Had – Behedite
I think the phrase, “Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!” relates to the raising of the Kundalini and what happens at the [second] Chakra.
“I am not extended, and Khabs is the name of my House”. He is not extended, he is the Kundalini rolled up at the base of his spine. The Khabs, or the Star potential resides in Hadit.
“I am the flame that burns in every heart of man and in the core of every star. I am Life and the giver of Life yet therefore is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death”. He is the Kundalini force that exists within everyone. He gives life; that is, his desire to rise and to unite with Nuit gives us hope for a fulfilling spiritual life. Death represents the oblivion of total Unity.
“I am the Magician and the Exorcist I am the axle of the wheel and the cube in the circle Come unto me is a foolish word for it is I that go. Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me; ill, for I am the worshipper.” Crowley wrote that “Magician and the Exorcist” means that Hadit is both the maker and destroyer of illusions, I disagree with that; as an explanation it doesn’t past muster. Perhaps we can say he both invokes and banishes, but this begs the question: what does he invoke, and what does he banish? I think, in his role as Kundalini, that when he invokes he is rising up the spine. We can then say when he banishes, the Kundalini is returning to its natural resting place at the bottom of the spine. So, to the question what does he invoke and banish, the answer is himself.
The next two analogies point to him being a finite point in something larger (Nuit).
Hadit as Kundalini is an active principle.
Those who have worshipped, or focused on, the babe in the egg have concentrated on a finite beginning which Hadit also is. Hadit is the goer, the worshipper, the active agent, that unites with Nuit.
“Now let there be a veiling of this shrine : now let the light devour men and eat them up with blindness. For I am perfect, being Not; and my number is nine by the fools but with the just I am eight and one in eight : Which is vital, for I am none indeed The Empress and the King are not of me for there is a further secret I am the Empress & the Hierophant. Thus eleven as my bride is eleven.” The first phrase is a transition from the previous topic to talking about this one. Hadit is more of a vacancy than a thing; he is a potential. The unaware may equate him to the Hermit of the Tarot, but he is, in reality, more of a parallel to the Justice card.<1>
“I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness.” This is again a reference to Hadit as the Kundalini. As such he is the potential in us to achieve unity with the divine, and as such he gives ecstasy (i.e.: drunkenness).
“I am alone: there is no God where I am.” The first phrase alludes to the Kundalini rolled up at the base of the spine. Hadit is a god because of his godliness (his god-like powers), but in another sense, he is not god because he’s separate from Nuit in that state. If we want to experience godhead we must unite Hadit (or Kundalini) with the vastness and grandeur of Nuit.
Flash: There is no god where I am – there is no ego in the ultimate spiritual experience.
"I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring : in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one If I droop down mine head and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.” Here are more references to Hadit as a kind of oversoul of all Kundalinis. He is wrapped about the base chakra. If he extends up the spine, and unites with Nuit, than the great Unity occurs. When a king, someone who has realized their star-potential, interacts in the material world, than all will see the great joy that Hadit can give, then rapture truly is of the earth.
Hadit continues with the serpent anaology: “Blue am I and gold in the light of my bride : but the red gleam is in my eyes & my spangles are purple & green. Purple beyond purple : it is the light higher than eyesight.” Blue and gold of course are colors also identified with Nuit (i.e.: colors of the Nighttime sky). The red gleam in the eye creates the image of power, anger, vengeance and striking (it also represents the desire to unite with Nuit). The scales of this snake are purple and green [check Kundalini and ultra-violet].
Hadit = Kundalini = Khabs = Star
Hadit is sort of the Oversoul of all Kundalinis. He is our Star-nature; our ability to recognize our Star-essence, the seeds of the not yet realized True Will that lies hidden in us all ... but it can be awakened.
He is the seed-Will; he is infinitely small until we extend our Kundalini at the same time as seeking our Will.
Hadit is life because he awakens us to a new life as children of Nuit. He is death because he is death of the old ways, death of the hyper-materialistic world into which we find ourselves; a world that has no time for the spiritual side of things.
<1> See the section of references to the language of Magick and Mysticism.
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