Unlocking the Observatory: Planets and Numbers

Where were we? We’re in the middle of discussing the obscure Telescope of Zoroaster (ZT), a manual of divination and spirituality originally published in French in 1796 (FZT) at the close of the French Revolution, which was later translated into German in 1797 (GZT) and then again in an abridged form as part of Johann Scheible’s 1846 Das Kloster (vol. 3, part II, chapter VII) (KZT), with Scheible’s work then translated into English in 2013 as released by Ouroboros Press (OZT).  Although OZT is how most people nowadays tend to encounter this system, I put out my own English translation of FZT out a bit ago as part of my research, and while that translation was just part of the work I’ve been up to, there’s so much more to review, consider, and discover when it comes to this fascinating form of divination.  Last time, we talked about how ZT considers its own notion of the “Great Cabala” and why it’s not what people think at first glance. If you need a refresher on what we talked about last time, go read the last post!

※ For those following along with their own copy of ZT (get yours here!), the relevant chapters from ZT are the “Third Step”, “First Supplement”, and “Third Supplement”.

We’ve covered enough of the preliminary big things in these first few posts that clear up (at least some of) the literary and contextual concerns about ZT.  While there’s certainly plenty more to discuss the overall cosmology and spirituality of ZT, we need to talk technique first to make any sense of it.  We’ll start with the actual method and system of ZT today, beginning with the basic symbol set that we use for our tools.  If you’ll recall from back in the first post of this series, dear reader, I mentioned how I consider a good description of ZT to be “numerological sortilege with an astrological flair”.  This wasn’t an exaggeration: every form of divination that involves sortilege (i.e. some variation on casting lots, obtaining random symbols from some store of such symbols), like Tarot or geomancy, requires some symbol set, and for ZT, the symbols used are the nine planets and the numbers 1 through 99.

And yup, it’s nine planets, at least in a sense.  ZT makes use of a nine-planet model based on the traditional seven from the usual Western esoteric systems we all know and love.  In ZT, there are still the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (just as we’d expect normally), but the Sun and Moon get treated a little differently: while astronomically there is just one of each luminary, in the Great Cabala of ZT there are two: a material Sun and a spiritual Sun as well as a material Moon and a spiritual Moon.  For this reason, ZT draws a distinction between planets and planetary intelligences, and for the purposes of divination, it’s the planetary intelligences that form part of our symbol set.  (I know, I know, I’m upset that ZT doesn’t make use of the North and South Nodes of the Moon, which would be more traditional for Western astrological practice, but then, ZT is very much dead set against astrology and how Western esotericism does stuff anyway, so whatever.)  It’s important to note that ZT makes use of the term “intelligences”, which those who are familiar with grimoiric or more “high church”-kinds of magic are familiar with for being another term for a spiritual entity.  In some texts, though, “intelligence” is not representative of all kinds of spiritual entities.  In his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, for instance, Cornelius Agrippa draws a distinction between planetary intelligences and planetary spirits, the former being in charge of the direction, throttling, and manifestation of the power of a planet, while the latter is more in charge of the actual flow, presence, and activity of a planet.  In the case of ZT, however, where “intelligence” is a super common term encountered in general, it may be assumed that when ZT talks about “intelligences” it’s talking about celestial or heavenly entities in general.

Also, a small side-point of clarification here about the ZT text in general: the author of ZT likes using the terms “physical” and “moral” to distinguish between different aspects of things.  The former makes sense to us as-is, but the latter doesn’t mean something like “pertaining to matters of correct or acceptable behavior”. Rather, the author of ZT uses “moral” to refer to all things spiritual and ethereal, just as “physical” also refers to all things of matter and corporeality.  Maybe this is just a trend in how people spoke back then, so I might be making a mountain out of a molehill, but I at least find it notable from a translator’s perspective.

So, nine planetary intelligences, alright.  Each of them has one or two names; in all cases, at least one name for the intelligences is based on some sort of Greek-like name (which is the name used throughout ZT).  For seven of these nine intelligences, an alternative name derived from Greco-Latin is also given for some of the intelligences (these latter names being claimed to come from “another work, probably more modern than the one which guides us”, which may well be a literary deceit). As with the ZT text itself, we’ll stick to using the primarily Greek-like names given first (and given below in bold) for our study.

  1. Genhelia (matter-Sun ☉), whose name can be derived from Greek γενηλια genēlia “sun-born”.  Alternate name is “Physia” (variant of Greek φυσις phusis “nature”).
  2. Seleno (matter-Moon ☾), whose name can be derived from Greek σεληνος variant of σεληνη selēnē “moon”.  Alternate name is “Hydrogaeo” (male variant of a combination of Greek words for “Water-Earth”).
  3. Erosia (Venus ♀︎), whose name can be derived from Greek ερωσια erōsia variant of ερως erōs “love”.  No alternate name given.
  4. Panurgio (Mercury ☿), whose name can be derived from Greek πανουργιος panourgios “knave, ruffian”.  Alternate name is “Ruffieno” (“ruffian” or, more literally, “pimp”).
  5. Lethophoro (Saturn ♄), whose name can be derived from Greek ληθηφορος lēthēphoros “Lethe-bringing” or “forgetful-bringing”.  No alternate name given.
  6. Aglaé (Jupiter ♃), whose name can be derived from Greek αγλαια aglaia “splendor, shining”.  Alternate name is “Fulgida” (Latin for “shining, flashing”).
  7. Adamasto (Mars ♂︎), whose name can be derived from Greek αδαμαστος adamastos “unsubdued, unconquerable”.  Alternate name is “Gorgonio” (a play off of the Greek Gorgon and a name used for several Christian martyrs).
  8. Psykomena (spirit-Moon ☽), whose name can be derived from Greek ψυχομηνη psychomēnē “soul-moon”.  Alternate name is “Phosphorina” (variant of Greek φωσφορος phōsphoros “light-bringer”).
  9. Psykelia (spirit-Sun ◎), whose name can be derived from Greek ψυχηλια psychēlia “soul-sun”.  Alternate name is “Celsina” (variant of Latin celsus “tall, high, prominent”).

