Thelemic Pantheon on the Tree
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I have read from various on-line sources the following attributions:
NUIT: identified with AIN SOPH of Qabalistic symbolism.
HADIT: He is identified with Qabalistic AIN.
RA-HOOR-KHUIT: Identified with Qabalstic concept AIN SOPH AUR.
Then again, I see other attributions on this forum list such as Nuit = Binah.
What is the most accepted placing for them, and what is the logic behind their placement? With my very limited knowledge of Kabbalah I would (just from a mental image) think that Nuit would be in the Negative Veils of existence, then Hadit, as the first point=Kether, and then Ra Hoor Kuit as Tiphareth.
Are the placements under debate in the Thelemic world or is it pretty much standard? And if so, what is the "standard?"
I know this would probably be answered with 776 1/2 but I don't have a copy yet.
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There isn't a standard and there is a great deal of flexibility of opinion.
I know 776 1/2 tried to pin these down for specifically theurgic purposes, and gives explanations for each assignment. It's one approach.
Nuit is usually taken as higher than the Supernals - the Zero of Ain &c. - but attributions are contextual. A Nuit-Hadit relationship, for example, could be 0 and 1 (point in the circle, Ain and Kether), or Binah-Chokmah as basic Mom-Dad polarity, or even Malkuth-Kether as the manifest vs. potental polarity of Tao and Yi Ching, etc.
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777 columns XIX and XX cover this fairly well. But, as Fire Giver said, different attributions are useful for different purposes; in the absence of a specific context, there is not definitive "right" set of attributions.
Dan
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Here follows the section from 776.5 from Col. 89-A, "Thelemic Pantheon." Remember, please, that unlike 777 (the purpose of which was to integrate diverse philosophies and belief systems), 776.5 was explicitly for theurgical purposes. Therefore, the goal was specifically to provide a distinctive set of associations which would each uniquely (or, as uniquely as possible) one, and only one, Qabalistic idea. Since there weren't enough names to go around, I focussed on having no repetition within each category of ideas - that is, within the Sephiroth, and separately within the planets, etc. - though there could be duplication across the categories.
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(Copyright 2006, College of Thelema, all rights reserved)
This new column perhaps requires more comment than the others of its kind. Strangely, although The Book of the Law was the basis of all of Aleister Crowley's work in the last four decades of his life, he did not provide a Qabalistic categorization of a distinctly Thelemic pantheon in any of his writings, including the posthumous 777 Revised. Although this present table should be no more controversial than any of the other pantheon tabulations, it will likely touch "close to home" for many who employ this present reference; therefore, additional notes seem warranted.
Except for the main figures of the Greek and Roman systems (and, of course, the Hebrew), all efforts at Qabalistic classification of the deities of a given system require some compromise. The important thing in each situation is to know why one is attributing a particular aspect of a particular god or goddess to a particular Path. The same name could be placed on any of several lines of these tables (see, for example, the Egyptian Isis), depending on which part of the deity's myth is important to a given situation. With the Thelemic pantheon this becomes especially important because there are so few names, only about a dozen (if variant spellings are ignored in the counting) - and these are mostly variations on three primary ideas, the archetypes of the Mother, the Father, and the Child. We, therefore, find ourselves in a situation resembling that of the Christian names in Col. 98, where God and Christ are mostly counted on, under their various specialized titles, to serve every possible situation.
Here is one of the chief practical differences between the magician and the mystic; for the latter continually evolves closer to a unified experience of Divinity, all gods resolving, increasingly, into the idea of one GOD. The magician, on the other hand - even if essentially a monotheist at root - generally wants to have a wide range of names, titles, and aspects of the Divine which he or she will invoke, or commune with, according to the specialized need of the occasion. Thus, Christ the Healer and Christ the Judge become, as it were, separate "gods;" and it is in this way that Christianity has probably always been, and with time has become increasingly, a pantheism in practice, even if still a monotheism in theory. For a Catholic policeman to carry a blessed St. Michael's medallion for protection is ultimately no different than the Qabalistic magician carrying a consecrated talisman of the Archangel Mikhael for a similar purpose.
So it is with Hadit, who appears on at least nine lines of the present table. A somewhat different aspect is intended in each instance.
It should be made clear that the Thelemic representations of deity are not the same as the Egyptian, even when they have similar or identical names. Most of these are entirely new names, and their significance is different for the present Æon than they would have been in ancient Egypt several thousand years ago. Nonetheless, there is often a close analogy that can be drawn.
Below are brief discussions of why most of these names were attributed by us as they were:
THE SEPHIROTH
LINE 0: Nuit, as 0; as the Infinite; etc. Hadit, for related reasons; both Nuit and Hadit are ideas "above" or "beyond" the Tree of Life, even when lesser aspects of their associated ideas may be attributed to lower Paths. Hoor-paar-kraat, as Silence and Rest.
