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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