College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

@RhiH said

"
SteveM:

Did they do astral experiment projects? "

Sorry, my error, memory playing tricks on me, I was confusing her with Elaine Simpson (Soror Fidelis). See chapter 53 of his Confessions and/or from p.92 of Perdurabo.

I wonder if records/diaries of Crowley's and Leila Waddell's astral projection experiments still exist?

I suspect Leila was also involved with intelligence and she had a role with Crowley in Russia (their theatrical manager in Russia was a spy runner) and in establishing his pro-Irish / German sypmathies during his stay in America (such as his throwing away his passport stunt). Leila's uncle (Lieutenant Colonel Laurence Augustine Waddell, of Glasgow) was an intelligence officer and she went to America on his business (as a rare violin collector and dealer).

There is the story of Maxwell Knight who, along with several other members of British Intelligence, were attempting to learn to project under the tutelage of Aleister Crowley : one story has it that one evening Maxwell's mistress* went into their bedroom and was startled to find knight standing by the bedroom window and lying on the bed. . .

SteveM

*MI5 Agent Joan Miller

Witch-walking, here:

fffrrrummmp.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-haibun.html

not quite the same thing, but it is a true story - not out of the body as much as in mine and in his at he same time, not seen, but 'felt'? What my grand-dad meant by 'never do that again', who knows!?

SteveM

@SteveM said

""beauteous", "slave" and "prophet" together conjure up the language of Victorian bodice rippers, in which pure Christian ladies were held captive by lecherous Saracens... according to Crowley Rose was particularly fond of such, and he wrote a few in similar style for her pleasure.
"

In connection with 'beauteous' and Saracens I am led to the think of the recurring theme of knowing the 'beauteous breath' and 'Goodly Gift of Grace' in Crowley's poem Sir Palamedes the Saracen Knight and his following the Questing Beast:

Demand him of his dignity.
Whereat the dwarf begins to tell
A quest of loftiest chivalry. {18}

           Quod he: "By Goddes holy spell,
             So high a venture was not known,
           Nor so divine a miracle.

           A certain beast there runs alone,
             That ever in his belly sounds
           A hugeous cry, a monster moan,

           As if a thirty couple hounds
             Quested with him.  Now God saith
           (I swear it by His holy wounds

           And by His lamentable death,
             And by His holy Mother's face!)
           That he shall know the Beauteous Breath

           And taste the Goodly Gift of Grace
             Who shall achieve this marvel quest."
           Then Arthur sterte up from his place,

           And sterte up boldly all the rest,
             And sware to seek this goodly thing.
           But now the dwarf doth beat his breast,

           And speak on this wise to the king,
             That he should worthy knight be found
           Who with his hands the dwarf should bring

           By might one span from off the ground.
             Whereat they jeer, the dwarf so small,
           The knights so strong: the walls resound {19}

           With laughter rattling round the hall.
             But Arthur first essays the deed,
           And may not budge the dwarf at all.

. . .

His vow forgot, his task undone,
His soul whipped in God's bitter school!
(He moaned a mighty malison!)
The perfect knight? The perfect fool!

           "Now, by God's wounds!" quoth he, "my strength
             Is burnt out to a pest of pains.
           Let me fling off my curse at length
             In old Chaldea's starry plains!

           Thou blessŠd Jesus, foully nailed
             Unto the cruel Calvary tree,
           Look on my soul's poor fort assailed
             By all the hosts of devilry!

           Is there no medicine but death
             That shall avail me in my place,
           That I may know the Beauteous Breath
             And taste the Goodly Gift of Grace?

           Keep Thou yet firm this trembling leaf
             My soul, dear God Who died for men;
           Yea! for that sinner-soul the chief,
             Sir Palamede the Saracen!"

. . .

"God's wounds!" (Sir Palamedes said),
"What have I done to earn this portion?
Must I, the clean knight born and bred,

           Sup with this filthy toad-abortion?"
             Nathless he stayed with him awhile,
           Lest by disdain his mention torsion

           Slip back, or miss the serene smile
             Should crown his quest; for (as onesaith)
           The unknown may lurk within the vile.

           So he who sought the Beauteous Breath,
             Desired the Goodly Gift of Grace,
           Went equal into life and death.

           But oh! the foulness of his face!
             Not here was anything of worth;
           He turned his back upon the place,

           Sought the blue sky and the green earth,
             Ay! and the lustral sea to cleanse
           That filth that stank about his girth,  {82}

           The sores and scabs, the warts and wens,
             The nameless vermin he had gathered
           In those insufferable dens,

           The foul diseases he had fathered.
             So now the quest slips from his brain:
           "First (Christ!) let me be clean again!"  

