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POIMANDRES, THE VISION OF HERMES

The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus is one of the earliest of the Hermetic writings now extant. While probably not in its original form, having been remodeled during the first centuries of the Christian Era and incorrectly translated since, this work undoubtedly contains many of the original concepts of the Hermetic cultus. The Divine Pymander consists of seventeen fragmentary writings gathered together and put forth as one work. The second book of The Divine Pymander, called Poimandres, or The Vision, is believed to describe the method by which the divine wisdom was first revealed to Hermes. It was after Hermes had received this revelation that he began his ministry, teaching to all who would listen the secrets of the invisible universe as they had been unfolded to him.

The Vision is the most: famous of all the Hermetic fragments, and contains an exposition of Hermetic cosmogony and the secret sciences of the Egyptians regarding the culture and unfoldment of the human soul. For some time it was erroneously called "The Genesis of Enoch," but that mistake has now been rectified. At hand while preparing the following interpretation of the symbolic philosophy concealed within The Vision of Hermes the present author has had these reference works: The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus (London, 1650), translated out of the Arabic and Greek by Dr. Everard; Hermetica (Oxford, 1924), edited by Walter Scott; Hermes, The Mysteries of Egypt (Philadelphia, 1925), by Edouard Schure; and the Thrice-Greatest Hermes (London, 1906), by G. R. S. Mead. To the material contained in the above volumes he has added commentaries based upon the esoteric philosophy of the ancient Egyptians, together with amplifications derived partly from other Hermetic fragments and partly from the secret arcanum of the Hermetic sciences. For the sake of clarity, the narrative form has been chosen in preference to the original dialogic style, and obsolete words have given place to those in current use.

Hermes, while wandering in a rocky and desolate place, gave himself over to meditation and prayer. Following the secret instructions of the Temple, he gradually freed his higher consciousness from the bondage of his bodily senses; and, thus released, his divine nature revealed to him the mysteries of the transcendental spheres. He beheld a figure, terrible and awe-inspiring. It was the Great Dragon, with wings stretching across the sky and light streaming in all directions from its body. (The Mysteries taught that the Universal Life was personified as a dragon.) The Great Dragon called Hermes by name, and asked him why he thus meditated upon the World Mystery. Terrified by the spectacle, Hermes prostrated himself before the Dragon, beseeching it to reveal its identity. The great creature answered that it was Poimandres, the Mind of the Universe, the Creative Intelligence, and the Absolute Emperor of all. (Schure identifies Poimandres as the god Osiris.) Hermes then besought Poimandres to disclose the nature of the universe and the constitution of the gods. The Dragon acquiesced, bidding Trismegistus hold its image in his mind.

Immediately the form of Poimandres changed. Where it had stood there was a glorious and pulsating Radiance. This Light was the spiritual nature of the Great Dragon itself. Hermes was "raised" into the midst of this Divine Effulgence and the universe of material things faded from his consciousness. Presently a great darkness descended and, expanding, swallowed up the Light. Everything was troubled. About Hermes swirled a mysterious watery substance which gave forth a smokelike vapor. The air was filled with inarticulate moanings and sighings which seemed to come from the Light swallowed up in the darkness. His mind told Hermes that

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THOTH, THE IBIS-HEADED.

From Wilkinson's Manners & Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.

It is doubtful that the deity called Thoth by the Egyptians was originally Hermes, but the two personalities were blended together and it is now impossible to separate them. Thoth was called "The Lord of the Divine Books" and "Scribe of the Company of the Gods." He is generally depicted with the body of a man and the head of an ibis. The exact symbolic meaning of this latter bird has never been discovered. A careful analysis of the peculiar shape of the ibis--especially its head and beak--should prove illuminating.

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the Light was the form of the spiritual universe and that the swirling darkness which had engulfed it represented material substance.

Then out of the imprisoned Light a mysterious and Holy Word came forth and took its stand upon the smoking waters. This Word--the Voice of the Light--rose out of the darkness as a great pillar, and the fire and the air followed after it, but the earth and the water remained unmoved below. Thus the waters of Light were divided from the waters of darkness, and from the waters of Light were formed the worlds above and from the waters of darkness were formed the worlds below. The earth and the water next mingled, becoming inseparable, and the Spiritual Word which is called Reason moved upon their surface, causing endless turmoil.

