Arbatel Working-Extended Notes-Phul-Moon-Monday
I will be posting the extended notes from my" Arbatel Working" each day this week.
Phul
Luna/Phul: “There is no contrivance in joy.” ~ Diana of the Fate
Joy is an ambient, hypostatic principle. A living thing is the ephemeral measurement and relationship through which joy can be experienced. Experience the bliss and potency of the moment.
I worked with Phul each Monday morning from March 22, 2010 to April 12, 2010.
I began this meditation by reflecting on the Roman goddess Luna, who was an historically earlier version of the goddess Diana (as in Greece, Luna’s cognate, Selene, was replaced by Artemis). I also reflected on the corresponding sefiroh of Yeshod and the corresponding chakra, Svadisthana. I burned incense consisting of white copal, a bit of amber and a small bit of myrrh, patchouli, spikenard, lavender, and a bit of lemon rind. I did this intuitively, without following any correspondence guide related to herbs, scents, or planets.
The first image that came to mind was the Star from the Tarot, which depicts a naked woman pouring water onto land and into a stream. It signifies hope and refreshment.
Sentiments of refreshment, hope, joy, and favor washed over me. I received the impression of a large silverish sphere in my lower abdomen, and wondered whether I was “seeing” the svadisthana. This imagery often returned when I sat for this meditation. I then received impressions about the virginal and fierce independence of this Intelligence-specifically, the non-communion with men. Although one typically thinks of the svadisthana and water element to be related to sexual urge and water and the moon to be related to female sexual impulse, the message in the energy signature that I was accessing was that it was concentrated and sublimated feminine sexual energy-very potent but not expressed or felt in erotic impulse.
From here, I received images and impressions of nymphs, fairies, night, earth and the smell of the spring or summer earth in the night. It, again, expressed a pristine joy and playfulness. I also had the impression of the presence of a fairy or winged naiad-like being and also of a damsel fly. The fairy imagery also was a very strong, recurring impression. The entity was very fair, lithe, silvery-whitish-something from a Victorian picture book, but it was a human sized, a young woman of 18 to 25 years. I would envision her gently seated on that silver-white sphere.
I will note that the first fairy tales recorded supposedly came from Italy, where fairies were thought to be mostly beneficent feminine entities associated with Diana and Hekate. They were depicted as full-sized, elegant, goddess-like women who would protect you and do favors for you if they took a liking to you. The Italian word for fairy is fata (plural fate) and, yes, they are related to the Fates (Roman/latin, Parcae; Greek, Moirae; Teutonic, Norns), who spun, wove, and cut the thread of life, to whom even the gods bowed, and who were forerunners of the idea of the triple goddess
Sensations of fairies and silvery white beings in the night continued into the next Luna meditation session: clear, glowing water, and gleefulness. It was sheer, insect-like buzzing and joy in the moment. During that particular meditation, my hands felt as if radiating heat, and I experienced a tingling sensation that wrapped around the left side of my head-as if subtlety radiating from the shoulder and neck and curling, with conspicuous sensation, from near the back of my left ear to near the top of the head. This is a neurodynamic effect that yoga practitioners might interpret as a pranic release.
The words “There is no contrivance in joy” came to me while I suppose I was thinking about the nature of this feeling-of beings just being happy in a cluster in the night. It was not the same as what some of my neopagan and New Age acquaintances try to elicit through drum and dance reveries. It was pure joy with no attention to memory or expectation. It was immediate and pristine presence.
I recalled Hekate and reasoned that she was called the light bearer because she represented the moon traversing the dark sky that leads into morning. That is, she leads “from darkness to light” and all the metaphors related to that.
I was trying to wrap my head around the joy idea because it was as if those experiencing it in my imagery were like lightening bugs-replete with joy in the summer night but having lives lasting mere hours. Are they joyful up until their end? Do they experience fright, pain, and surprise at that time? I reasoned that the joy experience was an enveloping principle and that a living thing was the measurement and relationship through which joy could be experienced. I recalled that the moon’s light is not its own but a reflection. It represents duality and relationship: the seer and the seen, which are the same. The moon’s light is illusory because it is the sun “looking at” itself and as something other. But the projection gives form (measure and limitation) to what is formless. The moon is thus Maya and Meter and is the reflection of consciousness.
