The Hierophant

 

responsibility of embodying Demeter and Persephone respectively in ritual.

From the above, we can understand that the hierophant is a top religious
figure like the Pope, or the chief Rabbi, whose job was to be a conductor,
a channel, funnel, or mediator between the gods and the people. In this
particular card, focusing only on the hidden symbolism, the hierophant
is the representation of the goddess Nuit.
Nuit is the embodiment of infinite space and also the mother of all stars
— for it’s known that “Every man and every woman is a star”(Liber AL,
chapter 1, verse 3). With this in mind, she is where each star returns.
Additionally, she is also the divine law which must be given to those who
follow the hierophant.
“Let the woman be girt with a sword before me” (Liber AL, chapter 3,
verse 11) At the front of the card, before the hierophant, we can see the
woman girt with a sword. The Book of Thoth speaks of the ‘Scarlet Woman’
as an emblem of the new era; she stands for a transformation away from
her traditional image as a housewife or accessory to her male partner,
instead embracing her identity while searching for autonomy and equality.
We can see how all of this manifests in the MeToo movement of our
days.
“The woman is the priestess; in her reposes the mystery. She is
the mother, brooding yet tender; the lover, at once passionate
and aloof; the wife, revered and cherished. She is the witch
woman.” (Freedom is a Two-edged Sword, Jack Parsons)
The deeper we look into the hidden symbolism and meaning of this
mysterious woman, the clearer it becomes that she can be Nuit herself,
guarding the divine law. The law is simple and clear and the hierophant’s
job is to pass it to their congregation:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”
“Love is the law, love under will”
Or in our words:
“Love and do what you will.”
“The symbolism of the Wand is peculiar” – Solve et Coagula (Aleister
Crowley, The Book of Thoth). Crowley describes the three interlaced rings
of the wand, as a “representative of the three Aeons of Isis, Osiris and
Horus”. However, on a closer look, we see that the hierophant holding
the wand with its three rings aspiring upward, in his right hand (solve).
As a Setian/Typhonian, I couldn’t help the thought that the three
interlaced rings would be much more comfortable in the right hand of
destruction (solve) as a representative of Set, Osiris & Ra.
Set and Osiris are both Ra’s grandsons and make a sacred triad. Both
brothers have to sacrifice themselves for the continuation of Ra — of
life — Osiris being killed by his brother Set, and Set killing his brother
and becoming the ‘outcast’ God.
The demonstration of the cycle of life through destruction and creation
is continued with the symbolism of the hierophant’s left hand. His left
hand (coagula) is pointing downward in the Shamak mudra hand position.
I must admit that this never occurred to me before, but once I became
aware of it, I could not un-see it. The Shamak mudra, also called the
kidney mudra, is the perfect hand position to deliver the message of
Solve et Coagula (destruction and creation). At the start, I had difficulty
understanding how the Shamak mudra was linked with Solve et Coagula
and its role in occult symbology in particular for the hierophant and his
wand.

Shamak mudra

Coagulation means the action or process of a liquid, especially blood,
changing to a solid or semi-solid state. (OED)
The main function of the kidneys is to cleanse the blood of toxins and
transform the waste into urine. The hierophant’s right hand in the Shamak
mudra, suggests that before we can coagulate, we must be cleansed and
purified of all toxins. Only then can we coagulate into our new and
transformed selves.
“The Throne of the Hierophant is surrounded by elephants, which are
of the nature of Taurus; and he is actually seated upon a bull.” (Aleister
Crowley, The Book of Thoth). At first sight, the card seems to resonate
with the symbolism of the zodiac sign Taurus, which is an earth sign.
The element of earth is represented in this card as the Bull/Kerub and
symbolizes the earth element at its most balanced and strong. If we look
at the symbolism of the bull from the Setian perspective, it takes us back
to the prehistoric ‘cattle cult’, which is probably one of the world’s oldest.
Egyptian male deities often have a bull representation. Set is most notably
known for the ‘Bull of Ombos’. It is likely that this bull cult evolved out
of the Cattle cult, which was centered around the Heavenly Cow/Hathor,
who symbolizes the feminine aspect of this tradition.
The bull is associated with male fertility and strength, as seen in energy,
stamina, and endurance. Worshipped in antiquity, it is also linked to the
zodiac sign Taurus, which is associated with spring in the agricultural
calendar as a symbol of renewal, prosperity, and abundance. However,
this powerful creature can be equally connected to hard-headedness,

Cave paintings from the Tassili n’Ajjer mountains (photo courtesy of wiki commons wikimedia.org)

ferocity and brutality — all the qualities of a deity — where it would
accept a sacrificial offering as an act of reverence. It is easy to believe
that religious reverence for the bull’s cult has been forgotten in modern
times, yet our practices today have still taken on a new form – the dairy
and meat industry.
Just to remind you, a hierophant is a person who brings religious
congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy. As such, a
hierophant interprets sacred mysteries and arcane principles. In this card,
the hierophant symbolizes the link to the secret of the rhythm of time
and the ancient practice of the worship of the bull.
The secrets of the Timelords are encoded in the divine law which is
guarded by Nuit/Nwt and delivered by the hierophant.
– From Aromagick by Diti J Morgan, 2023

Purple Magick – Mayday/Beltane

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These sea snail shells were excavated from Roman sites near Tyre in Lebanon. The creatures inside were crushed and boiled in a salt solution to produce the famous ‘Tyrian Purple’. It took 10,000 snails to produce just 1.4 grams of dye, making it very valuable and it became the preserve of Emperors, hence its alternative name, ‘imperial purple’. (Pitt Rivers Museum, Various collections)

Mayday/Beltane falls midway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The rite of spring has probably been celebrated since time immemorial. In the Western world, in Europe in particular, May 1st will be celebrated by dancing around the Maypole which symbolizes phallic energy. The Maypole is decorated with flowers that represent the buds of fertility and sexual energy. 

Beltane is a significant festival in Gaelic culture, alongside Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasadh. It was traditionally celebrated throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. The festival featured special bonfires that were believed to have protective powers. People and their livestock would walk around or between these bonfires and sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires were extinguished and then re-lit from the Bealtaine bonfire. 

So what has the colour purple got to do with Beltane and Mayday?

I’ve always loved the colour purple. It’s a unique colour that combines the stability of blue and the passion of red. It’s inspiring to me because it encourages me to reveal my innermost thoughts and feelings. When I think of purple, I’m reminded of how it stimulates my imagination and encourages my creativity. It’s a colour that promotes spiritual growth and intuition, which is something that’s important to me. At the same time, purple also promotes understanding and acceptance. It reminds me that there are so many great unknowns in the world that are waiting to be explored. But even as I explore those unknowns, purple keeps me grounded and reminds me to stay focused on what’s truly important in life.

“4. The deep violet is episcopal. It combines 2 and 3, a bishop being the manifested through the principle of blood or animal life.” (Column XV, King’s Ladder, The Qabalah of Aleister Crowley)

In other words, the colour purple is the bishop of colours, it combines the red of blood and the blue of the sky. Red symbolises blood, fire, love, passion, warmth, lust and sexuality. Blue represents the sky, freedom, intuition, imagination, inspiration, depth, sensitivity and the infinite horizon of the open spaces. And most of all, abundance and balance. When blending the two, purple is created, which allows us to explore and experiment with a range of complicated emotions at once and gives us the freedom to be inspired by sexuality, passion, lust and imagination.

“The colour violet, generally speaking, signifies a vibration which is at the same time spiritual and erotic; i.e. it is the most intense of the vibrations alike on the planes of Nephesch and Neschamah…” (Column XV, The Zodical Attributions: The Qabalah of Aleister Crowley) 

The wickedest man in the world, the Beast 666, Count von Zonaref and Alastair McGregor were some of the aliases Crowley used to go by, but every now and then he used the title “The Purple Priest”. The colour purple is used to designate a specific position in the church, such as Bishop or senior Bishop, and by using the title The Purple Priest, Crowley is hinting at his specific position in his church (of Thelema). 

Crowley uses the colour purple as an erotic-spiritual motif to convey the esoteric message in the rituals and worship of Thelema. 

For example, in Liber Al – The Book of the Law, paragraph 61, we can see how Crowley uses the colour purple in his writings:

“But to love me is better than all things: if under the night stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the Serpent flame therein, thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give all, but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in splendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe and covered with a rich headdress. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me!”

By using metaphors such as pale or purple, the author might be hinting at the physiology of the lingam. “Pale” suggests a flaccid lingam, and “veiled” could be the stage just before the lingam is fully erect, also it might suggest an uncircumcised lingam. “Purple” suggests its “voluptuous” erection. There are several veins and arteries that carry blood to and from the spongy erectile tissue in the penis. Veins may look larger than usual during and immediately following an erection. The appearance of prominent veins indicates healthy blood flow and gives the lingam a “purple hue. 