Then again was heard the voice of Poimandres, but His form was not revealed: "I Thy God am the Light and the Mind which were before substance was divided from spirit and darkness from Light. And the Word which appeared as a pillar of flame out of the darkness is the Son of God, born of the mystery of the Mind. The name of that Word is Reason. Reason is the offspring of Thought and Reason shall divide the Light from the darkness and establish Truth in the midst of the waters. Understand, O Hermes, and meditate deeply upon the mystery. That which in you sees and hears is not of the earth, but is the Word of God incarnate. So it is said that Divine Light dwells in the midst of mortal darkness, and ignorance cannot divide them. The union of the Word and the Mind produces that mystery which is called Life. As the darkness without you is divided against itself, so the darkness within you is likewise divided. The Light and the fire which rise are the divine man, ascending in the path of the Word, and that which fails to ascend is the mortal man, which may not partake of immortality. Learn deeply of the Mind and its mystery, for therein lies the secret of immortality."

The Dragon again revealed its form to Hermes, and for a long time the two looked steadfastly one upon the other, eye to eye, so that Hermes trembled before the gaze of Poimandres. At the Word of the Dragon the heavens opened and the innumerable Light Powers were revealed, soaring through Cosmos on pinions of streaming fire. Hermes beheld the spirits of the stars, the celestials controlling the universe, and all those Powers which shine with the radiance of the One Fire--the glory of the Sovereign Mind. Hermes realized that the sight which he beheld was revealed to him only because Poimandres had spoken a Word. The Word was Reason, and by the Reason of the Word invisible things were made manifest. Divine Mind--the Dragon--continued its discourse:

"Before the visible universe was formed its mold was cast. This mold was called the Archetype, and this Archetype was in the Supreme Mind long before the process of creation began. Beholding the Archetypes, the Supreme Mind became enamored with Its own thought; so, taking the Word as a mighty hammer, It gouged out caverns in primordial space and cast the form of the spheres in the Archetypal mold, at the same time sowing in the newly fashioned bodies the seeds of living things. The darkness below, receiving the hammer of the Word, was fashioned into an orderly universe. The elements separated into strata and each brought forth living creatures. The Supreme Being--the Mind--male and female, brought forth the Word; and the Word, suspended between Light and darkness, was delivered of another Mind called the Workman, the Master-Builder, or the Maker of Things.

"In this manner it was accomplished, O Hermes: The Word moving like a breath through space called forth the Fire by the friction of its motion. Therefore, the Fire is called the Son of Striving. The Workman passed as a whirlwind through the universe, causing the substances to vibrate and glow with its friction, The Son of Striving thus formed Seven Governors, the Spirits of the Planets, whose orbits bounded the world; and the Seven Governors controlled the world by the mysterious power called Destiny given them by the Fiery Workman. When the Second Mind (The Workman) had organized Chaos, the Word of God rose straightway our of its prison of substance, leaving the elements without Reason, and joined Itself to the nature of the Fiery Workman. Then the Second Mind, together with the risen Word, established Itself in the midst of the universe and whirled the wheels of the Celestial Powers. This shall continue from an infinite beginning to an infinite end, for the beginning and the ending are in the same place and state.

"Then the downward-turned and unreasoning elements brought forth creatures without Reason. Substance could not bestow Reason, for Reason had ascended out of it. The air produced flying things and the waters such as swim. The earth conceived strange four-footed and creeping beasts, dragons, composite demons, and grotesque monsters. Then the Father--the Supreme Mind--being Light and Life, fashioned a glorious Universal Man in Its own image, not an earthy man but a heavenly Man dwelling in the Light of God. The Supreme Mind loved the Man It had fashioned and delivered to Him the control of the creations and workmanships.

"The Man, desiring to labor, took up His abode in the sphere of generation and observed the works of His brother--the Second Mind--which sat upon the Ring of the Fire. And having beheld the achievements of the Fiery Workman, He willed also to make things, and His Father gave permission. The Seven Governors, of whose powers He partook, rejoiced and each gave the Man a share of Its own nature.

"The Man longed to pierce the circumference of the circles and understand the mystery of Him who sat upon the Eternal Fire. Having already all power, He stooped down and peeped through the seven Harmonies and, breaking through the strength of the circles, made Himself manifest to Nature stretched out below. The Man, looking into the depths, smiled, for He beheld a shadow upon the earth and a likeness mirrored in the waters, which shadow and likeness were a reflection of Himself. The Man fell in love with His own shadow and desired to descend into it. Coincident with the desire, the Intelligent Thing united Itself with the unreasoning image or shape.

"Nature, beholding the descent, wrapped herself about the Man whom she loved, and the two were mingled. For this reason, earthy man is composite. Within him is the Sky Man, immortal and beautiful; without is Nature, mortal and destructible. Thus, suffering is the result of the Immortal Man's falling in love with His shadow and giving up Reality to dwell in the darkness of illusion; for, being immortal, man has the power of the Seven Governors--also the Life, the Light, and the Word-but being mortal, he is controlled by the Rings of the Governors--Fate or Destiny.

