noise-vs-signal

[noise-vs-signal]

The Gates of Light

Sha'are Orah, or Sefer ha-Orah, (שערי אורה‎) (“Portae Lucis”, “Gates of Light”) by Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla (1561).

“Gikatilla was called a Thaumaturge by his peers, someone who has the power to make subtle changes in higher realms, which in turn produce physical results.

For instance, if a Magus made slight changes in the world of formation (Olam Yetzirah), such as within the sephiroth of Yesod upon which Malkuth (the material realm) is based and within which all former sephiroth (Sefirot) are brought together, then these alterations would appear in the world of action (Olam Assiah).

Like his master, Abraham Abulafia, Gikatilla occupied himself with mystic combinations and transpositions of letters and numbers.

Abulafia suggests a method that is based on a stimulus that continuously changes. His intention is not to relax the consciousness by meditation, but to purify it via a high level of concentration which requires doing many actions at the same time. For this, he uses Hebrew letters.

Abulafia’s method includes a number of steps.

The first step, preparation: the initiate purifies himself through fasting, the wearing of tefillin, and donning pure white garments.

The second step: the mystic writes out specific letter groups and their permutations.

The third step, physiological maneuvers: the mystic chants the letters in conjunction with specific respiratory patterns, as well as head positioning.

The fourth step, mental imagery of letters and human forms: the mystic imagines a human form, and himself without a body. Then the mystic ‘draws’ the letters mentally, projects them onto the ‘screen’ of the ‘imaginative faculty’, i.e. he mentally imagines the patterns of letters. He then rotates the letters and turns them.

As Abulafia describes in Imrei Shefer: "And they [the letters], with their forms, are called the Clear Mirror, for all the forms having brightness and strong radiance are included in them.

And one who gazes at them in their forms will discover their secrets and speak to them, and they will speak to him. And they are like an image in which a man sees all his forms standing in front of him, and then he will be able to see all in all.” - Wikipedia.

“The syntactical nature of reality, the real secret of magic, is that the world is made of words. And if you know the words that the world is made of, you can make of it whatever you wish.” - Terence McKenna.

#kabbalah

[noise-vs-signal]

The Tree

The Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

This diagram can be used as a map of whatever system you are working with, whether the microcosm (yourself) or the macrocosm (the universe), or any level in between.

“That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below“ - From a translation of the “Emerald Tablet” by Sir Isaac Newton.

A modern version of the statement above would be: “The Universe is a fractal, holographic, self-similar system”.

Energy (light, “Ohr”), constantly flows through the different spheres (”Sephirot”). Each sphere (”sapphire”) disperses the light in a different way, resulting in a different color and effect on the overall system.

The spheres shown (from bottom to top, with suggested correspondences) are:

Earth (Malkuth) - Sensory Input/Output, Physical World, Muladhara Chakra.

Moon (Yesod) - Imagination, Dreams, Fantasy, Svadhisthana Chakra.

Mercury (Hod) - Intellect, Language.

Venus (Netzach) - Emotion, Passion, Love, Music.

Sun (Tipareth) - Beauty, Balance, Anahata Chakra.

Mars (Geburah) - Will, Force, Energy, Manipura Chakra.

Jupiter (Chesed) - Compassion, Kindness, Mercy, Benevolence.

Uranus (Daath) - Ego, Vishuddhi Chakra.

Saturn (Binah) - Understanding, Gnosis, Ajna Chaka.

Zodiac (Chokmah) - Wisdom, Ajna Chakra.

Universe (Keter) - Sahasrara Chakra.

At any given time, if you take a “snapshot” of the system, you will see that there will be more energy in some spheres than others.

Each sphere influences others that it is connected to, and energy will flow from a sphere that has an excess of energy to one that has a deficit. Feedback loops (both “positive” and “negative”) are also common.

Note how the astrological symbols for the planets can all be generated from a combination of the circle and the line.

