Philosophical
Astrology consists of the links between philosophy and astrology, from
the mysticism of ancient religions and cultures based in part on
astrology to the mathematics common to both astrology, numerology and
Sacred Geometry, and to the curious aspects of astrological Symbolism which have profound philosophical implications.
The Ha QabalaandTree of Life,
for example, are fundamental to Jewish, Christian, and a host of other
ancient, medieval, and modern mystical traditions and/or mystery
schools. Together with Numerology and the Tarot, Astrology describes and identifies the characteristics of the many pathways between the Sephiroth in the Tree of Life. Everything
from the “dark night of the soul” (usually referred to as the 32nd
path) to all the varied manifestations of processes contained within the
Tree come within the purview of the so-called occult arts. Astrology provides one tool for identifying the meaning of the multiple transformations and transitions of life, all a part of The Fool’s Journey – the latter one of the better examples of a philosophy of living.
Astrology’s connection to the Tree of Lifecan also be seen in such things as the Tree’s column of severity, which is represented by the astrological planets: Uranus, Saturn and Mars. Uranus is revolutionary and sudden change, Saturn, limitation and boundaries, and Mars, aggressiveness and war). Meanwhile the Tree’s column of mercy is composed of Neptune, Jupiter and Venus (illusion and fantasy, benevolence and generosity, love and romance). In
essence, the attributes of the Sephiroth reflect what we know of the
astrology of the applicable planet being assigned to the Tree of Life. Saturn,
for example, is about government, citizen responsibilities, societal
rules, boundaries and limits; while the Sephiroth corresponding to
Saturn – Geburah – is about severity and strength, justice, strife,
loss in pleasure, and earthly trouble. Clearly a good definition of earthly trouble can be found in such government troubles as the IRS, FBI, CIA, DOD, ETC! Other
examples include the Sephiroth, Yesod (foundation), which is amply
personified by Mercury (communications, analysis, thinking, and so
forth).
Astrology shows up elsewhere in the cultural and philosophical traditions of everything from
ancient Egypt – where an astrology very similar to modern day
astrology is carved into the Temple of Denderra – to ancient Babylonia
– where Berossus predicted and wielded an astrology sufficient to grab
anyone’s attention. Astrology was
also a primary tool of Nostradamus (1503-1566 A.D.), who used astrology
as the basis for the timing of his many prophecies (many of which
profoundly affected royalty and influential leaders and whose validity
could thus be determined).
On a yet more fundamental level, astrology is based upon Sacred Geometry, which is in turn based on the Golden Mean (represented by the Greek letter, phi). Philosophy
can be written: phi-lo-sophia – wherein sophia (sophy) is “the study,
wisdom, or knowledge”, lo, “the amazing sight” (as in “lo and behold”),
and phi… just phi. Thus philosophy is “the study, wisdom, or knowledge” of “the amazing sight” of… phi! Sacred Geometry may then be said to connect astrology and philosophy. The latter can be said to be wholly within the purview of Sacred Mathematics, i.e. the universe is based on numbers. This
is not a definition of philosophy that many philosophers would accept,
but this is probably due only to their lack of mathematical acuity.
A philosophy of astrology, per se, is less obvious, but can be described by alluding to what are known as “Sabian Symbols.” These
symbols, according to Dane Rudhyar, “take events from the realm of
the fortuitous, the unprecedented, the unique and the incomprehensible
to the realm of ‘universals’.” “Expressed through symbols, life becomes condensed into a relatively few interrelated units of experience. Each unit is a concentrate of the experiences of millions of people.” Symbols
use “an imagery that is close to the foundations of the natural life –
and these foundations are still very real and active in the immense
majority of human beings.” The
Tree of Life, for example, is replete with symbols, and it is those
symbols which constitute its meaning – even when discussion and mere
words prove to be wholly inadequate.
The history of astrology’s Sabian Symbols is critical to their understanding. It
began in 1925, when Marc Edmund Jones (an astrologer) approached Elsie
Wheeler (a clairvoyant medium, who happened to be crippled by
arthritis). Jones had a novel idea. He
provided a deck of 360 cards, each card representing one degree of the
Zodiacal circle (and identified, for example, as one degree Aries, ten
degrees Scorpio, and so forth). In
Miss Wheeler’s presence, Jones shuffled the deck (and reshuffled many
times during the process), and then began pulling one card at random –
without his or her seeing what the card was. Miss Wheeler responded by describing what she saw. Apparently,
a scene flashed in her inner vision, which she quickly described, and
which Jones made a brief pen notation on the card of what she said. Not
only was the procedure entirely aleatory as far as the normal
consciousness of the two participants was concerned, but the amazing
thing was that the 360 symbols were obtained during a few hours in the
morning, and later in a few hours during the afternoon – at a rate of
roughly one symbol every ninety seconds.
What made the resulting Sabian Symbols
so incredible is that while the two individuals had proceeded at
fantastic speed and had operated purely at random, the result was a
series which, when carefully studied, yielded a definite and complex
internal structure. The entire 360 cards matched with one another in geometrical pattern. Dane
Rudhyar, for example, found that the symbols formed, among other
possibilities, a pentagonal five-step process – much in accord with
Sacred Geometry. Apparently, there was some kind of Consciousness at work. For
the symbols were not only operating at both an existential and
archetypal-structural level, but they could be considered as “phases of a cyclic process rather than as isolated images
– that is, when the possible interpretations are considered in the
light of preceding and following phrases in a characteristic five-fold
sequence, and in terms of wider relationships – any ambiguity usually
disappears.”
Possibly
of all the Sabian Symbols, which might garner your attention, is the
symbol for the North Node (aka the “Dragon’s Head”, and which represents
destiny), taken from the chart of 2012 A. D. (i.e. the end of the Mayan Calendar, and potentially the “end of Time as we know it.”) The symbol for this most incredible of all dates is “An X-Ray Photograph.” Rudhyar interpreted this to mean, “The capacity to acquire a knowledge of the structural factors in all existence.” He goes on to say, “The true philosopher is able to grasp and significantly evaluate what underlies all manifestations of life. His
mind’s eye penetrates through the superficialities of existence and
perceives the framework that gives an at least relatively permanent
‘form’ to all organized systems. Thus
if the structure is weak, deformed by persistent strain, or unbalanced,
the basic causes of outer disturbances and dis-ease can be discovered. This
symbol… provides the conscience of the individual who refuses to obey
his society with a depth-understanding of what is wrong in the
situation he faces. Beyond the
powerful feeling quality of ‘peak experiences’, the mind can understand
the great Principles of which they were the manifestations. This is STRUCTURAL KNOWLEDGE in contrast to existential knowledge.”