"Of the Immortal Man it should be said that He is hermaphrodite, or male and female, and eternally watchful. He neither slumbers nor sleeps, and is governed by a Father also both male and female, and ever watchful. Such is the mystery kept hidden to this day, for Nature, being mingled in marriage with the Sky Man, brought forth a wonder most wonderful--seven men, all bisexual, male and female, and upright of stature, each one exemplifying the natures of the Seven Governors. These O Hermes, are the seven races, species, and wheels.

"After this manner were the seven men generated. Earth was the female element and water the male element, and from the fire and the æther they received their spirits, and Nature produced bodies after the species and shapes of men. And man received the Life and Light of the Great Dragon, and of the Life was made his Soul and of the Light his Mind. And so, all these composite creatures containing immortality, but partaking of mortality, continued in this state for the duration of a period. They reproduced themselves out of themselves, for each was male and female. But at the end of the period the knot of Destiny was untied by the will of God and the bond of all things was loosened.

"Then all living creatures, including man, which had been hermaphroditical, were separated, the males being set apart by themselves and the females likewise, according to the dictates of Reason.

"Then God spoke to the Holy Word within the soul of all things, saying: 'Increase in increasing and multiply in multitudes, all you, my creatures and workmanships. Let him that is endued with Mind know himself to be immortal and that the cause of death is the love of the body; and let him learn all things that are, for he who has recognized himself enters into the state of Good.'

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A GREEK FORM OF HERMES.

From Bryant's Mythology.

The name Hermes is derived from "Herm," a form of CHiram, the Personified Universal Life Principle, generally represented by fire. The Scandinavians worshiped Hermes under the name of Odin; the Teutons as Wotan, and certain of the Oriental peoples as Buddha, or Fo. There are two theories concerning his demise. The first declares that Hermes was translated like Enoch and carried without death into the presence of God, the second states that he was buried in the Valley of Ebron and a great treasure placed in his tomb--not a treasure of gold but of books and sacred learning.

The Egyptians likened humanity to a flock of sheep. The Supreme and Inconceivable Father was the Shepherd, and Hermes was the shepherd dog. The origin of the shepherd's crook in religious symbolism may be traced to the Egyptian rituals. The three scepters of Egypt include the shepherd's crook, symbolizing that by virtue of the power reposing in that symbolic staff the initiated Pharaohs guided the destiny of their people.

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"And when God had said this, Providence, with the aid of the Seven Governors and Harmony, brought the sexes together, making the mixtures and establishing the generations, and all things were multiplied according to their kind. He who through the error of attachment loves his body, abides wandering in darkness, sensible and suffering the things of death, but he who realizes that the body is but the tomb of his soul, rises to immortality."

Then Hermes desired to know why men should be deprived of immortality for the sin of ignorance alone. The Great Dragon answered:, To the ignorant the body is supreme and they are incapable of realizing the immortality that is within them. Knowing only the body which is subject to death, they believe in death because they worship that substance which is the cause and reality of death."

Then Hermes asked how the righteous and wise pass to God, to which Poimandres replied: "That which the Word of God said, say I: 'Because the Father of all things consists of Life and Light, whereof man is made.' If, therefore, a man shall learn and understand the nature of Life and Light, then he shall pass into the eternity of Life and Light."

Hermes next inquired about the road by which the wise attained to Life eternal, and Poimandres continued: "Let the man endued with a Mind mark, consider, and learn of himself, and with the power of his Mind divide himself from his not-self and become a servant of Reality."

Hermes asked if all men did not have Minds, and the Great Dragon replied: "Take heed what you say, for I am the Mind--the Eternal Teacher. I am the Father of the Word--the Redeemer of all men--and in the nature of the wise the Word takes flesh. By means of the Word, the world is saved. I, Thought (Thoth)--the Father of the Word, the Mind--come only unto men that are holy and good, pure and merciful, and that live piously and religiously, and my presence is an inspiration and a help to them, for when I come they immediately know all things and adore the Universal Father. Before such wise and philosophic ones die, they learn to renounce their senses, knowing that these are the enemies of their immortal souls.

