The Birth of Venus

Symbols and allegories.
Locked
User avatar
Smaragd
Posts: 1120
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:27 am

The Birth of Venus

Post by Smaragd »

In the discussion on the Absense of God in Buddhism there raised a crucial point on the process of locating and purifying Manas (Lucifer) amidst the different human principles:
Nefastos wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:59 am
It is very important trait for an occultist to learn the difference between kâma (astralism), kâma manas (formal reason) and manas (formless creative intelligence). If this important difference isn't grasped, all study is based on sand of easy assumptions. The names of the Sanskrit principles hold a clue. Even though kâma feels in the beginning a lot like pure manas and is often confused with it, manas is actually reached by removing kâma from kâma manas and not adding it to it. Only when one's "merciless" intelligence is tortured to the point that it can no longer have foothold in any physical or emotional dimension, it learns to fly to(/in/as) the higher triad.
First of all, I think this goes to show how handy a tool it is to have these Sanskrit terms for the seven principles. To give words to abstract matters, which our native languages has no precise vocabulary, helps us to reach to the obscured invisible.

Secondly, on the point of this topic where we can reach to the invisible through visible symbols, this notion from fra Nefastos reminds me of the well known motif of the Birth of Venus. Usually there is the Sea, a shell wherefrom Venus arrives and Venus in female form. Feel free to share your thoughts about the details and vaster concepts present in different art works made in the study of the Birth of Venus.

In the above quoted process there is first a confusion marked by the chaotic state we human beings are in regarding the matters that are yet to be claimed as purified tools of the Magician. Continuing an interpretation from here, in the motif this chaos is marked by the sea as a totality of its waters and raging and calm waves impressed on it. The water in the sea could be seen that which Nefastos spoke as kâma, a substance which readily takes in it impressions and forms and reacts to them. The winds howls and the waters follow, rising up tempests.

The shell in this interpretation would then be one of the concrete forms built by Saturnian powers from the archetypal images impressed on the astral waters of the Sea. As such, in the human constitution it corresponds to the Saturnian tool of kama manas. But the shell is not kama manas per se for with its formal language it represents feminine attributes of birth-giving. Still in the context of the motif and our interpretation, it represents kama manas in the conjunction of Moon and Saturn.

And finally, when in the process we start to separate and order our kama with our formal intellect (kama manas), we begin to recognize actual differences more clearly and putting our reason in to a test through years of self-reflective journaling, public forum writing on occult topics (where our reasons objectivity will be tested) we become more and more capable for interpreting our feelings and affects. This means our kama manas becomes increasingly free from the dross of kama and the silent voice of manas' is allowed the guiding position towards kama manas. Thus Venus is given birth to as the Luciferian manas.

We could say this process with kama is not that of getting rid of it, but allowing it to be our teacher rather than our unconscious enemy. In the below attached image the base of sea is infact represented by a fish, a teacher from the sea - Dagon - if you will. This fish can be seen as the intuition we recognize, but it is yet to be claimed wholly by the formal intellect and consequently opened in to its revelation as isbthe case in the form of Venus.

Although classical Greek sculptures were allegedly painted during their time, I like how the tradition of sculputre is often to leave them without additional colours, leaving also their eyes blank as if beholding the the world from the perspective of the profound uncreation. This added to the body language of pure, newborn perspective of Venus in 'Venus with a shell' by James Pradier, and Salvator Marchi, 1844, is hinting of manas' nature.
venuswithashell.jpg
venuswithashell.jpg (96.76 KiB) Viewed 4598 times
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
User avatar
Nebenkheperu
Posts: 89
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2022 2:26 am

Re: The Birth of Venus

Post by Nebenkheperu »

