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p. 57
THE BEMBINE TABLE OF ISIS.
Concerning the theurgic or
magic sense in which the Egyptian priests exhibited in the Bembine Table of
Isis the philosophy of sacrifice, rites, and ceremonies by a system of occult
symbols, Athanasius Kircher writes:
"The early priests believed
that a great spiritual power was invoked by correct and unabridged sacrificial
ceremonies. If one feature were lacking, the whole was vitiated, says
Iamblichus. Hence they were most careful in all details, for they considered
it absolutely essential for the entire chain of logical connections to be
exactly according to ritual. Certainly for no other reason did they prepare
and prescribe for future use the manuals, as it were, for conducting the
rites. They learned, too, what the first hieromancers--possessed, as it were,
by a divine fury--devised as a system of symbolism for exhibiting their
mysteries. These they placed in this Tablet of Isis, before the eyes of those
admitted to the sanctum sanctorum in order to teach the nature of the Gods and
the prescribed forms of sacrifice. Since each of the orders of Gods had its
own peculiar symbols, gestures, costumes, and ornaments, they thought it
necessary to observe these in the whole apparatus of worship, as nothing was
more efficacious in drawing the benign attention of the deities and genii. * *
* Thus their temples, remote from the usual haunts of men, contained
representations of nearly every form in nature. First, in the pavement, they
symbolized the physical economy of the world, using minerals, stones and other
things suitable for ornaments, including little streams of water. The walls
showed the starry world, and the done the world of genii. In the center was
the altar, to suggest the emanations of the Supreme Mind from its center. Thus
the entire interior constituted a picture of the Universe of Worlds. The
priests in making sacrifices wore raiment adorned with figures similar to
those attributed to the Gods. Their bodies were partially bare like those of
the deities, and they themselves were divested of all material cares and
practices the strictest chastity. * * * Their heads were veiled to indicate
their charge of earthly things. Their heads and bodies were shaved, for they
regarded hair as a useless excrescence. Upon the head they bore the same
insignia as those attributed to the Gods. Thus arrayed, they regarded
themselves to be transformed into that intelligence with which they constantly
desired to be identified. For example, in order to call down to the world the
soul and spirit of the Universe, they stood before the image shown in the
center of our Tablet, wearing the same symbols as that figure and its
attendants, and offered sacrifices. By these and the accompanying singing of
hymns they believed that they infallibly drew the God's attention to their
prayer. And so they did in regard to other regions of the Tablet, believing of
necessity the proper ritual properly carried out would evoke the deity
desired. That this was the origin of the science of oracles is apparent. As a
touched chord produces a harmony of sound, likewise the adjoining chords
respond though not touched. Similarly the idea they expressed by their
concurrent acts while adoring the God came into accord with basic Idea and, by
an intellectual union, it was returned to them deiformed, and they thus
obtained the Idea of Ideas. Hence there sprang up in their souls, they
thought, the gift of prophecy and divination, and they believed they could
foretell future events, impending evils, etc. For as in the Supreme Mind
everything is simultaneous and spaceless, the future is therefore present in
that Mind; and they thought that while the human mind was absorbed in the
Supreme by contemplation, by that union they were enabled to know all the
future. Nearly all that is represented in our Tablet consists of amulets
which, by analogy above described, would inspire them, under the described
conditions, with the virtues of the Supreme Power and enable them to receive
good and avert evil. They also believed they could in this magical manner
effect cures of diseases; that genii could be induced to appear to them during
sleep and cure or teach them to cure the sick. In this belief they consulted
the Gods about all sort of doubts and difficulties, while adorned with the
simulacra of the mystic rite and intently contemplating the Divine Ideas; and
while so enraptured they believed the God by some sign, nod or gesture
communicated with them, whether asleep or awake, concerning the truth or
falsity of the matter in point." (See dipus Ægyptiacus.)
The Bembine
Table of Isis
A MANUSCRIPT by Thomas Taylor
contains the following remarkable paragraph:
"Plato was initiated into the
'Greater Mysteries' at the age of 49. The initiation took place in one of the
subterranean halls of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. The ISIAC TABLE formed the
altar, before which the Divine Plato stood and received that which was always
his, but which the ceremony of the Mysteries enkindled and brought from its
dormant state. With this ascent, after three days in the Great Hall, he was
received by the Hierophant of the Pyramid (the Hierophant was seen only by
those who had passed the three days, the three degrees, the three dimensions)
and given verbally the Highest Esoteric Teachings, each accompanied with Its
appropriate Symbol. After a further three months' sojourn in the halls of the
Pyramid, the Initiate Plato was sent out into the world to do the work of the
Great Order, as Pythagoras and Orpheus had been before him."