Next, the colour purple is used to describe “she” who is “all pleasure and purple,” and here the purple is used as a metaphor for the yoni —  the purple pleasure…  

By using those metaphors, the purple priest emphasises the intensity and depth of the spiritual and erotic vibration in religious-like practices of carnal pleasures. The second half of the sentence – “and drunkenness of the innermost sense,” hints at the ecstatic heights of the orgasm that awaits in the palace (Liber Al 1:51). The Palace is another metaphor for the yoni – see Mogg Morgan’s Aleister Crowley & Thelemic Magick page 39.

In his Hymn to Pan we can see the “purple motif” again:

“…Dip the purple of passionate prayer

In the crimson shrine, the scarlet snare,

The soul that startles in eyes of blue

To watch thy wantonness weeping through…”

There is something very special at this time of the year, the ancient earth dragon, Kundalini, is now fully awakened. The air is fragrant with the sweet heady aromas of many colourful blossoms. Insects, animals and humans alike walk or crawl out of their burrows, rub their eyes, stretch their limbs and start dancing a sensual mating dance. It’s the season to celebrate desire, lust, fertility, or in other words, nature’s tantric celebration. 

This is the season of Pan, the “All-devourer, all-begetter”. There is something very salacious about dancing around a Maypole. And by leaping over the Beltane fires, we awaken the most ancient magick of all, the passion for the union of body and spirit — “a vibration which is at the same time spiritual and erotic”.

This is the perfect time to wear the K-23 perfume oil which will connect you to the spirit of Pan and his passionate lust for earth and life. Then, go outside and do the Jitterbug. 

The term jitterbug is used to refer to different swing dances, such as the jive and the lindy hop. It comes from slang used in the early twentieth century to describe alcoholics. The term became associated with swing dancers because, like the jitters of alcoholics, they were seen to be out of control.

K-23 perfume oil

As discussed earlier in the book, the properties of water allow us spiritual cleansing, where immersion in a ritual bath is always desirable and recommended before magical activity. To connect with the purple magic frequency and awaken the energies of the Kundalini serpent I recommend my special purple bath ritual which is specifically designed to raise our sexual and magnetic powers and to synchronise ourselves with potential or existing partners. Partners can share their bath in the spirit of a purple magick ritual for play, however, here at the Morgan Witches’ headquarters, we prefer to have our ritual baths separately (usually one after the other) and by doing so, each of us has the time to relax and meditate. It takes 15 minutes for our body to reach a general relaxation that allows the blend of oils to work its magick on our consciousness.

Prepare your bathroom as you would any other ritual space, you can have a ‘purple altar’ if you have the room for it, but remember that the altar is the bath, and the water is the vessel which conducts the transformation of the offering which in this case is in the oils and you. 

When using the Purple Magick Perfume Oil you can add about 10-15 drops to a tablespoon of sea salt, Himalaya salt or Epsom salts and add it to the bath water. Each of the essential oils suggested here can be used on its own or in combination with one of the other essential oils which are recommended in this chapter. However, mixing and blending essential oils is a form of art and technique that need to be learned and mastered. You can use the recipe at the end of the chapter as a guideline for making your own bath blends.

Make sure that the water is hot enough for you to relax in them for 15 minutes.

Get in the water and lie comfortably, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and listen to the mantra or music of your choice.

I find that the Kirtan Kriya (Sa Ta Na Ma) mantra is most suitable to listen to in the purple bath ritual. 

You can find it here.

If you want to experience the purple magick in its full power I recommend the Great Purple Hoo-Ha meditation while in the bath. The Kirtan Kriya mantra will amplify the experience. 

The Great Purple Hoo-Ha Meditation

This meditation is based on a technique described in Phillip H. Farber’s book The Great Purple Hoo-Ha. Philip H. Farber is a writer, hypnotist, NLP trainer, ritualist, and consciousness explorer. He is best known for his book on ritual magick, Future Ritual: Magick for the 21st Century and as the creator of Meta-Magick, a system of practice combining elements of magick, NLP, hypnosis, and more.

Sit in a comfortable position with your spine upright (if you are in the bath, just make yourself comfortable and relax in the water).

Close your eyes.

Imagine a circle around you, with a diameter just slightly greater than your outstretched arms, with you at the exact centre.

Inhale, filling your lungs completely, from bottom to top. 

As you inhale, allow your attention to expand and fill the circle around you with purple. 

Exhale, and as you do so place your attention to a tiny spot within the centre of your chest.

Continue to practice like this, filling the circle with every inhalation, contracting down to a single point in the middle of your chest.

When your circle is full of purple, inhale and expand your attention to fill the entire room with purple. 

Then, when you exhale, contract it down to a single point in the centre of your chest. 

Once the room is full of purple, on the next inhalation expand your attention to fill the largest area you can conceive: the city, the county, the state, the world or even the solar system and the whole universe, with the colour purple. As large as you can manage. 

And again, when you exhale, contract your attention down to a single point in the middle of your chest. 

When you are ready, open your eyes and return to your regular breathing.

Thank yourself, the water and the oils, climb out of the bath, dry yourself and get dressed (or not) and carry on with your Purple Magick celebrations.

Purple Magick Perfume Oil

Image created with the collaboration of the Craiyon AI and Photoshop.

The first essential oil that comes to mind concerning Purple Magick, as Scott Cunningham put it “downtrodden Patchouli”.

Even now, most people still associate its sweet musky and earthy aroma with the ‘Hippy’ culture of the 60s & 70s. 

So what has Patchouli got to do with Purple Magick?

Patchouli Pogostemon cablin

Patchouli is a bushy herb about a metre high with a sturdy, hairy stem and large, fragrant, furry leaves and white-purple flowers.  It is native to Southeast Asia. Once harvested, the patchouli leaves are left to ferment in the shade and then dried for three days. The fermentation process apparently improves the quality of the oil, which is extracted using steam distillation.

In the 19th century, cashmere shawls and bed linen were imported from India to Europe. To keep the delicate fabrics free of moths, they were packed with patchouli leaves, which were used throughout the East as an insect repellent. These Patchouli-scented shawls and linen became a must-have item for well-to-do and fashionable women of the time. It didn’t take long for the Patchouli fragrance to be associated with wealth and indulgence.

The earthy sweet aroma of the plant soon became a trend with many European manufacturers of fabrics and furniture which started to infuse their goods with the scent of Patchouli. It is almost unavoidable to thus visualise and smell the luxurious, heady, musky, scented bedrooms of 19th-century ladies. The richness of the scent has been associated as an aphrodisiac for centuries, the earthy-musky notes make us feel secure, relaxed and open up to our own sexuality. The smell of the bed linen and the furniture infused with Patchouli oil was evocative and sensuous, and the link between Patchouli and sensuality has never been forgotten from our collective memories of those 19th-century bedrooms.

So next time you watch a period drama or read a novel about this period, and you want to intensify your experience of the novel/drama, make sure you have a bottle of Patchouli at hand so you can smell it during the bedrooms scenes or whenever a cashmere shawl appears.

The sweet and heady scent of the Patchouli blends perfectly with the exotic fragrance of  Ylang-Ylang. On its own, I find Ylang-Ylang a bit overpowering and far too sweet, but the earthiness of Patchouli seems to anchor the sweetness of the Cananaga odorata and turn it into a somewhat lighter and mysterious exotic fragrance. 

Ylang-Ylang Cananaga odorata

Ylang-Ylang is a tall tropical tree with large, tender, sweet fragrant yellow flowers. It is native to Southeast Asia. Its essential oil is extracted by water or steam distillation from freshly picked flowers. There are 5 grades of distilled essential oil, with Ylang-Ylang extra as the top grade.

The sweet, exotic-balsamic scent of Ylang-Ylang will balance and calm an overactive mind or any over-emotional state or feelings. In Indonesia, its fragrant flowers have long been associated with aphrodisiacs. To promote a relaxed and sensual atmosphere, fresh Ylang-Ylang flowers are harvested and spread on the newly wedded couple’s bed. 

Both Ylang-Ylang and Vetiver are under the planetary influence of Venus, the goddess of love, beauty and sensuality. Together they combine two of her most precious elements, the stability of the earth represented by Vetiver and the fluidity of water represented by Ylang-Ylang. On the emotional, physiological and magical level, these two oils blended together act as the psychic lubricant of body and mind. Once the harmony between these two Venusian oils has been established we can introduce Jasmine, the “King of flowers” to the formula (Cunningham: 1997). Jasmine is known for its qualities as a sexual tonic and aphrodisiac. The intensely rich, warm and sensual, sweet floral scent, has a direct effect on our emotions and can produce a feeling of optimism, confidence and euphoria. Its association with the moon will add a silvery reflection to a sensuous magical rite, where there is a union of lovers. Its elemental characteristics of both fire and water will intensify the sacred sexual union with a magical oomph of flowing passion.

