Sol and the Typhonian mysteries

[parsifal]

Greetings. I'm new to the forum. Peace to all. I thought I would pose a question related to my own recent preoccupations, which have to do with the role of the Sun in Thelema, and by extension, in the Typhonian mysteries and Kenneth Grant's writings. I've been practicing (or attempting to practice) Liber Resh on a daily basis for a couple months now, and I've become struck by how central the solar concept seems to be in Crowley's magical outlook.

It’s popping up everywhere these days. For example, even the cover of my paperback edition of The Book of Lies has the Sun on it, a fact that has been staring me in the face forever, but which I only just recently noticed. The Sun, of course, is identified with Tiphareth, the Sephira at the heart of the Tree of Life, which in turn is associated with the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. In the Bornless Ritual, Crowley’s descriptions for the Barbarous Names are shot through with solar concepts (“O breathing, flowing Sun!”; “Indwelling Sun of Myself”; “Sun-lion Serpent, hail!” etc.). Even Crowley’s most (in)famous moniker, the Beast 666, appears to have solar connotations (he famously quipped during a libel case, when asked about his identification with the number 666, “It means merely sunlight. You may call me Little Sunshine”). In his commentaries on Liber AL, III:22, he states that, in Thelema, there are to be no temples to Nuit or Hadit. “Our religion, therefore, for the people, is the Cult of the Sun.” On a cosmological scale, Hadit could be said to be equivalent with the Sun. And on and on.

So I'm wondering what the Typhonian mysteries, and Kenneth's works, have to say about all this. Any insights from the group would be greatly appreciated.

[Ad Finem]

Apr 22, 2016 23:37:28 GMT parsifal said:

Greetings. I'm new to the forum. Peace to all. I thought I would pose a question related to my own recent preoccupations, which have to do with the role of the Sun in Thelema, and by extension, in the Typhonian mysteries and Kenneth Grant's writings. I've been practicing (or attempting to practice) Liber Resh on a daily basis for a couple months now, and I've become struck by how central the solar concept seems to be in Crowley's magical outlook.

It’s popping up everywhere these days. For example, even the cover of my paperback edition of The Book of Lies has the Sun on it, a fact that has been staring me in the face forever, but which I only just recently noticed. The Sun, of course, is identified with Tiphareth, the Sephira at the heart of the Tree of Life, which in turn is associated with the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. In the Bornless Ritual, Crowley’s descriptions for the Barbarous Names are shot through with solar concepts (“O breathing, flowing Sun!”; “Indwelling Sun of Myself”; “Sun-lion Serpent, hail!” etc.). Even Crowley’s most (in)famous moniker, the Beast 666, appears to have solar connotations (he famously quipped during a libel case, when asked about his identification with the number 666, “It means merely sunlight. You may call me Little Sunshine”). In his commentaries on Liber AL, III:22, he states that, in Thelema, there are to be no temples to Nuit or Hadit. “Our religion, therefore, for the people, is the Cult of the Sun.” On a cosmological scale, Hadit could be said to be equivalent with the Sun. And on and on.

So I'm wondering what the Typhonian mysteries, and Kenneth's works, have to say about all this. Any insights from the group would be greatly appreciated.

Greetings to you parsifal. You bring up a very interesting topic because it is one that is at the heart of the Thyphonian tradition, although a subject that is very well served in KG's Trilogies. When Crowley refers to the sun as, “O breathing, flowing Sun!”; “Indwelling Sun of Myself”; “Sun-lion Serpent, hail!” etc.) he is referring to the Sun behind the Sun, therefore Sirius or Set whose Light is woven or spun by the false weaver The Moon. The result is the Crowned and Conquering Child, Horus, who as the Sun / Son,  bears the Light of his brother Set / Hadit as the Sun behind the /Sun Son. He is the Hidden God, the God who manifests as the Sun / Horus, but whose true origin is Stellar, not Solar. Within the solar system this Star is represented by Venus. 

I would recommend you read Grants trilogies where this topic is covered.

