https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Tetractys.svg/338px-Tetractys.svg.png

Though there are some similarities, the process of Creation described by Iamblichus is not the same as the process of Creation described by Lubicz.  Similarly, the process of Creation I describe below borrows from both Iamblichus and Lubicz, but differs from both as well.

The first dot represents the Monad, which contains everything potentially.  All numbers come from the Monad, but the Monad is not considered a number.  In isopsephy (assigning numbers to letters, then adding up the numbers of a word) (like gematria, but for Greek instead of Hebrew), the “Rule of Colel” is that one can be added or subtracted to the value of a word without affecting its value, since it really isn’t a number.

The Greeks considered odd numbers to be male and even numbers to be female.  The Monad was considered even-odd.  It had a dual nature, both the potential to be even and the potential to be odd.  Observing this dual nature provokes scission; the Monad creates the Dyad.

| becomes | |.  (The easiest metaphor for my understanding is to consider the Monad a bar magnet.  It is one magnet with two natures:  a positive pole and a negative pole.)

Written another way,

|

|    |

This scission of the Monad to the Dyad can also be represented as

A

C    B

A is a unity.  B is a unity.  C is a unity. 
Three unities.  A Trinity.
But BC is also a unity.
Four unities.  A Tetrad.

But wait!

ABC is another unity, so five unities.  A Pentad. (Iamblichus and Lubicz explain how to get to the Decad, but getting to the Pentad is far enough for this essay.)

Another way of describing the process of the Monad to the Pentad is

·        1 created 1,

|
|

·        which made 2,

|  |

·        totaling 3,

• Ain Soph creates Ain Soph Aur (so 1 creates 1).
• Ain Soph, as the Cosmic Egg, is split into Ouranos and Gaia (so 1 makes 2). 
  
• Ouranos and Gaia make Kronos (so Kronos would have a value of 2, which doesn’t match with the traditional value of 3, but it is even, which does align with Kronos (and Binah) being on the left side of the Cabalistic Tree of Life and with Kronos reputation of consuming his children). 
  
  

But after that, things aren’t so neat and tidy.

If Kronos is 2 and Rhea is 1, Zeus would be 3.  Zeus being 3 would work, if Hera was 2.  (Actually, it would work exceptionally well.  Iamblichus considered the Pentad a representation of marriage, since it is formed of the first even (2) and the first odd (3).  And Zeus and Hera’s marriage was celebrated as the Hieros Gamos, the Sacred Marriage.  And William Stirling (in The Canon) mentioned that Hera was the feminine part of the androgynous Zeus.  So androgynous Zeus would have a value of 5 and Lubicz said that the number 5 is the creator. But why would Hera have a value of 2?)

So let’s try a different triangle.  We start with 1, with a dual nature, so scission creates 1  1.

1
1  1

1 and 1 create 2, so we have

1
1  1
2

The uppermost 1 is Kether.  The 1 on the right is Chokmah, the “force” emanating from Kether.  The 1 on the left is Binah, the Great Sea that receives the force (giving it form).  When 2 is created, Kether continues to emanate, so we have

1
1  1
1  2  1

Two, according to Lubicz, is androgynous, containing a potential active nature (force) and a potential passive nature (form).    Two can procreate with either force or form, making 3.

1
1  1
1  2  1
1  3  3  1

Since the active nature and the passive nature of Two procreated to make Three, they are no longer potential, but actual.  (So Three isn’t androgynous, it is bisexual.)

The next iteration is

1
1  1
1  2  1
1  3  3  1
1  4  6  4  1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PascalTriangleAnimated2.gif

This pattern (known as Pascal’s Triangle, first described by Al-Karaji and later by Omar Khayyam) is based on a binomial (a + b) raised to a power x.

The first row is (a + b)⁰ = 1. 

The second row is (a + b)¹ = 1a + 1b.  Using a = 1 and b = 1 (since 1 is our creative unity), we get 1 and 1.

The third row is (a + b)² = 1a² + 2ab + 1b².  Again, using a = 1 and b = 1, we get 1 2 1.

The fourth row is (a + b)³ = 1a² + 3a²b + 3ab² + 1b³, or 1 3 3 1.

From Lubicz, “As number (quality), 1 is abstract and becomes concrete only when it is 10, and 10 is 1 made concrete:  10 is the first power of 1!”  (So if you consider Creation as taking four Trees (one for Atziluth, one for Briah, one for Yetzirah, and one for Assiah) then the second row of Pascal’s Triangle would represent Atziluth (the binomial to the first power, so Kether to Malkuth one time).  The second row is the binomial to the second power, so another iteration of Kether to Malkuth.

