A Hypothesis for the Number of Cards in the Tarot Deck

I had an insight a few months ago about the Tarot that, to my embarrassment, I did not write up a post about. It is a hypothesis about why the Tarot deck has 78 cards.

There are, of course, 22 major arcana cards, often called trump cards, in the Tarot. This, of course, is the same as the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. And Frater RC’s interview with Stav Appel suggested that in one early Tarot deck, there was a lot of Judaic symbolism to the pictures (which has been altered).

It occurred to me–somehow–that this might relate back to Dee’s use of “Kabbalah” in adding up the cross-sums of Dee’s values of the the divine name YHVH in the Monas Hieroglyphica. Dee’s approach made this add up to 24 because he used the following starting values (which don’t match the typical gematria values): 1 for Yod, 2 for Heh, and 3 for Vav. Yet what happens when the actual values of the 10 for Yod, 5 for Heh, and 6 for Vav?

10 (Yod) + 5 (Heh) = 15
10 (Yod) + 6 (Vav) = 16
10 (Yod) + 5 (Heh) = 15
5 (Heh) + 6 (Vav) = 11
5 (Heh) + 5 (Heh) = 10
6 (Vav) + 5 (Heh) = 11

The values, interestingly, add up to a grand sum of 78, which matches the total number of cards in the Tarot deck. I believe that this is compelling, if perhaps not conclusive, evidence that the number of cards in the Tarot deck–as with the number of major arcana cards in the Tarot deck–is 78: it shows the Judaic influence on the Tarot itself.

Interestingly, the number of letters in each Watchtower tablet is 156, which is double 78. The black cross of the Great Table uses each 5-letter name of God (EXARP, HCOMA, BITOM, & NANTA) twice, which suggests that the 156 itself is a doubling of 78. The Daughter of Fortitude (whom Crowley dubbed Babalon) is Herself associated with the 156 as well. Finally, it should be noted that the Tetragrammaton value of 26 (10+5+6+5) is one of the 32 words associated with a unique Enochian word (OX).

The Monas Hieroglyphica and Dee’s Use of “Kabbalah”

This is a relatively short post; I think that I have figured out what John Dee was trying to do with his Monas Hieroglyphica, specifically theorem XXIII. First, I think Dee was trying to say that the symbol itself is elegant on account of the pure dimensionality (the arms are twice as long as the neck, the head’s radius is the length of the arm, the “torso” is thrice the length of the neck, etc.).

Second, one thing that confused me is why he substituted 2 for the number four in 1-2-3-4 (I’ve re-created is part from Theorem XXIII because I can’t do a simple copy/paste, which I would do for something public domain like this; I took the opportunity to clarify what Dee was doing):

to get 1-2-3-2:

Why did the 4 change to a 2, thus changing all of the sums that follow? Note this digression on numbers is related to the actual symbol of the Monas Hieroglyphica by starting at top going with each element in rotation: neck (length 1), arm (length 2), torso (length 3), and opposing arm (length 2 again).

Still, Dee also calls what he is doing calling “Kabbalistic” & either Temurah or Tsiruf, as scholars such as Sledge has already noted. I think Dee is making not an empty appeal here. Rather, my specific observation is that Dee makes a substitution, which is not actually one of the three simple forms of Temurah substitution listed on Wikipedia (Atbash, Avgad, and Albam). Instead, Dee is likely implying a different substitution, a simple one of numbers for letters, namely, those of the Tetragrammaton, YHVH, which is adduced in addition to his geometric justification of his symbol:

Thus, the Yod (typically equal 10 in Gematria) is 1, the first Heh (typically 5) is 2, Vav (typically 6) is 3, and the second Heh must have the same value as the first and is thus 2 again. I’m not sure whether this theory has been posited before, so I will simply say that this is an observation, not necessarily that it’s an original one. Regardless, I agree with Sledge that Dee is using his limited familiarity with the Kabbalah (again, the numbers do not add up correctly according to typical Gematria!) to justify his symbol, but he does so in a clever way.

Letters of the PELE ring: The Seven Planetary Kings (Heptarchy)

(Cross-posted from a Facebook Group)

I’ve been thinking about the letters of this ring and how they relate to the kings of the Heptarchy. (Note: Here, a member correctly reiterated something I’d already read in DuQuette’s Enochian Vision Magick, which is that this name derives from the name Peh-Lamed-Aleph of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy).

Nonetheless, this was intended to supplement what was already known or observed about the ring. I suggested a correspondence to the names of the kings and their relative location on the ring astrologically; I’ve uncapitalized the first letters of the kings’ names and capitalized the letters of interest to make it easier to follow:

  • blVmaza (top center V on the ring)-moon
  • bObogel (central O)-sun
  • bnaspoL (bottom center L)-Mercury…note that we have the central three figures of the Monas Hieroglyphica.
  • bynePor (P in PELE)-Jupiter
  • bnapsEn (first E in PELE)-Saturn
  • baLigon (L)-Venus
  • babalEl (E)-Mars

The only issue with this is that it leaves the pairs of Jupiter and Saturn inverted with respect to the Monas Hieroglyphica (they were at bottom, not at top). Still, they are the slowest planets Dee would’ve known about, and are the greater benefic and malefic, respectively, so it makes sense that they’d be afforded some dignity by being placed at top. And it doesn’t much matter anyway, since the ring’s design in its entirety doesn’t quite lend itself to being perfectly ordered combination of the planets as in the MH.