Before we continue, a note on the symbols used for the planets.  As with usual astrological tradition, the glyphs used to represent the non-luminary planets of Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are the same as expected in any text.  Genhelia (matter-Sun) is represented by the usual solar glyph of a circle with a dot in the middle, while Psykelia (spirit-Sun) is represented with a circle with another circle inside (which may or may not have a dot in the middle of its inner circle).  Seleno (matter-Moon) and Psykomena (spirit-Moon) are both represented with crescent moon glyphs, but Seleno has the points of its crescent pointed towards the right and Psykomena’s towards the left.

ZT doesn’t just stop at giving the high-level information there, however.  A description of the domain, nature, and activity of each intelligence is also provided:

Genhelia ☉
This Intelligence presides over birth, growth, and the formation of the organs; over health and all good natural affections; and over family ties, from parenthood to the most remote affinity. She is sympathetic, serene, gentle, active, and willingly favorable.

Seleno ☾
This Intelligence presides over all the same things as Genhelia, but is an Intelligence that is filthy, selfish, temperamental, and lazy. He disputes with his rival over all the habits of the body which contract through the concurrence of secondary causes. What Genhelia strives to improve or change through education, Seleno willingly corrupts.

Erosia ♀︎
This Intelligence exclusively governs love, either as a passion of the soul or as a universal mode of reproduction. She knows all the joys and all the sorrows that love involves, all its pleasures and all its pains, and of all its moral and physical excesses. She is a burning Intelligence, but a good, magnetic, and vital one all the same.

Panurgio ☿
This Intelligence presides over the agility of the body, its tricks of skill and strength, and the finesse of the mind and spirit. He governs and protects all kinds of industries, is prodigiously active, and his most commendable qualities are in interpersonal skills and eloquence in language. However, he is selfish, insensitive, cunning, prone to deceit, and humanity is directed through him towards the earning of wealth, illicit or otherwise, than towards success which results from thoughtfulness.

Lethophoro ♄
This is the only essentially evil Intelligence, who presides over all the afflictions of humanity from melancholy to despair and from discomfort to death. He distributes all causes of failure, ruin, disease, and dying; he is weak, unfeeling, jealous, and resentful; he hinders all virtues and serves all the disorganizing passions of the social order.

Aglaé ♃
This Intelligence has essentially the same field as that of Panurgio, but purifies and ennobles everything of which its rival makes ill use. She fertilizes all virtues and all useful or estimable talents, restores what is proper to the arts and sciences, and inspires in humanity a disinterested ambition which directs one towards public esteem and fame than towards opulence. Aglaé is frank, fair, and noble, and she distributes literary success, honors, dignities, and all rewards of true merit.

Adamasto ♂︎
This Intelligence presides over any violence, whether merely intended or actually done. He governs war in general and quarrels in particular, and causes the shedding of blood; however, he is generous, open-minded, and incapable of resentment. Adamasto willingly submits to the influence of Erosia who tempers and tames him, as well as to the influence of Aglaé who constantly shows to Adamasto the danger of disgrace, as well as to the influence of Psykelia who spurs Adamasto on to glory. Adamasto’s faultless work is tireless, and his crimes are of his primary movement, but without any stain of baseness or betrayal. Adamasto is, in short, more tempestuous than dangerous, and is only incidentally destructive.

Psykomena ☽
This Intelligence can be called the “Overseer of the Whirlwind of the Immoral World”, who presides over all errors and follies, and who distributes to all indiscriminately all shortcomings, ridiculous non-issues, and all the innumerable strivings for trivial perfections that result in no real use in the final result of a thing. She inspires false steps, dictates frivolous productions, draws up vain projects, and constantly excites humanity into the chasing of some chimera or other. Though libertine and insensitive, she is without gall, a night without malice, serving as she does without generosity. She is especially influential over very young men, old people, and the female sex in general.

Psykelia ◎
This Intelligence is as transcendent in good as Lethophoro is in evil, and sows happiness on all careers open to humanity. She increases the influence of auspicious Intelligences and corrects the malignity of harmful malicious ones; she prepares all great fortunes and unexpected illustriousness. Opulence, victory, and triumph attach themselves to wherever she looks. She renders sublime all good sentiments; she exalts fidelity, constancy, friendship, love, and courage. She maintains the fire of genius, pulling humans out of their worst steps and purifying them to be able to reach for the highest degree of perfection allowable by human nature.

All in all, the natures of the intelligences are about what one would expect for their respective planets, though with a much dimmer view of the lunar intelligences and of Saturn than I would have expected, and a much more realistic and frank one of Mercury than is often encountered or appreciated.

It is on the basis of these nine planetary intelligences (hereafter just “Intelligences”) that we can then proceed to the Numbers.  In the system of ZT, each of the numbers from 1 to 99 is given a set of significations that build up numerologically from simple principles.  Those principles are themselves the Intelligences, each of which is given to one of the “primitive Numbers”, or the single digits 1 through 9, in the same order as the Intelligences are shown above: 1 to Genhelia, 2 to Seleno, 3 to Erosia, 4 to Panurgio, 5 to Lethophoro, 6 to Aglaé, 7 to Adamasto, 8 to Psykomena, and 9 to Psykelia.  It should be stressed that the Intelligences are not numbers themselves, but receive these numbers as a lord does a vassal; in other words, the Intelligences are on a higher ontological level than the primitive Numbers, and the primitive Numbers act as representatives of the Intelligences.

After the primitive Numbers come the compound Numbers, which are double-digit numbers that are themselves composed of the primitive numbers plus the null digit (0).  Each compound number falls into a group of numbers established by the primitive Number it reduces to: the standard numerological procedure of “adding up all the digits until you get a single digit number” is the process here, such that 45 → 4 + 5 = 9, 66 → 6 + 6 = 12 → 1 + 2 = 3, and so forth (or, more mathematically, take the number modulo 9, i.e. divide the number by 9 and take the remainder, replacing a 0 result with 9).  To keep track of all this, ZT provides a table of numbers which maps the 99 numbers to the planetary intelligences.  What’s neat about this, though is that because there are 99 numbers and we add another 9 to them (the Intelligences), if we plot out each series of 9 on separate rows, we get twelve rows total (because 99 + 9 = 108 and 108 ÷ 9 = 12).  What ZT does with that fact is that it allots each consecutive set of nine symbols to one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac in order, as below:

Aries ♀︎ ♂︎
Taurus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Gemini 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Cancer 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Leo 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Virgo 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45
Libra 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Scorpio 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63
Sagittarius 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
Capricorn 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81
Aquarius 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90
Pisces 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

