In the name of the Grand Hierophant (Vau) ABMN:
AB--The force of attraction invoking Isis, gate of Initiation
(Cf. Liber Astarte, Section 32)
M--Mem, Water/Typhon, the Deluge of Apophis
N--Nun, the Self-Slain Ankh-af-na-Khonsu, Osiris in his Glory.
In the name of the Grand Hierophant (Vau) ABMN.
Gestures
I-The Sign of Isis; Matter and Motion
A-The Sign of Apophis; Purification
0-The Sign of Osiris; Transformation
Isis, Apophis, Osiris
IAO
The Rite
(Draw Hexagrams in each of the Quadrants intoning PHRDVRABO)
Closing
Repeat opening.
End with
AMEN
AL II.49: "I am unique & conqueror. I am not of the slaves that perish. Be they damned & dead! Amen. [This is of the 4: there is a fifth who is invisible, & therein am I as a babe in an egg.]"
Notes on the Fire Opal
Consider AB as AVB in light of this essay from Crowley’s Equinox of the Gods: Therein he states that AVB is “…the Secret Magick of Obeah, and of the Sephira Yesod, which is the seat in man of the sexual function by whose Magick he overcomes even Death, and that in more ways than one, ways that are known to none but the loftiest and most upright Initiates, baptized by the Baptism of Wisdom, and communicants at the Eucharist where the Fragment of the Host in the Chalice becomes whole.” He then footnotes this with: “The Chalice is not presented to laymen. Those who understand the reason for this and other details of the Mass, will wonder at the perfection with which the Roman Communion has preserved the form, and lost the substance, of the Supreme Magical Ritual of the True Gnosis.”
Zephyros: The development of ritual systems in the A.'.A.'. program does not include the Signs of L.V.X. And yet they seem implied in Reguli, without there being any place specifically for them. For that matter, Thelema is not about a formula of a dying god. And so the L.V.X. signs themselves need reinterpretation. Have you any thoughts on this?
Runar: Yes, the LVX signs as they stand out now are still of the dying God. Something has to be done, but not overmuch. The formula used is IAO and INRI. The first is the core of the Beast, while the latter is more that dying God complex. There are ways of dying or relating to death within the Rosicrucian mysteries. We have the aim of life eternal and of the spirit so that we must not start to think that death as an initiation has become passé in Thelema just because we know today that Sun shines for the full 24 hours of the day.
The riddle concerns 'cold death' and 'hot death', and the Beast was not to know them, though he did by heart, as he made no confusion about it. O has extracted the dying God complex, and I did the Perdurabo approach. Which means: O stresses the "go directly to death"attitude, while I have stressed the opposite: Do not go to death, but forward towards attraction and which again is the confirmation of human life in its mundane aspects. The problem comes up again in Bhakti Yoga with, the cultivation of Karma and Passion. The old and widely known slogan is Love, Devotion and Surrender. What few know is that this method is one of the most efficient tools of any tradition - by sacrificing: in love, by love, to Love, one will get back what was sacrificed in a purified and sanctified state.
But I have been looking at the Love, Devotion and Surrender formula and think it can lead astray towards the cold death, and the practice may grow dull and just slightly cozy, unless one is able to to use the strategy of Love, Devotion and NO surrender, in order to peak the practice up to new heights where one is overcome by the light. However if one is able to lock oneself up, and not become overcome, then we have got a new failure of a different kind. The Beast was able to write something as bold as "Death is the formula of Humanity" (Moonchild - I dont recall the whole quote) I feel sure that he was then referring to the daily renewal and bath of consciousness, by giving oneself wholly to union in love. As symbolized by #13 and then the name Achad.
Ok - back to LVX. It may be that the signs themselves are perfectly ok, and that the formulas are the problem. And when reading Liber ABA I also see that ACs comments to each of the signs gives a different and purer picture than the INRI explanation It goes:Osiris slain - the crossIsis Mourning- the swastikaTyphon - the tridentOsiris risen - the pentagram.It may be argued that these comments are just the casual remarks upon these sign's appearance, and yes why not? For if this is what we see immediately, then we probably see what's intended. But on the last - AC writes the pentagram and that is not seen from the gesture. The gesture is crossing again. The pentagram is probably a clue to the role of the pentagram as a symbol of Man; and Microcosmos.
