THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
To: alt.magick From: dpschneider@eagle.wesleyan.edu Subject: NOX signs (9406.noxsigns.dps) Date: 49940621 93! I have recently been compiling some of my research on the concepts of the NOX and the Night of Pan, when I asked myself a very simple question. How do I know the order I've been using for the NOX signs is the "correct" order? Is there a "correct" order? These questions lead me to go over all my notes on the subject, and I realized that I had no idea as to the answers. Based on the literature in my possession, I came up with three possible orders for the NOX signs: 1. Puella, Puer, Vir, Mulier, Mater Triumphans--- This is the order I have always used, and it can be traced back to the sequence used in Liber V vel Reguli. In the second part of the ritual, the magician moves around the circle, stopping alternitively at Boleskine and one of the four quarters. At each of these four quarters, the magician makes an averse pentagram, and then does one of the NOX signs in the above order. 2. Puer, Vir, Puella, Mulier, Mater Trumphans(?)--- This is the order found in Liber 36, The Star Sapphire. Crowley starts out by stating that the magician can start by doing the LVX signs or (if at the right point of his/her magical career) the NOX signs. He then lists the NOX signs in the above order, ending with the instruction that I.R. (Isis Rejoicing --- Mater Triumphans?) should be omitted. I have assumed that this means one would normally end with this sign, but he does not say this directly, and therefore, this sign might go anywhere in this sequence. 3. Vir, Mulier, Puer, Puella, Mater Triumphans--- This comes from a commentary on Liber 25, The Star Ruby, by E.A.O.A. The author merely states that "the signs of N.O.X. are: Vir (the man), Mulier (the wife), Puer (the boy), Puella (the maiden), and Mater Triumphans (the successful mother". He does not make any further claims that this is the order that they should be practiced in, he just lists them. Later, E.A.O.A. refers to a similar comentary on Liber 25 done by Liederkranz, where Liederkranz claims this is the correct order (based on IHVH), but E.A.O.A. points out that this omits M.T. I have a theory that might explain why there are different sequences. It could be that during the time when Crowley wrote Liber 36, he had a different conception of the NOX signs then he did when he wrote Liber V. This could parallel the differences in The Star Ruby. Puer N Death Scorpio Water Eros West Vir O Devil Capricorn Earth Chaos East Puella X Star Aquarius Air Psyche South Mulier - Lust Leo Fire Babalon North Some of this needs to be explained. The first column is straight from Liber 36, the last two are from Liber 25 (Book of Lies version). The other columns are my own observations. Puer is said to be the sign of the Gods of Khem. This could be a reference to Al-Khem-y, the process of Death and rebirth. Additionally, N=nun=fish=sperm. Crowley gives the clue in The Book of Lies chapter 1, that NOX is equivalent to O!, and, aside from being a glyph for Hadit, Nuit and Ra Hoor Kuit, Crowley also says that O! is a glyph for kteis, phallos, and sperm. With O=kteis, and X=cross=phallos (see chapter 1), then that leaves N=sperm. I'm not sure why all the astrological signs should be fixed signs except for Vir, but it is clear that The Devil makes sense for this card. The fact that all the other cards fit so well, and Vir still is an Earth sign, seems to be too big of a coincidence to just ignore though. Now I realize that this interpretation of the elemental attributions to the "Book of Lies dieties" in the Star Ruby is different from many of the others, but I think that many of this differences make sense. For example, it makes much more sense to have Psyche=air, and Babalon=fire than the other way around. If Crowley changed his understanding of the "thelemic universe" enough to change the dieties, why would someone automatically assume that he kept all the elemental attributions in the same place. If Duquette's theory in _The Magick of Thelema_, that Crowley set up the Star Ruby and Reguli so that the magician was upside down, is correct, then it is possible that this decision was a later addition to the ritual. Using the attributions I have given, Crowley would have been putting the elements in the correct quarters for a magician standing upright. The reversal could have come later with the changed names. Using all this, it could be that sequence 2 was Crowley's first understanding of the NOX signs, and that sequence 1 comes from a later understanding. Since there is no evidence that Crowley ever used sequence 3, it could very well be just a sequence used by people who weren't sure what sequence to use. If all this is true, I wonder whether it would make more sense to use sequence 2 for Liber 36 instead of sequence 1? Now to the point of this post. Aside from comments on my above observations, I am wondering if anyone has any further information that I don't have on either the NOX or the NOX signs. I have found references in _Magick and Theory and Practice_, _The Book of Lies_, _Liber Aleph_, _Liber 7_ (and its commentary in Mezla I:4), _The Vision and the Voice_, and _The Magick of Thelema_ (by Duquette). Is there anything, published