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Tables of Correspondence for the INRI / IRNI Formula

Copyright 1991, 1992 by Benjamin Rowe

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Notes

These tables of correspondences are intended to correct misunderstandings of the significance of the INRI formula that have become common through the wide distribution of the Golden Dawn material. While valid within a limited area of application, the G.D. interpretations distort and obscure the relevance of the formula in a wider context of human life, and obscure its essential richness. The thematic similarities shown between five traditional myth systems and several modern myths should provide the reader with a better understanding of its true meaning.

The INRI formula is an "elemental" formula in that its four letters can be validly equated to Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Unlike IHVH, however, the astrological representation of the elements through the fixed signs, and their planetary rulers and exaltations, is of as great a significance as the activity of the pure elements. True appreciation of the formula comes through a comprehension of the complex dance of resonances between these three groups of powers.

The sequences in which the elements appear can be considered as initiatory and creative sequences, as opposed to the natural or demiurgic sequence of IHVH. Its area of application is specifically to the experiences and behaviors of conscious beings, both individual and group. Within its area of reference, the conditions it symbolizes appear almost universally.

The formula has four valid forms:

1. I1 N R I2

2. I1 R N I2

3. I2 N R I1

4. I2 R N I1

Which can manifest in one of three modes:

1. Cyclically - as a series of repeating or seasonal events.

2. Progressively - as a series of steps leading to a goal.

3. Statically - as a group of factors present simultaneously, acting either independently or in a state of tension with each other.

And each of the twelve types of appearance thus generated can express itself

1. Vertically - describing relationships between different planes of the Tree of Life.

2. Horizontally - describing relationships existing within any one plane or sephira of the Tree.

Thus there are a total of twenty-four possible manifestations of the formula. Twelve of these (based on the two latter forms listed) are incarnational or creative expressions, dealing with the ways in which ideas become manifested in matter. The other twelve are evolutionary or initiatory formulas, dealing with the way in which material beings are transformed into spirit. These latter are those that appear most frequently in human experience, social behavior, and literature.

The first four columns show the fundamental attributes, on which the interpretation of all the other columns is based. The parenthesized alternate attributes in columns III and IV are more appropriate when applying the formula to the personality or character of men and women. The standard attributes in those columns are more suitable when the formula is used to describe the path of initiation.

Taurus and Aquarius are substituted as attributes of the two I's in order to make the formula more explicit, and to reflect the way in which the formula actually works out in practice. The original attribute, Virgo, is appropriate to both Earth and Air because the sign itself is Earthy while its ruler Mercury is Airy. And there is no doubt that both in gematria and as a visual image, INRI has more inclusive resonances than any alternate symbolization I have found.

The relation of INRI to various Twin myths is covered in some detail in another paper, Set / Horus.

In magickal work, the attributes of the letters with respect to minerals, plants, animals, perfumes, etc. should follow the zodiacal or planetary attributes of columns II and III rather than the elemental attributes.

Columns V, VI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XX, XXI, XXII, XXV

The Ritual of the King

(Vertical, progressive)

The Ritual of the Dead and Resurrected King is the oldest and most frequently seen version of the INRI formula. Archaeological and anthropological evidence shows that it has existed substantially unchanged since at least the late neolithic period. Columns V and VI provide the basic framework of the Ritual.

The relation of the Ritual to INRI has perhaps been obscured by the fact that the Ritual follows form 2 (I1RNI2) of the formula, while the formula itself (owing to its appearance in the Christian Bible) is popularly presented as form 1. The relationship is further obscured because the formula can be applied to the Tree of Life in two different ways, one of which is a subset of the other:

Most of the columns dealt with here follow the more inclusive of these two attributes, but each also shows a few elements of the less inclusive form. In each case, the transformation from the Growth stage to the Kingship stage involves an exposure to death or some other factor appropriate to Scorpio. Gilgamesh, King Arthur, and Paul Atreides are stimulated to become rulers by the deaths of their fathers. Jesus confronts the Devil in the Wilderness, as does Paul Atreides while fleeing his father's murderers. Buddha witnesses death in the form of an aged man and a sick man.

However, it is important to note that the person undergoing the Ritual does not experience death himself at this stage. He remains relatively uninvolved in the event. His own experience of Death never comes until after the Kingship stage.

