I. The Tree Of Wyrd And The Star Game: An Overview.
Herewith a useful overview of some of the renaissance alchemical, and the ancient hermetic, roots of the Order Of Nine Angles.
The above is a Renaissance illustration of the septenary Tree of Wyrd, from the book Azoth Sive Aureliae Occultae Philosophorum published in 1613 CE, which illustration includes the three fundamental alchemical substances, Salt, Sulphur, Mercury, whose nine transformations form the “nine angles” of the O9A and which nine angles are represented by the pieces of the O9A’s Star Game thus:
Both of the above illustrations were included in the O9A text á¼€ÏÏενόθηλυς: Alchemical And Hermetic Antecedents Of The Seven Fold Way Of The Order Of Nine Angles. {1}
The Star Game itself is an esoteric representation of the septenary Tree of Wyrd. That is, of the nexion between the acausal and the causal and which nexion is also represented by our psyche as human beings, a complex psyche hinted at in many medieval and Renaissance alchemical texts {2} and in modern times – for example by Carl Jung, whose inspiration was Renaissance alchemical texts – represented in terms of archetypes, a collective unconscious, the anima and animus, and ‘a shadow aspect’. {3}
The septenary Tree of Wyrd also represents the anados (ἄνοδος), the hermetic journey or alchemical/occult quest up through the seven spheres, anciently described in the Poemandres tractate of the Corpus Hermeticum {4} and described in more recent times by the Seven Fold Way of the Order of Nine Angles {5}.
Which overview reveals that the Occult tradition of the O9A is independent of, different from, and an alternative to the Qabala based tradition used by the majority of modern Occultists. {6}
{2} See, for example, (i) Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, published in 1652 CE, (ii) Theatrum Chemicum Praecipuos Selectorum, published in 1550 CE, and (iii) De Alchimia Opuscula Complura Veterum Philosophorum, published in 1613 CE.
{4} See Myatt’s translation of and commentary on the Poemandres tractate, available at https://davidmyatt.wordpress.com/corpus-hermeticum/. Printed version: David Myatt, Corpus Hermeticum: Eight Tractates, 2017, ISBN 978-1976452369.
{5} Regarding the O9A Seven Fold Way, refer to the á¼€ÏÏενόθηλυς text, such as the chapters titled Perusing The Seven Fold Way, and Alchemy And The Sinisterly-Numinous Tradition.
II. Extract from the 2013 text Originality, Tradition, And The Order of Nine Angles. {1}
{quote}
A study of O9A [Order of Nine Angles] texts reveals that, from the 1970s on, their ‘nine angles’ refer to the nine combinations – the “numinous symbols of cliology†(qv. the 1990s text ‘Aeonic Magick: A Basic Introduction’) – of the three basic alchemical substances (Mercury, Sulphur, Salt) which are represented in the pieces of the 1970s vintage O9A Star Game. These nine angles/combinations were first outlined in the 1974 text Emanations of Urania, and which nine combinations can be used to symbolize how the the causal and the acausal are manifest to us, as for instance in our psyche (in the nexion of causal/acausal that we are) via archetypes, ‘personality types’, and the esoteric correspondences of the O9A Tree of Wyrd.Furthermore, according to Anton Long his inspiration for this 1970s theory of cliology – of nine alchemical combinations or emanations – was an ancient Arabic manuscript, of a few folios, he read while travelling and studying in the Middle East and Asia in 1971, and to which MS some scribe had added some scholia and the title Al-Kitab Al-Alfak (which translates as The Book of The Spheres), for in ancient Muslim alchemy and cosmology there are nine cosmic spheres or ‘supernatural’ realms. {2}
The most distant of these spheres or realms is falak al-aflak, the ‘primary of the spheres’. Below this (and thus nearer to us) is al-kawakib al-thabitah, the realm of the heavenly fixed stars. Next is Zuhal, the sphere of Saturn. Then there is Mushtari, the sphere of Jupiter, followed by Marikh (Mars); Shams (the Sun); Zuhrah (Venus); Utarid (Mercury); and finally Qamar, the sphere of the Moon.