"I will not permit the evil senses to control the bodies of those who love me, nor will I allow evil emotions and evil thoughts to enter them. I become as a porter or doorkeeper, and shut out evil, protecting the wise from their own lower nature. But to the wicked, the envious and the covetous, I come not, for such cannot understand the mysteries of Mind; therefore, I am unwelcome. I leave them to the avenging demon that they are making in their own souls, for evil each day increases itself and torments man more sharply, and each evil deed adds to the evil deeds that are gone before until finally evil destroys itself. The punishment of desire is the agony of unfulfillment."

Hermes bowed his head in thankfulness to the Great Dragon who had taught him so much, and begged to hear more concerning the ultimate of the human soul. So Poimandres resumed: "At death the material body of man is returned to the elements from which it came, and the invisible divine man ascends to the source from whence he came, namely the Eighth Sphere. The evil passes to the dwelling place of the demon, and the senses, feelings, desires, and body passions return to their source, namely the Seven Governors, whose natures in the lower man destroy but in the invisible spiritual man give life.

"After the lower nature has returned to the brutishness, the higher struggles again to regain its spiritual estate. It ascends the seven Rings upon which sit the Seven Governors and returns to each their lower powers in this manner: Upon the first ring sits the Moon, and to it is returned the ability to increase and diminish. Upon the second ring sits Mercury, and to it are returned machinations, deceit, and craftiness. Upon the third ring sits Venus, and to it are returned the lusts and passions. Upon the fourth ring sits the Sun, and to this Lord are returned ambitions. Upon the fifth ring sits Mars, and to it are returned rashness and profane boldness. Upon the sixth ring sits Jupiter, and to it are returned the sense of accumulation and riches. And upon the seventh ring sits Saturn, at the Gate of Chaos, and to it are returned falsehood and evil plotting.

"Then, being naked of all the accumulations of the seven Rings, the soul comes to the Eighth Sphere, namely, the ring of the fixed stars. Here, freed of all illusion, it dwells in the Light and sings praises to the Father in a voice which only the pure of spirit may understand. Behold, O Hermes, there is a great mystery in the Eighth Sphere, for the Milky Way is the seed-ground of souls, and from it they drop into the Rings, and to the Milky Way they return again from the wheels of Saturn. But some cannot climb the seven-runged ladder of the Rings. So they wander in darkness below and are swept into eternity with the illusion of sense and earthiness.

"The path to immortality is hard, and only a few find it. The rest await the Great Day when the wheels of the universe shall be stopped and the immortal sparks shall escape from the sheaths of substance. Woe unto those who wait, for they must return again, unconscious and unknowing, to the seed-ground of stars, and await a new beginning. Those who are saved by the light of the mystery which I have revealed unto you, O Hermes, and which I now bid you to establish among men, shall return again to the Father who dwelleth in the White Light, and shall deliver themselves up to the Light and shall be absorbed into the Light, and in the Light they shall become Powers in God. This is the Way of Good and is revealed only to them that have wisdom.

"Blessed art thou, O Son of Light, to whom of all men, I, Poimandres, the Light of the World, have revealed myself. I order you to go forth, to become as a guide to those who wander in darkness, that all men within whom dwells the spirit of My Mind (The Universal Mind) may be saved by My Mind in you, which shall call forth My Mind in them. Establish My Mysteries and they shall not fail from the earth, for I am the Mind of the Mysteries and until Mind fails (which is never) my Mysteries cannot fail." With these parting words, Poimandres, radiant with celestial light, vanished, mingling with the powers of the heavens. Raising his eyes unto the heavens, Hermes blessed the Father of All Things and consecrated his life to the service of the Great Light.

Thus preached Hermes: "O people of the earth, men born and made of the elements, but with the spirit of the Divine Man within you, rise from your sleep of ignorance! Be sober and thoughtful. Realize that your home is not in the earth but in the Light. Why have you delivered yourselves over unto death, having power to partake of immortality? Repent, and change your minds. Depart from the dark light and forsake corruption forever. Prepare yourselves to climb through the Seven Rings and to blend your souls with the eternal Light."

Some who heard mocked and scoffed and went their way, delivering themselves to the Second Death from which there is no salvation. But others, casting themselves before the feet of Hermes, besought him to teach them the Way of Life. He lifted them gently, receiving no approbation for himself, and staff in hand, went forth teaching and guiding mankind, and showing them how they might be saved. In the worlds of men, Hermes sowed the seeds of wisdom and nourished the seeds with the Immortal Waters. And at last came the evening of his life, and as the brightness of the light of earth was beginning to go down, Hermes commanded his disciples to preserve his doctrines inviolate throughout all ages. The Vision of Poimandres he committed to writing that all men desiring immortality might therein find the way.

