-Vision of Edward Kelly
How best to describe the goddess Babalon. Perhaps it's best to start with the Creed of the Ecclessia Gnostica Catholica: "And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of Mystery, in Her name BABALON."
Babalon's symbolism borrows heavily from the Book of Revelations in the New Testament. Shown as a harlot riding upon a scarlet beast, she holds a chalice filled with the blood of the saints. A few of her epithets also come from Revelations, like Great Harlot/Whore, Mystery of Mysteries, Mother of Abominations, etc. However, the similarities end there. While Babylon in Revelations is a symbol of the Roman Empire and of worldly evils, Bablon is a mother, and the gateway to enlightenment. For one should, if they want to become a saint, pour their blood inter her chalice. Of course, the meaning of blood here is the ego.
More of her symbolism comes from Enochian Magic of John Dee and Edward Kelly, who served the British Royal court in the late 1500's. The quote in the beginning of this post is from one such vision, in which Kelly scryed a goddess-like figure, who demanded righteousness before she would come to men. And her relation to Babalon? She compares herself to a harlot. However, she also compares herself to a virgin: " I am a harlot for such as ravish me, and a virgin with such as know me not: For Lo, I am loved of many, and I am a lover to many; and as many as come unto me as they should do, have entertainment."
Babalon's harlotry is explained in that she denies no one enlightenment, and denies no one from her presence. However, she expects a great price, your own ego. The abandonment of the ego in the name of enlightenment is not new, for it is the ego that ultimately divides us all. Imagine, if you will, that we are but folds in the grand tapestry of the universe. Peace, happiness, and communion with all things comes when we banish our ego and flatten our fold. A possible better example is to compare oneself to a old, dirty mirror, unable to reflect the light of a great fire. The dirt and grime on the mirror is our ego, and everything we believe about ourselves, and accumulated throughout our lifetimes.
Babalon is also very comparible to Ishtar,an ancient Babylonian goddess. Perhaps they are one and the same, Ishtar as our modern minds comprehend her?
Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about Babalon in our time is the Babalon Working of John Whitsides Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard (yes, THAT L. Ron Hubbard). The ritual involved invoking the goddess for a new revelation, of which Parsons did receive, Liber 49, considered the fourth chapter of Liber AL vel Legis (of which I shall discuss later).
NEXT WEEK: Baphomet
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