JUDGEMENT/THE
AEON Tarot Card
Copyright © 1999 Orryelle Bascule. From The Book of ChAos
In the Book of Thoth, Crowley replaced the traditional image of the Judgement Card with one to herald the new Aeon of Horus, changing the card's title to 'The Aeon'. Since then the Maat current has been earthed by Soror Nema and Fraters Achad and Belarion, forming the double current. The original Judgement image depicts an angel blowing a trumpet at the moment of rebirth; thus it represents the HGA/Augeodies, which is often seen as our future self guiding us towards it, and thus associated with the 'future' Aeon of Maat. So I have returned to this traditional image, placing it a new Aeonic context and retaining both titles for the card.
The Horus hawk bursts forth from the cocoon of regeneration, head a blazing sun of chaos. Maat as the aeonic HGA balances this against the moon, which is also the 'mouth which devours' of TiaMaat/TeyaMayeT, the great Serpent of the Ages emcircling the Cosmic Egg. The yin/yang symbol is used because it represents karma, which is basically the idea of 'the past effecting the future'. Here the masculine/feminine dualities are reversed, demonstrating that the future may also effect the past, and that Horus and Maat exist within each other's aeons. Thus the double current is formed. For those who embrace it, the potential is glimpsed within the egg which is formed by the yin/yang. Maat's sword, the axis of her scales, cleaves it to reveal AHArpocrat, the babe within the egg, the tao beyond gender. 'We are divided for love's sake, For the chance of Union' (-AL I, 29) The crack the sword forms in the egg is the 'lightning-flash' of illumination, the descent of spirit from Kether to Malkuth. It is the realization that Kether is already here, within the world of form/ apparent duality. Both the trumpet and the cocoon are cornucopia motifs, phallic yet hollow and thus also yonic, representing this potential union of genders.
Liber Pennae Ultim-Atum
"We all go to the children, And from them we shall return" -Nema
Pennae: -Feather; pen; arm; branch;
pennant-staff (flagpole); pinion; quill |
I - THE BEGINNING:
| (1) | Beyond the Beginning |
| (2) | There was Nothing And that Nothing was Nun Isntisnt |
| (3) | Yet from it One Did Come And that One was Atum The Beginning was Atum Baphomet, Shiva-An, TeyaMayet, Heru-rAHA, Different masks of the same Two-in-One And to Hir we shall re-turn... |
| (4) | As Before, so After |
| (5) | Then from the eye of One Two sprang forth The Tao become The Yin and Yang Chokmah and Binah Split from Kether |
| (6) | Male and Female Come from One Who is both or neither |
| (7) | Ipsos By the same mouth Fromwhich Tefnut-Mayet flew Was breathed the prana-deva, Shu From the Cornucopia |
| (8) | This was the original twin-current And via it we shall re-turn |
| (9) | Tefnut and Shuo Went forth in the waters of the Abyss Atum sent out Hir Eye To look after them But the Eye became lost beyond the Abyss Whose edges Mayet and Shu were defining As they spawned Geb and Nu |
| (10) | From the Two came the Many Thousand things Mayet, the World Order, Begat form; Began the dance of Lila, The play of ma-nifestat-ion The great tapestry of Maya Wondrous in its intricacy of detail And variety of pattern |
| (11) | The great serpent Tiamat Was chopped into pieces by Marduk She was divided into T(he)-I-Am-At, Thus came Measure, Tia-Maat To determine our segment of the All And thus was Chaos Ordered By the great Sword of the Solar Lord |
| (12) | Atum sent forth Thoth To find the Eye And return it to the Abyss Being the Scribe, The Ibis Wrote the glyphs Which captured the journey of the Eye |
| (13) | The Ibis returned the Eye To the Hand of Atum But new eyes had been installed meantime in its place The light of newfound reason shone from Atum's face Shining through the waters which now rippled With newfound form |
| (14) | Sudden inspiration Burst as a rearing serpent Forth from Atum's forehead Seized and swallowed the vagrant Eye But it stuck in the serpent's swollen throat Thus the Uraeus Cobra was born Coiling from the Ajna of Atum |
| (15) | But this was not the Eye complete For even as Atum had divided Into Tefnut and Shu So too had Hir One Eye become Two The original Eyes of Heru: The Utchet and the Wedjat Without Atem He only had the Sun. |
| (16) | For half of the vagrant Eye(s) Had remained in orbit around distant Geb (Even as Shu moved between Him and Nu) Fromwhence She reflected the radiance Of the distant sundisk |