At present, this is a proposal; note that several letters of the ring appear in multiple points of the kings’ names, and that multiple assignments could be made. Still, having tried multiple possibilities, this one seems to match the overall sun-moon-Mercury portion of the MH very well, and Saturn and Jupiter are well-paired, as are Mars and Venus.

Gebofal, Day 9

Sunrise: Call to Aethyr of LIN. Call to King BLUMAZA (associated with the sephira of Yesod), as described in Day 2.

Note: This was a slightly awkward scrying. I had to take one of our cats to the vet today and, my being a “householder,” I improvised a bit rather than trying to reschedule. I have tried to live by the commandment, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s” (and, according to some versions: “…and unto me what is mine”). For me, this means trying to meet my worldly responsibilities as well as I can manage. In other words, I knew this ritual would leave me perpetually busy before I started it! 😀

I activated the furniture before I left; I brought what I could of it (a smaller version of the Holy Table of Practice, the large (main) Sigillum Dei Aemeth, King BLUMAZA’s seal, the Round Tablet of Nalvage, my wand, and Amzes Naghezes Hardeh, AKA Liber Loagaeth). I forgot the full, prayer of Enoch as related by the angel Ave (which I have modified), so I relied on Aaron Leitch’s transcript of the original. This being the 9th day, and angels constantly drawing out 40 & 9 (e.g., the numbers on the outer ring of the SDA summing to 441, 49*9, and there being 40 cells in all of this outer ring = 49-9), I expected a shift, and there was, and I’m not just talking about the awkward scrying session to start the day. Note also that the Aethyr of LIN is the first Aethyr with an angelic governor whose does not derive from the previous methods of the Watchtowers: PARAOAN.

The vision begins with four dots of a square; I then see a tesseract. The angels rotate the tesseract. I visualize holding a torch lit by compassion. The angels remind me that this was originally the Aethyr that tripped me up in 2014, but now I can see the rotation, and that this is a turning point when it comes to the Aethyrs, and where it gets more complicated. I’m seeing four dots above me and four dots below me, each set in a square configuration, and they’re twisting in opposite directions, then returning to their initial position. My subtle body is sort of being twisted along with this. King BLUMAZA bids me be still, and I do so after adjusting myself in my seat.

The Governors & King are showing me a light, which is reminiscent of the light which strikes George Malley in Phenomenon. It sort of hits me. The angels are trying to shake something loose in me, and they note that it’s difficult on account of the awkward physical position I’m in, but acknowledge it is how it is with my being a householder. My subtle body is moving a lot; this Aethyr is very dynamic. I try to remember the heart of compassion, and the angels commend this, saying it will always magnetize me in the proper direction. This dynamism, they tell me, is all part of the lunar nature of King BLUMAZA & his sephira of Yesod, and the cyclical nature of the moon and the understanding thereof. They say it’s almost like the start of a new moon cycle (note: the moon is in Aquarius, not Aries, so this is metaphorical).

The unfolding that’s taking place in this scrying session is like unto folding something in a different dimension, such as pushing and pulling front and back rather than left-right or up-down. I see a palace open before me. I see a cross, but it is now rotated 90 degrees, except that the left length is equal to the right, and the short top part is of equal length to the bottom. They ask me what this is reminiscent of, and I say, “an airplane” (aeroplane). An airplane is trying to maintain a balance, more or less, of orientation. The angels ask what happens if a pilot loses visual? The pilot goes to instruments. Yet if the pilot loses visual, then visual cues are needed. The instruments are the heart, they tell me, whereas the visual is the circumference. The angels say that there is what you see in the imaginal/astral, and then there’s what you see in the mundane. This will be important as I work my through the palaces, for the heart and the mind must navigate the earthly palace and the heavenly palace simultaneously, so rather than two navigations, I must track four! The astral heart (center), the mundane heart, the astral visual (circumference), and the mundane visual, and finally these two palaces which must be navigated, and I mustn’t confuse the mundane and the astral! 😀

There will be yet another doubling, I’m told, which will be the reconciliation of all of these things in some manner. I express gratitude, the angels acknowledge and say they foreshorten this on account of my responsibilities. “Peace be upon you; know that He governeth all things.”

The vision ends.

Noon: Similar, ritual as Day 2, call to King BLUMAZA and to Governors Ozidaia, PARAOAN, and Calzirg.

