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.
Mystery Cults of Egypt
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Source: Traunecker, Claude., and David Lorton. The Gods of Egypt. Ithaca, N.Y. ; London: Cornell UP, 2001. Print.
Mystery cults in Late Egypt – met in crypts beneath temple of Khonsu- on the cusp of Corpus Hermetica & PGM, it’s practical side. An example of their mysteries – the ten souls of Amun
1. The Sun (right eye)
2. The Moon (left eye)
3. Breath & space
4. Water
5. Fire
6. Humanity (the Royal Ka)
7. Large & Small Cattle
8. Flying Creatures
9. Aquatic creatures
10. Forces of plant growth (the serpent provider of kas)
Some may find the image provokes nervous laughter and is disturbing. This sketch is based on special photographic imaging, of otherwise now invisible images. The intention is that they look something like the image of the androgrynous Nile god:
Unsettling because these are hidden aspects of Egyptian magical-religion, suppressed by previous commentators, the #tantrik #tankhem. An important part of my own research, viz “Egyptian Magick, a spirited guide”. I’ve always been interesting in this theme – the sketch is from the Opet shrine adjoining temple of Khonsu at Karnak. Which can be difficult to visit, I managed to photograph some of it, but the crypt itself is off limits.
I wrote about the theme of initiation in “Isis in India” with the pictures I have. There is also theme of “Sexuality and Religion” in a chapter in the new one “Egyptian Magick” – keep finding more data – so often comes up … one day might have to do a compilation.
But it seems to be intentional, sexuality is key component of images for meditational in the ancient mystery cult. There are lots more. Imagine what those candidates for initiation took from it before entering trance for the night journey?
Since writing this I’ve been in touch with Claude Traunecker and have a copy of his long article on the crypt – together with more photographs to share.
Shu – “The Breath of Life”
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I learn how this is a central concept in the old Egyptian Magical religion – proto Tantra.
There’s a thing called the Shu theology- Atum the creator, but then two children, Shu & Tefnut who do all the life giving stuff – like an ancient Shiva-Shakti. And think prana, the breath in Tantra.
Shu, Tefnut & Amarna religion
“The Shu theology of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, as far as it can be reconstructed from the Coffin Text spells (75-80), distinguished between cosmology and biogony, creator god and life god. Atum was the creator of the world and life according to this theology, but the task of life-giving and developing both fell to his two children Shu and Tefnut. In this capacity Shu received the name Ankh “life” and was called “endless time” , while Tefnut was called Maat “truth /justice/order” and dt “invariable permanence”. Life, truth and time were the energies that perpetuated the world created by Atum. Akhenaten must have known about this theology. It offers the only example of a triad with the structure, 1:2 (father/two children) – so in Amarna, Akhenaten and Nefertiti assume roles of Shu and Tefnut.” #tankhem #prana
Serpents everywhere
The snake charmer/Emil Otto Hoppe
A couple of weeks before Samhain/Day of the Dead, I had an insight.
This year, on our pilgrimage, to visit the ancestors, we going to perform The Headless ritual in the graveyard. I’m not sure where this insight came from, perhaps I was reading again too much Crowley’s stuff again.
When I asked M what does he think about performing The Headless ritual for our day of the dead extravaganza, he said it was a good idea and we should give it a go.
Later on that week, I had another insight – we must sing the headless ritual. When I say sing, I meant singing the power words.
The tune that was stuck in my head was – Schuberts’ Ave Maria…
Now, I can sing, not too bad actually, and when I’m really going for it, I can make some very cool shamanic howling, but I’m certainly not Maria Callas.
We arrived at the old farmhouse on Samhain eve, exhausted from the long drive, neither of us feel like performing any ritual, instead, we end up snoozing in front of the TV.
We agreed to do try the next day on our visit to the cemetery.
After a week or so of practising singing the power words, I felt more than ready.
The next morning, we drove to the cemetery armed with a candle, joss sticks, and a printed version of the Bornless ritual. As soon as we start driving the weather changed from a nice sunny morning into a grey and wet one. As we turned a corner, the most beautiful rainbow appeared and a thought crossed my mind:
The Serpent and the Rainbow
The Serpent and the Rainbow, our two ancient Haitian serpent deities that probably stand at the top of the Haitian Vodou system.