AF 311

[parsifal]

Thank you for your comments, Ad Finem. I will delve into the trilogies as you suggest. Perhaps my focus on the solar concept of late, to the exclusion of all else, has caused me to lose sight of the forest for the trees. I think this is one of the pitfalls of occult practice, at least for me, so I thank you for the collegial nudge. I think Crowley himself warned against us attaching too much meaning (or any meaning, ultimately) to a given result or line of inquiry, perhaps because the material that we are engaging with, ultimately, is the lila, the game of maya, the eternal play. Kenneth recognized this, I think. What lies behind the lila? The Hidden God? The Unmanifest? The Bornless One? Much Typhonian reading lies before me. Peace.

[Gregory Peters]

Apr 22, 2016 23:37:28 GMT parsifal said:

Greetings. I'm new to the forum. Peace to all. I thought I would pose a question related to my own recent preoccupations, which have to do with the role of the Sun in Thelema, and by extension, in the Typhonian mysteries and Kenneth Grant's writings. I've been practicing (or attempting to practice) Liber Resh on a daily basis for a couple months now, and I've become struck by how central the solar concept seems to be in Crowley's magical outlook.

It’s popping up everywhere these days. For example, even the cover of my paperback edition of The Book of Lies has the Sun on it, a fact that has been staring me in the face forever, but which I only just recently noticed. The Sun, of course, is identified with Tiphareth, the Sephira at the heart of the Tree of Life, which in turn is associated with the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. In the Bornless Ritual, Crowley’s descriptions for the Barbarous Names are shot through with solar concepts (“O breathing, flowing Sun!”; “Indwelling Sun of Myself”; “Sun-lion Serpent, hail!” etc.). Even Crowley’s most (in)famous moniker, the Beast 666, appears to have solar connotations (he famously quipped during a libel case, when asked about his identification with the number 666, “It means merely sunlight. You may call me Little Sunshine”). In his commentaries on Liber AL, III:22, he states that, in Thelema, there are to be no temples to Nuit or Hadit. “Our religion, therefore, for the people, is the Cult of the Sun.” On a cosmological scale, Hadit could be said to be equivalent with the Sun. And on and on.

So I'm wondering what the Typhonian mysteries, and Kenneth's works, have to say about all this. Any insights from the group would be greatly appreciated.

I tend to think that the Solar cults, and by extension, the "solar-phallic" aspect of Thelema, is the first phase of the work leading up to the Knowledge and Conversation of the HGA. This after all was what Crowley declared as his true will, to help humanity achieve this Next Step.

As the Typhonian mysteries encompass the Thelemic, there are certainly aspects of this present. For the main, I find that Grant emphasizes post-HGA type work. The emphasis is more cosmic and stellar in this sense, rather than focused on our particular piece of the Solar system, the Typhonian adept works with countless stars, galaxies... the universe. 

[stephen]

Yes, Greetings Parsifal. Actually, Crowley has very little to say about Sirius/Sothis and it cannot be assumed that when he is talking about the "One Star in Sight" he has the specific intention of referring to Sirius.

As regards Liber Resh vel Helios, references to this are embedded in the text of Part Three, Chapter 4 of Hecate's Fountain: "Dark Angel" in which Kenneth Grant discusses solar-phallic consciousness in terms of the Holy Guardian Angel and its Typhonian implications.  This is a highly significant chapter, as I've highlighted elsewhere in these forums. While studying this it might be very useful to keep in mind Liber Resh, point 6:

"Also it is better if in these adorations thou assume the God-form of Whom thou adorest, as if thou didst unite with Him in the adoration of That which is beyond Him."

(My italics added here for emphasis).  Page refs. for Liber Resh are pp.162, 167, 174 in HF, Skoob and pp.163,167,175 in HF, Starfire. Think you should find these useful.

[Gregory Peters]

Apr 28, 2016 15:48:37 GMT stephen said:

Yes, Greetings Parsifal. Actually, Crowley has very little to say about Sirius/Sothis and it cannot be assumed that when he is talking about the "One Star in Sight" he has the specific intention of referring to Sirius.