Before the sacking of Rome in
1527 there is no historical mention of the Mensa Isiaca, (Tablet of
Isis). At that time the Tablet came into the possession of a certain locksmith
or ironworker, who sold it at an exorbitant price to Cardinal Bembo, a
celebrated antiquary, historiographer of the Republic of Venice, and
afterwards librarian of St. Mark's. After his death in 1547 the Isiac Tablet
was acquired by the House of Mantua, in whose museum it remained until 1630,
when troops of Ferdinand II captured the city of Mantua. Several early writers
on the subject have assumed that the Tablet was demolished by the ignorant
soldiery for the silver it contained. The assumption, however, was erroneous.
The Tablet fell into the hands of Cardinal Pava, who presented it to the Duke
of Savoy, who in turn presented it to the King of Sardinia. When the French
conquered Italy in 1797 the Tablet was carried to Paris. In 1809, Alexandre
Lenoir, writing of the Mensa Isiaca, said it was on exhibition at the
Bibliothèque Nationale. Upon the establishment of peace between the two
countries it was returned to Italy. In his Guide to Northern Italy, Karl
Baedeker describes the Mensa Isiaca as being in the center of Gallery 2
in the Museum of Antiquities at Turin.
A faithful reproduction of the
original Tablet was made in 1559 by the celebrated Æneas Vicus of Parma, and a
copy of the engraving was given by the Chancellor of the Duke of Bavaria to
the Museum of Hieroglyphics. Athanasius Kircher describes the Tablet as "five
palms long and four wide." W. Wynn Westcott says it measures 50 by 30 inches.
It was made of bronze and decorated with encaustic or smalt enamel and silver
inlay. Fosbroke adds: "The figures are cut very shallow, and the contour of
most of them is encircled by threads of silver. The bases upon which the
figures were seated or reclined, and left blank in the prints, were of silver
and are torn away." (See Encyclopædia of Antiquities.)
Those familiar with the
fundamental principles of Hermetic philosophy will recognize in the Mensa
Isiaca the key to Chaldean, Egyptian, and Greek theology. In his
Antiquities, the learned Benedictine, Father Montfaucon, admits his
inability to cope with the intricacies of its symbolism. He therefore doubts
that the emblems upon the Tablet possess any significance worthy of
consideration and ridicules Kircher, declaring him to be more obscure than the
Tablet itself. Laurentius Pignorius reproduced the Tablet in connection with a
descriptive essay in 1605, but his timidly advanced explanations demonstrated
his ignorance concerning the actual interpretation of the figures.
In his dipus Ægyptiacus,
published in 1654, Kircher attacked the problem with characteristic avidity.
Being peculiarly qualified for such a task by years of research in matters
pertaining to the secret doctrines of antiquity, and with the assistance of a
group of eminent scholars, Kircher accomplished much towards an exposition of
the mysteries of the Tablet. The master secret, however, eluded even him, as
Eliphas Levi has shrewdly noted in his History of Magic.
"The learned Jesuit, " writes
Levi, "divined that it contained the hieroglyphic key to sacred alphabets,
though he was unable to develop the explanation. It is divided into three
equal compartments; above are the twelve houses of heaven and below are the
corresponding distributions of labor [work periods] throughout the year, while
in the middle place are twenty-one sacred signs answering to the letters of
the alphabet. In the midst of all is a seated figure of the pantomorphic IYNX,
emblem of universal being and corresponding as such to the Hebrew Yod,
or to that unique letter from which all the other letters were formed. The
IYNX is encircled by the Ophite triad, answering to the Three Mother Letters
of the Egyptian and Hebrew alphabets. On the right are the Ibimorphic and
Serapian triads; on the left are those of Nepthys and Hecate, representing
active and passive, fixed and volatile, fructifying fire and generating water.
Each pair of triads in conjunction with the center produces a septenary, and a
septenary is contained in the center. The three septenaries furnish the
absolute number of the three worlds, as well as the complete number of
primitive letters, to which a complementary sign is added, like zero to the
nine numerals."
Levi's hint may be construed to
mean that the twenty-one figures in the center section of the Table represent
the twenty-one major trumps of the Tarot cards. If this be so, is not the zero
card, cause of so much controversy, the nameless crown of the Supreme Mind,
the crown being symbolized by the hidden triad in the upper part of the throne
in the center of the Table? Might not the first emanation of this Supreme Mind
be well symbolized by a juggler or magician with the symbols of the four lower
worlds spread out on a table before him: the rod, the sword, the cup, and the
coin? Thus considered, the zero card belongs nowhere among the others but is
in fact the fourth dimensional point from which they all emanated and
consequently is broken up into the twenty-one cards (letters) which, when
gathered together, produce the zero. The cipher appearing upon this card would
substantiate this interpretation, for the cipher, or circle, is emblematic of
the superior sphere from which issue the lower worlds, powers, and letters.