The First; the cross; this sign is given in the OTO as well and there the head is tilted. It is presented as the true sign of Osiris slain (afaik) and that may be right, but I believe that this sign has been developed after the GD reign. And where does the GD knowledge derive from? Do you have any idea of the the story of the LVX signs? [Ed. Note: The GD knowledge is a combination of clever research on the part of its three founders. Until then, Frances Barrett was the principal expositor of the Gnosis with Levi before that. But the founders of the GD developed ideas from their Masonic and Rosicrucian connections.]
The First is a cross, yes a Tau. And btw - isnt it peculiar that when Typhon, the death appears then, Osiris is already dead and Isis have mourned ? It could very well be that the LVX signs say something very different. If the formula of the dying God should be true to itself, then this cross should represent the Lifeforce itself. And the Tau does.
When I met with the OTO in 1989, I also met the resigning Master of the former Oasis Yggdrasil; MS. She was as well one of DR's poisoned students, but one thing she said struck me as important and I have remembered it without knowing what for. The swastika of the LVX signs represents the Galactical arms. (Of a spiral galaxy) Have you ever heard anything about this ? [Ed. Note: Though I can't remember which galaxy, yes this is so.]
However the swastika refers to motion, and matter in motion by the number of 4. (As a side note, MS left just after i met her and married in Texas, she later at Wiccan congregations here in Norway, showed herself to be of a more hardcore branch as she shocked most of the liberal and tolerant Pagans by having sex with a 70 yr old dude at campus) A trident is a trident; a fork. And it's usually the fork of Shin. This is the way of OM, and it goes up and down, ascends or descends. O deliberately made the sigil of his camp Nidhug to be the Nun over an upside-down Shin (Death over Fire), but he also knew that it was the fork of Shiva, that when he turned it down, it will act in accordance with the 0 = 2 principle and this is double. In its easy interpretation, its just manifestation, but O was out for the creation of Karma, the qliphotic duality. (He who misseth these runes ...)
However, this just means that the ways of OM are in accordance with the abilities of the fork of the Shin. The gesture itself is in our Tarot found in The High Priestess. She does that gesture which is associated with Typhon. And as she says in the text Pyr GX about her will: "Radiance that does, that goes, that fares furious as in any other mode, anyway." She can hold the trident, because, no way is unfamiliar to her. And what's more, she is familiar with Fire; she catches the All-Fire.
The last of the signs is the one we recognize from Egyptian art. I now see it - the crossing of hands together with head makes up the pentagram. And then I am stuck. I have spendt 8 clueless hours on this letter, but it finally clears a little. Its of course the Emperor. Yes there is more to be said here and I will, but I think I may benefit from any of your comments. If we manage to produce satisfactory rites for the LVX& NOX signs, it may help us in creating a new wave of Thelema.
Concerning the NOX signs, there have not been any formulas connected with this. As you came up with ABMN, the Thelemic Tetragrammaton, I was actually surprised, because I had an instinctive feeling that I knew this word, despite the fact that It was new to me (No I did not mistake it for the 3rd degree word) And I knew that this word wasn't fully understood. The easiest way of understanding it is by BAMN, for there is seen the B, the magician and AMN; the hidden God of Amenta; the underworld. Amons wife was Maut or Mut the vulture goddess.
The B refers to the first path on the left side, leading to the establishment of the pillar of severity, and is therefore a great clue. I also at once understood that the formula of ABO, which has been pointed out to me as important (its the ending of the name Perdurabo, meaning; by naught; in Zero) should made to fit. And I see that fits neatly, AB is repeated and the process of MN is identified as O, which in his name refers to Zero.
Both these formulaes is then read as Pater Zero. Hadit if you like, Nemo anyway - Holy O; as I use to call it. Lets have a look:
A -Vir or Pater, Amoun, Attitude of Pan or Bacchus.
B- Puella, Venus pudica, the sign of chastity,
M- Mulier, Isis in welcome, sign of Babalon.