Column XVI (Hal Mayne's Voyage) is an exception to this rule in that the events shown represent the stages of the less inclusive form, passing from Malkuth only as far as Tiphereth. At the end of The Final Encyclopedia, he becomes the solar King by assuming the Directorship of the Encyclopedia. The true Scorpio stage of the more inclusive form begins in the next book (The Chantry Guild) with his withdrawal from the Directorship and retreat into the intense self-delving typical of the sign. It ends with a self-willed death, followed by a true resurrection which passes him into the final divine, airy, stage.

Also note that Hal Mayne is just one incarnation of a being who has a total of four incarnations within the Dorsai mythos. Each of these incarnations is also attributable to INRI (col. XIV), and their order follows the usual sequence of Growth/Preparation - Kingship - Death - Resurrection/Illumination.

Column VII. -- Archetypal Humans

(Horizontal, static)

In Western culture, dramas and stories of any genre typically have primary characters based on these archetypes. Socially, the roles expected of us as men and women also follow the same pattern. But in this latter case the archetypes have become stereotypes, since the forms are demanded without comprehension of their mythical foundation.

The archetypes themselves reflect the two zodiacal axes of Taurus-Scorpio and Aries-Libra.

I1 - Woman as Life-giver and Lover relates to Taurus, ruled by Venus, the planet of female sexuality, with Luna, the planet of birth and nurturing, exalted.

N - The Man-Who-Dies is the Tester or Questioner, the one who does not accept what is normally taken as truth without testing it himself. As such he is an object of fear to most people, who are happier with comfortable lies than uncomfortable truths, and is characterized as a devil, rebel, or dangerous heretic of one sort or another. His testing of accepted norms usually brings him into a position where he finds himself working to bring about change in the status quo so that new growth can occur, or to resist the excesses of an entrenched power. Traditionally he ends up being killed, imprisoned or otherwise punished by the guardians of the status quo, but with the advent of the anti-hero in modern literature, he often ends up conquering. He relates to Scorpio as the sign of testing and death, to its ruling planet Mars and exalted planet Uranus as bringer of sudden change.

R - The Man-Who-Lives is the Solar Hero. As protagonist or opponent, his goals are to achieve a position of rulership and to either preserve the status quo, or twist the status quo to his own advantage. He is charismatic and depends on his projected image to gain him support from the public. When not a purely Leonian charismatic he follows the pattern of Aries, sign of the warrior-kings, which is self-exaltation (=Sol, exalted planet) through the use of force (= Mars, ruling planet).

I2 - The Wise-Woman and the Woman-Who-Judges or Crone follow the traits of Libra, sign of judgment, with Venus again ruling, but with Saturn (traditionally the planet of wisdom) exalted. Saturn is actually the planet of accumulated knowledge handed down from the past.

The Enlightened One of either sex follows the pattern of Aquarius. Having used the power of Uranus in Scorpio to break out of the mold of the past, he/she uses the same power as it rules Aquarius to clear away the debris left by the breakout, leaving a clean slate on which knowledge of a new way of doing things (=Mercury, exalted in Aquarius) can be written.

Column VIII. -- Egyptian Gods

The gods shown here are actually two different sets. The first, comprising Isis, Set, Horus the Elder, and Nepthys, are the original children of Seb and Nut, the fourfold product of the joining of Matter and Spirit. The second set, comprising Isis, Set, Horus-son-of-Osiris, and Thoth, are from a later stage in the development of Egyptian mythologies, and show the influence of the agricultural themes of column IV. See the paper Set / Horus for a detailed treatment of the symbolism of these gods.

Column IX & XII -- Gilgamesh Characters

(Horizontal, static)

(Some of the characters listed do not appear in the original version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, but appear in later re-tellings.)

I1 - Inanna as the Mother Goddess is attributed to Earth. Lilith represents the more "earthy" of Her attributes. ("Lilith" is actually a priestly title in the religion of that time and region, not a proper name.) Lilith is unnamed but present in the Gilgamesh story as the priestess who uses her charms to attract Enkidu away from his wild life and into human civilization.

