The Hexagram of Magick

by Thelemic Golden Dawn

THE HEXAGRAM OF MAGICK

By David Cherubim (Frater Aurora Aureae)

Copyright © 1992 e.v.

The Order of the Thelemic Golden Dawn.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

The Hexagram represents the formula and accomplishment of the Great Work in both the material and spiritual worlds. It is composed of the symbols for Fire and Water. It is synonymous with the symbol of the Rose and Cross, the Ankh (Crux Ansata), the Sun and Moon Conjoined, and the Cross and Circle. It represents the union of the two opposites in Nature, male and female, light and darkness, activity and passivity, and all other opposites that constitute creation.

The Hexagram is a geometrical symbol of the Sun. The Sun is an external symbol of the One Reality or the One Self that is manifest in all things. One of the most significant of all realizations for the Adept is that s/he is the Sun made manifest in the flesh, an incarnation of the Lord of the Solar System. The Hexagram is the Sign of such an Adept.

From one point of view, the upright triangle of the Hexagram represents the Holy Guardian Angel, our inner Self, and the inverted triangle represents WoMan, our human self. These two triangles united represent what is called in Magick "the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel." The Holy Guardian Angel is the "star" of every man and every woman, that is, their inner celestial nature as opposed to their purely human self. To unite one's human consciousness with that Angel is to awaken the Solar Consciousness and to realize oneself in the Sun of Light and Life.

From another point of view the upright triangle represents WoMan ascending into Godhead through the power of Aspiration, and the inverted triangle represents God descending into WoMan through the power of Inspiration. These two triangles interlaced indicate the completion of the Great Work; they represent a perfect balance of the human and divine Will, a complete synthesis and harmony of all that is terrestrial and celestial.

The Hexagram is also a geometrical symbol of Lapis Philosophorum, the Stone of the Philosophers, which is the product of Sol and Luna and/or Fire and Water. It is therefore a symbol of what is termed in Magick, "the Mystery of Mysteries" and "the Secret of Secrets." It is said that by the application of this Great Secret the Alchemist can transmute all base metals into the perfect material gold of the Sun, which is the first and final product of the mineral kingdom. Gold is the perfect metal of all metals, the most exalted form of the mineral kingdom. It is a material symbol of a spiritual reality that is also symbolized in Heaven by the Great Sun of Light. All other metals are said to be imperfections of gold, and they are striving in Nature to become the perfect gold. Thus the Hexagram represents that which brings Nature to perfection.

In the Hexagram are not only contained the mysteries of Fire and Water, but also of Air and Earth. Notice that when you combine the symbols for Fire and Water to produce the grand symbol of the Hexagram, you also make the symbols for Air and Earth, which are the same as the symbols for Fire and Water but with a cross bar or line in each triangle which is formed in the Hexagram.

Each line of the Hexagram or Hexalpha indicates the number 111, since a single line of the Hexagram contains three equal parts, each of which may be represented by the number 1, so that the number 111 can symbolize every line. There are six lines in all, so that 111 x 6 = 666, the Most Holy Number of the Sun. Each angle of the Hexagram is 60 degrees. 60 is the number of the Hebrew letter Samekh, which is the letter of the Holy Guardian Angel. Six angles of 60 degrees each equal 360 degrees, and 360 is the number of the Hebrew letter Shin spelled in full. Shin is the letter of the Spirit of the Sun and it is esoterically composed of three Hebrew Vavs. Vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, so that three Vavs indicate the number 666. 666 is the number of Sorath (SVRTh), the Spirit of the Sun. It is also the number of Shemesh Yahweh (ShMSh IHVH), the Sun of Tetragrammaton.

Love is the law, love under will.