Interpreted as the end of time as we know it, implies that there may be much to learn in the ultimate “peak experience” of 2012 A.D., a time when Novelty and the TimeWave go to infinity, and the greatest changes of all human experience abruptly manifest! Similarly,
another date – based on the TimeWave theory – is November 11, 2011
(just over 384 days prior to the perceived ending date of roughly
12-21-2012). The Sabian Symbols (and a brief interpretation from Rudhyar) for this critical “beginning of the end” are:
Sun – “A Woman Draws Away Two Dark Curtains Closing the Entrance to a Sacred Pathway – The revelation to the human consciousness of what lies beyond dualistic knowledge. Plunge ahead into the Unknown”
Moon – “A Peacock Parading on a Terrace of an Old Castle – The personal display of inherited gifts. Consumation.”
Mercury & Venus “A Flag turns into an Eagle; the Eagle into a Chanticleer Saluting the Dawn – The spiritualization and promotion of great symbols of a New Age by minds sensitive to its precursory manifestations. (An Eagle is the first living creature to perceive the rising sun.) Annunciation”
Mars – “In a Portrait, the Significant Features of a Man’s Head Are Artistically Emphasized – The capacity to picture to oneself clearly the salient features and the overall meaning of any life situation.
Jupiter – “The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow – Riches that come from linking the celestial and the earthly nature. Communion” [Jupiter always was the Santa Claus of the Zodiac!]
Saturn – “A Butterfly with a Third Wing on its Left Side – The ability to develop, for inner strengthening, new modes of response to basic life situations. Original Mutation”
Chiron – “In a Crowded Marketplace, Farmers and Middlemen Display a Great Variety of Products – The process of commingling and interchange which at all levels demonstrates the health of a community. (…what is stressed is the coming together, in a final experience of community, of all factors previously experienced.) Commerce”
Uranus – “A Woman Just Risen from the Sea. A Seal Is Embracing Her – Emergence of new forms and of the potentiality of consciousness. Impulse to Be”
Neptune – “A Butterfly Emerging from a Chrysalis – The capacity to utterly transform the character of one’s consciousness by radically altering the structural patterns of everyday living and the types of relationships one enters upon. Metamorphosis”
Pluto – “Ten Logs Lie Under an Archway Leading to Darker Woods – The need to complete any undertaking before seeking entrance to whatever is to be found beyond. Threshold”
The more complete interpretation for Pluto is perhaps worth noting. “Number 10 is a symbol of completion; it symbolizes even more the revelation of a new series of activities just ahead. [i.e. Death and Rebirth] Yet
unless the concluded series is brought to some degree of fulfillment,
nothing truly significant is likely to be accomplished by a restless
reaching out toward the as-yet-unknown. Number 10 is a symbol of germination, but the seed (Number 9) must have matured well. No natural process can be accelerated safely beyond certain limits. It establishes a foundation for what will follow.”
It
rather as if we’ll each have about three weeks (November 11, 2011 to
December 3, 2011) to complete all our stuff, toss off all our baggage,
and prime ourselves for the last 384 days of the TimeWave. Or we can begin to do all that shedding, right about now!
The Sabian Symbols are just one aspect of the philosophy of astrology. Determinism and Free Will also play a major role, as does the basics of how anyone interprets the symbolism of astrology. Pictures
– and astrological charts – convey a thousand words, and perhaps more
than most things, demonstrate the limits of language (or rather, why,
perhaps, language is considered a curse during the time of the Kali Yuga). Symbolism, in fact, conjures understandings and emotions far beyond a written sequence of words.
According to Dane Rudhyar, an astrological “birth chart is a person-centered symbol. That is to say, it carries a ‘message’ – the symbolic formulation of the individual’s dharma [destiny]. It suggests how [the individual] can best actualize the innate potentialities of his or her particular and unique selfhood. It is a symbol, a mandala, or logos, a word of power. Astrology, seen from this point of view, is a language of symbols. It implies a process of unfoldment of an idea of feeling-response.” “…a process of unfoldment, as Carl Jung might have said, of ‘individuation’.”
A person’s experiences “basically repeat themselves [Cycles!], even though [the individual] might respond to them differently at each new encounter.” “There are only a certain number of basic meanings
to be gathered by a human being in his or her lifetime, and that these
meanings can be seen in terms of structural and cyclic sequence.” “An
individual, however, acting as an individual and having succeeded in becoming free from collective patterns,
may break through the circle of limitations and tap into a deeper
source of life and consciousness; this indeed is what true occultism is
about.”
Rudhyar goes on to say, “Man should not seek tensely and self-protectively to avoid or control events. Events do not happen to an individual person; he or she happens to them. An individual meets them, and imparts to them his or her own meaning.” “All truly constructive, creative, or redeeming acts are performed through the individual person by a focalization of the whole universe. This is the ‘transpersonal way’ of which I have spoken for many years.” Astrology is thus, in many ways, transpersonal. It is part of the Creating Reality and Intermingled Realities, in which we all have a part.
Astrology can also be used for the most mundane and trivial purposes. But then again, so can all really useful tools in the hands of men and women with limited intentions.
Introduction)
that Earth is Dry and Cool, with Dryness dominating,
therefore I will begin the discussion of Earth with a more
detailed explanation of its Powers. (It will become apparent
that they have a much broader meaning than implied by the
names “dry” and “cool.”)
Aristotle
explains that the Dry power gives things their shape, their
rigid structure. Thus we may identify the Dry power with
form and say that it is formative, determining and
solid. In a psychological context Dryness is associated with
stubbornness, purpose, dependability, practicality and
authority. Because of its rigidity, the Dry Power is unreceptive,
inflexible, manipulative, commanding, arguing, domineering,
strict, and tends to oppose circumstances. In general, Dryness is
concrete and grounded.
The Warm power, according to Aristotle, separates things
(e.g. by evaporation or distillation), and therefore its opposite,
the Cool power has the effect of uniting them. In essence,
Coolness is mixing, joining, synthetic, and relating; in a
psychological context it is loving, undiscriminating, indecisive,
careless, nurturing, sympathetic, cooperative and creative.