Westcott carefully collected
the all too meager theories advanced by various authorities and in 1887
published his now extremely rare volume, which contains the only detailed
description of the Isiac Tablet published in English since Humphreys
translated Montfaucon's worthless description in 1721. After explaining his
reticence to reveal that which Levi evidently felt was better left concealed,
Westcott sums up his interpretation of the Tablet as follows:
"The diagram of Levi, by which
he explains the mystery of the Tablet, shows the Upper Region divided into the
four seasons of the year, each with three signs of the Zodiac, and he has
added the four-lettered sacred name, the Tetragrammaton, assigning Jod to
Aquarius, that is Canopus, He to Taurus, that is Apis, Vau to Leo, that is
Momphta, and He final to Typhon. Note the Cherubic parallel--Man, Bull, Lion
and Eagle. The fourth form is found either as Scorpion or Eagle depending upon
the Occult good or evil intention: in the Demotic Zodiac, the Snake replaces
the Scorpion.
"The Lower Region he ascribes
to the twelve simple Hebrew letters, associating them with the four
quarters of the horizon. Compare the Sepher Yerzirah, Cap. v., sec. 1.
"The Central Region he ascribes
to the Solar powers and the
LEVI'S KEY TO THE BEMBINE TABLE.
From Levi's History of Magic.
"The Isiac Tablet, writes Levi,
is a Key to the Ancient Book of Thoth, which has survived to some extent the
lapse of centuries and is pictured to us in the still comparatively ancient
set of Tarocchi Cards. To him the Book of Thoth was a résumé of the esoteric
learning of the Egyptians, after the decadence of their civilization, this
lore became crystallized in a hieroglyphic form as the Tarot; this Tarot
having become partially or entirely forgotten or misunderstood, its pictured
symbols fell into the hands of the sham diviners, and of the providers of the
public amusement by games of Cards. The modem Tarot, or Tarocchi pack of cards
consists of 78 cards, of which 22 form a special group of trumps, of pictorial
design: the remaining 56 are composed of four suits of 10 numerals and four
court cards, King, Queen, Knight, and Knave or Valet; the suits are Swords (Militaryism),
Cups (Sacerdocy), Clubs or Wands (Agriculture), and Shekels or Coins
(Commerce), answering respectively to our Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds.
Our purpose is with the 22 trumps, these form the special characteristic of
the Pack and are the lineal descendants of the Hieroglyphics of the Tarot.
These 22 respond to the letters of the Hebrew and other sacred alphabets,
which fall naturally into three classes of a Trio of Mothers, a Heptad of
doubles, and a duodecad of simple letters. They are also considered as a triad
of Heptads and one apart, a system of Initiation and an Uninitiate." (See
Westcott's The Isiac Tablet.)
p. 58
[paragraph
continues] Planetary. In the middle we see above, the
Sun, marked Ops, and below it is a Solomon's Seal, above a cross; a double
triangle Hexapla, one light and one dark triangle superposed, the whole
forming a sort of complex symbol of Venus. To the Ibimorphos he gives the
three dark planets, Venus, Mercury, and Mars placed around a dark triangle
erect, denoting Fire. To the Nephthæan triad he gives three light planets,
Saturn, Luna, and Jupiter, around a light inverted triangle which denotes
Water. There is a necessary connection between water, female power, passive
principle, Binah, and Sephirotic Mother, and Bride. (See the Kabbalah
by Mathers.) Note the ancient signs for the planets were all composed of a
Cross, Solar Disc and Crescent: Venus is a cross below a Sun disc, Mercury, a
disc With a crescent above and cross below, Saturn is a Cross whose lowest
point touches the apex of the crescent; Jupiter is a Crescent whose lowest
point touches the left hand end of a cross: all these are deep mysteries. Note
that Levi in his original plate transposed Serapis and Hecate, but not the
Apis noir and Apis blanc, perhaps because of the head of Bes being associated
by him with Hecate. Note that having referred the 12 simple letters to the
lower, the 7 double must correspond to the central region of the planets, and
then the great triad A.M.S. the mother letters representing Air, Water, and
Fire remain to be pictured, around S the Central Iynx, or Yod, by the
Ophionian Triad the two Serpents and the Leonine Sphynx. Levi's word OPS in
the centre is the Latin Ops, Terra, genius of the Earth; and the Greek Ops,
Rhea, or Kubele (Cybele) often drawn as a goddess seated in a chariot drawn by
lions; she is crowned with turrets, and holds a Key." (See The Isiac Tablet.)
The essay published in French
by Alexandre Lenoir in 1809, while curious and original, contains little real
information on the Tablet, which the author seeks to prove was an Egyptian
calendar or astrological chart. As both Montfaucon and Lenoir--in fact all
writers on the subject since 1651--either have based their work upon that of
Kircher or have been influenced considerably by him, a careful translation has
been made of the latter's original article (eighty pages of seventeenth
century Latin). The double-page plate at the beginning of this chapter is a
faithful reproduction made by Kircher from the engraving in the Museum of
Hieroglyphics. The small letters and numbers used to designate the figures
were added by him to clarify his commentary and will be used for the same
purpose in this work.
