The Relationship between the Shekinah and Orphic Theology:

The Relationship between the Shekinah and Orphic Theology:

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."

TO SATURN.

ETHERIAL father, mighty Titan, hear,

Great sire of Gods and men, whom all revere;

Endu'd with various counsel, pure and strong,

To whom increase and decrement belong.

Hence matter's flowing forms thro' thee that die,

By thee restor'd, their former place supply.

The world immense in everlasting chains,

Strong and ineffable thy pow'r contains;

Father of vast eternity, divine,

0 mighty Saturn, various speech is thine;

Blossom of earth and of the starry skies,

Husband of Rhea, and Prometheus wise.

Obsteteric pow'r and venerable root,

From which the various forms of being shoot;

No parts peculiar can thy pow'r enclose,

Diffus'd thro' all, from which the world arose.

0 best of beings, of a subtle mind,

Propitious hear, to suppliant pray'rs inclin'd;

The sacred rites benevolent attend,

And grant a blameless life, a blessed end.

It is said that Rhea and Saturn abide within the Intellectual Heaven and Earth, this must be seen as the Supernal Triad and the world of Ideal Forms, where all perfection is perceived; and the inspiration of man’s need for establishing perfection is derived from. Therefore, the Forms are associated via this relationship to Saturn and Rhea, who are the progenitors of Jupiter, who is the Demiurge and creates the world of duality. It is thus between Jupiter and the Intellectual Heaven and Earth that Rhea’s office is established as the Great Mother but as we look up, we are experiencing her as the Great Whore, as she is willing to impart this enthusiasm to anyone who is willing to look for her. She is therefore associated to Binah and Babalon, as understood within Thelemic theology and her office as the Shekinah is thus established via her association to Phanes, wherefrom it becomes apparent that Life, is the Shekinah in its fully realized manifestation and included within this rationale is found the mythos of the Daughter placed upon the throne of the Mother. As Thomas Taylor writes “Since this Goddess then is a medium between the two intellectual parents of the universe, Saturn and Jupiter, the former of which collects intellectual multitude into one, but the latter scatters and divides it; hence, says Proclus (in Plat. Theol. p. 266), this Goddess produces in herself the demiurgic causes of the universe; but imparts her diffusive power abundantly to secondary natures.” And in the next quote: "Hence, as Rhea is one of the progeny of the intellectual Earth resident in Phanes, as we have before observed, the reason is obvious why she is said in this hymn to be the daughter of Protogonus. The Phanes, however, and Earth, from which Rhea proceeds, subsist in that divine order which is denominated by the Chaldean theologists[...], intelligible and at the same time intellectual, and is celebrated by Plato in the Phaedrus under the appellation of Heaven. This order, as subsisting between the intelligible and intellectual orders, [...] Hence it is primarily intellectual." What is stated above is that our connection to Rhea and the Intellectual Heaven and Earth is primarily intellectual by our contemplating the perfection of the Forms, this leads to being filled with the Shekinah or making contact with Juno, when one falls in love with Vesta. It becomes quite clear, that this grace that fills us with aspiration for the work, stems from our will to perfection, that is awakened by the contemplation of that which is eternal and perfect, although unique to every individual, its abiding influence may be experienced by all. That she is said to be the "progeny of the intellectual Earth resident in Phanes" establishes clearly her connection to the Shekinah. Through this quote a noticeable sophistication is also displayed, which certainly, monotheistic religions are still struggling to catch up to.

TO RHEA.

ILLUSTRIOUS Rhea, to my pray'r incline,

Daughter of various-form'd Protogonus divine,

Who driv'st thy sacred car with speed along,

Drawn by fierce lions, terrible and strong.

Mother of Jove, whose mighty arm can wield

Th' avenging bolt and shake the clreadful shield.

Brass-sounding, honour'd, Saturn's blessed queen,

Drum-beating, fury-loving, of a splendid mien.

Thou joy'st in mountains and tulnultuous fight,

And mankind's horrid howlings thee delight.

War's parent, mighty, of majestic frame,

Deceitful saviour, liberating dame.

Mother of Gods and men, from whom the earth

And spacious heav'ns derive their glorious birth.

Th' etherial gales, the deeply spreading sea,

Goddess, aerial-form'd, proceed from thee.

Come, pleas'd with wand'rings, blessed and divine,

With peace attended on our labours shine;

Bring rich abundance ; and, wherever found,

Drive dire disease to earth's remotest bound.