{2} Editorial Note: The Arabic MS Kitab al-Aflak (Book of the Spheres) should not be confused with a book with a similar name – Kitab Ta’dil hay’at alâ€aflak – written by Sadr al-Sharia alâ€Thani in 1346 or 1347 CE. See below, Part Four: Kitab Al-Aflak
Contents: ° Preface ° The Nine Angles – Beyond The Causal Continuum ° The Nine Angles of Sinister Change ° Sorcery and the Esoteric Nature of The Acausal ° The Physics of Acausal Energy ° Some Notes On The Text The Physics Of Acausal Energy
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Part Three:
The Order of Nine Angles Rite of The Nine Angles A Comparison with the Ceremony of Nine Angles by Aquino And A Brief Study of The Meaning of The Nine Angles
A study of Order of Nine Angles texts reveals that, from the 1970s on, their ‘nine angles’ refer to the nine combinations – the “numinous symbols of cliology†(qv. the 1990s text ‘Aeonic Magick – A Basic Introduction’) – of the three basic alchemical substances (Mercury, Sulphur, Salt) which are represented in the pieces of the 1970s vintage O9A Star Game. These nine angles/combinations were first outlined in the 1974 text Emanations of Urania, and which nine combinations can be used to symbolize how the the causal and the acausal are manifest to us, as for instance in our psyche (in the nexion of causal/acausal that we are) via archetypes, ‘personality types’, and the esoteric correspondences of the O9A Tree of Wyrd. Furthermore, according to Anton Long his inspiration for this 1970s theory of cliology – of nine alchemical combinations or emanations – was an ancient Arabic manuscript, of a few folios, he read while travelling and studying in the Middle East and Asia in 1971, and to which MS some scribe had added some scholia and the title Al-Kitab Al-Alfak – which translates as The Book of The Spheres.
Those curious about the Order of Nine Angles (ONA, O9A) who turn toward the four fictional stories that make up The Deofel Quartet expecting to find ‘horror’ stories or stories of bloody satanic sacrifice, or graphically described sexual or fetishistic satanic rituals, or de Sade like violence, sadism, and dominance, may well be disappointed […]
Nowhere is the dissonance between such expectations – of stories of horror, blood, sacrifice, sex, fetishism, satanic rituals, and sadism – and the Occult reality of The Deofel Quartet greater than in the story titled The Greyling Owl.
This fictional story – of some 130 pages – was published in 1986 ev and is set in and around the English city of York in the year 1976, with the story revealing “how the O9A often operates, and has operated, in the real world” for decades […]
What is described is The Dark Art Of Shrenching, otherwise known as Sinister Cloaking. A difficult Dark, Occult, Art to master involving as it can deceiving others about one’s intentions, and/or entrapping others for some sinister purpose.
In the O9A the most obvious use of The Dark Art Of Shrenching is in Insight Roles […]
Yet The Greyling Owl describes a somewhat hitherto neglected part of O9A tradition. Which is that Shrenching may also be a necessary part of those who, via the Seven Fold Way, have progressed beyond The Abyss and who thus have attained the Occult grade of Master of Temple, or Mistress of Earth […]
Since the Order of Nine Angles (O9A, ONA) publicly and controversially emerged on the Occult scene in the 1980s – with its affirmation that human sacrifice was part of traditional Satanism, and with its Mass Of Heresy in praise of Hitler – many self-professed modern ‘satanists’ (who follow the modern materialistic, law-abiding, ‘satanism’ developed by Howard Stanton Levey, aka Anton LaVey) and many self-professed followers of the modern, kabbalah indebted, Left Hand Path invented by the likes of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Aquino’s Temple of Set, have spread propaganda and lies about the O9A.
For the fact is that the O9A presented “a dangerous and extreme form of Satanism” {1} and directly challenged both the modern materialistic ‘satanism’ developed by Levey and the modern, kabbalah indebted, Left Hand Path with its Hebrew Otz Chim.
Thus it is not surprising that the anti-O9A crowd, following or indebted to or inspired by Levey-type ‘satanism’ – or following or indebted to or inspired by a kabbalah indebted Left Hand Path – would spread such propaganda and lies about the O9A.
For O9A folk were – in all but name – modern Occult heretics, given their promotion of National Socialism, given their holocaust denial, given their affirmation of the necessity of human sacrifice; given their tough physical challenges such as spending at least three months living alone in the wilderness; and given their practical Insight Roles lasting around a year whose “sinister-numinous” options included being an assassin or a burglar or a monk or a medic or a police officer.
O9A folk were also heretical in terms of their Occult philosophy, promoting a septenary system in place of the accepted Hebrew Otz Chim with its ten-fold sephera (a Hebrew system used by all non-o9a modern Occultists) and claiming that their septenary system represented the genuine Western Occult tradition and pre-dated the Hebrew Otz Chim by centuries.
We present here a few of the most popular propaganda statements made, and lies spread, about the O9A by the anti-O9A crowd, together with the “heretical reality” which debunks each of those propaganda statements and lies.
