The Thelemic Christian
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I was just thinking about this thread last night, when I came across this passage in Confessions... kind of a slightly different vision of the Christ, seen from, a more Chokmah-esque point-of-view
"As an example of actual intellectual illumination, however, I may quote the very impressive identification of the Christ of the gospels with Mercury. This came as a complete surprise, we having till then considered him as an entirely solar symbol connected especially with Dionysus, Mithras and Osiris.
In the beginning was the Word, the Logos, who is Mercury, and is therefore to be identified with Christ. Both are messengers; their birth mysteries are similar; the pranks of their childhood are similar. In the Vision of the Universal Mercury, Hermes is seen descending upon the sea, which refers to Maria. The Crucifixion represents the caduceus; the two thieves, the two serpents; the cliff in the Vision of the Universal Mercury is Golgotha; Maria is simply Maia with the solar R in her womb.
The controversy about Christ between the synoptics and John was really a contention between the priests of Bacchus, Sol and Osiris, also, perhaps, of Adonis and Attis, on the one hand, and those of Hermes on the other, at that period when initiation all over the world found it necessary, owing to the growth of the Roman empire, and the opening up of means of communication, to replace conflicting polytheisms by a synthetic faith. (This is absolutely new to me, this conception
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of Christ as Mercury.) Some difficulty about the ... (This sentence is now quite unintelligible.)
To continue the identification, compare Christ's descent into hell with the function of Hermes as guide of the dead. Also Hermes leading up Eurydice, and Christ raising up Jairus' daughter. Christ is said to have risen on the third day, because it takes three days for the planet Mercury to become visible after separating from the orb of the sun. (It may be noted here that Mercury and Venus are the planets between us and the sun, as if the Mother and the Son were mediators between us and the Father.)
Note Christ as the Healer, and also his own expression, "The son of Man cometh as a thief in the night"; and also this scripture (Matt. XXIV, 27), "For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be."
Note also Christ's relations with the money changers, his frequent parables, and the fact that his first disciple was a publican.
Note also Mercury as the deliverer of Prometheus.
One half of the fish symbol is also common to Christ as Mercury; fish are sacred to Mercury (owing presumably to their quality of movement). (This I did not know before.) Many of Christ's disciples were fishermen and he was always doing miracles in connexion with fish.
Note also Christ as the mediator: "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me", and Mercury as Chokmah through whom alone we can approach Kether.
The caduceus contains a complete symbol of the Gnosis; the winged sun or phallus represents the joy of life on all planes from the lowest to the highest. The Serpents, besides being active and passive, Horus and Osiris, and all their other well-known attributions are those qualities of Eagle and Lion respectively, of which we know but do not speak. It is the symbol which unites the Microcosm and the Macrocosm, the symbol of the Magical Operation which accomplishes this. The caduceus is the universal solvent. It is quite easy to turn quicksilver into gold on the physical plane, and this will soon be done. New life will flow through the world in consequence. The god now lays his caduceus upon my lips for silence; bidding me only remember that on the following night he is to come in another form.
The temple was then closed."
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"I was just thinking about this thread last night, when I came across this passage in Confessions... kind of a slightly different vision of the Christ, seen from, a more Chokmah-esque point-of-view
"This is really interesting train of thought. It helps reorient our thinking about Christianity as the true mystery religion it is, as opposed to it being an oppressive institution of the last Aeon. Purged of limited political motivations it looks very different.
Along these lines I'm thinking about the eschatological myths and predictions associated with Chritianity—the coming conflagration of the earth by fire. It's not much of a stretch to see the Second Coming as initiated slang for a new dispensation, and the references to fire as pointing directly to the nature of Horus as the lord of force and fire...
In this regard, it could make sense to assert that Thelema is in fact a continuation and fulfillment of the Christian current. There were in fact reformation period ideas about the immanent age of the Holy Spirit. Historically, this would line up very neatly with the Equinox of the Gods.
Love and Will
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I just wanted to append a few short thoughts onto my last post having to to do with the amount of fire symbolism in Christianity.
There is a lot of it, and it is almost all about the future—their future, which is now.
The Holy Spirit's primary attribute is fire! Tongues of fire dancing on the heads of the apostles at the Pentecost! Briahtic consciousness? The ambitions of Thelema of bringing this fire to the average man and woman during this age of the child?