This dual manifestation of the Mother is typical of Late Stone Age and Bronze Age Goddess-religions. The worship of Inanna is one of the earliest about which we have much information. Later manifestations follow the same themes. The high priestess (also called Inanna) represented the more ethereal aspects of the Goddess, while a second priestess called Lilith was responsible for attracting men to the temple to participate in the conjugal rites of the Goddess, thus representing Her more "earthy" aspect. In Canaan the Liliths were so effective in converting the Hebrews to Goddess-worship that the Levites could only counter them by conditioning their subjects from childhood to the idea that the Liliths were really arch-demonesses.

N - Enkidu, like Merlin, is a Wild Man of the Woods, and the Man-Who-Dies, both appropriate to Scorpio.

R - Gilgamesh as King, and as the Man-Who-Lives, is fitting to Sol.

I2 - Inanna as the most spiritualized manifestation of the Goddess is appropriate to Air.

Column IX. -- Arthurian Characters

(Horizontal, static)

The entire Arthurian mythos reveals the strange dual character of the English people of its time. On one hand the rulers adopt the patristic customs of their Roman conquerors, including the last and most faddish of Roman exports, orthodox Christianity and "divine right of Kings". On the other hand, the common folk continue to be steeped in the traditions of the Old Religion and of their Celtic predecessors, with emphasis on nature, the Divine Mother, and the quasi-shamanistic view of the nobility and divinity of individuals.

Merlin and Viviane/Niniane represent the persistent presence of the Mother Goddess, while Lancelot and Guenivere represent the patristic side of the conflict. As child of a Roman father and Celtic mother, Arthur supposedly represents the union of the two conflicting camps with his kingship joining them after the manner of the Solar aspect of the R of INRI.

I1 - Again we see the dual manifestation typical of the Goddess-religions. "Viviane" means "full of life", making her a direct correspondence to the fertile Mother of the Old Religion. Her characteristics as sorceress and fertility-figure are the characteristics commonly attributed to the goddess under her more "earthy" aspect.

Niniane (who may or may not be the same person) was "Lady of the Lake", priestess of the Isle of Glass, the last operating temple of the Goddess in Britain. In some interpretations, "Niniane" means "full of Grace". She represents the ethereal, airy aspect of the Goddess.

N - Being the "child of a maiden and a demon" Merlin clearly belongs to the Taurus-Scorpio axis. His magickal abilities place him at the Scorpio pole, as do the frequent accusations that he was a demon himself, and his association with Vortigern's dragons in his youth.

The legendary circumstances of Merlin's disappearance reveal strange echoes of the old rites of the Goddess. His "besotment" with Viviane is typical of a magician working to unite with the Goddess through her earthly representative through some sort of tantric work. The "trance" into which she places Merlin is a typical result of such work. The final image of Merlin buried in the cave could reflect the tantric practice of concentrating the consciousness in the penis within the womb of one's partner, which womb is visualized as the womb of the Goddess. Since sex magick is at least partially connected to the sign of Scorpio, such work is wholly appropriate to Merlin's attribution to that sign.

R - Arthur as King clearly corresponds to the "R" of INRI as that letter relates to Sol. Lancelot represents the zodiacal relation of the letter to the sign Aries, sign of warriors in general and warrior-nobility in particular. He complements the character of Guenivere, who represents Libra.

I2 - The name Guenivere comes from a Celtic word meaning "white shadow", which was also a name for the barn owl. The owl being a night-hunting bird, she equates to the Lady of Night, Nepthys (and possibly with Saturnian Minerva). Note also that Guenivere was presumed to be sterile since she could not give Arthur a child, making her the opposite of the "full of life" Viviane, and showing the "sterility" of women's lives under the patristic Christian regimen in contrast to the fullness of their lives in Goddess-dominated areas. Her inability to choose between Arthur and Lancelot is typically Libran.

Column XI. -- The Beatles

(Horizontal, static)

The Beatles present a very pure expression of INRI operating as a horizontal, static formula. Study of the images presented by their publicists during the group's existence is very revealing. Just a few superficial points are touched here.

I1 - Ringo's character is very earthy and "common" in the English sense of the word. At one point, he said that his greatest ambition in life was to own a beauty shop (= Taurus, ruled by Venus, Moon exalted).

