Equinox Libri Question

agrippa777 Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:55 pm

Hello,
93
Previously I was directed to the "Stele of Revealing" for the hieroglyphics on the Libri Title pages of the Equinox. Does anyone know the genesis of this template or the story behind it. It appears to be a simplification of the Stele. Perhaps the Pillars are the legs and arms of Nuit?

Thanks in advance for any advice or help,

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ankh_f_n_khonsu Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:38 am

Here's a blurb from Who and What are Those Egyptian References in Liber Resh:

The Stella of Revealing, from wence Crowley created Liber Resh, was a translation from the Ancient Egyptian to the French by the assistant creator of the Boulaq Museum in Cairo, under the supervision of the Egyptologist Bugsch Bet in 1904. In 1912, Crowley had the translation done again by Sir Alan Gardiner and Battiscombe Gunn. There were, not surprisingly differences of opinion about some of the words and names. In Crowley's The Holy Books of Thelema, the modern publishers included an additional modern translation done in 1982.

And here's Crowley's poetic translation:

Above, the gemmed azure is
The naked splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
The winged globe, the starry blue,
Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!

I am the Lord of Thebes, and I
The inspired forth-speaker of Mentu;
For me unveils the veiled sky,
The self-slain Ankh-af-na-khonsu
Whose words are truth. I invoke, I greet
Thy presence, O Ra-Hoor-Khuit!

Unity uttermost showed!
I adore the might of Thy breath,
Supreme and terrible God,
Who makest the gods and death
To tremble before Thee: --
I, I adore thee!

Appear on the throne of Ra!
Open the ways of the Khu!
Lighten the ways of the Ka!
The ways of the Khabs run through
To stir me or still me!
Aum! let it fill me!

The light is mine; its rays consume
Me: I have made a secret door
Into the House of Ra and Tum,
Of Khephra and of Ahathoor.
I am thy Theban, O Mentu,
The prophet Ankh-af-na-khonsu!

By Bes-na-Maut my breast I beat;
By wise Ta-Nech I weave my spell.
Show thy star-splendour, O Nuit!
Bid me within thine House to dwell,
O winged snake of light, Hadit!
Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!
Saith of Mentu the truth-telling brother
Who was master of Thebes from his birth:
O heart of me, heart of my mother!
O heart which I had upon earth!
Stand not thou up against me a witness!
Oppose me not, judge, in my quest!
Accuse me not now of unfitness
Before the Great God, the dread Lord of the West!
For I fastened the one to the other
With a spell for their mystical girth,
The earth and the wonderful West,
When I flourished, o earth, on thy breast!

The dead man Ankh-f-n-khonsu
Saith with his voice of truth and calm:
O thou that hast a single arm!
O thou that glitterest in the moon!
I weave thee in the spinning charm;
I lure thee with the billowy tune.

The dead man Ankh-f-n-khonsu
Hath parted from the darkling crowds,
Hath joined the dwellers of the light,
Opening Duaut, the star-abodes,
Their keys receiving.
The dead man Ankh-f-n-khonsu
Hath made his passage into night,
His pleasure on the earth to do
Among the living.

AxisMundi Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:54 pm

The original covers were designed by Major JFC Fuller.

In the Equinox the central hieroglyphs at the bottom of each title page read:
"Behold, Behdety, Lord of the Sky (Horizon)." For comparison, this bit is taken from the top of the stele just under the winged Uraei globe. 'Behdety' is a truncation of Har-Behdet, 'Horus of Behdet' or Horus of Edfu.

Back on the title page: flanked on each side of the Behdety glyphs, are possibly the characters for bread, wine, cattle, fowl, grain taken from below the table in front of the priest as depicted in the center of the stele.

The pillars, I have read, may be djed-pillars topped with a crown or headdress which may correspond to agriculture, as the seasons and the mysteries always prefigure one-another. The pillars are also reminiscent of the backbone of Osiris as well as the sacrum sign, or sign of the sacred kiss.

Cheers!
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Khephra Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:09 pm

AxisMundi wrote:The original covers were designed by Major JFC Fuller.

Cheers for the added context! Do you know any more about the circumstances around Fuller's work on the designs?

AxisMundi Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:52 pm

Khephra wrote:
AxisMundi wrote:The original covers were designed by Major JFC Fuller.

Cheers for the added context! Do you know any more about the circumstances around Fuller's work on the designs?

Major-General Fuller was a an honorary member of A.'.A.'. under Crowley, assuming the Magical motto (via A.C.) Per Ardua ad Astra ("By struggle to the stars"). He was eventually Cancellarius under the motto Non Sine Fulmine but this station was awarded mainly for printing purposes in that it would be embarrassing for Crowley if Fuller was known to have not been an a member of A.'.A.'. for various reasons.