For example, moving the cross of the elements down from the circle of earth gives the Mirror of Venus or Ankh of Isis. Adding the crescent horns of the moon to this gives the glyph for Mercury. The signs for Jupiter and Saturn are variants of each other. For more on this subject, please see John Dee’s “Monas Hieroglyphica” (1564).

For practical work with this system, consult “Liber 777″. For example, if you wish to create a ritual to invoke or channel the energies of Mercury (intellect, facility with language, the Trickster etc.), then all rows with the number 8 (the number of this sphere) in each table will give you the correspondences for this energy, including colors, scents (incense), drugs etc.

Another example of practical work is using the Tree in combination with the Tarot e.g. see the “Tarot Tree Spread”.

One of the clearest overviews of the Hermetic Qabalah is given in “The Mystical Qabalah” by Dion Fortune (1935).

#reblog

[noise-vs-signal]

Hall of Mirrors

A sequence of five mirrors were set up, with each mirror being positioned so that it reflected sunlight onto the next mirror in the chain.

The first image shows the Archangel Gabriel as the guardian of the Mirror of Yesod. The Copper Green Mirror of Venus can be seen reflected in the centre, with that mirror in turn showing sunlight reflected off another mirror further back (towards the light source).

The second photograph shows the Mirror of Malkuth, the last mirror in the sequence and on the Kabbalistic Tree. Its reflection in turn embeds the images from Yesod, Netzach and the other spheres it receives light and imagery from. The cross (flower) of the Four Elements can be seen on the border of this glass.

Image three shows the Mirror of Venus, with the indigo Mirror of the Moon captured by it. The following photo shows how viewing Venus from another angle shows us the Orange Mirror of Hod (Mercury) within it. Each mirror can only reflect what is put in front of it, without judgement or commentary.

Some following photographs show the sun surrounded by the iridescent rays of the Cauda Pavonis. The second last shows the Sun itself, without any intervening man-made mirror.

The five Sepirah that were represented are shown at the bottom the Tree of Life diagram. Each mirror reflects a different scene depending on where it has been placed, and the further we are from the light source (e.g. in the last mirror, Malkuth), the harder it is to see the “original light”.

Each mirror also contains an image of the other mirrors that are within “line-of-sight”. This relates to concepts like the Holographic Principle, Fractals and Self-Similarity.

We can also view this as a model for thinking about time, where you could consider each mirror as a “Now Moment” that you experience, and in which both the past and future events are embedded and visible if you know where and how to look. In that sense each mirror is a liminal space, a crossroads, an “Interzone”, the “Neither-Neither” in the philosophy of AOS.

These in-between places are the Borderlands, where the rules are more fluid and commerce and traffic are made between the waking and dreaming worlds. Ultimately all physical manifestations in the last sphere are the reflections of eternal ideas and archetypes from further up in the Tree.

#reblog

[noise-vs-signal]

“Mirror Door II” (2024)

#mirror #labyrinth

[noise-vs-signal]

How to exist completely in Idea Space?

Adopt a set of personas (archetypes) to be in that Space, the Space of Pure Idea, Pure Form, the Word, wrapped in Feeling, giving it meaning and significance.

Dantalion and Astaroth

The Goetic Duke Dantalion, of Mercurial and Lunar Aspect, and his consort Duchess Astaroth, Astarte, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus, Isis.

#dantalion #ashtaroth #goetia

[noise-vs-signal]

Invocation of Iris, as dreamt by Morpheus, King of Dreams.

#greek mythology #goddess

[noise-vs-signal]

Iris

Iris, the Rainbow, is a messenger of the Gods, and like Mercury she carries the caduceus. She is the Halo of the Moon, and carries a Coat of Many Colours.

She is a Goddess of Light, and messenger (Angel) of Venus.

The God of Dreams, Morpheus, dreams of her.

#goddess #greek mythology

[noise-vs-signal]

Symbolic Being

The Sun King (Spirit) rules over the cross of the four elements, fire in the right hand, water in the left, earth below, air above. This forms the image of Venus (Body).

Venus is then crowned by the Moon (Soul), both equal and in conjunction.

