Here's an attempt at explaining my whys and wherefores for the "Seven Gates of Set":

One issue I have always taken with Hermetic Qabalah is the way in which it purports to “blend” Jewish mysticism, alchemy, Western astrology, and certain polytheistic religions. There is nothing wrong with blending different religious traditions together, of course; but Qabalists often brand themselves as representing “the original Qabalah,” which is absolutely false. True Kabbalah is not a “free-for-all,” but an intricate cosmology that is entirely unique to Judaism. It is also a closed practice that requires studying the Torah inside and out. Hermetic Qabalah is simply a “Gentile” appropriation of this tradition that really has nothing to do with Judaism or the Torah, or with any of the polytheist gods that are commonly mentioned in Qabalic literature.

For example, Kenneth Grant insisted that Set is linked to Daath, the so-called “eleventh” sephira on the Tree of Life. Other writers have linked Set with Geburah, the sphere of divine judgment and wrath. These associations might appear to make sense on the surface, but I think many Jews and Setians would likely agree they are oversimplifications. Set is far more than just an “emotive attribute” of some monotheist god; He deserves to be understood on His own terms, not in Kabbalic (or Qabalic) terms.

Set is not just the destructive “murderer of Osiris” that Hermetic Qabalists like to pigeonhole Him as being. He is also the Son of Nut, the Savior of Ra, the Friend of the Dead, and an ambassador for the Netjeru to other pantheons. Yes, He can certainly hinder and destroy; but He can also help and protect, as evidenced by His own religious following in ancient times. He can become wrathful and go on the warpath, as He does with Osiris and Horus; but He can also be loving and romantic, as He is with each of His various partners (of both sexes). Hermetic Qabalah is ill-equipped to comprehend or explain such a multifaceted polytheist divinity, since it is predicated on monotheism in the first place.

By the same token, SETIANS—people who revere and emulate Set—are not the “black magicians” or “devil worshipers” of Egyptian polytheism. Most of us are regular people just like everyone else in every other religion on earth. We work jobs, we pay our bills, we take care of our families. We value safety and consistency, we become upset when things go topsy-turvy, and many of us work as educators or caregivers as well. So there is quite a bit more to Setians than whatever Hermetic Qabalists might think about us.

I decided to develop a new way of explaining the Setian “wavelength” with numbers and correspondences that does NOT appropriate anything from either Jewish Kabbalah or Hermetic Qabalah. This meant doing away with the “Tree of Life” and using an entirely different visual model as my starting point. And it seemed to me that there is no better visual model for capturing the Setian experience than the Big Dipper, which the ancient Egyptians called Khepesh or “the Thigh of Set.”

I first learned about Set’s connection to the Big Dipper from reading The Gates of the Necronomicon by “Simon” (who is most likely Peter Levenda writing under a pseudonym). The book recklessly equates Egyptian ideas with bits and pieces of Kabbalah, Daoism, and a “Lovecraftianized” version of pseudo-Sumerian mythology (which actually owes more to August Derleth than to H.P. Lovecraft). Yet the parts about Set being associated with the Dipper are factual at least, and I liked the idea that these particular stars might correspond with certain “astral gateways.” “Simon” claims to be sharing information from a real Sumerian “grimoire” that doesn’t actually exist; so it’s important to understand I am not referring to his work as a credible resource here. Rather, his suggestions inspired me to think about how the stars in the Big Dipper might each relate to Set without needing to appropriate anything from any non-Kemetic or non-Egyptian mystical traditions. I sensed that each of these stars corresponds with a different aspect of Set, a different phase in His myth cycle, a different animal from His divine iconography, and even a different aspect of what it is like to be a Setian.

Please note that this is not a “re-invention” of Kabbalah; nor is it an “initiatory curriculum” that must be followed in sequential order. The numbers I have assigned to each star are simply for convenience. Assuming I am not completely crackers for thinking of the Big Dipper as a series of “Setian gateways” in the first place, I imagine these gates as being “open” all at the same time, with Set reaching down to us and us reaching up to Him through each of them all at once.

#setianism #sutekh #kemetic #egyptian #pagan #polytheist #gates #keys #bigdipper #greatbear #ursamajor #kabbalah #qabalah #hermeticism #kennethgrant #hplovecraft

#kennethgrant #magick #occult
#thelema