13 August (Spirit) Liber LXV, 5:5-6
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5. Now is the Pillar established in the Void; now is Asi fulfilled of Asar; now is Hoor let down into the Animal Soul of Things like a fiery star that falleth upon the darkness of the earth.
6. Through the midnight thou art dropt, O my child, my conqueror, my sword-girt captain, O Hoor! and they shall find thee as a black gnarl'd glittering stone, and they shall worship thee. -
The Pillar, when I look up the definition, is a strong structure of support and is just now established in the Void, which by definition, was empty before. So what happened? Asi and Asar confused me even though the terms are in previous verses of the text. Looking in the commentary Asi is Isis and Asar is Osirus. This is the imagery of the old Aeon and in their coupling produces the Child Hoor. The Child is “let down”, there is still something pulling the strings, into the Animal Soul and darkness of earth. Of course, a God would seem like a fiery star, but from the Book of the Law’s chapter 3 it is even more obvious why Hoor would be like a fiery star compared to the darkness of Earth.
In verse 6 there are more references to darkness, the Earth, the North, midnight, “black gnarl’d glittering stone”, that becomes the object of worship. The commentary states that Hoor is now dropt into Assiah, Nephesh, of the earth and humanity. The conqueror and sword-girt captain lives here with us and maybe taking a look around at our recent history and our present times we can see those effects.
The verses are a bit confusing to me and I question if Hoor is in Assiah, then where were Asi and Asar abiding previously? Possibly, this means that as humanity evolves the Gods are more at a grasp since our collective selves have more established faculties, such as the Ruach, than in the past. This being so, it may be fit that as humanity ascends (evolves) the Gods also descend (and possibly seem to devolve). The symbol of the downward facing red triangle and the upward facing blue triangle conjoined comes to mind as the symbol of this (which is opposite of the old symbol.) In light of this the text seems to also forshadow the Gnostic Mass a bit.
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3. Yea, cried the Holy One, and from Thy spark will I the Lord kindle a great light; I will burn through the great city in the old and desolate land; I will cleanse it from its great impurity.
4. And thou, O prophet, shalt see these things, and thou shalt heed them not.Classic work of the sword—destruction and sweeping away of the infirm, the outdated, the false...
This is what the Ruach does, better than anything else, it cuts things up until you are only left with discreet facts that refuse to add up. And this will be as a fire from heaven. In the service of the lord it will prepare what is to come by creating a situation—openness and receptivity to this new thing:5. Now is the Pillar established in the Void; now is Asi fulfilled of Asar; now is Hoor let down into the Animal Soul of Things like a fiery star that falleth upon the darkness of the earth.
6. Through the midnight thou art dropt, O my child, my conqueror, my sword-girt captain, O Hoor! and they shall find thee as a black gnarl'd glittering stone, and they shall worship thee.-
Now the middle pillar is active from the height to the lowest lump of clay. Nature is pregnant with the child of Osiris, the immortal principal that celebrates it's immortality by dying, transmitting that immortal spark to the womb of nature where it will spring forth in its season. This is both a physical incarnation and an awakening—light flooding the earth.
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Here is a new paradigm—a perception of the indwelling spirit of the crown, even in the darkest hour.
It's an old theme—the new savior destroys death. The black stone in its gnarl'dness recalls Capricorn, or Life! The inhabitants of the earth, meaning I/myself, will see further into the soul of nature, and there perceive Ra Hoor Khuit, the dark half of bright Hoor.
In the trench about the castle, the babe has it's back to me. It is facing in, towards the foundations; and the rising waters, it drink them eagerly, making the child strong and hale. Who knows what will happen to the world outside, I certainly don't know. Rather, I see this text more as describing the process of my own initiation. And should the work be in the world, like the prophet, I **shalt heed them not. **
Love and Will
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5. Now is the Pillar established in the Void; now is Asi fulfilled of Asar; now is Hoor let down into the Animal Soul of Things like a fiery star that falleth upon the darkness of the earth.
On the one hand, I agree with Robert's attribution of the Pillar in the Void to the Middle Pillar of the TOL, especially insomuch as it spans the Abyss, joining the lower part of the Tree with the Supernals. On the other hand, I think there's something more to it that that, something more to the point.
The void is our perception of emptiness, nothingness. In one sense, this is the inability of our Ruach to perceive the Supernals. NOX appears at first as total darkness, a complete absence of light, but in reality it's simply a higher vibration of LVX - it is total light. The perception of a higher type of light where there appeared to be only darkness before might be poetically expressed as a pillar being established in the void.
Pillar is to Void as Asi is to Asar - above the Abyss, opposites exist in harmony with each other, even fulfill each other. When Asi is fulfilled of Asar, ie: when the vastness of the unconscious comes together in union with the conscious mind, the higher is bridged with the lower, and Hoor, the Angel, descends into the Nephesch like a fiery star. This is shown in the symbol of the Hexagram with the Sun in the middle - two opposing triangles coming together to create a solar child.
6. Through the midnight thou art dropt, O my child, my conqueror, my sword-girt captain, O Hoor! and they shall find thee as a black gnarl'd glittering stone, and they shall worship thee.
Midnight (true midnight) is the point right between sunset and sunrise - it is the darkest hour of night, and here could represent the deepest, most unexplored parts of the unconscious.
The stone in this verse is such an interesting image - what was once ephemeral and far too subtle for the senses to grasp in any way is now a solid stone, glittering with the Light of the Supernals. I suppose this could be another instance of a pillar (stability, solidity) being established in the void (where nothing is stable or solid). The image brings to mind the fixation of Mercury, or the vessel of Quicksilver.
Aside from all analysis, this is simply an awe-inspiring sequence of images, perfect for meditation.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"5. Now is the Pillar established in the Void; now is Asi fulfilled of Asar; now is Hoor let down into the Animal Soul of Things like a fiery star that falleth upon the darkness of the earth.
6. Through the midnight thou art dropt, O my child, my conqueror, my sword-girt captain, O Hoor! and they shall find thee as a black gnarl'd glittering stone, and they shall worship thee."The verses are sublime. They stun me on nearly every reading, no matter how many years I revisit them. I have never found any way to worthily meditate them other than direct invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
The usual interpretation is well known: Horus is "let down," words that imply it is a controlled, easy, soft descent - but the impact is "like a fiery star that falleth upon... the earth." The most gentle touch of the infinite strikes with the fury of a lightning strike or a meteor impact, etc. No matter how ready and open and expanded, nothing finite can ever be prepared for the penetration of the infinite.
The initial image reminds me of that from 4:58 where the pillar stood upon the Great Sea - here it is "established in the Void." They are distinct but related. The imagery serves me well in my worship of that Single Thing of which these verses speak to me.