N- Puer, Khem. Horus and Mentu
Attached shall be two gifs of the square. The addition of the red triangle is after the instruction of RHK, in the text in Divine interview."set my image upon the Steel arch" or how he said it. And it is surrounded by the letters HRU. This setup of the name Perdurabo makes the letters Perro be placed in an arch above the rest. P=> F Ferro =Steel, Iron. It may seem comic today, but this square is assigned to the real Iron Man. Him; that is very durable in naught. OP 418 derives from reading the first and last of the letters and counting the rest. (Opus 418) And this is an Icon of our work. The names of the three kinds of light starts out from the bottom and only Aur passes into the arch. And thereby Heru Ra Ha is formed. The diamond shape is the upright version of the square; this is experienced when using the square to call forth energies. The ordinary square is as averse as the pentagram with apex down.
Zephyros: Here's something...
Perro (as you equate it w/Ferro) then there's Perio! In my commentaries to DOzmt, I put her with the Scarlet (red/mars/iron) Woman...and of course, Woman and house (your drawing) have a certain tie. Runar: Oops - Perio is as male as the scarlet woman is female. It can be said that the shadow side which Perio rules over does usually create female personas, but it doesnt help, Perio is and will be male. Zephyros: Even more interesting as I was trying to make an analogy between the two and the gender situation was at odds...now, things line up more readily with Perio and Perro. And I especially like your quote of Crowley's in the other message received this am: Crowley wrote one Poem entitled Perdurabo, and there; the last sentence is "I am crucified on crag of burning steel." Since Thelema arrived, the Christist sexrole pattern has been broken down and we have got Babalon as a representant of the Free and active woman. Of course the passive male figure have been neglected, but he is there. Just have a look at the surroundings of powerful and loud woman. one is likely to spot male figures that didn't fit well into the Christist view of the Powerful Pater fater. Zephyros: Whimpy men...seems more like the dark side of Thelema...would rather two strong personalities meeting each other heartily. But Perio is a rather peculiar figure.
It seems that I have to elaborate on the intricacy of Perdurabo. First; I think the formula of ABMN does have a terrible ending. Mem and death, I feel sure it will never look well in a Thelemic society. M is the attuning to the mystic horizontal, the plane of water. Melancholy and surrender is found here. Zephyros: Interesting that you talk about mystical horizontal, in a document I am working on for the church, Rick Miller writes: "TGD [Topological Geometdrodynamics, a model of physics involving close relationship of human physiology with Schumann Resonance and other Electro-magnetic low frequencies] views the brain and nervous system as a sensory organ for our extended, electromagnetic selves, which have a length scale at least the size the earth's diameter."Runar: It doesnt surprise me, there must be a physical connection somewhere. I feel sure that extensive work on the OB in the Iged will give new knowledge and understanding of our global nature. But its still too heavy for me to really go on to now. This is also one of the links I see between Thoth the Atlantean text and the Enochian. Zephyros: I of course, look forward to everything that comes out of Iged. And the Thoth/Atlantean text fascinates me on so many levels. Mother's mantra for waking the cells was: OM NAMO BHAGAVATE, which I am comparing to the Thoth/Atlantean equivalent: Zin-Uru.And Mother writes: "I was clearly continuing a phenomenon of consciousness in which I was spreading over the world--spreading PHYSICALLY, that's the curious thing! It'st he sensation OF THE CELLS."Also Mother writes:"[A]ll those who sought Nirmvana did so by giving up their body, whereas our work is th make the body, the material substance capable of melting."
We're talking about evolving into a new phylum (as Casteneda's people would say). And Water, in its very Briatic sense...makes sense to me. And perhaps there is melancholy when considering the ordeals; even the crossing of the Abyss, as per your deceased lover motif. Runar: In the mystical Qabalah of Dion Fortune, I recall she is talking about metabolism in the chapter of Geburah - and thats where these bodily processes sets in. Zephyros: Though that's all interesting to me...yet just so far behind a veil that I haven't even approached. In getting back to ABMN, I see more like this...