N - John being the dead Beatle, his association with Scorpio is obvious. But even during his life he exhibited the characteristics of rebelliousness and seeking of intense experience typical of the sign.

R - Baby-faced Paul's charismatic effect on audiences, and his evident willingness to do anything that will keep him in the limelight, are typically Leonian.

I2 - George the "spiritual" Beatle, given to interest in mysticism, philosophy, meditation, etc., is appropriately attributed to air.

Note that as in INRI, the earthy and airy members of the group tended to be somewhat in the background, while the main public attention rested on the fiery and watery personalities.

Column XII. -- Life of Gilgamesh

(Vertical, progressive)

Gilgamesh's path of initiation follows the typical stages:

I1 - Childhood, training, and preparation for Kingship at a foreign court.

R - Return and assumption of Kingship.

N - Abandonment of Kingship and wandering in the Wilderness. Diving into the sea (= the Abyss) and nearly drowning in the attempt to reach the Pearl of Immortality.

I2 - Finding of the Pearl of Immortality. Unlike most instances of the formula, Gilgamesh loses the means of physical immortality almost as soon as he achieves it. The Pearl is swallowed by a serpent, the sacred animal of the Goddess. Possibly this loss in due to his neglect of or poor relations with the Goddess's representative.

Columns XIII, XIV -- Lives of Christ and King Arthur

The relation of these characters to the symbolic journey of column V has been dealt with by many researchers in the past, and need not be repeated here, except to note their similarity to the other INRI myths presented here. Readers are referred to the works of Joseph Campbell for a recent detailed treatment.

Column XIV -- Dorsai #1 Time's Soldier

(Vertical, progressive)

We can assume that at least some of the INRI - related symbolism in Gordon R. Dickson's Dorsai novels is deliberate. The author has frequently referred to an archetypal pattern he was attempting to express in the series. The published delineations of this pattern that I have seen appear to be a statement of the pattern described earlier, but in terms more suited to a student of literature than those of a cabalist. The precise ratio of conscious to unconscious use of the formula remains open to question.

Donal Graeme, Paul Formain, and Hal Mayne are all incarnations of the same being, gradually evolving over the course of several books, while attempting to resolve a crisis in the race-soul of humanity. Cletus Graeme and Sir John Hawkwood (who may be another Hal Mayne incarnation) define the environment in which this evolution takes place. (Note that much of the significance of the earlier incarnations is not revealed until the appearance of Hal Mayne.)

I1 Cletus Graeme's work is the foundation on which Donal Graeme builds his kingship over the known worlds of the Dorsai universe.

Sir John Hawkwood's actions were the root of the historical situation being worked out by the race-soul through Hal Mayne and Bleys Ahrens. (Column XVIII)

R Donal Graeme is the archetypal warrior-king. Like Genghis Khan, he created peace in his world through the creative use of force. But he realized that his achievement was transitory, and that the peace would fall apart with his own death. He decided to travel back in time, not to change events, but to change people's perception of events in such a way that the unity of the worlds would continue.

N Donal Graeme travels back in time and incarnates in the body of a mining engineer, Paul Formain, who died by drowning. In the course of achieving his goal, he has a death experience and experiences the "dark night of the soul" generated by Walter Blunt's cabal. After "crossing the Abyss" through these experiences, he realizes that his efforts have produced precisely the opposite of the effect he was intending. The unity of the worlds will continue, but under circumstances that will ultimately mean the death of the human race. Instead of alleviating the conflict in the race-soul, he has brought it to a head in his own future era.

I2 In order to make himself able to resolve the conflict, Donal has to discard all that he has become. He must, in Crowley's words, give "every drop of blood into the cup of Babalon", or, following the Christian parlance he must "become as a little child". He does this literally, regressing his body to infancy and erasing his memories so that he can grow again without the influence of his past lives. Grown again as Hal Mayne, he possesses the abilities and knowledge to bring the conflict to an end.

Columns XVIII -- Dorsai #4 Planetary Character

(Horizontal, static)

Throughout the Dorsai mythos, the action tends to center on the planets listed here, or on the actions of persons from these planets. They are intended to be archetypes of certain highly developed aspects of the human race-soul. The remaining planets of the Dorsai universe are "splinter" cultures, incapable of sustaining themselves except in contact with the cultures of one or more of these planets.