The serpent – Dambala Wedo is the ancient sky father, he is the origin of life and the ancient source of wisdom. His wife, Ayida Wedo is a water serpent with rainbow-coloured scales and her symbol is the rainbow.
The story goes like that – Dambala Wedo gave rain to the world, as the raindrops fell from the sky they formed a rainbow colour. Danbala fell in love with Ayida the rainbow serpent. They married and joined as a double helix of snakes, giving birth to the human race. (from Vodou Visions by Sallie Ann Glassman).
The rainbow reminded me why the Headless ritual would be good for this particular work (part from the urge to sing it). In the second part of the ritual that sometimes comes under the title ‘Assuming of the God form’, you can find a line that says: My name is a heart encircled by a serpent. So the headless ritual has a serpent in it and somehow also felt connected to the energies of this time of the year.
The Orphic egg, not exactly a heart, but you get the idea.
By the time we got to the cemetery, it was very wet and we could sense a tempest was coming which reminded us that Set is a storm deity after all, aka the voice of the storm. So we lit the candle and the incense but again, something about the timing of the ritual didn’t feel right, the weather so bad we got back in the car and raced for home.
I was looking for a picture that will capture the essence of the Headless ritual, and my research led me to a very familiar one that can represent the line – My name is a heart encircled by a serpent, but also connected to the double helix formed by the serpent and the rainbow I mentioned earlier.
The more I think and study the picture and my relationship with the deity in it, the realization of why we didn’t get to perform the headless ritual as planned, was sinking in. In my opinion, preparing for a ritual sometimes is just as good and powerful as the performance itself and by the time of the ritual, sometimes you feel that things are already in motion.
For the best part of about 3 weeks, all I did was explore the ritual in so many ways so I would find the best way to sing it. In that period of time, I read it over and over again and sang the words of power numerous times. By the time we arrived at the specific date planned for it, I felt saturated and full. I didn’t want nor feel the need to do it. This resulted in a very quiet and peaceful space in my head, something like the feeling of when a ritual is completed and we say the famous words
IT IS DONE!
XEPHER!
2 serpents circling up and around the heart
So our friend Baphomet here, got a double helix sort of serpents, possibly symbolizing the rising of the kundalini through the lingam wisdom. Both of the serpents heads point in the direction of the sternum, which is the protector of the heart.
When we prepare for a ritual, to make it successful, we need to put ‘our heart’ into it, some will say we need to put ‘our heart and soul’, but this can be open for discussion. However, by putting ‘our heart’ into the preparations, we are consumed by the ritual, the more we study we become one with it, and we start to initiate certain elements’ energies and powers into motion, while at the time doing so we are probably not aware of it at all. By the time the day arrives, there is nothing more to do.
The Bornless One Ritual
“I summon you, Headless One,
Who created earth and heaven,
Who created night and day,
You who created light and darkness;
You are Unas, the beautiful whom none has ever seen;
You are Iabas;
You are Iapos;
You have distinguished the just from the unjust;
You have made female and male;
You have revealed seed and fruits;
You have made men love each other
And hate each other.”
“I am Moses your prophet to whom you have transmitted your mysteries celebrated by Israel; you have revealed the moist and the dry and all nourishment; hear me.”
“I am the messenger of the beautiful Pharaoh Unas
This is your true name,
which has been transmitted to the prophets of Israel.
Hear me, Hear me,
arbathiaô reibet athelebersêth [ara]
blatha albeu ebenphchi chitasgoê ibaôth iaô
Listen to me and turn away this daimon”
“I call upon you, awesome and invisible god with an empty spirit,
arogogo-robraô
sekhmet
modoriô phalarchaô ooo
Holy Headless One. Deliver us
From the daimon which restrains us,
roubriaô mari ôdam baabnabaôth
ass adônai aphniaô
ithôlêth abrasas
aêôôy;
Mighty Headless One,
Deliver us
From the daimons that restrain.
mararraiô ioêl kotha athorêbalo abraôth,
Deliver us:
aôth abraôth basym isak sabaôth iaô”
“He is lord of the gods;
He is the lord of the inhabited world;
He is the one whom the winds fear;
He is the one who made all things
By the commands of his voice.”