Further, whereas the Warm power is expanding, the Cool power
is contracting, absorbed, and inward-directed; psychologically
it’s associated with concentration and quietude. Because of its
tendency to join together, Coolness is stable, steadfast and
enduring.
Earth represents essentially inert matter (because of the
dominance of Dryness); it is primarily fixed, whereas all the
other Elements have some mobility. Thus Earth corresponds to
the material body of living things, which must be animated by
the other Elements in order to be alive. Also, elemental Earth is
associated with the time from the Autumn Equinox (peak of
Dryness) to the Winter Solstice (peak of Coolness), i.e., our
Autumn, which is primarily Dry (the dominant quality of Earth).
The foregoing analysis shows that Earth is better pictured as
cold, dry ash or as hard crystal than as moist, warm loam. (The
latter image is more suited to the mixture of Water and Earth,
as will be explained when we come to Water.)
Hera the Earth Goddess
Peter Kingsley argues persuasively that Empedocles associated Earth with
Hera. One reason is that Empedocles calls Hera “enlivening”
(pheresbios, literally, “life-bringing”), which was a
traditional epithet of Earth Goddesses (including Gaia and
Demeter). One might expect Earth to be associated with Hades,
but in Greek the Earth (Gaia, Khthôn) is
mythically and grammatically feminine, which makes it more
likely to be associated with Hera. (When we discuss Water we’ll see why Earth isn’t associated with Nêstis, the other
Goddess mentioned by Empedocles.) The later, Stoic theory of
the Elements associates Earth with Hades, but this has little
mythological support, because the Greeks associate Hades with
the alien Underworld, not the familiar Earth. Furthermore, the
Stoic theory is based on a correspondence between Hera and
Air, which seems plausible (Hera is the wife of the Sky God), but
has other problems that we’ll see when we discuss Air. (In contrast, Diônê, sometimes called Zeus’s “first wife,”
is a Sky Goddess; indeed Her name is a feminine form of “Zeus.”)
As discussed above, one of the primary characteristics of
Earth is its stability. Therefore, Hera is the protectress of the
stable family and home, and the family in turn is the stabilizer
of the social order. Furthermore, Hera is a fertility Goddess
since She provides the stable foundation of procreation and of
the survival of the species, which differs from the less
predictable fertility of Aphrodite or Pan.
In this way She is responsible for the fertility of people, but
“enlivening Hera” is also responsible for the fertility of the
earth, and therefore is connected with Gaia, Demeter and other
Earth Mothers. Thus the marriage of Zeus and Hera corresponds
to the union of Heaven and Earth; they unify the opposed
elements Air and Earth. (Zeus and Hera are the Lord and Lady,
which is what Hêrôs and
Hêra mean in Greek.) Hera renews Her
virginity each year by bathing in the spring Kanathos at
Nauplia; so also, the Elemental Square
shows us that Water leads Earth around the (sunwise) cycle
of the seasons.
Plutarch (On Isis and Osiris)
says that Demeter is the same as Isis, who is called the
Recipient, Preserver, Distributor, Material Principle, Gentle
Nurse, All-receptive, Earth and Matter; She is the Seat and Place
of Generation, and Receptive of Every Form of Generation. Thus,
Isis and Osiris are the Preserver and the Creator, like Hera and
Zeus. They correspond to the soil of Egypt (Isis) and the Nile
(Osiris), which makes the land fertile. So also the opposites
Dryness and Moisture are the dominant Powers of the Elements
governed by Hera and Zeus (Earth and Air).
Air and Fire ascend, and Water descends, but Earth is fixed
at the bottom; it is secure, the solid foundation of being.
Therefore the Tarot suit of Pentacles (or Coins) is associated
with Earth, since the ground of stable being is Earth and, more
generally, substance (as in “a man of substance”). (The only
offspring of Hera and Zeus, the Scepter-bearer, were Ares the
Sword-bearer and Hebe the Cup-bearer.) In processes of
emanation, Earth is the material Effect of the Unification (Air) of
the creative Impulse (Fire) with its Object (Water), which is
summarized in four-letter name of Jove: IOUE. This emanation
is represented in the Tarot court cards, in which Earth
corresponds to the Pages (or Princesses).
(This is discussed further in the Pythagorean Tarot,
in the discussions of the suits
and the court cards.)
The contrast between the immobile Earth and the mobile
Elements Water, Air and Fire exhibits a 1+3 structure typical of
many spiritual and divine quaternities. Jung explains that “the
fourth represents an incommensurable other that is needed for
their mutual determination,” which is precisely the role played
by Earth among the Elements.
The special status of Earth is also apparent in the myth of
how the three brothers, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, divided the
world among themselves after They defeated the Titans.
Poseidon rules the sea (Water), Zeus rules the sky (Air), and
Hades rules Tartaros (Fire), but the Earth is held in common
between them. All three recognize the sovereignty of Earth.
Pherecydes the view that Chaos (Khaos) is Watery, deriving it
from kheisthai (to flow). The Primordial Chaos is
considered Watery because it is confused (mixed) and formless
(i.e., Cool and Moist). Similarly, according to the Pythagorean
Alkman (c. 600 BCE), in the beginning there was a “trackless
and featureless” waste of Waters. There is also an Orphic
theogony in which the first deities are Okeanos and Tethys,
corresponding to the Abyss (sweet subterranean water) and
Tiamat (bitter salt sea). Therefore Water (Chaos) precedes
Earth (Gaia), which gives matter its form.
As remarked in the discussion of Earth,
elemental Earth is Cool (connected) and Dry (form imposing).
Thus it is too rigid and inflexible to support life, but can be
given this flexibility by Water. Therefore Primal Mud, the
fertile loam of our Mother, is a combination of dry, crystalline
Earth with moistening Water. This is why Water, which gives to
inanimate Earth the ability to develop, transform and adapt, is
associated with the “vegetative soul” possessed by all living
things. It is also why many cosmogonies begin with Primal
Mud.
According to Pherecydes’ cosmogony,
the living Earth came into being when Zeus and
Khthoniê (She Beneath the Earth) married, and on the
third day of the wedding, the Unveiling
(Anakaluptêria), the craftsman Zeus wove an
elaborate, variegated Robe (pepoikilmenon Pharos),
which He gave to Khthoniê as a gift. It was adorned with
land and sea, with rivers and trees, with mountains and
meadows, with all of Earth and Okeanos, the Primal Ocean, and
with the Mansions of Okeanos. (These are the three great
divisions of the world: Earth, Encircling Ocean, and the Realms
beyond the Rim. Above the three is Heaven and below is the
Underworld; all together they are the Fivefold Cosmos.)