To balance out the richness of the sweet and heady aroma of the blend I added a few drops of Bergamot. The fresh and fruity, citrusy scent of the oil, is just sharp enough to break the nearly overwhelming sweetness of the heady blend. 

Bergamot Citrus bergamia

This small tree, about 4.5 metres high with smooth oval leaves, and small round fruit,  ripens from green to yellow, similar to orange in appearance but smaller. Native to tropical Asia. Extensively cultivated in southern Italy, Sicily and the Ivory Coast. Essential oil extraction is by cold expression of the fruit’s rind.

Safety data: Certain furocoumarins, notably bergapten, have been found to be phototoxic on human skin; that is, they cause sensitisation and skin pigmentation when exposed to direct sunlight. 

The scent of Bergamot resembles that of orange but with more floral and zesty underlying characteristics that add a spicy edge to it. Bergamot possesses magical qualities that can alleviate nervous tension and physical stress, acting like a wand by lifting, shifting, releasing, and dispersing these feelings. Bringing peace and happiness and creating a space allows both body and mind to rest and relax. The lightness and uplifting touch that Bergamot adds to the blend, accentuates each of the other fragrances and mixes them together into a bewitching sensual perfume which will work both ways on its wearer and their partner.

Purple Magick bath recipe: 

In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of sea salt, Himalaya salt or Epsom salt,

1 drop of Patchouli

1 drop Ylang Ylang

2 drops of Jasmine

3 drops of Bergamot

For your safety, I recommend using the following recipe for a night-time bath due to the sensual nature of purple magick and the potential risks associated with Bergamot essential oil. 

It’s important to note that the Purple Magic Perfume Oil is safe to use as it contains bergapten-free essential oil.

***

Purple Magick – Mayday/Beltane is an extract from my soon-to-be-published book Aromagick – A Scentual Journey Through The Ritual Year.

For any inquiries about the Aromagick perfume oils series, please contact Mandrake at https://mandrake.uk.net/contact/

Have a fabulous Purple Magick season

Diti J Morgan

 

 

 

 

About Altars

Babalon the Scarlet woman

The altar is raised structure or place that is used for sacrifice, worship, or prayer. 

A working altar could be a table or anything similar to it. 

The height of the Altar is equal to the height above the ground of the navel of the Magician. (Liber ABA, chapter III).

The altar is the place in which we focus our magical work and consecrate and keep our ritual tools. There are all sorts of altars, which usually correspond to different types of magical work and deities. 

When we start working with a new deity, or one that we never worked with before, it is advisable to dedicate an altar just for it. In this way, we can fine-tune ourselves into the subtle energies of the deity. Only when we learn enough and get familiar with the deity, we might want to try and add another deity to the same altar. 

Some deities even though belong to the same pantheons, would not approve of sharing the same space with one another. I realize that this might sound a bit nonsensical to the neophyte, but it is easy to detect, as soon enough you will notice the disharmony flowing around your house and affecting everything you do. Some traditionalists would even go as far as separating certain deities completely from the rest and dedicating a whole room to them.

But we are Chaos Magicians, I hear you say, how does this apply to us?

To master the art of Chaos magic, we need to learn first the order of things and how they work, only then we will know how to turn chaos into magic. To live in chaos does not make you a chaos magician…

I have many altars around the house, each one of them is like a PowerPoint of certain energy and information that I can stop by whenever I need or want to, and charge myself with. The main altar in the house is like an ongoing creation of itself, always changing according to the seasons and the sabbats or the main magical work of a specific time. 

***

The Altar should delight

A personal magical altar should be a delight to behold. Keep things simple and aesthetically pleasing. For starting out, you need only a very few things. A basic altar usually has on it symbols of the five elements. Candles or lamps for fire, a cup for water, incense and burner for smell, a plate or pentacle for earth, a bell for spirit. Try to put aside any doubts you have about the need to have these things actually there. You will come to see these doubts as just another kind of conditioning that you need to work through. 

Optional things for your altar are perhaps a special knife or wand to point with when doing an invocation. At this stage a finger does just as well. A wand you make now may not please you in a years time but you will nevertheless have great difficulty abandoning it. To avoid this problem, why not do without a wand until you really feel the need for one – perhaps you never will. Other useful things include a robe or cloak (black cotton is the most widely used variety). Robes and cloaks work well for standing up rituals, but for sitting down, of which there is a fair amount in Magick, they can be a bit restrictive. If your room is well heated then going naked might be an option, otherwise comfortable leggings, sarong or yoga trousers might be better. 

One last recommendation, try using real incense, which is burnt on self lighting charcoal. Clouds of incense have long been used by magicians as an alternative to the ancient animal sacrifice. Real incense is more expensive, but can be more potent than joss sticks. But even the later vary a lot in quality, so investigate the best. Ask about reputable magical incense suppliers or details about how you can make your own – as with anything there are good and bad suppliers of such things. 

(From Thelemic Magick: Mogg Morgan 2022)

***

From Liber ABA

CHAPTER III

THE ALTAR

THE Altar represents the solid basis of the work, the fixed Will

footnote: It represents the extension of Will. Will is the Dyad (see section on the Wand); 2 x 2 = 4. So the altar is foursquare, and also its ten squares show 4. 10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4.

of the Magician; and the law under which he works. Within this altar everything is kept, since everything is subject to law. Except the lamp.

According to some authorities the Altar should be made of oak to represent the stubbornness and rigidity of law; others would make it of Acacia, for Acacia is the symbol of resurrection.

The Altar is a double cube, which is a rough way of symbolizing the Great Work; for the doubling of the cube, like the squaring of the circle, was one of the great problems of antiquity. The surface of this Altar is composed of ten squares. The top is Kether, and the bottom Malkuth. The height of the Altar is equal to the height above the ground of the navel of the Magician. The Altar is connected with the Ark of the Covenant, Noah’s Ark, the nave (“navis,” a ship) of the Church, and many other symbols of antiquity, whose symbolism has been well worked out in an anonymous book called “The Cannon,”

WEH footnote: written by William Stirling

(Elkin Mathews), which should be studied carefully before constructing the Altar.

For this Altar must embody the Magician’s knowledge of the laws of Nature, which are the laws through which he works.

He should endeavour to make geometrical constructions to symbolize cosmic measurements. For example, he may take the two diagonals as (say) the diameter of the sun. Then the side of the altar will be found to have a length equal to some other cosmic measure, a vesica drawn on the side some other, a “rood cross” within the vesica yet another. Each Magician should work out his own system of symbolism — and he need not confine himself to cosmic measurements. He might, for example, find some relation to express the law of inverse squares.

The top of the Altar shall be covered with gold, and on this gold should be engraved some such figure as the Holy Oblation, or the New Jerusalem, or, if he have the skill, the Microcosm of Vitruvius, of which we give illustrations.

On the sides of the Altar are also sometimes drawn the great tablets of the elements, and the sigils of the holy elemental kings, as shown in The Equinox, No. VII; for these are syntheses of the forces of Nature. Yet these are rather special than general symbols, and this book purports to treat only of the grand principles of working.

{diagrams on this page, at top the microcosm of Vitruvius from the title page decoration (not frontispiece as is sometimes said) to Robert Fludd’s “Utriusque Cosmi Maioris scilicet et Minoris Metaphysica, Physica, Atque Technica Historia”, based on a Renaissance copy of Vitruvius’ 1st century “De Architectura” as interpreted by Cesariano in 1521, minus Fludd’s rope, clouds and winged fawn+hourglass, with the caption beneath “DESIGN SUITABLE FOR TOP OF ALTAR”, and below that a geometrical figure of the planets and stars from “The Cannon” fig. 3, p. 30, chap. II. with the under caption “THE HOLY OBLATION”}

{diagram on this page: Inside a dashed equilateral triangle are a scourge, chain, dagger and a wide, low perfume bottle shaped like a woman’s breast with nipple, below this is a scale in inches and below that the caption “THE SCOURGE, THE DAGGER, AND THE CHAIN; ENCLOSING THE PHIAL FOR THE HOLY OIL.”}

 

The Hierophant – Love and do what you will

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Chapter 3, verse xi: “Let the woman be girt with a sword before me”.

The symbolism of Crowley’s Thoth tarot is much more profound than the usual tarot meanings and symbolism. Crowley had a wonderful underlined subtext and messages communicating his ideas and beliefs through the Thoth tarot deck. I find his ‘secret’ symbolism and messages fascinating. 

Before we start to explore the symbolism of this card, remember we are only approaching it from the Crowlian point of view and a very specific one – which is mine. 

Let us understand first who is the Hierophant and what it represents.

The Hierophant is a person, especially a priest, who interprets sacred mysteries or esoteric principles. 

