The new Aeon
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"He isn't the Sun seen from a heliocentric seasonal and diurnal cycle, but rather the Sun is a persisting center of our system."
In 777 Crowley never explicitly assigns any of the corresponding Tiphareth figures to different Aeons. The main point of the work of correlating all the information in 777 appears to be (aside from being a reference book for practical work) to show that in many times and in many cultures there were numerous figures that represent the same thing. Horus is another figure that represents the same thing that the other corresponding characters of Tiphareth have in the past, to those who (and this is the important distinction) had an esoteric understanding of them, as opposed to an exoteric one. Naming the Aeon, Horus, on the other hand, I'm proposing, is referring to humanity as a whole moving into a new understanding of what the solar Tiphareth figures have always represented to the few that had attained to that level of solar consciousness in the past. The dying god formula represents death and resurrection only to the onlookers. But to one that attains to the resurrection stage, it becomes clear that the Sun is always shining, that death is as a shadow that fades with the coming of the light and that duality was dependent upon that shadow which, once dispelled, no longer has power over perception. The main reason for making such a big point of wiping away the old names was to assist in moving humanity into a new, previously esoteric, understanding. The way that Crowley did that was by proclaiming a new age, with a new name, so that the baggage (the exoteric understanding that was predominant in the old Aeon) could be let go of along with the old names. Would you agree, or am I still missing a key piece somewhere?
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93,
"The dying god formula represents death and resurrection only to the onlookers. But to one that attains to the resurrection stage, it becomes clear that the Sun is always shining...."
In the last Aeon, denial of the self and its appetites was key - it wasn't a spectator sport for "onlookers". Sacrifice was not merely a one-time-only thing, but a spiritual method, at least for serious aspirants: self-flagellating Jesuits, fasting Franciscans, fervently praying Carthusians, and any number of lone-wolf seekers, alchemists, heretics, syncretics and what have you. And, for those who stuck with it, it frequently produced results. It was the formula of that Aeon, and in conformity with that Aeon's nature and requirements.
"The main reason for making such a big point of wiping away the old names was to assist in moving humanity into a new, previously esoteric, understanding."
Yes. Each Aeon does this. The last Aeon brought us into a deeper relationship with the individual Ruach: the sense of conscious selfhood that links us to higher consciousness, or Neshamah. This time, in this Aeon, we move on up, to include Neshamic awareness and realization.
93 93/93,
Edward -
"In the last Aeon, denial of the self and its appetites was key - it wasn't a spectator sport for "onlookers". Sacrifice was not merely a one-time-only thing, but a spiritual method, at least for serious aspirants: self-flagellating Jesuits, fasting Franciscans, fervently praying Carthusians, and any number of lone-wolf seekers, alchemists, heretics, syncretics and what have you. And, for those who stuck with it, it frequently produced results. It was the formula of that Aeon, and in conformity with that Aeon's nature and requirements."
That may be true, but when I refer to an esoteric understanding of the dying god formula, I am referring to a broader application of the dying god formula that includes the full, round trip, from Kether to Malkuth and back to Kether. We are born, via Binah, from Kether into Malkuth. We die in Malkuth and are reborn into Kether from Malkuth via Binah again. Kether is in Malkuth and Malkuth is in Kether in the sense that we never "really" go anywhere. Truth is unchanging. In between Malkuth and Binah the level of Tiphareth resides. By the time that one returns to the level of Tiphareth they already understand that "I and my Father are One." They know that the Sun always shines. The hardships that are endured (being crucified etc.) is what we go through when we are separated from the truth of our higher nature, by the veils.
"In the last Aeon, denial of the self and its appetites was key..."
This would imply a change in one or more of the paths returning from Malkuth to (at least) Tiphareth; a change that is tied specifically to the coming of the new Aeon, but it says nothing of a change in the essential nature of the level of consciousness that is achieved in a full return to the level of consciousness represented by the figures of the Tiphareth of any age. I see this change in the characteristics of the lower paths as a possibility, but I am not aware of the specific Libers etc. that refer to anything like this. That doesn't mean (at all) that they aren't there. I just need help finding them, if they exist.
A change in the essential qualities of the consciousness level of Tiphareth would be something like saying that, not only does the Sun always shine, but, now, in the new Aeon, the Sun is also Red. I don't know if anyone is trying to say anything like that.
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"Well - I'd agree that after you've done that then you understand that the Sun always shines. But the 'I and my Father are One' business - really is a secondary invention."