“Lord, King, Master, Helper, save the Soul-Ba (Psyche)
ieou pyr
iou pyr
iaôt
iaêô
ioou
abrasax sabriam
oo yy ey oo yy
adônaie,
Immediately, immediately
Good messenger of the God
anlala lai gaia
apa diachanna choryn”
Assumption of the God form
“I am the headless daimon with my sight in my feet;
[I am] the mighty one [who possesses] the immortal fire;
I am the truth who hates the fact that unjust deeds
are done in the world;
I am the one who makes the lightning flash and the thunder roll;
I am the one whose sweat is the heavy rain, which falls upon the earth that it might be inseminated;
I am the one whose mouth burns completely;
I am the one who begets and destroys;
I am the Favour of the Aion;
My name is a heart encircled by a serpent;
Come forth and follow.”
“Subject to me all daimons,
So that every daimon,
Whether of the heavens
Or the air
Or earthly
Or under the earth
Terrestrial or aquatic,
Might be obedient to me
And every enchantment and scourge
Which is from God.”
Closure:
When you want to finish do so by for example repeating the first part of Tankhem opening and then a “license to depart”:
“I release any spirits entrapped by this working,
May you go in peace to your lovely abodes.
Farewell Headless One,
Lord of the inhabited world,
Farewell Akephalos,
The son of Nuit
Leader of the company of heaven in their diurnal motion,
Senebty, great Bull of Ombos.”
After which pour any remaining offerings such as those of the chalice on earth and clear equipment, extinguish lamps etc .
This version of the Bornless ritual was taken from Egyptian magick by Mogg Morgan
***
Inspired by the work of the 4th head, The Serpent, from Apophis by Michael Kelly.
***
Another interesting view on the serpent, you will find in the YouTube link below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72T2bW8bkfA
MMM
Amduat & the mysteries of the self
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Last night listened to Diana Kreikamp’s presentation on The Amduat: the Great Awakening, for the Magical Woman’s Summer Salon. which is also the title of her book. See link below for recording.
Amduat Salon7 Recording
I learned how this important ancient text brings together two important threads of Egyptian magical religion – the cult of sun god Ra & cult of underworld deity Osiris. At the midnight hour of Sun’s journey, when he makes the transition and begins his regenerations. Here he meets with Osiris, and the two cults merge.
Later, when the existential threat comes in the form of personification of “evil”, the snake Apophis. The still frail sungod needs strong protections, which he gets from Goddess Isis and also her companion, the “Elder Magician” who use their magick to ward off the threats.
Then, as now, different people were supporters of the cults of different deities, all of whom are part of the drama in some way. The ancient Sethians, viewed the “Elder Magician” as an avatar of Seth.
Members of mystery cults identified with these underworld myths, looking for their true selves in the unconscious. Is there really the basis to the idea of an ancient mystery cult of the living, made up of priests and scribes? The archaeological evidence indicates this to be the case.
I also explored this phenomenon as background to “Isis goddess of Egypt & India”
Such ancient mystery cults in temples are mentioned in Great Hymn to Osiris as well as in other places.
“Praise to thee, Osiris! Thou Lord of eternity, king of gods! Those with many names and lordly of being! With mysterious ceremonies in the temples” Great Hymn of Osiris / Hymn of Amenmose
These were the precursors to the famous mystery cults of the classical world, a lively account of one dedicated to Isis & Osiris is found in Apuleius’s novel “The Golden Ass”.
The Lion Goddess serenades Min, the ithyphallic god in the morning
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A hymn for god Amun-Min on the final day of his lunar month. When Repyt, ancient lion goddess of Athribis,
hymns the god from the eastern gateway of her temple, greets him as he rises in the morning in his house on
the eastern side of the river at the “Horizon of Min” (Akhmin)
“May you be satisfied,
May you awaken in peace,
may you be awake,
the lord of the sanctuary,
who with great power of destruction against his enemies … now rise in peace
“May you be content,
may you awaken in peace,
awaken,
You who gives life to your father Osiris,
awaken in peace, wake up and be content.