According to Wikipedia, a hierophant (Ancient Greek: ἱεροφάντης) is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy.  As such, a hierophant interprets sacred mysteries and arcane principles. In Attica, Hierophant was the title of the chief priest at the Eleusinian Mysteries. It was an office inherited within the Philaidae or Eumolpidae families. The office of Hierophant, High Priestess and Dadouchousa Priestess were all inherited within the Philaidae or Eumolpidae families, and the Hierophant and the High Priestess were of equal rank. It was the task of the High Priestess to impersonate the roles of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone in the enactment during the Mysteries.

The Hierophant is associated with the element of earth.

From the above, we can understand that the hierophant is a top religious figure like the Pope, or the chief Rabbi if you like, whose job was to be a conductor, a channel, funnel or mediator between the gods and the people. In this particular card, focusing only on the hidden symbolism, the hierophant is the representation of the goddess Nuit.

Nuit represents the element of infinite space. The mother of all stars – after all – “Every man and every woman is a star” (chapter 1, verse 3). Nuit is also the place each star is return to when his or her light diminishes. She is also the divine law. The law that the hierophant needs to transmit to her followers. 

 “Let the woman be girt with a sword before me” 

At the front of the card, before the hierophant, we can see the woman girt with a sword. 

According to The Book of Thoth, “she represents the Scarlet Woman in the hierarchy of the new Aeon” or in other words, representative of the ‘new woman’, ie, no more just a housewife or a pretty decor on the arm of her husband or boyfriend, but armed and militant, seeking her truth and equal rights. 

We can see how all of this manifests in the feminist movement of the 70s and the Me Too movement of our days. 

The woman girt with a sword , “The woman is the priestess; in her reposes the mystery. She is the mother, brooding yet tender; the lover, at once passionate and aloof; the wife, revered and cherished. She is the witch woman.” (Freedom is a two-edged Sword, Jack Parsons)

The deeper you look into the hidden symbolism and meaning of this mysterious woman, the clear it gets, that she can be Nuit herself, guarding the divine law.  

The law is simple and clear and it’s the hierophant’s job to pass it to his congregation:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”

“Love is the law, love under will”

Or in our words 

Love and do what you will

***

“The symbolism of the Wand is peculiar” – Solve et Coagula

Crowley describes the three interlaced rings of the wand, as a “representative of the three Aeons of Isis, Osiris and Horus”. However, on a closer look, we see that the hierophant holding the wand with its three rings aspiring upward, in his right hand (solve).  

As a Setian/Typhonian, I couldn’t help the thought that the three interlaced rings, would be much more comfortable in the right hand of destruction (solve) as a representative of Set, Osiris & Ra. 

Set and Osiris are both Ra’s grandsons and make a sacred triad. Both brothers have to sacrifice themselves for the continuation of Ra — of life — Osiris by getting killed by his brother Set, and Set killing his brother and becoming the ‘outcast’ God. (Aromagick)

The demonstration cycle of life through destruction and creation is continued with the symbolism of the hierophant’s left hand.

His left hand (coagula) is pointing downward in the Shamak mudra hand position. I must admit that this never occurred to me before, but once I become aware of it, I could not un-see it. 

The Shamak mudra also calls the kidney mudra, is the perfect hand position to deliver the message of Solve et Coagula (destruction and creation). In the beginning, I couldn’t see the connection between the kidney mudra to the word coagula and what it represents in the occult symbolism, especially here, to the hierophant and his wand. 

Coagulation means The action or process of a liquid, especially blood, changing to a solid or semi-solid state.
“a supplement that inhibits blood coagulation”

The main function of the kidneys is to cleanse the blood of toxins and transform the waste into urine.

The hierophant’s right hand in the Shamak mudra, suggests that before we can coagulate, we must be cleansed and purified of all toxins. Only then can we coagulate into our new and transformed selves. 

“The Throne of the Hierophant is surrounded by elephants, which are of the nature of Taurus; and he is actually seated upon a bull.”

At first look, the card seems to resonate with the symbolism of the zodiac sign Taurus, which is an earth sign. The element of earth is represented in this card as the Bull Kerub and symbolises the earth element at its most balanced and strongest. If we look at the symbolism of the bull from the Setian perspective, it takes us back to the cattle cult which is probably the oldest cult in the world. 

Cave painting from the Tassili n’Ajjer mountains

All Egyptian male deities have bull avatars. The Bull of Ombos is the avatar of Set. The Bull Cult probably sprang out of the Cattle cult linking deities like the Heavenly Cow/Hathor which represents the female aspect of the cult. 

The bull symbolises male fertility and potency and is connected with energy, stamina, endurance, protection, and aggression. As a symbol of strength, the bull was worshipped throughout the ancient world. From the astrological point of view, the zodiac sign of Taurus is linked to Spring in the agriculture calendar. Symbolising the season of rebirth, wealth and abundance. The bull also stands as a symbol of stubbornness, ferocity, tyranny and brutality, all the characteristics of a powerful God/s, and will make an honourable sacrifice for the almighty.

We might think, that we have moved on from the religious practices and worship of the bull’s cult, but today, the cattle cult assumed a different structure — the dairy and meat industry, that most of us are pretty much worshipping still.

Just to remind you, a hierophant is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy.  As such, a hierophant interprets sacred mysteries and arcane principles.

In this card, the hierophant symbolises the link to the secret of the rhythm of time and the ancient practice of the worship of the bull. 

The secrets of the time lords are encoded in the divine law which is guarded by Nuit/NWT and delivered by the hierophant.

Timelord (?)

Fire & Water, Oshun & Babalon

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“Babalon, let me tell you about Babalon, I was just looking at my diary from a while back, fire and water, that’s her, like Oshun, Orisha of the rivers and sweet waters. Here’s how she found me. I’ve been invited to take part in a ceremony of a different tribe, they share the same path of the Serpent and the Panther, but the practice is different. My tribe like to dive into the pool of the void, through its darkest tunnels and halls until it turns into light.

The other tribe practice the way in great light and celebration, even at the darkest moments somehow they find a way to celebrate with a beautiful practice. I thought that it is the perfect space to evoke Babalon. I needed to get some answers from her, so I put on my red dress and made a little tobacco offering to the fire. Then I waited for her to give me a sign; when it comes it is like the rhythm of the ayahuasca dream state of mind:

The serpent is awake,

Is coiling in my tummy and heart,

It is moving and winding, its scales are bright red,

It is getting ready to move up toward my neck,

I’m terrified it is going to swallow me,

It changes into a serpent-like flower,

Changing its colour from red to yellow,

More and more serpent-like flowers are popping around me.

I can hear the Oshun song from the distance,

I am singing it,

I can hear Babalon whispering in my ears,

To understand me, go with Oshun.

I get it…

At first, the Scarlet Lady and Oshun look like they have nothing in common. Oshun is the Yellow Lady of the rivers … but to embody the will and the passion to create magic and change, you need to move in a wavelike motion, to be fluid like water.

Babalon rides the flames of the ever-burning fire. If you look closely at the flames, you can see that they have a strange fluidity. Fire, like water, always has to move, expand and never standstill. So both ladies share the same qualities. Oshun is the watery aspect of Babalon, and Babalon is the fiery aspect of Oshun. You cannot create magic from still water that lacks fluidity.

You cannot create magic from still and tamed fire, which will soon burn out and die.

In the morning after the ceremony closed, I stood by the fire talking to the shaman, when something caught my eye. At the side of the fire was a statue of Shiva holding the Trishula 1 trident, and next to it two further Trishula, made from iron. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d dreamt of that very Trishula the month before!

 

When I asked the shaman what he uses them for, he said what I have always known: at the ceremony the Trishula helps destroy the three worlds that we find so hard to let go of. After the ceremony, we arrived at the here and now, with joy, beauty and bliss in our hearts. Who said that dreams can’t come true??

Om Namaha Shivaya

Viva Oshun

Hail Babalon.”

  • From NakedTantra by Miryamdevi & Minanath

Fool’s Journey

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Many view the fool as he is about to fall into the abyss, off the cliff. In my eyes, the fool always seemed like he is about to leap higher, ready to take the greatest leap of fate of them all. He is looking ahead and up with a little smile and a glint in his eyes, his dog is just as excited as he is and the rays of Aten shining upon him. If we look carefully at the picture, we don’t really see the abyss, we only assume it is there, which tells us never to assume anything before you carefully check the details you are presented with. 

The card is in vibrant yellow, the colour of our conscious mind, the practical mind – the doer not the dreamer. Yellow is a stimulating colour, which stimulates our nerves, glands and brain, making us more alert and full of energy. It boosts our memory and intellect, arouses original thought, and curiosity and encourages communication. 

Yellow is the colour That promotes activity and interaction and helps us find new ways and new ideas. Even the fools’ boots are yellow which symbolising suggests that the fool is fully aware and prepared for the things to come. 