Crowley in a letter to Jones (Achad) gives a spelling of Aster Argos, which is interesting as the enumeration of 489 is equivalent to Sothis. You are very correct that Crowley does not elaborate much at all on this topic, which leaves much room for interpretation and exploration. Grant in the Magical Revival:

"The one place in Crowley’s writings where he gives the meaning of the initials A.'.A.'. is in his magical record (Cefalu, 1921) where it appears as ASTER ARGOS. This is a corrupt Graeco-Coptic form of Argenteum Astrum (the Silver Star) yet it is the true occult key to the nature of the order, which is not expressed by the correct Latin version of the name. Argos derives from arg or arca, the female generative power symbolized by the moon, the womb-shaped argha used in the mysteries, synonymous with the queen of heaven. Arghya (Sanskrit) is the libation cup; Aster Argos is the lunar or ’silver’ star.

"The lunar component is represented by the eye of Isis, and her star is Sirius, the dog-star (Set). The order of the Silver Star is thus the order of the eye of Set, ’the Son behind the Sun,’ represented astronomically by the star of Isis, which is Sothis (Sirius).

"The constellation of which Sirius was the chief star was once named the Phoenix [this constellation probably corresponded to the complex of stars now known as Cygnus and Aquila]. This was the secret name of Baphomet (Crowley) as the supreme head of the O.T.O. [the Ordo Templi Orientis or Order of the Temple of the East, so called because the east is the place of sunrise. The reference is not, however, to the physical sun, but to the eye of Set, astronomically imaged by Sirius.] He assumed the god-form of this bird (an emblem of the sothic year or cycle) because it reached the meridian (i.e. attained supremacy) at the moment of the rising of Sirius, or Set.

"The Silver Star (A:.A:.) is Sirius. As Hoor-paar-Kraat, whose formula is silence and strength, he is the undying god, beyond our solar system. Horus is the ’son’ of this god and the sun (or father) of our solar system. Horus is thus Hrumachis (son of) the star, Sirius. Sirius, Sothis or Set-An, thus represents the supreme, the eternal light. The star is therefore the key to the present aeon of Horus, for it represents the energy of Satan that will permeate the earth during the present cycle."

[stephen]

Hi Gregory, it looks as though we were both posting at the same time yesterday.  I am familiar with the TMR reference to ASTER ARGOS, although it would be very nice to see Crowley's original discussion in his magical diary, but this is part of the Cefalu diaries that have not been published - despite the long-standing promises of a certain Thelemic organisation.

I'm not familiar with the Crowley letter to Achad and if you are able to give any more context of his mention of ASTER ARGOS in this, I would be very interested.  I have had a long day today, I have to admit, but I can't see how we get 489 for it, using either Greek or Hebrew ?  In Greek ASTER ARGOS is 983 and I can get Sothis in Greek as 489, although in the ancient texts it is spelt with an Omega making it = 1219.  There are some interesting correspondences for 489 mentioned in TNA, probably in the comment to that verse of OKBISh.

There is already a forum topic on SIRIUS in the forums in 'Other' by the way, for those who may not be familiar.

[Gregory Peters]

Apr 29, 2016 15:23:37 GMT stephen said:

Hi Gregory, it looks as though we were both posting at the same time yesterday.  I am familiar with the TMR reference to ASTER ARGOS, although it would be very nice to see Crowley's original discussion in his magical diary, but this is part of the Cefalu diaries that have not been published - despite the long-standing promises of a certain Thelemic organisation.

I'm not familiar with the Crowley letter to Achad and if you are able to give any more context of his mention of ASTER ARGOS in this, I would be very interested.  I have had a long day today, I have to admit, but I can't see how we get 489 for it, using either Greek or Hebrew ?  In Greek ASTER ARGOS is 973 and I can get Sothis in Greek as 489, although in the ancient texts it is spelt with an Omega making it = 1219.  There are some interesting correspondences for 489 mentioned in TNA, probably in the comment to that verse of OKBISh.

There is already a forum topic on SIRIUS in the forums in 'Other' by the way, for those who may not be familiar.