In concluding his exposition of the Vision, Hermes wrote: "The sleep of the body is the sober watchfulness of the Mind and the shutting of my eyes reveals the true Light. My silence is filled with budding life and hope, and is full of good. My words are the blossoms of fruit of the tree of my soul. For this is the faithful account of what I received from my true Mind, that is Poimandres, the Great Dragon, the Lord of the Word, through whom I became inspired by God with the Truth. Since that day my Mind has been ever with me and in my own soul it hath given birth to the Word: the Word is Reason, and Reason hath redeemed me. For which cause, with all my soul and all my strength, I give praise and blessing unto God the Father, the Life and the Light, and the Eternal Good.

"Holy is God, the Father of all things, the One who is before the First Beginning.

"Holy is God, whose will is performed and accomplished by His own Powers which He hath given birth to out of Himself.

"Holy is God, who has determined that He shall be known, and who is known by His own to whom He reveals Himself.

"Holy art Thou, who by Thy Word (Reason) hast established all things.

"Holy art Thou, of whom all Nature is the image.

"Holy art Thou, whom the inferior nature has not formed.

"Holy art Thou, who art stronger than all powers.

"Holy art Thou, who art greater than all excellency.

"Holy art Thou, who art better than all praise.

"Accept these reasonable sacrifices from a pure soul and a heart stretched out unto Thee.

"O Thou Unspeakable, Unutterable, to be praised with silence!

"I beseech Thee to look mercifully upon me, that I may not err from the knowledge of Thee and that I may enlighten those that are in ignorance, my brothers and Thy sons.

"Therefore I believe Thee and bear witness unto Thee, and depart in peace and in trustfulness into Thy Light and Life.

"Blessed art Thou, O Father! The man Thou hast fashioned would be sanctified with Thee as Thou hast given him power to sanctify others with Thy Word and Thy Truth."

The Vision of Hermes, like nearly all of the Hermetic writings, is an allegorical exposition of great philosophic and mystic truths, and its hidden meaning may be comprehended only by those who have been "raised" into the presence of the True Mind.

At the Word of the Dragon the heavens opened and the innumerable Light Powers were revealed.

2. Queen Sobeknefru [32] Amenemhet III (=Igrath) [31] Senusret III (=Mereret) [30] Senusret II (=Nofret) [29] Amenemhet II (=Keminebu) [28] Senusret I (=Nefru) [27] Tohwait (=Amenemhet I) [26] Nefert (=Senusret of Elephantine) [25] Missing Generations [15-24] Ham (=Neelata-mek) [14] Tubal Cain (=Nin-banda) [13] Lamech (=Zillah) [12] Methusael (=Edna?) [11] Mehujael (=?) [10] Irad (=Baraka?) [9] Enoch (=Edna?) [8] Cain (=Luluwa) [7] Enki and Eve [6] Enki and Nin-khursag [5] Anu and Antu (OR Ki) [4] Anshar and Kishar [3] Lahmu and Lahamu [2] Tiamat and Absu [1]

Also:

Queen Sobeknefru [29] Igrath (=Amenemhet III) [28] Esau (=Mahalath of Egypt) [27] Isaac (=Rebecca) [26] Abraham (=Sarah) [25] Terah (=Yawnu; or Tohwait) [24] Nahor (=Iyoska) [23] Serug (=Melka) [22] Reu (=Ora of Ur-Nammu) [21] Peleg (=Lamna) [20] Eber (=Azura) [19] Shelah [18] Arphaxad [17] Shem (=Seduka-tel-bab) [16] Noah (=Na’amath) [15] Lamech (=Bilanos) [14] Methuselah (=Edna (Ezrael)) [13] Enoch (=Edna) [12] Jared (=Baraka) [11] Mahlalail (=Sina) [10] Cainan (=Mualet) [9] Enosh (=Neom) [8] Seth (=Kalimath of Enki/Lilith) [7] Eve and Adam, [6] Enki and Nin-khursag [5] Anu and Antu [4] Anshar and Kishar [3] Lahmu and Lahamu [2] Tiamat and Absu [1]

[Sobeknefru could also trace her lineage back via Igrath and Mahalath, directly to Senusret I (as well as Tohwait and Amenemhet I.]

Queen Sobeknefru became Queen of Egypt from 1785-1782 BC. She was the last pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty -- i.e., there was no male heir from Queen Sobeknefru and Amenemhet IV. She was, however, a very influential Queen. According to Laurence Gardner (Genesis of the Grail Kings), Sobeknefru formally established the Dragon Court of Ankhfn-khonsu, establishing a firm base for the priestly pursuits associated with the scientific teachings of Thoth which had prevailed from the second dynasty of Nimrod’s grandson King Raneb. [page 169]

Sobeknefru’s name meant “Beautiful of the god Sobek”. Sobek was the mighty crocodile -- the very spirit of the Messeh, whose great temple was erected at Kiman Faris by her father.

