ORION - The Hunter and the Fool

ThanatEros

Greetings everyone, how are you?


As a new member of this forum, here's some information about myself:
I'm a portuguese student of Occultism since 1993, and I like to study several subjects concerning this fascinating world of the Occult and Religious (be it the Tarot, Ceremonial Magick, Thelema, Qabalah, Masonry, and several religions, cults and Orders). I must also say that in these last times I've been totally obsessed with the Tarot, particularly with the Zeroth Arcanum called "The Fool" (which I believe is a symbol for OURSELVES and our path through Life).

I have recently discovered some incredible connections between the Fool (Le MAT) and ORION the Celestial Hunter (I've already read some of Kwaw's brilliant messages on this subject :)), and if I may, I would like to speak a bit about this connection. Obviously, any comments, suggestions and/or corrections will be most appreciated! :)

First, we must see that the Fool is an eternal wanderer, a Mad Man who has rejected all that the society has to offer him and walks his own (unknown and endless) Path. In this way we can in fact see him as CAIN, the Tiller of the Earth and the Wanderer (remember that NOD, like the land of "Nod" to which he went after killing Abel and being marked by God, means "wandering"). And this is extremely interesting since Cain himself has been constantly compared to a Fool and the well known Green Man. As some of you may already know, the Green Man was a fertility god (usually represented only by his Head, which always had leafs coming out of his mouth, ears, nose, etc) and was also connected to the famous "Saturnalicius Princeps", the person that during the Roman Saturnalia symbolized Saturn, the Lord of Misrule and the Black God of the harvest, of life and death. Actually the Saturnalia was a means to celebrate the death of the old year and the birth of the new, and the return to the primeval Chaos/Subversion/Laughter that existed before the Creation, just like the Fool's number is Zero, the qabalistic AIN or Nothing before the One (Bereshith). This Festival of Chaos was again celebrated on the Carnival (is this the way you call it in english?), and on April 1st, which is called "April Fool's Day". According to a Jewish legend, Cain was born on the first Monday of April, which is quite near the date of the April Fool! It should also be interesting to note that according to the Hebrew Qabalah, the name QYN (Qayin, "Cain") sums 160, which is the value of a'aTz (Etz, "Tree").

And how can we compare the Fool to the Hunter (Orion) *and* to Cain?

Actually the answer to this is very simple, since the constellation Orion has always been compared to NIMROD, an ancient King and a powerful city builder, who "was a powerful hunter in the sight of the LORD" according to the Bible (Genesis 10:8-12). Nimrod himself was also compared to the sumerian Hunter God called Ninurta, Ninib and Adar, represented in the sumerian astrology by the planet Saturn. Nimrod-Ninurta, who was the roman Saturn and the greek Kronos (who was considered, by the way, to be the King and Lord of the Earth in that ancient "Golden Age") is also considered to be very similar to Herne the Hunter of brittish folklore, and to the celtic Lord of the Dead, the Leader of the Wild Hunt called Gwynn ap Nudd, who was followed by his pack of white hounds. And now we're starting to have SOMETHING here! Remember when I said that the Fool was intimately connected to the Lord of Misrule, who was Saturn and Cain? And now we know (you can confirm this on several webpages) that Cain himself was connected to Saturn (Nimrod - Ninurta) and the Lord of the Hunt with his dogs! Even the Fool of the Tarot has a Dog near him! I strongly believe that this is NOT a coincidence, and I'll leave some images for you (about the Fool - Orion connection) to meditate upon. I think you'll like it ;)


The Constellation ORION and its main stars:
ORION.jpg


Orion the Hunter and his Dog, Canis Major: (I've used Stellarium 0.7.1 for this image and the next)
Orion_Dog_art.jpg


Same image, but just the stars:
Orion_Dog_stars.jpg


The Fool, "Le MAT", Marseilles Tarot:
Le_Mat.jpg


The Orion-Fool connection (amazing!):
ORION_fool_english.jpg


By the way, as Kwaw has already explained elsewhere, the hebrew word for Orion, Kesil (KSYL), means Fool :)


My best regards to All ;)
ThanatEros
 

jmd

Welcome to Aeclectic, ThanatEros (very close connection between these two words indeed, too!!!).

quick moderating note: I'll move this thread to the Marseille (& other early decks Forum - as it seems to more naturally 'belong' there.