Part I: The Picatrix
Part II: Sigillum Dei Aemeth And The Septenary System
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Extract from Part I:
In two previous notes we touched upon the difference in some of the Occult sigils in the 11th century (CE) Arabic manuscript Ghayat al-hakim and those in the manuscripts of the Latin Picatrix dating from the 14th and 15th centuries (CE).
While some of the differences in the manuscripts are undoubtedly due to scribal errors and unintentional emendations, other differences may well (i) reflect how the scribes – or the editor(s) or authors of later printed texts – naturally and perhaps in a well-intentioned way evolved the symbolism in accord with both their apprehension of the manuscripts and/or their apprehension and understanding of contemporary Occult texts and praxises, and/or (ii) reflect the judgment of the illustrators or typesetters of later printed texts in respect of representing them on the printed page.
It is therefore interesting to compare some of the differences between the sigils of the Arabic Ghayat al-hakim and those in the Latin Picatrix, especially as such sigils were regarded as important in the crafting and use of talismata.
For one question which a practitioner or an aspiring practitioner of The Dark Arts might well ask is whether or not such later, emended, sigils were as effective as the earlier ones. Questions which practitioners or aspiring practitioners of The Dark Arts should answer themselves as a result of practical Occult experimentation.
The compilation conveniently brings together three recent articles whose subjects are the esotericism of the Order of Nine Angles and its relation to the Arabic text titled Ghayat al-hakim, dating from c. 1050 CE, and to the Latin manuscripts titled Picatrix, dating from c.1300 – c.1459 CE.
The compilation complements the esoteric O9A texts published in (i) AÏÏενόθηλυς: Alchemical And Hermetic Antecedents Of The Seven Fold Way; and (ii) The Eludent Order of Nine Angles.
Contents
° Preface
° Introduction: A Different Emphasis?
° Notes On O9A Ontology And The Ruhaniyyat
° The Latin Picatrix, The Arabic Ghayat al-ḥakim, And The O9A Septenary System
° A Note On A Difference In Sigils
Ruhaniyyat are the animating principles or entities which or who – in O9A terminology – presence πνεῦμα, pnuema. They are anciently associated with the septenary spheres, with the acausal entities named in O9A tradition as the Dark Gods the O9A version of the ruhaniyyat.
In an earlier text we noted the difference between the sigils of the septenary planets in the Latin text of the Picatrix – whose MSS date from c. 1300 to c.1459 – to those in the earlier Arabic MS Ghayat al-hakim, dating from c.1050.
This text explains the difference in greater detail and explains how these differences relate to the O9A septenary tradition.
Those who have studied the Renaissance Latin text known as the Picatrix, and those who have studied the more ancient Arabic text – Ghayat al-ḥakim – on which it is based, will be aware of three things.
First, that describing either book as an “astrological” text is a mistake, given (i) what the term astrology now denotes, such as the making of natal charts, and the writing of horoscopes based on Zodiacal constellations; and given (ii) that the classical Latin term astrologia denoted the Art (scientia) of knowing and understanding celestial objects – the stars and planets – and how these objects might affect mortals given that for ancient Greek and Roman philosophers we mortals were considered as connected to, as part of, the cosmic order, κόσμος.
Second, that the subject of Ghayat al-ḥakim – and thus of the Picatrix – is this connection and how a knowledge and understanding of the seven planets, of the Zodiacal constellations, and the relation between them, was a means whereby wisdom – an understanding of the cosmos, and of ourselves – could be attained […]
Third, how a septenary system permeates those two books.
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Editorial Note: The synchronicity of such recent O9A texts dealing with ancient Arabic esoteric manuscripts such as Ghayat al-hakim, and the appearance of Richard Moult’s latest Tarot image The Emissary with its Arabic inscription – أساسيون – is esotericism at its modern best.
This O9A compilation conveniently brings together some recent articles which, as explained in the Introduction, manifest aspects of O9A tradition hitherto neglected by both other Occultists and by academics who have studied or who are studying Western Occultism and/or the O9A.
Which aspects are (i) Occult knowledge – esoteric and pagan traditions, Greco-Roman, Arabic, and Persian – absent from other manifestations of modern Western Occultism; (ii) the link which the O9A has through this knowledge to those ancient traditions; and (iii) the erudition shown by the authors of such O9A texts.
The compilation thus compliments the O9A texts in AÏÏενόθηλυς: Alchemical And Hermetic Antecedents Of The Seven Fold Way, issued in 2016.
