The Universe Card

Axis Mundi I: Savior Self

Here is an interesting image of the Axis Mundi, painted by Gerry Bannan. I would love to tell you more about him and his work, but he is a man of very few words. His work can be viewed at http://www.gerrybannan.com

Arrakis, Mu Draconis

While researching the various heavenly bodies, I put together this work on Arrakis. Because of some of the references, it most correctly belongs to this Second Order blog.

The star traditionally known by the name Arrakis is Mu Draconis, a binary star in Draco. The name Arrakis is commonly derived from the Arabic term الراقص ar-rāqiṣ, "the dancer". Possibly it was given this name because in the night sky this star in particular twinkles and dances more than others, possibly from its binary nature.

The nature of the Greek letter Mu and the Hebrew Mem is that of stability, for Mem is indeed the stable intelligence. While the path of Mem leads to Adeptus Major, it mirrors the path of Tav that leads to the portal in Yesod (in the more occult understanding of that sphere and grade.) Interestingly enough, it is in the 6 = 5 grade that the portal is studied, as the pentagram or microcosmic man that was first revealed at Theoricus can attest to.

The tarot attribution to Mem is of course the Hanged Man, and when that card itself is inverted, it shows a dancer in motion. The hanged one himself is pictured in the trump as Odin spying the runes, and is a representation of sulphur. The numeral 21 is actually 12 with the decimals reversed, and thus the Hanged man is linked to Key 21, the Universe. For in the activity of life, the only true stability is found in motion.

The microcosmic god of the self known as the Christos, Odin, and the Hanged One shows this as the dance of reversal and inversion, for what is at first the truth is later a terrible lie, and the most unlikely answer is often the one that holds the fleeting potential for today's temporary truths.

The macrocosmic ideal is the Spiritus Mundi as evidenced by the Universe Card, she is the Isis of Nature, the Great Mother as the most ancient illustration of the Tao. As she dances keeping the Axis Mundi, she shows the natural and spiritual ideal of social balance through the discipline of continuous motion as illustrated by the exultation of Saturn in Libra, and of which R.R. et A.C. magicians strive to emulate.

Photo is from omphalos.org.uk, and bears this description:

Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule as the Hanged Man and Bird-Masks of Maat on the Tree of Life in Pentagrammaton (photo by Ben Last)