When Khthoniê, Queen of the Underworld, had
wrapped it around Her, She became Gaia, Mother Earth.
Likewise, the Orphic Poems say that the Earth is the Robe of
Persephone, of She Beneath the Earth. The Robe, after it had
been the cover of the sacred marriage bed, was hung upon the
Goddess’s Tree of Life. Thus the mantle of our world surrounds
Khthoniê’s Tree, the Tree of She Beneath the Earth.
As was explained in the Introduction,
Earth is overcome by Water, and so the result of combining
the two is more Watery than Earthy. That is, the Primal Mud is
more like chaotic elemental Water: formless (because Moist)
and confused (because Cool, and therefore mixing).
Nevertheless, the Primal Mud is both Dry and Wet,
corresponding to the elements Earth and Water, and so this
“Prime Matter,” which is the basis of the Great Art, is called the
“Dry Water” by the alchemists.
From this perspective, Water and Earth constitute the “gross
body”; Air and Fire provide the astral and radiant bodies,
respectively. In Empedocles’ terms, Earth and Water are the
body (sôma), Air is the soul
(psychê), and Fire is source of power
(kinêtikê). Alchemically, the body is the
Salt, which is joined by the Quicksilver (etheric body: Air) to the
Sulfur (radiant body: Fire). So also the Stoics say that the (Cool,
synthetic) “feminine” elements Earth and Water constitute
Hulê (Matter or Resource), whereas the (Warm,
analytic) “masculine” elements Air and Fire constitute
Logos (Word or Thought).
Earth and Water are the only tangible (touchable) elements;
Fire and Air are intangible. Since Water and Earth are both
Cool, their tendency is toward greater mixture; this is the
entropy of gross matter. They tend to the cold and dark
through the dissolution of form (because the mixture is
Watery).
The “igneous spirit” (the Heat residing in both Fire and Air)
gives motion to inert matter and makes it active. These
Elements tend to warmth and light through the generation of
energy. Thus Menstruum, the Living Mud, which
combines the Cool feminine elements Earth and Water
(represented by pubic triangles), is animated by
Semen, which combines the Warm masculine
elements Air and Fire (represented by the phallic triangles).
Therefore Warmth and Moisture are the two principles of
generation, which animate the sterile Earth and bring it to life.
In conclusion, Water is the spiritual principle of flexible
union, which permits both dissolution and transformation.
Water provides the Primordial Chaos, which combines with
Earth to yield the Primal Mud from which life is born. Water is
associated with Persephone, the agent of rebirth in the
Underworld, who brings the tears of mourning but also the
Ambrosia of immortality.
Why is this mediation necessary? In “Water,”
I said that Water + Earth constitutes the Primal
Mud, the “gross body,” which is potentially alive,
but not animate. On the other hand, Fire is the
principle of action, the efficient cause of all
motion, but it cannot act directly on Primal Mud
(for they are opposed, Primal Mud being
predominantly Watery). However, Air can mediate
between Fire and Primal Mud, because it has Warmth
(active differentiation) in common with Fire, and
Moisture (flexibility) in common with Water. Thus
Air is the active Spirit, which operates on the
passive structure of Earth and the flexibility of
Water. We may say that Air conveys the Fiery Power
and facilitates its embodiment. In general, as
mediator, Air transmits powers and influences, and
therefore Air is the vehicle of coordination and
communication
(see below, “Air, the
Governor”).
Thus the Stoics attributed to Heraclitus
(6th-5th cent. BCE) the idea that the soul is an
Exhalation or Warm Vaporization
(Anathumiasis) from bodily moisture; as we
might say, the Fiery Soul evokes the Breath Spirit
from the body’s Primal Mud to be the means by which
the two can unite.
So also, as mentioned in “Water,”
Prometheus molded human bodies from Earth and
Water, and gave Heavenly Fire to them. But they
were not complete before Athena breathed Air into
them.
Water,
for Water gives the power of growth and
development to lifeless matter (Earth), and I will
discuss the Mind with Fire;
here our concern is the Spirited Soul and its
vehicle, the aerial or spirit
body.
The Aerial Spirit’s role as a subtle, invisible
governing faculty was recognized in ancient times.
For example, Diogenes of Apollonia says, “It seems
to me that that which has intelligence is what
people call Air (Aêr), and that all
people are steered (kubernasthai) by this,
and that it has power over all things. For the
very thing seems to be a God and to reach
everywhere and to dispose all things and to be in
everything.” (It is significant that the word he
uses for “steered,” kubernasthai, is
related to kubernêtikos, meaning
“skilled in steering or guiding,” which is the
origin of our term cybernetics, referring
to the principles of intelligence and governance in
animals and machines. Air is the Cybernetic
Element.) Diogenes’ statement also suggests that
Air plays a role in the World Soul
(Psukhê tou Pantos) as well as in
individual souls, and that is our next topic.
I have already mentioned
that Anaximenes considers Air to be the First
Principle (Arkhê) of the cosmos; it
is infinite, eternal, ever-moving and divine; he
calls Air the Father of the Gods (which recalls
Zeus’s common title: Father of Gods and Humans).
Anaximenes also says, “Just as our Breath-Soul
(Psukhê), being Air
(Aêr), governs us, so Spirit-Breath
(Pneuma) and Air (Aêr)
encompass the whole cosmos.” This suggests that
the governance of the cosmos is accomplished by the
Spirit-Breath of the World Soul. Indeed, Philemon
says that Air, who is called Zeus, knows everything
done by Gods or mortals, because He is everywhere
at once. So also Empedocles points to the God’s
subtle nature: "He is a Spirit-Mind
(Phrên), holy and ineffable, and
only Spirit-Mind, which darts through the whole
cosmos with its swift thoughts.“ (Note that the
term translated Spirit-Mind, Phrên,
is the singular of Phrenes, Breast.) Here
again we see Air as a medium of communication and
governance, but on the cosmic scale.
However, just as we all breathe the same Air,
and the Air in my breast is continuous with that in
yours, so also the World Soul is continuous with
individual souls (an idea we also find in the
Upanishads, where Brahman, the World Soul
identified with Prâna (Breath), is
identical to Âtman, the individual
Life-breath). As the nervous system integrates the
activities of individual organs to work for the
sake of the organism, so the Air binds our
individual souls into one World Soul. Microcosm
and macrocosm unite.