Both his listed grade of 5=6* (Adeptus Minor) and his station in the organizational hierarchy are considered purely salutary as A.C. was by necessity fond of "recognizing" those around him with grades if it so pleased them, especially those who could achieve the most good ie help. This isn't far from the practical truth. Fuller was adept, he was all this and more. He was a notable military strategist and a writer/painter of vast powers. Sadly, there seems to have been a formal split between Fuller and Crowley as the later became embroiled in legal troubles.

Khephra Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:31 am

Again, thank you for the added context! Very Happy

Sascrunch Sun Sep 06, 2009 8:09 pm

AxisMundi wrote:Major-General Fuller was a an honorary member of A.'.A.'. under Crowley, assuming the Magical motto (via A.C.) Per Ardua ad Astra ("By struggle to the stars").

Keep an eye out in the next digest for a copy of his signed A.'.A.'. Probationer Oath, just fyi.

agrippa777 Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:05 pm

93
Thank you for the info on Fuller.

I believe this oath has already been posted in digest 21 under courses Argentum Astrum zip file in the Argentum Astrum - Oaths of probationers folder.

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ankh_f_n_khonsu Mon Sep 07, 2009 10:51 pm

agrippa777 wrote:I believe this oath has already been posted in digest 21 under courses Argentum Astrum zip file in the Argentum Astrum - Oaths of probationers folder.

Verified!

AxisMundi Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:45 am

Sascrunch wrote:
AxisMundi wrote:Major-General Fuller was a an honorary member of A.'.A.'. under Crowley, assuming the Magical motto (via A.C.) Per Ardua ad Astra ("By struggle to the stars").

Keep an eye out in the next digest for a copy of his signed A.'.A.'. Probationer Oath, just fyi.

Thank you for the note.

My point was rather vague, but the gist is that Fuller, along with many of A.'.A.'. A.C.'s contemporaries were eschewed in to degrees which they could not have earned in the normal manner nor in the normal time frame it would have taken. A cursory look at the A.'.A.'. syllabus sheds light on the probability that even with Fuller's signed Oath, the grade progression (A.'.A.'. grades were just as G.D.) was completely overlooked and he, after being recognized an Adept, was 'brought up' to 5*=6. Interested to see if any of his interleaving grades are documented or if he simply skipped, via AC, from Probationer to Adeptus minor.

Today, we see many members - even heads of A.'.A.'. "lineages" who have literally leapt past multiple degrees and admit to as much. In truth this is necessary at points to keep the Work alive. It would be ideal for every aspirant to Work the entire system beginning to end but as the saying goes "If you wait for everything to be perfect to Work Magic, you'll never Work Magic." It was certainly more important to have Fuller's immediate assistance and total confidence than it was to force him through the grades. The same cannot be said for most people, myself included!

Cheers

ankh_f_n_khonsu Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:04 am

AxisMundi wrote:A cursory look at the A.'.A.'. syllabus sheds light on the probability that even with Fuller's signed Oath, the grade progression (A.'.A.'. grades were just as G.D.) was completely overlooked and he, after being recognized an Adept, was 'brought up' to 5*=6. Interested to see if any of his interleaving grades are documented or if he simply skipped, via AC, from Probationer to Adeptus minor.

That sounds a lot like the "Do as I say, not as I do" mentality, but I guess it could be viewed as exceptionally pragmatic, too. I dunno. It seems to me as though skipping grades is a bad idea - if you're really interested in getting the intended effects, anyway.

I've also met several in the A.'.A.'. who claimed far more illustrious lineages than they could verify. IMO, the Order seems especially vulnerable to that type of chicanery.

AxisMundi Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:51 pm

ankh_f_n_khonsu wrote:
AxisMundi wrote:A cursory look at the A.'.A.'. syllabus sheds light on the probability that even with Fuller's signed Oath, the grade progression (A.'.A.'. grades were just as G.D.) was completely overlooked and he, after being recognized an Adept, was 'brought up' to 5*=6. Interested to see if any of his interleaving grades are documented or if he simply skipped, via AC, from Probationer to Adeptus minor.
That sounds a lot like the "Do as I say, not as I do" mentality, but I guess it could be viewed as exceptionally pragmatic, too. I dunno. It seems to me as though skipping grades is a bad idea - if you're really interested in getting the intended effects, anyway.

I've also met several in the A.'.A.'. who claimed far more illustrious lineages than they could verify. IMO, the Order seems especially vulnerable to that type of chicanery.

In Fuller's case at least the exception to the rule and major drawbacks of grade-hopping seem to have been somewhat ameliorated by the products of his efforts. One must also acknowledge the strange force of the karma guiding AC and his companions at the time, if that kind of concept appeals.

Personally, I'm am a stickler for the 'sub rosa' approach to the Work and any personal communications therein. I also take pains not to have my, or any other mundane names, ever associated with any Magical productions - so I tend to rub against the grain of people looking for social gain from Magical endeavor. All this bother about lineages is really just a distraction. The very Patron of the Order suggests no intermingling, no social clubbing "Thus ye have star and star, system and system; let not one know well the other!"

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