THE CROCODILE IN ARCANUM 22 - ITS PLUTONIC ASSOCIATIONS.

The Illustrated Egyptian Book of the Dead, Dr. Ramses Seleem

The appearance of the crocodile in Arcanum 22 is full confirmation of the Typhonic, and therefore Titanic qualities of Pluto.

Crocodile - Underworld.

The FISH OXYRINGUS, and the CROCODILE both live in Water, in this case the Philosophic Nile

Horus on the Crocodiles


TYPHONIC: THE CROCODILE

PLUTONIC: THE CROCODILE

            In Egypt the crocodile was called MAKA, son of SET and also, SEBEK. In his `The Gods of the Egyptians', Budge says:

"In Egypt the darkness of the soul was represented by the crocodile."

           

            In the Sacred Tarot, the crocodile appears in Arcanum 22, The Materialist, the PLUTONIC card. The "darkness of the soul" refered to by the Egyptians, suggests that the crocodile is suitably ruled by Pluto. In Alchemy, the First Sate of Blackness was termed the NIGREDO. Jung associated the Nigredo with the unconsciousness:

"In their efforts to fathom the secrets of matter the alchemists had unexpectedly blundered into the unconscious, and thus without at first being aware of it, they became the discoverers of a process which underlies Christian symbolism among others."

            In his `From Fetish to God', Budge writes:

"The crocodile seems to have been called sebek by the predynastic Egyptians, and the later Crocodile-god bore the same name. The dynastic Egyptians called the beast msuh...

NB: See Plutarch on Crocodile.

For a list of the Shrines of SEBEK, the Crocodile-god, see: Lanzone, Dizionario, pp.1033-6; Strabo xvii.38; Herodotus, ii,68; Diodorus, i.35; Aelian, X.21.

            The Crocodile is again shown in Arcanum 15, The Black Magician, ruled by Saturn, or Kronos, where it appears in the centre of the Typhonic frequency.

            C.C.Zain describing Arcanum 15:

"This is the Spirit of Evil, of Fatality and of Chaos. It is represented by a hippopotamus with the head of a crocodile, the feet of a goat and the characteristics of a man and a woman. A snake emerges from his body to show that he begets nothing but evil; his wings, like those of a bat, show him to be the Spirit of Darkness. "

Note: TYPHON was born after the Overthrow of the Titans.

The TYPHAON of Delphi was born to Hera without a father. (Kerenyi.)

            Delphyne, the female Dragon inhabited a cave at Delphi and in Cilicia and:

"...in both parts of the world was associated with a male dragon named Typhon. The only difference is that in Asia Minor the dragon's opponent was Zeus, whereas in Delphi he was Zeus's son Apollon; and that Zeus defeated the male dragon, whereas Apollon defeated the female."

                                    Kerenyi, Gods.

-------------------------------------------------

 

In Egypt the crocodile was called MAKA, son of SET and also, SEBEK. In his `The Gods of the Egyptians', Budge says:

"In Egypt the darkness of the soul was represented by the crocodile."

In the Sacred Tarot, the crocodile appears in Arcanum 22, The Materialist, the PLUTONIC card. The "darkness of the soul" referred to by the Egyptians, suggests that the crocodile is suitably ruled by Pluto. In Alchemy, the First State of Blackness was termed the NIGREDO. Jung associated the Nigredo with the unconsciousness:

"In their efforts to fathom the secrets of matter the alchemists had unexpectedly blundered into the unconscious, and thus without at first being aware of it, they became the discoverers of a process which underlies Christian symbolism among others."

In his `From Fetish to God', Budge writes:

"The crocodile seems to have been called sebek by the predynastic Egyptians, and the later Crocodile-god bore the same name. The dynastic Egyptians called the beast msuh...

NB: See Plutarch on Crocodile.

For a list of the Shrines of SEBEK, the Crocodile-god, see: Lanzone, Dizionario, pp.1033-6; Strabo xvii.38; Herodotus, ii,68; Diodorus, i.35; Aelian, X.21.

The Crocodile is again shown in Arcanum 15, The Black Magician, ruled by Saturn, or Kronos, where it appears in the centre of the Typhonic frequency.

-------------------------------------------------

            "This is the Spirit of Evil, of Fatality and of Chaos. It is represented by a hippopotamus with the head of a crocodile, the feet of a goat and the characteristics of a man and a woman. A snake emerges from his body to show that he begets nothing but evil; his wings, like those of a bat, show him to be the Spirit of Darkness.

----------------------------------------

            An image of Horus harpooning the crocodile, is none other than St.Michael and the Dragon, a beautiful image of the reconcilliation of Polarities - Light destroying Darkness. St.Michael is a Solar Deity, while the Dragon/Crocodile is a Typhonic creature, ruled by Pluto (Arcanum 22). Pluto and the Sun are polar opposites in the Solar System and as structured on the Tree of Life - Kether/Pluto above, Malkuth/The Sun at the Foot of the Tree of Life.

