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gone very far; the nature of Baphomet was not fully understood. (See Atu 0, above.)
At least he succeeded in identifying the goat portrayed upon the card with Pan.
On the Tree of Life, Atu XIII and XV are symmetrically placed; they lead from
Tiphareth, the human consciousness, to the spheres in which Thought (on the one
hand) and Bliss (on the other) are developed. Between them, Atu XIV leads similarly
to the sphere which formulates Existence. (See note on Atu X and arrangement.)
These three cards may therefore be summed up as a hieroglyph of the processes by
which idea manifests as form.
This card represents creative energy in its most material form; in the Zodiac,
Capricornus occupies the Zenith. It is the most exalted of the signs; it is the goat
leaping with lust upon the summits of earth. The sign is ruled by Saturn, who makes
for selfhood and perpetuity. In this sign, Mars is exalted, showing in its best form the
fiery, material energy of creation. The card represents Pan Pangenetor, the All-
Begetter. It is the Tree of Life as seen against a background of the exquisitely
tenuous, complex, and fantastic forms of madness, the divine madness of spring,
already foreseen in the meditative madness of winter; for the Sun turns northwards
on entering this sign. The roots of the Tree are made transparent, in order to show
the innumerable leapings of the sap; before it stands the Himalayan goat, with an
eye in the centre of his forehead, representing the god Pan upon the highest and
most secret mountains of the earth. His creative energy is veiled in the symbol of the
Wand of the Chief Adept, crowned with the winged globe and the twin serpents of
Horus and Osiris.
"Hear me, Lord of the Stars,
For thee have I worshipped ever
With stains and sorrows and scars,
With joyful, joyful Endeavour.
Hear me, O lilywhite goat
Crisp as a thicket of thorns,
With a collar of gold for thy throat,
A scarlet bow for thy horns."
The sign of Capricornus is rough, harsh, dark, even blind; the impulse to create
takes no account of reason, custom, or foresight. It is divinely unscrupulous,
sublimely careless of result. "thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no
other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of
result, is every way perfect." AL. I, 42-4.
It is further to be remarked that the trunk of the Tree pierces the heavens; about it
is indicated the ring of the body of Nuith. Similarly, the shaft of the Wand goes down
indefinitely to the centre of earth. "If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I
droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I
and the earth are one." (AL. II, 26).
The formula of this card is then the complete appreciation of all existing things. He
rejoices in the rugged and the barren no less than in the smooth and the fertile. All
things equally exalt him. He represents the finding of ecstasy in every phenomenon,
however naturally repugnant; he transcends all limitations; he is Pan; he is All.
It is important to notice some other correspondences. The three vowel-consonants of
the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph, Yod, 'Ayin, these three letters form the sacred name of
God, I A O. These three Atu, IX, 0, and XV, thus offer a threefold explanation of the
male creative energy; but this card especially represents the masculine energy at its
most masculine. Saturn, the ruler, is Set, the ass-headed god of the Egyptian
deserts; he is the god of the south. The name refers to all gods containing these
consonants, such as Shaitan, or Satan. (See Magick pp.336-7). Essential to the
symbolism are the surroundings - barren places, especially high places. The cult of
the mountain is an exact parallel. The Old Testament is full of attacks upon kings
who celebrated worship in "high places"; this, although Zion itself was a mountain!
This feeling persisted, even to the days of the Witches' Sabbath, held, if possible, on
a desolate summit, but (if none were available) at least in a wild spot,
uncontaminated by the artfulness of men.
Note that Shabbathai, the "sphere of Saturn", is the Sabbath. Historically, the
animus against witches pertains to the fear of the Jews; whose rites, supplanted by
the Christian forms of Magic, had become mysterious and terrible. Panic suggested
that Christian children were stolen, sacrificed, and eaten. The belief persists to this
day.