Like nearly all religious and
philosophical antiquities, the Bembine Table of Isis has been the subject of
much controversy. In a footnote, A. E. Waite--unable to differentiate between
the true and the purported nature or origin of the Tablet--echoes the
sentiments of J.G. Wilkinson, another eminent exotericus: "The original
[Table] is exceedingly late and is roughly termed a forgery." On the other
hand, Eduard Winkelmann, a man of profound learning, defends the genuineness
and antiquity of the Tablet. A sincere consideration of the Mensa Isiaca
discloses one fact of paramount importance: that although whoever fashioned
the Table was not necessarily an Egyptian, he was an initiate of the highest
order, conversant with the most arcane tenets of Hermetic esotericism.
SYMBOLISM OF THE
BEMBINE TABLE
The following necessarily brief
elucidation of the Bembine Table is based upon a digest of the writings of
Kircher supplemented by other information gleaned by the present author from
the mystical writings of the Chaldeans, Hebrews, Egyptians, and Greeks. The
temples of the Egyptians were so designed that the arrangement of chambers,
decorations, and utensils was all of symbolic significance, as shown by the
hieroglyphics that covered them. Beside the altar, which usually was in the
center of each room, was the cistern of Nile water which flowed in and out
through unseen pipes. Here also were images of the gods in concatenated
series, accompanied by magical inscriptions. In these temples, by use of
symbols and hieroglyphics, neophytes were instructed in the secrets of the
sacerdotal caste.
The Tablet of Isis was
originally a table or altar, and its emblems were part of the mysteries
explained by priests. Tables were dedicated to the various gods and goddesses;
in this case Isis was so honored. The substances from which the tables were
made differed according to the relative dignities of the deities. The tables
consecrated to Jupiter and Apollo were of gold; those to Diana, Venus, and
Juno were of silver; those to the other superior gods, of marble; those to the
lesser divinities, of wood. Tables were also made of metals corresponding to
the planets governed by the various celestials. As food for the body is spread
on a banquet table, so on these sacred altars were spread the symbols which,
when understood, feed the invisible nature of man.
In his introduction to the
Table, Kircher summarizes its symbolism thus: "It teaches, in the first place,
the whole constitution of the threefold world--archetypal, intellectual, and
sensible. The Supreme Divinity is shown moving from the center to the
circumference of a universe made up of both sensible and inanimate things, all
of which are animated and agitated by the one supreme power which they call
the Father Mind and represented by a threefold symbol. Here also are
shown three triads from the Supreme One, each manifesting one attribute of the
first Trimurti. These triads are called the Foundation, or the base of
all things. In the Table is also set forth the arrangement and distribution of
those divine creatures that aid the Father Mind in the control of the
universe. Here [in the upper panel] are to be seen the Governors of the
worlds, each with its fiery, ethereal, and material insignia. Here also [in
the lower panel] are the Fathers of Fountains, whose duty it is to care
for and preserve the principles of all things and sustain the inviolable laws
of Nature. Here are the gods of the spheres and also those who wander from
place to place, laboring with all substances and forms (Zonia and Azonia),
grouped together as figures of both sexes, with their faces turned to their
superior deity."
The Mensa Isiaca, which
is divided horizontally into three chambers or panels, may represent the
ground plan of the chambers in which the Isiac Mysteries were given. The
center panel is divided into seven parts or lesser rooms, and the lower has
two gates, one at each end. The entire Table contains forty-five figures of
first importance and a number of lesser symbols. The forty-five main figures
are grouped into fifteen triads, of which four are in the upper panel, seven
in the central, and four in the lower. According to both Kircher and Levi, the
triads are divided in the following manner:
In the upper section
1. P, S, V--Mendesian Triad.
2. X, Z, A--Ammonian Triad.
3. B, C, D--Momphtæan Triad.
4. F, G, H-Omphtæan Triad.
In the center section
1. G, I, K--Isiac Triad.
2. L, M, N--Hecatine Triad.
3. O, Q, R--Ibimorphous Triad.
4. V, S, W--Ophionic Triad.
5. X, Y, Z--Nephtæan Triad.
6. ζ, η, θ--Serapæan Triad.
7. γ, δ (not shown), ε--Osirian
Triad.
In the lower section
1. λ, Μ, Ν--Horæan Triad.
2. ξ, Ο, Σ--Pandochæan Triad.
3. Τ, Φ, Χ--Thaustic Triad.
4. Ψ, F, Η--Æluristic Triad.
Of these fifteen triads Kircher
writes: "The figures differ from each other in eight highly important
respects, i. e., according to form, position, gesture, act, raiment,
headdress, staff, and, lastly, according to the hieroglyphics placed around
them, whether these be flowers, shrubs, small letters or animals." These eight
symbolic methods of portraying the secret powers of the figures are subtle
reminders of the eight spiritual senses of cognition by means of which the
Real Self in man may be comprehended. To express this spiritual truth the
Buddhists used the wheel with eight spokes and raised their consciousness by
means of the noble eightfold path. The ornamented border enclosing the three
main panels of the Table contains many symbols consisting of birds, animals,
reptiles, human beings, and composite forms. According to one reading of the
Table, this border represents the four elements; the creatures are elemental
beings. According to another interpretation, the border represents the
archetypal spheres, and in its frieze of composite figures are the patterns of
those forms which in various combinations will subsequently manifest
themselves in the material world. The four flowers at the corners of the Table
are those which, because their blossoms always face the sun and follow its
course across the sky, are sacred emblems of that finer part of man's nature
which delights in facing its Creator.