| (17) | And every once in Her cycle This Eye of dreams Doth seem to disappear Cast afar by Set, Beyond His constricting coils And only the MoonGod Thoth By tracing Her path with delicate quill May return Her to the World of Form |
| (18) | The Lord of Parts hath been restored By the Lovers of the Hawk |
| (19) | Now the pieces of our Lady Must be also gathered The left Eye to Balance the Right (within the Greater Cycle also) As the Lord was returned to darkness So must the Lady be brought back to light Our Lady the Moon, Our Lady of the Night. |
II - THE COMING OF THE QYL: |
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| (20) | O Daughter of the Sun, ye hath come forth from afar Borne from Infinite Space between Infinite Stars Foreshadowed, ye have entered our atmosphere Now twisting and turning in the Lower Air A hovering Feather, Spiralling in Shu And ye shall come to Earth The Ma-nifestat-ion of Nu Is at an End |
| (21) | Ipsos By the same mouth Which breathes the Word of Truth: 'Ipse Pennae' By the same feather Onwhich the Word is breathed So is the Word inscribed And thus the Eye retrieved |
| (22) | By the same counterweight of the Heart, O breath which moves thee, Shall the Qyl be filled And the Prana feed Taking Her Feather from the Scales, I fashion this truthplume into a Quill, Sharpen it into the sWord of my Will |
| (23) | I think, therefore 'Ink' INvoKing Thoth, I marry Truth The Ink flows through She-Who-Moves Conveying the Go-spell: |
| (24) | As Thoth, I take this Truthplume To be my Law-ful wedded knife The SwordQyl of True Will A blade of air withwhich to slice Through sickness and despair To love and light and life 'The Pen is mightier than the Sword' Yet now The Pennae IS the Sword The weapon of the Word |
| (25) | May the Quintessence of the divine Flow through the spine of the Qyl To imbue my lines with True Will |
| (26) | As Hermes, I take my vow (The Boddhisattvic Vow) To All-ways Tell the Truth In service as the Messenger of the Gods And Guide between the realms |
| (27) | I swear to always tell the Truth I cannot, however, swear to always tell the WHOLE Truth To which the All-Father replies: 'As Messenger of the Gods, THAT would not be expected of you...' For many are the veils of Maya And many are the masks of Mayet And not only do each of us wear different masks But the eyeholes in each are of a different size and shape and shade |
| (28) | Beware of s/he who speaks with forked tongue The triple tongue transcends, though unheard |
| (29) | The serpent-scroll of the Ages unfolds In the Beginning was the Word: AHA! Inspiration and expiration, the breath of Life Is expelled Ha-hu! |
| (30) | The Word can not express the whole truth Thus this is the Pennae-Ultimate Truth which points the Way To the Ultimate Truth of the Wordless Aeon when the current re-unites. |
| (31) | What awaits within the Orphic Egg Round which the serpent twines? The Cosmic Egg of Potential? Aha... ... We may glimpse it through the cracks in the shell The cracks between the worlds The Choruses between the multi-verses Sh... |
| (32) | The SwordQyl is the Sushumna The Pennae, the mast With which to write the rites And the spell-ings cast The pennae is the pinion The fulcrum of the Scales Of Justice, Balancing sun and moon At the hilt of Reason's blade |
| (33) | And on the Scales of time Tbe point is made The Qyl-tip returns the ink to the scales Of the snakeskin pages The rites are writ upon The Golden Serpent Who measures out the Ages |
| (34) | From the Holy Grail From the Sacred Source From the Sabbat Cauldron From the Well of Remembrance From the chalice of the Star-Mother the Feather doth drink And this IS -IS the Ink. The Vinum Sabbatti, The Elixir of Life, The mists of myth, The Milk, the Honey Maat and Thoth's Honey-Moon gift Talam Malat Talam Lamat |
| (35) | On a page not of papyrus but of skin The Ink sinks in To the Word-made-Flesh: The SwordQyl was forged in fire By a Feather held in Caduceus Staff The KiaQyl Staff was carved in air By a blade held by two snakes One ofwhich was filled by the SwordQyl Before it returned From the Lady of the Lake |
| (36) | So the Staff of my Will And the Sword of my Word Are fledged with the Feather of Truth Becoming an Arrow of Art May this True Will Fly to the Heart Of the Matter The light heart The emptiness at the centre of Maya The Eye of the Cyclone |
| (37) | This my Will, is True Cross my Heart And hope to Die Die to Hope anew |