As the month went on, I was met with some drama and also moodiness and this changed the quality of my meditations. The florid imagery and impressions began to thin. In the third week, on the day meant for Luna meditation, I found that I could not connect with the Intelligence. I began to reflect on the idea -or get a message-that I was oppressed by a binding spell. The words, “Make a sigil to release yourself from obstruction” came to me. I received instructions about performing a spell. I was to make a sigil of intent and use my selenite wand to slash through the obstruction and also recite a certain prayer that I am very familiar with from Hindu scripture.
I conducted the ritual later that day. Although the ensuing days continued to be trying, this operation seems to have completely released my attachment to an estranged acquaintance whose memory had been haunting me daily since our falling out several months ago. The operation also seems useful in banishing immediate annoyances and troubling moods as well.
The fourth and final week of this Working was preceded by a particularly bad few days. On the eve of the last Phul meditation, I woke up frequently during the night. At about 2, I was woken up by the thought and sigil image of Phul, 2 hours later by those of Phalec (Mars), then Aratron (Saturn) later, and finally Och (Sol, the Sun). I will add here that, in my experience with the planets during this Working, Aratron had a Chokmah-like quality until its final revelation and Och strongly had a Binah or Daath-like quality. This diverges from traditional characteristics given to these Intelligences.
When I sat for the last Phul/Luna meditation for this month-long Working, I felt prompted to sit with my selenite sword/wand and a green-blue egg-shaped crystal orb that was supposedly made from some volcanic stuff spewed out of Mt St. Helen’s. I bought the orb in New Orleans about 20 years ago. The sword is an item that I purchased a few years ago but did not use much. It actually broke when it and a bunch of other items recently spilled off a table I was using as an altar (something similar, with more uncanny characteristics than this past event, occurred late last Spring). I repaired the sword somewhat and it seemed to become a focus of attention to the Intelligences, particularly Ophiel (Mercury) during this Working. I had decided to associate the wand with the Intelligence of Mercury and the orb with the intelligence of Luna. I put the Luna-Phul sigil to the left and the Ophiel sigil to the right of the orb. It was suggested that I attempt scrying. I had not done this well before and simply fixated on the orb to identify images the way one might see images while gazing at clouds.
The first image I saw was a strange bird head or a cross between a bird and a furry creature with long snout. It was facing the sigil of Phul. Then it switched to an image of a hare facing the sigil of Ophiel. I examined the 2 images switching back and forth for a while.
I then saw something like a women’s head with a corona at the top of the orb. An image of a kingly looking form with a staff appeared in the orb but it was as if the women’s face and corona was superimposed slightly over the figure’s head. The face switched back and forth from facing left to right.
She seemed to cover the man as if in a protective cloak. The image then transformed to look like a mother and child, or a pregnant woman in profile, and then the kingly man embracing a regal woman as if in mourning. Then it was as if all of the images were grouped there: an image that included the mother, child and the man and woman embracing, a sense that the man and woman’s embrace was ambiguous-joyful, romantic, or mournfully solacing. Then the image transformed into the couple kneeling before a round-headed figure as if the couple were taking marriage vows before a minister. It seemed to be a pictorial narrative-the archetypal story of the god and the goddess.
The image cleared and when new images began to arise, they were a mish-mash related to resurrection, Jesus at the tomb, pyramids, and sphinxes.
The kingly man with the hat appeared again. A cross was superimposed on his body, which then took the form of a dagger or sword. The image emerged of a woman in a white cloak who leaned against his right shoulder. My own tiny reflection seen at the very base of the orb had the illusion of facing the couple. The woman’s hand stretched out toward me as if in blessing and to my right in the image was something like a double that was supposed to be a masculine form.
I then put the scrying exercise aside, closed my eyes and focused on Phul. I started to think about the godforms and “heard”: “Understand what this is. Do not go to polytheist concepts.” I was then simply absorbed for a short while in that Luna feeling of joy, presence, fascination, grace-the way I should feel in the moment without anxieties about past and future.
I became aware that the discipline I should come away with is to meditate on the feeling of each Intelligence like I might do a chakra meditation exercise. In this way I can integrate the energy of the Intelligence and express it when necessary.