In every symbol of this card there is the allusion to the highest things and most
remote. Even the horns of the goat are spiral, to represent the movement of the all-
pervading energy. Zoroaster defines God as "having a spiral force". Compare the
more recent, if less profound, writings of Einstein. [Compare Saturn, at one end of
the Seven Sacred Wanderers, with the Moon at the other: the aged man and the
young girl -see "The Formula of Tetragrammaton". They are linked as no other two
planets, since 32=9, and each contains in itself the extremes of its own idea. (See
also Appendix: Atu xxi.)]
XVI. THE TOWER [OR: WAR]
This card is attributed to the letter Peh, which means a mouth; it refers to the planet
Mars. In its simplest interpretation it refers to the manifestation of cosmic energy in
its grossest form. The picture shows the destruction of existing material by fire. It
may be taken as the preface to Atu XX, the Last Judgment, i.e., the Coming of a
New Aeon. This being so, it seems to indicate the quintessential quality of the Lord of
the Aeon.[See Liber AL III. 3-9; II - 13; 17-18; 23-29; 46; 49-60; 70-72.]
At the bottom part of the card, therefore, is shown the destruction of the old-
established Aeon by lightning, flames, engines of war. In the right-hand corner are
the jaws of Dis, belching flame at the root of the structure. Falling from the tower
are broken figures of the garrison. It will be noticed that they have lost their human
shape.
They have become mere geometrical expressions.
This suggests another (and totally different) interpretation of the card. To
understand this, it is necessary to refer to the doctrines of Yoga, especially those
most widely current in Southern India, where the cult of Shiva, the Destroyer, is
paramount. Shiva is represented as dancing upon the bodies of his devotees. To
understand this is not easy for most western minds. Briefly, the doctrine is that the
ultimate reality (which is Perfection) is Nothingness. Hence all manifestations,
however glorious, however delightful, are stains. To obtain perfection, all existing
things must be annihilated. The destruction of the garrison may therefore be taken
to mean their emancipation from the prison of organized life, which was confining
them. It was their unwisdom to cling to it.
The above should make it clear that magical symbols must always be understood in
a double sense, each contradictory of the other. These ideas blend naturally with the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
gone very far; the nature of Baphomet was not fully understood. (See Atu 0, above.)
At least he succeeded in identifying the goat portrayed upon the card with Pan.
On the Tree of Life, Atu XIII and XV are symmetrically placed; they lead from
Tiphareth, the human consciousness, to the spheres in which Thought (on the one
hand) and Bliss (on the other) are developed. Between them, Atu XIV leads similarly
to the sphere which formulates Existence. (See note on Atu X and arrangement.)
These three cards may therefore be summed up as a hieroglyph of the processes by
which idea manifests as form.
This card represents creative energy in its most material form; in the Zodiac,
Capricornus occupies the Zenith. It is the most exalted of the signs; it is the goat
leaping with lust upon the summits of earth. The sign is ruled by Saturn, who makes
for selfhood and perpetuity. In this sign, Mars is exalted, showing in its best form the
fiery, material energy of creation. The card represents Pan Pangenetor, the All-
Begetter. It is the Tree of Life as seen against a background of the exquisitely
tenuous, complex, and fantastic forms of madness, the divine madness of spring,
already foreseen in the meditative madness of winter; for the Sun turns northwards
on entering this sign. The roots of the Tree are made transparent, in order to show
the innumerable leapings of the sap; before it stands the Himalayan goat, with an
eye in the centre of his forehead, representing the god Pan upon the highest and
most secret mountains of the earth. His creative energy is veiled in the symbol of the
Wand of the Chief Adept, crowned with the winged globe and the twin serpents of
Horus and Osiris.
"Hear me, Lord of the Stars,
For thee have I worshipped ever
With stains and sorrows and scars,
With joyful, joyful Endeavour.
Hear me, O lilywhite goat
Crisp as a thicket of thorns,
With a collar of gold for thy throat,
A scarlet bow for thy horns."
The sign of Capricornus is rough, harsh, dark, even blind; the impulse to create
takes no account of reason, custom, or foresight. It is divinely unscrupulous,
sublimely careless of result. "thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no
other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of
result, is every way perfect." AL. I, 42-4.