Stephen, I'll have to pull out my notes to get you the correct spelling in Greek, but I believe it gets 489 by using some of the deprecated letters. I will check on them tonight or tomorrow when I get a chance and post an update

[parsifal]

Gregory and Stephen, thank you both for your comments. Stephen, I will have a look at Part Three, Chapter 4 of Hecate's Fountain as you suggest, as I am very interested in learning what Kenneth Grant has to say about Liber Resh, and also about the Typhonian implications of the HGA--the latter, I'm sure, will be fascinating as well as enlightening. Thanks, too, Gregory, for your remarks about the Sun being the focus of the work culminating in the K&C of the HGA, because they induced in me an Ah-Ha! moment of sorts. Of course what you say makes sense, and how could I not have seen it (I've been experiencing a lot of that lately). All one needs to do is look at the Tree of Life to see that Tiphareth is, in essence, half way between heaven and earth. I had an image of laying the tree flat on a table and looking up its length from the point of view of Yesod. Before you is the Sun, shining in the dark of space, blotting out all else with its radiance. But beyond this, unknown to the profane (such as myself), lies Daath, and behind that still lies Kether (attributed to Pluto) . . . and behind Kether? The "transplutonic planet Isis" described by the Grants in their 1955 manifesto for New Isis--ie Nuit, the outer darkness, wherein resides the Hidden God, the initiator, the bringer of light. Maybe I'm stretching it here, but this conception--of looking up the tree, flat, with the Sun blazing before you--sort of illustrates another concept discussed throughout this thread, that of the Sun/Son/Sirius behind the Sun. Please don't hesitate to correct me if any of this is in error. 

[david]

Apr 28, 2016 16:30:58 GMT Gregory Peters said:

Grant in the Magical Revival:

"The Silver Star (A:.A:.) is Sirius. As Hoor-paar-Kraat, whose formula is silence and strength, he is the undying god, beyond our solar system. Horus is the ’son’ of this god and the sun (or father) of our solar system. Horus is thus Hrumachis (son of) the star, Sirius. Sirius, Sothis or Set-An, thus represents the supreme, the eternal light. The star is therefore the key to the present aeon of Horus, for it represents the energy of Satan that will permeate the earth during the present cycle."

And yet with this, or in spite of this, why do most nearly all Thelemites (or Typhonians, or Typhonian Thelemites) still bother to deny they're not Satan-ists (even if they might then dress that up as being "Set-anists" or "Shaitan-ists")? Why be so coy and mealy mouthed about it: for Satan's sake have the courage of your convictions to admit it freely, candidly and shamelessly, just as Kenneth Grant did with his unequivocally equating Aiwass the messenger of Crowley's The Book of the Law and his own Holy Guardian Angel with Shaitan (= Satan) himself.



Here Ken must be commended for his frank honesty in calling a spade a spade and not at all a shovel or similar tool. Is it that everyone's so actually scared of getting on the receiving end of bad publicity and flak from the anti-Illuminati crowd that you'll all continue to engage with sidestepping euphemisms for this profoundly avowedly Anti-Christian focus of concentration (and even though most "Thelemites" hide themselves behind anonymous avatars anyway)?



"Despise also all cowards; professional soldiers who do not fight, but play: all fools despise!" The Book of the Law III, 57

[Gregory Peters]

Aster Argos using Greek isopsephy

ASTER:
alpha     1
*stigma 6
eta        8
rho       100

ARGOS:
alpha     1
rho        100
gamma  3
omicron 70
sigma    200

489

Stigma was an older (deprecated) letter that was a combination of Sigma and Tau. The allusion to Set is not a coincidence!
A nice tie in with Sothis 489.

[Gregory Peters]

Apr 29, 2016 16:33:16 GMT Gregory Peters said:

Apr 29, 2016 15:23:37 GMT stephen said:

I'm not familiar with the Crowley letter to Achad and if you are able to give any more context of his mention of ASTER ARGOS in this, I would be very interested. 

EDIT: Just found an old note. The letter I was remembering is correct in most details, but it was the Latin name Crowley was testing Jones with, not the Greek. I think this particularly Typhonian version of the Greek name might indeed only appear in the Cefalu records.
-----------------

I might be getting this wrong so take with a grain of salt as my hard copies of the relevant material is packed away. From what I remember, this was a series of letters where AC was writing to Achad discussing the 8=3 attainment and he tests Achad, asking him to prove his attainment by giving the name of the order. the letters also discuss the ring that should be worn as an 8=3 and the robe.

