Babalon
As an order, The Gnostic Order of the Black Cross is dedicated to the Goddess Babalon. Here is a couple of links that can start you on your own understanding of this wonderful deity. I also included an excerpt from my forthcoming book “The Divinity of Death.” It is my personal explanation of the Goddess, it is coming from my personal viewpoint and not that of the order but I think it gives depth.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babalon
https://liberbabalon.gydja.com/writings.html
God
God is many things to many people. For me, skipping ahead a bit, God has two primary faces. One is masculine and the other feminine. Both for me are linked to death. Neither is everything that death is. They also are more than death as well.
To begin, I am going to step outside of those faces and talk about God as I believe it is behind the faces we ascribe to it. These are just my opinions and though I hope you learn something from my opinions I am not infallible or some kind of new cult leader.
I come by my belief in God by proof. I suggest Aristotle as a good place to find that proof. One of the great things about the path that I have been following is that it has shown me a lot of that proof. To some people God is just a psychological construct and magick is just an active way to get at the parts of the brain that are either subconscious or dormant. I do not follow this school of thought. Truly I am a Deist and believe that God is a real, yet detached truth.
God is real and as I indicated earlier this leaves me open to being accused of being a little, ok a lot, crazy. God is beyond our comprehension in this reality. He can no more be known than the square root of Pi. God is unknowable. When I use the word he you should also understand that I believe that God is neither male nor female but English lacks a good neutral word. “It” to me implies something less personal than “he” or “she.” So, he is beyond what we conceive as the universe. God does not follow the rules we understand as science. He is not good, evil, both, or neither. As I said God is unknowable.
To those of you reading this with some kabalistic background this should make sense to you. As I have said my background is in ceremonial magick. God is the crown of heaven. In Hebrew the word for crown is Kether. As laid out in the book “The Sepher Yetzirah,” Kether is the abode of God, or more truthfully it is the pure state of Godhead.
In kabala there are ten layers of existence called sephirah and Kether is the highest. Some, including the “Sepher Yetzirah,” say that Kether is unattainable. I do not know. Obviously I am not united with God so I am not there.
Underneath Kether is Chochmah which is Hebrew for Wisdom and Binah is Understanding. These three sephirah are called the Supernal Triad. They constitute the purest forms of God. Separating them from the other seven sephirah is something called Daath. It is the abyss. Daath is a Hebrew word for Knowledge. As I said you cannot know God.
In my opinion anyone who wants to find God must go through Binah. This means you need to try to understand him. I should say her because to magickal kabalists Binah is feminine. Binah, as with all existence under Kether, is just a face of God and not the totality of God. It is much closer to that true face than most other faces though.
The sephirah Binah has a variety of traditional attributions. Among them is the color black, the planet Saturn though I personally think that Saturn is Daath, and the number three.
In many western cultures the color black is associated with death. This makes us think of death when looking at Binah. Although in other cultures many other colors are associated with death. Black is important to our understanding of Binah, pun intended. Although in truth black is not a color, neither are white or grey, the colors of Kether and Chochmah. It is a shade. The other sephirah have colors associated with them. For the supernals it is one or another shade.
Binah is seen by many as being the combination of everything below Daath. I like that way of looking at Binah from beneath the abyss. It is a wonderful illusion to think that if you combine everything from Malkuth to Chesed you arrive at Binah. This untruth would go on to say that you have then found God when you have experienced everything in this reality. It as I have said is a nice idea, but false.
As I said earlier the only true face of the totality of creation that is god resides in Kether. This residence of God includes things that are not in the known universe. Therefore Binah is not Kether, nor is the combination of everything before Binah. This sephirah is not the end of the journey.
Yes, black is the combination of all pigments and it can be argued that Binah is the true representation of the lower Tree of Life as seen whole. The reason that I said that this was the view from beneath the abyss is simple. Kether is light and black is the absence of light. The real divine heavenly light is seen in Kether and is still present even in the grey of Chochmah. Binah is, and the other sephirah through Binah, are so far from that light that it is difficult to see. Does this mean that Binah is the absence of God? No but it is not the fullness of God either. It is a beginning of awareness of God.
Binah is associated with death in that it is supposed that if you reach into Binah the part of your soul that makes you whoever you are disappears into something else, if you move into Binah who you are dies. It moves into that supernal triad. You really begin to get at being part of God.
In Binah something deeper than your body dies. If Binah truly is the physical universe than of course you will no longer be able to exist here. Remember after Daath the rules change. You and everything that is your universe as understood by you dies.
All of these lofty thoughts are all contained in the study of the planet Saturn. Although I myself see Daath as Saturn I cannot help seeing that some lingering saturnine qualities can be found in Binah. The final death is in Binah.
