Sources for 777 Table of Correspondences
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@he atlas itch said
"Does anyone know from which sources the GD compiled the table of correspondences that Crowley used in 777? I am particularly interested in finding the original sources for the tables for the gems/stones and perfumes."
Crowley compiled his information from many more sources than just GD references. And the portions that came from GD sources were pulled from a variety of places.
Such columns as those on gems, perfumes, etc. were likely from highly diverse, even eclectic sources in some cases; in others, they probably came from Crowley and his chemist mentor Cecil Jones sitting around the fireplace in the Christmas of (wsn't it?) 1906 and bouncing things around. Notice that gems are picked primarily (not exclusively) based on color. The perfumes information was fairly established in occult practice by that time, and the main entries wouldn't have had many surprises.
See the extensive notes by Crowley that were added in the posthumous 777 Revised published by Germer. (Most copies of 777 in people's possession is really 777 Revised.) Under Perfumes, he clarifies, "These attributions are founded for hte most part upon tradition. Some of them are connected with legend, others are derived from clairvoyant observation. The rational basis of attribution is, therefore, less apparent in this column than in those of the Gods, Magican Weapons, etc."
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Thanks for that information.
@Jim Eshelman said
"The perfumes information was fairly established in occult practice by that time, and the main entries wouldn't have had many surprises."
It's a shame Crowley doesn't mention any sources for the "tradition" from which the perfumes are complied.. Only guessing here, but I would presume traditional Kabbalah uses the Tree more as an introspective meditation guide rather than the universal filing cabinet system/ceremonial magick guide of Crowley and therefore Kabbalistic sources that correlate the sephiroths to various perfumes do not exist...
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@he atlas itch said
"It's a shame Crowley doesn't mention any sources for the "tradition" from which the perfumes are complied.. Only guessing here, but I would presume traditional Kabbalah uses the Tree more as an introspective meditation guide rather than the universal filing cabinet system/ceremonial magick guide of Crowley and therefore Kabbalistic sources that correlate the sephiroths to various perfumes do not exist..."
I wionder if you're confusing Hebraic (Rabbinical) Kabbalah with the Qabalah that underlies much of Western ceremonial magick.
These have actually been distinctive for centuries. I'm sure you're right that there is little of Rabbinical derivation along these lines. (There was some in Medieval Europe.) But also, it would be a mistake to think that anything from that source was necessarily relevant to Western ceremonial magick.
There were many grimoires published over the centuries. Of these, the most accessible today is probably Barrett's The Magus, in which you can see items of the same type as in 777, but not necessarily the same thing. For plants, Culpepper is the greatest classic (but hardly the sole authority).
I understand the interest in citations. In 776 1/2 I've always given at least minimal references of this sort at the bottom of each column, and this continues in the forthcoming new edition. But I emphasize "minimal." For example, sources for Column 809, "Incenses," is given as "777, Col. XLII & Barrett [Supplemented]."
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I’m aware of the distinction – the way someone explained it to me, Kabbalah with a [K] refers to the Hebrew rabbinical tradition and Qabalah with a [Q] refers to the Western ceremonial magick tradition. What I don’t know is the origins and history of Qabalah and at what date the Tree started to be used in ceremonial magick as a map and tool of True Will as found in 777. For example I am interested in identifying the earliest source to map the Tarot onto the Tree – Levi is the earliest one I’m aware of, but there must have been others before him. The emergence of Qabalah out of the older tradition of Kabbalah constitutes a history I would like to have a better grasp of, and I find myself questioning the origins of certain ideas accepted as fundamental in 777 as an attempt to get down to the nuts and bolts of how this map of the collective unconscious developed.
My interest in perfumes comes out of research into Egyptology. One might think that the visual sense is of primary importance to the ancient Egyptians based on their iconography and hieroglyphics. In fact the breakdown of the Eye of Horus into fractions and six perceptions indicates that smell constitutes 50% whereas eyesight constitutes a mere 25%:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_Horu
This is highly significant and strange. Until one realizes that smell is linked with memory (specifically emotional memory) and, for the ancient Egyptians, memory and heart is the key to integrating the self in the Amduat and attaining immortality. In the same way the smell of petite madeleines opens the floodgates to remembrance of things past in Proust, I had a similar experience in my 40s when coming across the smell of crayons, bringing back childhood memories. This suggests the boy-god Nefertem is of far more importance than generally acknowledged in contemporary Egyptology.
Thanks for those sources to 777.
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@he atlas itch said
"I’m aware of the distinction – the way someone explained it to me, Kabbalah with a [K] refers to the Hebrew rabbinical tradition and Qabalah with a [Q] refers to the Western ceremonial magick tradition."
That's at least a convention, yes.
"What I don’t know is the origins and history of Qabalah and at what date the Tree started to be used in ceremonial magick as a map and tool of True Will as found in 777."
A modest library could be created just out of books on the history of Kabbalah and the emergence of Qabalah, so no short answer is possible.