AB=Father: AbbaMN=Mother: M[em]-Water or Amniotic Fluid/N[un]-Fish that swims in water or sperm.==========AB=Aleph,Beth=3MN=Mem,Nun=90=9At the point of Tiphareth=6, which Perdurabo is enduring towards.We then have the numbers of the Gnostic Circle.
======
Interestinly enough, I was reading an Astrology magazine today and they were talking about the similarity of the glyphs of Uranus and Pisces. Though they found this similarity rather superficial, the fact that the ruler of Aquarius should have this, might tell us how easy it can be to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it gets to getting too hyper-sensitive to an old-aeonic witch-hunt. I also think this was Ray's mistake, he didn't merely curse old aeonic forces, he came to hate them, which made him a slave of them.
In my set up of ABMN, what were once old-aeonic symbols, have been purged...rehabilitated. And certainly ABMN is a lot newer than ADNI/INRI or AMEN. Rather ABMN seems to work in much the same way as Abrahadabra works when contrasted with Abracadabra.
Runar: And when it eventually ends in death - I find it sure that dying god have found a new place in a Thelemic word. And thats my main argument for connecting it to the NOX formula. Again in accordance with ACs saying that the user of Aub is no Thelemite. Therefore I would be careful connecting this formula with Perdurabo. Crowley wrote one Poem entitled Perdurabo, and there; the last sentence is "I am crucified on crag of burning steel." He is not explicit in saying how voluntarily this goes, but the way goes by fire, and not water.
Zephyros: First problem I see in what you are saying is the connection of Light with Night. The formula of L.V.X. and its signs are specifically of Tiphareth. And unless we do somehow, become evolved beings at some point in the history of our race, this formula will not change. Runar: I have been to Tiphareth, I noticed no Osiris or Isis. Hoor Paar Khraat was the one guide into the Illumination. The formula is changed. Well - Osiris showed up at last, when the samadhi, and extacies of tiphareth became old and weary, and I came ready to approach Geburah, he was the one that followed up the current but including the accentuation of a certain feebleness. Then Set appeared and stung me, in the shape of Osiris, down. Geburah was opened. I shouldnt say this, because I am curious how you will experience Tiphareth yourself. But anyway, you have pointed to a fact that I have neglected. The LVX signs was connected and associated with Tiphareth. But when I go back in my memory, I know there was a mix between different things in the effects of that rite. There was the modesty of Isis, and the soft beauty of the light, but there also was a beginning of something more active and dominant. Something Powerful. Something Aud. Zephyros: Aud, light...LVX, but a Latin word with a Latin enumeration. Yet, note the forward this morning from Lynette on the list, attached, on the nature of the Cross. This explains the direction to affix a Tau on the Probationer's Robe. If you note my article, Gnostic Cycles, I talk about the intensity of certain Aeon/Manifestations of which Pisces/Sagittarius is one...an Aeon/Manifestation of Prophecy (nothing this strong has hit our race since the Deluge). So though the symbols have been corrupted, the technique is correct...just unknown to us since the eclipse of the Roman Church (Anti-Christ) and its Chiro or perverted cross. I today discovered that the added numbers of those two formulas I have come up with are:
103 D Tz G V
314 Sh D Ch B
= 417
Which tells me there is place for an Aleph when joining these two formulaes. And the Fool is Hadit - the crowned. And I added a little illustration on the identity of the geometrical shapes pointed out by Crowley on the 3 first LVX signs. And despite all the romanticism to the contrary and by so many in Thelema, we are still in the Piscean Aeon. Crowley never transcended the formulae of Tiphareth, he only corrected it...not death...transformation. And, "Osiris is a black god"...N.O.X. (if you will). :-) But the light is surrounded by the darkness...the seed kernal remains the same.
Runar: MN is the corresponding ATUs of the phrase "cold death" in Osmans solution, and Osmans solution is so Dying God slogan as it is possible to make it. The formula ABO is not the full name of Perdurabo. It says Ab O = by Zero , In Zero.
Zephyros: I still need to understand O's solution and this cold death/hot death theory. Would you start at the beginning on this? But "by zero" seems an interesting contrast to Ararita in the version of the rite I presented to you...eh?
