Study Guide for the Mystery of the Spheres
Yule 2011 (12/21/11) 9PM PST
1. Why is Nuit called “The Mother of the Gods?”
Isis of the Stars Bookstore Nuit is the mother of the Heliopolitan Ennead, e.g., Osiris, Horus the Elder, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Her husband is Geb, the earth god, and her grandfather is Re, the Sun god. Re forbade her to have her children during any day of the year, so Thoth gambled with Iah, the Moon god, for 5 days outside the calendar year in which the Ennead could be born.
These five days lead up to the beginning of the Egyptian calendar year, and are known as the Epagomenal Days. They bring the calendar up to 365 days from 360. The Egyptians did not adjust their calendar for leap years, but allowed the dates to float.
The Epagomenal Days coincided with the heliacal rising of Sirius at the time of the Summer Solstice during the Old Kingdom when the calendar was constructed, but precession gradually moved the rising away from the agricultural year's beginning. So the Egyptians maintained additional calendars that governed the agricultural year and the civil year, as well as a Sothic year tied to the heliacal rising of Sirius.
Nuit, as sky goddess, is home to Sirius, and the heliacal rising (with the dawn) has Sirius standing out from the red glow preceding sunrise. That glow was considered Nuit's birthing blood when she gave birth to Re each morning at the end of the night.
December 14 at 6:12pm
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2. Why is Nuit called “the Great Deep,” and “the Celestial Abyss?”
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Isis of the Stars Bookstore Nuit is called "the Great Deep" from her part as one of Thoth's Ogdoad (group of 8) assistants in creating the world. In this myth, Nut is the female counterpart of Nu or Nun, the watery abyss/matrix from which Thoth raises the mound of Earth on which Re is born for the first time.
She is called "The Celestial Abyss" because she holds the souls of the sacred dead within her body, giving light through the darkness of night. This sets her watery nature apart from that of Nun, whose darkness is undifferentiated. December 14 at 6:15pm · Like
Maury White-Hereford A couple of things, just off the top of my head. The mound of earth (that suggested the pyramid form) could also be a pregnant earth, which resonates with your suggestion about the souls of the dead in Her body, but also could be considered Her womb to give birth to the dead and staring the Karmic cycle.
December 15 at 8:25am · Like
3. Why does Nuit say, “I am both Birth and Death” in the oracle?
Isis of the Stars Bookstore Nuit's hieroglyphic symbol (o), a water jar, is also supposed to symbolize the womb. So that's a pretty rich and valid observation, Maury. December 16 at 2:01pm · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore I think that you may be right about Egyptian thought on birth and death, Maury. It certainly makes sense in light of Lady Olivia's Awakening of Osiris mystery drama, the one preceding this one. If our entry into the physical world represents "death" from the spirit world and movement into a physical sarcophagus, as in Awakening, then our "death" out of the physical world and rejoining with the spirits in the Duat would indeed represent our "birth." I have a particular fondness for the idea of living as a star in the body of Nuit. Monday at 9:41am · Like
4. What does she mean by saying, “I am the Mistress of the Spheres” (hint: Qabalah )?
Isis of the Stars Bookstore Since Nuit is the watery matrix in which all things manifest, she corresponds to Da'ath in the Qabalah. Her husband, Geb, as Earth god most likely corresponds to Malkuth, and her father, Re, to Kether—as prime motivator. Or one could see the correspondence of Nuit to Kether as Sky goddess to Geb's Earth god, but I think that's a weaker analogy.
December 14 at 6:18pm · Like
Maury White-Hereford I think you are right about the analogy. Nut could not be considered the "first swerlings" but the place of the "first swerinlings." But, I think the Q. is not a required landscape to discus this. I don't think we have to look much further than the idea that the spheres are contained in Her body (sky). But, we can not confuse the container for the creator.
December 15 at 8:44am · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore So, perhaps the spheres are the sky, the Moon, the Earth, and the Duat? Based on the text and the Goddesses invoked in it, that would explain the "world of the shades" comment above, as well.
