Aquarius: Egyptian Tarot Nuit XVII

The Egyptian Tarot trump for the fifteenth path of Aquarius is Nuit XVII. The esoteric title is Daughter of the Firmament: Dweller between the Waters.

Egyptian Tarot Nuit XVIINuit is depicted here as bending over the Star Pentactys, a pyramid of fifteen stars.[1] In the lower section of the image is the ma’a Lion of Truth, Nuit’s power in the underworld typified by Leo, the opposite sign of the Zodiac to Aquarius.

The hieroglyphs of Nuit’s name are shown at the top of the card. The ‘pot’ determinative (nu) shows the nature of Nuit as the principle of containment in the cosmic sense, a body of stars. The hieroglyph for ‘sky’ or ‘space’ is symbolised by the heavens above. Space is analogous with the infinite, but is not in itself infinite; that is to say it is not measureless or eternal but is indefinite on the human scale. It is also important to understand that space is not, as some schools of thought have imagined, ‘nothingness’, void, emptiness or mere absence.[2]

Depicted on the lower left border of the card are the symbols of Saturn, the astrological ruler of Aquarius, and Uranus, infernal ruler of the Kerubic signs. Saturn is the principle of limitation and form while Uranus symbolises the breaking apart or overturning of order and tradition in the name of false ideals. To the right is Hé, ‘a window’, the letter of the path. The shape of the letter is that of a nomad’s tent, as with beth. The tent is shown from the side, with the aperture drawn open at the top for viewing. The letter Hé of Aquarius has the value of five. The window of ‘five’ is the star of man, the root of the five senses through which we perceive an appearance of Nuit as visible nature.

Nuit is esoterically associated with Sirius or Sothis, her star of manifestation. To be clear, Sirius is here a symbol and analogy for the supreme principle, the ‘unmoved mover’, by which things appear to come into existence by Its presence—and not by any action on the part of the principle, which does not act. Nothing in nature is separate, having its own cause as though self-contained. Our planet system and Zodiac is part of a vastly greater star system. Sopdet, the Egyptian name for Sirius, the ‘sun-behind-the-sun’, is also the name of the goddess that gives birth to the star of Venus. It has the literal meaning, ‘triangle’.[3] During the time of the solar conjunction or occultation of Sirius, the legend of Isis has it that she hides herself in the swamps of the northern Delta (‘triangle’) region to give birth to Horus. Originally, Set (as ‘seven’) was the only begotten son of Nuit. The pairing of Isis with Osiris was a relatively modern version of the legends of Isis that was better suited to the disposition of ancient Greek and Roman men than the original stellar myth—by ‘myth’ we refer to oral tradition, not something imagined.

Sirius TriangulationSirius forms a group of stars with Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) and Procyon, called the ‘winter triangle’. This embraces much of the constellation of Monoceros, ‘Unicorn’. Four other stars, Pollux, Capella, Aldebaron and Rigel (left foot of Orion) form the ‘winter hexagon’. This establishes a geometric relationship between Sirius and Orion, which symbolises the heavenly Sah or Holy Spirit. Thus the Nephilim, sons of the Ancient Ones, are sometimes called the Children of Orion, identifying them with the primordial.[4] The geometry of the triangulation of Sirius with the hexagon, or hexagram by extension, automatically declares the Cube of Space, as can be seen by the diagram above.[5] This configuration involves seven stars in all, thus proportionately mirroring the seven bright stars of Ursa Major, the ‘axle of the universe’, rotating while always pointing to the Pole. That is in fact the esoteric meaning of aleph, which corresponds to the eleventh path and Tarot trump The Seer 0. Aleph is not, as has long been supposed, the ox that ploughs the field but is the ox that turns about the wheel or swastika of the stars.

Nuit: Daughter of the Firmament

The fifteenth path of Hé connects Chokmah, the sphere of the Zodiac, with Tiphereth, the sphere of the Sun. The path is called the Constituting Intelligence. It is called thus ‘because it constitutes the substance of creations in pure darkness’ (Westcott). Waite added that it is the same darkness mentioned in the book of Job 38: 9, ‘the cloud and the envelope thereof’. This cloud of ‘thick darkness’ mentioned in the book of Job is the covering of the sea, or the firmament, and is that which contains or holds it. It is therefore fitting that the Egyptian goddess of the night sky, Nuit, should be referred to the fifteenth path. There is also a certain correspondence with the Sanskrit prakriti or ‘substance’, from which the five envelopes or sheaths of being are produced. Each envelope is a covering or hiding of Atma, the Real. The five also relate to the ‘star’ of Nuit, which has five rays and forms the jivatma or creature soul, Tiphereth as the centre of the ego.