I take a 7-7-14 breath. I see several images, but the angels ask me to focus again on the light which shook me earlier during this morning’s session. I see a vertical ring of light, a horizontal ring of light, and then a ring of light which is circular about the x- and y-axes. The last of these is about me, and I’m feeling out, using my heart of compassion as a torch again, coming from this place of compassion again. I see this heart as a pearl again, and it’s vibrating about the y-axis, at times with an axial tilt of about 30 degrees (and then reverting to vertical) which causes a conic section at top to seem to be bored out, but then it seems to not be. I get a sense that this is “the limits of the [heart] sphere to undo anything.” The angels are telling me that if there is some change that needs to happen, there may be some tilt to this degree, but then the entire thing just repolarizes or, if the attempt to create a change isn’t working out, reverses polarities.

The sense that I get is that about the xz plane (e.g., the slightly more than the ecliptic), there isn’t as much need to change or to change perspective.

A frog shows up. After testing, it goes away, so it shouldn’t have been here. The angels are pleased with this. I concentrate on the solids I’ve previously received, including especially the small white sphere. It seems to resist being understood. I see it breaking apart as with slices of an orange and then coming back together. This, the angels tell me, is merely different faces of the same compassion shown, for example, to a zodiacal influence. Even with Venus in fall or exile, they tell me, showing compassion is down to the skill of the magician or sage or realized one to be compassionate.

I’m trying to relax into the vision, and the angels themselves instruct me to relax. The angels ask “What hath God wrought?” Note: this is a reference to Numbers 23:23; “For there is no enchantment with Jacob, neither is there any divination with Israel; now is it said of Jacob and of Israel: ‘What hath God wrought!’.” Ironically, it is also the first Morse code message ever sent, which is to say a means of giving a message which must be interpreted! Nonetheless, I answer plainly, “All things continue to be wrought through Him, and therefore all things are already wrought through him,” which I modify to “All is wrought by Him” (in an attempt to transcend the objectness or nounness).

There’s a shift in my manipura chakra when I say this. The angels again try to twist me, but this time inside out, shifting from me-as-center-and-God/Totality-as-circumference to me-as-circumference-and-God/Totality-as-center, and then back again. The angels try to return me to the “uncollapsed wave function” described in previous scryings. I’m also to see all of these at the heavenly and earthly levels (so we’re at 16 things to be seen simultaneously, if you’re keeping track!). I’m trying to consciously fuse all of this together into a single perspective; the angels declare that this will happen most definitely at the Aethyr of LIL.

I ask if there’s anything else. There’s something of a feeling of a coiling snake (which is often symbolic of kundalini, yet also the ouroboros) about my right ankle (my right foot is on King BLUMAZA’s seal). It coils up and about me, and I feel compelled to push its jaw above my head. Once again we have the Phanes egg of the Orphic Mysteries. They tell me to know the circumference of the snake itself (e.g., the energy of circumference of the Divine, and Its heart, and of oneself, and of one’s heart). The snake eating its tail and starting anew is a reminder of the fallacious concept of death.

Now the snake is literally stretching me apart. The metaphor to stretching the imagination, the energetic body, and so on could not be more obvious, but it’s only at writing this up that I make this connection. This, they tell me explicitly, is to help me be okay with a larger extent of myself. Again, I get the sense of a loss of reputation: “A snake shedding its skin, a snake shedding its skin,” they repeat. I look at the shed scales, and it’s reminding me of husks in Kabbalah. That part of me is already redeemed, I sense: the accomplishment of the True Will is already imminent. The completion of the project is already happening, so I’m not sure I entirely understand this. But it’s like who and what I am needs to be redefined. I’m looking at all of this with compassion. The angels are saying that it’s like the scales will drop from my eyes, in terms of my own circumference, and the circumference of God, and the circumference of All.

I see an equal-armed, which is like the kind of toy with regular white plastic, and then green squishy soft plastic and padding underneath; it’s about the size of my forearm and could be safely played with by a toddler. It has a hole at the center, signifying the heart and relating to the Monas Hieroglyphica. This is like unto the Buddhist deity Tara, the angels say. This is like unto the salvation of Christianity, they tell me, hastening to save humans from their sins and errors such as via the compassion of Buddhism, and there’s this Buddhist-mentality which can rectify the corruption of modern Christianity (I’m only the messenger, people!). I note the slightly lower quality of the transmission, but this is the turn towards the Abyss and then the supernals again, so it is not surprising.

I ask if the angels have anything further, but mention again that I do not wish to be a rude guest. They say “no,” but then show me a baseball diamond, but now seen from above, it is like unto the Masonic compass symbol.

The vision ends.

Sunset: I see a spiral come at me once more. I’m in a cocoonlike section of a twisty energy field, which is narrow except for the part which encompasses me. Rather than twisting as in the previous two visions, it’s stretching out like the spring of a pen from the ends, narrowing it out. This narrowing out is placing my energy field throughout the “circumference” or sphere of the universe.

The angels caution me that this is the point in which individuals can go down a bizarre road (they don’t expect me to, but there’s a reason for the caution). This, they say, is when an individual too wrapped up in petty or narrow ego concerns, or overly obsessed, or deluded as to the relative importance of matters: such a one can get a real sense of identification with the Divine, and thus go into grandiose directions which are not upheld by the totality of all. Whereas others can actually make this shift into the totality of the Divine, and continue to work within the areas which are upheld by all. They say that this takes a subtle mind and I request this as well as discernment and a proper heart and alignment toward all of these things.