or unpublished, that I have missed? Can anyone help me with the "correct" order of the NOX signs? Is there one? If there is any further information, but giving it is restricted by oaths, please tell me this so that I know that there is more information out there somewhere.... even if I don't have immediate access to it. Thanks for the help. 93 93/93 Dan Schneider (Frater NOX) dpschneider@eagle.wesleyan.edu Newsgroups: alt.magick Subject: re: NOX signs From: dpschneider@eagle.wesleyan.edu Date: 23 Jun 94 20:49:25 EDT Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. CM writes, > Care, > Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. > In reference to your request for further references, I have one from > Equinox VII-1. To my knowledge this commentary is the same one that is found in Mezla 1:4. For those who are curious to see what we are talking about, but don't have the money for Equinox VII-1, I believe there are still old issues of Mezla availible at: Night of Pan Books (The owner of the store is named 719 Elmwood Ave. Mike, and he gives discounts to Appt. #2 OTO members.) :> Buffalo, NY 14222 > You may post this information if you wish, Cool.... I think there is some interesting stuff here. > I am replying > in private so as not to trigger a festival of slander concerning the > validity of this Equinox. I think most people will realize that such comments would have absolutely no place in this thread, and should be taken elsewhere. Additionally, the fact that the commentary appears in two completely unrelated sources should stem off any questions about the validity (editing and otherwise) of the material. > It is from the Comment on Liber VII, at the beginning of which is this note: > "Copy of Comment by NEMO, Sun in 20' Pisces, Anno V. in vellum edition of > Liber VII belonging to V.J." n.b. This date corresponds to some time in March, 1910. This a short time before the writing of _The Book of Lies_, so I think it is safe to view this document as reflecting similar views to those he held during the writing of _The Book of Lies_, whether these views change later or not. > Chapter I, verse 40: "N.O.X. = Nun, A'in, Tzaddi = 210 = (circle w/ x..) > NOX. N= Menthu, O= Amoun, X = Isis Virgin." As I mentioned before, I was aware of this commentary through Mezla, and I opted against including some of this in my last post because I was aware that my post was already getting quite long, I'm very glad you brought some of this up though, since it further explains why I feel that, at least around the time of the writing of _The Book of Lies_, he used sequence 2 for the NOX signs. Excluding "mater triumphans" (a sign I'm convinced is more a glyph of the entire NOX, than any single part of it) for the moment, we have: N Puer nun menthu | Mentu, Khem, etc. O Vir a'in amoun | Pan, Bacchus, etc. X Puella Tzaddi Isis virgin | Venus de Medici - Mulier - | Isis in welcome, Baphomet, etc. For those who have read Liber V, the last column needs little explaination. These are Crowley's interpretations of what each of these signs represent (at least according to Liber V). Puer needs no explaining, but some of the other signs do. Amoun is the silent (hidden) god. Sometimes this is placed at 0 (the fool), and in that case would be related to Pan since Crowley gives Pan as the "Greek God correspondence" to 0. Amoun could also be placed at 2 or 4 (at least according to Crowley.... and it is his interpretation that matters now). Both are good examples of Vir (man), considering Chokmah is the male archtype and Chesed is abba (father). Crowley also places "man" in "Animals, real and imaginary" at 2 and 11 (Chokmah and Aleph-The fool). Puella is the virgin, and thus would be a perfect relation to Venus, the Virgin huntress. This only leaves Mulier, who, as Babalon. makes perfect sense as "Isis in welcome". One thing I noticed since my last post is that in "The Gnostic Mass", there is a line which reads "And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in his name Baphomet". One of the attributions Crowley gives this sign is Baphomet. This links Mulier to the Lust card, and thus to the correspondences I gave in my last post. Anyway, now you can see why I didn't include all this in my last post. I think its incredibly interesting, but it would have doubled its size!!! Hopefully there will be more commentary on this thread, so that I will get a chance to spout off even more :> > I respect your research and hope you find this of interest or at least > curiosity. Yup I did. Thanks. > Love is the law, love under will. > CM > Ipse Agmen 93 93/93 Dan Schneider dpschneider@eagle.wesleyan.edu Frater NOX
The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org. |
Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site. |
The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories, each dealing with a different branch of religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge. Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit: |
|
interdisciplinary:
geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc. |
SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):
OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST
Southern
Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo,
including slave narratives & interviews
|