According to the secret
doctrine of the Chaldeans, the universe is divided into four states of being
(planes or spheres): archetypal, intellectual, sidereal, and elemental. Each
of these reveals the others; the superior controlling the inferior, and the
inferior receiving influence from the superior. The archetypal plane was
considered synonymous with the intellect of the Triune Divinity. Within this
divine, incorporeal, and eternal sphere are included all the lower
manifestations of life-all that is, has been, or ever shall be. Within the
Kosmic Intellect all things spiritual or material exist as archetypes, or
divine thought-forms, which is shown in the Table by a chain of secret
similes.
In the middle region of the
Table appears the all-form-containing personified Spiritual Essence--the
source and substance of all things. From this proceed the lower worlds as nine
emanations in groups of three (the Ophionic, Ibimorphous, and Nephtæan
Triads). Consider in this connection the analogy of the Qabbalistic Sephiroth,
or the nine spheres issuing from Kether, the Crown. The twelve Governors of
the Universe (the Mendesian, Ammonian, Momphtæan, and Omphtæan
Triads)--vehicles for the distribution of the creative influences, and shown
in the upper region of the Table-are directed in their activities by the
Divine Mind patterns existing in the archetypal sphere, The archetypes are
abstract patterns formulated in the Divine Mind and by them all the inferior
activities are controlled.
p. 59
[paragraph
continues] In the lower region of the Table are the
Father Fountains (the Horæan, Pandochæan, Thaustic, and Æluristic Triads),
keepers of the great gates of the universe. These distribute to the lower
worlds the influences descending from the Governors shown above.
In the theology of the
Egyptians, goodness takes precedence and all things partake of its nature to a
higher or lower degree. Goodness is sought by all. It is the Prime Cause of
causes. Goodness is self-diffused and hence exists in all things, for nothing
can produce that which it does not have in itself. The Table demonstrates that
all is in God and God is in all; that all is in all and each is in each. In
the intellectual world are invisible spiritual counterparts of the creatures
which inhabit the elemental world. Therefore, the lowest exhibits the highest,
the corporeal declares the intellectual, and the invisible i,. made manifest
by its works. For this reason the Egyptians made images of substances existing
in the inferior sensible world to serve as visible exemplars of superior and
invisible powers. To the corruptible images they assigned the virtues of the
incorruptible divinities, thus demonstrating arcanely that this world is but
the shadow of God, the outward picture of the paradise within. All that is in
the invisible archetypal sphere is revealed in the sensible corporeal world by
the light of Nature.
The Archetypal and Creative
Mind--first through its Paternal Foundation and afterwards through secondary
Gods called Intelligences--poured our the whole infinity of its powers by
continuous exchange from highest to lowest. In their phallic symbolism the
Egyptians used the sperm to represent the spiritual spheres, because each
contains all that comes forth from it. The Chaldeans and Egyptians also held
that everything which is a result dwells in the cause of itself and turns to
that cause as the lotus to the sun. Accordingly, the Supreme Intellect,
through its Paternal Foundation, first created light--the angelic world. Out
of that light were then created the invisible hierarchies of beings which some
call the stars; and out of the stars the four elements and the sensible world
were formed. Thus all are in all, after their respective kinds. All visible
bodies or elements are in the invisible stars or spiritual elements, and the
stars are likewise in those bodies; the stars are in the angels and the angels
in the stars; the angels are in God and God is in all. Therefore, all are
divinely in the Divine, angelically in the angels, and corporeally in the
corporeal world, and vice versa. just as the seed is the tree folded up, so
the world is God unfolded.
Proclus says: "Every property
of divinity permeates all creation and gives itself to all inferior creatures.
"One of the manifestations of the Supreme Mind is the power of reproduction
according to species which it confers upon every creature of which it is the
divine part. Thus souls, heavens, elements, animals, plants, and stones
generate themselves each according to its pattern, but all are dependent upon
the one fertilizing principle existing in the Supreme Mind. The fecundative
power, though of itself a unit, manifests differently through the various
substances, for in the mineral it contributes to material existence, in the
plant it manifests as vitality, and in the animal as sensibility. It imparts
motion to the heavenly bodies, thought to the souls of men, intellectuality to
the angels, and superessentiality to God. Thus it is seen that all forms are
of one substance and all life of one force, and these are co-existent in the
nature of the Supreme One.