The whole forms Mercury (Mind).

The symbols for the 7 planets (Gods) can all be derived from the symbol above. The Gods are made of language, and are the archetypes that make up your being.

See also: "Monas Hieroglyphica" by John Dee (1564).

#alchemy #correspondences

[noise-vs-signal]

The Buddha

“Buddha, "Awakened One" or "Enlightened One", is the masculine form of budh (बुध् ), "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again", “to awaken", “‘to open up' (as does a flower)", “one who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge". - Wikipedia.

Awakened to Eternity.

#time #consciousness

[noise-vs-signal]

The City of Brass

“The Story of the City of Brass” from the أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ‎, ʾAlf Laylah wa-Laylah (Arabian Nights), translated by Richard Francis Burton.

In Solomonic Lore, the Djinn are imprisoned by Sol-Om-On in a Brass Vessel, The Grail, filled with the Iron Blood of the Saints, which is then thrown into the Great Sea.

Brass, like Bronze, is an Alloy (Marriage) of Copper (which is of Venus) and Zinc (which is of Jupiter).

It is used by the Magus to fashion, weave and grow a Structure of such Beauty, blossoming and unfolding throughout All Time, that the Djinn and Goetia, the Daemons and Gentry, the Fey and Sidhe, are said to much desire to tarry therein, at least for a while.

In some circles it is whispered that the City of Brass is another name for the City of Babel.

#goetia #city of babel

[noise-vs-signal]

The Goetic Spirits

The 72 Spirits of the Goetia, with their titles, seals, and legions, taken from the Lesser Key of Solomon, who bound and rules these Spirits.

These Spirits can be seen as 'stepped down' versions of the 7 Planetary Gods (see "777" for how the correspondences branch out from here).

The Gods they descend from are given on either side of their title. The symbols are the planet associated with a given number e.g. Mars (♂︎) for 5, Venus (♀︎) for 7 etc.

Numbers larger than 9 are reduced (compressed) by adding their digits together. So for Earl Ipos, the 22nd Spirit: 22 -> 2 + 2 = 4 = ♃ = Jupiter.

The symbol on the left of the title is the God derived from the Spirit's number.

The symbol on the right is derived from converting each letter in the name to a number: Ipos -> 8 + 15 + 14 + 18 = 55 -> 5 + 5 = 10 -> 1 + 0 = 1 = ☿ = Mercury.

The real gender of some Spirits is also here revealed e.g. Duchess Astaroth, Queen Paimon, the Marquise Phoenix, Countess Maltas etc.

#goetia #book of babel

[noise-vs-signal]

Mapping the Maze

Mapping the Maze, Idea Space, Reality.

The Queen (Ariadne) is the most powerful player on the board.

#maze #game #cartography

[noise-vs-signal]

Duchess of Dreams (1984)

#ashtaroth #book of babel #goddess #goetia

[noise-vs-signal]

“Labyrinthus Archidoxae” (“Labyrinth of Primary Principles”) by Joseph Uccello (2017).

#labyrinth #alchemy

[noise-vs-signal]

City of the Mind

The City of Babel is the City of the Mind.

Poster by Cory and Catska Ench (2010).

#city of babel #idea space

[noise-vs-signal]

Elemental Being

Your Spirit is your Essence, the core of what you are, a Fire and Sun burning at the very heart of you.

Your Mind, your thoughts like air, clouds, wind blowing softly or swiftly, Mercurial language, aerial spirits twisting and turning around the central Fire.

Your Soul, your emotions and memories, tides and currents in the Great Sea, the Mirror of the Moon shining on the waves, glinting on the quicksilver.

Your Body, the crystallisation and combination of the other elements, Green Nature, the Goddess in all her forms.

#correspondences #alchemy

[noise-vs-signal]

Newgrange

The Triple Spiral is the Triple Goddess, and her cave and cauldron is the womb from which your body was born, and the grave to which your body will return.

Images from Newgrange in Ireland, over 5200 years old, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.

#labyrinth #celtic mythology