Trigrammaton

Tinman

Concerning this text:

Is there a direct correlation between the three areas (lines) and the three forces (Tao with the Yin and the Yang)? (ie. is the top line = yang, etc)?
I'm trying to catch onto the Black Brothers and why they concealed their symbol - what the 2 symbols mean, what Crowley means by concealment, etc.
Crowley lists this text as being suitable for increasing one's understanding of one's Will/Liberty (from De Lege Libellum) - Why and How?

I'm just not grasping the Class Aness of the doc either - seems an example of scholarship instead.

Any help with this doc would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jim Eshelman

"1. Is there a direct correlation between the three areas (lines) and the three forces (Tao with the Yin and the Yang)? (ie. is the top line = yang, etc)?"

There's no such position-attribute in Yi Ching as far as a I know (although there are position attributres on a hexagram-by-hexagram basis).

"2. I'm trying to catch onto the Black Brothers and why they concealed their symbol - what the 2 symbols mean, what Crowley means by concealment, etc."

Don't have a copy in front of me and it's been almost 20 years since I memorized this... so I'll skip for now.

"I'm just not grasping the Class Aness of the doc either - seems an example of scholarship instead."
"

Well, that's a function of how it was received, not some judgment of its content. It's not really analytical - and most of its content is from (and about) an area well above the Ruach.

Jim Eshelman

@Tinman said

"2. I'm trying to catch onto the Black Brothers and why they concealed their symbol - what the 2 symbols mean, what Crowley means by concealment, etc."

This morning's posts on this thread reminded me I was going to try to get back to this question for you.

This Book is very deep. Much of it addresses states outside of Ruach consciousness. It doesn't follow usual patterns, and introduces new sets of patterns with which the Western made isn't so readily available. I haven't really spent kuch time with it since 3=8, and probably should review it one of these days from a different p.o.v.

But, even though, on the surface, it isn't the usual sort of Qabalistic document, I think that the wiring of Crowley's brain brought this through in a Qabalistic framework. I've long thought that its 27 verses correspond (at least in close approximation) to the 27 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (22 letters + 5 finals) - strict numeric value of letters from 1 through 900. At the very least, this was a helpful mnemonic when I was memorizing it. Possibly it's no more than that mnemonic. But it's still the easiest framework for me to use in talking about this book.

The 9th verse, corresponding (in the framework I've suggested) to Teth, says, "And the Master of the Temple balancing all things arose; his stature was above the Heaven and below Earth and Hell." I do think important insights are available if understanding this verse as Teth (both in its inherent meaning and in its position on the Tree, its contrast to the Cheth of the prior verse Cancer vs. Leo, etc.).

Your question,then, comes from the 10th verse (Yod?), which reads: "Against him the Brothers of the Left-hand Path,
confusing the symbols. They concealed their horror *; for in truth they were" [symbol of line 17]. Now, "concealment" is a very interesting word when considering Yod (and - just maybe - the idea of "virginity" ion contrast to the volatile life-streaming of Teth was playing around in Crowley's subconsciousness). On its face, of course, the verse simply repeats the doctrine of the Black Brethren from Liber 418.

But Yod itself isn't life-denying. (Hardly! Quite the opposite!) It was the veil in which they hid themselves, "confusing the symbols."

And what is the symbol that they were inherently? Besides being the exact flip ("averse" of the Yod image), it is the 17th image, which (in the model I've suggested) corresponds to Peh: "Yea, and there arose sensualists upon the firmament, as a foul stain of storm upon the sky."

So what you have here is the emergence of the Master expressed in Teth, and those armed againsted him in Peh (but veiling themselves as Yod).

I don't know that I've given you any answers with this, but perhaps I've given you better questions?

"3. Crowley lists this text as being suitable for increasing one's understanding of one's Will/Liberty (from De Lege Libellum) - Why and How?"

I've never bothered to work that out. (Or, rather, too many decades since I worked through it, and then it didn't seem important enough to me to bother to remember it.) So let's work on it again... The full passage, in the chapter on Light, reads, "Yet also the Book Ararita is right worthy in the Work of the Light, as Trigrammaton in that of Will, Cordis Cincti Serpente in the Way of Love, and Liberi in that of Life. All these Books also concern all these Four Gifts, for in the end you will see that every one is inseparable from every other."

I actually think these are jumbled a bit. By listing it with Light, Love, and Life, "Will" here (particularly in this Book) would seem to mean "Liberty," even though it normally would be paired with "Life." I think there might be a misstatement here, an accident in expression.

Now, in this particular book, Crowley gave the following correspondences (which differ from what were used in other settings, but should provide a key to this particular book): "the Wand for Liberty, the Cup for Love, the Sword for Life, the Disk for Light." Combined with the above (if we assumed no misstatement), it would mean the Disk for Ararita, the Cup for Liber LXV, the Sword for Liber VII, and the Wand for Liber Trigrammaton.

