Magickal Textbook Part 2
Following up on our most recent post about the Tree of Life and The Rites of Eleusis, let’s look a little bit closer into how the attributions associated with the paths on the Tree of Life informs not only the narrative, but the poetry of The Rites of Eleusis.
I’ll be citing one example here. I encourage anyone who would like to contribute other examples to post them in the comments.
Here we turn to “777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley”
Built around the superstructure of Allan Bennett’s Golden Dawn diaries, 777 is a relatively comprehensive textbook of attributions for the various Paths and Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. I say relatively, as some of the material originally included by Bennett regarding musical tonal attributions was not included in 777, but later reintroduced by Paul Foster Case in his Builders of the Adytum materials, including his book The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages. Additionally, any practicing magician is encouraged to keep a diary of additional attributions they may discover during the course of their own work.
But on to our main point: how the source material in 777 is employed in crafting the poetry of The Rites.
For the most part I am speaking of Crowley’s poetry in The Rites, as the poems of Swinburne, Shelley, and Thomson are less likely to stand up to this type of analysis, although to some extent the writing of J.F.C. Fuller does.
The attributions from 777 corresponding to Venus are listed under both path 7 (for the Sephiroth attributed to Venus) and path 14 (for the path connecting Chokma and Binah, also attributed to Venus).
Among the attributions for path 7 we find: Lynx, Emerald
Among those of path 14 we find: Sparrow, Dove, Myrtle, Rose, Clover, Emerald Green, Sky Blue, early spring green, bright rose
Attributed to the 14th Path on the Tree of Life, corresponding to Venus
Compare these to the poem “Daughter of Glory”, which appears in The Rite of Venus in 1910, spoken by Libra, and was originally published in 1905 as part of Orphues: A Lyrical Legend, volume 1
Daughter of Glory, child
Of Earth’s Dione mild
By the Father of all, the AEgis-bearing King!
Spouse, daughter, mother of God,
Queen of the blest abode
In Cyprus’ splendour singly glittering.
Sweet sister unto me,
I cry aloud to thee!
I laugh upon thee laughing, O dew caught up from sea!
Drawn by sharp sparrow and dove,
And swan’s wide plumes of love,
And all the swallow’s swifter vehemence,
And, subtler that the Sphinx,
The ineffable lynx
Heralds thy splendour swooning into sense,
When from the bluest bowers
And greenest-hearted hours
Of Heaven thou smil’st toward earth, a miracle of flowers!
Note that while the Swan is attributed to the 1st path, Kether, the primal creative force, many believe that the swan appears in the Tarot card associated with Venus, the Empress (above). In fact, the bird in the lower left corner of the Empress Trump is a pelican, and the attribution of the swan within the poem may be a hint at something else. Additionally, the swallow (described as swift) is associated with the 12th path, attributed to Mercury. The appearance of the symbols associated with the forces that precede the birth of Venus would appear to be intentional, and perhaps invocational in this instance, as the poem describes the creation of the goddess.
Much of this is speculation. And why not? Each inquiry into what the deeper meaning could be provides both insight into the meanings of the narrative, and possible creative interpretations that can be incorporate into staging the material!
Speaking of speculation, as a humorous aside, when I first encountered The Rites of Eleusis as a young man, I was informed that Crowley wrote all of the poetry over the summer of 1910, and this was sited as one of the many proofs of his genius. It was some time before I discovered that Aleister Crowley did not write much of the poetry within The Rites of Eleusis, and that the poetry he did write was often lifted out of his earlier publications. Nevertheless, I walked around believing that he had drafted these seven plays in total over the course of a single summer for over a year.
Please share your thoughts and questions below.