Phul
Luna/Phul: “There is no contrivance in joy.” ~ Diana of the Fate
Joy is an ambient, hypostatic principle. A living thing is the ephemeral measurement and relationship through which joy can be experienced. Experience the bliss and potency of the moment.
I worked with Phul each Monday morning from March 22, 2010 to April 12, 2010.
I began this meditation by reflecting on the Roman goddess Luna, who was an historically earlier version of the goddess Diana (as in Greece, Luna’s cognate, Selene, was replaced by Artemis). I also reflected on the corresponding sefiroh of Yeshod and the corresponding chakra, Svadisthana. I burned incense consisting of white copal, a bit of amber and a small bit of myrrh, patchouli, spikenard, lavender, and a bit of lemon rind. I did this intuitively, without following any correspondence guide related to herbs, scents, or planets.
The first image that came to mind was the Star from the Tarot, which depicts a naked woman pouring water onto land and into a stream. It signifies hope and refreshment.
Sentiments of refreshment, hope, joy, and favor washed over me. I received the impression of a large silverish sphere in my lower abdomen, and wondered whether I was “seeing” the svadisthana. This imagery often returned when I sat for this meditation. I then received impressions about the virginal and fierce independence of this Intelligence-specifically, the non-communion with men. Although one typically thinks of the svadisthana and water element to be related to sexual urge and water and the moon to be related to female sexual impulse, the message in the energy signature that I was accessing was that it was concentrated and sublimated feminine sexual energy-very potent but not expressed or felt in erotic impulse.
From here, I received images and impressions of nymphs, fairies, night, earth and the smell of the spring or summer earth in the night. It, again, expressed a pristine joy and playfulness. I also had the impression of the presence of a fairy or winged naiad-like being and also of a damsel fly. The fairy imagery also was a very strong, recurring impression. The entity was very fair, lithe, silvery-whitish-something from a Victorian picture book, but it was a human sized, a young woman of 18 to 25 years. I would envision her gently seated on that silver-white sphere.
I will note that the first fairy tales recorded supposedly came from Italy, where fairies were thought to be mostly beneficent feminine entities associated with Diana and Hekate. They were depicted as full-sized, elegant, goddess-like women who would protect you and do favors for you if they took a liking to you. The Italian word for fairy is fata (plural fate) and, yes, they are related to the Fates (Roman/latin, Parcae; Greek, Moirae; Teutonic, Norns), who spun, wove, and cut the thread of life, to whom even the gods bowed, and who were forerunners of the idea of the triple goddess
Sensations of fairies and silvery white beings in the night continued into the next Luna meditation session: clear, glowing water, and gleefulness. It was sheer, insect-like buzzing and joy in the moment. During that particular meditation, my hands felt as if radiating heat, and I experienced a tingling sensation that wrapped around the left side of my head-as if subtlety radiating from the shoulder and neck and curling, with conspicuous sensation, from near the back of my left ear to near the top of the head. This is a neurodynamic effect that yoga practitioners might interpret as a pranic release.
The words “There is no contrivance in joy” came to me while I suppose I was thinking about the nature of this feeling-of beings just being happy in a cluster in the night. It was not the same as what some of my neopagan and New Age acquaintances try to elicit through drum and dance reveries. It was pure joy with no attention to memory or expectation. It was immediate and pristine presence.
I recalled Hekate and reasoned that she was called the light bearer because she represented the moon traversing the dark sky that leads into morning. That is, she leads “from darkness to light” and all the metaphors related to that.
I was trying to wrap my head around the joy idea because it was as if those experiencing it in my imagery were like lightening bugs-replete with joy in the summer night but having lives lasting mere hours. Are they joyful up until their end? Do they experience fright, pain, and surprise at that time? I reasoned that the joy experience was an enveloping principle and that a living thing was the measurement and relationship through which joy could be experienced. I recalled that the moon’s light is not its own but a reflection. It represents duality and relationship: the seer and the seen, which are the same. The moon’s light is illusory because it is the sun “looking at” itself and as something other. But the projection gives form (measure and limitation) to what is formless. The moon is thus Maya and Meter and is the reflection of consciousness.