Your other questions trip over each other a bit, but I'll try to disentangle: The Tree of Life was probably used for ceremonial magick soon after it came into existence in the last 1st or early 2nd Millennium. Even when we can't quite pin magick to the Tree per se, we can link it throughout Medieval and Rennaissance times to components of the Tree, such as planetary ideas. I don't know what you mean by "tool of True Will." As for, "as found in 777," I'm guessing you mean the whole theory of Qabalistic correspondences as a tool of ceremonial magick and, again, that can be dated at least to Medieval and Rennaissance times.
"For example I am interested in identifying the earliest source to map the Tarot onto the Tree – Levi is the earliest one I’m aware of, but there must have been others before him."
I'm aware of no other published source. What we have received, handed down generation to generation within the initiated Orders, is that this dates back to the creation of Tarot and was always kept strictly private. (I accept this history for many reasons, including the fact that the structural relationship of Tarot to Kabbalah is so transparent and obvious, that - even if the idea hadn't been there from the beginning - there would have been dozens of people writing about this over the centuries unless something had pointedly shut them up. In this case, the simplest theory is that it was a known correspondence that was very closely wrapped in silence.)
"The emergence of Qabalah out of the older tradition of Kabbalah constitutes a history I would like to have a better grasp of"
I've never bothered to track it very closely. A few things known about it are scattered around this forum here and there, but it isn't much.
"I find myself questioning the origins of certain ideas accepted as fundamental in 777 as an attempt to get down to the nuts and bolts of how this map of the collective unconscious developed."
Your questions sound as if your interest is historical rather than practical. Is that correct? IOW, you seem more interested in how it got that way than in how it works?
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@Jim Eshelman said
"Your questions sound as if your interest is historical rather than practical. Is that correct? IOW, you seem more interested in how it got that way than in how it works?"
No, my interest is both historical AND practical. And ultimately creative.
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J.E. said
"But also, it would be a mistake to think that anything from that source was necessarily relevant to Western ceremonial magick."
Now there's a trap
J.E. also responded to the atlas itch
"Your questions sound as if your interest is historical rather than practical. Is that correct? IOW, you seem more interested in how it got that way than in how it works?"
Are they necessarily exclusive? It could be argued that certain aspects found in the Western Esoteric Tradition do not work, for many, precisely because those responsible for translating from Traditional Kabbalah, didn't have sufficient grasp of either the language, history or internal meaning of the subject matter. Things may have been very different otherwise.
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@Atzil said
"J.E. also responded to the atlas itch
"Your questions sound as if your interest is historical rather than practical. Is that correct? IOW, you seem more interested in how it got that way than in how it works?"Are they necessarily exclusive?"
Not necessarily exclusive, no. I think it's important to guard against idle curiosity, though. (The key word there is idle.)
"It could be argued that certain aspects found in the Western Esoteric Tradition do not work, for many, precisely because those responsible for translating from Traditional Kabbalah, didn't have sufficient grasp of either the language, history or internal meaning of the subject matter. Things may have been very different otherwise."
Indeed, that's a valid wondering. Which (as best I can remember) is why I was trying to distinguish a practical motive from a purely historical/theoretical motive.
BTW, you may be amused by the definition of Qabalah that I recently wrote for the Glossary in Visions & Voices:
"QABALAH (QBLH). n. Lit. “receiving.” (1) A mystical method, substantially a form of gñana yoga, originally formulated by He-brew rabbis to communicate the deeper spiritual truths (ChKMH NSThRH, chokmah nis’tarah, “Hidden Wisdom”) of their exoteric scriptures. (2) A nominally Christian appropriation of the above in Medieval and Renaissance times, integrated with other esoteric studies to form the foundation of Hermeticism. (3) Modern non-Hebraic appropriation of the original Hebrew system, adapt¬ing its framework, methods, and essential received principles as the core elements of other modern spiritual systems."
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Can I ask about 776 table of Correspondences for Voudoun Deities? For example, Louis Martinie in New Orleans Voodoo Tarot gives following correspondences:
1 - damballah & ayida wedo
2 - nan nan bouclou
3 - ghuedhe
4 - agwe
5 - ogoun
6 - leghba
7 - erzulie
8 - simbi
9 - masa
10 - azakaIn 776 Ghuede is under number 9. Just currious about this.
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That table in 776 1/2, as indicated in the book, originated with Aurum Solis, though I substantially agree with it.
As a spirit of death and fertility, Ghede certainly bears a similarity to Kronos, and thus to Saturn.
Yet the fertility aspect also takes root elsewhere on the tree and, since this spirit especially functions as psychopomp, the relationship of Tav opening into Yesod seems more on target. Unlike Kronos, he specifically doesn't devour his children - he spares them. He's the bright counterpart of Baron Samedi (which I folliowed A.'.S.'. in attributing to Saturn/Binah, and whose name seems to have an etymological link to Saturn).