            There may be buried associations here, with the SUN/Malkuth - YESOD/Moon polarity of The Three Fathers of Orion. The crocodile, which lives in the water at night, has a certain Lunar quality, Olutonic in its association with sexuality and the gestatory functions of Yesod.

            Horus and Osiris are Sun Gods, Solar and Golden. It is a Solar(21) and Lunar(Polarity), that of Gold and Silver. Osiris is Orion, the Great Hunter.

----------------------------------------

See: African Arts, for crocodile changing to woman. Emblem 50 of 'Atalanta' evolves beyond this polarity - the dragon and the seductive maiden are in Union, Marriage. This Androgynous state is once again the UROBOROS.

----------------

The appearance of the crocodile in Arcanum 22 is full confirmation of the Typhonic, and therefore Titanic qualities of Pluto.

Crocodile - Underworld.

The FISH OXYRINGUS, and the CROCODILE both live in Water, in this case the Philosophic Nile


TYPHONIC: THE CROCODILE

PLUTONIC: THE CROCODILE

            In Egypt the crocodile was called MAKA, son of SET and also, SEBEK. In his `The Gods of the Egyptians', Budge says:

"In Egypt the darkness of the soul was represented by the crocodile."

           

            In the Sacred Tarot, the crocodile appears in Arcanum 22, The Materialist, the PLUTONIC card. The "darkness of the soul" refered to by the Egyptians, suggests that the crocodile is suitably ruled by Pluto. In Alchemy, the First Sate of Blackness was termed the NIGREDO. Jung associated the Nigredo with the unconsciousness:

"In their efforts to fathom the secrets of matter the alchemists had unexpectedly blundered into the unconscious, and thus without at first being aware of it, they became the discoverers of a process which underlies Christian symbolism among others."

            In his `From Fetish to God', Budge writes:

"The crocodile seems to have been called sebek by the predynastic Egyptians, and the later Crocodile-god bore the same name. The dynastic Egyptians called the beast msuh...

NB: See Plutarch on Crocodile.

For a list of the Shrines of SEBEK, the Crocodile-god, see: Lanzone, Dizionario, pp.1033-6; Strabo xvii.38; Herodotus, ii,68; Diodorus, i.35; Aelian, X.21.

            The Crocodile is again shown in Arcanum 15, The Black Magician, ruled by Saturn, or Kronos, where it appears in the centre of the Typhonic frequency.

            C.C.Zain describing Arcanum 15:

"This is the Spirit of Evil, of Fatality and of Chaos. It is represented by a hippopotamus with the head of a crocodile, the feet of a goat and the characteristics of a man and a woman. A snake emerges from his body to show that he begets nothing but evil; his wings, like those of a bat, show him to be the Spirit of Darkness. "

Note: TYPHON was born after the Overthrow of the Titans.

The TYPHAON of Delphi was born to Hera without a father. (Kerenyi.)

            Delphyne, the female Dragon inhabited a cave at Delphi and in Cilicia and:

"...in both parts of the world was associated with a male dragon named Typhon. The only difference is that in Asia Minor the dragon's opponent was Zeus, whereas in Delphi he was Zeus's son Apollon; and that Zeus defeated the male dragon, whereas Apollon defeated the female."

                                    Kerenyi, Gods.


In Egypt the crocodile was called MAKA, son of SET and also, SEBEK. In his `The Gods of the Egyptians', Budge says:

"In Egypt the darkness of the soul was represented by the crocodile."

In the Sacred Tarot, the crocodile appears in Arcanum 22, The Materialist, the PLUTONIC card. The "darkness of the soul" referred to by the Egyptians, suggests that the crocodile is suitably ruled by Pluto. In Alchemy, the First State of Blackness was termed the NIGREDO. Jung associated the Nigredo with the unconsciousness:

"In their efforts to fathom the secrets of matter the alchemists had unexpectedly blundered into the unconscious, and thus without at first being aware of it, they became the discoverers of a process which underlies Christian symbolism among others."

In his `From Fetish to God', Budge writes:

"The crocodile seems to have been called sebek by the predynastic Egyptians, and the later Crocodile-god bore the same name. The dynastic Egyptians called the beast msuh...

NB: See Plutarch on Crocodile.

For a list of the Shrines of SEBEK, the Crocodile-god, see: Lanzone, Dizionario, pp.1033-6; Strabo xvii.38; Herodotus, ii,68; Diodorus, i.35; Aelian, X.21.

The Crocodile is again shown in Arcanum 15, The Black Magician, ruled by Saturn, or Kronos, where it appears in the centre of the Typhonic frequency.

-------------------------------------------------

            "This is the Spirit of Evil, of Fatality and of Chaos. It is represented by a hippopotamus with the head of a crocodile, the feet of a goat and the characteristics of a man and a woman. A snake emerges from his body to show that he begets nothing but evil; his wings, like those of a bat, show him to be the Spirit of Darkness.