Let’s try the theogony again… 

(a + b)⁰ is Ain Soph and Ain Soph Aur

(a + b)¹ is Ouranos and Gaia

(a + b)² is Kronos and Rhea.  Two is androgynous, so it procreates with the One on the left and the One on the Right.

(a + b)³ is Zeus.  There are two Threes, which is fitting, since Three is bisexual.  Zeus is masculine with Hera (producing Ares, et al) and with Demeter (producing Persephone).  But Zeus is, at times, feminine (producing Athena and Dionysus).  (And, in this triangle, the Threes produce the Six, which is Apollo!)

And then there is the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio of Creation alluded to earlier (1, 1, 2, 3, 5).  I tried to make that work; I wanted to make that work.  I could not make it work.  And then I found Pascal’s Triangle, and that seems to work quite well.  And then I found that the Fibonacci sequence is in Pascal’s Triangle!

Instead of

1
1  1
1  2  1
1  3  3  1
1  4  6  4  1

make the numbers left aligned

1
1  1
1  2  1
1  3  3  1
1  4  6  4  1

and then add the numbers on the diagonal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fibonacci_in_Pascal_triangle.png

It seems important that the line going through 6 (Apollo) is 13 (Death/Transformation).  And it also seems important that the line going through the first 10 is 21 (a cycle of the Tarot Trumps, perhaps?).  But those are meditations for another day. 

Levi divides the Tree into three Worlds:  the Mystical (Divine), the Metaphysical (Moral), and the Material (Physical).  These are labeled on the picture below.

Ring Cosmos condenses to a point (Kether).  Where Ring Cosmos *was* is Ain Soph Aur, the Divine Light that is a reflection of Ain Soph.  In The Doctrine of High Magic, Chapter 8, Levi states that the Astral Light is an expression of the Intellectual Light and the Intellectual Light is an expression of the Divine Light.  These are labelled on the picture below.

In his Chapter 4 commentary, JMG writes that the Astral Light is the fourth emanation of the life principle.  The Sun is the third emanation, the Mind is the second emanation, and One is the first.  These are labelled on the picture below.

In his Chapter 6 commentary, JMG provides the hint that Reason, Necessity, and Liberty are the Ternary of the Great Arcanum.  He then says that from these, the Great Magical Agent is created, with a two-fold form of attraction and repulsion.  Levi discussed the Great Magical Agent in terms of four forces (Heat, Light, Electricity, and Magnetism.  These are labelled on the picture below.

Levi states that "to understand the movements of… the Sun, so as to be able to benefit from its currents and direct them, is to have accomplished the Great Work, and it is to be master of the world."  My interpretation of that statement is the 'movement of the Sun' is the Great Arcanum and the understanding of the Great Arcanum is the result of the Great Work.  Levi also states the Great Work results in the creation of the Stone of the Philosophers (which is sometimes represented by a Cube and sometimes by a hexagram and is sometimes described as a 'unified will').

Levi describes the Cube as having the following Tetragrammaton pairs  on opposite sides, each representing one way of looking at the Great Arcanum:

• ShLMH--God
• ADAM--HEVA
• AZOT--INRI

Levi also includes two diagrams that appear to be related to the Cube:

The top and bottom faces of the Cube would align to the Alpha and Omega in Levi's hexagram, which are both along the central axis of the hexagram, indicating equilibrium.  God would have the Alpha position; ShLMH (Solomon) would have the Omega position.  Levi has previously referred to the TARO as AZOT, so AZOT would go on the left side and INRI would go on the right side.

For ADAM and HEVA, Levi gives a hint by the spelling he chooses for Eve.  Rather than HVH or Cheth-Vau-Heh, he chose a spelling that ended with the letter Aleph, the first magical virtue, to will.  So I place HEVA on the right and ADAM on the left.  Since AZOT is the receptacle of forms, AZOT would go on the upper left (the Heh) and Adam would go on the lower left (the Yod).  Since INRI is resurrection (which begins and ends with a Yod), INRI would go on the bottom right (since rebirth happens in the Great Sea, a Heh).  HEVA, starting with a Heh and ending with Aleph, would go on the upper right.

And which way does the Astral Light circulate?  Both!  One current travels clockwise, the other counterclockwise.