Your bringing to such vivid attention the stellar symbolic correlation between Orion and the Fool brings to mind the words of Julie Cuccia-Watts (published as part of an interview):

'One day while reading emails on line someone was describing the Fool with his little white dog at his heel. The words transformed in my mind and I suddenly saw the Fool as Orion and the little white dog as the 'dog' star Sirius. This changed my vision of the Fool and deepened my meaning of the card. You see Orion in Egyptian mythology is associated with Osiris and his disappearance every summer. Along with the 'dog' star Sirius, it signals the Nile flood and the beginning of the Egyptian calendar/year, just as the Fool eventually will disappear off the cliff in the Fool card.'​

I was also trying to recall who it was that has attempted to do a similar correlation between various asterisms and cards... but the connection simply escapes me at the moment.
 

kwaw

ThanatEros said:
Even the Fool of the Tarot has a Dog near him! I strongly believe that this is NOT a coincidence, and I'll leave some images for you (about the Fool - Orion connection) to meditate upon. I think you'll like it ;)


The Constellation ORION and its main stars:
ORION.jpg


Orion the Hunter and his Dog, Canis Major: (I've used Stellarium 0.7.1 for this image and the next)
Orion_Dog_art.jpg


Same image, but just the stars:
Orion_Dog_stars.jpg


The Fool, "Le MAT", Marseilles Tarot:
Le_Mat.jpg


The Orion-Fool connection (amazing!):
ORION_fool_english.jpg


By the way, as Kwaw has already explained elsewhere, the hebrew word for Orion, Kesil (KSYL), means Fool :)


My best regards to All ;)
ThanatEros

Hi ThanatEros

Welcome aboard.! I agree, no coincidence. Orion is also called the abode of Osiris in Egyptian star lore. Sumerians with Ninurta and Ea. See image from and Sumerian Royal Cylinder seal here:

http://journals.aol.co.uk/kwaw93/MyDovemysimpleone/entries/709

Kwaw
 

kwaw

kwaw said:
Hi ThanatEros

Welcome aboard.! I agree, no coincidence. Orion is also called the abode of Osiris in Egyptian star lore. Sumerians with Ninurta and Ea. See image from and Sumerian Royal Cylinder seal here:

http://journals.aol.co.uk/kwaw93/MyDovemysimpleone/

Kwaw

I have now added the full image [of which the first is an enlargement], click on arrow '2' to take you to full image. A brief interpretation of the cycle is at bottom of entry. Though not particularly related to the entry I have included a third image of Ninurta enthroned, which is of interest in particular because of the inclusion of a double headed eagle.

Kwaw
Fate is a dog, walking always behind a man and well able to bite. It clings like dirty rags saying: "Who is my man? Let him know it." Ancient Sumerian proverb.
 

kwaw

"Orion is one of the oldest known constellations. The bands of Orion refer to the three apparently equally spaced stars that form the belt of Orion, an easily identifiable locational aid, followed North they lead the eye to Aldebaran, South to Sirius, two bright stars of calendrical and navigational importance as directional and seasonal markers. Above to the right is the constellation of Taurus, to the left, Gemini.

The constellation was thought of as a cosmic giant "His arms extended measure half the skies:His stride no less." Another name for his belt [and for the central star in particular] was 'the string of pearls'. Perhaps we may see reference to this in the giant stature and string of balls in the pseudo “CHARLES VI” OR “GRINGONNEUR” deck?

Kesil has also the meaning of arrogance, and in relation to Orion has particular relevance in relation to these three stars as they are identified in Hebrew tradition with Nimrod, and the band of stars represent the bonds with which God bound him to heaven for his arrogance. Perhaps there is some unknown relevance to the seat of the TdM fools pants being torn, revealing his buttocks, as with the Nimrod figure of the Sola Busca?"