AL I.45: "The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!"
Runar: The Nox current Aub's work consists in formulating Nothing from the unbound and undefined. The Nox signs task should be to present us a way and a process that will make us Humans to get in conscious contact with this principle so inhuman. The NOX signs themselves tell a clear story, and I dont know if them are so NOX, infernal and terrible as they thought 100 years ago.
Zephyros: No, I wouldn't call them infernal either. They are the Night of Pan, the collection of forms that are brought and perfected in manifestation.
Runar: The two first signs , of the Beast and Venus, has already gone into history by help of Disney - The Beauty and the Beast. These formulate the world in comparison to the two following signs that tells about the Attainment;¨ The Grail, Babalon taking and receiving what's hers, and the outcome in the sign, which by the way in OTO is also used as 2nd degree sign (afaik) This one, I have always associated with Hadit. I feel sure it was presented in the OTO as the typical position of Egyptian Gods. However if we associates it with God and divine outcome in this formula, we do no wrong.
However, I do think that the NOX signs in themselves present a clear formula and that of Cheth; The path Cheth. (And Crowley's text on Cheth is to the point) The Two first signs postulates the reality of Geburah: The Beast as we meet him on the path differs in accordance with Sephira. In Geburah, I learned to know, not his solar phallic side, but the 'black beast of greed, hunger and unquenchable desire.' This would match up with the Venus sign, if this sign really represents Venus in her chaste mode (as AC says) There is a logic behind this picture that I describe; which now must start to look like a couple of dissatisfactions:
The Freedom From; is attained by the work on the Black Pillar by asceticism, while the Freedom To; is attained and practiced by the White pillar. The sign of Babalon is then the passing of Cheth and the last sign refers to the establishment beyond. (I am just trying to understand what the NOX signs say by themselves, and without commentary by words. My plan is to create two independent small rites which can function as openers for works, that focus on the pillars. Little Nox rite before meditation, and ascetic stuff aso.) Zephyros: For me, this is told in the story of the Court Cards (Cf. Book of Thoth) and the psychic processes. The formula I would come up with as directly describing the story in the Nox signs are Shin - for the Beast . ATU of the Aeon. (There is no Atu really depicting the Beast, but the Aeon describes his innate Trinity.
D - venus - The Empress.
C - for Babalon
B - for the clean cut God - the Magician
The Magician will then represent all the passions of the Beast extracted and refined into tools that even can formulate the fundament.
Zephyos: Do you not equate the Devil Atu (Baphomet) with the Beast? Runar: No - I have never done that, despite that AC sometimes did. The Beast I regard as the instinctive man, the animal soul, which contains The Trinity, and The beast lives also in the folds and chains of the devil, but can surpass him. The gnostic mass got the number of this Atu and I believe its because the Mass celebrates the mystery of reproduction, which for left hand Gnostics, ( which AC also sometimes was) is the chains of the Devil that links humanity to Earth. Zephyros: For me the Beast and Baphomet are one in the same. And in my article, Reconsidering the Atus, I call for the renaming of the Devil Atu...Baphomet. The Devil will never be rehabilitated in our Psyche.
Runar: Gematria : 314 => Pi => 3.14 But as a summary: The NOX signs in themselves tell the story of the path of Cheth. It implies the passing of the Abyss from the world to the transcendent foundation, and therefore is very usable as a general formula of Aub, as Aub deals with formulating structures (nothing) from the undefined. I am right now unsure if it was a good idea to try to mix ABMN with the NOX signs, but if any formula and rite works ; then it works.
Zephyros: You seem to have misunderstood me overall...I'm bringing ABMN in with >the L.V.X. Signs.
Runar: Ok - But I was myself also thinking on combining ABMN with NOX signs. Right now the ShDChB formula seems satisfactory.
Zephyros: In the ritual I sent you (attached), ABMN is converted to IAO, then to LVX and even in the opening, IAO is VIAOV...a formula more in name only for Crowley...but I hope, brought to light in 'The Fire Opal'. And of course, note that the N.O.X. signs are the Signs of the Grades of the A.'.A.'.