Kameswari is the first Kala of the moon cycle and she corresponds with the letter Aleph.

“Aleph corresponds with or is the alphabet’s New Moon” (from Egyptian Magick by Mogg Morgan). Kameswari’s foot represents the first step of the Lunar month cycle, that she/we are taking on the first phase of the moon cycle. Like the fool, Kameswari opens the new cycle with a little step in the dark, but her foot is a fiery one and brings forth the first ray of lunar light into the darkness. 

Looking at the image of the Thoth Tarot 

We can see here that our humble fool looks very prepared and awakened (the tiger biting his leg and the Aten shining in full power in his Yesod) for the cycle ahead of it. Crowley’s fool looks fiercely ahead and smiles knowing that his first step will be taken with the blessing of Horus in his crocodile avatar – kenty-kht. 

The fool represents the primaeval spark from a solar explosion that initiated everything around its universe to move forward. We are moving in spiral cycles, every new cycle we spiralling deeper and further.

The dream I had the night of April’s fool was a very solar one, a blessed one. 

I was riding on a wild horse, which can suggest material wealth, happiness and contentment. According to Jung, dreams, are connected to our “natural force” of life and the horse, is representative of our own inner power.

A horse in a dream might symbolize freedom, energy, strength, endurance, stamina, power, but also hard work. It might signify male sexual energy and masculinity. Running horses symbolize freedom and the release of repressed energy.

The freedom to take the first step and move forward with no hesitations or regrets.

Fire & water

Last night Oshun and Red Goddess came to visit me in my dream. 

All through the dream Oshun song has played and I woke up with the tune still in my head.

Just before I woke up, I could hear the Red Goddess whispering in my ear “ They are too scared to look into the mirror because they can’t see what’s behind it”…

The dream reminded me of a little story Miryamdevi told me a long time ago. 

The story of fire and water, the story of Oshun and Babalon.

“Let me tell you about Babalon, fire and water, that’s her, like Oshun, the orisha of rivers and sweet waters.

I’d been invited to a ceremony, a celebration of the great queen serpent, I thought it would be the perfect space to evoke Babalon, I needed to get some answers from her, The Scarlet Woman.

So I put on my red dress and made a little tobacco offering to put in the fire. 

I waited for a sign and when it came, it was like a rhythm of an ayahuasca dream.

The serpent is awake,

Is coiling in my tummy and heart,

It is moving and winding, its scales are bright red,

It is getting ready to move up toward my neck,

I’m terrified it is going to swallow me,

It changes into a serpent-like flower,

Changing its colour from red to yellow,

More and more serpent-like flowers are popping around me.

I can hear the Oshun song from the distance,

I am singing it,

I can hear Babalon whispering in my ears, 

To understand me, go with Oshun.

At first, Babalon and Oshun look like they have nothing in common. Oshun is the Yellow Lady of the river and sweet waters, to embody the will and the passion to create magic and change, you need to move in a wavelike motion, to be fluid like water. 

Babalon rides the flames of the ever-burning fire. If you look closely at the flames, you can see that they have a strange fluidity.

Fire, like water, always has to move, to expand, never standing still. 

So both ladies share the same qualities:  Oshun, the watery aspect of Babalon, Babalon the fiery aspect of Oshun.

You cannot create magic from still water that lacks fluidity.

You cannot create magic from tamed fire, which will soon burn out and die.

You can read the full story of Fire and Water in NakedTantra by Miryamdevi & Minanath

 

Interview with occult writer Paul Weston

Recently I had the chance to interview occult  Author Paul Weston. In this interview, he speaks about the life of Aleister Crowley, as well as his book The occult battle of Britain.

Weston tells us about Crowley and Yeats, and the writing of Diary of a Drug Fiend, as well as the early years of the Golden dawn. 

1.How did you become interested in the life of Aleister Crowley, Paul, to write your book Aleister Crowley and the Aeon of Horus?

1975 was the centenary of Crowley’s birth. I was 16 years old. I’d seen Led Zeppelin live twice that year and learned of Jimmy Page’s interest in some mysterious controversial figure. BBC Radio then featured a programme on Crowley and I made a point of listening. I was utterly fascinated by the diversity of his life: world-record mountaineer, yogi, mystic poet, occultist, sexual and drug pioneer, but also big-game hunter, writer of banned pornography, possessor of a formidable legend of infamy. From that point on, I was on the lookout for more information.

Colin Wilson’s summary of his life in The Occult and John Symonds biography The Great Beast told me a lot but were fairly hostile and contemptuous. It was reading the enormous autobiographical Confessions that really got me going as it was clear to me that Crowley was far more intelligent, interesting, and humorous than his critics. The seemingly strident egotism of it didn’t bother me in the slightest.

Robert Anton Wilson’s Cosmic Trigger opened me up to the extent of Crowley’s presence in the psychedelic sixties. I first heard of the episode involving Timothy Leary in the Algerian desert, where he seemed to follow in Crowley’s footsteps, which would later be heavily featured in my book. Robert Anton Wilson is undoubtedly the main inspiration for it. The Leary/Wilson eight-circuit map of consciousness provided the foundation of the section The Psychology of Thelema. RAW sometimes gets criticised by Thelemites but I think it’s important to remember that his ideas about Crowley were developed from his connections with Grady McMurty and Israel Regardie, who had both known Crowley and had important interaction with him. The Eye in the Triangle was a very important book, whatever people think of it now, and Regardie’s anthology of Crowley’s writing on drugs and his Gems From the Equinox were influential then. All of that formed part of my inspirations.

My book seemed to have its own agenda. I was writing my autobiographical Avalonian Aeon, which featured a lot of Crowley material, and I realised it was getting far too big and needed pruning. The idea came for a separate book. The scope of it just kept expanding. Having fully engaged in the project, I found myself in Cairo, on the feast days of The Book of the Law and even recited some of it in front of the Stele of Revealing that is so important a part in the story of how it came to be written. This was a wild outcome.

2.Many great names of the twentieth century are mentioned in the book. How did Crowley come to attract all of these famous names?

Crowley had a period of considerable fame in the twenties, albeit through a legend of infamy, so he stood out and got the attention of the naturally rebellious. I suggest in my book that, regardless of any personal failings, Crowley was an authentic prophet of the twentieth century in its diverse agony and ecstasy and his statements concerning how to navigate it: that we are unique Stars who must find our True Wills and act accordingly. I feel some people with remarkable gifts recognised that in his work and directly connected with it. Rocket scientist Jack Parsons was perhaps the most notable case. Avant-garde film-maker Kenneth Anger was another. Founder of modern Wicca Gerald Gardner inevitably looked into Crowley and met the Beast in person. Timothy Leary would have initially placed him in a lineage of drug experimenters but a more mysterious deeper connection eventually revealed itself.

3.What was Crowley’s relationship like with Yeats?

Crowley and Yeats were members of the Golden Dawn during the same period and were on opposite sides in a power struggle involving the Orders’ autocratic chief, Samuel Liddell Macgregor Mathers. Yeats thought of Crowley as a morally degenerate criminal type. Crowley felt that Yeats’ hostility to him was based on his jealousy of the Beast’s superior poetic gifts, a claim most would consider to be absurd. They appear to be very different characters but there are some strong similarities in the deeper passions that ruled their lives.

Yeats was obsessed with the idea of the daimon or higher genius. It was central to his consideration of himself as a poet and what true inspiration consisted of. It also informed his understanding of the Golden Dawn Kabbalistic teachings. Neshamah concerns what might be more generally thought of as the Soul, its higher aspects that allow one to have awareness of God. This is the Higher Genius. Its physical seat is the brain and its Kabbalistic placing is in the upper realms of the Tree of Life sephiroth Chokmah and Binah.

Crowley was stirred by the same concerns but in his case was particularly taken by the term Holy Guardian Angel. Mathers had translated some of the now legendary Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, detailed instruction for a six-month retreat intended to achieve communion with the HGA. Crowley famously purchased the house at Boleskine at Loch Ness to enable him to give over to the procedure. This primarily involved strict adherence to Abramelin but he incorporated Golden Dawn details such as his own versification of a document dealing with the same material on the Neshamah that inspired Yeats in his daimon quest. People will argue as to whether HGA and daimon are essentially the same. For Yeats and Crowley, I look at where these ideas led them.

The main event of Crowley’s life was the reception from an allegedly non-human source of a text, supposedly dictated audibly to both he and his wife Rose, indicating the advent of a new epoch for the human race. There are great cycles, Aeons, in history and we have seen one where the Great Mother was the dominant religious form, followed by an era of the dying and resurrected God. Now we enter a time of the Crowned and Conquering Child, when our unique true identities are affirmed, free of constraint. Crowley believed that the source, named Aiwass, was his Holy Guardian Angel. The whole episode was considerably facilitated by the sudden onset of powerful psychism in Rose, who he had married the previous year.