. . .

SIR PALAMEDE is sick to death!
The staring eyen, the haggard face!
God grant to him the Beauteous breath!
god send the Goodly Gift of Grace!

           There is a white cave by the sea
             Wherein the knight is hid away.
           Just ere the night falls, spieth he
             The sun's last shaft flicker astray.

           All day is dark.  There, there he mourns
             His wasted years, his purpose faint.
           A million whips, a million scorns
             Make the knight flinch, and stain the saint.

           For now! what hath he left?  He feeds
             On limpets and wild roots.  What odds?
           There is no need a mortal needs
             Who hath loosed man's hope to grasp at God's!

. . .

Then every knight turned to his brother,
Sobbing and signing for great gladness;
And, as they looked on one another, {111}

           Surely there stole a subtle madness
             Into their veins, more strong than death:
           For all the roots of sin and sadness

           Were plucked.  As a flower perisheth,
             So all sin died.  And in that place
           All they did know the Beauteous Breath

           And taste the Goodly Gift of Grace.
             Then fell the night.  Above the baying
           Of the great Beast, that was the bass

           To all the harps of Heaven a-playing,
             There came a solemn voice (not one
           But was upon his knees in praying

           And glorifying God).  The Son
             Of God Himself --- men thought --- spoke then.
           "Arise! brave soldier, thou hast won

           The quest not given to mortal men.
             Arise!  Sir Palamede Adept,
           Christian, and no more Saracen!

. . .

All led to the one goal. Now praise
Thy Lord hat He hat brought thee through
To win the quest!" The good knight lays {112}

           His hand upon the Beast.  Then blew
             Each angel on his trumpet, then
           All Heaven resounded that it knew

           Sir Palamede the Saracen
             Was master!  Through the domes of death,
           Through all the mighty realms of men

           And spirits breathed the Beauteous Breath:
             They taste the Goodly Gift of Grace.
           --- Now 'tis the chronicler that saith:

           Our Saviour grant in little space
             That also I, even I, be blest
           Thus, though so evil is my case ---

           Let them that read my rime attest
             The same sweet unction in my pen ---
           That writes in pure blood of my breast;

           For that I figure unto men
             The story of my proper quest
             As thine, first Eastern in the West,
           Sir Palamede the Saracen!  {113}

extracts from THE HIGH HISTORY OF GOOD SIR PALAMEDES THE SARACEN KNIGHT AND OF HIS FOLLOWING THE QUESTING BEAST" BY ALEISTER CROWLEY RIGHTLY SET FORTH IN RIME

                  TO ALLAN BENNETT

              "Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya"

  my good knight comrade in the quest, I dedicate this
  imperfect account of it, in some small recognition of
               his suggestion of its form.

    MANDALAY, "November" 1905

"beauteous", "slave" and "prophet" together conjure up the language of Victorian bodice rippers, in which pure Christian ladies were held captive by lecherous Saracens... according to Crowley Rose was particularly fond of such, and he wrote a few in similar style for her pleasure.

(Crowley said that he interrupted the dictation with his own thoughts here, so though Aiwass is speaking, it is Crowley's (telepathic) enquiry (Who am I? What shall be the sign?) echoed in the dictation: "Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign?" )

Does this passage relate to that of the 'slaves shall serve'? Are the 'slaves that serve' Nuit's prophets?

From the UK but living as an ex-pat in Turkey - I like eating a little, drinking a lot, singing, dancing, staring into space and the companionship of stars. . .

I count honeybees
the curves of snails and seashells
pine cones and cacti
as numbers turn to spirals
I dervish dance the silence

Hi Jim

@Jim Eshelman said

"and the Hermetic tradition, as far back as it can be traced, has employed the same attributions given in the original Short Version, not the later ones of the Ari or Gra."

If I am following this right this would mean that the Hermetic tradition employed the attribution of double letters to planets with reference to the planets Chaldean order?* I am not sure who you mean by those of the Hermetic tradition, but certainly the attributions of the GD et al seem unique?