December 16 at 2:00pm · Like
5. What does she mean when she says, “When you honor me as the Earth Mother, you face my Abyss…?”
Maury White-Hereford That makes more sense. I am still having a hard time "feeling" Nuit as the Earth Mother. Ok If Nuit is the space between the Earth and the Nun then the earth is contained in Her womb. Sallie Ann Glassman did a painting of Yemaya in which the planet was contained in her womb. We again have the correspondence of Nun = water. December 17 at 8:05am · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore And Nuit is a form of water as the waters of the womb, and its container. Her hieroglyphic symbol is a water pot that also stands for the womb. So the painting of Yemaya you describe would be appropriate. December 17 at 12:07pm · Like
6. In the oracle, Nuit refers to the Earth Mother and the Father, but in Egyptian mythology, Geb is the Earth *father* and Nuit is the sky mother. Who are the Earth Mother and the Father? (Hint: Qabalah)
Presumably Kether and Malkuth. The father referred to in the text is most likely a representation of the patriarchal "sky Father" gods that have ruled since the time of ancient Egypt's fall.
The Earth mother is the sky Father's counterpart, certainly by the Greek times corresponding to Gaia.
December 14 at 6:21pm · Like
Maury White-Hereford I am going to have to come back to this. I think trying to place these ideas on the Tree maybe forcing a connection. The Q. is a much later system and whereas they can dovetail because Hebrew Esoterisism is influenced by Egyptian thought I am not sure that using it as a correspondence does not short circuit/restrict exploration. In other words I am not at all sure that Nut had the Q. in mind when She transmitted this info. to Olivia. But, I will be considering this.
December 15 at 9:17am · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore If you read the ritual, it is clear that the spheres she refers to are the Qabalah. Maybe in an elder form, as Olivia used the alchemical texts written by St. Germain as a basis for the ritual, and I suspect those texts were incorporated into the Qabalah.
In any case, my comments reflect my own experience with the ritual over the years.
December 17 at 8:07am · Like
6. In the oracle, Nuit refers to the Earth Mother and the Father, but in Egyptian mythology, Geb is the Earth *father* and Nuit is the sky mother. Who are the Earth Mother and the Father? (Hint: Qabalah)
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Isis of the Stars Bookstore See question #4's answer. Presumably Kether and Malkuth. The father referred to in the text is most likely a representation of the patriarchal "sky Father" gods that have ruled since the time of ancient Egypt's fall.
The Earth mother is the sky Father's counterpart, certainly by the Greek times corresponding to Gaia.
December 14 at 6:21pm · Like
Maury White-Hereford I am going to have to come back to this. I think trying to place these ideas on the Tree maybe forcing a connection. The Q. is a much later system and whereas they can dovetail because Hebrew Esoterisism is influenced by Egyptian thought I am not sure that using it as a correspondence does not short circuit/restrict exploration. In other words I am not at all sure that Nut had the Q. in mind when She transmitted this info. to Olivia. But, I will be considering this.
December 15 at 9:17am · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore If you read the ritual, it is clear that the spheres she refers to are the Qabalah. Maybe in an elder form, as Olivia used the alchemical texts written by St. Germain as a basis for the ritual, and I suspect those texts were incorporated into the Qabalah.
In any case, my comments reflect my own experience with the ritual over the years.
December 16 at 1:57pm · Like
December 17 at 8:07am · Like
7. Why is Isis associated with the sphere of the Moon? What is the sphere of the Moon? (Hint: Qabalah)
Isis of the Stars Bookstore Persephone, obviously, is the Greek goddess married to Hades, lord of the underworld. Here, she is a counterpart of Isis and Nephthys, Goddesses who attend Osiris in the Duat. They stand as the double Ma'ati behind his seat of judgment, where the souls are weighed.
Persephone bore to Hades a son, Iacchos, who brings light to the underworld. This could correspond to the idea of souls being reborn as stars in the womb of Nuit after death.