“It is generally reported that Sobeknefru had no male heir, and because of this a new thirteenth dynasty began after her death. However, since the Egyptian royal inheritance was held in the female line, new dynasties often sprang from the marriage of an heiress to a male of another family. Such appears to have been the case in this instance, and the thirteenth dynasty saw the continuing reigns of the Sobek pharaohs from Sobekhotep I to Sobekhotep IV.”

“As the thirteenth pharaonic dynasty drew to a close, other parallel dynasties began to rule alongside the main kingly succession. These coextensive kings ruled in the eastern delta, beginning with the short-lived fourteenth dynasty, followed by the simultaneous fifteenth and sixteenth dynasties called the Hyksos delta kings. They governed from about 1663 BC alongside the seventeenth Theban dynasty of the main succession, until finally deposed by the eighteenth-dynasty founder, Pharaoh Ahmose I, in about 1550 BC.

"The Hyksos were also considered brothers of the Mesopotamian regions such as Mari, Babylon, and Larsa. The Hyksos kings were in fact “Amorite descendants of Ham and as such would have been of a strain related to the early second dynasty -- perhaps even to the twelfth dynasty of Queen Sobeknefru. One way or another, they challenged the seventeenth dynasty of Thebes, and in matters of warfare they introduced the horse, the chariot and the compound bow, none of which had formerly been used in Egypt. These things were, however, previously apparent in Troy, from where the Sea Kings (those of As-Mu) and their followers spread into the Mediterranean seaboard lands after Troy V was devastated by fall-out from the Mount Santorini eruption in 1624 BC. It is likely, therefore, that the Hyksos (who where called the ‘Foreign Rulers’) were of Trojan origin.

“Although reference books make much of the fact that Ahmose I succeeded in overthrowing the Hyksos rulers, it is evident that there were marital alliances between the competing houses of Avaris and Thebes. It is generally reckoned that the Kyksos Pharaoh Apepi II (Apophis) was the last hereditary Dragon King in Egypt, but it would appear that the heritage was perpetuated through the female line into the new dynasty. Even the grave of Ahmose’s son Amenhotep I [second pharaoh in 18th dynasty] contained a preserved vase cartouche of the daughter of Apophis, which signifies the enmity was not so great between the houses as is traditionally supposed.

“The Sobek tradition of Apophis (the designated Beloved of Sobek) was continued by the eighteeth-dynasty pharaohs, and it was Tuthmosis III who established the famous alchemical mystery school of the White Brotherhood of the Therapeutate, from which an eventual branch established the Essene community at Qumran [the latter from whence Jesus Christ sprung]. The original school was operated by the priests of Ptah [Enki], the god of metallurgists, architects and masons. Ptah was regarded as the great Vulcan of Egypt, and the High Priest of Ptah was designated ‘Great Master Artificer.’”

“Irrespective of the Bible’s dismissal of the Egyptian descent from Esau through Queen Sobeknefru, the Old Testament writers did acknowledge the Lilithian heritage of the line via Esau’s wife Bashemath. It is explained that Esau’s heirs by Bashemath and his other wives became the Dukes of Edom: ‘The kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.’ (Genesis 36:31)

The Muslim tradition reveres Ishmael and Abraham as the joint founders of the Holy House of Mecca. ‘They shall possess [the kingdom of Idumaea as the Dragons (kings) and Owls (queens) of eternity] for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.’ (Isaiah 34:13-17)” [from Laurence Gardner, Genesis of the Grail Kings, pages 169-172]

 

The Abyss, in Egypt is a name of the North, and the original mother of this Abyss, which was Space, was called Typhon, the Mother of Beginnings, the Mother of the Fields of Heaven, the Mother of Revolutions (time cycles),1 as well as the Mother of Gods and Men. She was later made goddess of the constellation of the Great Bear, Mother-Goddess, and her first son was called Sut, the Dog-Star in the south. (1)

The seven devils or seven heads of the old Dragon… are born in the mountains of sunset, which shows the same natural genesis in physical phenomena. They had their birth-place where the sun went down. … in the West, the Egyptians stationed the Great Crocodile that swallowed down the lights, sun, moon, and stars, as they set each night, in its wide-open jaws of darkness. …the crocodile was an ideograph of the swallowing darkness--and of earth, or the waters below, called the Abyss (2)