Yeats married George Hyde Lees. Within days she suddenly gave over to prolonged psychism in the form of automatic writing from which enormous amounts of material emerged. The most notable outcome was Yeats work A Vision. This was a mystic view of enormous cycles of history and their significance in the destiny of individuals as revealed by their birthdates in relation to the phases of the moon. Yeats believed that his daimon was somehow collaborating with that of his wife in this production.

There are considerable differences between The Book of the Law and A Vision. The similarities are there, however. Yeats was driven by the daimon idea, Crowley by the Holy Guardian Angel. In each case, their wives developed a psychism that led to the creation of texts that each man considered to be their most important works. Both productions were framed by the concept of great historical cycles and concerned with establishing one’s true destiny.

4.Could you tell us about Crowley and the order of the Golden Dawn?

The most famous of all occult groups, The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, was founded in London in 1888. The centre of gravity of their system was the Kabbalah, with its well-known glyph of the so-called Tree of Life, with its ten spheres, known as Sephiroth, linked together by twenty-two paths associated with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. On this framework, into what Crowley later called a kind of filing cabinet, was attributed an enormous amount of material from what could be called the Western Mystery Tradition, including a lot of Egyptian details.

The twenty-two trumps of the tarot cards, the famous picture images of Death, the High Priestess, Wheel of Fortune and so on, were placed on the linking paths with their related Hebrew letters. A system of grades allowed practitioners to ascend the tree as their learning advanced. Each sphere involved particular studies and practices and initiatory rituals signified passage between them.

Although Mathers was undoubtedly aware of the masonic traditions of unknown superiors, the recent fame of Madame Blavatsky and her tales of contact with Himalayan Masters had brought the issue of Secret Chiefs some publicity. The single biggest point of contention around the Golden Dawn is Mathers’ assertion that he himself had met some of them. His story could easily be seen to be following the Blavatsky template. Some of these encounters were psychic. He worked with his clairvoyant wife Moina to obtain much of the higher level Golden Dawn material. Other meetings were allegedly physical. He believed that ‘they are human beings living on this Earth, but possessed of terrible and superhuman powers.’ His story of an encounter in Paris with a group of three of them can be seen as a strategy to confirm his complete authority over the Order. He claimed that terrific energy emanated from the mysterious beings that only an advanced adept could handle for more than a few minutes. It was strong enough to kill. Various intense physiological symptoms were reported during his different encounters such as problems with breathing, ‘cold sweats and bleeding from the nose, mouth and ears.’

Aleister Crowley joined the group in 1898 when he was twenty-three years old. Rich from a family inheritance and with no need to earn a living, he was able to dedicate a lot of time and energy to learning the material and working through the lower grades. He was initially very impressed by Mathers and undoubtedly took him as a style template for the modern magician.

Although Crowley felt that his contact with Aiwass and the inauguration of a New Aeon annulled the authority and relevance of the original Golden Dawn, its basic structure and curriculum remained extremely important to him. There were certainly adjustments but the continuity is clear. He had taken oaths to keep the material secret but published much of it in his regular hefty journal The Equinox. This resulted in a court case with Mathers. Crowley’s subsequent claiming of various grades of attainment was always based on Golden Dawn ideas and terminology.

He was obviously willing to believe in the idea of Secret Chiefs as the 1904 Cairo episode shows. In the late collection of letters Magick Without Tears, he says of them, ‘They can induce a girl to embroider a tapestry or initiate a political movement to culminate in a world-war; all in pursuit of some plan wholly beyond the purview or the comprehension of the deepest and subtlest thinkers…But are They men, in the usual sense of the word? They may be incarnate or discarnate: it is a matter of Their convenience…’.

5.What is the UFO connection to Crowley?

Crowley’s 1919 drawing designated ‘Lam’ is the central focus of this contentious connection.

It’s important to be clear about the history of this image. In 1918, during a period when he was living in America, Crowley engaged in an extensive six-month long magickal episode known as the Amalantrah Working, primarily with the aid of his Scarlet Woman of the time, Roddie Minor. A combination of sex and drugs helped induce repeated consistent visionary material focused on a being named Amalantrah. Crowley was satisfied that the imagery and names produced were authentic in as much as they met his Qabalistic checking criteria. Towards the end of the written records of the working, Amalantrah made the enigmatic statements “It’s all in the egg”, “Thou art to go this Way.” Unusually for Crowley’s magickal records there appear to be details missing during the final phase.

The drawing seems to originate from the same period and depicts a being with an elongated egg-shaped head and no ears. It was publicly displayed in an exhibition of Crowley’s artwork in New York in 1919. It also featured as the frontispiece for an edition of HP Blavatsky’s short mystical work The Voice of the Silence with an extensive running commentary from Crowley. There it was designated as ‘The Way’ and given this explanation: ‘LAM is the Tibetan word for Way or Path, and LAMA is he who Goeth, the specific title of the Gods of Egypt, the Treader of the Path, in Buddhistic phraseology. Its numerical value is 71, the number of this book.’ It was later stated that the figure was Crowley’s ‘guru’ and ‘painted from life.’ That appears to be all that Crowley ever had to say about it. It is by no means clear that the word Lam is a name belonging to the being in the picture.

Decades later, in the final years of his life, he gave it to Kenneth Grant who featured it in his 1972 The Magical Revival, describing it as ‘Lam, an extra-terrestrial intelligence with whom Crowley was in astral contact.’ It became an iconic part of his Typhonian Trilogies, works promoting, amongst other things, ‘Extra-Terrestrial Gnosis’. This is not necessarily physical ETS in nuts and bolts spaceships. In this context, it designates experiences and intelligence not confined to the consensus three-dimensional coordinates of planet Earth. Higher-dimensional realms coterminous with 3D may well be the spaces these mysteries move through.

It was Grant who suggested that the Parsons-Hubbard-Cameron Babalon Working had perhaps ripped a hole in the fabric of reality through which the modern UFO era manifested, an idea that has now become quite widespread. In Outside the Circles of Time, he stated that ‘Parsons opened the door and something flew in. The flavour of that something is indicated by a strange episode that occurred in March 1946 at the time of the conclusion of the Babalon Working. Marjorie Cameron saw an unidentifiable aerial phenomenon. She was exhilarated, considering it to be a Thelemic sign, a ‘war engine’ mentioned in The Book of the Law. This event inevitably predisposed her to be particularly interested in a phenomenon that erupted into popular consciousness the following year.

Grant instigated a specific Cult of Lam after coming to feel that the portrait was a focus of an increasingly intense extra-terrestrial energy that would be of great importance. The basic Kenneth Grant position was that firstly Lam is a name and image of something that gives access to Extra-Terrestrial gnosis, a state of consciousness. Lam was intrinsically part of the Amalantrah Working which opened a portal of some kind to other dimensions. This makes Crowley the first modern-style ET contactee. It also opens up a consideration of what is the real nature of the Secret Chiefs of Occultism and in particular, Aiwass.

In the Cult of Lam, as initiated by Kenneth Grant and developed by his closest long-term associate Michael Staley, Lam is not necessarily a distinct entity but a trans-aeonic portal to gnosis outside of the circles of time. Something about his visual appearance potentially serves to stimulate aspects of consciousness otherwise dormant. He could be a mask for the experience of the Hidden God/Holy Guardian Angel…

The basic method of Lam meditation consisted of sitting silently in front of a copy of the Crowley picture staring into its eyes. The name was then repeated internally in the manner of a mantra. This process was considered sufficient to potentially stimulate an altered state of consciousness. As mood shifted an imaginative attempt would be made to enter into Lam’s head, the Egg of Spirit, and then look out from his eyes. Profoundly alien zones might be thus encountered or general mutations of consciousness allowing download access to previously unknown realms of being.

An extension of this procedure formulated by Michael Staley begins with the fact that the name Lam also happens to be a Sanskrit seed syllable featured in some Kundalini yoga systems referring to the base chakra wherein the great serpent power resides that can be raised up the spinal column through a progressive expansion of consciousness until climactic enlightenment at the top of the head. Staley’s development involves visualising a serpent with the head of Lam ascending the spine through the chakras. The process does not directly identify Lam with Kundalini but may produce similar results.

The 1977 Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson connected Crowley and Kenneth Grant’s ideas with the increasingly ET themed work of Timothy Leary and his Starseed Transmissions, a text full of Book of the Law nuances. Leary already felt connected with Crowley. Jack Parsons was also featured. The recent publication of Robert Temple’s The Sirius Mystery led Wilson on a journey that seemed to uncover a tradition of ‘contact’ ultimately sourced at the star that was important to the Egyptians. With this material, it became possible to speculate as to whether the fabled Secret Chiefs might be ETs or Inter-Dimensional Ultra-Terrestrials.