LINE 1: Hadit, as the Point attributed to Kether; see also CCXX, II:23. Heru-Ra-Ha, in Crowley's words, "contains the twin forms of the Lord of the Æon; He is Kether to us in this time and place as being the highest positive conception of which we are capable." Heru-pa-kraath is Harpocrates as Silence; see also CCXX, II:8.
LINE 2: Hadit as Seed, Father, Wisdom, Magus, etc. Chaos is a traditional Name and attribution of Chokmah, the complement and mate of Babalon (Line 3); see also the pentagrammatic attributions implied in Liber Cheth, v. 21. To Mega Therion (666) is listed here not at all as the man Aleister Crowley, but as the archetype with which his life and work were identified and of which he was avatar. Meaning "the Great Beast," and enumerating to 666, To Mega Therion is attributed here as Logos, i.e., as the Supernal solar-phallic consciousness of the entire planet.
LINE 3: Nuit as Mother, and as "Queen of Heaven" (CCXX, I:33). Babalon as Queen of the City of Pyramids, and especially as attributed in The Vision & the Voice and in Liber Cheth, v. 21. The Scarlet Woman (667) is a related idea; this is the Supernal lunar-yonic archetype which is the proper complement of To Mega Therion - not an individual, but an archetypal consciousness which serves as an "officer" of the present Æon for this planet.
LINES 4-6: The Twin-God Heru-Ra-Ha is attributed to Tiphereth, and its dual aspects attributed to Geburah and Chesed: Ra-Hoor-Khuit, the active form, to the martial Geburah, and Hoor-pa-kraat, the passive form, to serene Chesed. Thus, the entire middle triangle of the Tree of Life is represented by the several aspects of this one central idea. Additionally, Therion is attributed to Tiphereth as Sun, Beast, etc.; see also the pentagrammatic attributions implied in Liber Cheth, v. 21. Hrumachis, as the rising Sun, is very much the "redeemer god" and herald of a New Dawn.
LINE 7: Babalon, as Venus, and because of the seven letters of Her Name.
LINE 8: Had as Hod, and also because of the abundant Mercury symbolism ascribed to Him in CCXX, Cap. II, including, "with the just I am eight."
LINE 9: Ra Hoor Khut (= 453). This is the value of Behemoth, the great land-monster of Hebrew mythology, and of nephesh chiah, "breath of wisdom," a term for the Animal Soul in its fullness, including the Creative Will or Chiah. These are viewed as correspondences of Yesod. Compare CCXX, Cap. III, vv. 1 and 2 where the transition is effected from "Ra Hoor Khut" to "Ra-Hoor-Khuit." The addition of the "i" changes the numerical value to 463, a number representative of the entire Middle Pillar of the Tree of Life and to several important ideas related to kundalini. In part, this transition may therefore be seen as the translation of the nephesh chiah (the Behemoth, or "beast" stored in potential at Yesod) into the sushumna, by the addition of ideas related to the letter Yod.
LINE 10: The Virgin Daughter of Babalon, though not given a proper name, is mentioned explicitly in Liber Cheth, v. 21, where the resulting pattern would attribute her to Malkuth. Maat is attributed here explicitly as Hiereus of the present Æon; she is mentioned implicitly in CCXX, III:34.
THE ELEMENTS
LINE 11: Harpocrates as Babe in the Egg. Ra-Hoor-Khuit as the "positive" child (cf. Line 32 bis), and thus as Vav of Tetragrammaton.
LINE 23: Nu is a primitive form of an entire category of god-names attributed to the North and to Water, based on an "N" sound: Noah, Jonah, On, Oannes, John, etc.; cf. Line 31.
LINE 31: Had is a primitive form of an entire category of god-names attributed to the South and to Fire, based on a vocalized "-D" or "-T" sound: Sad, Sat, Set, Satan, Saturn, Hades, Adam, Adonai, etc. Heru-Ra-Ha (as Ra-Hoor-Khut and Hoor-pa-kraat, a Three-in-One God), according to Atu XX.
LINE 32 bis: Hoor-pa-kraat as the "negative" child (cf. Line 11), and thus as the final Heh in Tetragrammaton.
LINE 31 bis: See Atu XX where the Stélé of Revealing ("Stélé 666") is represented.
THE PLANETS
LINE 12: Had as "the Magician and the Exorcist" (CCXX, II:7).
LINE 13: Nuit or Babalon as Priestess of the Silver Star; see Liber 418, 2nd Æthyr, and elsewhere; also, Liber Arcanorum, v. 2, which corresponds to Atu II.
LINE 14: Babalon as Venus. Nuit as love. Also, there appears to be a relationship or correspondence between the three reciprocal paths of the Tree of Life (D, T, P = 93) and the three chapters of The Book of the Law. Thus, to Nuit, as the essence of love and as the goddess of Chapter I, is attributed this first reciprocal path of Daleth.
LINE 21: Hoor-pa-kraat because of the correspondence to Chesed assigned previously. It is otherwise difficult, however, to find a distinctly Jupiterian idea among the Thelemic pantheon, although Jupiterian god-names ideas from the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and other pantheons are often found in the Class A Documents and other primary Thelemic writings.