This doctrine was first
expounded by Plato. His disciple, Aristotle, set it forth in these words: "We
say that this Sensible World is an image of another; therefore since this
world is vivid or alive, how much more, then, that other must live. * * *
Yonder, therefore, above the stellar virtues, stand other heavens to be
attained, like the heavens of this world; beyond them, because they are of a
higher kind, brighter and vaster; nor are they distant from each Other like
this one, for they are incorporeal. Yonder, too, exists an earth, not of
inanimate matter, but vivid with animal life and all natural terrestrial
phenomena like this one, but of other kinds and perfections. There are plants,
also, and gardens, and flowing water; there are aquatic animals but of nobler
species. Yonder is air and life appropriate to it, all immortal. And although
the life there is analogous to ours, yet it is nobler, seeing that it is
intellectual, perpetual and unalterable. For if anyone should object and ask,
How in the world above do the plants, etc. above mentioned find footing, we
should answer that they do not have objective existence, for they were
produced by the primal Author in an absolute condition and without
exteriorization. They are, therefore, in the same case as intellect and soul;
they suffer no defect such as waste and corruption, since the beings yonder
are full of energy, strength and joy, as living in a life sublime and being
the issue of one fount and of one quality, compounded of all like sweet
savors, delicate perfumes, harmonious color and sound, and other perfections.
Nor do they move violently about nor intermix nor corrupt each other, but each
perfectly preserves its own essential character; and they are simple and do
not multiply as corporeal beings do."
In the midst of the Table is a
great covered throne with a seated female figure representing Isis, but here
called the Pantomorphic IYNX. G. R. S. Mead defines the IYNX as "a
transmitting intelligence." Others have declared it to be a symbol of
Universal Being. Over the head of the goddess the throne is surmounted by a
triple crown, and beneath her feet is the house of material substance. The
threefold crown is here symbolic of the Triune Divinity, called by the
Egyptians the Supreme Mind, and described in the Sepher ha Zohar as
being "hidden and unrevealed." According to the Hebrew system of Qabbalism,
the Tree of the Sephiroth was divided into two parts, the upper invisible and
the lower visible. The upper consisted of three parts and the lower of seven.
The three uncognizable Sephiroth were called Kether, the Crown;
Chochmah, Wisdom; and Binah, Understanding. These are too abstract
to permit of comprehension, whereas the lower seven spheres that came forth
from them were within the grasp of human consciousness. The central panel
contains seven triads of figures. These represent the lower Sephiroth, all
emanating from the concealed threefold crown over the throne.
Kircher writes: "The throne
denotes the diffusion of the triform Supreme Mind along the universal paths of
the three worlds. Out of these three intangible spheres emerges the sensible
universe, which Plutarch calls the 'House of Horns' and the Egyptians, the
'Great Gate of the Gods.' The top of the throne is in the midst of diffused
serpent-shaped flames, indicating that the Supreme Mind is filled with light
and life, eternal and incorruptible, removed from all material contact. How
the Supreme Mind communicated His fire to all creatures is clearly set forth
in the symbolism of the Table. The Divine Fire is communicated c to lower
spheres through the universal power of Nature personified by the World Virgin,
Isis, here denominated the IYNX, or the polymorphous all-containing Universal
Idea." The word Idea is here used in its Platonic sense. "Plato believed that
there are eternal forms of all possible things which exist without matter; and
to these eternal and immaterial forms he gave the name of ideas. In the
Platonic sense, ideas were the patterns according to which the Deity
fashioned the phenomenal or ectypal world." (Sir W. Hamilton.)
Kircher describes the 21
figures in the central panel thus: "Seven principal triads, corresponding to
seven superior worlds, are shown in the central section of the Table. They all
originate from the fiery, invisible archetype [the triple crown of the
throne]. The first, the Ophionic or IYNX Triad, V S W, corresponds to the
vital and fiery world and is the first intellectual world, called by the
ancients the Aetherium. Zoroaster says of it: 'Oh, what rigorous rulers
this world has!' The second, or Ibimorphous Triad, O Q R, corresponds to the
second intellectual, or ethereal, world, and is concerned with the principle
of humidity. The third, or Nephtæan Triad, X Y Z, corresponds to the third
intellectual and ethereal [world] and is concerned with fecundity. These are
the three triads of the ethereal worlds, which correspond to the Father
Foundation. Then follow the four triads of the sensible, or material, worlds,
of which the first two correspond to the sidereal worlds, G I K and γ δ ε,
namely, Osiris and Isis, Sun and Moon, indicated by two bulls. They are
followed by two triads--the Hecatine, LM N, and the Serapæan, ζ η θ,
corresponding to the sublunary and subterranean worlds. These complete the
seven worlds of primary Genii ruling the natural universe. Psellus quotes
Zoroaster: 'The Egyptians and the Chaldeans, taught that there were seven
corporeal worlds (i. e., worlds ruled by the intellectual powers);the first is
of pure fire; the second, third, and fourth, ethereal; the fifth, sixth, and
seventh, material; the seventh being the one called terrestrial and hater of
light, and is located under the Moon, comprising
WESTCOTT'S KEY TO THE BEMBINE TABLE.
From Westcott's The Isiac
Tablet.
