Atu XIX - The Lord of the Fire of the World

[Aeon418]

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This is one of the simplest of the cards; it represents Heru-ra-ha, the Lord of the New Aeon, in his manifestation to the race of men as the Sun spiritual, moral, and physical. He is the Lord of Light, Life, Liberty and Love. This Aeon has for its purpose the complete emancipation of the human race.

 

This may be one of the simplest cards, but Crowley's description of it leaves a lot to be desired. Take for example his description of the mound and wall.

 

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The green mound represents the fertile earth, its shape, so to speak, aspiring to the heavens. But around the top of the mound is a wall, which indicates that the aspiration of the new Aeon does not mean the absence of control. 

It is also most important to observe that the formula of the Rose and Cross (indicated by the wall-girt mound) has completed the fire-change into “something rich and strange”; for the mound is green, where one would expect it to be red, and the wall red, where one would expect it to be green or blue.

 

Why should we expect the green mound to be red? Why is the wall red rather than blue or green? How does this represent a fire-change into something rich and strange?

Crowley tells us that this card represents a broadening of the idea of the Rose and Cross. At root this symbolises the union of opposites. The most fundamental expression of this is the union of masculine and feminine.

 

With this in mind some of Crowley's obscure comments begin to make sense. The green mound is Earth and therefore symbolically feminine. But aspiration is a red flame, reaching upward. The green mound, aspiring to the heavens, is the union of these two. An interpretation of this might be physical life lived in aspiration to the highest, thereby uniting heaven and earth.

 

The wall appears to be a similar expression of union. Crowley clearly states that it "completely encircles the top of the mound." The circle is traditionally the archetypal feminine symbol. This may be the reason why we should expect it to be in the colour of the feminine elements, water-blue or earth-green. But instead it is coloured in the masculine colours of fire-red and air-yellow. What might this symbolise? In the past the wall was interpreted as a symbol of structure and order (civilization). Essentially it is a feminine protective symbol, which is why the children are traditionally on the inside. But on the Thoth card the children are outside the wall, which sits atop the mound of aspiration. One interpretation of this is that it represents humanity growing beyond the artificial structures that have been built up in the past. But the wall is now transformed into a new regulating and guiding principle of aspiration.

 

Crowley is pointing to the True Will of each individual being the guide and source of the new freedom and light in the world. But this is not mere anarchy as is indicated by the wall which now symbolises a "close and definite alliance with the celestial." The True Will of each individual is part of a wider cosmic order. The twin children now stand within the circle of the zodiac, with the True Will of each individual being it's earthly expression. "Every man and every woman is a star." Depending on which side of the "old wall" one stands, this new freedom is either liberating or horrifying.

 

The "symbols of the Old Aeon" at the bottom of the card are old symbols of the Rose and Cross. The crucified figure represents an old understanding of the sun and of ourselves based on themes of death and resurrection. The inscription, I.N.R.I., on the crucifix of the suffering and dying god may now be read as:

 

Igne Natura Renovatur Integra - All of Nature is Renewed by Fire.

 

The sign of Capricorn (Atu XV) appears at the zenith of the circle of the zodiac. The twin children manifest this with "shamelessness" on earth by a posing as the letter Ayin, Atu XV.

 

While at the nadir is the sign and Cancer, emblem of the Great Work via the letter Cheth (Wall) and the number 418 - HRV RA HA and Abrahadabra.

 

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The Mass of the Phoenix:

 

This Bread I eat. This Oath I swear
As I enflame myself with prayer:
"There is no grace: there is no guilt:
This is the Law: DO WHAT THOU WILT!"

 

ABRAHADABRA.
I entered in with woe; with mirth
I now go forth, and with thanksgiving,
To do my pleasure on the earth
Among the legions of the living.

 

 

[smw]

Aeon418  "The wall appears to be a similar expression of union. Crowley clearly states that it "completely encircles the top of the mound." The circle is traditionally the archetypal feminine symbol. This may be the reason why we should expect it to be in the colour of the feminine elements, water-blue or earth-green. But instead it is coloured in the masculine colours of fire-red and air-yellow. What might this symbolise?"

 

👋

Do you think The Chariot, letter Cheth, Fence, enclosure, might be associated here?

 

The colours of the wall, Red, Yellow representing fire & air of the elements, are of the armour of the Chariot and Charioteer, who is ready to annihilate the ego and cross over to the celestials.

 

 

 

 

 

[Aeon418]

1 hour ago, smw said:

Do you think The Chariot, letter Cheth, Fence, enclosure, might be associated here?

 

The colours of the wall, Red, Yellow representing fire & air of the elements, are of the armour of the Chariot and Charioteer, who is ready to annihilate the ego and cross over to the celestials.

 

Yes. The letter Cheth is traditionally associated with the wall on the Sun card, but the ideas represented by Cheth have changed and expanded.