Many can justifiably argue that death is Netzach, the sephirah of Venus. They point to one of the paths off of Netzach. In the Tarot, the death card is that path. The same people who argue that this path is the place of true death tell people that the death card seldom means real death, but is just the end of something. To bring those people into agreement with me the solution is simple. Reincarnation is the truth for most people. If you have not explored the halls of the sephirah Tiphareth, then you will reincarnate. Death will be repeated over and over until you do. This death is the body but “you” continue on.
The number three is also important when we examine Binah. Three is used in several associations with death as you will see. Many death gods use the number as a sacred number. Gede is a good example. How many people do you know that say death comes in threes? What is meant by this is that three people you know will die at approximately the same time. I do not buy this one. If you said three people will die in the same week and it worked out maybe. I have witnessed people go out of their way to find this to be true. They will say it after a couple people they know die and then six months later someone else dies and they will say, “Well, there’s the third.” I think that is absurd.
I prefer to see the number three as again more connection to Binah and its connection to the physical realm. We do live in the third dimension. Science postulates several but we live here in the third.
Numerically three is much easier than one or two for us to understand. One at this time is impossible for me really to get philosophically. You might question how by saying this is one apple. Philosophically one is everything that is. I am not even unaware of everything that is to be postulated. This is a big universe and trying to see it as all together one thing is beyond me, yet. I can believe in the existence of that oneness but to try to imagine it is a different matter. Even to scientists who have a far greater concept of the universe have trouble with it.
Two seems as though it would be easier. The idea of you, the individual, and everything else is two things. It is assumed that you should be able to within reason understand yourself. If you can understand you than everything else is the unknown. Really!! I have not even the first clue as to why I do some of the stupid things I do. Sometimes I get angry and do not even know why. So if I have to understand myself before understanding everything that is not me than I am screwed.
I do not understand two. There are males and females right? Until you factor in that some people are born with traits of both sexes or neither. What about transgender? Although these kinds of people are few they throw a wrench in using sex to determine the idea of two.
What about science, can we get some help? Science knows everything right? If you want to see a scientists head explode ask them where the first atom came from. The real answer is they do not know. You might get one who will talk about this energy that comes in the form of lines and circles. This is something called string theory. Finally we have two things, circles and lines, to explain the universe. Except if you ask what is in the circle or between the lines. Sometimes you get the answer nothing. I think that the absence of existence might not be all that scientific. Nothing is not a good answer.
Hopefully I have made my point that two is difficult to get our heads around. How is three any easier? I certainly am not yet in Binah, at least the totality of Binah. Therefore I am not quite to the point where I can really fully understand Binah, but circles, lines, and the space in between begins to break down to something, someday, I might, and science certainly will, be able to explain.
In Hinduism they conceive the Universe using the concept of three gods. These gods are Brahma, the creator, Shiva, the destroyer, and Vishnu, the sustainer. I again can wrap my head around that to a degree. At least I have some hope to.
So what do all these numbers have to do with death? I needed to explain why three matters to Binah which I stated was linked to death. Now finally I can get away for a moment from this Kabalistic mumbo jumbo and get into how Binah affects me personally and death specifically. In other words I can get past what I know about Binah and dive into what I feel about it. After that you might be able to process why I love these gods of death.
Binah is the holy sephirah of understanding. This place is key to my being. It certainly is the home for many of the spirits I hold most dear. The first of these is Babalon the Beautiful, or if you please, The Mother of Abominations. Many of my readers at this point might be confused. I have been talking at length about God, love, and many nice things. How does my writing now turn to The Mother of Abominations, the Holy Whore?
Babalon is scorned by Christians and feared by many who call themselves Pagan. She is Binah and certainly is the gateway to it. The name Babalon as you see here spelled was recognized by Aleister Crowley in his work, “The Vision and the Voice.” This book is the description of his work with Enochian Aethyrs. These Aethyrs, or Airs, are similar to working up the Tree of Life. There are 30 levels of consciousness. Later in these workings, which I find to be some of Crowley’s best work, he receives information about a goddess he called Babylon and was later corrected in the spelling.
Babalon is much more important to me than she appears to have been for Crowley. In fact, if anyone until the last decade or so gave her any real attention it was Jack Parsons. He was a Thelemite who in the 1960’s happened to literally have been a rocket scientist. It was his work that landed the United States on the moon.
Parsons performed an invocation with the help of a few others designed to invoke Babalon. His work has influenced me a lot and I suggest anything you can read by him. What likely influenced me the most was his poem, “The Birth of Babalon.” This poem stirs my heart even after hearing and reciting it many times.
So the name Babalon and many of the attributes of this goddess are new. Her energy on the other hand is not. Inanna was her name in Sumer. It was Ishtar in Babylon. She was Isis in Egypt. Kali is the name for her in India. All of these goddesses and many more from the ancient world have her energy. They were not entirely her. They were not nearly Babalon.
