The Starry Gnosis An American Revelation Paul Joseph Rovelli Invocation of Isis O Serpent Woman of the Stars; Clothed with the Sun And with the Moon at her feet; Thee I invoke! Dear Mother of Initiation; Thee I invoke! Scarlet Concubine of mine heart’s desire; Who guides all mankind To Immortality; I, even I have fashioned Thee From a pale image of fine Gold. Your robes are sky-colored, Bespangled with golden Stars. Your hair a diadem of twelve constellations, Driven seven-abreast through The dancing circus of Nothingness. But Thou art Eternity and Space, Thou art Matter and Motion And Thou art the Negation of these things. Hear me Dear Lady And lift up Thy Voice to aid me In this most dire hour! Redeem my life By Thy Sacred Flower. Initiate my soul And bring me to thine own glory And incorruptibility. Ah, how heartily I am grieved For this poor man in his dungeon; How I would that God Would free him of his fetters. Isis am I! And from my life Are fed all showers and suns; All moons that wax and wane All stars and streams Even the living and the dead. O Thou Light and delight, Ravish me away into the milky ocean of the stars! Let this man be free from his fetters! Isis am I! And it is I who decree that this should be! I am thy Queen Enraptured and possessed of thee. High do these sweet rivers Welcome the sea; Ocean of Love that shall encompass thee. Isis am I! And I am the Mistress Of the two waters; The eldest Daughter of Kronos; The sister of the King Osiris! I am she who rises in the Dog Star. I am she who separated the Heaven and the Earth. I am she who has pointed to you, thy path to the Star. Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you! I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky. To me! To me! Table of Contents Invocation of Isis Table of Contents Preface Introduction Section I Orienting the Zodiac Golden Dawn Skies The Eagle & the Temple Sacred Space Washington’s Temple Section II Equinoctial Precession Sphinxes, Cherubim & the 4 Seasons The Theory of Cycles Involution and Evolution Gnostic Cycles Section III The Mythos of the Zodiac The First Half of the Circle The Second Half of the Circle Appendices Revealed Culture Babalon Astride the Beast The Star Called Wormwood Bibliography Preface All effective Magick stands on the physical body and rational mind with these three basic skills: imagination, emotion, and intuition. The invocations, knocks and gestures, implements and costumes, circles, triangles, symbols and furniture, indeed all the elements of a temple-based rite serve only to reinforce and focus these capacities. Of the three capacities, Emotion to the point of passion and under the influence of the higher Will or Holy Guardian Angel is the most vital skill. Even first, that emotion should be towards the attainment of the Knowledge & Conversation of this Holy Guardian Angel and/or the higher & perfected Self. In much of the Magick of the previous aeon, this emotionalism or ‘Bhakti’ is expressed through devotional, religious fervor; based on the sacred valuation of the godhead. Of course, the “awe and fear of the Creator” (Demiurge) is supplanted by the Holy Guardian Angel (Adonai) in Thelemic Magick. Yet in the original context, the religious aspects serve as the motivation behind doing the work; they are a promise, acceptable to the mind of a medieval man, that the whole effort is holy. This passion then comes from a desire for engagement with something that fulfills a part of one's own nature as it satisfies its needs or gives it an outlet for full expression. Imagination provides the medium through which Magick produces its results. The personal imagination forms the Astral Light, described by Eliphas Levi as the medium of the Aetheric plane. The symbols used in Magick are forms that, when created in the imagination, tend to gather specific types of power from the Astral Light which are manipulated by the ‘intent’ of the Operator. The simpler, geometric forms such as the pentagram and hexagram, draw relatively pure, fundamental forces such as elemental and planetary forces. More complex symbols such as Egyptian god-forms, draw correspondingly, more complex assemblages of forces. But also, there are archetypal symbols that when brought to the visual stream of the creative mind are said to unlock ‘secrets’ and ‘powers.’ Here the power of mythos creates a hidden or inner life that is the character of an individual mind turned away from the herd or tribe—the navel gazing. And it connects us to each other as well, through the tales that are told and passed down through the generations; congealing a community in a more conscious and enlightened sense than what was once the tribal mindset. An object, sacred and archetypal or mundane, that begins as a purely internal construct created and sustained by the willed imagination of the Operator, can move out into the Astral Light and take on a life independent of its creator. It can gather or become a container for magickal power, and act back on its creator or on others in ways that are impossible for one to produce through his or her imagination alone. Beings and powers operating on levels the Operator cannot yet perceive can make themselves known through the receptive nature of the imagination, opening his or her awareness into new realms of experience. When the Operator projects the image of a symbol onto his surroundings, an extended Sacred Space is created in which the Astral Light becomes conditioned into conformity with the symbol. The area becomes more attractive to the types of power invoked, more comfortable for magickal beings having the nature represented by the symbol. Intuition is the confirmation of a successful Magickal rite. In order to bring about the desired results, one must ultimately arouse the sensations and feelings that the symbols created in the imagination are real; acting as if the goal of the operation has already been accomplished. We might say that the Holy Guardian Angel, as the Augoeides is the conductor that moves the symbol from the internal field of the imagination to the external world and the Astral Light or the Aethyr. Emotion is the driving force of the work; one’s Aspiration. It is that deep urge from an inner voice that compels us forward with firm resolve. For many, it seems as though one has no choice in the matter as that inner drive is so strong. This is the true nature of genius as one works effortlessly towards the goal. Our emotions are a strong power that if mastered, are the key to wells of great strength and vigor. And just as significant is the idea of listening to an ‘inner voice’ and learning to find ‘one’s voice’ to express oneself. We learn this even from creative artists. Music composers speak of this as they describe their work at songwriting. Painters do they same when they talk about developing their vision through the successive development of their work; painting after painting. This voice is the way that communication with one’s Holy Guardian Angel is often described. The full development of this communication makes one in the words of Carlos Castaneda, a ‘Man of Knowledge'. At first, this communication will be tenuous as the Aspirant will not be clear about the communication from the Angel as the Aspirant is not clear about his or her objective in the pursuit of the Aspiration. He or she slowly begins to learn and then at a greater rapidity as the inspiration that is the by- product of this intuitive spark increases. Now a much more mature conception of his or her Aspiration becomes apparent; this coming almost as a surprise. And his or her new intuitions (communications from the Angel) will soon clash with the misaligned desries of the lower ego. This brings one to the gate of fear and awe where the cry of the Angel is for courage with the Aspirant deep at war with his or herself. The call is for the Aspirant to defy his or her fear by responding with courageous persistence in this pursuit of the full attainment of the Knowledge & Conversation with the Angel. Eventually, the Aspirant begins to adapt to this psychic situation and the intuitions from the Angel are assimilated into his or her everyday consciousness. And the Aspirant now has learned how to relate to his or her desires and to subject them to the clearer scrutiny of the Intuition. In so doing, the Aspirant becomes the master of these desires and can respond to them with a strong impeccability as a sharp clarity encompasses the nature of his or her consciousness. This is a trance that is as much real as it is an illusion that the Aspirant should master with a certain sense of humility. If he or she fails at this point, believing this to be the successful completion of the Aspirant's Initiation, then this arrogance will occlude any further development; the Aspirant will rush when he or she should be patient, or the Aspirant will be patient when he or she should rush. But actually, the Aspirant will no longer learn, or yearn for anything. To continue forward, the Aspirant must use this new capacity only to 'see'; patiently lurking as a warrior and evaluating all situations very carefully before taking new steps.