The string is stretching me apart, and the angels say that what’s going on right now is the stretching apart of my subtle body into a more universal configuration with the Whole; it’s making its way out to the sphere of the universe (as it were), and God is now at the center, and we flip these perspectives back and forth. Essentially, we are reconciling, returning to an uncertain, uncollapsed quantum state as to Who is at the Center, and Who is at the “Circumference” (lacking a good term for the spherical equivalent of this). The angels say that for any given person, their relationship with God typically puts them at the center and God at the “Circumference” (“How do I relate to God of all?”), but one can also see the Divinity within oneself, and simultaneously extend their ideas of who they are to more and more of the “Circumference.” Both of these things are true at once, they tell me. This is the trick, they say: God is both indwelling within, but also interpenetrating the universe, thus both the center and spherical surface by each of our individual measures.

At the same time, we’re not only this core within, but we’re also the Circumference, and also the rules that determine the measures of these. As we develop into adulthood, this Circumference can seem to get larger, and as we become elderly this Circumference can seem to diminish, but someone who is truly Realized can get this Circumference truly realized with All, as it IS.

This Crowned Wisdom and Crowned Understanding is crucial, but not enough, for there needs to be a shift to the Heart. It’s not a simple thing to say, “Oh, it’s just the Heart, so I can just be loving, and everything will be just fine,” because at the same time, there’s still that pain and hurt by which too many of us have unconsciously defined ourselves. All of that said: what is going on here is a simultaneous process on both fronts (and for which I am profoundly grateful). I could feel this same kind of pull early. As far as Choronzon goes (which has been popping up–here I pause to call on the Governors Ozidaia, PARAOAN, and Calzirg and on King BLUMAZA). Here, again, they mention the black sphere of prior visions. It is spherical, which means it is properly balanced in this frame, so that when for an individual who is unbalanced, this seems like a prison, a black cube. But for one who is balanced, the core of dukkha is suddenly properly contextualized in an excellent system to undo suffering, via a white spherical heart of compassion. This happens both in the mundane world but also within the subtle body. These forces can thus be constrained and redeemed. It may seem scary to the ego, but going through this process, one comes to the core of issue of dukkha, and this torch of compassion cannot ever be snuffed out. The issue is with the mind, not the heart. If the mind put the heart first, the magnetized heart would eventually point the mind in directions which would allow the mind to correct itself, and to gain this transcendent understanding, and to put dukkha in its place and context.

The angels are encourage me to forget the form that all of this will take in the coming years. Instead, acknowledge that the spirit of the change will be understood in the coming weeks, rather than the form itself.

Gebofal, Day 8

Sunrise: Call to Aethyr of TOR. Calling on King BOBOGEL as with Day 1.

I’m shown seven dots again, but the angels hint at an eighth. They show me a sphered cube, and seven dots upon that. They slice it in two, and have me look at one of the cross-sections (i.e., a squared circle), which has eight points of intersection. The angels say that it’s important to combine this septenary and octonary nature: they show me the eight dots of a cube, but in taking one away in this formation, the location and need for an eighth is obvious. “As you go through this, you’ll see that the implication for the subsequent inner sphere (following an inward-spiraling pattern), then the seven “dots” of each of the previous days make the 8th, or the start of the next pattern/spheroid, obvious. Now that you’re getting to this next spheroid within the snail shell, as it were, then the next cubed sphere is like a smaller, more intimate version of the heart to be traversed.

I see the German village again, and I see a field, and I see animals approach me, but these seem like distractions that the angels are trying to protect me from. The angels have me concentrate upon this intimate cube, and I force myself to concentrate on the cube itself, not what it will unfold into. This, the angels say, is a good insight: the temptation will be to see to try to see a pattern or an insight and all of its implications, but what’s going on right now is much more intimate. “You can see the crazy-making that this could cause, with one forever chasing one’s tail with these numbers,” and their implications to the ends of the Earth and back again.

Nonetheless, they say, the chasing the tail of with these numbers is important because it makes the circumference of the heart clear. As I concentrate about the sphered cube, there’s a tenderness in my heart chakra, and on the astral I try to slowly and gently push my finger towards that tenderness, and suggested by the black sphere. In so doing, a cartoonish horror opens up from the sphere, but I gently concentrate towards the tenderness some more.

Here is a tiny white sphere, fitting within the palm of my hand, within the larger black sphere (the latter being about four or five feet tall); they say that this white sphere, like unto a pearl, must be held within the black sphere. Recall from a prior vision that the black sphere indicates dukkha. The white sphere, then, indicates the jewel of the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra, the compassion of the Buddha(s), which arises when concentrating upon dukkha. I note a feeling at the nape of my neck, suggesting the Abyss, so I concentrate some more. This is what the taijitu (“yin-yang”) symbol within the larger symbol (see yesterday’s scrying session) represents. Again, I’m told to remember the heart and the sun, and the potential for Saturn to take you in crazy-making directions. Yet both are important, for without either the ring or the center, the circle cannot be fully understood.