Chokmah is the chakra of the Zodiac, as separate and distinct from the fixed stars, which are the domain of Kether and the North Pole of the universe. The Zodiac is the belt or girdle of Venus, the planetary symbol of Nuit in her manifestation as visible nature. Tiphereth, at the further end of this path, is the recipient for the spiritual influence or starry mezla that is transmitted from Chokmah.

The magical power of the fifteenth path is that of Astrology, as Aquarius is the sign of the heavens. This should not be confused with popular notions of astrology. Astrological ‘influence’ of the stars or planets does not mean that the stars as such actually cause events or behaviour. Nothing exists in complete isolation from all else. Every phenomenon is part of a continuum involving all possibilities. The starry heavens are a mirror of the perceptions and for all of life, as above so below. The psyche is reflective, and so are the planets—both literally (they reflect the light of the sun) and metaphorically, as symbols, celestial writing or hieroglyphs.


Notes

From the forthcoming book and Tarot deck.

1. The Pentactys extends the baseline four of the Pythagorean Tetractys by one, to five. It is the geometric symbol of Nuit and her company of heaven. By extension the letter and path of Nuit is ∑ (1–5) = 15. There are altogether 75 Nuit radiations of the Star (5 x 15). The pyramid and star together form the hieroglyph for Sirius, star of Set and the Isis (Aset) Foundation of Egypt.

2. Space is filled by the fifth element akasha, which permeates it. The refutation of heterodox schools of thought is given in Siddhāntabindu of Srimat Madhusūdana Sarasvati [University of Mysore 1981].

3. The heliacal rising of the binary star Sirius is constantly relative to the solar year, thus establishing the strong relation between terrestrial earth and Sirius. The rising of Sirius presently occurs on the 19th July, as measured from Cairo. In antiquity, the rising took place immediately prior to the summer solstice and heralded the onset of the Nile inundation. As viewed from England at the present time, the conjunction of Sirius with the Sun is for 70 days from July 3rd to August 11th.

4. The Nephilim are first mentioned in the book of Genesis, 6: 4. In the book of Numbers, 13, their descendants are called the ‘sons of Anak’. See Nu Hermetica, ‘The Nephalim and Sons of Anak’.

5. The triangle, hexagram and square spell ‘Occult Light’, Aur Muphala, 364, which is a name of Kether as ‘moonflower’. The days in a lunar year are 364, which is also a number of Set, the ‘breaker of the circle (of the year)’.

© Oliver St. John 2020 (revised 2024)

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Fire: Egyptian Tarot The Aeon XX

The trump for the thirty-first path of Fire and Spirit is The Aeon XX. The path also corresponds to the dwarf outer planet Pluto. Judgement is the traditional title of the trump, viz., the Last Judgement when souls are called to the resurrection.

Fire and Spirit: Egyptian Tarot The Aeon XXThe esoteric title of this Tarot trump is Spirit of the Primal Fire. The spirit-fire is that which animates all living beings. It is the seed of the resurrection body. The mysteries of transformation are summed up in the alchemical phrase, Igni Natura Renovata Integra, ‘Nature is renewed and perfected through fire’. The ‘seed’ or eternal source is not actually within the body or mind; all that belongs to the corporeal state is adjunct to the Real. From the point of view of the human individuality, it seems as though that were the case. It is by analogy when it is said that the soul bears within herself the seed of her own resurrection. In the scriptures it is symbolised, for example, that Magdalene, as ‘soul’, is the devout follower of Christ-Jesus

Shin is the letter of the thirty-first path and is formed from three flames joined at the base. Shin literally means ‘tooth’, but the significance is of spirit or that which endures—bone (by analogy), thus eternity and the immortal life.[1] The ancient Egyptian source of the word is shen, the ring of indefinite cyclical return and the ‘round’, which is shown here being carried through the air by Horus in the form of a falcon.[2]

At the top of the picture, to the left, are the Egyptian hieroglyphs for the Eternal (heh). In the centre, between the two lampwicks, is the solar glyph of circle and principial point. The wick of a lamp burns and gives forth a flame of light without perishing. It is fed on pure oil, the perfection of life. There is a comparison to be made with the Caduceus, which symbolises the dual power of Kundalini. When the twin serpents of the Shakti Power cease to oppose and are, so to speak, woven together, the immortal state is within reach. In the case of the yogin, the appearance of things no longer deludes him.

