Self-Emanating Realities & the Saturnian Reality Principle
By Gelareh Khoie
What I find fascinating in Hermetic and Gnostic Genesis myths are the formative encounters with limitation (and/or malevolent and inherently constricting daimons) that occur for the incarnating soul. In the myth of Sophia, for example, this limit is called Horos, meaning boundary. We can recognize the prefix from the well-known word “horoscope”—an astrological vision of a soul that has come under the dominion of a specifically limiting boundary.
Last week during the Q&A, Aaron Cheak mentioned that the soul meets Saturn on the way down into material embodiment, and Saturn also forms the outermost boundary that the soul must pass through on its way out of material embodiment. Saturn on the way in, Saturn on the way out—either way, there is no escaping that guy.
This may be why the sense of internally experienced pressure can feel so unrelenting sometimes, and given the current astrological climate (for future reference, circa the entire month of April 2024), it would seem that most of us by now have a good idea of what it feels like when waves of pressure wash over us.
What seems significant about the two subjects this quarter is the way that each of them configures relevant dynamics in terms of specific spheres of experience. In NDEs, for example, the experiencer encounters particular dimensions such as the green field, the tunnel of light, the numinous other-worldly beings, the cities of light, etc. In some cases, the experiencer enters into demonic spheres where ominous sounds and other phenomena signal the presence of malevolent beings and the like. Each of these experiences takes place on its own and signifies a certain type of inwardly felt mood or interpretation by the experiencer. The spheres of experience do not take place simultaneously but follow one upon the other. Perhaps it can be said that an overall impression is left with which the experiencer engages upon returning to embodied life. But as far as I can tell so far, the spheres of experience are separate and endowed with unique qualities while also co-creative of an overarching theme recognized as such only after deeper reflection.
During our studies in alchemy so far, a similar dynamic is unfolding where the various dimensions of experience are portrayed as inter-nested circles that seem to exert an influence upon one another. Or rather, the centermost (or sometimes outermost) circle emanates its influence upon the next sphere, the sphere after that emanates an influential (and formative) gravity upon the next circle, and so on until the goal of the spherical design is met. What I mean here is that the spheres of experience are not static but seem to be goal-oriented, or teleological. There is a creative element at work where the energetic exigencies of a given sphere have a purposive design in mind concerning the next sphere: one force intends to influence the energetics of the next one in a specific direction for a specific purpose.
Dr. Cheak brought our attention to a quote from The Emerald Tablet: “The genesis of the macrocosm forms the basis of the (great) work” and this statement seems to confirm the goal-oriented attributes of the various circles of emanating powers—generation is implied. But while the Hermetic statement may seem cryptic, it very clearly points to daily experience. After all, consciousness is the macrocosm and it is generated by these influential interactions between various spheres of enormous power at work in the psyche which Jung called archetypes. One of the key features of an archetype is its gravitational pull. Archetypes have a world-creating power that beguiles consciousness into being in the same way that universal gravity can be said to beguile a supernova into being. In this way, one sphere of power influences the next so that a larger whole begins to take shape. This is how entire worlds are created both within and without, which explains the famous Hermetic adage “as above, so below.”
For me, the question becomes: in which direction is this or that sphere of power pushing or pulling, and according to whose directives? This is where astrology and archetypal self-analysis merge. Because more and more it seems that the spheres of power engaged in co-creative dances are not restricted to “my” psyche or yours, but rather that enormous transpersonal cosmic powers are occupied in divine cosmogenesis while, as necessarily limited mortal beings, we can glean (and hold) only so much of it. Perhaps this is why we tend to misunderstand things so comprehensively and why we must make such frequent use of the word “mysterious.”
Comprehending the mysteries and harmonizing ourselves with orders of power beyond our ken is nevertheless demanded by the inner necessities of life and I believe this is ultimately what Saturn represents. The reality principle that Saturn signifies is that which cannot be evaded. To me, this deeper process of world-creation unfolding on a cosmic scale trans-personally, and the same dynamic of reality-creation unfolding inwardly through the creative mechanism of thought-spheres acting on imagination-spheres—together they represent the truth of Saturn. As members of the cosmogonic order, we create worlds, the worlds we create are real, and they have real consequences, and this essential truth cannot be evaded.