The Dragon, or Serpent, is amongst the oldest and most primal mythological symbols known to man. Kenneth Grant explain in Nightside of Eden
The earliest Mystery tradition (i.e. the African) was dominated by three key symbols: the Tree, the Water and the Serpent … (and are found) in the metaphysics of the qabbalah as the Tree of Life, the Water of the Abyss and the Serpent which achieved it apotheosis or Height in the Depth to which the Gateway is Daath. (op cit.)
The symbolism is explained in more detail by showing the numerical (and thus the Kabbalistic) formulae upon which they are constructed and by which we can interpret them:
(the Hebrew letter zain is) attributed to the Twins, Set-Horus,. Zain is the number seven, the number of Sevekh, the earlier form of Set as the son of the Mother, Typhon, one of whose symbols was the crocodile, the water-snake or the Dragon of the Deep. Like the progeny of Tiamat [note: the Dragon-goddess of the ancient Babylonian myth-cycle of creation] Sevekh [Set] assumed his mothers totem, the crocodile. (my emphasis)
This Mythology was astronomical or symbolized in the Stars In this vein, Gerald Massey writes:
We call them the Two Bears. But the seven stars of the Lesser Bear were once considered to be the seven heads of the Polar Dragon, which we meet with—as the beast with seven heads--in the Akkadian(3) Hymns and in the Book of Revelation. The mythical dragon originated in the crocodile, which is the Dragon of Egypt. … one particular cult, the Sut-Typhonian, the first god was Sevekh, who wears the crocodile’s head, as well as the serpent, and who is the Dragon, or whose constellation was the Dragon .(4)
Grant describes the son, Set, as the Eighth of seven, the numerical symbolism which is the perfection of the number 7, as in the seven stars of the constellation Ursae Major which was earlier considered the sign of the Dragon, in 8.(5) This is also important to our next point. This god, Sevekh or Set, according to Grant was
the fulfillment of his mother. In this role, the Mother and the male child (set) … occupy the central position at the summit or the pole.
The background related above now has prepared the ground, so to speak, for the explication of the central Mystery of the Dragon:
The Mother and Child constitute the Dragon with eight heads … seven of the heads are identified with the seven planets, and the seven inferior Sephiriot of the Tree of Life, the seven that have their summit or height in Daath.

As we shall see, this has its reflection in several esoteric streams and is a truth that can be “re-discovered” by the applications of certain magical Arcanum. In a book that I am in possession of, which will be discussed at length later in the study, there is a reflection (or reflex )of this myth:

159. Barbelo sang the Leviathan into sleep, weaving her spells around him and binding him in threads of Silence. Then she sang the Great Spell of Life, the Charm of Creation calling to the Logos as he lay wrapped in the Shroud of Darkness. Within the Darkness, the Son of the Dawn awoke from the Dream of death, hearing the call of the Daughter of Eternity. And the Logos spoke and the WORD came like a sword from his mouth and the Leviathans' heads were cleaved from His body and the blood flowed through the abyss and into the void and gathered there. And the Logos rose up over the Dragon and spoke the WORD of binding and the corpse fell through the abyss and came to rest amidst the ocean that was created out of the blood of the Leviathan. And the body of the Dragon became the firmament and the Blood of the Dragon became the great salt sea.
160. And behold, from the Leviathans' corpse rose a mountain, reaching the Limit of the Abyss and toward the Pleroma from which he was born.
161. And this is the Fifth Mystery.
162. And the Son and the Daughter went together and stood upon the mountain of the Universe which is the Mountain of Heaven. The Abyss above became the Limit and the sea below and Hades were formed, and the mountain of Heaven separated the Earth and the Sky. Thus the Universe was born. And the Logos placed the seven heads of the Leviathan, the heads of the Dragon, in seven spheres, each according to its form and the Planets were created. The heart of the Leviathan he took and cast it into the Abyss, that it might remain hidden in the cycles of time, but when the heart fell into the Abyss (which was formed from the birth waters of the Dragon) the Demon Choronzon was born and he awakened saying,
163. I AM I
164. But he was hid in the darkness of the Abyss and the Logos heard him not, being upon the Mountain.
165. And Choronzon is the Sixth Mystery
-The Coiled Dragon VI

The above quote is not really so interesting, in that it merely recapitulates the mythic stream we are here following through Grant’s work, except that it was received prior to any knowledge of Grant’s thesis and also of the sources which Grant refers to, such as Gerald Massey’s work Therefore, it as a true exposition of what Grant would call the primordial Gnosis, which is to say, the Draconian, or Typhonian mythos . That this ‘gnosis’ can be discovered, in some sense, spontaneously seems to lend weight to the argument that it indeed represents forces or processes that independent of the individual.