This table is originally given (and far more beautifully rendered) in ZT as “Plate 2”.  While there are a bunch of other elements on this illustration which we’ll get around to covering, let’s just take a look at the table of numbers itself:

When we take a step back and look at all the Numbers, we can divide up the Numbers into several groups:

  • Primitive Numbers: numbers composed of single digits (9 total)
  • Compound Numbers: numbers composed of two digits (90 total)
    • Simple Compound Numbers: numbers composed of two digits where both digits are different and nonzero (72 total)
    • Double Compound Numbers: numbers composed of the same digit twice, i.e. a primitive number multiplied by 11 (9 total)
    • Tenfold Compound Numbers: numbers composed of one primitive digit and one zero digit, i.e. a primitive number multiplied by 10 (9 total)

As I said earlier, each of these 9 Intelligences and 99 Numbers has their own set of significations and meanings.  That said, we don’t have to memorize meanings for them all, because there’s a trick to it: you only really need to learn the meanings of the Intelligences and the primitive Numbers, and the rest all fall along in a nice, convenient pattern.

As an example, consider the primitive numbers 3 and 7.  3 is the number of Erosia (Venus), and has the meaning of “object of the heart, fecundity, fertility” (under Erosia’s general signification of “love, the universal magnet”).  7, likewise, is the number of Adamasto (Mars), and has the meaning of “military status, chiefs, sometimes competitors” (under Adamasto’s own general signification of “the strength of soul and body, violence, the element of fire”).  Now, if we take 3 and 7 and combine them into a compound number, we get either 37 or 73.  In both cases, these numbers reduce to 1  (3 + 7 = 10 and 3 + 7 = 10 , but 10 → 1 + 0 = 1), which is the number of Genhelia (matter-Sun).  Because of this, both 37 and 73 have something to do with Genhelia’s general domain.  In the case of 37, the meaning is “burning senses, amorous passion”; in the case of 73, “rapt in love, romantic/novelesque adventures” (with “romantic” used in the older sense of fantastic stories of chivalry and nobility”).  Note how both 37 and 73 retain their basic Venereal and Martian qualities (their single digits), but permuted in different ways within the general contextual scope of matter-Sun (their reductions to a primitive number).

To hammer in the lesson, let’s also consider the numbers 5 and 8.  5 is the number of Lethophoro (Saturn), and has the meaning of “ruin, fatal illness, secret enemy” (under Lethophoros’s general signification of “death, darkness, the element of water”); 8 is the number of Psykomena (spirit-Moon), and has the meaning of “the feminine being, the social whirlwind” (under Psykomena’s general signification of “mistake, vanities, inconstancy, foreign countries”).  The compound numbers 58 and 85 both reduce to 4 (5 + 8 = 13 and 8 + 5 = 13, and 13 → 1 + 3 = 4), putting both these numbers under the domain of Panurgio (Mercury).  58 has the meaning of “deceived wife, sometimes her death”; 85 has the meaning of “treacherous woman, sometimes testament”.  Again, note how the compound numbers retain their basic qualities of Saturn and spirit-Moon (according to their single digits) but play out in different ways according to the context of Mercury (their reduction).

We see these things touched on in the list of advice and considerations given towards the end of ZT:

  1. Let us never tire of reflecting on the attributes assigned to each Intelligence, and what about these attributes are respectively analogous to each other or incompatible with each other.
  2. Let us deeply penetrate into the primitive quality that each simple number has, inasmuch as it is often the representative of its own planet and recalls it everywhere it may be.
  3. Let it be ingrained that whenever a simple number appears joined with another to form a compound number, each of the two digits still preserves something that is primitively proper to them, wherever it may fall in some mirror or in some orbit, even one most foreign to its planet or angel.

In general, if we look at the meanings of the compound Numbers, we see a pattern arising: the basic planetary concept expressed by the tens digit acts upon or makes use of the basic planetary concept of the ones digit (e.g. 85 = spirit-Moon on Saturn = woman making use of ruin, but 58 = Saturn on spirit-Moon = ruin falling upon woman).  We just have to remember that each compound Number is bound by three things: the two separate digits it is composed of and the single digit it reduces to.  Thus, although one could conceivably come up with any number of things that 37 might resolve to being “Venus acting upon/making use of Mars” for weal or for woe, we have to remember that we are bound by the semantic limitations of these things falling in line with the general field of matter-Sun (because 37 reduces to 1).

At least, that’s the general idea for understanding the compound Numbers in general, but that works especially for the “simple compound Numbers” (e.g. 78, 29, 32), where a compound Number has two nonzero digits that are different from each other.  What about the other two kinds of compound numbers?

  • For the double compound numbers (aka “doublets” where both digits are the same, i.e. a primitive number multiplied by 11 like 22, 33, 44, etc.), it’s a similar deal as before: take the single digit, compound it upon itself, and interpret it in the context of the primitive number it reduces to.  For instance, consider 6, the primitive number of Aglaé (Jupiter), which has the meaning of “prudence, wisdom, great magistracy” (under Aglaé’s general signification of “fame, arts and sciences, the element of air”).  If we double the number (or, more accurately, multiply it by 11) to get 66, then this number reduces to 66 → 6 + 6 = 12 → 1 + 2 = 3, the number of Erosia (Venus).  As a result, 66 has the indication of “legal marriage, social concord” (Jupiter acting on Jupiter within the context of Venus).  Likewise, using numbers we’ve already encountered before, if we take the number 7 of Adamasto (Mars) and double it, then we get the number 77 which reduces to 77 → 7 + 7 = 14 → 1 + 4 = 5, the number of Lethophoro (Saturn); 77 has the indication of “severe physical accident, violent death”.  It’s the same process as before.
  • For the tenfold compound numbers (aka “nilled numbers” where the ones digit is 0, i.e. a primitive number multiplied by 10 like 20, 30, 40, etc.), the result is a little different.  In the system of ZT, even though zero is a digit, it is not a primitive Number, and so has no Intelligence associated with it.  In this case, a nilled number will always appear in the same column as the primitive number of its corresponding tens digit (e.g. 70 will always appear in the column of Adamasto/Mars because 70 → 7 + 0 = 7).  Such a compound Number has a general indication of the privation, diminution, or depletion of its primitive Number’s general idea.  Thus, 70 can be read as “weakening of Mars”, and thus has the meaning of “weakness, discouragement, cowardice”; 30 can be read as “weakening of Venus” → “celibacy, chastity, monasteries, insensitivity”; 40 can be read as “weakening of Mercury” → “aborted wealth, empty plans or intrigues”.  This is a slightly different pattern than the rest of the compound numbers.