I1 - In the Dorsai universe, the planet Earth, like the element, is treated as the repository the past of the race, both culturally and genetically. Its people stubbornly follow their own ways despite the pressures and influences of the younger worlds. In the Hal Mayne sections of the myth, it re-absorbs the most valuable and worthy aspects of the younger worlds, as the element Earth absorbs the activity of the other elements and transforms them into a stable form. Finally, Hal raises the protective shield around it, turning it into the fortress or four-walled castle (Caer Benoic) in which the grail is to be preserved.

N - The two Friendly worlds are expressions of the power of Faith, which is watery in nature. This is not the submissive Faith typical of the sign Cancer, but an intense, individualistic, combative faith, self-instilled and self-maintained, following the character of Scorpio with Mars ruling and Uranus exalted.

R - Dorsai produces the ultimate warrior-kings, Cletus and Donal Graeme. The planet itself possesses a political and social system in which each man effectively rules himself and no man rules another, in which all men and women are Kings of their own kingdoms.

I2 - The Exotics emphasize the exploration and development of the mind, hence their airy attribute.

Column XIX - Dorsai #5 Hal's Women

Each of the women listed presents an archetype of the character of her respective planet.

Column XX. - The Atreides Men

(Vertical, cyclic)

I1 Paul's grandfather died after being gored by a bull. (Taurus)

R Leto I, Paul's father, was a warrior-king.(Leo)

N Paul Muad-Dib became a seer and magician through the use of poisonous spice-essence from the Sandworm. He also relates to Scorpio because he is the ultimate product of a centuries-long series of experiments in breeding and genetic manipulation.

I2 Leto II, the God-Emperor, united himself with the spirit of the Worm.(Aquarius)

Leto II is present in his spiritual form (as a "Spark of Awareness" in the sandworms) in the last two books of the series despite his death in the third-to-last (God-Emperor of Dune). His spirit continues to control events in his universe until all but one of the worms are killed at the end of Heretics of Dune. At the end of Chapterhouse: Dune the priestess Sheena (= Inanna, Earth Goddess) disappears into the greater universe in a ship containing both sandworms and clone-cells of all the major actors in all of the Dune novels, implying that the entire cycle will now begin again somewhere else.

Column XXI. -- Life of Paul Muad-Dib

(Vertical, progressive)

Paul Atreides stands out among the questers listed as the only example of a man who fails in the quest. Like Lancelot, he is unable to withstand the power of the grail, and it become the task of his son to accomplish the task at which he fails. (Note also that his actions in the Solar stage create consequences that can only be solved from a higher level, as was the case in column XV.)

I1 - Trained as a typical ruling-class child, Paul is forced to flee to the desert when his father is killed and his kingdom taken over by a usurper. He is found by the desert dwellers, adopted into their society, and trained in their ways of survival and war.

R - By taking the poisonous spice-essence Paul acquires magickal powers, becoming the Savior-King of the desert dwellers. He uses his powers and the military force of his Fremen followers to overcome the usurper and take back his kingdom. But he soon discovers the dark side of Kingship, which is that the King becomes the prisoner of the forces he has coordinated and concentrated.

N - Paul's oracular vision shows him the horrors that will result from the working of the forces he has set in motion, but it also leaves him unable to either disengage from those forces or to take the one step that would prevent the evil from happening. Blinded and with his personal life in ruins, he walks off into the desert to die. But he returns in the guise of the rebellious blind prophet, preaching against the religion founded in his name. When finally aware that his son has achieved what he himself did not dare, he sacrifices himself in one last act of rebellion against the status quo.

I2 - Paul continues to exist in the genetic "other memory" of his son Leto II, but only as a will-less ghost of the past.

Column XXIII. -- Dune Organizations

(Horizontal, static)

I1 CHOAM, a purely mercantile organization, is appropriate to the sign of Taurus.

Leto II's empire is a deliberately-created peasant economy.

N The Bene Gesserit and Bene Tleilax both relate to Scorpio through their intense involvement in genetic manipulation and their incorporation of "past lives" into present-day experience. Additionally the Bene Gesserit relate to Scorpio through their instrument of initiation: poisoned spice-essence from the Sandworm.