Smaragd wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:24 pm First of all, I think this goes to show how handy a tool it is to have these Sanskrit terms for the seven principles. To give words to abstract matters, which our native languages has no precise vocabulary, helps us to reach to the obscured invisible.
I agree; Finnish has no precise terms for the principles (in the traditional soul-part systems) and neither does English. Maybe the closest is the Germanic/Old Norse one, or the Ancient Greek soul-division, but it would still be just another set of loan-words to learn & adopt. The Sanskrit terminology has already become more or less accepted as the standard in the West...so IMO it would be foolish to reinvent the wheel by seeking to replace it.*
Smaragd wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:24 pm Secondly, on the point of this topic where we can reach to the invisible through visible symbols, this notion from fra Nefastos reminds me of the well known motif of the Birth of Venus. Usually there is the Sea, a shell wherefrom Venus arrives and Venus in female form. Feel free to share your thoughts about the details and vaster concepts present in different art works made in the study of the Birth of Venus.
You raise some very interesting insights here about this whole complex symbology!
Myself, I want to just add some rather banal points, sorry: that if you analyse the original Greek birth-myth of Aphrodítē AND how this goddess was in practice venerated (no pun intended; this verb stems from 'Venus') by commoners (i.e. exotericists) in Hellenistic times and probably earlier, as evidenced by historical & archaeological sources, you shall find that Aphrodítē was thought to have a twofold nature: Aphrodítē Pornē/Pandemos and Aphrodítē Ouranía. Two different and seemingly opposite aspects/avatars of the same deity. At least to me these seem to correspond directly to the Theosophical/SoA concepts of kāma and manas.
-----
* Sanskrit is obviously an early Indo-European language, from which also Finnish has taken (perhaps 9000 to 5000 years ago) not a few loan-words, for one example "vasara" from "vajra". Their connotations of Sky-gods, hammering thunder & lightning, flash of inspiration ("sicut splendor fulguris") etc. are probably apparent on both exoteric and esoteric levels.
Ἐθεώρουν τὸν Σατανᾶν ὡς ἀστραπὴν.
"Animus risu novatur."
User avatar
Nefastos
Posts: 3029
Joined: Mon May 24, 2010 10:05 am
Location: Helsinki

Re: The Birth of Venus

Post by Nefastos »

Smaragd wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:24 pmThe shell in this interpretation would then be one of the concrete forms built by Saturnian powers from the archetypal images impressed on the astral waters of the Sea. [---]
We could say this process with kama is not that of getting rid of it, but allowing it to be our teacher rather than our unconscious enemy. In the below attached image the base of sea is infact represented by a fish, a teacher from the sea - Dagon - if you will. This fish can be seen as the intuition we recognize, but it is yet to be claimed wholly by the formal intellect and consequently opened in to its revelation as is the case in the form of Venus.

I would like to interpolate three symbols, already present here but in an unseen form:

(1) The symbol of pearl
(2) The symbol of unopened flower
(3) The symbol of pearl-holding dragon

The first two I have used in my writings (Vasemman käden tie & Discordamelior) as the symbols of the black magician: the adept who renounces âtma-buddhi in order to emphasize âtma-manas only. They are practically the same symbol, with a small difference in nuance. Pearl is the treasure in the shell you Smaragd described, but created via constant suffering in the flesh of the creature unable to cast out the pebble that torments it. The flower that refuses to open because it wants to remain only for itself is a similar picture of a black magician.

The water-dragon is an Oriental picture of ambivalent wisdom, holding that very pearl or wishes, born of human suffering. It is the higher self, holding the quintessence of elemental quaternary. Dragon + pearl would therefore be one quite perfect depiction for our Lucifer-Christos (pearl being the blackness of Lucifer, dragon as the whiteness of supreme Dragon of Wisdom).

This also instantly permutates to the "Mani-Padme," the Jewel in the Lotus in the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, one's inner master. The lotus opened or unopened is any chakric gate in its spiritually active or inactive state (laya found or left unfound), here mainly those of Anahata and Sahasrara.
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
User avatar
Smaragd
Posts: 1120
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:27 am

Re: The Birth of Venus

Post by Smaragd »

Nefastos wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 4:03 pm

This also instantly permutates to the "Mani-Padme," the Jewel in the Lotus in the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, one's inner master. The lotus opened or unopened is any chakric gate in its spiritually active or inactive state (laya found or left unfound), here mainly those of Anahata and Sahasrara.
This is what came to my mind also when reading your words about the unopened flower and the black magician. The Rosary can be a helpful tool pushing the gates open, but as much as I love ritual magic it must be acknowledged that without the more hands in the mud method of first learning the proper unbribed use of kama manas in our daily challenges, the pearl is almost certainly left in the obscurity of the unopened flower. The tool must be prepared and sharpened for it to be offered to its honorable wielder. But surely the Rosary in itself allows to get the preparations well on its way to bridge kama manas and manas.