It was only in this one letter to Achad where ASTER ARGOS was mentioned. Kenneth Grant and CF Russell both mention this spelling, seeming to indicate they had seen copies of the original note to Achad. The more usual spellings are ASTRON ARGON and of course the Latin phrase Argenteum Astrum. 

[Ad Finem]

Apr 30, 2016 6:25:50 GMT Gregory Peters said:

Aster Argos using Greek isopsephy

ASTER:
alpha     1
*stigma 6
eta        8
rho       100

ARGOS:
alpha     1
rho        100
gamma  3
omicron 70
sigma    200

489

Stigma was an older (deprecated) letter that was a combination of Sigma and Tau. The allusion to Set is not a coincidence!
A nice tie in with Sothis 489.

This number 489 is also interesting because it ties in with the Pole Star Polaris. It's position in the heavens is 89° and it lies on the square 4 which forms the imaginary lines drawn from the ecliptic at the points of Equinox to Equinox and Solstice to Solstice. 

On a more mathematical point 48 x 9 =  2x (6x6x6) 

A.F

[william]

Apr 30, 2016 2:20:32 GMT david said:

Apr 28, 2016 16:30:58 GMT Gregory Peters said:

Grant in the Magical Revival:

"The Silver Star (A:.A:.) is Sirius. As Hoor-paar-Kraat, whose formula is silence and strength, he is the undying god, beyond our solar system. Horus is the ’son’ of this god and the sun (or father) of our solar system. Horus is thus Hrumachis (son of) the star, Sirius. Sirius, Sothis or Set-An, thus represents the supreme, the eternal light. The star is therefore the key to the present aeon of Horus, for it represents the energy of Satan that will permeate the earth during the present cycle."

And yet with this, or in spite of this, why do most nearly all Thelemites (or Typhonians, or Typhonian Thelemites) still bother to deny they're not Satan-ists (even if they might then dress that up as being "Set-anists" or "Shaitan-ists")? Why be so coy and mealy mouthed about it: for Satan's sake have the courage of your convictions to admit it freely, candidly and shamelessly, just as Kenneth Grant did with his unequivocally equating Aiwass the messenger of Crowley's The Book of the Law and his own Holy Guardian Angel with Shaitan (= Satan) himself.



Here Ken must be commended for his frank honesty in calling a spade a spade and not at all a shovel or similar tool. Is it that everyone's so actually scared of getting on the receiving end of bad publicity and flak from the anti-Illuminati crowd that you'll all continue to engage with sidestepping euphemisms for this profoundly avowedly Anti-Christian focus of concentration (and even though most "Thelemites" hide themselves behind anonymous avatars anyway)?



"Despise also all cowards; professional soldiers who do not fight, but play: all fools despise!" The Book of the Law III, 57

It should be obvious that KG was being heavily ironic with this, and that as with a lot of his other stuff there is a "fantasy" element and that his words ought not to be taken at face value.

Also, your use of an implied double negative might be faulty - as in that you really meant to say:

" And yet with this, or in spite of this, why do most nearly all Thelemites (or Typhonians, or Typhonian Thelemites) still bother to deny they're Satan-ists (even if they might then dress that up as being "Set-anists" or "Shaitan-ists")? "

[stephen]

Good Morning Everyone. Yesterday, after trudging around Sheffield, getting on and off of five different buses, then coming round to the library without having had anything to eat, I was not at my sharpest!!  I knew that one of the two values of Aster Argos was 489 when sigma-tau is taken as the digamma = 6, as I would explain it, but just could not get my head around it yesterday.

So we get both Aster Argos = 983 and 489.  983 is something of an unproven number with no enlightening correspondences to date.  489 as has been noted, yields some significant results.  In The Ninth Arch commentary, Kenneth Grant gives Lam-Aiwass, 71 + 418 and ChShBVN MLChMH. a war-engine, (he got that one from me, its my translation using Biblical Hebrew).

While we are on the subject of significant stars, Wormwood Star (Revelation`8, 10-11) is Aster Apsinthos = 1649, and 1155.  Now the difference between the Wormwood Star and the Silver Star, 1155 - 489 = 666.