The Father reference it to the active, creative aspect of the One being (...to the core nature of the self; whether you be manifested in Malkuth as femanine or masculine is of no consequence to the true nature of the self as the originator of all creation). Truth is the opposite of illusion. Truth, implanted in illusion, inaugurates a foray into maya, a journey from truth into illusion and back again to truth. You could also refer to this as a journey from being One to being one of many and back to being One again.
My blog post, below, from: unusmundus-melie.blogspot.com/2009/09/breaking-free-from-perfection.html , may explain my view of this a little better.
It’s true that God is said to be in the heights of heaven. For those who favor the Goddess, this may seem to be at odds with their own view, because to them, they see true beauty all around them. But both views can be reconciled when one sees that they are God and that right now they are inside the Goddess.
God went inside the Goddess and together they made all of creation. God will also be born out of the Goddess, or as some would say, “transcend this world.” Then he will go back inside of her. God goes in and out of the Goddess and together they create life and love. It is an infinite cycle. It is a perpetual triumph over death and limitation. The important thing to remember is that God creates the Goddess, for the absolute Truth is that God is alone, and if he clung to the Truth forever, he would be alone forever. He would only be One, and trapped in his own Oneness. He would be the opposite of life and diversity. By letting go of the Truth and embracing illusion (or in other words the Goddess) he can break free of his lonely prison of frozen, unchanging perfection. In this act of letting go he allows life and love to spring forth and surround him in a loving embrace, in a way that only the Goddess can. The Goddess brings the thrilling prospect of attaining perfection. This is something that God could never experience if he never let go of perfection in the first place, so in a way, you could say that the Goddess gives God perfection. -
"Yes.... I can see you're very clear about the thrusting part ... lololololol"
Well of course, and with emphasis added!
The whole descending, Flaming "Sword" image is, in my view, the first part of the IAO formula. The divine phallus (the dying god) is thrust from Kether into Malkuth, from truth into the yoni of it's lover, illusion. Each thrust into her is a death of sorts and it's also a planting of the seed in the womb of mother/matter/illusion. It grows in the womb of Malkuth until it is ready to born out of illusion once again and to move back up the tree to Kether. -
"So where does that leave your metaphor?"
There aren't two things. There is one thing that enters into something that it possesses, namely it's own ability to go inside of it's own illusion. The truth can't remain hidden and covered forever, that is not it's nature; it is infinite, but the false is finite. And so the finite must give way as the truth reemerges. This is how the birth occurs.
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This whole death and rebirth formula has to do with the mystery of how the One may give and receive when there is no other to give to or receive from.
From: unusmundus-melie.blogspot.com/2009/09/writing-by-me-freeform-thought.html
Enlightenment is understanding that you are coming from and going to infinite perfection and that your purpose is to give and receive unending fulfillment. It is the realization that the deepest core of your being is the infinite source of creation behind all things. You are both empowered and without ego because you see that One is all there is. Enlightenment is also the understanding that the way in which giving and receiving is accomplished cannot be reasoned since the means of accomplishing this feat is to abandon reason. (This is where one enters into the womb of the Mother/illusion.) Enlightenment is seeing the full circle of existence and discovering that to be filled one must first become empty. It can only be said that when you are full you cast away your oneness (this is where you give, this is where you abandon reason and this is where the illusion begins) (And, again, this is where one enters into the womb of the Mother/illusion.) Illusion is finite but Truth is infinite, therefore illusion must give way as you awaken once again to the joy and peace of your unchanged infinite perfect state of being. (This is where you receive, this is where you find your reason, and this is where the illusion ends). -
"For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union." That quote, to me, is about the dying god formula and it speaks of the journey from Kether to Malkuth and back to Kether. The One, divided, descends and moves into a death stage in Malkuth. Malkuth is not only a tomb, but a womb. Truth is unchanging (the One can never, really be divided), but truth implanted in illusion appears to grow and change. What really happens is that that which is concealing truth is false and therefore finite and it withers and falls away from truth. As the false and finite withers and falls away, the truth reemerges unchanged, whole and undivided, just as the Sun that was always shining.
"Sacrifice was not merely a one-time-only thing, but a spiritual method, at least for serious aspirants: self-flagellating Jesuits, fasting Franciscans, fervently praying Carthusians, and any number of lone-wolf seekers, alchemists, heretics, syncretics and what have you. And, for those who stuck with it, it frequently produced results. It was the formula of that Aeon, and in conformity with that Aeon's nature and requirements."