I’m reminded of an egg-protection physics experiment from high school–I created a cubical wireframe that had to be dropped from the first story of the high school: fun times. At any rate, I’m reflecting on how tender the egg was, and on Dee’s egg in Theorem XVIII of the Monas Hieroglyphica. For whatever reason, he put the moon and Mercury in the “white” of the egg, and the sun, Venus, and Mars in the yolk. Here, I think Dee was having a hard time reconciling himself with the moon, though earlier he lauded it. Note that the Orphic Egg is suggested by Dee’s work here, in addition to the Aesop fable.

The point is, the egg is a tender thing (for this reason, I’d put the sun, moon, and Mercury there, but Dee was clearly ranking the planets according to speed of motion). The tenderness of the heart can be thought of here. Within a person, the yolk is like the innermost heart of a person, trying to reconcile itself with reality, trying to constantly reconcile itself with circumstance and maintain homeostasis. It’s like the heart knows, but the mind is rebelling! The mind is looking to the outside instead of to the heart.

The eggshell, its white, and its yolk are like the sanctum of the heart, with Christ as the shell, the white as the Holy Spirit, and the yolk like the Creator. The egg is within our heart, and can be highly armored. The tendency of the heart is to try to protect the egg, but it’s important to inspect and ultimately unfold, however briefly, the harsh cubical armor. I see a triplicity of cubes, of the egg, and this happening in three dimensions, so this can be thought of as a Nonary.

The angels summarize: the seven can lead to the eight, and it’s important to see both the circumference and the ultimate heart, and to reconcile the two.

The vision ends. Happy Easter.

Noon: Similar procedure.

I place my right foot & left hand on King Bobogel’s seal & Leaf 42a, respectively, and a lot of energy seems to be coming off of them. My left foot, which is unoccupied, has energy coming up off of it. I do a 7-7-14 breath. On the 14-count exhalation, it seems as if there’s some energy exhaled about me, and the angels point at the idea of taking things into one’s center and releasing it out to the circumference. For us humans, we have no idea how our release of things will interact with the world, so this is problematic, so the point is to merely allow our actions to have unintended effects and to still act, and allow the effects of our release to come at us in unexpected ways. The circumference of the sphere happens in unexpected ways.

Palaces/Hekhalot: I see a palace in the sky, and the angels affirm: yes, we’re going to start a Hekhalot working. I focus on “the center” as the angels lift me into the heavenly palaces. The angels mention that this will be “like unto,” though not exactly the same, as reaching the center of existence. The angels are previewing, once again, reaching the center (on Day 49). I look back on Earth below me, and I see a palace in the center of a palace on Earth; “the palace,” I’m told, is both things. I’m being shown that the metaphorical circumference of understanding can be roughly considered to be the edge of the known universe, but that itself is often the center of our scientific focus. So not only is the Earth the center of our focus when we protrude outwards with our minds and situate it at the center of our understanding, when focusing outwards to the edge of the known universe, we try to understand Earth comparatively, and thus put the Earth at the (comparative and metaphorical) circumference of our minds. I’m told that any contemplation implies both the metaphorical sphere and its center, but also an inversion of these. There’s a metaphorical uncollapsed wave function to ideas, which simultaneously contains the extent (circumference or sphere) of an idea and its center, and they are sort of both each other simultaneously. Everybody got that?

So now it gets even more fun: I’m seeing one palace out of each eye! The left eye sees the palace at the center of the Earth, the right eye its counterpart in Heaven. In the earthly palace, I’m seeing a churning and a rotation of fire and lava–note that this is explicitly not hell, but perhaps can be thought of Iurehoh, or “what Christ did in hell,” perhaps reflecting the current astrological influence of fiery Aries, with the sun now closing in on its exaltation degree and Venus nearly at the same. I’m told that what Christ did was liberate people from ignorance, which was an active thing. Dee was very focused on the fiery Areyan aspect of the Monas Hieroglyphica.

In my right eye, I see the heavenly palace, which is light, but muted, colors: creams and grays and pale blue. The structure of what I’m seeing is identical, but the context is totally different. This looks like playing a video game when the skin of a structure from a previous location you’ve visited has changed for the post-explosion fight or something like that. The walls and obstacles are functionally is the same, but the context is different.

I reflect on the idea of heaven being, to speak in coding terms, a “future state” counterpart to a terrestrial “current state.” It’s like these two things are overlaid with each other–we rarely want a 100% change, we usually want a slight change from where we are, and if we get it, we then plan out only minor changes. This is kind of what I’m seeing. I’m within a church or temple section of both palaces, which is at the center of the palaces. I get to the pulpit area, and get levitated up here. The issue, I’m told, is that such means very different things in the heavenly palace vs. the earthly. Earth has its molten core, but I’m told not to consider this infernal or hellish, but rather the core or exemplar of the terrestrial state. The celestial version of this is about seeing the core of all possibilities.