The Crowley UFO association intensified with the publication of Whitley Strieber’s hugely successful Communion in the eighties. The famous cover art instantly established a template for the depiction of the kind of entities that were supposedly involved in mass abductions at that time. It was soon increasingly publicised that there was a strong resemblance to Lam. With the Strieber impetus, Crowley, and occultism in general, particularly the Babalon Working, increasingly became part of a dense internet culture that often plays loose with the facts and is not helped by the baleful reputation of Crowley and Parsons having taken of the Oath of the Antichrist!

What we are left with is that reading books like Cosmic Trigger, and hopefully, my Aleister Crowley and the Aeon of Horus can set the reader off on a profitable journey that might encourage Extra-Terrestrial Gnosis. The path may lead into a hall of mirrors and delusion. The modern internet age provides greater possibilities than ever before for such an outcome. I will point to one example of the efficacy of the Cult of Lam. It was immediately after a Lam working with Michael Staley that Andrew Collins experienced what might be termed a download that led to his book The Cygnus Mystery. This in turn led to his rediscovery of a lost cave system on the Giza plateau detailed in his book Beneath the Pyramids.

6.could you tell us about Crowley writing Diary of a Drug Fiend? Did Crowley believe that using certain drugs could open doors for him creatively?

In the second chapter of 1904 The Book of the Law we find this evocative passage. ‘I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for this.’ Believing as he did that it was dictated by a non-human intelligence, this statement carried authority for Crowley.

He was a graduate of fin-de-siecle decadence, producing a translation of the French poet Baudelaire’s writing on hashish. By the period following 1904, he had combined wide-ranging drug experimentation with extensive magical mystical discipline. The epic journey across the Algerian desert in 1909 exploring the angelic system of John Dee produced some astonishing visions. There may have been a chemical component occasionally involved. The 1910 public presentations of the so-called Rites of Eleusis included the passing round of a drink it has been suggested contained a mild amount of peyote. It’s clear that Crowley felt that the mystery cults of antiquity made use of drugs. All of this is exceptionally interesting and decades ahead of the sixties enthusiasms.

Jumping ahead to Diary of a Drug Fiend in 1922, things have seriously changed for the worse. We have a century of hindsight to understand that not all drugs are the same. Crowley felt that his great Nietzschean True Will, which enabled him to set world-mountaineering records, write voluminous works at fever-pitch, and engage in yoga practices for hours on end, could easily follow the admonitions in The Book of the Law and no harm would result. When it comes to heroin and cocaine unique problems result. During the time of the Sicilian Abbey of Thelema, Crowley became hopelessly addicted to both. It was a torment to him that his Will was struggling with the challenge.

Diary of a Drug Fiend emerges from that context. The novel concerns a couple who are very much characters we can see as typical of the Roaring Twenties. Peter Pendragon is of noble birth and fought in the Great War. He is left depressed and unable to find meaning in his life. He meets Louise Laleham, who is a follower of Basil King Lamus, a heavily idealised Crowley self-portrait. The couple falls in love and engages in a prolonged drug binge across Europe. They can easily be imagined at one of Jay Gatsby’s parties or enjoying the nightclubs of Weimar Germany to a jazz soundtrack. Hitting rock bottom in terms of addiction and financial ruin, suicide beckons, but a retreat to the Abbey of Thelema under the guidance of King Lamus and his tutelage in magick restore them by enabling them to find their True Will.

Those hostile to Crowley can easily find the work displays appalling egotism from an author dispensing high wisdom on how to handle drugs when hopelessly addicted himself. I believe that he was invoking his higher genius, his daemon, in his portrayal of King Lamus in an attempt to fully solve his own problems. He was passionately idealistic and wanted his Abbey of Thelema to fulfil its greatest potential so he told a story of how he imagined such a thing could come about, the kinds of people he sought to attract, and the help he hoped to give. In that, we could get a feeling for what was best about Aleister Crowley. The enormous autobiographical Confessions was also written during the heroin period and that has never gotten in the way of my appreciation of it. He did eventually conquer his addictions and only returned to heroin in later life for medicinal reasons.

7.Could you tell us about your magical journey to Glastonbury, Paul? Through your book The Occult battle of Britain.

I’ve given over nearly a thousand pages to my journey to Glastonbury in my books Avalonian Aeon and Atargatis. It is a comprehensive story concerning all sides of the place, its history and multi-levelled mythos. The Dion Fortune aspect is one part of it but an extremely important one in both of those books and the occult war required a book to itself that did not feature my personal story.

I’d been fascinated by the subject of Nazi occultism from the early eighties and was fortunate to be able to write a dissertation on it towards my Degree in Comparative Religion in 1983. I discovered the Glastonbury-centred British side of the story, the Tor visualisations when I read Alan Richardson’s Dion Fortune biography in 1988. The selection of her wartime letters, published as The Magical Battle of Britain followed in 1993.

Monday, May 8th 1995 was a national holiday to accommodate the climax of large-scale commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day that were happening across Europe. It was my habit in those days to shuffle my tarot cards shortly after breakfast and ask for a one-card key to the day ahead. I drew the Lightning Struck Tower. This is considered to be a powerful card, indicative of tumultuous processes. I wondered what on earth the day might deliver that could be considered a definite result?

BBC TV broadcast lives from London from early in the afternoon as all manner of events played out to a crowd estimated at 250,000 in front of Buckingham Palace and down the adjacent Mall. The climax of the celebrations was going to be a huge event in Hyde Park. At sunset, there would be a nationwide two-minute silence after which the Queen would preside over the lighting of the first of a thousand beacon fires across the country.

I felt a desire to more fully emotionally engage in the day. I was very conscious that the generation who had actually participated in these events, my parents included, were not getting any younger. This might be the last time they could be out in large numbers for such a huge event. It was, on one level, a massive acknowledgement that was also a farewell.

I had a copy of Avalon of the Heart out from the local library at that time. It was an edition that had a photograph of Glastonbury Tor on the cover. I had been glancing through it over the previous few days and it was resting on the floor. The afternoon had been slightly overcast. Briefly, the sun came out from behind clouds and a shaft of light shone through a side window down onto the book, stopping just beyond it. My attention was thereby suddenly focused on the cover and I instantly knew what I was going to do to fulfil my intention of connecting with the day’s events.

I realised that the coming evening’s two-minute silence and subsequent beacon lighting, including one on Glastonbury Tor, was really quite a unique event. In terms of what was going on in the mass mind at that time, the solemnity and silence and a sense of the past with veneration for it would all be present at that moment and the potential channelling of that through the landscape and into people’s consciousness through the means of the beacon fires was something you’re not going to get very often in any circumstance. I remembered what I knew about Dion Fortune’s 1940 visualisations. She had believed that they were as much about the future as the drama of the time. Surely now was as good a time to recreate them as one could ever hope for?

I contacted as many people by phone as I could who I thought might be interested and about a dozen agreed to try the basic visualisation of being inside Glastonbury Tor with Arthur and Merlin during the two-minute silence. About a dozen people participated.

As twilight approached, I began my preparations, lighting lots of candles in my living room. The phone was unplugged. I performed the same modest ritual preparations engaged in by the London Centre of the 1940 workings. The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram consists of drawing pentagrams at the cardinal points, imagining the appearance of angels beyond them and the recitation of their names. I tried to visualise a rapid approach to Glastonbury Tor and entry to a large cavern within. Within moments of starting to contemplate the Arthurian archetypes and the idea of them still potentially inspiring the nation, I found extraordinary emotions arose and overwhelmed me. In combination with the idea of the last parade of the golden generation, I started crying my eyes out. This state of emotional extremes was sustained for a number of minutes. I had never felt anything quite like it in the whole of my life.

When I recovered I turned the TV back on to check out what was happening in Hyde Park. I knew about the beacon fire lighting but nothing about the way in which it would commence. It happened within barely a minute of my turning on the TV. The Queen was standing at ground level, in front of a control panel. She pressed a button and a green laser beam shot out from it and hit the Post Office Tower, which I realised had lights wound around it all the way to the top. When the beam hit, the lights went on and fireworks erupted from the summit. I immediately knew that this was the Lightning Struck Tower par excellence.

The day had been extraordinary for me but I was obviously curious to hear how things had gone for the others who had tried the visualisation as well. Within a week I had received all the feedback. Everyone reported powerful experiences. My favourite involved a female friend who lived in Somerset and was very familiar with the Arthurian corpus and in particular Marion Zimmer Bradley’s hugely successful novel Mists of Avalon. She often went into visionary spaces inspired by the book involving journeying into the Tor to meet groups of priestesses. On this occasion she found herself confronting a naked Arthur Pendragon with an impressively erect phallus which she promptly grabbed hold of and immediately felt as if some kind of circuit was completed and enormous dragon current serpent power energy was pumping out of Glastonbury Tor and going all over the landscape. This was not the staid Victorian gentleman portrayed by Tennyson and such details were certainly not reported by Dion Fortune and her associates. I was totally convinced that the workings were carrying some voltage and relevancy for the modern world.

