To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death”

Could the above be any clearer that the earth is a prison for the dead! There is another lucidly clear passage in the writings of Plato that also confirms this:

“Thus some say that the body (soma) is the tomb (sema) of the soul, on the grounds that it is entombed in its present life, while others say that it is correctly called 'a sign' ('sema') because the soul signifies whatever it wants to signify by means of the body. I think it is most likely the followers of Orpheus who gave the body its name with the idea that the soul is being punished for something, and that the body is an enclosure or prison in which the soul is securely kept (sozetaai)-as the name 'soma' itself suggests-until the penalty is paid ” (Cratylus 400c) 

Lets clarify what has been revealed so far in this article. When the soul incarnates into matter the divine spiritual part dies, and the soul comes under the jurisdiction of the natural law of the lower animal nature, which is allegorically called “sin”. Interestingly the name of the ancient Assyrian Moon god is also called “Sin”, and according to Christian doctrine when we fell from grace we are said to come under the law of sin in the sub-lunar sphere of earth. Once imprisoned in the body and subjected to the laws of the lower nature, the soul is said to be in sin because the soul loses its memory of its divine origin, and its sight of spiritual development.

Therefore, it is the transcendence of the lower nature that the magician seeks to gain through the forgiveness of his or her sins. This is why a devout purification process is used in the grimoires, especially so with evocation rituals of infernal spirits, because one is to be spiritually pure when dealing with these forces, or else the magician can all to easily be led astray from the pursuit of spiritual endeavours, by the infernal forces. Just as it describes in Penitential Psalm 143:3-4 : 

“For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead: Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate”.

“So apt are these Psalms at expressing contrition that, as he lay dying in A.D. 430, St. Augustine asked that a monk write them in large letters near his bed so he could easily read them”   (http://www.fisheaters.com/customslent1.html). In the grimoire known as “The Enchiridion of Pope Leo III” which has been recently translated into English by Michael Cecchetelli, and published by Scarlet Imprint, it mentions psalm 125, although not one of the Seven Penitential Psalms, what it says about it is still interesting nonetheless : “Saint Augustine calls this Orison truly penitential, because it is useful for the dead, above all the other psalms” (Crossed Keys page 113). This statement about Augustine's view of psalm 125 is most intriguing because it suggests that he understood the allegorical meaning of “death” as it is used in the Bible. This has to be what it implies, because it makes no sense if interpreted to apply to actual deceased people, otherwise it would mean that everyone who physically dies is automatically viewd as sinful and has to seek penitence. And after all, does the Christian Church not teach that salvation is sought in this life through the forgiveness of our sins so that one may gain entry into heaven after one physically dies!

It just so happens that Saint Augustine was one of the early Church Fathers that favoured the allegorical interpretation of the scriptures, and; “was also heavily influenced by Stoicism, Platonism, and Neo-platonism, and particularly by the works of Plotinus”.(Wikipedia Augustine of Hippo).
 
As Easter draws near and Christians prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead, do bear in mind what has been said in this blog entry as you read this last quote that I shall leave you with, and it will need no explanation.
"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life: For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection ". (Romans 6:4-5)   And as our spiritual nature starts to grow and shine as the Sun increases in light, I bid thee a happy Spring Equinox!