So have we finished creating the Philosopher's Stone?  I don't think so…

In Spiritual Alchemy, the Alchemist strives to purify his Soul so it can reunite with his Spirit.  The Soul is often represented by the Moon; the Spirit, by the Sun.  What would happen to our Tree if Yesod (the Moon) united with Tiphareth (the Sun), so the human will was unified?  Perhaps the Adept achieves 'sovereign will' (and his mental body) and becomes king of the elementary world, the Kingdom of Malkuth?  His physical body would be shed, and his Malkuth would be as the Kether of the next World. 

As the Serpent said,

You shall never die,

[because those who have learned the Great Secret are not subject to Fate and are freed of the Wheel of Destiny]

but you will

[achieve sovereign will and become King?  Or perhaps it should be

But you Will, as Aleph the Magician,

become as gods

[by Divining… reading the Astral by prophecy and acting upon the Astral by miracles]

knowing good and evil

[both currents of the Astral, the volatile and the fixed].

Thank you for reading about my attempt to Solve and Coagula a meaning of the Cube.  I think there is more understanding to unpack, but first I am going to revisit My Metaphor and update it with my new understandings.  And then perhaps I'll revisit Herakles and see if he has more I am ready to learn.  And then I'll come back to the Cube, unless I am sent on another Quest first.  :-)

My quest started as I studied John Gilbert and John Michael Greer’s The Tree of Life and the Wheel of the Year (available here: http://aoda.org/publications/articles-on-druidry/treeoflife/).  I created a document to organize all the correspondences of the Tree and the Wheel (available here: https://randomactsofkarmasc.dreamwidth.org/665.html).  I thought aligning the Labors to the Wheel would not be difficult, since they supposedly followed the Zodiac.  (Ha!  I was so wrong...)

The myths are thousands of years old.  They have been told and retold and translated and adapted many many times.  I make no claim that I have studied the ‘correct’ or ‘true’ version of the myths, only that I followed my intuition and that led me to many insights.  Some of these insights are shared in the documents linked below.

Within the documents, I referenced sources that provided images or specific information.  I have created a separate document that lists all the books, articles, blogs, and websites I have read during this quest.  I don’t agree with the contents of all these sources, but they all provided valuable meditation topics which influenced my thinking.

As always, I consider this effort to be a work in progress and I welcome comments and suggestions for further research and reading.

1.  Herakles and Astronomy
2.  Herakles and the Zodiac
3.  Herakles and the Path of Initiation
4.  Herakles and the Virtues
5.  Herakles References

Helm Flower

What is a Hexafoil?

A hexafoil is a geometric design created by overlapping circles. The prefix ‘hexa’ means six, implying six overlapping circles, though many designs found in architecture and art contain more than six circles.

If you would like to learn more about hexafoils and their uses, follow the “More About Hexafoils” links included at the bottom of this page. 

These instructions are for creating a chainmail hexafoil based on the helm chain pattern. This design is sometimes referred to as a helm chain flower or just a helm flower.

Materials

To make this hexafoil, you need:

• Two small-nosed pliers
• 9 jump rings, 6mm outer diameter (OD), 21 gauge  
• 3 jump rings, 4mm OD, 21 gauge  

Tips!

Tip 1

Tip 2

Make sure you close all of your rings neatly before you get started.

Yes, you will be opening some back up, but making them tidy to start with will save you some aggravation when you don’t want to put your piece down to close a ring before you use it.



This ring is NOT neat and tidy.

 

This ring IS neat and tidy.   

Tip 3

When you open a ring, one side is ‘up’ and the other side is ‘down’. Sometimes it is easier to weave a ring through a hoop if the ‘up’ and ‘down’ sides are reversed, so if you are having difficulty getting a ring through another ring, try opening it the opposite way.

Tip 4

Lay out your rings.

This pattern has three layers. The graphics have different shades to represent the layers, with the darkest shade being the bottom layer and the lightest shade being the top layer.

Tip 5

I lay out my rings in the pattern I am going to make.

This is not required, but when I am doing a pattern for the first time, I find it helpful. 

Step 1

Start by linking two 6mm jump rings together (pictured are gold and silver) with a 4mm jump ring (pictured is brass).

Then, use another 4mm jump ring to add a third 6mm ring. (If you are using my color scheme, the third ring is copper.)

Step 2

You now have a chain of three 6mm jump rings held together with two 4mm jump rings.

My chain is copper-brass-gold-brass-silver. 
As you follow the instructions below, it doesn’t really matter which color ring you add first or second, etc., so long as you put the ring in the correct position.

Step 3