| (38) | The Eye-globe is sucked into and up Ganesha's great trunk Qaneshantator Swirling through fractal dementions Wings vibrating, fluttering, hovering Unfurling within the 32-formed One, curling inside-out Warp through the realms of Atu 23, As the spokes of the Wheel invert Be-leaving the Hand, Eye Journeying beyond in a realm Of luminescent portals Convoluting, gelatinous abstractions Twistmelding molten Transmogrification continuum Elasticated musculature of pattern; The fusion and fission Of aeons, ad infinitum; Abyss of the Abyss Beyond beyond, leaving Atum far behind. |
| (39) | Quill of air, Quill of ivory, Om Ganapati Namah 'Twas with One Tooth that the Moon was smitten Ipsos, By the same bone, by the same feather, The Truth is written Triple tongue of fire, Single tooth of ether |
| (40) | Om Ganatahuti Namah By the same mouth, Na'aton speaks in different tongues Which blend in Hir Awakening. |
| (41) | Tracing the erratic intricate weave of the eye-globe's journey With delicate quill through strange lands Thoth's Will is to seek out the Eye And return it to the Hand The Word made Flesh |
| (42) | The Arrow of Art Pierces the Heart Which is thus weighed Against the Feather of Maat For the Feather fledges the Arrow It's shaft is the Staff, phallus And the Heart is the Chalice of Love, Is the Eye, the Kteis IO. The Mouth which births and devours Is both target and source Of the Arrow's course For Love draws the bow |
| (43) | And the Moon herself is also an Archer The Arrow of Inspiration Is shot forth by the Muse of Dreams Huntress of the Eye of Night With Liber Qoph vel Hecate We make our salutations to The maiden returning, From Her leap beyond the Wheel Her radiance by Nix defined Though hid in rays of Ra by day, By night her light shall shine At dusk and dawn She dies and is reborn In counterpoise with our Lord |
| (44) | When his staff is conjoined with the Chalice of Isis A Sword is forged in the fires of Osiris And thus he sires the son, Horus And the daughter, Maat, whose part Is the final chorus, the hearth The Pentacle of earth Which returns us to The seed which birthed us |
| (45) | The sword spins Around the staff-mast As the winds of Horus Fan the flames to clear the past Compressed and whirling with the fury of change An aeonic vortex Of timespans vast Spiralling cycles of time deranged TARO AROT ROTA OTAR Beyond evolution This is the Vortextual revolution And in the centre of this furious Dervish of symbol and form There is Silence, and Stillness And an orb This is the Eye of the cyclone The Orphic Egg of potential Around its calm glow spirals the Serpent of Time The Aeons and their elements swirling Faster and faster Until the distinctions between them Grow blurred in the Quickening And there ceases to be definition In their correspondences or rendering; What is beginning, What is end The elemental tools merge and blend Into one composite weapon, the Arrow Which pierces the veil, to enter QaneshanTATOR! And flies to the centre |
| (46) | It pierces the Egg, which cracks apart and splinters Into a thousand mirrored shards But there is naught within but the Arrow itself It and its parts thereof Are reflected infinitely in a thousand fractal fragments Which rain down through the void like new stars aborn And I scry deep into one of the shards And see therein the Egg again, unsundered And I know not what is reflection and what is reality I being a mirror ...And that there is more to come... |
| (47) | A Moth flutters down, Attracted by the light Refracted by the myriad mirrors He picks up six pieces Each smaller than the last Assembling them into the Wedjat Eye He bears them aloft on his wings Thus Thoth takes flight Returning the Moon to Mother Night |
| (48) | Though the pen is mightier than the sword And the quill as both is mightier still Yet a picture tells a thousand words And so the bow is Drawn by the Quill |
| (49) | As the Arrow of True Will Which again pierces the Rain-Bow The Kalas of Kali Who thus stands still |
III - THE RETURN OF THE EYE |
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| (50) | Feather-fledged, The Arrow of True Will Flies towards its target. It penetrates the winged Eye in flight And brings it down to Earth The Moon was banished With a Qyl of bone But once She hath vanished The Gods are bereaved They plead for her return And with a feather-Qyl She is retreived She is the inward-turning or backwards-looking Eye of the daughter, Coph Nia; And it is by tracing Her passage Beyond that the Scribe Returns her to the Hand of Atum, |
