Images of the Gods in Liber Resh vel Helios
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Is there a decent description anywhere of the colours that should be used when visualising Ra? Failing this has anyone any ideas? I mean making use of the Golden Dawn colour schemes. Like Thoth is all yellow and violet from Tiphareth and Yesod, so with Ra at Tiphareth he must need to have a lot of golden-yellow in his outfit, but what other colours would be appropriate? I'm trying to put together a decent Golden Dawn style Ra as opposed to a traditional Egyptian Ra.
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I repeat to my standard recommendation: Get one or two great full-color coffee table books on Egyptian gods, and find a picture that speaks to you. These are not standardized at all, and everybody should find their own.
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also, you can print the image (just the form, black and white) and colour it yourself - the colours will naturally come, the feeling where to put what...
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@Jim Eshelman said
"I repeat to my standard recommendation: Get one or two great full-color coffee table books on Egyptian gods, and find a picture that speaks to you. These are not standardized at all, and everybody should find their own."
Absolutely:) Honestly its a Bhakti yoga thing(but only a shadow).
When you get to a pic that you stare at more then the others, then you have found your Image:)
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@danica said
"also, you can print the image (just the form, black and white) and colour it yourself - the colours will naturally come, the feeling where to put what..."
If I did that Kephra might end up dayglo pink!
Anyway, I'm in the process of sketching and painting them and trying to go with Golden Dawn ideas for colours as I'm sure there is some rationale behind them. Who knows, there might even be some insight into the nature and role of the gods in the colours used?
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What is that thing hanging from the waist of each of the gods? Is it a sheath or what? I believe it is particularly on the images from wikipedia.
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93 93/93
"I've also read that the bulls tail is sacred to Hathor and that the Egyptians used to believe that semen was produced in the spine..."
Isn't it?
There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
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Bulls tail: protector of the herd; and notions of fertility/virility, which includes impregnating your mother with yourself as her child...
"I am the Bull of my mother!"
Well, not me personally. But the idea that the God in question was his own father was one of those things every respectable god could claim. It had to do with a Gods' ability to renew themselves, and this figured prominently in the worshipers ability to accept the gods' immortality. Remember, according to the Egyptians, everything had to obey the laws of nature, even the Gods, and that meant growing old and dying. But no worries mate, just go back in time and fuck your mom!
EDIT: I was getting little punchy last night when I wrote the above. The essence of the symbol is that, by appropriating the Bull's Tail as part of his costume, the god was showing how he both youthful and virile, and also self-begotten. The whole business about immortality is a bit of stretch, though related. It's not uncommon to find passages from the Hymns of many of the solar deities like this: "I have made fertile my mother." In other words, there was no God before him, no greater power who created him.
Love and Will
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@spaceman said
"Man that Khephra man with the beetle head is CREEEEEEEPY!"
Yes, very strange. It seems like only the modern drawing has him with a human body. Is that something he has recently acquired or has he always been a half-man/half-bug?
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@horustheantichris said
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@spaceman said
"Man that Khephra man with the beetle head is CREEEEEEEPY!"Yes, very strange. It seems like only the modern drawing has him with a human body. Is that something he has recently acquired or has he always been a half-man/half-bug?"
Pictures of the beetle being atop a human body are very ancient.
It's not "half-man/half-bug" but, rather, the human body being used as a conveyance for the beetle image.
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@horustheantichris said
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@spaceman said
"Man that Khephra man with the beetle head is CREEEEEEEPY!"Yes, very strange. It seems like only the modern drawing has him with a human body. Is that something he has recently acquired or has he always been a half-man/half-bug?"
"Help me! Help me!"
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Fly/70074601?trkid=2361638#height1832 -
To better make sense of Liber Resh I researched the four Gods. My interpretation of the meaning of each of each of these Gods as they relate to the various positions of the sun is below. Have others noticed this esoteric meaning? Am I reaching?
[:3perhy6q]RA > His vital daily task was to guide the sunboat through the skies > Today is going to be a good day.[/
3perhy6q]
[:3perhy6q]HATHOR > Goddess of pleasure > Today is a good day.[/3perhy6q]
[:3perhy6q]TUM > "he who completes or perfects" > Today was a good day.[/3perhy6q]
[:3perhy6q]KHEPRA > carries the sun it safely through the underworld every night > Today was a good day.[/3perhy6q] -
@horustheantichris said
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KHEPRA > carries the sun it safely through the underworld every night > Today was a good day.".. tomorrow is going to be a day
- ensures the passage (transition from death to [new] life) -
93,
@horustheantichris said
"To better make sense of Liber Resh I researched the four Gods. My interpretation of the meaning of each of each of these Gods as they relate to the various positions of the sun is below. Have others noticed this esoteric meaning? Am I reaching?
