Triads in Thought (2)

In his “Book of the Law” (Liber AL vel Legis) Aleister Crowley presented the knowledge of the Three Aeons that he had received from the Stele of Revealing. Also, Crowley, the founder of Thelma, discussed his ideas of space and time. Later, he codified his concepts of the Triads in his Thoth Tarot.

Crowley divided space into threes, and named them. Nuit, the Goddess of the Infinite Space, is the periphery, with Hadit, the God of the Concentrated Point, living at her center. Their child, Ra-Hoor-Khut, comes into being when Nuit and Hadit occupy the same space at the same time. Nuit (outness) and Hadit (inness) lock in an infinite embrace, who is Ra-Hoor-Khut (both).

Then, Crowley divided the evolution of human consciousness into Three Aeons. Isis, the Great Goddess, governed the First Aeon. She represented the Maternal Principle of all life coming from woman. (In the First Aeon, the earth was made a Goddess of all life.) The Second Aeon was governed by Osiris, the Dying God. At that time, people became preoccupied with life and death. Within the Paternal Principle of Osiris was the Cycle of the Sun, rising, setting, and rising again. The Last Aeon of Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child freed people from both the Matriarch and the Patriarch. Horus, the self-radiant every-living Sun, represented the Principle of the Child.






Meanwhile the Order of the Golden Dawn inspired Arthur Edward Waite to formulate his version of the Tarot. Reflected in his Tarot (Rider-Waite) are the Threefold aspects of humanity – the body, mind, and soul. The pregnant Empress (III) begins the creation of the body. Waiting for the birth of the soul is the Hanged Man (XII), the mind. At Journey’s end, the Fool finds wisdom in the World (XXI). First the female Empress, then the Hanged Man joins to become the World of the female surrounded by male beings of the soul.

Within the Tarot Minors, similar themes play out with the threes. The pain of the Three of Hearts is soothed by the friendship of the Three of Cups which is broken again by the Three of Hearts. Meanwhile, Three of Wands waits for his ship to come in. When it does, the Three of Pentacles celebrates his accomplishments, which leads to waiting on more ships to come in.





Footnotes:
1. Jayaram V, “The Triple Gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, Hinduwebsite, 2005, 25 Sept. 2009 http://www.hinduwebsite.com/gunas.asp

2. Pg. 56, DuQuette, Lon Milo, “Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot”, Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books, 1999.

References:

Adkins, Lesley and Roy A. Adkins, "Dictionary of Roman Religion”, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Asborn, Kevin and Dana Burgess, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Classical Mythology”, New York: Penguin Publishing, 2004.

Crystal, Ellie, Numbers and their Meanings, Crystalinks, 2009, 26 Sept. 2009, http://www.crystalinks.com/numerology2.html

Druy, Nevil, “The Tarot Workbook”, San Diego: Thunder Bay, 2004.

DuQuette, Lon Milo, “Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot”, Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books, 1999.

Jayaram V, “The Triple Gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, Hinduwebsite, 2005, 25 Sept. 2009, http://www.hinduwebsite.com/gunas.asp

-----, Thelemapedia, Scarlet Woman Lodge (O.T.O.), 2005, 23 Sept. 2009 http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Main_Page

Wild, Leon, “The Runes Workbook”, San Diego: Thunder Bay, 2004.