I am still trying to better understand the change in the new Aeon, such as, did a change occur in the paths between Malkuth and Tiphareth that has resulted in there no longer being a need for ascetic methods employed in the previous Aeon? Maybe I'm looking for where it says on the map (maybe the map is the Tree of Life, maybe it is in procession of the equinoxes, maybe something else, maybe both combined) that says that when we reach this point on the map, there will be this change.
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You're lookng for too technical of an answer. I'll try to go back to your early posts (now that I'm back in town) and give some sort of useful answer, but the main thing I see (over the whole range of posts) is being too mappish and making the whole thing way too complicated.
The main point, I think, is this: Due to many converging causes, the essential archetypes most likely to lead humanity overall inward on its spiritual journey have changed. The old ones are not "broken" so much as outgrown - and new ones replaced them.
The most important cause of this, I think, is that the species-wide maturation of the ego as a distinctive "organ" of the psyche had pretty much finished. (As I have often said when lecturing, "We don't have to keep taking that class on Ego. We passed. We do ego good. Time for the next class.") Several other things have supported this, including:
- The antiquation of the astronomical model underlying prior spiritual and religions formulations
- The threshold being crossed in early 20th Century that over 50% of all people in the world didn't go to bed not knowing where tomorrow's food would come from
But the main point is the ego-maturation threshold: Time to drop gods (i.e., markers of the path inward) that existed primarily to help us in that developmental task, and move on to others.
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"did a change occur in the paths between Malkuth and Tiphareth that has resulted in there no longer being a need for ascetic methods employed in the previous Aeon? "
I think Edward's point was about the role of ascetic methods in the old aeon. Since the prime work for most humans was to develop and stabalize Ruach (rational) consciousness, Nephesh (sub)consciousness was often stamped down to prevent it from pulling us back into a previous state of consciousness.
It's not that there could be no use or need for ascetic methods. Just that ascetism to deny the self, and maintain rigid ego control of our entire existence is not really necessary or even a good thing for most people any more.
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""We don't have to keep taking that class on Ego. We passed. We do ego good. Time for the next class.""
Ok, now we may be closing in on something that could shed some light for me. When you say, "We don't have to keep taking that class on Ego.", in what way were the dying gods a class, or instruction on Ego? Now that that phase of learning is complete and "We do ego good.", how do we make use of this tool in the new Aeon and what do we begin working on in the new Aeon that surpasses the Ego?
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(Not trying to answer your question in Jim's place, but adding some thoughts)
Are you familiar with the basic Christian themes of Jesus on the Cross? What message does the standard story line teach us?
The adult god-man (ego) dies, and is resurrected, and if you follow the rules or accept that sacrifice there's hope for your ego to live on too. -
@kerlem93 said
"When you say, "We don't have to keep taking that class on Ego.", in what way were the dying gods a class, or instruction on Ego?"
The Osiris Aeon marked the emergence of Ruach, or ego-consciousness - the emergent distinction of the individual from the herd. (Wasn't that covered in the article to which I pointed you?)
This maturation is a distinctly solar development. The Sun became the projection-object of religions and other inner paths of development. The Sun was seen as passing through a daily cycle of rising, coming to its fullness, and dying. This looked like the course of human life. Humanity created gods that could take it one step further and actual "rise again" like the Sun. - The comparison to the phallus (which rises, dies, then rises again) was, of course, also emphasized. - Humanity divinized the ideal of the rise-set-rerise behavior of the Sun as part of the process of identifying its evolutionary self with the Sun - of pushing the development of the solar part of the psyche, the ego-center.
"Now that that phase of learning is complete and "We do ego good.", how do we make use of this tool in the new Aeon and what do we begin working on in the new Aeon that surpasses the Ego?"
For your first question - that's the domain, first, of psychology (the field that explores and assists the fully functional, healthy manifestation of an adult ego structure, among other things). On spiritual matters, I couldn't answer that first question adequately without writing a somewhat lengthy treatise on the whole course of initiation - It's something one learns, for example, in Temple of Thelema over the course of several degrees (and, correspondingly, several years of life).
Drop your words "in the new Aeon" in that first sentence and see your question for its simpler form: How do we make use of a mature, healthy developed ego? That's the practical question. - From an initiatic p.o.v., part of the end-of-the-road answer (and the reason for calling it a "tool") is that the ego isn't really what we are. It's one layer of us. We need to develop it to its fullness, but in the healthiest and most effective way possible. In time, when our development shifts our p.o.v. to a deeper level, we'll recognize the ego as just another garment - not all that different from a well-learned skill - something we can bring into play to accomplish our real purposes.
