29 July (Fire) Liber LXV, 4:45
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45. Also I beheld my God, and the countenance of Him was a thousandfold brighter than the lightning. Yet in his heart I beheld the slow and dark One, the ancient one, the devourer of His children.
...the countenance of Him was a thousandfold brighter than the lightning.
A thousand, a large Aleph; brighter then the lightning, or that which is above Chesed, literally and figuratively: Chokmah; the countenance is the Head, or Kether...
Yet in his heart I beheld the slow and dark One, the ancient one, the devourer of His children.
Obvious. Saturn. Binah as the heart (mystic number of Binah is 6, the heart...)
So, I'm not sure if this selection is an attempt to focus attention on all three of the supernals, or if one in particular is being featured? But really, I'm not so concerned with getting this right as I am in figuring out what I am supposed to discover by reading this riddle. Alas, my old struggle with being able to make some association while still wondering what good this does. All this talk of lightning—I guess I am expecting a little lightning to strike, allowing me that 'aha' moment that is always so rewarding.
Love and Will
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I was reading a bit last night on the number 210 (in V&V), N.O.X, and the concept of the "Bright Midnight". I think this is what is referred to here. A light so intense that all other senses are knocked out of their ability to percieve so that all that remains is the "supernal darkness". It devours all since it is the source of everything and to it everything returns - or least thats how I understand it.
Yesterday, the light shone down from the crown into the prism of the lower tree to feed the flowers of the earth. In the wake of this the scribe perceives this great secret and truth that is beyond Assiah and Yetzirah. If I do understand any of this - it has been in short flashes and is in only a seed within me (most likley pre-seed!).
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"45. Also I beheld my God, and the countenance of Him was a thousandfold brighter than the lightning."
God is experienced as LVX...
"Yet in his heart I beheld the slow and dark One, the ancient one, the devourer of His children."
...but on a yet deeper 'level' God is experienced as NOX.
"the devourer of His children"
beside the obvious reference to Saturn-Binah-etc line of ideas&images, the 'black hole' phenomenon of modern physics comes to mind...
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@RobertAllen said
"So, I'm not sure if this selection is an attempt to focus attention on all three of the supernals, or if one in particular is being featured?"
Perhaps the Supernal Triad as a whole is being identified with the "heart," which obviously suggests Tiphareth within the human personality... And the Adept (or his blood, or life, at least) is the heart of the Angel.
I feel like it makes sense until I try to explain it!
93, 93/93.
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"45. Also I beheld my God, and the countenance of Him was a thousandfold brighter than the lightning."
This is the easy part. The imagery is sufficiently close to experiences in my memory that I readily return to them. This is useful in the mediation, because it is from that specific point of view that the next sentence makes the clearest sense to me...
"Yet in his heart I beheld the slow and dark One, the ancient one, the devourer of His children."
The brain gets thrown immediately to the idea of Saturn, and it's a little struggle to get back to a state before that preconception. Actively adopting the above point of view (of witnessing that particular sort of appearance of the Angel), this present sentence is instantly clear: It is "myself," the human relating to the Angel, the heart within the serpent's embrace, that is (and exists within) the field of time and other Saturnine characteristics.
This follows on naturally from yesterday's verses.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"The brain gets thrown immediately to the idea of Saturn, and it's a little struggle to get back to a state before that preconception. Actively adopting the above point of view (of witnessing that particular sort of appearance of the Angel), this present sentence is instantly clear: It is "myself," the human relating to the Angel, the heart within the serpent's embrace, that is (and exists within) the field of time and other Saturnine characteristics.
This follows on naturally from yesterday's verses."
The main thing I get from comparing yesterday and today's passages is the difference between the notion of generation from yesterday, and today the eating of children, which is a strategy to frustrate generation I think.
Yes, okay, the reference today is Saturn-like, not Saturn exactly. Nevertheless, He/It/Myself is still described a devouring our children.
It's a struggle, like you said, but the question about how best to negotiate the possible readings still stands in some measure. Shouldn't the meaning be something self-evident, difficult perhaps, but something that, given enough time I would be expected to arrive at if I stayed honest in my efforts?
It's alienating to think I am just out of luck until that day when I have experiences I can relate the images to. Or conversely, having someone like yourself on hand to give a helpful nudge in a particular direction. Your words are potent and I can almost see what you are talking about, but I would not have gotten there on my own.
Love and Will