Philo of Biblos (64-140 CE) translated a
“Phoenician History,” which was supposed to have
been written by Sanchuniathon before the Trojan War
(which is not unlikely) and to be based on Egyptian
scriptures attributed to Thoth. According to this
myth, in the beginning there was a Primal Wind, a
breath of mist and darkness (i.e.
Aêr); also there was
Môt, the muddy chaos of Erebus
(khaos tholeron Erebôdes), that is,
the formless Primal Mud. The Primal Wind
fertilized itself and became Desire
(Pothos, perhaps corresponding to Semitic
Rûah, which means Breath but also
connotes Desire). Further, Môt became the
Cosmic Egg, and the cosmos was born when Desire
opened the Cosmic Egg (as also in the Orphic
cosmogonies), which led to a separation of the
Elements.
According to Eudemus (4th cent. BCE), the
Phoenicians who lived in Sidon also believed that
the universe was born of Air. In the beginning was
Time (Khronos), Desire (Pothos)
and Fog (Omikhlê). Desire and Fog
united, giving birth to Aêr and
Aura (Moving Air).
When discussing alchemy, the first thing you must understand is that in relation to modern chemistry, alchemy is relevant only in terms of history. Moreover, the value of the alchemists philosophical system has nothing to do with the literal interpretation of alchemical operations; but rather the message is hidden behind allegories, symbols and formulas. So the essence of alchemy is not the transformation of metals, but rather the transformation of the self.
Alchemists tell us the story of the matter passing through four main states: nigredo, albedo, citrinitas, rubedo. In nigredo, the matter is full of impurities, “unpolished”, so that in the albedo to be “cleaned” divided into two opposing principles. Citrinitas represent the transmutation of silver into gold, or the stage of “wise old man” – according to Carl.G.Jung‘s analytical psychology. Finally, in the state of rubedo the two opposing principles come together (coniunctio), giving birth to the two-headed eagle (Atahnor logo ), which symbolizes the discovery of the authentic self, the last stage of consciousness.
A similar initiatic journey we can find in tarot, as Oswald Wirth notes, where the story begins with the fool, which in French is called Le Fou, resembling Le Feu (Fire), thus referring to the alchemical process of transforming lead into gold. Perhaps the word game may lead us to the principle always reminded by alchemist Theophrastus noted Ph. Paracelsus, who urges alchemists to pass their theories through the fire, i.e. to test, experiment. Fire also symbolizes the active principle, or libido – described by Jung as the [psychic] energy of the individual. Moreover, if we interpret fire as the potency or the will to transform of the individual, we conclude that the fire that burns in Athanor (the furnace of alchemists) is the necessary will that “burns impurities” – the fuel that turns lead into gold. Moreover, even Gaston Bachelard in “Psychoanalysis of Fire” talks about the Prometheus complex, wich is explained to be: “Oedipus complex in intellectual life“ – so fire is engine that makes us want to know more. Paracelsus said that no operation can be done without this fire.
It is reasonable to consider both alchemy and tarot philosophical systems expressed through allegory, which focuses on the hidden potential in every individual (i.e. nigredo, the fool), which with labor and continuous “polishing” is able to discover his authentic self:
„nigredo is the revelation of the incompleteness of substance, that needs processing to become gold. This is why the matter is crying for the help of a man, which, by knowing and understanding, will save its soul from the netherworld.”
Nigredo also symbolizes the shadow of self, or the self [unconsciously] confronting its shadow. In the state of albedo we become aware of the shadow of the self, and impurities (unnecessary, harmful concepts) are removed. Also, we become aware of the opposite concepts anima and animus, that will be joined togheter in an alchemical process in rubedo : the Sun (gold, male) and the Moon (silver, female) come together; thus this operation is also symbolizing the union of conscious and unconscious – the consciousness in its fullness. In this respect some Gnostics, and some psychoanalysts and historians of religions have concluded that The Great Art means combining masculine (Sulphur) and feminine (Mercury) – a process more or less sexual. Mircea Eliade, great historian of religions noticed:
„European alchemy defines the Great Art as the <secret> to combine the <Masculine> with the <feminine>.”
Another thing that Paracelsus and other alchemists repeated was that to fulfill the alchemic operation, each step needs to be done perfectly, in perfect order. This reminds us that we must be diligent, not to deviate from the path, otherwise we will not obtain the rubedo state. The alchemist is somebody that makes order out of chaos (ordo ab chao), and in a sense, I believe that two-headed eagle symbol is representative of the whole process of acceptance, integration and transformation of the shadow in the entire being. The two-headed eagle is anima and animus fusioned, it’s the man aware of its shadow – unconscious becoming conscious.
Oswald Wirth notes that these ancient mystical symbols and allegories used to be a bridge between the conscious mind, and the collective unconscious. As I mentioned above, nigredo can also symbolize shadow or [collective] unconscious – the source of archetypes and symbols. So the moment we get out of the darkness (nigredo) – that miserable state of ignorance and unawarness -, is the moment we become aware of our shadow, when we distinguish subject from the object in the process of shadow projection.
Anyway, the alchemists have used different formulas to write their “alchemical recipes” to keep the knowledge away from the profane. A thing that was pretty common between alchemists was to associate different metals and different stages of processing (e.g. rotting) with various mythological names, thereby converting an alchemical recipe into a story or a myth – or vice versa. For example, Apollo (Sun) corresponded to gold. Jean Marie Ragon goes further and states that in the Greek myth of Apollo killing the snake Python hides an alchemical process, a meeting between coarse material and the philosophical fire. Moreover, many psychoanalysts (e.g. Jung) were concerned with the interpretation of myths in a rather metaphorical way, believing there are hidden meanings behind metaphors, myths and alchemical works (see C.Jung’s interpretation of the text “Consurgens Aurora“) . I
wanted to mention this because most people are skeptical about alchemy
(I am one of them), but I think that in many cases, the skepticism is
due the literally interpretation of alchemical texts/ myths. And it seems clear that D’Espagnets alchemical recipe that included a red dragon and seven or nine clean eagles that turns into a swan, doesn’t ask us to get a red dragon itself (nor claimed it will turn into a swan). And regarding Count Saint-Germain’s The Most Holy Trinosophia, it would be really foolish to think that that fantastic trip really took place (in the physical world).