That’s all there is to it: by understanding what the basic meanings of the digits 1 through 9 are, we can permute them and reduce them to come up with a rather specific set of meanings in a well-defined semantic field.  In this way, ZT has its own sort of “astrological numerology”, and rather than having to memorize a set of indications for every Number from 1 through 99 in addition to the nine Intelligences themselves, one really just needs to learn the nine Intelligences and the nine primitive Numbers and then how they can all fit together.  It’s actually a really neat way to generate meanings—which is why we see warnings throughout the ZT that the tables of indications provided for meanings and significations like this are inherently limited and limiting, given that they’re only a few words long and are only meant to illustrate possible meanings that fit the tens digit/ones digit/reduction digit trifecta of symbols, rather than trying to flesh out all possible meanings.  ZT, after all, “is only a key, not a treatise”.

All the same, to fill out the understanding of how the basic symbols of the numbers come together, here’s the list of indications for each of the Intelligences and the Numbers given in ZT (according to my translation of FZT).  The following list of indications comes from the “First Supplement” in ZT, but note that, due to HTML/blog platform restrictions, I’m not able to put in the Unicode glyph for the list element representing the Intelligence itself; instead, the Intelligence is represented by a negative single-digit number, e.g. “-2” represents the intelligence of Seleno, while 2 is the primitive Number that pertains to Seleno.

Genhelia ☉

  1. Existence. Physical soul. The homeland.
  2. The male being. The people. Birth.
  3. (The male child will live only for a short time.) Short duration.
  4. Noble origin. Ascent of the individual.
  5. (A girl will be born.) Acquaintance with a woman.
  6. Burning senses. Amorous passion.
  7. Great profits. Acquisitions. Tutors. Education.
  8. Natural death. (Sometimes bankruptcy.)
  9. Losses. Trials. Legal practitioners.
  10. Rapt in love. Romantic adventures.
  11. Maternity. The mother. Productive causes.
  12. Great age for a man. Experience. Consideration.

Seleno ☾

  1. Kinship. Common interest. The Earth.
  2. Second causes. Society. Clubs.
  3. Sympathy. Dependencies. Twins.
  4. Breakups. Solutions of interests. Hearths.
  5. Whirlwinds of the Great. Courtiers. Falsehood.
  6. Woman giving in. Seduction. Adultery.
  7. Passive attacks. Debates. Outrage.
  8. Happiness crossed. Aborted success. Widowhood.
  9. The Savior. The Avenger. The Peace.
  10. Advantages by strength or skill.
  11. Woman in love. Hysterical passions.
  12. Powerful help. Protectors.

Erosia ♀︎

  1. Love. The universal magnet.
  2. Object of the heart. Fecundity. Fertility.
  3. Reproduction. Amorous enjoyment. Success.
  4. (A son will be born.) Nascent bond.
  5. Celibacy. Chastity. Monasteries. The insensitive object.
  6. Illustrious gallantries. Fortune through love.
  7. Illicit unions. Theatrical overreactors. Wanderers.
  8. Jealousy. Disasters by love.
  9. Legal marriage. (Sometimes social concord.)
  10. Unlucky passion. Corrosive feelings.
  11. Insidious woman. Perverted young man.
  12. Circle of delights. Fortune of chance.

Panurgio ☿

  1. Wealth. Trade. Travels. The seas.
  2. Discoveries. Intrigues. The opposing party.
  3. Aspirant. Talents to be treasured and cherished.
  4. Happy association. Friendship. Letters.
  5. Good fortune for a clever man. Chickens.
  6. Aborted wealth. Empty plans or null intrigues.
  7. Eloquence. Orators. Ascending.
  8. Deceived wife. (Sometimes her death.)
  9. Great success by talent. Enterprises.
  10. Works for glory. Monuments.
  11. Treacherous woman. (Sometimes testament.)
  12. Sublime talents. Mechanical virtuosos.

Lethophoro ♄

  1. Death. The night.The element water.
  2. Ruin. Fatal illness. Secret enemy.
  3. Bad faith, people thereof. (Sometimes doctors.)
  4. Orphans. Bastards. Those bound to misfortune.
  5. Incestuous passions. Shunned pleasures. Vices.
  6. End of a man. Violent thieves. Lawsuit lost.
  7. End of a loved one. (Sometimes ruin avoided.)
  8. Death of a great person. Public disaster.
  9. Dangerous enemy. Hypocrisy.
  10. Severe physical accident. (Sometimes violent death.)
  11. Hospitals. Women dedicated to the service of the sick.
  12. Perversity. Powerful enemies. Great crimes.

Aglaé ♃

  1. Fame. Arts and sciences. The air.
  2. Prudence. Wisdom. Great magistracy. Embassies.
  3. Skillful chemists. Friends of humanity.
  4. Family of merit. Grand establishments.
  5. Virtuous and constant love. Meeting of lovers.
  6. Social utility. All honest professions.
  7. Death of a sage or a friend. To be condemned.
  8. Desertion of good ways. Dangerous actors.
  9. Illustriousnesses. Titles and orders of merit.
  10. Passion for women. Poetic enthusiasm.
  11. Great virtues of women. Heroines.
  12. Great protectors. Virtuous path.

Adamasto ♂︎

  1. The strength of soul and body. Any violence. The element fire.
  2. Military status. Chiefs. (Sometimes competitors.)
  3. Great courage. Obstinacy. War.
  4. Family in discord. Tasks. Civil unrest.
  5. Careful and firm conduct in love. (Success.)
  6. Ascending through feelings. Beloved superiors.
  7. Loss of a parent or associate. To be gone.
  8. Father. Benefactor. Blessings. Favor.
  9. Weakness. Discouragement. Cowardice.
  10. High ranks. Military honors. Generalship.
  11. Pairs. (Sometimes feminine discord.)
  12. Strength and power. States. Armies. Public wealth.