Horus carries the shen ring over a symbolic representation of the step pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara Necropolis outside of Memphis, Egypt. Necropolis (Greek) means ‘city of the dead’, but this is really a misnomer as the Egyptians saw it as a place of eternal life. The Egyptian name is therefore heh, ‘Eternity’, identical in sound and meaning to the woven flax hieroglyph but spelled in such a way as to indicate a specific earth location.[3]

The base of the four-sided, seven-stepped pyramid is a trapezium or trapezoid. The parallel but unequal sides are indicative of the fourth dimension or non-Euclidian space-time. Beneath the desert of Saqqara is a labyrinth, as previously mentioned.[4] Very large granite vessels are situated there in cells only big enough to fit them. It is unknown as to how these large and heavy objects could be placed in such a manner below ground. What we do know is that the vessels, shaped somewhat like a sarcophagus or ark, were never designed to house a mummy. The insides of the sealed boxes are polished to mirror-like perfection. They are very precisely placed in the underground labyrinth. According to some, the vessels are subtle repositories of knowledge predating the Ice Age and built to endure a catastrophe.

Aeon, the title of the trump, indicates a cosmic cycle and in this case it is specifically the ending of the present Manvantara. The number 20 links The Aeon with Destiny X (Kaph), or the Kalachakra Wheel. Kalachakra yoga or Yidam is the Tibetan way of uniting the self with deity to obtain Pure Mind. Ishtadevata is the principle deity, and is associated with the Kalachakra, whose name means, ‘desired’ or ‘adored’ (ishta) and ‘divine soul’ (devata). As a pair, Kalachakra and Kalachakri look both inside and outside of time.

Pluto is one of the three ‘new’ planets discovered in modern times and so symbolising the disruption and chaos that comes about near the ending of a great cycle of aeons. Pluto is sometimes corresponded to Kether on the Tree of Life, but this is an inversion, for the Lord of Hell is an apt title for the forces of greed and materialism that have characterised the epoch, not to mention unmitigated violence.

Spirit of the Primal Fire

The thirty-first path of Shin connects Hod, the sphere of Mercury, with Malkuth, the sphere of action and elements (or visible universe). The path is called the Perpetual Intelligence, and is so-called because ‘it rules the movement of the sun and the moon according to their constitution, causing each to gravitate in its respective orb’. This path connects Malkuth with the left hand pillar of Form. The Perfect Intelligence of Hod is here realised ‘in the flesh’. From the human point of view, the fruits of such knowledge come to pass as future events, though in reality there is only simultaneity. From the point of view of eternity there is no past or future; there is nowhere to go as eternity encompasses all possibilities—time in the earthbound sense simply ceases to exist.

The magical powers of the path are Evocation and Pyromancy. These are derived from the correspondences of the path; firstly the traditional Tarot trump Judgement, which depicts the dead arising from their graves (evocation), summoned by a blast from the trumpet of the Angel Israfel.[5] Secondly, the element of fire (pyromancy). Both powers may be regarded as analogous. Necromancy is not the power of this path and so the notion of evocation here has more in the way of meaning the return of the self to the (greater) Self at the end of a cycle or at the end of time. It is not the ‘dead’ that can actually arise but the living spirit. Divination by fire is the means of seeing the past or future, for example, by gazing into the flickering firelight. The higher meaning of this involves ‘fire’ when that is understood as coming about through the discipline that strengthens the mind and will to become engrossed in the Great Work. It is by the elimination of all distractions that one may see things clearly.


Notes

From the forthcoming book and Egyptian Tarot deck.

1. Eternity and immortality are not the same. Eternity is Infinite, without qualification; immortality is within the realm of existence or being.

2. For an explanation of the multiple perspective drawing of the falcon, based on ancient Egyptian art, see Lucie Lamy, Egyptian Mysteries pp. 18 [Thames and Hudson 1981].

3. The Egyptian name for the Necropolis or Eternal Place is spelled with three mounds or hills and the circle-cross determinative. See Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, pp. 507 b.

4. Cf. Sokar XIII.

5. Some sources have the Angel of the Last Judgement as Gabriel. The Angel is also associated with Raphael, Uriel and various others.

6. A symbolic ‘pathworking’ of the 31st path formed part of the ceremony of initiation to the grade of Hod in the historical Order of the Golden Dawn.

© Oliver St. John 2020, 2024

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