A conclusion, and also a review could be that alchemy is a complex philosophical system, well-built, revealed in stages. Behind the seemingly chemical formulas or mythological character, there are beautiful teachings hiding, and the ultimate knowledge is reserved to the one with a sharp mind, escaping from the labyrinths built by alchemists. I think that Mircea Eliade concluded very nice his work “Cosmogony and babylonian alchemy“, reminding us that everyone has the potential to become gold, to transform his flaws and troublesome self (lead) into gold:
„Transmutation of metals, which at one point becomes the basic idea of alchemy, has its justification in the belief that any metal can perfect itself to the ultimate stage of matter, turning into Gold.”
Human
beings have probably probed the cupola of the heavens in search of
meaning since the birth of ego consciousness. This was a time when
celestial and terrestrial events succeeded one another for reasons known
only to the divine autogenerator of the cosmos, when everything deemed
unconscious and inert could speak its mind, when magic was the world
language, and when the fundamental cohesion of all life was an
acknowledged and unspoken fact. Back then everything on the earth below
was thought to mimic and imitate conditions simulated in the Great
Above; the stars, planets, comets and other celestial bodies were the
shining genies whose words and whispers, actions and reactions,
agreements and disputations might incite minor and sometimes large-scale
consequences for the lives of all corporeal inhabitants. Eclipses,
conjunctions, oppositions, depressions, exaltations and other celestial
events worked like knee-jerk reactions, exacting benefic or malefic
influence, facilitating particular conditions, or awakening
transpersonal formative forces which would work through tribal
personalities. This Platonic-flavoured cosmos in which everything was
Aeolian, alive and functioned through a system of meaningful
correspondences entrenched itself deep in the collective psyche of human
beings and has never quite relinquished its hold.
Hence,
it would not be erroneous to suggest that the religious function of the
human psyche first found voice in archaic astrology, a philosophy which
assumes that the systematic, recurring but sometimes volatile
behaviours of the celestial inhabitants mediate over all corporeal
phenomena and their relationship to human life. Of course the mere fact
that exact situations involving the celestial bodies in the heavens are
recapitulated periodically and can be calculated with mathematical
precision can only mean that the qualities, influences and relevant
conditions that these events are inexplicably connected with are
predictable. If, then, the path of the human condition is foreseeable
through this sidereal divination then the oikoumene must, in
fact, have been hewn by a conscious and creative mind that transcribed
general details relating the fate of all its divine, semi-divine and
mortal inhabitants, as well as its own into the plastic and intangible
“ether” somewhere. Here we get a taste of the spiritual and holistic
origins of archaic astrology, which, when broken down anatomically,
consisted of three primary aims: to descry one’s future for a chance at
changing the trajectory of fate (astrology); for meteorological purposes
that included the prediction of weather (meteorology); and the
transcription of stellar cycles and arrangements whose movements would
have been tracked to determine an appropriate time for the inception of
agricultural endeavours (astronomy).
The
Chaldeans or Assyrians introduced tangible markers for the qualitative
and quantitative assessment of the heavens in the second millennium bce.
The star-gods, genies or divinities governed a pre-established and
insurmountable destiny that vacillated between auspicious and
inauspicious conditions brought on by specific stellar arrangements, and
all of life on earth basically swayed or reacted to the configuration
of these heavenly waters. Each was ascribed rulership over a specific
day or month, forcing a dissection of time. The Chaldeans proceeded to
define the band of sidereal space that encompasses the wheel of heaven
and interacts with the ecliptic orbit; the equinoctial markers, embraced
by the zodiacal signs of Aries and Libra, could be found at the
intersection of equator and ecliptic whilst their polar opposites, the
tropical or solstitial markers, were to be found in in Capricorn and
Cancer. The just mentioned zodiacal signs, twelve in all, were
represented zoomorphically, anthropomorphically or as composite
creatures using motifs derived from Babylonian mythology, and contained
an exact conformation of stars known as a constellation. With respect to
each individual “sign”, the stars contained in one constellation
pervaded the sidereal space taken up by the imagined zodiacal image in
the night skies.
Proceeding
along an analogous line of reasoning, the ancient Egyptians developed a
calendrical system by observing the heliacal rising and setting of
individual stars. In this arrangement the year was divided into
thirty-six ten-day periods known as decans, each heralded by the
heliacal rising of a particular star. The star Sothis or Sirius, a
celestial embodiment of the Egyptian goddess Hathor-Isis, stood sentry
over the thirty-six divisions as the inaugurator of the entire year. In
the third century bce,
when knowledge of oriental astrology and its esoteric philosophy of
astral determinism reached Egypt through a Hellenistic dispensation
enabled by Alexander the Great (356-323 bce),
the zodiacal and decanal systems merged and three decans were
incorporated into each zodiacal sign. A few acclaimed esotericists like René Adolphe Schwaller de Lubicz
(1887 – 1961) have argued against a Chaldean importation of astral
determinism into Egypt, claiming that the Egyptians were holistic
thinkers and believed that each part of the human body was under the
mediation of a different star-god or genie that could be invoked to heal
illnesses pertaining to its respective part. Despite its innovative
potential and viability, the theory is disparately related to the
current discussion and will not concern us for the time being.
A
little before Alexander’s conquest the holistic tradition of esoteric
astrology began to differentiate into subcategories. Meteorology became a
distinct branch but it wasn’t until the time of Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630) that the mechanistic natural protoscience known as astronomy
and the animistic qualitative cosmogony of astrology parted company.
The latter matured fully during the second century ce, a period when Claudius Ptolemy (90-168 ce) penned an astrological treatise entitled the Four Books, or Tetrabiblos
in Greek. It was a comprehensive volume of horoscopic astrology, a
subcategory of the divinatory art that seeks to comprehend meaning and
answer questions using a celestial chart or horoscope which captures an
exact moment in time. The work transcribed the qualities of the
astrological signs, the twelve zodiacal constellations on the wheel of
heaven that subsisted through the ages and remain both meaningful and
functional to this very day.
In
entertaining an esoteric interpretation on the zodiac one sees that the
universe is united as One but at the same time coloured by archetypal
forces or elemental blueprints that originate from a mother membrane and
act upon the existing spectrum of variegated consciousness. Of vital
importance is the acknowledgement of the twelve established signs as
functioning symbols; while our ancestors almost certainly imagined
shapes and signs in cupola of the star-studded night, their choice of
animals and figures , real or imagined, are not as random as some might
believe. As unlikely as it seems, the ascribed zoomorphic,
anthropomorphic or composite creatures exhibit qualities that correspond
dynamically to the inherent nature of the group of stars in their
respective corner of the heavens. To give an example the stars of Cancer
are symbolically depicted by the crab; the latter habitual tendency to
seek and never veer far from the comfort of its home, a trait almost
universal amongst all modes of being born under its section of the sky.