In the spheres of the Qabalah, I believe this would correspond to the sephira of Binah, or Understanding, after the initial impulse from Kether is filtered through Chokmah, Wisdom. It is the Wisdom of Osiris in the Judgment that understands when the person is "true of voice and justified," and the power of the Ma'ati to understand the truth that permits the soul to pass onward on its voyage. Could this then correspond to Hades and Persephone in Lady Olivia's ritual thoughts.
December 16 at 2:09pm · Like
Maury White-Hereford I don't know Michael. I am more inclined to think of Hades in Malkuth, especially if we would consider the "world of the Shades" the Duat or the entrance into and out of life. I would place Osiris in Tipereth. In this case the "weighing of the heart" would seem apt. But, like Isis, Osiris fits all spheres.
December 17 at 8:30am · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore This is true, Isis and Osiris fit all spheres. But we can see them lensed through particular spheres when we use a particular mystery drama. I like your assignment of the sphere of shades as Malkuth, especially in light of your other post describing "death" as the incarnation into a body (the theme of the Awakening of Osiris." Osiris in Tiphareth works as the Heart of the tree of life, and we could consider Thoth/Djehuti as the prime mover in Kether—he's the one who organized the work of the Ogdoad to create the world, of which Nuit was a part.
December 17 at 12:05pm · Like
Maury White-Hereford Yes, I agree about the Rite focusing through a sphere. But, I associate Djhuti with Hod. There is also another idea. I am not sure if it is germain to this discussion. As an ex. , we have Hod (Thoth) and Netzach (Hathor). Two "opposing" points, Truth and Love (Beauty). Maybe the balancing energy (Path), I forgot the card, that runs between them (or any Path between the Sephira) is the "Music of the Spheres." I bring this up, because this is part of the exp. Daniel and I had when we did this Rite on the Lunar eclipse in Dec. last year. Although, at that time I did not associate it in just this way.
Sunday at 1:17am · Like
Maury White-Hereford I can see your assignment of Thoth as prime mover, but that is the sphere of concept not application, as are all the top three. As we move down the Tree we pick up form, just as we move down through the planes picking the mummy wrappings of the physical body.
Sunday at 1:23am · Like
Maury White-Hereford Again, I think this brings us to the idea of incarnating through Malkuth, the world of shades.
Sunday at 1:24am · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore Exactly! Djehuti provides the primal sound/DNA for the universe to unfold as it should. The Ogdoad condition the plasma to make the singularity that explodes to become the Big Bang. They are male and female counterparts, Chokmah and Binah. The movement induced by the Great Word, spoken by Djehuti causes the bang to begin, then conditions the expanding plasma to form the physical stars and galaxies and worlds. (Scientists have actually detected compression waves/sound waves/within the primordial plasma causing some areas to be denser and some thinner. This generated stars and so forth as gravity took over from the other three strong forces.)
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Isis of the Stars Bookstore I checked the main meanings of each of the Sephirah: Kether (crown), Chokmah (Wisdom), Binah (Understanding), Geburah (Severity), Chesed (Mercy), Tiphareth (Beauty), Netzach (Victory), Hod (Majesty), Yesod (Foundation), Malkuth (Kingdom). Hod can also mean "Praise" or "Splendor," and Netzach can also mean "Eternity" or "Endurance."
Tiphareth also translates to "Sprituality, Balance," or "Integration."
Sunday at 6:59pm · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore Geburah can also be translated as "Judgment" or "strength," and Chesed as "Kindness" or "Love." So here you might see Osiris and Isis paired, or Horus and Hathor, who are paired counterparts. (Hathor's Egyptian name, "Het Heru," means the "House of Horus," or the sun's path through the sky over the course of a day.)
I admit that I'm working on more traditional assignments of the meanings for the Sephirah than Crowley's, but I think we may be speaking a little at cross-purposes, Maury.
And I do agree that the world of shades is Malkuth, at least relative to this ritual.