As for your second question: Well, that's what the schools of initiation are all about. To state it differently: The species overall will develop this naturally in the centuries to come. Some of us, though, are impatient with natural evolution and want to push the issue, and for that there have been developed ways of training that stabilize the present gains and push the emerging capacities.
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@kerlem93 said
"In 777 Crowley never explicitly assigns any of the corresponding Tiphareth figures to different Aeons. The main point of the work of correlating all the information in 777 appears to be (aside from being a reference book for practical work) to show that in many times and in many cultures there were numerous figures that represent the same thing."
The main purpose of 777 was to use the 32 Paths of the Tree of Life as a cataloging method for showing cognate ideas, or those with related themes, across a wide range of religions, philosophies, and other systems.
And, while that goal wouldn't tend to take him down the path of talking about aeon-differentiation, this is even more the case because, when 777 was written, Crowley had lost The Book of the Law manuscript and was actively avoiding the book and the ideas in it.
"The dying god formula represents death and resurrection only to the onlookers. But to one that attains to the resurrection stage, it becomes clear that the Sun is always shining, that death is as a shadow that fades with the coming of the light and that duality was dependent upon that shadow which, once dispelled, no longer has power over perception."
Yes, but all of those symbols are for those who haven't yet reached this realization. Those who attain to (and mature in) Tiphereth mostly don't continue to worship solar ideas. It's actually a little startling (and rather captivating) to see how quickly (even in the middle of the 5=6 ritual itself) these ideas rotate to where Binah archetypes start pulling one almost at once. Horus is the visible object of worship - for the masses - but, once the K&C is attained, the path forward is a winding route that eventually (in one life or another) terminates at the shore of the Abyss.
"The main reason for making such a big point of wiping away the old names was to assist in moving humanity into a new, previously esoteric, understanding. The way that Crowley did that was by proclaiming a new age, with a new name, so that the baggage (the exoteric understanding that was predominant in the old Aeon) could be let go of along with the old names. Would you agree, or am I still missing a key piece somewhere?"
Your words imply that this was a conscious plan by Crowley. If that's what you mean, then I definitely disagree. It was thrust on him. He fought against it. It was Liber Legis that proclaimed these things, not Crowley - until he took up the task of pushing Liber Legis.
There are other things you've written above with which I wouldn't exactly disagree, but OTOH would not say the same way. I don't know that in your mind they miss the point, but I think they run a risk of being understood by others in a way that would lead them to miss the point. For example, I'm not sure of the purpose of saying that the new formulations "was to assist in moving humanity into a new, previously esoteric, understanding." I'd say, more simply, that it was time to drop roads original built to lead us to terrain we've now moved past, so that new roads were needed. (Toys to help a three-year-old expand language skills may still be of some limited value to a 9-year-old but, in general, need to be put away and a new set of toys and techniques is needed - since the whole species is older and more mature overall than it was even a short while ago.)
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"The adult god-man (ego) dies, and is resurrected, and if you follow the rules or accept that sacrifice there's hope for your ego to live on too."
Yes, I'm familiar with that type of coercion. I think it was an exoteric understanding of the dying god formula, but I don't think that is what would have been taught by someone that had achieved the resurrection stage of that formula. It's hard to say. From the little that I have been able to gather about the subject, there are various "moods" of devotion, as they are described in yogic terms.
From: www.workofthechariot.com/TextFiles/Practices-Moods.html - "The moods of the yoga of devotion to Small Face (name your diety here) vary. Some devotees may have a strong emotional sense of being creatures in the Lord YHVH’s (or any other Small Face Chosen Ideal) dream-universe. Others may feel like servants of the Lord YHVH the Master; or like the Lord YHVH’s dear friend, sister, or brother; or like the Lord YHVH’s wife, or husband, or secret paramour."
So maybe the mood that you described may work as a spiritual practice for some and maybe it is even aimed at an audience that is in a stage of their spiritual development where that is the only type of practice they are capable of. The problem with it is that we don't know who's rules they are. There is too much room for the possibility that those rules originated from some other persons poor interpretation of what they "think" you are supposed to do as opposed to being of any true, divine origin. If it said something like, "Raise yourself up that you may be able to know the true Will of your higher god-man self, then you may be brought to the accomplishment of the Great Work and marvel that the symbols of resurrection were a foretelling of your own.", then I could probably go along with it.