Returning to Grant, we find that:
The seven heads of the dragon were identified with the seven planets and the seven inferior Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. …[In Egypt] the primal power zones were concentrated in the 8 gods that ruled the Amen-Sen, the Place of Chaos. These eight power zones wer later demoted and identified with the lesser cosmic power zones: the Sun, Jupiter, Earth, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus. These powers were identified with basal pyramid of the Tree of Life, which culminated in the eighth power-zone typified by Daath, the place of Choronzon, or Chaos, in the Abyss.
…in the Sumerian phase of the Mythology, the seven heads of the devouring dragon are represented as follows:
1. The first by a scorpion
2. The second by a whirling cross or Thunderbolt
3. The third by a leopard or hyena
4. the fourth by as serpent
5. The fifth by a raging Lion
6. The sixth by a rebellious Giant
7. The seventh by Typhon, the angel of the fatal wind.
Here we see that the Dragon has been part of the Mythic imagination of mankind since, at least, the beginning of recorded history in Sumeria and Egypt. The Dragon or Sea Serpent, and specifically the Dragon of Seven heads, therefore, is an ancient mythic type which, though of a much earlier date than the oldest books of the Bible , appears named as the Leviathan , nonetheless
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces; Thou gavest him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness. --Psalms: 74 : 14
Note the reference to the [plural] heads of the beast. The Coiled Serpen is also mentioned in Isaiah:
In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
--Isaiah: 27 : 1 (KJV)
This is a version of the Caanaite Myth:
As you (Baal) smote Lothan the twisting serpent, you desroyed the crooked serpent, the seven-headed tyrant
--Ugaritic Baal and `Anat Cycle
The “type” of course survived into the Christian era down to today in the Book of Revelation. Finally, a quote from Massey in which he pulls many of the threads in this section together:
In Egypt the Great Bear was the constellation of Typhon, or Kepha, the old genetrix, called the Mother of the Revolutions; and the Dragon with seven heads was assigned to her son Sevekh- Kronus, or Saturn, called the Dragon of Life. That is, the typical dragon or serpent with seven heads was female at first, and then the type was continued as male in her son Sevekh, the Sevenfold Serpent, in Ea the Sevenfold, in Num-Ra, in the Seven-headed Serpent, Iao-Chnubis, and others. We find these two in the book of Revelation. One is the Scarlet Lady, the mother of mystery, the great harlot, who sat on a scarlet-coloured beast with seven heads, which is the Red Dragon of the Pole. She held in her hand the unclean things of her fornication. (Massey, ibid)

The mythography of the Dragon (or serpent) is vast; we shall explore this subject in more detail later. For now, suffice it to say that we have uncovered an Arcanum that has been known, and hidden, for the better part of the last 2000 years, which is to say, the bulk of the Aeon or Age of Pisces. The universe is, in this myth, formed from the body of the Dragon, and the lights of Heaven are likewise created from his heads. The body of man, is therefore, made of the Dragon’s body.

Finally, as has been pointed out and is worth restating, this means that, while the Gnostic myth has the soul-spark or “Star” as Crowley would call it, coming from the eternal realm, which is the Plenum or Fullness, the body, that is the material Vehicle of the soul is thus of one substance with the Dragon. This is a major theme in many Creation Myths, from the Sumerian to the Norse and of course the heterodox streams of Christianity and the Kabbalah also contain hints of theis doctrine. This is of course part of the concept of the Chakras and the Kundalini “serpent” that ascends in the Awakened person. Thus it is said that the body recapitulates the universe or the Microcosm is in the image of the Macrocosm. And so it is. This, then, is one of the prime “Mysteries” of magic for as the concept is easily described, it reveals depths unimagined as we attempt to map the courses of the Dragon.

1. The Celestial Ship of the North E. Valentia Straiton
2. Gerald Massey’s Lectures
3. the forerunners of the Assyrians and later Babylonians
4. Gerald Massey’s Lectures – “The Hebrew and other creations fundamentally explained”
5. Interestingly, this bit of the Gnosis is preserved in the Revelation of John ,as Massey says; “The name of Sevekh signifies the sevenfold; hence the seven heads of the Dragon, the Dragon who is of the seven and `is himself also an eighth,` as we are told in Revelation.” (op cit.)
6. See this volume Part II for an examination of the cosmology implied by the Book of the Coiled Dragon
7. A great deal more detail concerning the specifically Typhonian concept of the serpent or Dragon can be found in the introductory material to Part I