“May you be satisfied,
may you awaken in peace,
awaken,
Awake leader awaken
The great Horus in Akhmin,
the nemesis for those who will suffer at your hand,
You who now sleep in peace.
“May you be content,
may you awaken in peace,
awaken with transfigured body
But awaken in peace.
May you be happy,
Your majesty awakened,
the living one who gives the air
to the one whose throat is constricted.
Awaken in peace,
To keep the one who is within him/her healthy, and in peace.
“May you be satisfied,
May you awaken in peace,
may you be awake,
lord of the sanctuary,
one with great power of destruction against his enemies .. . now rise in peace
“You who loves the beautiful day,
for whose soul the gods are in peace.
in whose hand is life and death, rise in peace.
Victories for you over all the of the rulers of the nine bows,
to you the gods bow, in peace.
You are called Lord by the kings of upper and lower Egypt,
the Lords of the two lands,
the chosen ones of ptah,
who moved by the image of Min-Re,
The sun god
And by Horus, the Lord of letopolis,
And all their names,
You are their truth
I offer you Myrrh and wine,
and all good things,
treating you like a king.
I see your morning glory
As on the first golden day
when our souls were united,
And we are are transfigured at the gate
forever, as gods
This land shall flame and glow …
You shall be the satisfied as one who is in the seat of the Bastet,
Where those of earth also sit,
Man, woman,
Enjoying the fiery warmth of Sekhmet,
the mistress of heaven …
The one whose cheeks glow red at a feast,
As she eats raw meat
To whom the gods pray when they see it,
Because the gateways are open
The heart melted by the mistress of the flame
Rejoice, for the mistress, clothed in red linen,
Loves her lover
Our destiny
Composed, based on translated fragments by Mogg Morgan for Diti
Typhonian – what does it mean?
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What is a Typhonian? A new magical tradition also a spiritual path but one with ancient antecedents. In this sense like Babalon, Baphomet, & Babi.
Typhon is name of ancient Greek evil supernatural entity used by them as an overlay onto Egyptian Seth. They didn’t have that much in common though at that moment at end of pharaonic culture they obviously thought they did.
The Egyptian scribe-magicians recorded the name Typhon in their spells alongside that of Seth whilst at same time indicating in code that Seth was the real name with power.
The move associated many attributes of Typhon, who is almost wholly negative with Egyptian Seth, who does or did have many positive roles as “Lord of power & might”.
His is an all seeing, powerful eye that makes him the only deity who can stare Apophis, the personification of chaos & destruction, in the eye & not be paralyzed by its evil void.
In the 20th century neopagan revival the ancient cult of Seth began to reemerge in the magical discourse but under the Greek name Typhon. Not too obvious in Crowley but his disciples, such as Kenneth Grant, thought they perceived his presence as a hidden god, which seems appropriate.
The revivalists also influenced by inspired but flawed interpretations of Egyptian culture from Victorian theosophical authors such as Gerald Massey who relied heavily on Greek pov – Egyptological material on these myths being less widely known at that time…
So, apart from historical stuff what does a post modern Typhonian actually believe or do – & how does Apophis fit into the picture? Is he or she yet another name for Seth?
“Be not unaware of me oh Seth, if you know me, I shall know you” is the ancient spell, his aloof secretive nature who knows not just what he knows but secret identities of all others.
Seth, being a monstrous soul, is the most psychologically important of the ancient ones, certainly those that have a name. His companions look like demons, but ultimately these are more useful to us than the angels, approached wisely that is.
Typhonian magick, purports to go beyond conventional morality and the politically correct, and this is reflected in the “demonic” systems with which it is often associated. The Picatrix would probably be a typical typhonian text but there again, as its Arabic title alerts us, beneath all this is the “Goal of the Wise” – an individual gnostic quest for wisdom, knowledge, self mastery, for which one must sometimes descend into hell, or the underworld, the territory of Seth.
So a Typhonian is one who descends into void, or into hell if you like, who explores the weirder byways of magick and enters the dark and the nightside, not just for the hell of it but on the firm conviction that there, and perhaps only there, will they encounter the knowledge, inspiration and love, they and their world needs. (Mogg Morgan)
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