            An image of Horus harpooning the crocodile, is none other than St.Michael and the Dragon, a beautiful image of the reconcilliation of Polarities - Light destroying Darkness. St.Michael is a Solar Deity, while the Dragon/Crocodile is a Typhonic creature, ruled by Pluto (Arcanum 22). Pluto and the Sun are polar opposites in the Solar System and as structured on the Tree of Life - Kether/Pluto above, Malkuth/The Sun at the Foot of the Tree of Life.

            There may be buried associations here, with the SUN/Malkuth - YESOD/Moon polarity of The Three Fathers of Orion. The crocodile, which lives in the water at night, has a certain Lunar quality, Olutonic in its association with sexuality and the gestatory functions of Yesod.

            Horus and Osiris are Sun Gods, Solar and Golden. It is a Solar(21) and Lunar(Polarity), that of Gold and Silver. Osiris is Orion, the Great Hunter.


See: African Arts, for crocodile changing to woman. Emblem 50 of 'Atalanta' evolves beyond this polarity - the dragon and the seductive maiden are in Union, Marriage. This Androgynous state is once again the UROBOROS.

----------------

PLUTO. MAKARA, the Crocodile is truly Plutonic, and the Black in Horus harpooning the Crocodile. But Makara also has Atalanta Fugiens affinities with Saturn - who holds the sickle of Death - or the sickle of Rhea.

 The Illustrated Egyptian Book of the Dead, a New Translation with Commentary, Dr. Ramses Seleem, Sterling Publishing Co., New York,  2001.

 

p.37

 

     The Medu-Netru is sacred. It uses symbols, not letters. A symbol exists in nature and has a geometrical value, volume, sound, energy, and effect, while a letter is merely an intellectual line drawing. This language, therefore, connects the individual with reality and the laws governing it in a direct way. When you write the word "crocodile' in Egyptian, you actually draw the crocodile itself. This puts you in direct contact with the crocodile as a living creature — more so, because the crocodile's biological functions reflect the natural laws governing this creature. The female crocodile, for example, has bird-like qualities since it lays eggs, and its heart and kidneys are similar to those of birds, but its lungs are those of a mammal. The crocodile, therefore, reflects duality in nature, and so the ancient Egyptian temples dedicated to the crocodile principle had two sanctuaries, as in the temple of Kom Ombo,

 

     The crocodile is also like a fish. In that it spends the night in water, but like a mammal since it spends the day on land. This implies that the crocodile is a solar animal  and is connected with the sun, emerging from the water when the sun rises on the horizon and disappearing into the water when the sun sets.

 

     The female crocodile carries its eggs for sixty days and broods on them for sixty days. It has sixty vertebrae and sixty teeth, and lives for sixty years. Number sixty is the basic unit in astronomy and the measurement of time, since the minute is sixty seconds and the hour is sixty minutes. The crocodile, therefore, reflects the principle of time, and in the Egyptian word Sebek, meaning crocodile, the syllable, Seb, means time.

 

p.38

 

The crocodile also expresses our understanding of earthly time as action through duality. It possesses strong eyesight, which expresses the power of initiative, and it sees only forward and sideways, but backward. emphasising the idea of time, since it is only possible for time to travel forward.

 

     Thus it was that Tehuhy, the founder of all human knowledge, employed natural symbols and images to represent the elementary powers, and express the eclypal and archetypal forms of existence. We can gain a similar insight into this natural world by reading Aesop's Fables or the Conference of the Birds, where animals are used as a means of expressing actions that have no material carriers. This quality is missing from our modern, conventional languages, which use cursive writing.

 

     The following are some examples of the vast array of symbols that are used within the Egyptian language and its complex mythology:

 

The snake, Epep. In the Egyptian mythology originally an enormous water reptile.

 

     The water cow represents earth and the earthly path as depicted in the cow couch in Egyptian mythology.

 

The twins Shu (dry) and Tefnut (Imoisiure) represented as a lion and lioness,

 

The virgin woman was expressed by a female vulture since it was believed that the female vulture became pregnant merely by exposing herself to the wind.

 

The provider was represented by a goose.

 

The leader or king was represenled by a honey bee. The word for a honey bee was Bt, which was also the

 

p. 97

 

In this illustration, the human psyche is represented by a pool of water, with a baboon at each  corner representing the knowledge of the fire of life.

 

 

can only be acknowledged in truth, when the person steps beyond the realm of death into the Dwat (netherworld).

 

The text calls the spirits of light and justice Thafy. The root of this word implies purity and clarity and, even in the Semitic language, the roots of this word are still the same. These spirits of  purification and clarity were caused by Heru, the son of Oser,at the beginning of time. They exist in the light of the Sun, the air, and the moisture, and also within the human being in different forms.

 

   Finally Hunefer mentions that he is like the cat, which is constantly struggling to achieve joy and happiness. The cat is the symbol of self-control, since it does not resist motion, and therefore does not get hurt. It achieves its victory in the dreamland more than in awakening. When you look at a cat, it appears to be almost asleep for much of the time, but in its sleep, it is actually more awake. If you try to attack a cat while it sleeps, you will be surprised by its response and reflexes, which match the speed of light.