In Egyptian star lore Orion is the abode of the soul of mummified Osiris, God of the underworld and of the dead. Among his symbols were two red feathers worn in his white atef crown, to which we might see a reference in the red feather in the hat of the Waite/Smith fool card?

notes, links, references in my journal entry here:
http://journals.aol.co.uk/kwaw93/MyDovemysimpleone/entries/709

Kwaw
 

lucifall

Does Aldebaran also belong in this picture?

kwaw said:
Hi ThanatEros

Welcome aboard.! I agree, no coincidence. Orion is also called the abode of Osiris in Egyptian star lore. Sumerians with Ninurta and Ea. See image from and Sumerian Royal Cylinder seal here:

http://journals.aol.co.uk/kwaw93/MyDovemysimpleone/entries/709

Kwaw

I think we can add Aldebaran, The Brightest star of the constellation of Taurus. (the eye of the Bull) also in this picture. Maybe there is already another thread of this, but I could not find this related to this subject.

http://www.galacticroundtable.com/forum/topics/from-the-eye-of-the-aldebaran

When we look at the "star"picture of Osiris, on the webpage mentioned above, we see Osiris carrying a star in his left hand. (in the Orion mystery of Adrian Gilbert and Robert Bauval, the writhers propose this star is Aldebaran)
Further we see that Osiris is walking to the left(West). (As the Waite Fool)

On this webpage 9 different names are mentioned for Aldebaran:
1.The Eye of Illumination
2.The Eye of Revelation
3.The Bull’s Eye
4.The Eye of God Aleph name given by Hebrews to Aldebaran
5.Omma Boos Greek
6.Oculus Tauri Latin
7.Gis Da Akkadian
8.The Eye of Boeddha
9.Rohini Red Cow Red Deer In Vedic Indian Starknowledge

**Note 4!!!

Aldebaran symbolizes the Hebrew aleph (A or 1) (*Rakefet Dictionary part of description of Aldebaran)


In "Tarot A Key to the Wisdom of All ages" of P F Case, following text is mentioned, in the chapter of The Fool:

"the hebrew Alphabeth is invented during the astronomical period called the Taurean age." (Taurus-Ox-Aleph)

Mr Case modified the Fool of Waite, with the keys used by the Builders of the Adytum, draw by Jessie Burnes Parke, under his supervision.

In context with Aldebaran, One of the modifications on the Fool:
The lock of the wallet is in the form of an Eye , which stands for the all-seeying Eye of Freemasonary as Mr Case states.
An Eye; The Bull's Eye; The Eye of God ALEPH.

The One Eye will be accompanied by a second Eye in the near future...
On 21 december 2012!
Two Eyes will appear on heaven (as the two staffsof the heavenly dancing andrgyn??)
In the Evening of the wintersolstice 21 december 20123 Jupiter will come close Aldebaran from our line of sight. It will look like the Bull has Two eyes, One WHITE and One RED.
 

GRAFLIX1

THE FOOL/ORION - who moved the "center"

This that follows may assist in expanding the awareness toward the Fool's journey and I would greatly appreciate if anyone could expand upon this line of thought.
------

In noticing the fool, within the Fergus Hall deck, discarding numerous stones before him, of which actually forms the constellation of the Pleiades, lead me to ponder further that in Hebrew, the formation of this constellation, coincides with the letter "TAV" with a further link found in Geneses 9:13 stating: "I have set my bow in the clouds..."

This bow, in the form of "U" produces an ARK. (in the "n" position, it produces the familiar rainbow).

Oddly enough, this Tav, rendered in Hebrew, has a strikingly similar ideograph, to that of a whale - enter Jonah's whale.

This Ark, is a vessel to traverse the netherworld, and is represented in various ways such as, the Phoenix's Ban Ban, Moses' wicker basket (upon the Nile) and of cause, Jonah's whale.

I considered the Magician as furbishing the Fool with the necessary diagram and tools, in which to build this Ark (or navigate) and thought further, this Ark is non-other than the High Priestess, her self. She indicates mastery/ownership over this "ark" (womb) as clearly depicted within the Waite deck. She is seated before the "duat" (veiled behind the pillars of Jachin and Boas) which I further consider as being represented as the checkered firmament, of which the Empress resides upon.

This is the timeless story of Osiris' decent into the duat, and although all the pieces have not fallen into place, as yet, I thought someone out there may know a little more.

Don't sink the concept