The heart must speak to both, I’m told. Someone must both be able to see the present-state reality for what it is (suggested by the Earth palace), and yet at the same time see all possibilities within that, or parallel to that, and that will show the Tao. This is the yin and the yang principles simultaneously, I’m told. Now they mention that the rainbow body is like imagining the light principle of heaven being scattered about appropriately, as with a clear prism–but doing so appropriately, intelligently, and of the heart. I’m told by King BOBOGEL that the reason I’m really liking this is due to my chart ruler being the sun, and its ruler being in Aries.

Torch: The angels show me a torch: I need to keep my hand about the torch, which continues to light up the heart, even as everything comes at me to disrupt it or disturb it or make it seem as if it’s gone out as I approach the Abyss once more. It’s not gone out. It’s like the torch of the Statue of Liberty (problematic symbolism given current events aside) which is held by a copper figure, with the copper of Venus holding the fiery flame of the sun and of Mars.

The Lotus and the Pearl: I see now an obsidian disc (I used to have one, but gave it away). It turns into a set-sized horizontal leaves of a lotus flower, but obsidian. Each successive set of leaves is progressively lighter, and at the center, once again, is the white sphere or jewel/pearl of Om Mani Padme Hum. I’m offered it, but, I’m told, this is what I need to identify with and eventually become (the light side of “Sylvester and the Magic Pebble“).

The vision ends.

Sunset: Similar procedure, with both hands in the prayer position on the leaf, which will by my standard evening practice.

I’m shown 8 dots, which are on a sphered cube, but the cube turns into a tesseract which is “hypersphered.” They tell me that I don’t need to count the points of contact, but they’re advising me that the heart of compassion will hit levels that my mind is unaware of. There must be a divide between the mind and the heart. The heart will have a preternatural awareness that the mind simply cannot know. It’s not upon me to understand completely, but to simply bear witness, weigh in the heart, and to make my way with the heart as my guide, following the wu wei, “waying the way which cannot be wayed.”

The angels draw my attention to the very core of this, a tiny point. This can be considered the center of each human heart center, and that normally, we would consider networks to be made up of lines, but of the heart, we speak of curves, which oftentimes go around something quite large. This could be people separated not only by space and time, but also by ideology, religion, prejudice, or the like. These curves, they show me, are like unto a dragon. This dragon which connects people are like the light side of the dragon concept, such as Falkor from The Neverending Story, for people go to great lengths to connect at the heart level.

I’m shown a picture of myself as a boy, and a dragon about my heart. Traumatic events can cause dragons to encircle the heart, so it’s not so much armor but a dragon, like with Phanes about the egg in the Orphic mysteries.

If I search into the heart of the dragon, the dragon itself starts looking like a snake, and it’s like someone who begins to consume or identify with the heart of the snake itself. They become lost, either permanently (as far as this life is concerned) or temporarily. It’s kind of a primal thing, but yet there’s still some resonance with the heart of a person and the heart of a snake; one can slingshot about this condition, much as I did, they remind me.

I’m feeling more warm from the front of Leaf 42; I’m being told that now that there are no additional letters either on or facing this page (i.e., every other letter is missing), I’m going to notice more of a ZAX/Abyssal kind of energy. I’m reminded to bring the torch and light to me. It may seem worse, as I go along, but to maintain this heart of compassion and my faith. The heart of compassion is even within the heart of a snake, they tell me.

Gebofal, Day 7

Sunrise: Call to Aethyr of NIA. I call BNAPSEN via the prayer as listed in Stenwick’s Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy, but not using the Enochian calls.

The angels show me seven points, and of course today, being the last day of the first week, their meaning is described: the points are placed along the outermost ring of a spiral. The remaining 42 days work their way through to the center of the spiral. On Day 49, the last portion of that spiral can be connected via three points of a line segment (for you can further subdivide the spiral to account for the same call three times on each of the days of the ritual, which is to say 147 points in all). This line segment connecting the final stretch of the spiral can be thought to start at the reading of Leaf 1b, ending at the reading of Leaf 1a, and the finally, on the evening of the final day, reading of the leaf in its entirety, at which point the center is made manifest. Note: this reduces the role of error which one would surely have by attempting to find the center by starting at the outside of such a spiral.

King BNAPSEN mentions that blogging about this is how a particular method of gebofal can be handed down, thus fulfilling his Binah/Saturn role. A cooperative effort to publish copies of Amzes Naghezes Hardeh with this method is suggested to me.

I point the wand at Leaf 43b; King BNAPSEN and Governors Orcanir, Chialps, and Soageel are unfolding the structure of what is going on as I scry during the gebofal ritual, which is helpful and appeals to my luminary-trined Saturn. I’m given more information and meaning now that I’ve hit Day 7, the end of the first seven days. I ask explicitly about the symbol; now that I’ve been reconciled with all of the planets, the symbol can now come forth. They show a spiral beginning at the outside of the four-pointed star, and to have the point at which the square (which is suggested by the diamond) would be circled (i.e., a circle overlapping the square have the same area), have that be at the 3.5 mark of a seven-“circle” spiral; to help visualize it, I’ve shown it below:

The same symbol from yesterday, this time with a spiral of seven revolutions; the point of revolution 3.5 is shown in red, indicating the circumference of a circle which would have the same area as the square suggested by the four points of the diamond. Decorative lotus leaves could be added along spiral.