While individual stars may belong to a collective archetype in the
manner that a group of human cells belong to one organ and work in
conjunction with one another to achieve a common aim, their unique
positions, magnetism and gravitational force within the astral
configuration permits a degree of freedom from collective law. This is
why the zodiacal band of sidereal space was sometimes depicted in an
active state of unfurling like a parchment of Nile papyrus.
The name given to this precession of imagined figures that comprise real cosmic phenomenon–zoe-diac,
or circle of life–is wholly appropriate given that the general
archetypal patterns or transpersonal influences of being that exist
manifest through all complex life irrespective of time and space and are
deemed to repeat for all eternity like a broken record. The fiery,
restless, urgent and explosive Martian formative force that wishes to
subjugate, to divide and dissect, to compartmentalize, to create, to
own, to dominate and to ascend the evolutionary ladder, for instance, is
indigenous to the fixed stars of Aries. This energy seeps down into
consciousness, sometimes in copious amounts and sometimes in minute
quantities, depending on the trajectory of the sun’s annual circuit and
its conjunction with the stars of the respective constellation. In fact
the nature of the latter’s influence is determined by the conjunction of
the sun with the stars of the head, of the horns, of the hindquarters,
of the forepaws, and so forth. The bold head of the ram is aggression;
the horns raw abundance and virility; his hindquarters signpost stamina
but sometimes a gross overestimation of strength; his forepaws
vulnerability and restlessness. Notwithstanding its waxing and waning
powers, the Arian sign is ubiquitous and indestructible, an inhabitant
of the timeless zone that subjects and bends everything to its will.
This indissoluble will is why all animation is fated to endure an
endless cycle of everlasting repetition…
In
retrospect, the clusters of stars that represent the twelve zodiacal
signs of the macrocosm are like organs of the digestive, circulatory,
respiratory, reproductive, endocrine, and nervous systems of the human
being, the microcosm. They are all associated with different formative,
vital and archetypal energies, just like the various operative and
anatomical systems of the human body are all responsible for the
mediation of different tasks. The passage of the solar orb through the
physical space of each zodiacal cluster ensouls the archaeus or
“ethereal tissue” of its corresponding disposition which in turn
vibrates at the frequency of the physical world and energizes all living
and evolving forms of matter. Naturally, the presence of the qualities
characteristic of the vital force in the end product itself is a
vindication of this hidden transmutational process and a teleological
exponent of tidal interactions between the energetic macrocosm and its
constituent, the receptive microcosm.
The
force working through each zodiacal sign is at its apogee during a
2150-year period in which the stars of its constellation occupy the
vernal point of 21-22 March, a time when the formative forces of Mother
Nature have regenerated enough to infuse life back into our hallowed
planet. This is made possible through slight changes that occur in our
planet’s rotational axis known as axial precession, or precession of the equinoxes.
Those untutored to astronomy would be unfamiliar with this phenomenon,
and so it is quite necessary to engage brief explanation here. Most
people know that the axis of our earth is not vertical but tilted on an
angular radius of 23 degrees 27 arcminutes, an obliquity which generates
seasonal rotation as the solar orb seemingly ascends and descends 23.5
degrees from the equator over the course of the year. During this time
it will cross over the equator twice; these occurrences are called
equinoxes. As the sun rises on the day of an equinox it sluices through
an intersection formed by the celestial equator and the ecliptic. This
is otherwise called the vernal point, which is not fixed but shifts by
about a degree every seventy-two years due to rotational wobble of the
earth’s axis. It takes a period of about 26,000 years (the Platonic
Year) for the axial pole to trace out an imaginary circle around the
ecliptic pole on a radius equivalent to the axis and return to the same
spot. The direction is retrograde to the earth’s daily rotation. Save
for changing the coordinates of stars and constellations which would
otherwise seem fixed into the heavens from the perspective of an
observer, the volatile movement allows the vernal point to inhabit a
zodiacal constellation for a period of about 2160 years before moving
onto another. Hence if the vernal point were in Cancer it would
subsequently moves in an opposite direction to the sun through Gemini,
Taurus, Aries, Pisces, Aquarius, and so forth.
What this phenomenon of axial precession
tells us is that our concept of time is eternal but measurable and
divisible as well. The primary measurers of this human construct are the
twelve constellations, star clusters associated with archetypal
energies that possesses, overwhelm and empower the sentient earth and
all consciousness. From a metaphysical standpoint, the transpersonal
force whose configuration of stars inhabit the vernal equinox achieves
full expression and activation, and will dominate the filtration of
vibrations leaking into the physical zone until the said annual
coordinate passes into another zodiacal sign. Each transpersonal power,
then, rules the vibratory composition of the physical plane for 2160
years, forfeits the position to the adjacent neighbor behind it, and
recaptures this privileged and glorious cosmic position after 26,000
years. Evidence for the validity of what might be described as an
astro-metaphysical phenomenon can be sought in the history of human
consciousness itself.
Taurus, for instance, a sign ruled by Venus and exalted by the moon, inhabited the vernal point between 4380 and 2220 bce.
The aforementioned planetary spheres embody formative forces whose
spirits are wholly feminine, and looking at the state of consciousness
prevenient on our planet at the time automatically vindicates the
paraphysical-physical connection. Anthropological studies reveal a
matriarchal situation in which human consciousness was fundamental
tribal in nature, driven by collective concerns; the individual “souls”
comprising the tribes themselves were imbued by receptivity and
intuition; their minds, on the other hand, were impressionable,
free-thinking, and all-embracing. Their sense of knowing was guided by
raw instinct rather than sense-based rationality and deductive
reasoning. This more tranquil mode of being facilitated an understanding
of the cosmos that has long been under rug swept and forgotten; as the
cause and origin of all life, Nature is the Great Mother Goddess whose
variegated, diverse forms are first-hand evidence of teleology and
meaning, the latter imminent when the relationship of all created forms
to one another is finally contemplated. An earth-based spirituality
works with created Nature, celebrating it through the medium of
unconditional engagement, artistic expression, reenactment, ritual,
transcendence, dance, and anything that might facilitate the impetus of
creation. There can be no greater advocate of this holistic, lunar or
right-brain consciousness than Minoan Crete, a Bronze-Age culture whose
unprecedented artistic and engineering feats were motivated by
everything feminine under the watchful gaze of the omniscient Taurian
eye.