SteveM

note: As I understand it there are three extent recensions, known as the Short, the Long and the saadia, that have been recognised since the 10th century. There is an extent 10th century manuscript of the long version [Vatican Library (Cat. Assemani)299(8), fols.66a-71 b), the 1263 Baghdad copy of the Saadia Gaons text and commentary originally written in 931 [Oxford, Bodleian Library Pococke 256 (Cat. Neubauer 1533)] was the oldest extent copy of the Saadia known until the discovery in the 20th century of the 10/11th century copy of the same [The Geniza Scroll, Cambridge University Library, Taylor-Schechter K21/56 + Glass 32/5 + Glass 12/813]. These are the oldest extent manuscript copies of the Long and Saadia recensions and include the attributions of the double letters to the planets in chaldean order. While the letter to planet attribution is not present in most extent short versions the order as infered from para 62 [Hayman] is also extent in at least two short version manuscripts, including the oldest extent [Param 2784.14 (Bibliotheca Palatina 2784/14). De Rossi 1390, fols.36b-38b. 1286]. Manuscripts 'A', 'C', 'Z' and 'K' in Hayman.

Sefer Yesira : 41 [Gruenwald]

Saadia [Manuscripts C and Z Hayman]:
1 He made Bet King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Saturn in the universe, the Sabbath in the year, and the mouth in the soul.
2 He made Gimel King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Jupiter in the universe, Sunday in the year, and the right eye of the soul.
3. He made Dalet King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Mars in the universe, Monday in the year, and the left eye of the soul.
4. He made Kaf King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Sun in the universe, Tuesday in the year, and the right nostril of the soul.
5. He made Peh King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Venus in the universe, Wednesday in the year, and the left nostril of the soul.
6. He made Resh King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Mercury in the universe, Thursday in the year, and the right ear of the soul.
7. He made Tav King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Moon in the universe, Friday in the year, and the left ear of the soul.

Long [Manuscript A Hayman]
1 He made Bet King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Saturn in the universe, the Sabbath in the year, and the mouth in the soul.
2 He made Gimel King and bound to it a crown and combined one with another, and formed of it: Jupiter in the universe, Sunday in the year, and the right eye of the soul.
3. He made Dalet King and bound to it a crown, and formed of it: Mars in the universe, Monday in the year, and the left eye of the soul.
4. He made Kaf King and bound to it a crown, and formed of it: Sun in the universe, Tuesday in the year, and the right nostril of the soul.
5. He made Peh King and bound to it a crown, and formed of it: Venus in the universe, Wednesday in the year, and the left nostril of the soul.
6. He made Resh King and bound to it a crown, and formed of it: Mercury in the universe, Thursday in the year, and the right ear of the soul.
7. He made Tav King and bound to it a crown, and formed of it: Moon in the universe, Friday in the year, and the left ear of the soul.

Sefer Yesirah : 62 [Gruenwald]

Manuscript K [Hayman] Short recension {attributions do not appear in majority of short version manuscripts, but do so in this the earliest extent manuscript of the short recension}:
2: Saturn, Sabbath, the mouth. --- Jupiter, Sunday, right eye. --- Mars, Monday, left eye. --- The Sun, Tuesday, right nostril. --- Venus, Wednesday, left nostril. --- Mercury, Thursday, right ear. ---Moon, Friday, left ear: these are Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaf, Peh, Resh and Tav.

Manuscript A [Hayman] Long recension:
Saturn, Sabbath, the mouth. --- Jupiter, Sunday, right eye. --- Mars, Monday, left eye. --- The Sun, Tuesday, right nostril. --- Venus, Wednesday, left nostril. --- Mercury, Thursday, right ear. ---Moon, Friday, left ear: these are Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaf, Peh, Resh and Tav.

Manuscript C [Hayman] Saadia recension
Saturn, Sabbath, the mouth. --- Jupiter, Sunday, right eye. --- Mars, Monday, left eye. --- The Sun, Tuesday, right nostril. --- Venus, Wednesday, left nostril. --- Mercury, Thursday, right ear. ---Moon, Friday, left ear: these are Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaf, Peh, Resh and Tav.

So the earliest extent manuscripts of the SY in all three recensions include planet to letter attributions, and they are in the Chaldean order.

Kircher, a primary source for those following the Christian Cabalistic and Hermetic Qabalistic traditions gives:

Beit - Sun
Gimel - Venus
Daleth - Mercury
Kaph - Luna
Peh - Saturn
Resh - Jupiter
Tau - Mars

[source: notes to the Sefer Yetzira by William Wynn Westcott]

(note: Kircher's planetary attributions appear in this order in para 42 and 43a [Gruenwald] of both the short and long versions of manuscripts K and A (as classified in Hayman):

para 42 and 43a:(Gruenwald)

Short version [K] And with them were carved out seven firmaments, seven earths, seven hours and seven times. Therefore he loved the seventh under heaven.