Zoroaster declared that the
number three shines throughout the world. This is revealed in the Bembine,
Table by a series of triads representing the creative impulses. Of the Isiac
Table Alexandre Lenoir writes: "The Isiac Table, as a work of art, is not of
great interest. it is but a composition, rather cold and insignificant, whose
figures, summarily sketched and methodically placed near each other, give but
little impression of life. But, if on the contrary after examining it, we
understand the purpose of the author, we become soon convinced that the Isiac
Table is an image of the heavenly sphere divided in small parts to be used
very like, for general teaching. According to that idea, we can conclude that
the Isiac Table was originally the introduction to a collection followed by
the Mysteries of Isis. It was engraved on copper in order to be used in the
ceremonial of initiation." (See New Essay on the Isiac Table.)
p. 60
within itself the matter called
fundus, or foundation. 'These seven, plus the one invisible crown,
constitute the eight worlds. * * *
"Plato writes that it is
needful for the philosopher to know how the seven circles beneath the first
one are arranged according to the Egyptians. The first triad of fire denotes
life; the second, water, over which rule the Ibimorphous divinities; and the
third, air, ruled by Nephta. From the fire the heavens were created, from the
water the earth, and air was the mediator between them. In the Sephira
Yetzirah it is said that from the three originate the seven, i. e., the
height, the depth, the East, the West, the North, and the South, and the Holy
Temple in the center sustaining them all. Is not the Holy Temple in the center
the great throne of the many-formed Spirit of Nature which is shown in the
middle of the Tablet? What are the seven triads but the seven Powers that rule
over the world? Psellus writes: 'The Egyptians worshipped the triad of faith,
truth, and love; and the seven fountains: the Sun as ruler--the fountain of
matter; then the fountain of the archangels; the fountain of the senses; of
judgment; of lightning; of reflections; and of characters of unknown
composition. They say that the highest material fountains are those of Apollo,
Osiris, and Mercury--the fountains of the centers of the elements. 'Thus, they
understood by the Sun as ruler the solar world; by the material archangelic,
the lunar world; by the fountain of the senses, the world of Saturn; by
judgment, Jupiter; by lightning, Mars; by that of the reflections, or mirrors,
the world of Venus; by the fountain of characters, the world of Mercury. All
these are shown by the figures in the center pane of the Tablet."
The upper panel contains the
twelve figures of the zodiac arranged in four triads. The center figure in
each group represents one of the four fixed signs of the zodiac. S is
the sign of Aquarius; Z, Taurus; C, Leo; and G, Scorpio.
These are called the Fathers. In the secret teachings of the Far East
these four figures--the man, the bull, the lion, and the eagle--are called the
winged globes or the four Maharajahs who stand upon the corners of creation.
The four cardinal signs--P, Capricorn; X, Aries; B,
Cancer; F, Libra--are called the Powers. The four common signs--V,
Pisces; A, Gemini; E, Virgo; H, Sagittarius--are called
the Minds of the Four Lords. This explains the meaning of the winged
globes of Egypt, for the four central figures--Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and
Scorpio (called by Ezekiel the Cherubim)--are the globes; the cardinal
and common signs on either side are the wings. Therefore the twelve signs of
the zodiac may be symbolized by four globes, each with two wings.
The celestial triads are
further shown by the Egyptians as a globe (the Father) from which issue
a serpent (the Mind) and wings (the Power). These twelve forces
are the fabricators of the world, and from them emanate the microcosm, or the
mystery of the twelve sacred animals--representing in the universe the twelve
parts of the world and in man the twelve parts of the human body.
Anatomically, the twelve figures in the upper panel may well symbolize the
twelve convolutions of the brain and the twelve figures in the lower panel the
twelve zodiacal members and organs of the human body, for man is a creature
formed of the twelve sacred animals with his members and organs under the
direct control of the twelve governors or powers resident in the brain.
A more profound interpretation
is found in the correspondences between the twelve figures in the upper panel
and the twelve in the lower. This furnishes a key to one of the most arcane of
ancient secrets--the relationship existing between the two great zodiacs the
fixed and the movable. The fixed zodiac is described as
an immense dodecahedron, its twelve surfaces representing the outermost walls
of abstract space. From each surface of this dodecahedron a great spiritual
power, radiating inward, becomes embodied as one of the hierarchies of the
movable zodiac, which is a band of circumambulating so-called fixed stars.
Within this movable zodiac are posited the various planetary and
elemental bodies. The relation of these two zodiacs to the subzodiacal spheres
has a correlation in the respiratory system of the human body. The great
fixed zodiac may be said to represent the atmosphere, the movable
zodiac the lungs, and the subzodiacal worlds the body. The spiritual
atmosphere containing the vivifying energies of the twelve divine powers of
the great fixed zodiac is inhaled by the cosmic lungs--the movable
zodiac--and distributed by them through the constitution of the twelve holy
animals which are the parts and members of the material universe. The
functional cycle is completed when the poisonous effluvia of the lower worlds
collected by the movable zodiac are exhaled into the great fixed
zodiac, there to be purified by being passed through the divine natures of its
twelve eternal hierarchies.