The various ranks of the Bene Gesserit follow the AGLA formula, a feminine complement to INRI:

A1 - Acolyte stage. Air representing the innocence of the virgin.

G - Breeding Mistresses. Luna as planet of reproduction and motherhood.

L - Reverend Mothers. Acting in a state of perpetual judgment upon each other. Government based on the all-powerful jury. Taking responsibility for balancing the consequences of the past actions of the race, due to the demands of "other memory".

A2 - "Other memory". Air as the guiding spiritual purpose of the Reverend Mothers.

R The Landsraad and Padishah Emperor are typical noble classes, appropriate to Sol and Leo.

I2 The high-tech foundation of these two organizations is appropriate to Aquarius and the element of Air.

Column XXIV. -- Vita Merlini Characters

I1 - Guendolena, Merlin's wife, is an utterly sexual and loving woman, expressing the more earthy aspects of the Goddess.

R - King Rhydderch is the archetypal Good King.

Taliesen the Bard expresses the focus of all knowledge and wisdom in the sphere of Art.

N - The greater part of Vita Merlini concentrates on the Scorpio stage of Merlin's life, the details of which are best studied in the original. As madman, Wild Man of the Woods, and sacrificial King-Stag he echoes the roles of Enkidu and the sacrificed Christ.

I2 - The three women listed as well as several others in Vita Merlini represent the Goddess in her more ethereal form, as source of wisdom, inspiration, and guidance.

Column XXV. -- Life of Merlin

Merlin follows the typical stages shown in column V, but with a decidedly Celtic aspect. Readers are referred to R.J. Stewart's The Mystic Life of Merlin for an examination of the details of these stages as shown in Vita Merlini. While his examination is sometimes marred by an insistence on the superiority of the Christian revelation, the correspondences he draws are usually right on the mark. Of particular interest are his tables of correspondence between the early life of Merlin and the early life of Jesus, and his tables showing the appearance of Tarot imagery in Vita Merlini three centuries before the appearance of the Tarot decks in Europe.

Column XXVI. -- Life of Buddha

The myths of Buddha follow essentially the same pattern as the pre-Arthurian Merlin. In both cases, the earthy and solar stages are given only passing mention, and the story's main section begins with the Scorpionic stage. All the tales of Buddha's struggle for enlightenment fit into this stage, and in most instances present an accurate representation of events that occur when a human being seeks to approach and pass the "Abyss" between the finite and transcendental realms.

Columns XXVII, XXVIII -- The Chakras

The attributes in column XXV are certain, those in column XXVI less so. The upper chakras do not lend themselves as well to elemental attributes. Their functions seem in most cases to be mixtures of the qualities of two or more elements. However, some writers, notably Alice Bailey and the theosophists, stress a fourfold involvement with respect to these centers. The parenthesized attributes in column XXVI follow this latter idea.

The Anahata center as earth is suggested by its cabalistic correspondence to Tiphereth, which acts as a channel by which energies from the lower planes pass upward, and vice versa. Using Manipura for Earth follows an idea which is emphasized repeatedly in Bailey's works, i.e. that when the upper centers become active, the functions of the lower centers are gradually absorbed into the solar plexus chakra.

Very little connects Visuddha with the watery member of IRNI, save its its place in the sequence of chakras. It's connection with voice and communication suggests rather an airy attribute.

Ajna as the fiery member of the upper sequence is suggested by its connection with sight and light, the latter being physically and literally a higher vibration of the heat energy connected with the solar plexus. The alternate attribute of Anahata comes again from its solar correspondence in the Tree of Life.

In column XXV, Anahata is considered airy both from a cabalistic standpoint and as the representative of "spiritus" with respect to the lower planes. The spleen center is connected with air through its function in the absorbtion and distribution of prana.

In column XXVI, Sahasrara is airy due to its connection with thought, its cabalistic correspondence to airy Kether, and through its function as the primary entry-point of "spirit", energies from higher levels, into the human body. In Bailey, the Ajna center is often treated as a subsidiary center of the Sahasrara, whose functions can be wholly or partially taken over by the latter.