LINE 27: Ra-Hoor-Khuit as Mars in general; as "direful judgments," CCXX, I:52; and also by the apparent correspondence of this third reciprocal path to CCXX, Cap. III (cf. Line 13 above).
LINE 30: Heru-Ra-Ha as the Sun, and as on Atu XIX.
LINE 32: Had as one of the "-AD" or "-AT" gods (see Line 31): Sad, Sat, Set, Satan, Saturn, etc.; also as the Muladhara chakra, as attributed in A.'.A.'. Meditation SSS and elsewhere, and by the general symbolism of the coiled serpent (CCXX Cap. II, vv. 22 and 26).
THE ZODIAC
LINE 15: Nuit as Atu XVII; also (by the attributions of Liber V and elsewhere), as attributed to the Aquarius quarter.
LINE 16: Ra-Hoor-Khuit or Hoori as Hierophant; see CCXX, I:49, where Hoori is apparently the "secret name" mentioned. Therion (by the attributions of Liber V and elsewhere), as attributed to the Taurus quarter.
LINE 17: Heru-Ra-Ha as Twin-God.
LINE 18: The Scarlet Woman (667) as the archetypal bearer of the Graal, and especially as Cancer, complementing Therion as Leo. (There are also deeper sacramental and other Qabalistic reasons for this attribution which will be apparent to initiates of the 6° of the Temple of Thelema.)
LINE 19: Babalon & Therion (Babalon kai Qhrion), "Babalon and the Beast conjoined, the Secret Savior," as on Atu XI. To Mega Therion may also be attributed here alone as solar-lion-serpent. Hadit as the snake (Teth) mentioned in CCXX, Cap. II, vv. 22 and 26; and (by the attributions of Liber V and elsewhere) corresponding to the Leo quarter; and by the apparent correspondence between this second reciprocal path and Cap. II of Liber Legis (cf. Lines 14 and 27, supra). Ra-Hoor-Khuit as Strength.
LINE 20: Hadit as "axle of the wheel," CCXX, II:7 (Yod literally means "axle"); and by all of the usual Yod symbolism. Heru-pa-kraath as Virgin Innocence, and by relationship to Hadit, CCXX, II:8.
LINE 22: Maat as Justice. (This otherwise Egyptian goddess is included in the present list for reasons indicated under Line 10.)
LINE 24: Hadit, because Scorpio is perhaps intended by the "secret Serpent" in CCXX, II:26; however, the use of the word "secret" (Hebrew SVD) may be a hint that Teth is meant. Babalon by Her general nature, and especially (by the attributions of Liber V and elsewhere) her correspondence to the Scorpio quarter.
LINE 25: As stated previously, distinctly Jupiter-themed attributions are difficult to find in this constellation of deities; however, Hrumachis (the Egyptian Horakhty, or Heru-Khuti) may well be attributed here as a symbol of the phenomena of the Holy Guardian Angel.
LINE 26: Hadit as Set, Saturn, Sod; see Line 31.
LINE 28: Ra-Hoor-Khuit as Lord of the Æon, and for His martial qualities in general. Hrumachis as the Dawning Sun of the New Æon.
LINE 29: In writing 776.5, I wrote for this line, "At the present time, no attribution is proposed for this Path." That blind spot has been corrected. The attribution - characterized as Thelemic because they are mentioned directly in Chapter I of Liber Legis - are Asar (Osiris) and Isa (Jesus).
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Having discussed several correspondences for each path, here is the "Practical Attribution" column - 89-B - slightly amended:
SEPHIROTH
0 - Nuit
1 - Hadit
2 - To Mega Therion (666)
3 - Scarlet Woman (667)
4 - Hoor-pa-kraat
5 - Ra-Hoor-Khuit
6 - Heru-Ra-Ha
7 - Babalon
8 - Hadit
9 - Nuit
10 - Virgin Daughter of BabalonELEMENTS
A (Air) - RA-Hoor-Khuit
M (Water) - Nuit
Sh (Fire) - Hadit
Thb (Earth) - Hoor-pa-kraat
Shb (Spirit) - Aiwass or Heru-Ra-HaPLANETS
B (Mercury) - Hadit
G (Moon) - Nuit
D (Venus) - Babalon
K (Jupiter) - Hoor-pa-kraat
P (Mars) - Ra-Hoor-Khuit
R (Sun) - Heru-Ra-Ha
Th (Saturn) - Scarlet WomanZODIAC
Tz (Aries) - Ra-Hoor-Khuit
V (Taurus) - Hoori
Z (Gemini) - Heru-Ra-Ha
Ch (Cancer) - The Scarlet Woman (667)
T (Leo) - To Mega Therion (666)
Y (Virgo) - Heru-pa-kraath
L (Libra) - Maat
N (Scorpio) Babalon
S (Sagittarius) - Hrumachis
O (Capricorn) - Hadit
H (Aquarius) - Nuit
Q (Pisces) - Asar