Love and Will
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It seems to me that a great deal of ingenuity and energy was expended to show how Christ fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, and then introduced a new law. I don't think I am talking out of my butt when I say that Crowley was consciously aware that he was following the same format by delivering a new law that was intended to replace the old Christian paradigm. What is odd is that no one has gone to the trouble of showing how Thelema has fulfilled all the old prophecies of the Christian theology, after a fashion. This would be a very easy, and I would imagine, entertaining thing to do, imho.
Building this bridge might possibly force a reevaluation of ideas central to Christian thought.
Love and Will
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Well, with Christianity, that happened well after the initial events were alleged to have happened. I think there's still time to engage in that sort of thing, have a council of Nicaea, where everyone agrees to specifics on the dogma of Crowleyanity.
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"Well, with Christianity, that happened well after the initial events were alleged to have happened. I think there's still time to engage in that sort of thing, have a council of Nicaea, where everyone agrees to specifics on the dogma of Crowleyanity. "
Hard to say if this would be a good idea in the long run. In the sort run though, it makes me feel all giggly. Someone should start a website called Christians for Crowley, and stock with lots reinterpretations of beloved Biblical passages. The froth and outrage would be worth the price of admission.
There is no need to point out that this gesture would probably be childish, self-serving, unhelpful, and cruel. What would the mercurial Jesus do? Mercury is the prankster after all.
Love and Will
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@RobertAllen said
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Hard to say if this would be a good idea in the long run. In the sort run though, it makes me feel all giggly. Someone should start a website called Christians for Crowley, and stock with lots reinterpretations of beloved Biblical passages. The froth and outrage would be worth the price of admission.There is no need to point out that this gesture would probably be childish, self-serving, unhelpful, and cruel. What would the mercurial Jesus do? Mercury is the prankster after all.
Love and Will"
Now that sounds fun!
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Unless I've read too casually, I think this thread (and the related one floating around here) has missed the Qabalistic basis of the Christ = Logos = Mercury persepctive:
Mercury is the letter Beth which, spelled as BYTh, is 412.
412, among other things, is the "spelling in full" (adding the values of the full names of the letters) of Yeheshua (Jesus): Yod 20 + Heh 10 + Shin 360 + Vav 12 + Heh 10 = 412.
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I think we missed that one.
How about an additional one? The other Hebrew/Aramaic form of Jesus was Yeshua (same as Joshua).
Yeshua', yod-shin-vav-ayin, 10+300+6+70, 386
Also 386: lashon, lamed-shin-vav-nun, 30+300+6+50 - lashon means language/tongue - pretty fitting for Mercury/Logos!
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cool inspiration alrah, i was just about to turn on holy mountain and call it a night.
93 93/93
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Isn't Binah the feminine counterpart to Chokmah?
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@Alrah said
"Thanks Anistara. Gemini (and thus Mercury) is such a masculine and phallic sign and planet then it's hard to work with the feminine side of it without that leading to any degredation of it's essential qualities. By working with Mercury and the twin aspects of the Ma'at I think we can raise the bar a bit and bring the hidden female twin more into focus."
One interpretation of the the spear thrust into the side of Christ as he hung on the cross is that it is a femininization of the Christ; it also indicates the moment of his death—his obtaining a womb or vagina, which is described as issuing blood and water. I even think there is a myth where this fluid was collected into a cup/grail! The correspondence with the symbolism of the crossing of the abyss and the master of the temple is striking—the giving of every drop of blood; the return to the great mother; death...
Love and Will
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@Alrah said
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"Isn't Binah the feminine counterpart to Chokmah?"Don't the sephiroth exist in unity above the abyss?"
No idea. I was talking (as usual) from a below the abyss POV...
Robert, I believe Crowley somewhere refers to the spear (wand) and grail (cup) as the "Greater Mystery", in contrast to the "Lesser Mystery" of John's severed head (sword) brought in on a platter (disc)
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Lots of Mary's were about the cross. These were Mary Jesus' mother, Mary Magdalene, and Mary—the wife of Clopas. Three, three Mary's! Mary of course means bitter, and is related to mar, the sea. In other words, Binah!
And then he dies and it stuffed into a tomb, another womb!
"...it takes three days for the planet Mercury to become visible after separating from the orb of the sun."
—From a quote from Crowley's Confessions, from an earlier post by AB!
And after three days, pop goes the weasel!
EDIT: last part, after I found the reference to the planet Mercury.
Love and Will
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"Robert, I believe Crowley somewhere refers to the spear (wand) and grail (cup) as the "Greater Mystery", in contrast to the "Lesser Mystery" of John's severed head (sword) brought in on a platter (disc)"
The way you tied in the Elements is really cool
There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.