 

Previously the wall was said to represent human adaptation of natural conditions. It is meant to be a symbol of how the development of the human mind has allowed our species to evolve beyond mere animal instinct. Consider how the 30th path connects Hod and Yesod, representing the ordering influence of the rational mind on the natural instincts. The main outward expression of this developmental process is Civilization. This is why Crowley talks about it in the final third of his commentary on the Sun card. 

 

The Thoth Tarot's Sun card represents the "next step" in this process by showing the children outside the wall. In symbolic terms it represents graduation from Conscious Self Development 101 class. Something new is now possible. The wall now represents a new ideal towards which self development is to be directed.

 

For this reason I think the mound on the Sun card is meant to symbolise Mount Abiegnus, the mountain of initiation. But initiation itself has changed. The next developmental step must unite the Terrestrial with the Celestial. I think it is significant that there is no one (NEMO) inside the wall. 

 

Gunther draws attention to this on page 156 of Initiation in the Aeon of the Child. Liber Cheth is Vallum Abiegni - the Wall of Abiegnus. No longer is it the "tomb of the risen Christ, but rather the tomb of the Saints who have poured the last drop of their blood into the Cup of Babalon."

 

"For only those who have drawn the black bean may plant the Rose, only those who have drunk the waters of Death may water the Rose, and only those who have been consumed in the Fire of life may sun the Rose that blooms in Tiphareth." 

[Aeon418]

On 5/22/2023 at 2:51 PM, smw said:

The colours of the wall, Red, Yellow representing fire & air of the elements, are of the armour of the Chariot and Charioteer, who is ready to annihilate the ego and cross over to the celestials.

 

Resh in the Princess (Heh-final) colour scale is amber rayed red. While Cheth in the King scale is amber.

 

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Liber 777:

 

30. Sol. The perfection of Sol is its fixation in the amber of Cancer by elevation at the summer solstice. In this it receives the adornment of pure physical energy, Fire. The red is purer than the orange, being of the incorruptible element.

 

 

[smw]

5 hours ago, Aeon418 said:

 

Resh in the Princess (Heh-final) colour scale is amber rayed red. While Cheth in the King scale is amber.

 

 

Thanks, nice colour pick up 😊

 

I’ll  go and have a look at Liber777.  It reminds me how conceptually organised the Thoth is with the colour scales. 

[Aeon418]

2 hours ago, smw said:

Thanks, nice colour pick up 😊

 

I’ll  go and have a look at Liber777.  It reminds me how conceptually organised the Thoth is with the colour scales. 

 

I think the important point is that amber, both the colour and the material, is symbolically a fixation of sunlight. The sun manifesting in physical form is directly related to the Sun card. The green mound aspiring upward to the sun is a glyph of the vegetable and animal kingdom's constant transformation of solar energy into different and ever more sophisticated evolutionary forms. From the days of the primordial slime the sun has been the catalyst in this ongoing creation until the time a being appeared that was capable of transforming solar energy into conscious, creative thought. That's us. 🙂 The "next step" is a being who is consciously aware of this process and becomes an active and willing participant in the solar transformation of the earth. In a very real sense the twins on the Sun card are an incarnation of the Sun on the Earth. Amber!

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They represent the next stage which is to be attained by mankind, in which complete freedom is alike the cause and the result of the new access of solar energy upon the earth.

   

[2dogs]

On 5/16/2023 at 6:27 PM, Aeon418 said:

The most fundamental expression of this is the union of masculine and feminine.

 

12 hours ago, Aeon418 said:

The perfection of Sol is its fixation in the amber of Cancer by elevation at the summer solstice. In this it receives the adornment of pure physical energy, Fire. The red is purer than the orange, being of the incorruptible element.

I think I’m going to have to look at the Thoth a bit more. These posts and the guidebook for the Tabula Mundi deck are making things a lot clearer to me than the books I’ve tried to read. The comments here fit in very well with my Queen of Wands “ecstatic meditation”.❤️‍🔥

[Aeon418]

On 5/24/2023 at 4:42 AM, Serpentwand said:

I think I’m going to have to look at the Thoth a bit more. These posts and the guidebook for the Tabula Mundi deck are making things a lot clearer to me than the books I’ve tried to read. The comments here fit in very well with my Queen of Wands “ecstatic meditation”.❤️‍🔥

 

I'm not very familiar with the Tabula Mundi. After a quick Google search for the Sun card I can see the general theme of the Sun (and therefore consciousness) being an organizing force.

 

Is that a pine cone on red eye drop? 

[2dogs]

It’s a pineal cone topping a heart vessel with the all-seeing eye, and the snakes show it to form the top of a caduceus. This represents kundalini rising to awaken the third eye.

 

I bought the deck as the Fool’s Dog app for iPad.

[Aeon418]

6 hours ago, Serpentwand said:

It’s a pineal cone topping a heart vessel with the all-seeing eye, and the snakes show it to form the top of a caduceus. This represents kundalini rising to awaken the third eye.

 

That makes sense.  The opening of the Eye is symbolic of the unitary vision in which the dualistic pairs of opposites are united. The Sun and the Solar angel are appropriate symbols of that.