A motif for such preparatory phase, saturated by honor, could be the knight who is kneeling before his Queen, offering his sword for her use. The closest thing I could find is the following where we rather see kama manas and manas kneeling before atma-buddhi:
Screenshot_20230213-180006__01__01.jpg
Screenshot_20230213-180006__01__01.jpg (323.81 KiB) Viewed 4452 times
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
User avatar
Nefastos
Posts: 3029
Joined: Mon May 24, 2010 10:05 am
Location: Helsinki

Re: The Birth of Venus

Post by Nefastos »

Smaragd wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:05 pmA motif for such preparatory phase, saturated by honor, could be the knight who is kneeling before his Queen, offering his sword for her use. The closest thing I could find is the following where we rather see kama manas and manas kneeling before atma-buddhi:

It seems that we are once again in good synergy, since I hadn't read this post of yours when I earlier today spoke of the same thing (holy Grail Minne) in the discussion on mediumism.

Smaragd wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:05 pmThe Rosary can be a helpful tool pushing the gates open, but as much as I love ritual magic it must be acknowledged that without the more hands in the mud method of first learning the proper unbribed use of kama manas in our daily challenges, the pearl is almost certainly left in the obscurity of the unopened flower.

But is there really any way from keeping one's hands from the mud? Aren't those hands made of mud in the first place?

This, by the way, reminds me of one of the more interesting parts of my (thank you Master!) at last finished Zohar read-through. The common Christian funeral ceremony quote from the Bible, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" &c. is seen completely differently through the lense of Zohar: since it is Adam (= literally "Man", i.e. a human being) that is made from the dust, this Bible quote means that as we have been dust when we were alive, we will return to incarnation later. So, the Christian interpretation of the Jewish mystic text had turned its meaning upside down, making this mean that we are all mortal, alive for a little time, and then forever dead, where for a qabbalist the meaning was that we, the human dust, continue our permutations forever, all until the great divine puzzle – "reconstruction of the name of God" – has been solved.

But, back to the question of hands-on occultism, I really think that the praxis should come mainly through living itself, and occult practices like rituals, yoga and so on can only be like intermediary helps and bridge-building to that. Only at very advanced stage there is no longer need to practice via challenging physical, social, cultural living, as ashes among ashes, but one can act unseen from the serene ivory towers of Lhasa, Prayaga, Venice or Monsalvat.
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
User avatar
Smaragd
Posts: 1120
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:27 am

Re: The Birth of Venus

Post by Smaragd »

Nefastos wrote: Tue Feb 14, 2023 4:30 pm
Smaragd wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:05 pmA motif for such preparatory phase, saturated by honor, could be the knight who is kneeling before his Queen, offering his sword for her use. The closest thing I could find is the following where we rather see kama manas and manas kneeling before atma-buddhi:

It seems that we are once again in good synergy, since I hadn't read this post of yours when I earlier today spoke of the same thing (holy Grail Minne) in the discussion on mediumism.
The point you raised there is indeed the problem which will suffocate this preliminary step (of preparing kama manas). The honor turns quickly into an air filled with fear of the unknown. From this fear the the higher principles can not be embraced, only fantasized about. But the fear is a stepping stone if one is to climb over it. The honor must be united with the courage, or even arrogance, of Lucifer in order to bring about the genius of Manas in to play.

The sharpness of the arrogance, in turn, should mature towards the shining of the Star instead of keeping in the juvenile bridge burning arrogance. To express this again in properly soft images we could come back to the Feminine arrival of Venus.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
Locked