I see rays coming down about me, and they relate to the rainbow body. They say that my mind and heart is relating better to the subtle body and therefore the rainbow body can be emerge and be more realized over time.

Noon: Similar procedure.

I comment on noticing the Leaf 43a is the first of these early leaves with its own corner and row that doesn’t have every other letter missing. I’ve filled in a few of these based on my intuition (but don’t claim them to be the be-all, end-all). I call on the angelic king BNAPSEN & governors Orcanir, Chialps, and Soageel, and they mention that there’s a parallel to ZAX and the Abyss, as well as to Ain (of the world of Adam Qadmon), which is the reverse of the spelling of this Aethyr. This, they mention, is the preview of Leaf 1 on day 49. There’s more depth to these Aethyrs than one would otherwise give credit for, so what I’m doing now is following the septenary spiral inward to its logical conclusion.

The angels instruct me to place the face of the PELE ring on the front of Leaf 43, which the book is opened to. To do so, I put the PELE ring on a finger on my left hand so that it can continue to touch the book. However, I naturally place the back of the hand upon the leaf rather than turning the ring around so that my palm remains on it. They joke about the trope of sci-fi shows to somehow “reverse the polarities” to get the reverse effect of a problem they’re trying to solve via the normal polarization. Still, there’s something to be said about this (and typing this up, I’m thinking the message that things can’t be “unchanged,” but rather changed again in an attempt to honor the previous arrangement). They are “reversing the polarities” (i.e., King BNAPSEN is reversing some of what King BYNEPOR Thursday–note that astrologically, Saturn is the great malefic while Jupiter is the great Benefic; Saturn is only half of Jupiter’s mass and so can’t undo all of it). The angels tell me to get used to this push-pull, and that this will happen several times, and why these two planets are spaced a day apart on the days of the week. I’m told that this is the nature of what happens when one is placed at the center, and why the meaning of visions can seem to reverse or change meaning. A little vibration or wave can be completely disorienting, and things can suddenly seem upside down or reversed with only a little movement.

I can see a 3D funnel-like spiral come up from the palm of my hand. They begin by showing me a 2D version of the spiral (such as that above). Then they have me look at the funnel as instead a spherical version, which reminds me of a a tennis ball which a dog has chewed, causing it to come undone at the seams, which can be looped around itself. If the inner part of the seam were smaller, then it can be looped around itself in a spiral-like manner. Then the angels tell me to contemplate this in 4D space; they hint that the geometry I will see may be too much to interpret directly.

King BNAPSEN mention that the allergy drugs I’m on have helped to make the restructuring of my subtle body easier. I see a lot of waves; this is like when an ultrasound loosens up knots in a physical body. “Behold his wonders.”

The vision ends.

Inter-scrying commentary: So, believe it or not, I’ve not read the entirety of Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica until just now, though I’ve seen the commentary offered by Dr. Justin Sledge and Jason Louv. I also already knew that symbol by heart. A few points of contrast between his symbol and mine:

First, the spiral: his spiral naturally closes, mine remains open.

Second, is the symbol of the Tao is central, while the cross is separated from the symbol of the elements (as indicated by the divided diamond). The cross carries with it the meaning of the unfolded cube, which is the unfolding of the heart.

Third, the elements are placed along the outside rather than central to the symbol. This is important to need to balance oneself among the four elements.

Sunset: Similar procedure.

Once again, I’m shown the seven dots. The angels show me a more basic binary version of his Theorem:

The angels are saying that this is a more basic and binary form of the Monas Hieroglyphica: 20, 21, and 22, in which can be seen the force and power of Ain, as well as the natural progression leading to a 2 and a 3 (20 + 21 = 1 + 2 = 3). They show me this binary and ask me rhetorically to merge this concept with getting to a total of seven (by adding all the dots); the angels note that one gets from 7 to 15 to 31 to 63, each of which is its own form of sacredness (7 being the number of the classical astrological planets, fifteen being the sum of any Saturn square, 31 being the name of El in Gematria, and 63 being 7*9, with 9 having its special importance to Enochian as I’ve gone over in previous posts). 127 is prime and (credit to Wikipedia; float them some money, will you?) is the smallest prime that can be written as the sum of multiple consecutive odd-numbered primes: 127 is the smallest prime that can be written as the sum of the first two or more odd primes: 127 = 3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13 + 17 + 19 + 23 + 29, and is the sum of the sums of the divisors of the first 12 positive integers (78 is the sum of those numbers, so 11 (for the 1’s for the first 12 numbers, except 1 itself, which is already included for the number 1) then add 2, 2, 3, 2, 4, 3, 2, 5, 2, 3, 4, 6). The angels kind of want me to stop here. The angels want me to stop here as we’ve reached 27 – 1.