How to interpret this - is Wormwood Star the Star of the Beast, therefore ?  1155 is the value of hyperephanos, 'arrogant, proud' and pyretos, 'fever' - "and bring fresh fever from the skies;" (AL.III.34) might be a start.  Didn't Cameron Parsons have a thing about both Wormwood Star and the war-engine ?

Ave Satanas !  

[david]

Apr 30, 2016 10:19:40 GMT william said:

Apr 30, 2016 2:20:32 GMT david said:

Here Ken must be commended for his frank honesty in calling a spade a spade and not at all a shovel or similar tool.

It should be obvious that KG was being heavily ironic with this, and that as with a lot of his other stuff there is a "fantasy" element and that his words ought not to be taken at face value.

Also, your use of an implied double negative might be faulty - as in that you really meant to say:

" And yet with this, or in spite of this, why do most nearly all Thelemites (or Typhonians, or Typhonian Thelemites) still bother to deny they're Satan-ists (even if they might then dress that up as being "Set-anists" or "Shaitan-ists")? "

All right then, go ahead, be pedantic and quibble about my use of a double negative if you will but this is just typical of the evasiveness and mealy-mouthedness which I was going on about. Read my post again, carefully, paying attention to all the words - there is no heavy irony going on there.

And I can find plenty of other quotes from Grant - let alone Crowley - to back up this allegiance to "The Devil, Our Lord".   Get your head out of the sand and acknowledge and admit what is really - not fantastically - there. As Aiwass (Shaitan = Satan) says in The Book of the Law speaking as Horus the martial God of War and Vengeance, and whose energy will permeate the earth during the present cycle: "Go on, go on, in my strength, and ye shall not turn back for any ... l am the strength, force, vigour of your arms".

[Gregory Peters]

Apr 30, 2016 10:38:03 GMT stephen said:

Good Morning Everyone. Yesterday, after trudging around Sheffield, getting on and off of five different buses, then coming round to the library without having had anything to eat, I was not at my sharpest!!  I knew that one of the two values of Aster Argos was 489 when sigma-tau is taken as the digamma = 6, as I would explain it, but just could not get my head around it yesterday.

So we get both Aster Argos = 983 and 489.  983 is something of an unproven number with no enlightening correspondences to date.  489 as has been noted, yields some significant results.  In The Ninth Arch commentary, Kenneth Grant gives Lam-Aiwass, 71 + 418 and ChShBVN MLChMH. a war-engine, (he got that one from me, its my translation using Biblical Hebrew).

While we are on the subject of significant stars, Wormwood Star (Revelation`8, 10-11) is Aster Apsinthos = 1649, and 1155.  Now the difference between the Wormwood Star and the Silver Star, 1155 - 489 = 666.

How to interpret this - is Wormwood Star the Star of the Beast, therefore ?  1155 is the value of hyperephanos, 'arrogant, proud' and pyretos, 'fever' - "and bring fresh fever from the skies;" (AL.III.34) might be a start.  Didn't Cameron Parsons have a thing about both Wormwood Star and the war-engine ?

Ave Satanas !  

Thanks Stephen, very interesting correspondences! I was particularly struck by the Lam-Aiwass connection, which certainly does resonate once again with the "Still and Shining Star." As does your discovery of war-engine, which opens the door to an interesting stellar can of worms (or tentacles). Now to add these to my notebook!

[Gregory Peters]

Apr 30, 2016 9:50:32 GMT Ad Finem said:

Apr 30, 2016 6:25:50 GMT Gregory Peters said:

Aster Argos using Greek isopsephy

ASTER:
alpha     1
*stigma 6
eta        8
rho       100

ARGOS:
alpha     1
rho        100
gamma  3
omicron 70
sigma    200

489

Stigma was an older (deprecated) letter that was a combination of Sigma and Tau. The allusion to Set is not a coincidence!
A nice tie in with Sothis 489.

This number 489 is also interesting because it ties in with the Pole Star Polaris. It's position in the heavens is 89° and it lies on the square 4 which forms the imaginary lines drawn from the ecliptic at the points of Equinox to Equinox and Solstice to Solstice. 

On a more mathematical point 48 x 9 =  2x (6x6x6) 

A.F

This is good stuff Ad Finem, adding to my notebook!