by Frater Zephyros

Presented here is but a rough sketch of an idea. The Holy Tarot as revised by Aleister Crowley, seems itself to have been a suggestion towards an evolution of the Qabalistic paradigm that is the foundation of the Western Mystery Tradition. This new Qabalah radiates by way of a set of holy books that speaks to the very foundation of a tradition, reorganized in the Greco-Roman period at the start of the Sagittarian Manifestation and speaking to its origins in Egypt. One might say that even Egypt took from the more ancient Sumeria and perhaps even Atlantis. But from that origin, Gnosis went both West and East. And the Holy Tarot doesn’t speak to the East, the Yi-Jeng would seem more appropriate there.

In considering the retiling of Atus, Crowley brought a few into play in light of the revelation of Liber AL vel Legis. And his investigation into the nature of each Atu went deeper than anyone had ever considered before or since. His transmission of holy books and his thorough exploration of the 30 Enochian Aethyrs together with the Holy Tarot not only correct the error of a tradition that has caused the ugly splinter that generates the three skewed desert religions, but adds new Gnosis even had this tradition never suffered such a fate.

A living theurgy is the greatest gift that Crowley has brought to us. And it is in this spirit that we should see even his large body of work as but a skeleton for a work in process. Truly, how sad it is to see that so many are adulating Crowley as having created a canon that cannot be altered or amended. These forces are wringing the life and spirit out of the work and have missed the heart of Crowley’s mission; the heart of Crowley’s transmission of new Gnosis to humanity and specifically, the Western Mystery Tradition.

With this essential light in mind, it seems that there are still some Atus that remain clearly embedded in the old and dying egregore and in this time and place generate more confusion than they do revelation. Specifically, the Devil Atu brings up the idea of evil and this world as a place where evil manifests and rules. Though Crowley gives a great effort in explaining this Atu in an entirely different light, the Christist egregore is much stronger than even the greatest single human amongst us. And with the splintering of the Thelemic community with many really returning to the old aeon and espousing the Judeo-Christian tradition as some form of yet noble current, Thelema as a force in human society has lost its power in that it has lost its spirit.

The perversions of those that have come along to connect Thelema with the vapid Satanism destroy its credibility. And the false righteousness of the neo-Hippie, “White Lighters” that sing more in tune with the sterile ‘New Age’ movement (including Pagans and Wiccans, et al) is striking a blow at the very heart of the Thelemic egregore. And Thelema as a philosophical system is becoming neutralized even by a variety of groups that claim to be of Thelemic derivation. The overall whitewashing and dilution seems to beg us to reconfigure the central Talisman of Thelema (apart from the Holy Books of course), the Holy Tarot.

Below, please find a new suggestion for the renaming of the twenty-two tiles known as the Major Arcana in the Holy Tarot. Even in the original presentation given to us by Crowley, there is a deviation in the listing. Notice that the Star Atu is presented as the number IV Atu rather than XVII. This holds the order and value of the Hebrew alphabet that is yet so very important in Thelemic Qabalah. As the cards were reassigned the letter attributions, these further correlate the reassigning of letter attributions to Atus VIII and XI. This brings the Moebius Strip model into the Tarot itself; rather than it being an Astrological paradigm as Crowley presents in The Book of Thoth. And yet with this, both still work splendidly in their own rite. A further explanation of this rough sketch is detailed by footnotes connected to the chart. While examining these notes, please consider the idea that the Holy Tarot itself can be a numinous, theurgical process.  

Atu Numeration	Original Title	New Suggested Title	Complete Listing
0	Fool	Avatar	Avatar
I	Magus	Sphinx	Sphinx
II	Priestess	Babalon	Babalon
III	Empress	Sirius	Sirius
IV	Star		Star
V	Hierophant	Pan	Pan
VI	Lovers	Brothers	Brothers
VII	Chariot		Chariot
VII	Adjustment		Adjustment
IX	Hermit	Silenus	Silenus
X	Fortune	Helix	Helix
XI	Lust		Lust
XII	Hanged Man	Spica	Spica
XIII	Death	Stone	Stone
XIV	Art		Art
XV	Devil	Baphomet	Baphomet
XVI	Tower	War	War
XVII	Emperor	Tsar	Tsar
XVIII	Moon		Moon
XIX	Sun		Sun
XX	Aeon		Aeon
XXI	Universe	Zodiac	Zodiac

 

[1] The inauguration of a new theurgy; the Fool is the height of the mystery unto Kether and the work of this path clearly suggests the incarnation of an Avatar at the start of every age in human evolution.

[2] The four traditional weapons of the Magus considered from their source; the Sphinx still remains the mysterious heart of the Western Mystery Tradition.

[3] The “summit of the Earth” as per the Gnostic Mass; the Priestess becomes Nuit in the mass, but on the lower, physical plane, she is Babalon, the Earth herself and astride the Beast in the Great Work.

[4] Isis as she who brings unity between Earth and Heaven by leading Christian Rosencreutz to the Chemical Wedding; Sirius is the ‘Silver Star.’

[5] Aspiration as the enchantment or attraction unto the hidden L.V.X.; the ‘Night of Pan’ becomes the nature of the greatest Gnosis. We have here also the uniting of the Divine with the Animal; man-goat. This also suggests the Centaur, attributed to Sagittarius and the sign of the present Manifestation.

[6] Per Crowley’s suggestion; this especially recalls the ancient Gnostic scriptures where Jesus says: “Since I am your twin and true companion.” It was because of the defeat of the Gnostics that the Western Mystery Tradition splintered and has been at war ever since. Also consider the nature of the Dioscuri (Castor & Pollux) and the ‘Sons of Heaven’ as not all that dissimilar to the Enochian legend of the Nephilim as the progeny of the ‘Sons of God’ and the ‘Daughters of Men.’

[7] More descriptive of the nature of this Atu and born of Liber VII, Cap. 7; the Hermit looks within to find that this process of ‘silence’ brings one to the simultaneous knowledge of the ‘Self’ and the ‘All’.

[8] Rather than the vicissitudes of life, the organic source and manifestation of light; the DNA describes and electro-magnetic modulation that is generated by a source of light in a process called ‘Phosphorylation.’ This is the true center of life as the Wheel has suggested we find such a center to escape those vicissitudes. And so this light is the seed of our immortality.

[9] The ‘sacrifice’ as a seed that transforms into a flower as per The Starry Gnosis; Spica is a chaff of wheat held by Virgo, Virgin (Earth) who will take this seed into herself as light into matter being the key to its ‘redemption.’

[10] The ‘Stone of the Wise;’ how interesting it is that we have both a Philosopher’s Stone and a ‘tomb-stone,’ both connected with that which was once considered death, but we know now is a part of the process of evolution.

[11] The Lord of Initiation; Baphomet is that which the Devil was modeled on when the Christists created their boogey-man. And in this being forgotten, the true-nature of the Atu can be more readily expressed.

[12] Per Crowley’s suggestion; and with the splintering of the Gnostic current we have that which will ultimately reunite these factions in the Aeon of Ma’at to come. Without the war, this act of holy love, human ignorance will hold a firm grasp in our collective soul and we will never find truth and justice.

[13] A phonetic correlation of the letter attribution and an interesting pairing with the previously renamed Atu; we see here the continual rising of dictators and their authoritarian nature as both the product of and the inaugurator of war. This justifies the re-numeration of this and the Star Atus.

[14] Considering especially, the constellation of Orion as the key to Gnosis of the Stars and the fabric of Nuit; the Zodiac is more than just the twelve commonly known constellations on the ecliptic, but the entire map of the sky, which is the known universe and tells the complete story of The Starry Gnosis.