It is further to be remarked that the trunk of the Tree pierces the heavens; about it
is indicated the ring of the body of Nuith. Similarly, the shaft of the Wand goes down
indefinitely to the centre of earth. "If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I
droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I
and the earth are one." (AL. II, 26).
The formula of this card is then the complete appreciation of all existing things. He
rejoices in the rugged and the barren no less than in the smooth and the fertile. All
things equally exalt him. He represents the finding of ecstasy in every phenomenon,
however naturally repugnant; he transcends all limitations; he is Pan; he is All.
It is important to notice some other correspondences. The three vowel-consonants of
the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph, Yod, 'Ayin, these three letters form the sacred name of
God, I A O. These three Atu, IX, 0, and XV, thus offer a threefold explanation of the
male creative energy; but this card especially represents the masculine energy at its
most masculine. Saturn, the ruler, is Set, the ass-headed god of the Egyptian
deserts; he is the god of the south. The name refers to all gods containing these
consonants, such as Shaitan, or Satan. (See Magick pp.336-7). Essential to the
symbolism are the surroundings - barren places, especially high places. The cult of
the mountain is an exact parallel. The Old Testament is full of attacks upon kings
who celebrated worship in "high places"; this, although Zion itself was a mountain!
This feeling persisted, even to the days of the Witches' Sabbath, held, if possible, on
a desolate summit, but (if none were available) at least in a wild spot,
uncontaminated by the artfulness of men.
Note that Shabbathai, the "sphere of Saturn", is the Sabbath. Historically, the
animus against witches pertains to the fear of the Jews; whose rites, supplanted by
the Christian forms of Magic, had become mysterious and terrible. Panic suggested
that Christian children were stolen, sacrificed, and eaten. The belief persists to this
day.
In every symbol of this card there is the allusion to the highest things and most
remote. Even the horns of the goat are spiral, to represent the movement of the all-
pervading energy. Zoroaster defines God as "having a spiral force". Compare the
more recent, if less profound, writings of Einstein. [Compare Saturn, at one end of
the Seven Sacred Wanderers, with the Moon at the other: the aged man and the
young girl -see "The Formula of Tetragrammaton". They are linked as no other two
planets, since 32=9, and each contains in itself the extremes of its own idea. (See
also Appendix: Atu xxi.)]
XVI. THE TOWER [OR: WAR]
This card is attributed to the letter Peh, which means a mouth; it refers to the planet
Mars. In its simplest interpretation it refers to the manifestation of cosmic energy in
its grossest form. The picture shows the destruction of existing material by fire. It
may be taken as the preface to Atu XX, the Last Judgment, i.e., the Coming of a
New Aeon. This being so, it seems to indicate the quintessential quality of the Lord of
the Aeon.[See Liber AL III. 3-9; II - 13; 17-18; 23-29; 46; 49-60; 70-72.]
At the bottom part of the card, therefore, is shown the destruction of the old-
established Aeon by lightning, flames, engines of war. In the right-hand corner are
the jaws of Dis, belching flame at the root of the structure. Falling from the tower
are broken figures of the garrison. It will be noticed that they have lost their human
shape.
They have become mere geometrical expressions.
This suggests another (and totally different) interpretation of the card. To
understand this, it is necessary to refer to the doctrines of Yoga, especially those
most widely current in Southern India, where the cult of Shiva, the Destroyer, is
paramount. Shiva is represented as dancing upon the bodies of his devotees. To
understand this is not easy for most western minds. Briefly, the doctrine is that the
ultimate reality (which is Perfection) is Nothingness. Hence all manifestations,
however glorious, however delightful, are stains. To obtain perfection, all existing
things must be annihilated. The destruction of the garrison may therefore be taken
to mean their emancipation from the prison of organized life, which was confining
them. It was their unwisdom to cling to it.
The above should make it clear that magical symbols must always be understood in
a double sense, each contradictory of the other. These ideas blend naturally with the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]