My understanding of her is that she is manifest divinity. She is the world around us, the link to God that is all around us. From deep within the cities to the far untouched parts of the wilderness, all of it is her.
This all sounds great but why did I use the titles, Mother of Abominations, and Holy Whore? The most important reason is that those titles are accurate. She is the mother of everything in this world. Many things in this world are abominations to someone. There are murders and rapes everyday just to name a few. War, disease, famine, is all over this world.
That is not the entire reason though. In Revelations, in the Bible, it speaks about Babylon in relation to the Great Beast. Yes it is spelled different. Many argue as well that it is actually talking about a city. She gets this title from the connection. This does bring me to how they are connected though.
Crowley writes about there being different Aeons and believed there to have been three that humanity have experienced. The First was Matriarchal and really early in the history of the human race. I would go as far as saying that man barely was part of that Aeon. Crowley attributes Isis as the ruler of this time.
The second Aeon is Patriarchal and is ruled by Osiris. We know much more about this Aeon because it takes place in the rise of humanity and civilization as we know it. It follows the formula of the dying god. The focus in this Aeon was on science, the intellect, and everything else that man has been doing.
The final Aeon which Crowley believed he initiated in 1904 with the writing of his holy book called, “The Book of the Law.” This new Aeon is ruled by Horus the son of Isis and Osiris. What the character of this Aeon will be remains to be seen. It is my belief as well that the Aeons overlap quite a lot and we are still feeling the influence of the previous Aeon.
As the first apparent mystical effect of this Aeon, there seems to be a bit of a rebalancing of energy. The goddess is rising again in power. It can be seen in many cultures and tendencies in the world. Here in the west we have seen the rise of the New Age movement, of Wicca with a focus on the divine feminine, and the world wide adoration of Mary. In particular women are rising with the goddess out of the shadow of men. We see a particular kind of goddess taking hold of the thoughts on men and women alike. This goddess is strong, passionate, and she certainly is the Queen of Heaven. To many of us her name is Babalon.
I believe this rise was foretold early in the last Aeon. What St. John, as he wrote Revelations, was seeing was the world we live in. He saw the personification of this world and what he called Babylon and the Beast. His pious mind could not have seen our world in any other way. He was religious and zealous in the Aeon of Osiris. To his eyes our world could be nothing but evil.
The reason that Babalon was evil to him is simple. She is the enemy of his view of religion. His god is jealous, controlling, and makes contradictory commands that change from moment to moment. The Christian god that he believed in, and many others like him believe in still, has killed lots of people. In the Bible there are many murders by this god and his followers have followed suite in the millions. His god claims lordship over all things including man. Man to him seems to be just a plaything. The god that is all over the Bible is an almighty tyrant that has no respect for the liberty of man. Obviously I am not a Christian and am not all that fond of the religion. Just as an aside I do not have ill will and actually love the god named Jesus. It is my belief that Jesus would not like his followers much either.
Babalon stands against these things. She has come into her strength in our time. Those Osirian Aeonic forces and energies are not about to give up easily. They certainly are beginning their death rattle though. This makes this time dangerous for those of us who are already embracing the freedom of thought that the Aeon of Horus has to offer.
But still she is becoming more and more powerful. Liberty is stirring in the hearts of man as Horus takes his seat in the east. Babalon and that hawk headed mystical lord will be victorious. People will be released from their self imposed bondage. They will cast aside the control of their being whether that control is a person, spirit, or government.
All of this war cry of mine aside, Babalon is not the same as the gods of old. She is not a goddess of salvation. This goddess is not your or my hero. The Holy Whore is the lustful queen who calls all who will listen to free themselves.
Is Babalon dangerous? Many years ago I was friends with a woman who came to me with a similar question. She asked, “Is magick dangerous?” Her husband who did not want her practicing magick had told her that it was. I without pause both then and now answer both of those questions. Yes, absolutely, Magick and its Queen, Babalon, are the most dangerous things you can do. Madness sometimes befalls those who walk a magickal path. You can find your mistakes coming back to haunt you, literally. Looking at all of your demons both figuratively and actually is part of the magicians path. Yes, Babalon is dangerous.
Why do I practice magick and seek out the Mother of Abominations. Binah, Babalon’s home as I said before is not God. It is the first step across the abyss to finding God whether you see that God within or without. I have an unending need to unite myself and my soul with God.
Babalon is different than any other deity I have experienced or read about. She only expects one thing from you. Most gods want all sorts of things. Many of the spirits in this book want things. Babalon only wants one thing. She wants everything you are.