This still seems to me a jumble. All of these books help in the development of Will if you memorize them! The act of memorization is itself a training in will, concentration, and more. One could (out of context) observe that Liber 27 is part of the process that admits one to Netzach, but that isn't a generalizable pattern. These four (and Liber L., which was mentioned with them) are the five Holy Books that the A.'.A.'. aspirant works with in 0=0 (LXV), 1=10 (VII), 2=9 (CCXX), 3=8 (XXVII), and 4=7 (Ararita), and that pattern does, somewhat, seem to suggest that he listed them as contributing "what they lead to" [next grade] when their examination is passed.

I'm just thinking out loud here before I get buried in my work day...

Tinman

Interesting modeling the verses to the 27 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (22 letters + 5 finals) - do you finish with the 5 finals in order of numerical value?

If I continue with your line of thought in regards to the Black Brothers:

Verse 9 (Teth): Gives us a picture of a Master of the Temple (a contrasting place to start examining Black Brothers)

"And the Master of the Temple balancing all things arose;
his stature was above the Heaven and below Earth and Hell."

Verse 10 (Yod): Black Brothers hide in this symbol (hinting that it's appearance is deceptive)

"Against him the Brothers of the Left-hand Path,
confusing the symbols. They concealed their horror [in this
symbol]; for in truth they were (Figure from Verse 17)"

Verse 17 (Peh): The true symbol of the Black Brothers (a symbol of Sensualists)

"Yea, and there arose sensualists upon the firmament, as a
foul stain of storm upon the sky."

Verse 18 (Tzaddi?): The exposed, public, symbol of the Black Brothers

"And the Black Brothers raised their heads; yea, they
unveiled themselves without shame or fear."

Why would Tzaddi be associated with the Black Brothers exposing themselves without fear?
What is it about Verse 17 that is different than verse 18 - they both seem to be the "True" symbol of the black brothers, but one maybe is private and one public (esoteric vs exoteric?)?

Without having the time to explore it further, I think there are some interesting nuggets that jump out when I use your model. However, it almost circumvents the other symbol that is present (the yang line, broken yin line and tao dot) which I want to understand better in connection with the text verses.

I'm working from the theory that:

The 3 positions (top, middle, bottom) in the trigram have a significance, and this significance for each position is set.
Each of the characters (the yang line, broken yin line and tao dot) have a significance, and this significance for each characters is set.
The characters and their positions make up the meaning of the symbol.
The symbol and it's meaning corresponds and is expressed in the corresponding verse.

Which leads me to the further theory that:
5. Trigrams which are opposites (have the same characters in opposite positions) have opposite meanings.

This last theory is what lead to questions on the Black Brother symbols since:

Verse 9: Master of Temple
Tao
Yang
Yin

is the opposite of:

Verse 18: Black Brothers raising head
Yin
Yang
Tao

AND

Verse 10: Black Brothers concealed
Tao
Yin
Yang

(yin and yang flipped from the Master of the Temple - which initially I wanted to call Will Under Love instead of Love Under Will - but that didn't make sense to me as the Black Brothers deny Love)

is the opposite of:

Verse 18: Black Brothers true symbol (sensualists)
Yang
Yin
Tao

Which actually leads to another Black Brother question. Are the Black Brothers = Brothers of the Left Hand Path = Sensualists??? Are Black Brothers basically hedonists for their own pleasure, where as Masters of the Temple of hedonists for the Universe's pleasure?

Anyway, thanks again for the thoughts before work - any more, especially taking into account the Tao, Yin, Yang symbols included in this paper, are much appreciated.

Jim Eshelman

@Tinman said

"Interesting modeling the verses to the 27 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (22 letters + 5 finals) - do you finish with the 5 finals in order of numerical value?"

Yes. As I wrote, "strict numeric value of letters from 1 through 900."

"Why would Tzaddi be associated with the Black Brothers exposing themselves without fear?
What is it about Verse 17 that is different than verse 18 - they both seem to be the "True" symbol of the black brothers, but one maybe is private and one public (esoteric vs exoteric?)?"

I read the two verses as continuous, *i.e., *not separate or contrasted but simply the one continuing from the other. They show up, and they don't try to hide, etc.

For the rest, we can continue to speculate or "think out loud." Peh is Mars. Tzaddi is Aries, the day-house of Mars. Mars in the daylight, out in the open? Certainly there is no trouble seeing The Emperor as a reasonable symbol of the bounded, controlling, paternalistic ego staking its claim. (The 18th figure looks to me like an averse pentagram.)

"Which actually leads to another Black Brother question. Are the Black Brothers = Brothers of the Left Hand Path = Sensualists??? Are Black Brothers basically hedonists for their own pleasure, where as Masters of the Temple of hedonists for the Universe's pleasure?"

That wouldn't be the most common characteristic. It isn't a trait of Klingsor, for example. But what does the book mean by "sensualist"? The way this idea would fit the Black Brothers is if "sensualist" referred to the Nephesh isolated from anything deeper, and especially the mortality trying to hold itself immortal.