Taking this splitting to its normal extension, they say consider when 7 & 15 meet up opposite each other: 4 four match each other, the other four of the final row of 8 do not. If 7 and 31 meet, 4 would match each other, 12 would not. If 7 and 63 met, then 4 would meet and 28 would not. They say it has something to do with what is left over, and something about exponents. However, I’m not following a lot of the logic. I call on King BNAPSEN and Governors Orcanir, Chialps, and Soageel again. They have me pause to center and say they’re going to show me. 128 + 7 sums to 135, which is 9*15; I’m still confused because they’re switching what gets added up. They say “hold on,” and they comment that this is 27 + 7. Then they have me add 7 + 28 = 263, which is Resh, the solar letter, plus 63, which is the number already have from 26 – 1. They mention 519 but then they stop. They say to add one less than the power of 2 to a different power of 2 which is larger. They say that 519 will be telling to me. They call this my homework.

The angels have me wait. King BNAPSEN shows me the letter V which can be oriented as a 7 in Arabic numerals but in Roman numerals is 5, so together this is 12. He shows me the sun being exalted astrologically being a symbol of an exalted heart. The angels tell me to set my wand on the Holy Table and to put both hands together in prayer on both sides of the leaf, which creates an interesting energy.

I do a quick prayer asking for mercy. The angels show me a lotus flower, and show me a moon within it (note that this combination is also symbolic of the Buddhist bodhisattva deity Tara). The angels ask me to change the foot on which the BNAPSEN seal is located, so I do, crossing my legs to do so, such that my posture is reminiscent of the posture of certain martyrs and, I note, to The Hanged Man in the Tarot. I concentrate on these two images together, The Hanged Man and the lotus flower with the moon inside of it. He’s now inverted, so upright and his hair floats upward. The angels tell me to accustom myself to inversion.

The Hanged Man rising up up out of the lotus reminds me of the mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, the lotus-jewel. The Hanged Man being number XII of the major arcana adds significance, and of course this is actually the 13th trump (since the numbering of the major arcana starts with 0, The Fool). This gives significance to the Watchtowers, which are 12×13 in dimension, thus coming to 156 letters per watchtower. I’m looking into the heart of this inverted hanged man, and the angels tell me that if I take his foot to instead be standing upon the moon as it goes through simple harmonic motion. This motion could also be seen as him going through a circular motion, front-to-back and up-and-down, creating a circle around his heart about the y- and z-axes.

They make additional analogies; if the hanged man bows before something greater than himself, that’s a certain kind of eclipse, but stretching back in ecstasy is a different kind of eclipse. There’s something about aligning with the Saturn cycle.

Now I’m atop a cross which is in outer space, and which is flying like a spaceship. At times it seems like a TOPY cross, but there seem to be fractal extensions of 2/3 size which emerge from the cross, forming a pattern. I see myself lying on the cross, with my heart at the center, causing it to fan out in a fractal pattern. I’m told that networks such as these need to meet other people so that they can grow again and not peter out at the natural upper limit of the fractal pattern. It’s like I’m traveling through space, and the cross becomes many of the same size, forming a simple bridge down to a planet. I touch the planet which is like unto Mars, but touching it causes a bit of blue to appear, terraforming it. I don’t know what this is, but on reflection, it’s a symbol of following the perpendicular in order to meet the center, or heart (note the six-rayed star in the LRP is made up of red and blue triangles); at the time, one side of the leaf I’m holding was saying “this is obvious,” the other side of the leaf was saying, “it’s not obvious at all.

They’re showing me the sun and the moon crossing each other, which of course follows this symbolism. I note that there’s an upcoming lunar eclipse, which I mistakenly think is in June (it’s in May), but they’re really trying to point me towards it. I don’t know what this is, but it’s important to them, and I’m grateful for the message.

Several times now it’s felt like the vision will stop, but it resumes. Now I see a diamond shape, a rhombus, which has a size of a diagonal that is three times the size of the other. There’s an additional correction to the symbol, which now has three-dimensionality; the main one is shown atop and rotating above a self-similar square pyramid:

Now I recall a symbol on the astral appearing like this appearing after I scried the Aethyr of ZIP about a year and a half ago. It was made of gold and I was able to use it to help me decipher tables I received about this time. It was three-dimensional and octahedral; the angels show me another one today, this time even thinner:

“You have a square (from the original symbol), but held at this angle [in three dimensions], it has to look like a rhombus.” Ultimately they say that the fusion of the old symbol with this new one is a means to perfect it. There’s a flexibility with the height of the octahedron, which I’d already had from the ZIP symbol. The angels emphasize the self-similarity.

The symbol floating above the mountain is similar to it floating above itself in the pyramid form, and there’s significance about it but I’m not to know about it. “Think of it like Re atop mounting, but because it’s merely reflecting Re, it’s like unto the moon.” The symbol is reflecting light onto the ground below, and I’m thinking of Egypt. It’s lighting up the ground below, and they’re saying that it could reflect any place on Earth. “The light will hit a central point,” and the energy will be like a thermal solar tower. I’m unclear, but the angels say that this is okay: this is laying the structure for what will happen at the end of this ritual.

There’s something about a dog, but the vision ends.