These are the seven planets in the universe: Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars. And the days in the years: the seven days of creation. And the seven apertures in mankind: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and the mouth.

Long version [A] And with them were carved out seven firmaments, seven earths, seven hours and seven days. Therefore he loved the seventh above everything under heaven.

These are the seven planets in the universe: Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars. And the seven days: the seven days of creation. And the seven apertures in mankind: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and the mouth.)

So Kircher too follows the Chaldean order, but starts with the first 7 planetary hours [counting from sunrise] of the first day of creation [the first seven hours from sunrise of Sunday].

Hayman writes [p.143]:

"
"Despite the fact that he was working with a defective printed text of SY...Soloman Ganz has correctly observed that the author of SY in pp 41 and 44 has "connected the seven planets in the natural order Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon with the first seven days instead of the first hours of creation." Consequently, 42 and 43a with their reference to the "seven hours" and the order Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars must be "the gloss of an editor who wished to reconsile the theory of the Book of Creation with the accepted theory of the planetary week". So the later editor "mentions the seven hours and changes the sequence Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon into the sequence Sun Venus Mercury
Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars to correspond with the first seven hours of the first day of the week"."

(As pointed out by Kaplan, in biblical reckoning evening precedes day; a day thus runs from evening to evening in Jewish tradition, not morning to morning. The first 7 hours of the first day in biblical reckoning and Jewish tradition would thus be Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus. However, Kircher is following the Christian tradition.)

Judah Ha-Levi retains the Chaldean order commencing with Saturn but gives days to correspond with accepted planetary week: 'In the year: Sabbath, Thursday, Tuesday, Sunday, Friday, Wednesday, Monday" (Kuzari 4:25, row F in table 33 on p.179 of Kaplan). Sheirat Yosef 10a gives planetary order according to the planetary week (saturday, saturn; sunday, sun; monday, moon; tuesday, mars; wednesday, mercury; thursday, jupiter; friday, venus - row G, table 33 on p.179 Kaplan).

Variations appear early on (Shabbetai Donnolo in one of the earliest of the commentaries on the SY is aware of the discrepancies and "expressed the necessity of correcting the aberrant contents of SY at this point" [Hayman]). But while it is true there is confusion in these manuscripts of the SY, it is also clear that the basis is the chaldean order with confusion specifically related to the relationship between the planetary hours and days of the week (so I find it hard to give much credence to 'historical authority' for making variations based on these apparent examples of confusion, especially with variations unrelated to the Chaldean order, which is clearly at the of all these old variations).

Then we have the Gra (18th century) redaction, the attributions of which have become the standard in Jewish Kabbalah since the late 19th century:

Beit - Moon
Gimel - Mars
Daleth - Sun
Kaph - Venus
Peh - Mercury
Resh - Saturn
Tau - Jupiter

(These attributions are used in some 20th century Spanish decks, making them as far as I am aware the only ones to correspond to any Jewish Kabbalistic redaction of the SY, albeit a late one. Decker/Dummet suggest the source for the attributions of these Spanish decks is Westcott's essay on the 'Isiac Tablet of Bembo' in which he uses the Gra attributions. They do not give their reasons for this suggestion.)

While the variations in the early version may be due to error and misunderstanding, that of the Gra redaction is as you say somewhat different, in that they were changed purposely to make them more consistent with the Zohar and teachings of the Ari (and to remove elements important in Shabbatean kabbalistic tradition, such as the attribution of Saturn to Binah) - so I think there is credible historical 'precedent' in the example of the Gra redaction. All such variations applied only to the double letters however (which may be appropriate in reference to planets as 'wandering star', in contrast to the 'fixed stars' of the zodiac), so Crowley's variation among the single letters remains without historical precent. Regardless of any historical authority however, such is secondary to the primary authority of the revelation on which the Thelemic redaction is based.

ref:
Aryeh Kaplan Sefer Yetzira (Weiser Books 1997)
Peter Hayman Sefer Yesira (2004 Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen, Germany).
William Wynn Westcott Sefer Yetzira
Ronald Decker/Michael Dummet History of the Occult Tarot

Great to see a Thelemic redaction of the SY interpreted direct from the hebrew!

Thank you Jim, nice work!

SteveM

ps: Hi everybody, nice to be on board - looks to be some interesting discussions and meditation projects going on around here