Psykomena ☽

  1. Mistake. Vanities. Inconstancy. Foreign countries.
  2. The feminine being. The social whirlwind.
  3. Nonsensical passions. Punishable enthusiasm.
  4. Public criticism. Gossip.
  5. Quarrels between lovers. Absence.
  6. Maladministration. Shame. Correction.
  7. Loss of the most cherished being.
  8. Family authority. Prohibition. Poverty.
  9. Disturbed brain. (Sometimes an effeminate man.)
  10. Short life for a female being. (Sometimes murderers.)
  11. Great lady. Sovereign woman. Influential woman.
  12. Remarkable extravagance. Crazy and mad people.

Psykelia ◎

  1. Perfection. Heavenly soul. The light.
  2. Nobility. Elevation. All kinds of success.
  3. Household protected by fortune. Fortunate lineage.
  4. Authority over the nation. Public respect.
  5. Conjugal love. Happiness and virtue.
  6. Legacies. Success on critical occasions.
  7. Death of an enemy. Triumph. Lawsuit won.
  8. Loves favored by public opinion. Religion.
  9. Family strength. Federations.
  10. Extreme old age for a woman. Prejudices.
  11. Abdication. Retreat from the whirlwind. (Sometimes degradation.)
  12. The height of prosperity. Sovereignty. Papacy.

If this all seems like a lot, it’s because it is—but at least we know what’s generally going on.  Rather than having to memorize each of the 108 indications given above as being something fixed and immutable, we just need to recognize the pattern and learn from these indications as being more like illustrative examples.

To wrap up this discussion, there are just two big questions on this topic left that we should consider.  First: if you recall that Table of Numbers from before (given in Plate II), there’s not just the Intelligences and Numbers on the table, but also the signs of the Zodiac.  What role do they play in establishing or fleshing out meanings of the Intelligences or Numbers?  Bluntly speaking, I can’t see that they do; if we read the numbers across the table, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot that ties in the significations to any given Zodiac sign, and ZT never brings these up at all when discussing their meanings.  While it’s not outside the realm of possibility that one could involve the Zodiac signs as an extra consideration or another semantic boundary to establishing the meaning of a given Number or Intelligence, and while the relatively free approach to generating meanings might well be permitted by ZT, I don’t think ZT actually does this.  In short, based on my understanding of ZT, I don’t think the Zodiac signs matter (or should matter) at all for the purpose of establishing, generating, or understanding their meanings.  The signs of the Zodiac, rather, have a different function which we’ll get to later on in describing periods of life of humans and illustrating some temporal concepts, but don’t have a strong symbolic presence in the system of ZT.  While one could feasibly work in the meanings of the signs of the Zodiac somehow into the overall meanings of the Intelligences or Numbers, I don’t think ZT actually implies that this should be done, rather sticking to a purely numerological approach to develop meanings.

The second (and more historically interesting) question: where is ZT getting its system of numerology from?  That is a great question, frankly, and one which I struggled with for quite some time.  There are many systems of numerology that involve the planets in one form or another, but it’s not as common to find one that doubles the Sun and Moon, and less common still to find any set of numerological meanings like what ZT uses.  Either ZT is literally making its own system of numerology up (in the sense of giving certain numbers to certain planets), or it’s taking inspiration from some other obscure source.  I have my suspicions about where it’s coming from, but it requires more context to justify and explain, and we’re not quite there yet; we’ll cover that in a future post.  On the other hand, if you, dear reader, are familiar at all with similar systems, do say so down in the comments; you might be helping everyone trace the development of the system of ZT here in the process (and helping to make up for my own limited research), or at least spurring people on to research more leads to that end!

Pole Lords and Northern Stars: The Names and Roles of the Planets, Pole Lords, and Fates of Heaven

We’ve been discussing lately this interesting thing from PGM XIII, the Eighth and Tenth Hidden Books of Moses, known as the Rulers of the Pole, a system of determining which planet rules over the celestial pole on any given day of the week, which is different from how we would consider planets to rule the days of the week.  At first, it didn’t seem like it was used much, but after seeing parallels in what we’re talking about throughout the rest of the PGM, we realized that we’re not just talking about the celestial pole, but the northern constellations of Ursa Minor and Ursa Maior, and specifically Polaris the North Star.  More than that, we also found out that there is an entirely separate but absolutely equivalent group of seven Pole Lords from the Mithras Liturgy of PGM IV.  With a little bit of innovation and star-mapping, we were able to link the seven Pole Lords and their paired Fates of Heaven to the seven stars of Ursa Minor and Ursa Maior, respectively, and each pair of such stars to each of the seven planets.  We’re really getting somewhere now, guys!

So, now we know how to attribute the seven bull-faced Pole Lords of Heaven to the stars of Ursa Minor and the seven snake-faced Fates of Heaven to the stars of Ursa Maior, and we know how to associate each to one of the seven planets.  This is all well and good, but what does it mean to approach them in this way?  Well, recall from the first post I made about this topic that we’ve got two systems of understanding an “order” to the planets: the weekday arrangement (Sun, Moon, Mars…Saturn) and the heavenly arrangement or the “Seven-Zoned” (Moon, Mercury, Venus…Saturn).  One of the things that I thought of was how PGM XIII might be treating each arrangement differently for different purposes, the weekday arrangement for a microcosmic or worldly purpose and the heavenly arrangement for macrocosmic or theurgic purposes.  This struck me as similar to the Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven sequences of the Ba Gua, where one sequence refers to a primordial state of archetypes, the other a manifested state of change and volatility.

Not to keep bringing up Taoist or Chinese practices like this, because we’re not talking about the same exact thing, but the notion of ascending through the individual stars of Ursa Maior or Ursa Minor in a theurgic process of elevation and henosis brings to mind the Steps of Yu dance of Taoist practices.  In this practice. priests and shamans ritually “dance” in the pattern of the stars of the Big Dipper to “step through” each star and obtain the power of the entire constellation, which is hugely revered in traditional Chinese religion.  Going back to the PGM, perhaps the closest parallel we’d find to a sort of “Steps of Yu” would be the Calling of the Sevenths from the Heptagram Ritual, PGM XIII.734—1077 specifically lines 824ff:

The instruction: speaking to the rising sun, stretching out your right to the left and your left hand likewise to the left, say Α.  To the north, putting forward only your right fist, say Ε.  Then to the west, extending both hands in front [of you], say Η.  To the south, [holding] both [hands] on your stomach, say Ι.  To the earth, bending over, touching the ends of your toes, say Ο.  Looking into the air, having your hand on your heart, say Υ.  Looking into the sky, having both hands on your head, say Ω.