The Mother’s lowest manifestation as experienced by an initiate is Juno, who through her influence on an initiate, conceives the Daughter who is known as Vesta. Vesta and Juno are the daughters of Rhea, the former corresponding to the Ethical Triad and the latter to Earth, or Malkuth on the Tree of Life. Rhea as understood does not subsist in the world of duality and Vesta becomes her embodiment in the universe as we experience it and thus the Demiurge and all the gods following, owe their subsistence to her influence. Phanes is hidden in Jupiter and thus connects consciousness to the Logos via this relationship and this establishes our connection to Rhea, and as Phanes in the world of matter is Protogonous, Rhea’s connection to Earth is established as embodied by Juno. As consciousness having descended from Phanes’s more direct interaction with the Mother of the Gods. We can hereby see a very exact ontology explained, that takes us all the way to the summit of experience. "Saturn (says Proclus, in Cratyl, p. 83) in conjunction with Rhea, produced Vesta and Juno, who are coordinate with the demiurgic causes. For Vesta imparts from herself to the Gods an uninclining permanency and seat in themselves, and an indissoluble essence. But Juno imparts progression, and a multiplication into things secondary. She is also the vivifying fountain of wholes, and the mother of prolific powers; and on this account she is said to have proceeded together with Jupiter the Demiurgus; and through this communion she generates maternally such things as Jupiter generates paternally. But Vesta abides in herself, possessing an undefiled virginity, and being the cause of sameness to all things. Each of these divinities, however, together with her own proper perfection, possesses according to participation the power of the other." Vesta is described in the above quote as Spirit, and corresponds to Hadit or even Atman, as imparting an uninclining, indissoluble essence to the Gods, so certainly as Phanes is included in this hierarchy as being one of the Gods. She shares this essence with Protogonous/Phanes also, where the former can be understood as Malkuth and the latter Jupiter. Thus, Juno is the influence that leads to Asar-un-nefer, the achievement of which may result in Knowledge and Conversation with one's Holy Guardian Angel and the unfoldment of the Logos. However, our first contact must be with Juno, as our relationship with Rhea is that which inspires one's courtship with Vesta, who possesses undefiled virginity, as stated in the above quote and likens her to the daughter. Although, they are equally the Daughter and the Mother and equally Babalon and the Shekinah, the confusion comes from the archaic nature of these hymns, and that these three Goddesses are essentially three aspects of the same phenomenon. Thus, our meeting with the Shekinah, as symbolized by Vesta is credited to a person's initial connection with the Intellectual Heaven and Earth, which is first symbolized as Rhea, then Juno and culminating in union with Vesta.  

The aim of spiritual pursuit is not to avoid incarnation as realizing a greater summit in some illusory reality, for the material world is the summit. It is realizing the perfection in that which we initially perceive as imperfect, that raises us to the peak of human experience. Hence Vesta is known to subsist in self and Juno is known as subsisting in another, these terms indicate the initiate's relationship to the Shekinah from one’s first interaction with the Goddess that leads to union. The summit as it has been referred to is in a sense unattainable and it is that which drives man to more, striving ever to greater insights. This idea is also inherent in the symbolism of the Mother and the Daughter, for as soon as union is attained and the Daughter takes the throne, she becomes Juno, representing this continual climbing upwards toward ever greater inspired heights. It is by filling one's consciousness with divine imagery and constant contemplation of the Forms, that this union is made possible. 

8. The Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs.

9. Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light shed over you!

Liber AL vel Legis

Phanes is Hadit and the Shekinah may aptly be considered as the Holy Spirit symbolized by the Dove, although Hadit is sometimes seen as Spirit. I think according to what is presented here, Hadit’s true nature is more closely associated to Atman or more accurately Parabrahman and not Annata, as representing our complete nature as fully realized with the unfoldment of Phanes and associated to Tiphareth, Geburah and Chesed. It is through inner dialogue with the Shekinah that this unfoldment is made possible, as at its essence, Hadit precedes incarnation and may be seen as united with the Shekinah. It then follows that Hadit is the potential of a fully actualized Soul and not merely Spirit, but the individuated Soul itself. This again brings us back to the formula of the Daughter and the striving for greater insights, gained through experience, ever raising the bar to higher summits. It hereby also establishes the revered nature of the material world, as showing the importance of our connection to it for accomplishing the Great Work, through its inherent perfection, which, via the relationship between Protogonous and Rhea, this point is beautifully illustrated.

From these hymns, we may conclude an almost perfect harmony with Thelema and even the Qabalah, wherein both the aim of the practice is the unfolding of Being and the realization of potential, or the True Will, found through direct experience of one’s divine nature. As far as the theology is concerned within the Thelemic framework, Babalon is considered to be everywhere present along the path of return and has been admirably illustrated in these hymns as Rhea, Vesta and Juno’s relationship to Phanes and Protogonous, and everywhere present as different aspects of the Great Mother. The Ideal Forms that are perceived via one’s connection to Rhea are continually re-experienced, as if for the first time, thus insights are reformulated to new heights, as our experiences, that are linked to the sensual world serve to restore the initial aspiration responsible for inspiration and expands consciousness to greater heights and establishes the Formula of the Daughter and the Mother. All of which are owed to Balalon and Hadit’s relationship to Nuit and the nature of existence itself, the formula of “Love under Will” and perpetual evolution.

TO JUNO.

0 ROYAL Juno, of majestic mien,

Aerial-form'd, divine, Jove's blessed queen,

Thron'd in the bosom of cerulean air,

The race of mortals is thy constant care.

The cooling gales thy pow'r alone inspires,

Which nourish life, which ev'ry life desires.

Mother of show'rs and winds, from thee alone,

Producing all things, mortal life is known:

All natures share thy temp'rament divine,

And universal sway alone is thine,

With sounding blasts of wind, the swelling sea

And rolling rivers roar when shook by thee.

Come, blessed Goddess, fam'd almighty queen,

With aspect kind, rejoicing and serene.

"Proclus also in Plat. Theol. p. 483, says, that Juno is the source of the procreation of the soul." From this quote by Proclus, Juno’s office as mother is perhaps best expressed, as being the source of the procreation as her connection to an initiate may be seen as the act of conceiving the Daughter. This conception results in a burning aspiration and a yearning for divine union, which later results in the fully actualized Soul and the realization of the True Will, once union with the Daughter is attained.

TO VESTA.

DAUGHTER of Saturn, venerable dame,

Who dwell'st amidst great fire's eternal flame;

In sacred rites these ministers are thine,

Mystics much blessed, holy, and divine.

In thee the Gods have fix'd their dwelling place,

Strong, stable basis of the mortal race.

Eternal, much form'd, ever florid queen,

Laughing and blessed, and of lovely mien;

Accept these rites, accord each just desire,

And gentle health and needful good inspire.

"Love is the law, love under will."