The Universe : ?

Take no notice of me, I was just rambling on.
I was told to.

And Frank, if you want to get to know what the card means to you, I would suggest guided meditation.
Go in there and meet her,
Ask her what she's doing and what it's all about.

Lillie said:

For the woman who dances with the snake, well, the snail shell effect connects to 'the oyster' The yoni.

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Ahh, well spotted Lillie. I never thought of the goddess Nuit's strange hair as representing an oyster shell. It's an obvious reference to binah.
The snake in the Universe card might relate to the second part of the 26th verse of chapter 2 of The Book of the Law.

2:26...If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.

The Universe card and Earth are closely related after all.

Lillie said:

The fish hook to tzaddi, the emperor.

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You think the strange black crescent is a fish hook then ? That's an interesting possiblity.

Have to agree with you - it looks like a hook to me. I couldn't quite understand why DuQuette seemed confused by this symbol, seemingly insisting that it was a sickle when the picture is quite clearly a hook.

Lillie said:

It is interesting however that on the Univers the woman seems to be blocking herself from the eye with the snake.

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I've never quite looked at it that way but you're completely right. Interesting indeed.

2 eyes

After reading this comment from Lilli

It is interesting however that on the Universe the woman seems to be blocking herself from the eye with the snake.

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I'm wondering if we aren't overlooking the fact that there are 2 eyes in this card. The smaller one at the top right and the larger eye which is the entire design itself (turn the card sideways). If the Lion and the Man are at the bottom of your card, you will see the the woman and snake together combine to form the symbol for infinity.

Which clears up Frank's question about the mobius strip, I think and which wasn't addressed in Lilli's excellent discussion. It also relates to the two versions of the eye. I believe the point is that we see the symbols for infinity and the eye duplicated in two variations in order to convey the idea of iteration. Not only is the dance never ending, as Lilli pointed out, but with each cycle something is added so that the dance is both the same and different at the same time. This is also the notion of evolution as taught by qabalists such as Dion Fortune.

Just my usual 2 cents.

spiral said:

Have to agree with you - it looks like a hook to me. I couldn't quite understand why DuQuette seemed confused by this symbol, seemingly insisting that it was a sickle when the picture is quite clearly a hook.

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Ok, so we think it's a hook. But what is it supposed to symbolise ? It's black colour might relate to Binah.
What is on the point of the hook ? A black akashic egg ?

1:60... My colour is black to the blind, but the blue and gold are seen of the seeing.

Hmmmm.... The snake seems to be dead or at least badly sleepy. It is the End of the World if the Snake of Change is dead. Only the dancer can create a illusion of a movement. Hmmmm.... is she (/he) a androgyne or my eyes cheats...

This is a great thread but I haven’t had time to partake .

Quoting Aeon 418
“The snake in the Universe card might relate to the second part of the 26th verse of chapter 2 of The Book of the Law.

2:26...If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.

The Universe card and Earth are closely related after all.”

This is exactly one of my takes on it and allows me to give a totally different source other than BoT, AC or others (here you go Frank, ‘another aspect of interpretation’).

The diamond pattern on the snake identifies it to me (locally) as a diamond python or rainbow serpent, the creator ‘spirit’. Originaly there were two aspects (I see as spirit active and spirit passive) A sky snake Wallenganda (the milky way) and an earth snake Ungud lying on the flat featureless plane of the earth.

The story shouldn’t be hard to find if you want to read all of it so I wont go too fully into it. But Wallenganda lowers her head from the sky and spits water down on Ungud who takes it into the earth and forms the Great Artesian Basin (central Australia) and Uluru (‘Ayer’s Rock’). He sleeps and dreams coiled up in the water (the kundalini coiled at the base chakra?) In the dream Ungud multiplies himself into numerous rainbow serpents who go forth, their writhing and crawling movements determine the created shape of the environment and the world.

The Universe card is (in one aspect) about creating a new universe for yourself and this isnt done by forcing the snake into a position nor the reverse, it’s the equal dance of the snake handler, being able to hold and direct the snake without forcing it (and diamond pythons are the easiest to catch and handle … they will even go to sleep inside your shirt where it’s nice and warm!). That’s what I see the woman doing with the snake, it’s a form of dance.

I really like the idea and relationships with the woman on card and her identity as the daughter of Babalon the Beautiful, but I am getting back to same aspects of interpretation.

Lily’s writings on sex reminded me … the woman on card is also both man and woman and they are dealing with the ‘kundalini’ or creative sexual fire. Ah … its such a nice relaxed waltz (with its wild moments) since I have matured slightly, the madness of youth and the uncontrolled writhing of the snake … can get one into a spot of bother!

I’m not sure sex nowdays is as ‘matter of fact’ as is often made out. Going thru adolescence during the conciousness and sexual revolutions of the 70’s make a lot of the younger ones of today (practicing sex magicians included!) look pretty staid, uptight and repressed

Don’t worry Lily I am sure there are lots of other naughty things you can still get up to

As has already been mentioned, the so-called sickle is really a fishhook. According to Aiwass, Tzaddi (fishhook) is not The Star, and according to Crowley, Tzaddi isn't The Universe either, but the Emperor. But we clearly have a fishhook as part of The Universe symbolism. Interestingly, the Hebrew, "tsadah" means to hunt, or lie in wait, implying night, and the moon (black crescent?) So what does all this mean? I'm not really sure, but it's intriguing to ponder.

-fof

I always thought she was holding a black (waning) crescent Moon.