[Then invoke:] “I call on you, eternal and unbegotten, who are one, who alone hold together the whole creation of all things, whom none understand, whom the gods worship, whose name not even the gods can utter.  Inspire from your breath, ruler of the pole, him who is under you; accomplish for me the NN. thing.  I call on you as by the voice of the male gods…”

The text gives a crude diagram that tries to illustrate the general layout of the vowels, which I’ve included from Betz along with my own rendition, and with Stephen Flower’s diagram from Hermetic Magic: The Postmodern Magical Papyrus of Abaris (1995):

Consider what we’re doing here: we’re first facing the four directions in a square, then going from down to up.  We can think of this as standing in the middle of the “ladle” of Ursa Minor as Little Dipper to face the four stars at the corners of the most distant part of Ursa Minor, finishing with the Sun; the three stars on the “handle” of the Little Dipper reflect the vertical ascension represented by Mars and culminating with Saturn, appropriately looking directly up into the sky.  The use of the counterclockwise motion (facing east, north, south, and west for the first four planets) is odd, as usually we’d be accustomed to doing things clockwise; this would also be expected if we look at the stars of Ursa Minor, where going from Kochab to Pherkad etc. is also done in a clockwise way.  But, that’s from our point of view “down here”; if we were to consider the perspective of Aiōn who is above the stars, then looking down from that super-celestial perspective, it’d be from a counterclockwise perspective.  Plus, there’s also the notion that while the stars appear to revolve around the Earth in a clockwise motion, the planets themselves pass through the skies in a counterclockwise motion (which is why the Zodiac is always drawn in that way).  What we’re doing, then, is starting out with the assumption that we’re already celestial, and acting in this world accordingly; it’s the same logic as to why we’d use the macrocosmic Seven-Zoned heavenly-arrangement order of the planets to determine the Pole Lord of the day instead of the microcosmic weekday-arrangement order of the planets.

Backing me up, however, Leonardo of Voces Magicae wrote this excellent post some years ago on the nature of counterclockwise motion in the PGM, indeed referencing this very same ritual and the very same things as the celestial pole and why counterclockwise motion mimics the actual motion of things in the skies from a heavenly perspective, backing it up with evidence from the Corpus Hermeticum itself:

In the spatial-spiritual landscape of the Hermetic magicians,  the celestial pole would be seen as nothing less than a direct portal to celestial divinity. As such,  it is fitting that in the Heptagram Opening Rite – a ritual concerned with orientation – the polar divinity is invoked directly…

Perhaps, this was the intent of countermovement in the ritual practices of the PGM. Not necessarily a specific manifestation of a single countermovement cycle, the universe is resplendent with such examples; but rather orienting the practitioner towards the equilibrium and unity of the celestial pole as a source of stability and power by which to approach the deeper mysteries of our cosmos.

Admittedly, this is a bit of a stretch; it’s one thing to understand this tiny Heptagram rite, this dinky Calling of the Sevenths that so many who are familiar with PGM-style magic are aware of, as a planetary attunement ritual to balance and fix planetary powers within ourselves.  It’s something else entirely to say that it’s an act of theurgic elevation unto itself by imitating the arrangement of the stars of Ursa Minor.  That said, it’s the performance of the Calling of the Sevenths immediately before an invocation of Aiōn, where we call on Aiōn as the gods, as the goddesses, as the winds, as the four directions and as the Earth, Sky, and Cosmos itself that makes me think that we’re essentially “stepping” our way through the seven heavens, gaining the power of the seven Pole Lords all at once so that we can finally approach and address Aiōn as the true Ruler of the Pole above the Pole Lords themselves.

This can further help out what we’re doing towards the end of that same invocation, where we see an interesting thing:

I call on your name, the greatest among gods!  If I say it complete, the earth will quake, the sun will stop, the moon will be afraid, the rocks and the mountains and the sea and the rivers and every liquid will be petrified, the whole cosmos will be thrown into confusion!  I call on you, ΙΥΕΥΟ ΩΑΕΗ ΙΑΩ ΑΕΗ ΑΙ ΕΗ ΑΗ ΙΟΥΩ ΕΥΗ ΙΕΟΥ ΑΗΩ ΗΙ ΩΗΙ ΙΑΗ ΙΩΟΥΗ ΑΥΗ ΥΗΑ ΙΩ ΙΩΑΙ ΙΩΑΙ ΩΗ ΕΕ ΟΥ ΙΩ ΙΑΩ, the Great Name!

Become for me Lynx, Eagle, Snake, Phoenix, Life, Power, Necessity, images of God!  ΑΙΩ ΙΩΥ ΙΑΩ ΗΙΩ ΑΑ ΟΥΙ ΑΑΑΑ Ε ΙΥ ΙΩ ΩΗ ΙΑΩ ΑΙ ΑΩΗ ΟΥΕΩ ΑΙΕΗ ΙΟΥΕ ΥΕΙΑ ΕΙΩ ΗΙΙ ΥΥ ΕΕ ΗΗ ΩΑΟΗ ΧΕΧΑΜΨΙΜΜ ΧΑΓΓΑΛΑΣ ΕΗΙΟΥ ΙΗΕΑ ΩΟΗΟΕ ΖΩΙΩΙΗΡ ΩΜΥΡΥΡΟΜΡΟΜΟΣ ΑΙΩ Η ΙΙ ΥΥ ΗΗ ΟΑΟΗ ΧΕΧΑΜΨΙΜΜ ΧΑΓΓΑΛΑΣ ΕΗΙΟΥ ΙΗΕΑ ΩΟΗΟΕ ΖΩΙΩΙΗΡ ΩΜΥΡΥΡΟΜΡΟΜΟΣ

There’s a fun little note in the text, that ΧΕΧΑΜΨΙΜΜ ΧΑΓΓΑΛΑΣ ΕΗΙΟΥ ΙΗΕΑ ΩΟΗΟΕ ΖΩΙΩΙΗΡ ΩΜΥΡΥΡΟΜΡΟΜΟΣ are “seven of the auspicious ones”, probably names, and I’ve hypothesized before that these names relate to the seven “images” given immediately before, which can also be given to the seven planets themselves:

Direction Vowel Planet Image Name
East Α Moon Lynx ΧΕΧΑΜΨΙΜΜ
KHEKHAMPSIMM
North Ε Mercury Eagle ΧΑΓΓΑΛΑΣ
KHANGALAS
West Η Venus Snake ΕΗΙΟΥ
EĒIOU
South Ι Sun Phoenix ΙΗΕΑ
IĒEA
Down Ο Mars Life ΩΟΗΟΕ
ŌOĒOE
Center Υ Jupiter Power ΖΩΙΩΙΗΡ
ZŌIŌIĒR
Up Ω Saturn Necessity ΩΜΥΡΥΡΟΜΡΟΜΟΣ
ŌMURUROMROMOS

There’s no explanation, whether in the text itself or in footnotes by Betz, as to the origin of these names or images, and I’m associating them to the planets because it does seem appropriate to the context.  How might we reconcile these names and images?  Though I’ve already made an attempt to explain this before, now that I’m thinking about stars, there are four constellations that would match these images verbatim: Lynx, Aquila, Serpens, and Phoenix.  Of these four, Serpens and Aquila kinda match with their corresponding directions, though Lynx is way too far in the south, and Phoenix is way too far in the southern hemisphere to likely have been used as a constellation; Phoenix, after all, doesn’t show up in Ptolemy’s list of constellations, and its first official documentation in the West comes from the early 1600s.  There could be an association with a specific fixed star, but I’m unsure.

However, traditional accounts of the Phoenix also describe it as eagle-like, but neither eagles nor phoenixes played a role in Egyptian mythology.  If we broaden the semantic notion of “eagle” to mean raptor or predatory birds, then we’d also include hawks and falcons, which would lead us sensibly to the solar gods Horus and Ra.  Horus could reasonably be considered more northern in concept, as one of Horus’ forms is Harpocrates, which I associate with the north according to a variety of PGM selections and which is also generally considered to be the Sun’s renewing strength at the winter solstice.  Ra, being Ra, could be considered the more purely solar, and thus southern, of the pair, and has associations with the Bennu, a type of supernatural heron which was likely the inspiration for the original Phoenix myth in Hellenic cultures, and which was connected to Ra.  So…maybe this is less of a solar thing and more of a mythological one.  If we keep going down that road, then there’s also a mythological connection between the Lynx and the Snake in Egyptian belief: Mafdet, the goddess of the execution of judgment and protector against snakes, was sometimes depicted as a lynx, and the lynx fought existential evil embodied by Apophis, the eternal serpent.

Then we have the issue of the images of Life, Power, and Necessity, which seem more Neoplatonic or even gnostic and less Egyptian in essence to me.  I’m not going to explain those here, but I leave it for consideration how Life could be naturally associated with the Earth and those that live upon it, Power with the power of the gods who live in the sky—which is the association given to the “direction” of Jupiter—and Necessity (i.e. Anankē or Adrasteia) with the primordial, hypercosmic forces that determine the fate and role of all that exists below which is fitting for Saturn, the cosmos, and the notions of Pole Lords and the Ruler of the Pole from above.  A simplistic association, but at least it makes sense in a straightforward manner.

So, let’s assess what we have at this point.  We have:

  • Seven snake-faced virgins, associated with the stars of Ursa Maior, the “seven Fates of Heaven” who “wield golden wands” (PGM IV.662—674)
  • Seven bull-faced youths, associated with the stars of Ursa Minor, the “seven Pole Lords of Heaven” who “are in possession of seven golden diadems” (PGM IV.674—692)
  • Seven “images of God” (PGM XIII.880—887)

Each member of each of these groups of seven can be associated with the same order of planets:

Order Planet Fate
of Heaven
Pole Lord
of Heaven
Image of
God
1 Moon ΧΡΕΨΕΝΘΑΗΣ
KHREPSENTHAĒS
ΑΙΕΡΩΝΘΙ
AIERŌNTHI
ΧΕΧΑΜΨΙΜΜ
KHEKHAMPSIMM
2 Mercury ΜΕΝΕΣΧΕΗΣ
MENESKHEĒS
ΜΕΡΧΕΙΜΕΡΟΣ
MERKHEIMEROS
ΧΑΓΓΑΛΑΣ
KHANGALAS
3 Venus ΜΕΗΡΑΝ
MEĒRAN
ΑΧΡΙΧΙΟΥΡ
AKHRIKHIŪR
ΕΗΙΟΥ
EĒIOU
4 Sun ΑΡΑΡΜΑΧΗΣ
ARAMAKHĒS
ΜΕΣΑΡΓΙΛΤΩ
MESARGILTŌ
ΙΗΕΑ
IĒEA
5 Mars ΕΧΟΜΜΙΗ
EKHOMMIĒ
ΧΙΧΡΩΑΛΙΘΩ
KHIKHRŌALITHŌ
ΩΟΗΟΕ
ŌOĒOE
6 Jupiter ΤΙΧΝΟΝΔΑΗΣ
TIKHNONDAĒS
ΕΡΜΙΧΘΑΘΩΨ
ERMIKHTHATHŌPS
ΖΩΙΩΙΗΡ
ZŌIŌIĒR
7 Saturn ΕΡΟΥ ΡΟΜΒΡΙΗΣ
ERŪ ROMBRIĒS
ΕΟΡΑΣΙΧΗ
EORASIKHĒ
ΩΜΥΡΥΡΟΜΡΟΜΟΣ
ŌMURUROMROMOS

Great, okay.  Knowing that the associations of these names (and their corresponding images) are based on highly circumstantial evidence from both PGM IV and PGM XIII as well as other Mithraic and astrological/astronomical connections, let’s talk about what we might be able to ply these names and associations for.  First, let’s summarize some of our findings:

  • Roger Beck (“Interpreting the Ponza Zodiac: II”, Journal of Mithraic Studies, vol. 2, no. 2) says that the Fates of Heaven and the Pole Lords of Heaven are associated with not only moving and controlling the actions and motions of the cosmos, but are also associated with Fate, punishment, and reward.  Moreover, given their role as the stars of the Bear constellations, they are not just symbols of such power and control, but they are agents of it.  Because they have exactly parallel structures, they may also be considered to be seven pairs of deities, one snake-faced virgin and one bull-faced youth, each pair related to one of the seven planets.
  • As indicated from all those Bear charms from before, and based on some of the invocations of PGM XIII, the Pole Lords are not the highest power in the cosmos; they may rule the Pole, and their rulership of the Pole amongst themselves changes from day to day, but they rule the Pole in the name of and under the supervision of a true Ruler of the Pole, which is Aiōn, and in a more properly Mithraic context, Mithras himself, the god of revelation in the Mithras Liturgy.
  • There’s a subtle distinction being implied in PGM XIII that there are planetary rulers and then there are planetary Lords: the ruler of the day “in the Greek reckoning” is not the true Lord, which follows a different method of reckoning.  This recalls the notion of the Greek versus Phoenician method of navigating according to the northern stars: the Greeks originally used Ursa Maior as a general indicator of north, but this gave them varying and vague and wandering results.  The Phoenicians, however, used Ursa Minor and Polaris, which doesn’t wander or vary as much, and so obtained a truer and more steady path north.  What we’re arriving at is an understanding that one can approach the planets “down here” in a microcosmic way or “up there” in a macrocosmic way that is more true and real than the microcosmic.
  • By approaching the macrocosmic (or even hypercosmic) planetary Pole Lords “up there” through imitating their motions and calls upon the true highest, hypercosmiciest Divinity, we can break past the “images” and into a truly higher state of being in communion with the highest divinity, Aiōn, who has power over all fate and happenings.  This is done not through the usual planetary motions, but through the planetary harmonies and rulership of the celestial pole and the stars found there, Ursa Minor.
  • By identifying with the Sun, we start off as “a star wandering about with you and shining forth out of the deep” (PGM IV.574ff), but eventually we come to identify with Aiōn itself in a process not unlike that of the magician in the Headless Rite, where one begins addressing Akephalos but eventually becomes Akephalos.  By becoming the only one who can say the full name of Aiōn, a name “not even the gods can utter”, one takes on the full power of Aiōn, which can only be done through working through, assimilating, and being accepted by the various Pole Lords to become the true Ruler of the Pole.

Not too shabby a result, I suppose.

Now, I’m not in a position to carry out the entire Mithras Liturgy from PGM IV or the entirety of the Eighth and Tenth Hidden Books of Moses from PGM XIII; those are endeavors I’m not willing to commit myself to at the present time.  However, we’ve wheedled enough information out of them to apply some of the cosmological bits from them more generally in PGM-style practice.  Here’s what I would suggest based on my current understanding:

  • The names and images of God from PGM XIII can be used as microcosmic presences of seven planets; thus, an “esoteric” name for the Moon can be KHEKHAMPSIMM, which may be used in PGM rituals to refer to the Moon instead of just saying “the Moon” or Selēnē.
  • The Fates of Heaven from PGM IV are the macrocosmic presences of the seven planets, subservient to the Pole Lords but which are higher than the names and images of the microcosmic planets.  It is these stellar entities that determine what is permissible in the world we live in, and wield authority (their “golden wands”) over the world.  They determine order and structure of things.
  • The Pole Lords of Heaven from PGM IV are the hypercosmic presences of the seven planets, subservient only to Aiōn.  These entities permit powers and ideas to pass in and out of the world under them which they rule (their “golden diadems”) but whose orders the Fates execute in their name.

In other words, it is through the seven Pole Lords that blessings, curses, creations, and destructions are ordered in the world we live in.  Once they give the order, the corresponding Fate executes the will of her Pole Lord through the work of the seven images of God, not just the one specifically granted to the same ruling planet of that Fate and Pole Lord.  Even then, amongst all the planets, it is still the Moon that is most important; knowing that its image is the Lynx, associated with the divinity Madfet, it is the Moon that truly opens up the light and presence of all the Pole Lords and Fates of Heaven, because it is the Moon that is closest to the heart and presence of the constellations of the Pole.  We must always start with the Moon, and through the Moon honor the entirety of the Pole Stars; through the passage of and through the Moon, we can ascend through the other planetary heavens and achieve the blessing and acceptance of the other Fates and Pole Lords of Heaven until we reach the final pair, the last stars of Alkaid and Polaris.  Once we reach them, we have finished our approach to the Pole and then may surmount it, leaving behind this world under their power and entering into the presence and power of Aiōn.

I’m tempted to draw a parallel between the later notions of planets having spirits and intelligences, or to how all the different spirits of the planets in the Picatrix may be thought to have particular roles in the governance and execution of the powers and presence of a planet.  However, that’s not quite the same feeling I get from the Pole Lords and Fates of Heaven.  I’m content with considering the names and images of God from PGM XIII to be esoteric associations of the planets, and I look forward to applying them in rituals that call on them (e.g. “o blessed light of Selēnē shining forth from the East, you who are KHEKHAMPSIMM…”), but it’s calling upon the Pole Lords and Fates that I want to figure out.  Honoring the Pole Lord of the day makes sense, sure, but it also makes sense to honor the Pole Lord with its corresponding Fate, almost as a supercelestial King and Queen, or divinity with its consort.  It makes for a beautiful theurgic mystery, at any rate, and I’d like to take that into meditation and consideration in future works.

I suppose it can make sense to call on the Pole Lord and Fate as PGM-style “planetary intelligences” to guide and direct the powers of the planets “down here”, much as we’d call on Michael and Nakhiel to guide the activities of Sorath, but something about that nags at me.  Still, it’s probably not a bad idea to do just that, especially if what we’re trying to do is plug into a true source of Divinity and bring down immortal power from the immortal heavens.  If nothing else, we’ve figured out a little more about the Pole Lords and the Seven-Zoned of PGM XIII, and now I’m content.

Time to share my findings back on that Facebook post in the PGM group and see if it can’t start more conversation.

Derp derp.

So, earlier today as I was doing research on the planetary entities and angels, I got caught up in the sigils of the planetary spirits and intelligences.  Deceptively simple, they rely on a combination of kameas (magic squares) and gematria (Hebrew numerology).  I ended up spending two and a half hours trying to figure out how Agrippa derived them in Book II of his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, with general success except for a few things (namely, the sigils of the lunar entities, because, really, wtf).

Then I found out that, in Tyson’s edition of Agrippa, Appendix V describes in full detail the construction of the squares, the sigils, and where I was fucking it up, which was NOT MY FAULT, I SWEAR, THESE METHODS ARE NOT THAT TRANSPARENT.  This is called “occult” for a reason, son.

I’m just gonna call it “active meditation”, call it a day, and start on the several bottles of sangria I have in the fridge.