The Table as a whole is
susceptible of many interpretations. If the border of the Table with its
hieroglyphic figures be accepted as the spiritual source, then the throne in
the center represents the physical body within which human nature is
enthroned. From this point of view the entire Table becomes emblematic of the
auric bodies of man, with the border as the outer extremity or shell of the
auric egg. If the throne be accepted as the symbol of the spiritual
sphere, the border typifies the elements, and the various panels surrounding
the central one become emblematic of the worlds or planes emanating from the
one divine source. If the Table be considered from a purely physical basis,
the throne becomes symbolic of the generative system and the Table reveals the
secret processes of embryology as applied to the formation of the material
worlds. If a purely physiological and anatomical interpretation be desired,
the central throne becomes the heart, the Ibimorphous Triad the mind, the
Nephtæan Triad the generative system, and the surrounding hieroglyphics the
various parts and members of the human body. From the evolutionary viewpoint
the central gate becomes the point of both entrance and exit. Here also is set
forth the process of initiation, in which the candidate after passing
successfully through the various ordeals is finally brought into the presence
of his own soul, which he alone is capable of unveiling.
If cosmogony be the subject of
consideration, the central panel represents the spiritual worlds, the upper
panel the intellectual worlds, and the lower panel the material worlds. The
central panel may also symbolize the nine invisible worlds, and the creature
marked T the physical nature--the footstool of Isis, the Spirit of
Universal Life. Considered in the light of alchemy, the central panel contains
the metals and the borders the alchemical processes. The figure seated on the
throne is the Universal Mercury--the "stone of the wise"; the flaming canopy
of the throne above is the Divine Sulphur; and the cube of earth beneath is
the elemental salt.
The three triads--or the
Paternal Foundation--in the central panel represent the Silent Watchers,
the three invisible parts of the nature of man; the two panels on either side
are the quaternary lower nature of man. In the central panel are 21 figures.
This number is sacred to the sun--which consists of three great powers, each
with seven attributes--and by Qabbalistic reduction 21 becomes 3, or the Great
Triad.
It will yet be proved that the
Table of Isis is directly connected with Egyptian Gnosticism, for in a Gnostic
papyrus preserved in the Bodleian Library there is a direct reference to the
twelve Fathers or Paternities beneath whom are twelve Fountains.
(See Egyptian Magic by S.S.D.D.) That the lower panel represents the
underworld is further emphasized by the two gates--the great gate of the East
and the great gate of the West--for in the Chaldean theology the sun rises and
sets through gates in the underworld, where it wanders during the hours of
darkness. As Plato was for thirteen years under the instruction of the Magi
Patheneith, Ochoaps, Sechtnouphis, and Etymon of Sebbennithis, his philosophy
consequently is permeated with the Chaldean and Egyptian system of triads. The
Bembine Table is a diagrammatic exposition of the so-called Platonic
philosophy, for in its design is epitomized the entire theory of mystic
cosmogony and generation. The most valuable guide to the interpretation of
this Table is the Commentaries of Proclus on the Theology of Plato. The
Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster also contains many allusions to the
theogonic principles which are demonstrated by the Table.
The Theogony of Hesiod
contains the most complete account of the Greek cosmogony myth. Orphic
cosmogony has left its impress upon the various forms of philosophy and
religion--Greek, Egyptian, and Syrian--which it contacted. Chief of the Orphic
symbols was the mundane egg from which Phanes sprang into light. Thomas
Taylor considers the Orphic egg to be synonymous with the mixture from
bound and infinity mentioned by Plato in the Philebus.
The egg is furthermore the third Intelligible Triad and the proper symbol of
the Demiurgus, whose auric body is the egg of the inferior universe.
Eusebius, on the authority of
Porphyry, declared that the Egyptians acknowledged one intellectual Author or
Creator of the world under the name of Cneph and that they worshiped
him in a statue of human form and dark blue complexion, holding in his hand a
girdle and a scepter, wearing on his head a royal plume, and thrusting forth
an egg out of his mouth. (See An Analysis of the Egyptian Mythology)
While the Bembine Table is rectangular-shaped, it signifies philosophically
the Orphic egg of the universe with its contents. In the esoteric doctrines
the supreme individual achievement is the breaking of the Orphic egg, which is
equivalent to the return of the spirit to the Nirvana--the absolute
condition--of the Oriental mystics.
The New Pantheon by
Samuel Boyse contains three plates showing various sections of the Bembine
Table. The author, however, makes no important contribution to the knowledge
of the subject. In The Mythology and Fables of the Ancients Explained from
History, the Abbé Banier devotes a chapter to a consideration of the
Mensa Isiaca. After reviewing the conclusions of Montfaucon, Kircher, and
Pignorius, he adds: "I am of the opinion that: it was a votive table, which
some prince or private person had consecrated to Isis, as an acknowledgment
for some benefit which he believed she had conferred upon him."
Next: Wonders of Antiquity