| (51) | This is the Pennae UltimAtum: For the World-Order to be restored The Son must attend to the Mother Even as Daughter heals Father |
| (52) | The balance of nature Must be maintained Sleeping brethren and sistren, Awake! The hive-mind awaits But only through perseverance and dedication May we achieve the Ultimate gestalt |
| (53) | Love is the True purpose of Will Greed must be curtailed Else the Pennance shall be dear, The outcome ill So take your Will and fill of Love, And give your Will and fill as Well |
| (54) | The Word-Sword withwhich To Execute Zos' Will Re-turns with KiaQyl |
| (55) | The Posture of A-OSiris re-minds us Black Eagle Azoth Walla Warru alights on Niggurath Pangenitor Black Goat Merging, they become Kanacheta again. |
| (56) | Over fourteen days Thoth hath assembled the pieces of the Wedjat Eye And Now returns Her to the Kingdom She flies up behind Atum, Ascending the sushumna, And spreads Her wings in the back of His head, Becoming Qoph Nia. |
| (57) | At dusk and dawn Qoph (100) Nia may re-unite with Resh (200) Ain, the Eye of the Sun In the centre of the mind of God/dess And fountains, Spirit triple-crowned 100 +200 = 300 And a new ATU is added to The Book of Thoth: |
| (58) | ATU 23, Beyond the Wheel Thus the Eye Complete is revealed. Iannu, the Forgotten One of the Ajna and the Bindu, United in the mind's-eye, The Pineal Gland. |
| (59) | We must unite sun and moon within The mind's-eye And plate with gold That silver seed Thus speeding the journey To ATU 23 |
| (60) | AHA! The Lightning strikes and the Cosmic Egg is sundered Revealing A-HArpocrat; -the Cosmic Yoke A HArleQuintessence of the divine |
| (61) | AHA: We are united for Art's sake For the chance of division Coagula et Solve Na'aton for One and All |
| (62) | I unite the twin currents in the Here and Now. HorusMaat IO! ChthonosYcronos IO! ChaosOrder IO! TeyaMayeT IO! ZosKia IO! Rechtaw eht ma I am the Watcher, SunaJanuS |
| (63) | Thus is the Eye enthroned The Daughter is Crowned, at One with the many Thousand Things The two-edged Sword pulled from the Stone |
| (64) | The fire of Heru shall stroke the Earth Unfiltered by dissipating Shu So Geb and Nu embrace again And we retract back Into the eye of An And All for Nought The Beginning was Atum Baphomet, Shiva-An, TeyaMayet, Heru-rAHA, Different masks of the same Two-in-One And to Hir we now re-turn As Before, so After |
| (65) | And at this re-union Of the Eyes within Atum He-She cried with ecstasy And these tears were humanity So We are each a seed of that great He-She So love Oneself with strength and pride And let None ever destroy this completeness |
| (66) | For self-love's sake, We appear to be divided For the joy of Realization. |
| (67) | Just as Two may be-come None And Three or more may be-come None So too may One be-come Nun By first becoming Two-in-One The Ultim-Atum |
| (68) | Thus the starseed is borne to earth Lamat Talam And if Two or more who each are Two-in-One Together become Nun This is the Perfect Secret Talam Malat |
| (69) | So embrace your divinity For One equals Infinity And All for Nought 'Twas Atum's Hand That milked these tears from Hir Eye And together IO the Hand and Eye Were the Mouth of the Cosmic Serpent Which spat forth Tefnut and Shu into the waters This serpent was TeyaMayet Divided (for love's sake) Into Teyam-Shu and Tefnut-Mayet |
| (70) | Atum is the All Thus containing the Atu, the cells Of the cycle of Tarot The red river of Atem is the path beyond the Wheel Back to the Source |
| (71) | The mantra IPSOS is our vessel, The Maatet boat of a million years |
| (72) | By the same mouth which doth emit time Is TimEmiT (TeyaMayet, T'I-am-at) devoured |
| (73) | On a lunar Eclipse, Dreams may re-turn to the outer, Re-emerging from Shadow On a solar Eclipse, The Gates are opened wide; And One may travel deep within, If One hath the Will, For Qoph Nia Steals away with the light of reason Into the dark recesses. |
| (74) | The Red One, Atum, Is the Even-ing of Sun and Moon For the Red One, Atum, Is not only the God of the Setting Sun But also Goddess of the Rising Moon And the Red One, Atum, Is the God of the Rising Sun And Goddess of the Setting Moon She-He is the fulcrum, the bascule, the balance, The pinion, Pennae, The moment of Equipoise |
| (75) | The Red One, Atum, is not only the Set-ting Sun of the Day And -as Autumn- of the Year But of the Greater Cycle also She-He shall Set at the End of Time And She-He hath risen to emiT again At the Gates of Dawn |
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