RA > His vital daily task was to guide the sunboat through the skies > Today is going to be a good day.
HATHOR > Goddess of pleasure > Today is a good day.
TUM > "he who completes or perfects" > Today was a good day.
KHEPRA > carries the sun it safely through the underworld every night > Today was a good day."I don't know if this contradicts, elaborates on, or adjusts your approach, but for myself, I approach Resh as a means of regular mindfulness, mentally saturating myself with the archetypal symbolism which the four gods represent. It also serves as a constant reminder that the appearance of morning, noon, dusk and night are illusions of perspective -- as are birth, life, death and afterlife -- but that the Sun is in fact unchanged by these things ("there is that which remains.").
93 93/93.
AL H-ShMATh
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@Al Ha-Shema said
"I approach Resh as a means of regular mindfulness, mentally saturating myself with the archetypal symbolism which the four gods represent."
Yes, this is my approach as well. What I was trying to get at was: are these what the Gods symbolize? I think that Danica's answer was yes. Do you agree Al Ha-Shemat? What are others take of this?
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the four points of the day simply are the moments in time-space (for person on the earth) when the Sun is 'in focus' (angular, astrologicaly speaking) - it's easier to directly connect yourself to the solar principle in these moments.
the *meaning *of the four Egyptian Gods mentioned (and all the other related to that) change for you personally over time, as your own perspective evolves.
it's one of the most important practice (if not the sole most important ) - by performing it continually you are establishing and refining the connection to the H.G.A., so I would say: meditate upon the meaning of the Four (Gods, or four points of time-space, etc), but don't attach your mind strongly to the insights that come as if they convey some definite meaning. just write them down (blessed be the diary!) and keep going....
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danica beat me to the punch here, and is right on! Allow your understanding and philosophies to evolve over time and practice. It's helpful to explore what archetypes YOU'RE struck with, on a deeper-than-intellectual level when meditating on the gods of Resh; also, identifying yourself with the Sun is helpful, keeping in mind that morning, noon, evening & midnight are only "illusions" (so to speak) created by our perspective on the Earth as it turns -- the Sun is unaffected by any of them. (At least that's the approach I use -- take it or leave it!)
I've been doing Resh regularly for a couple of years now, and the visualizations and mental focuses continue to evolve
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@Al Ha-Shema said
"I've been doing Resh regularly for a couple of years now, and the visualizations and mental focuses continue to evolve
"On a non-philosophical note I'm curious what the cumulative effect of assuming these god forms over a significant period of time has on the body of light. Is this something that can be noted and does anyone have any related insights?
Love and Will
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I can only speak to my own experience (as if that weren't painfully obvious!), and I'll readily admit I'm no expert, but for my two cents:
I found when initially practicing any Magick or what-have-you that required visualizations, that my ability to visualize seemed weak and unfocused. It was very frustrating. Practicing Resh four-times-a-day over a couple of years has massively improved the situation, and if there were no other benefit to Resh I would continue practicing it for that reason. My visualizations, though they still stand to benefit from continued practice, have at least reached a point where I am able to sense how visualizations affect the Astral Light. And this has gotten me a sense of the Astral Light itself, which is a thrilling validation that I'm not just fooling myself into make-believe.
So for me, practicing Resh has been a bit like doing regular exercises on the guitar: it keeps the faculty of visualization in shape; but if the visualizations & mental focus are allowed to evolve (like changing up the exercises on guitar, keeping them challenging or at least engaging), progress is continually made a well. (You may not know initially why you need to learn scales on an instrument, but it becomes clearer in time and practice.)
All that being said, posting in this thread is causing me to realize that lately I might be getting a touch complacent with my Resh practice! Time for me to rejuvenate the experience!
@RobertAllen said
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On a non-philosophical note I'm curious what the cumulative effect of assuming these god forms over a significant period of time has on the body of light. Is this something that can be noted and does anyone have any related insights?"I'd love to hear input on your question from someone more experienced as well!
Then why do Amun, Atum, and other gods without animal masks have tails?