As the month went on, I was met with some drama and also moodiness and this changed the quality of my meditations. The florid imagery and impressions began to thin. In the third week, on the day meant for Luna meditation, I found that I could not connect with the Intelligence. I began to reflect on the idea -or get a message-that I was oppressed by a binding spell. The words, “Make a sigil to release yourself from obstruction” came to me. I received instructions about performing a spell. I was to make a sigil of intent and use my selenite wand to slash through the obstruction and also recite a certain prayer that I am very familiar with from Hindu scripture.
I conducted the ritual later that day. Although the ensuing days continued to be trying, this operation seems to have completely released my attachment to an estranged acquaintance whose memory had been haunting me daily since our falling out several months ago. The operation also seems useful in banishing immediate annoyances and troubling moods as well.
The fourth and final week of this Working was preceded by a particularly bad few days. On the eve of the last Phul meditation, I woke up frequently during the night. At about 2, I was woken up by the thought and sigil image of Phul, 2 hours later by those of Phalec (Mars), then Aratron (Saturn) later, and finally Och (Sol, the Sun). I will add here that, in my experience with the planets during this Working, Aratron had a Chokmah-like quality until its final revelation and Och strongly had a Binah or Daath-like quality. This diverges from traditional characteristics given to these Intelligences.
When I sat for the last Phul/Luna meditation for this month-long Working, I felt prompted to sit with my selenite sword/wand and a green-blue egg-shaped crystal orb that was supposedly made from some volcanic stuff spewed out of Mt St. Helen’s. I bought the orb in New Orleans about 20 years ago. The sword is an item that I purchased a few years ago but did not use much. It actually broke when it and a bunch of other items recently spilled off a table I was using as an altar (something similar, with more uncanny characteristics than this past event, occurred late last Spring). I repaired the sword somewhat and it seemed to become a focus of attention to the Intelligences, particularly Ophiel (Mercury) during this Working. I had decided to associate the wand with the Intelligence of Mercury and the orb with the intelligence of Luna. I put the Luna-Phul sigil to the left and the Ophiel sigil to the right of the orb. It was suggested that I attempt scrying. I had not done this well before and simply fixated on the orb to identify images the way one might see images while gazing at clouds.
The first image I saw was a strange bird head or a cross between a bird and a furry creature with long snout. It was facing the sigil of Phul. Then it switched to an image of a hare facing the sigil of Ophiel. I examined the 2 images switching back and forth for a while.
I then saw something like a women’s head with a corona at the top of the orb. An image of a kingly looking form with a staff appeared in the orb but it was as if the women’s face and corona was superimposed slightly over the figure’s head. The face switched back and forth from facing left to right.
She seemed to cover the man as if in a protective cloak. The image then transformed to look like a mother and child, or a pregnant woman in profile, and then the kingly man embracing a regal woman as if in mourning. Then it was as if all of the images were grouped there: an image that included the mother, child and the man and woman embracing, a sense that the man and woman’s embrace was ambiguous-joyful, romantic, or mournfully solacing. Then the image transformed into the couple kneeling before a round-headed figure as if the couple were taking marriage vows before a minister. It seemed to be a pictorial narrative-the archetypal story of the god and the goddess.
The image cleared and when new images began to arise, they were a mish-mash related to resurrection, Jesus at the tomb, pyramids, and sphinxes.
The kingly man with the hat appeared again. A cross was superimposed on his body, which then took the form of a dagger or sword. The image emerged of a woman in a white cloak who leaned against his right shoulder. My own tiny reflection seen at the very base of the orb had the illusion of facing the couple. The woman’s hand stretched out toward me as if in blessing and to my right in the image was something like a double that was supposed to be a masculine form.
I then put the scrying exercise aside, closed my eyes and focused on Phul. I started to think about the godforms and “heard”: “Understand what this is. Do not go to polytheist concepts.” I was then simply absorbed for a short while in that Luna feeling of joy, presence, fascination, grace-the way I should feel in the moment without anxieties about past and future.
I became aware that the discipline I should come away with is to meditate on the feeling of each Intelligence like I might do a chakra meditation exercise. In this way I can integrate the energy of the Intelligence and express it when necessary.