What do you think of Nuit as being the sphere of Da'ath?
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Monday at 10:03am · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore You're welcome. I get confused easily, so I keep a *LOT* of references handy. I've been reading my way through St. Germain's
Most Holy Trinosophia all afternoon today.
Monday at 1:06pm · Like
9. What was the Initiation of Demophoon? According to the text, Le Comte de St. Germain, a mysterious alchemist of the 18th century underwent this initiation through the Goddesses Demeter and Persephone in a descent into the crater of Vesuvius, the doorway to the underworld (re: Virgil).
Demophöon was the prince at Eleusis whom Demeter tried to make immortal in the fire by burning away his mortal parts, but was stopped by his mother's fear. This is symbolic of an alchemical transformation, in which the soul is heated and "processed" by different methods to purify and refine away the mortal dross that holds us back from enlightenment.
Demeter went on to teach Demophöon the magic of the seeds and the grain, how to plant and reap a harvest, and this became the basis for the Cult of Eleusis.
Monday at 11:23pm · Like
10. Why does the initiate wear a linen veil and carry the Golden Bough? (see Dante/Virgil) What is the Golden Bough?
Isis of the Stars Bookstore The veil represents their uninitiated blindness to the truth, and the golden bough is the price for entering the underworld that Virgil, and then Dante provide to be allowed to enter. Some believe that the actual golden bough is a sprig of mistletoe, which remains golden-green even in the depths of winter.
Monday at 11:24pm · Like
11. The initiate finds himself in a square chamber in which shines a Crystal Star. What does this symbolize?
To quote the analysis of _The Most Holy Trinosophia_ in the Forgotten Books edition:
"After a great distance the passage ends in a square room from which lead four doors. This is the Hall of Choosing. The doors signify the courses which the soul can pursue. The black door is the path of asceticism and labor; the red door is that of faith, the blue door is that of purification, and the white door is that of adeptship and the highest Mysteries. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna describes these paths and those who follow them, and reveals that the last is the highest and most perfect.
The neophyte enters through the black door of asceticism and labor, and is about to pass through the red door of enlightened love when it closes upon him. He then turns to the door of purification and sacrifice, but this will not receive him. Then the [crystal] star, the symbol of his essential daemon or genius, darts through the white door. Fate has decreed adeptship. The neophyte follows his star.
The alchemical significance of the account reveals that at the beginning of the Great Work, the power of choice is given to the operator, that he may decide the end to which his labor shall be directed. The black door represents the making of material gold; the red door the Universal Medicine for the healing of the nations; the blue door the Elixir of LIfe, and the white door the Philosopher's Stone. From the door which is chosen we discover that aspect of the Great Work which our author contemplates."
Monday at 11:41pm · Like
12. Who is the woman in the painting on the north wall? She is depicted naked to the waist with black drapery over her lap that has two silver bands running down it. She is holding a rod which she places against the head of a man standing in front of her. What does the rod symbolize?
According to the Analysis of _The Most Holy Trinosophia_ by Forgotten Books, the woman in the painting "...is Isis in her role as Initiatrix. She is Nature, and her black skirt is the corporeal world by which part of her body is concealed. The naked man is the neophyte. Unclothed he came into the world and unclothed he must be born again....The objects lying upon [the table] or held by Isis, are three of the suit symbols which appear upon the Tarot cards...The cup is the symbol of water, the spearhead of fire and the wand of air. Fire, air, and water are the symbols of the great Magical Agent. Their names in Hebrew are Chamah, Ruach, and Majim, and by the Cabbala the first letter of each of these words—Ch, R, and M—constitute Chiram, known to the Freemasons as Hiram. This is the invisible essence which is the father of the four elements, and designates itself Chiram Telat Mechasot—Chiram the Universal Agent, one in essence, three in aspect, in which is hidden the wisdom of the whole world."
