Aeons and consciousness
-
As I understand the Aeons, the Aeon of Isis was a period in which humankind as a whole ascended to the level of consciousness known to Qabalists as Nephesh. In the Aeon of Osiris, humanity rose to Ruah, in Horus, humanity will rise to Neshamah, and so on. As far as I know, the grades of A.'.A.'. also have correspondences (at certain points) to these states.
Does this mean that once one attains the grade in A.'.A.'. associated with Neshamah, as Crowley did in John St John, one is in the Aeon of Horus regardless of when in time one does this, and so when one attains Chiah one is in the Aeon of Ma'at, and so on? -
@veritas_in_nox said
"As I understand the Aeons, the Aeon of Isis was a period in which humankind as a whole ascended to the level of consciousness known to Qabalists as Nephesh. In the Aeon of Osiris, humanity rose to Ruah, in Horus, humanity will rise to Neshamah, and so on."
Just to be clear, what you have quoted is the way that I represent these. I haven't ever had anyone seriously disagree with it (mostly people kind of blink in a puzzled way and ignore it <g>). But I thought it worth clarifying that while I fully think this is the best understanding of the Aeons, it isn't a "standard" interpretation (if there is such a thing).
"Does this mean that once one attains the grade in A.'.A.'. associated with Neshamah, as Crowley did in John St John, one is in the Aeon of Horus regardless of when in time one does this, and so when one attains Chiah one is in the Aeon of Ma'at, and so on?"
I'd put it earlier.
The A.'.A.'. initiation rituals open one to the symbolism and linkages of the Aeon of Horus on entering 2=9. In fact, the passage to 2=9 from 1=10 is specifically shown as a move from an Osiris formula to a Horus formula. One can debate where to draw the line, but I suppose one can say that one is formally introduced to the formula at 2=9 and certainly subsumed within it by 5=6.
The main point for me to agree with here, though, is your underlying idea that we each make a personal migration through the Aeons as we mature. Ontology recapitulates phylogeny, after all. We are Isis Aeon creatures in infancy, and begin Osirian ego-building that reaches its apex in a well-balanced adulthood. The question is... whether we go past that. It seems that more are doing so than have in the past.