Sadly
the situation was to change rather prominently with Aries, a zodiacal
sign that ruled the heavens and the earth between 2220 and 60bce.
Aries is ruled by Mars and exalted by the Sun, two planetary bodies
which channel a fiery, seedy, and visionary masculine energy of becoming
and differentiation. The energy effected a fundamental change to human
consciousness, now driven by a fully-developed ego that perceives itself
in relation to the Goddess-Self, or God-Self I should say. While in
feminine lunar consciousness the unconscious will was driven by
collective interest, ego-based consciousness shifted the soul’s axis of
rotation to a much more selfish gradient now addressing individual
desires, its self-serving needs and wants. This, in turn, forced a
catastrophic shift in perception of what encompasses the divine, now
understood as the subjugation, ensnarement and destruction of Mother
Nature and its conscious extensions. The impulsive and violent acts
themselves were made possible by the forgery of the Martian metal, iron,
which branded new weaponry including spears, swords, and war chariots,
revolutionized combat, and contributed greatly to the industrialization
of the entire planet. Gone was the earth-base spirituality of respecting
and venerating the bonds of life; the new, scarlet-colored ego of
humanity erroneously sought transcendence through materialistic values
of domination not conducive to the preservation of life. Changes to the
anatomy of the human psyche spurred by the rise of Martian-solar
consciousness generated a worldly domain of dissociated and disparate
empires ruled by sun-worshipping priestcraft and plagued by continual
warfare. In many ways the milieu of the Arian Age resembled a scene from
Dante’s Purgatory: the ancient Egyptians confronted the war-loving
Hittites for territorial expansion into the Near East; the Mycenaeans
burned and looted Cnossos and the Minoan temple-palaces; Homer’s
mythical era unfolded as a nine-year battle between the fated Trojans
and the rage-driven Greek heroes; the Assyrians fought the Babylonians
with their dreaded horse-driven chariots of war; the ancient world fell into the ambitious arms of Alexander the Great, the single greatest warrior in history and
the Romans warred against the barbaric Illyrian-Italic tribes to expand
their empire. These historic events unraveled beneath an omniscient
horde of blood-thirsty sun gods like Apollo, Helios, Mithras, and
Amun-Re.
In
juxtaposing the two zodiacal Ages, the metaphysical reality behind the
mechanistic veil of celestial appearances becomes much more tangible.
The same analysis can be exacted for the Christ consciousness of the
Piscean Age and the forthcoming Aquarian Age. Looking at the cosmos from
this esoteric trajectory goes far in spiritualizing the automaton of
contemporary science, surrendering to the sentient soul of Mother Nature
the dignified worship to which she is wholly entitled, and transforming
the ancient concept of individual and communal fate into a prospective
and endearing philosophy. Perhaps everything is predetermined to a
degree, encrypted in the twinkling hieroglyphs of the fated skies…
The 13 Moon, 28-day calendar is a new standard of time for all people
everywhere who desire a genuinely new world. If the calendar and time
we follow is irregular, artificial and mechanized, so becomes our mind.
As is our mind, so our world becomes, as is our world today: Irregular,
artificial and mechanized. But if the calendar we follow is harmonic and
in tune with natural cycles, so also will our mind become, and so we
may return to a way of life more spiritual and in harmony with nature.
The 13 Moon calendar synchronizes solar and galactic cycles on July 26
correlating with the star Sirius. Each of the 13 moons has a power,
action, and quality which define an annual program to synchronize our
consciousness with the galactic cycles.
As a perfect measure of cosmic time, this calendar is actually a synchronometer,
an instrument for measuring synchronicity. Followed daily, it gives us a
new lens in which to perceive events. In the New Time, synchronicity is
the norm.
The 13 Moon 28-day synchronometer is a harmonic timespace
matrix. It takes the moon 28 days to orbit the Earth; it makes this
orbit 13 times each year. The standard of measure is the 28-day cycle,
called a moon, because it is the median between the 29.5-day synodic
cycle of the moon (new moon to new moon) and the 27.1-day sidereal cycle
of the moon. Hence, it is a measure of Earth’s solar orbit using the
28-day lunar standard. This creates a perfect orbital measure of 13
moons of 28 days, totaling 364 days, or 52 perfect weeks of 7 days each.
Because the 365th day is no day of the moon or week at all, it is known as the “day out of time” – a day to celebrate peace through culture and time is art!
“The Thirteen Moon calendar is an evolutionary tool to assist
humanity in the unprecedented act of uniting itself on one issue
central to its complete well-being: time. The harmonic convergence of
humanity on this one issue, combined with the inescapable order,
perfection and simplicity of following the 13 Moon calendar will lift
the species as a simultaneous whole into the galactic timing frequency
of 13:20.”
José Argüelles/Valum Votan, The Call of Pacal Votan
The coming new era on our planet has everything to do with a change
of timing frequency. The 13 Moon-28-day calendar is a simple tool that
helps us to raise our frequency and gives us a new lens to view both our
day-to-day and planetary events.
Because both the Gregorian and 13 Moon calendars operate with 52
seven-day weeks annually (364 days), the 13 Moon calendar provides a
perfect daily transition tool for hooking back up with the
higher-dimensional order! It is simple to follow day-to-day as it is
marked with the dates of the Gregorian calendar.
The 13 Moon calendar is comprised of elegantly simple cycles.
Namely: The 7-day week and 28-day moon. Unlike the Gregorian calendar,
the days of the moon (month) and the days of the week line up perfectly,
week-to-week and moon-to-moon. This makes the 13 Moon/28-day calendar a
perpetual calendar.
“Here next is the talisman and its ring. They have the property of destroying everything, of commanding the elements, of calling down the thunder, hail, the stars, earthquakes, hurricanes, water spouts on land and sea, and of preserving our friends from all accidents. Here are the words which one must pronounce (the numbers indicate each thing which you wish to operate): first, you pronounce: Ditau, Hurandos; second, Ridas Talimol; third, Atrosis, Narpida; fourth, Uusar, Itar; fifth, Hispen, Tromador; sixth, Parenthes, Histanos.”
Occult Aspects 