That’s right everything you are. She does not want sacrifices, or food, incense, or anything like that, just you. The only way you can expect to embrace God is to lose who you are because to unify with God you have to be something more than you. You are less than God in your current state and in order to join in Kether you have to be one, yes that unknowable one.
Ironically the first thing you have to do to find Babalon after that journey across the abyss is to know yourself. As you climb through those seven lesser sephirah and paths connecting them you little by little learn more about the universe and yourself. I will give a framework for doing this climbing the tree for death based spirituality in the section on Erishkigal. For now just grasp the idea that your spirit, mind, power, and ego grow and grow as you climb.
After you have gone through the seven sephirah you are now facing the abyss, Daath. It is a perilous jump. This is the destruction of the Ego. Everything that “you” are must go. What you lose in the abyss is what makes you, “you.” It is my belief that you are stripped down to your core being.
Many people who have attempted this jump have failed. They become entangled in their self identity and the material world. You must be prepared to lose everything, even the things you like about yourself. Everything in your life will be gone. You may lose your job, your family, your reputation, and maybe even your freedom. All of this you have to be prepared to lose. You are jumping into the unknown and embracing a God that you have no proof exists.
Crowley calls those who attempt and fail black brothers. They align themselves with this world. I have heard of magicians going around accusing people of being black brothers. That is nonsense. To be a black brother you have to be one hell of a magician. You have made it all the way to Daath. On top of that you had to have to courage to leap.
Black brothers in my opinion are few. Most of the time no one will know what they are because their expertise in magick coupled with the fact that surly they are not so stupid as to shout it from the rooftops and are smart enough to keep the clues to a minimum. These are spiritual people. They lie, cheat and they tempt but the tools of mysticism are at their command. Their want to tempt you is the best clue that someone might be of that evil brotherhood. Their purpose is to work against anyone crossing the abyss successfully. They are the enemies of truth and freedom. In my opinion a black brother is more likely to be in government rather than the local leader of the Satanic Church.
That being explained let us assume that when you attempt the crossing over Daath you are successful. You have made it across the biggest test of your life. Your ego is gone. You are naked down to the truest energy of your being. Binah is before you.
It is Black and Dark. You float on an endless void. You find yourself in this blackness, unafraid and unknowing. You also are not finished. Out of the nothing the image of a woman appears.
This woman has no caring for what you have done in the past. It matters not to her if you have done bad things or have been the pure picture of goodness. The feeling surrounding her is like love but is something else. Lust is a quality in her energy as well but it is different as well. She wants you like you have never been wanted before. You gaze at her and accept that she and you are one. There is no difference between the woman before you and yourself. The differences between all things; she, you, and the whole universe melt away.
From out of the nothingness that surrounds you emerges a cup. You might be wondering if she is offering you a drink. She is not, yet. When you have made it this far you will know what the cup is for. Many have tried to express this moment and the words always escape them. Symbolically you might explain it by plunging a dagger deeply into your heart. That is not what really happens. Some say that your blood is drained, every drop, into the cup. Recall that everything you are has been given up in the crossing of Daath. Whatever it is that you are really, that thing that transcends lifetimes, that deep true link to God, it goes into the cup. Whoever or whatever that is, is now gone from this universe entirely. It is now mixed with the blood/spirit of everyone else that has come this way. You are now Nemo, no man. This is where the ultimate journey to God begins. No Man may enter Kether. Now you are no man.
I hope that this is a foundation on which you can understand my belief in and devotion to god. Also I have presented Babalon as that ultimate death that crowns the pathway to that same God. Through her it is my belief that certainly those following a path steeped in the grave can find inspiration. The Holy Whore greets all who come her way but those of us who consider themselves the children of death run into her cup with enthusiasm. She is the fullest expression of the totality of Death. Babalon is my God and will be until I meet her and join those others who have tasted her wine.
One of the most interesting things about my Goddess is I feel her reflected all over the world. She is the night sky. Deep in a misty graveyard, she is there. Far out into nature her voice echoes. I find her also at spring sunshine while enjoying my daughter’s birthday party, reflected there in the smile of such a wonderful girl. Most of all she is the love of my wife and the pleasure we enjoy together. Babalon is the manifest Goddess who I call the Queen of Heaven.
You as a Student should also familiarize yourself with these books.
The book of the Law by Crowley-
http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm
The Gospel of Thomas-
http://gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html
Thunder Perfect Mind-
http://gnosis.org/naghamm/thunder.html
We also suggest this ritual be used every day, which actually indicates 4 times a day. It is called Liber Resh.
https://iao131.livejournal.com/3990.html
The next installment will be the preparation for the Knight degree. The real purpose of this degree is to begin both the study of spiritual thought and magickal basics. The Knight degree is difficult and this is design to prepare the initiate for a life changing ritual experience.