"The Hebrew characters in the panel above the head of Isis are translated: 'On account of distress they shall cling to the Bestower,' which means that those (the wise) who have become wearied with worldliness shall turn to wisdom, the bestower of all good things."
Monday at 11:56pm · Like
13. On an altar before the woman in the painting lies a cup and a lance-head. What do these objects symbolize?
Isis of the Stars Bookstore See question #12. The Cup is water, the lance-head is fire, and the wand Isis holds is Air. To the alchemists, these are the three primal elements from which corporeal manifestation descends. Monday at 11:57pm · Like
14. What does it mean that the initiate's heart is awakened by the rite of Demophöon, such that "Truth is combined with Love in Harmony?"
Isis of the Stars Bookstore Given that Demeter sought to burn away the impurities of mortality and purify the child Demoph
öon in the nursery fireplace, Truth is probably symbolized by the Air/purification aspect, Love by the Fire, and the ultimate immortal, enlightened being by Harmony.
Monday at 11:59pm · Like
15. The initiate must return to the physical world after the initiation in the square chamber. He/she finds him/herself inside the crystal star, in a perfectly round chamber. What does this shift signify?
Isis of the Stars Bookstore This is where the Mystery of the Spheres skips most of the steps in the alchemical process from _The Most Holy Trinosophia_. Essentially, the circular vessel in which the candidate finds himself is the interior of the athanor, or alchemical oven, in which he will be washed three times with different solutions to purify his soul. This occurs in the sign of Libra, signifying the restoration of the balance.
Yesterday at 12:06am · Like
16. Why does the initiate's robe change color from green to red? Why does he/she remain for three days in the hall?
Isis of the Stars Bookstore The initiate's robe was originally of white linen, when he entered at Vesuvius. After the purification of water, salt, and putrefaction in Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius:
"After leaving the house of putrefaction the Initiate observes that his robe changes color, becoming at last a beautiful green. This is a direct allusion to the alchemical formula. We are told that during the processes of digestion the alchemical substance changes color, which has given rise to its being called the peacock because of its iridescence during one of the periods of its digestion. The various colored garments worn by the several degrees of the ancient priestcrafts represented stages of spiritual unfoldment. According to the same rule, in the preparation of the Wise Man's Stone the base substance passes through a philosophical spectrum, turning from one color to another according to the end which the operator desires to achieve.
In the last stage, where the garment transforms from green to brilliant red, the Initiate has once again entered "a crystal retort resting in a sand furnace which keeps it constantly at a gentle heat. The name of the hall is 'A place where drops trickle.' The basin sustaining it is 'the desert of blazing fire,' or 'the agent which enables the drops to escape.' From the bottom of the glass retort, vapors are constantly ascending. The adept is lifted up, and after thirty-six days is borne to the upper part of the globe. The heat being reduced, he descends and discovers that the color of his garment has changed from green to brilliant red. 'The solution in the alchemical retort, if digested a certain length of time, will turn into a red elixir, which is callled the Universal Medicine. It resembles a fiery water, and is luminous in the dark.'...The adept himself is now the Universal Medicine...His crimson garment is the vestment of the Red Elixir."
Yesterday at 12:19am · Like
Isis of the Stars Bookstore This stage reflects the completion of the alchemical journey, where the initiate encounters the philosophical sun.
Yesterday at 12:20am · Like
17. After exiting the crystal chamber, the initiate finds him/herself in a hall surrounded by collonades. In the center is a bronze pedestal with a warrior crowned with a helmet, wearing golden mesh armor under which shows a blue garment. He holds a white staff bearing cryptic characters, and extends his hand toward a beautiful woman. Who is the man on the pedestal?
Isis of the Stars Bookstore The warrior is the Initiate himself at this final state. The white wand he carries is his badge of office, the baton of the adept. The blue garment showing through his armor is his starry cloak, gained back many steps ago.
Yesterday at 12:23am · Like
18. The woman on the pedestal is nude except for a Sun shining on her breast. She wears a crown of red roses. Who is the woman, and what does the Sun signify?