This event was undoubtedly a huge catalyst in my move to Glastonbury. I was already hoping to live there and the way was made clear. Within a month I had arrived. Inspired by the potency of the Tor visualisation, I fully familiarised myself with the wartime letters and the Qabalistic foundation of the imagery. By 1996 I had created an enhanced version of the 1940 imagery, a full Glastonbury Qabalah, and began putting on some public events using it.

Many years later, in 2010, saw the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. I convened a group visualisation again on September 15th, considered to be Battle of Britain Day, and the feedback was so strong that it catalysed me into starting to write the book.

What I found really striking, and it seemed to me that nobody had fully noticed this before, was that Glastonbury, with its Arthurian associations, represented a remarkable polarity with Himmler’s Grail Castle at Wewelsburg, a location that Dion Fortune would not have been familiar with. I realised that what she brought into the 1940 visualisations was the climax of a long story of the rebirth of Glastonbury, involving many other interesting people and ideas. Wewelsburg likewise represented the climax of the development of so-called Ariosophical ideas.

My lightbulb moment was to contemplate putting the two long-term timelines against each other and seeing if anything interesting might be revealed. I created an excel spreadsheet with vertical columns for Glastonbury and Germany set against horizontal year lines from 1875 to 1939. I set myself up to read The Avalonians by Patrick Benham, a superb account of the rebirth of Glastonbury, featuring Dion Fortune, Frederick Bligh Bond, Wellesley Tudor Pole, and others. I followed it up with The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodrich Clarke, a ground-breaking academically credible study of the subject. I entered anything I felt was important from both books on the spreadsheet. Once I’d finished, I started looking across the lines and immediately felt that I was seeing a clear convergence towards 1940 that began even before the Great War. The richness of comparisons and synchronisations astonished me. I added Rudolf Steiner to the mix. Having written Aleister Crowley and the Aeon of Horus, I originally intended to create Dion Fortune and the Age of Michael as a complementary work in the spirit of a Robert Anton Wilson meta-programming experiment. The project outgrew that conception.

It was an immensely intense process to immerse myself for months at a time in Nazi occultism. I kept stepping back and other book projects appeared. Eventually, in 2018, I resolved to finish it in time to launch at the Glastonbury Occult Conference in February the following year.

8.What will your next book be about, Paul?

I am currently writing The Colin Wilson Work. This project began shortly after he died in 2013. I conceived it with the sense of it being like one of the many introductions he wrote to important thinkers like Gurdjieff, Jung, Steiner, and Crowley. 100-150 pages in length maybe. I made a good start but other projects intervened. With the onset of the first lockdown in March 2020, I felt it was an ideal time to return to it. As I did so, my conception of it massively expanded so that I now see it as likely to be of a size similar to one of the titles in Wilson’s Occult Trilogy. I’m approaching it in the spirit of what Wilson called ‘existential literary criticism’. I have often seen people praising his books for having expanded their minds, even changed their lives. What I want to see in cases like that are detailed accounts of what that really means. As a long-term Wilsonian with a rich inner life, I’m able to weave into the text a lot of varied personal examples of how his ideas have been alive for me. The title is a reference to Gurdjieff and the ‘work’ associated with him. Gurdjieff and Ouspensky were immense influences on Wilson so I’m examining at some length how that becomes part of a broader conception of Wilson’s new existentialism. I’ve undoubtedly set myself a major challenge but that is exciting and in keeping with the Wilson outlook.

 

Author Paul Weston was interviewed by John Wisniewski

ראפ לפאן

בתאוות אור קסומה 

!הו גבר

!איש שלי

בוא וצא בסערה מהלילה 

!של פאן! יו פאן 

! יו פאן! יו פאן

בוא וצא 

!משאמבלה וגן עדן 

משוטט כמו בכחוס 

עם שומרים ובנות לוויה 

זכרות נוקשה על אתון לבנה 

בוא וצא מהים 

!ובוא אלי, אליי

בוא עם כוהנת בשמלת כלה (פיתונית ורועה) 

בוא עם ארטמיס

בנעלי משי

ששטפה את ירכך הלבנה 

אל יפיפה  

בקרחת היער 

על הלוטוס דרכת 

בלשונך המוזהבת 

אותי ברכת 

סגול התפילה הנלהבת

הוטבל במקדש ארגמן

חשוף ונחשק

נשמתך יוקדת 

עין כחולה צופה

באקסטזה שלך 

מחלחלת

בסבך החורש העתיק

העץ והחי 

עם רוח ונפש, גוף ושכל 

בוא מעל הים 

!יו פאן! יו פאן

שטן או אל 

אליי, אליי 

!שלי! שלי

!האיש שלי! האיש שלי 

בוא עם חצוצרות 

!מעל הגבעה

בוא עם תופים רועמים 

!מהאביב 

! בוא עם חליל ובוא עם מקטרת

?האם אני כבר בשל 

אני, שמחכה רועד ונאבק 

עם נשימה מפרפרת

שלא מוצאת את הדרך 

ליישב את גופי 

עייפה מחיבוק ריק 

חזקה כמו אריה 

חלקה כנחש 

!בואי, בוא 

אני קהה 

מתאוות השטן 

הבודדת 

דחוף את החרב דרך כבלי הברזל 

זולל-כל, בורא כל 

תן לי את אות 

העין הפקוחה 

ואת הסימן שעוררה 

ירך התשוקה

ואת מילת הטירוף והמסתורין 

!הו פאן! יו פאן 

!יו פאן! יו פאן פאן! פאן פאן! פאן 

אני האהבה 

עשה בי כרצונך, כפי שהאל

הגדול יכול

!הו פאן! יו פאן 

!יו פאן! יו פאן פאן

אני מתעורר באחיזת הנחש 

במקור ובטופר הנשרים חותכים 

האלים נסוגים 

החיות הגדולות באות 

!יו פאן 

נולדתי לבוא ולמות על הקרן 

 של חד הקרן

!אני פאן! יו פאן 

!יו פאן פאן! פאן 

אני בן זוגך, אני האחד שלך 

עז מצאנך 

אני זהב 

אני אלוהיך 

בשר לעצמותיך 

פרח למטיך 

עם פרסות פלדה אני מקפץ

על סלעים 

מזריחת השמש  ביום המפנה

ועד ליום השוויון 

ואני משתולל; ואני מיילל ואני קורע 

ואני הנצח, עולם ללא סוף 

אחוז דיבוק מלא בסודות 

אישה, גבר, בעוצמתו של פאן 

!יו פאן! יו פאן פאן! פאן! יו פאן

מוקדש באהבה למאסטר ט’ריון, עשיתי כרצוני

Rap to Pan

Featured

Thrill with lovely lust of the light,

O man! My man!

Come charging out of the night Of Pan!

Io Pan! Io Pan!

Io Pan! Come over the sea

From Shambala and paradise!

Roaming like Bacchus, with his guards

Companion females and males all hard

On a milk-white ass, come over the sea

To me, to me! Come with priestess in bridal dress

(Shepherdess and pythoness)

Come with Artemis, who in wildwood trod,

And wash your white thigh, beautiful god,

In the moon of the woods, on the lotus press,

The golden tongue my jewel to bless!

Dip the purple of passionate prayer

In the crimson shrine, lusty & bare,

Your soul that startles with eyes of blue

As we watch your ecstasy seeping through

The tangled thicket, the ancient grove

Of the living tree that is spirit and soul

And body and brain — come over the sea,

Io Pan! Io Pan!

Devil or god, to me, to me,

My man! my man!

Come with trumpets sounding shrill

Over the hill!

Come with drums low thundering

From the spring!

Come with flute and come with pipe!

Am I not ripe?

I, who wait and tremble and wrestle

With breathe that has no way to settle

My body, weary of empty embrace,

Strong as a lion and smooth as a snake —

Come, O come!

I am numb

With the lonely lust of devildom.

Thrust the sword through iron fetters,

All-devourer, all-begetter;

Give me the sign of the Open Eye,

And the token aroused of horny thigh,

And the word of madness and mystery,

O Pan! Io Pan!

Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan Pan! Pan,

I am one love

Do as you will, as a great god can,

O Pan! Io Pan!

Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! I am awake

In the grip of the snake.

The eagle slashes with beak and claw;

The gods withdraw:

The great beasts come.

Io Pan! I am borne

To come on the horn

Of the Unicorn.

I am Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan!

I am your mate, I am your one,

Goat of your flock, I am gold, I am god,

Flesh to your bone, flower to your rod.

With hoofs of steel, I race on the rocks

Through solstice sunrise to equinox.

And I rave, and I howl and I rip and I rend

Everlasting, world without end,

Maenad, Mystoi, Woman, Man,

In the might of Pan.

Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan!

 

(found after AC)