Choronzon
From Free Encyclopedia of Thelema
Choronzon is a demon or devil that originated in writing with the 16th century occultists Edward Kelley and John Dee within the latter's occult system of Enochian Magick. In the 20th century he became an important element within the mystical system of Thelema, founded by Aleister Crowley, where he is the Dweller in the Abyss, that last great obstacle between the adept and enlightnment. If he is met with the proper preparation, then he is there to destroy the ego, which allows the adept to move beyond the Abyss. If unprepared, then the unfortunate traveller will be utterly dispersed into annihilation.
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Choronzon or Coronzon
Including Crowley's spelling of the name, there appear to be two alternatives. Meric Casaubon states that the name is Coronzon (without an 'h') in his ‘True and Faithful Relation…’
Choronzon according to Crowley
Otherwise known as the Demon of Dispersion, Choronzon is described by Crowley as a temporary personification of the raving and inconsistent forces that occupy the Abyss. In this system, Choronzon is given form in evocation only in order that it may be mastered.
Crowley states that he and Victor Benjamin Neuburg evoked Choronzon in the Sahara Desert. In Crowley's account, it is unclear whether Choronzon was invoked into an empty Solomonic triangle while Crowley sat elsewhere, or whether Crowley himself was the medium into which the demon was evoked. Nearly all writers except Lawrence Sutin take him to mean the latter. In the account, Choronzon is described as changing shape, which is read variously as an account of an actual metamorphosis, a subjective impression of Neuburg's, or fabrication on Crowley's part.
The account describes the demon throwing sand over the triangle in order to breach it, following which it attacked Neuburg 'in the form of a naked savage', forcing him to drive it back at the point of a dagger. Crowley's account has been criticised as unreliable, as the relevant original pages are torn from the notebook in which the account was written. This, along with other inconsistencies in the manuscript, has led to speculation that the event was heavily embroidered in order to support Crowley's own belief system. Moreover, according to Arthur Calder-Marshall's The Magic of my Youth, Neuburg gave a quite different account of the event, claiming that he and Crowley evoked the spirit of an Egyptian workman.
Choronzon is deemed to be held in check by the power of the Goddess Babalon, inhabitant of Binah, the third Sephirah of the Tree of Life. Both Choronzon and the Abyss are discussed in Crowley's Confessions (ch. 66):
- "The name of the Dweller in the Abyss is Choronzon, but he is not really an individual. The Abyss is empty of being; it is filled with all possible forms, each equally inane, each therefore evil in the only true sense of the word—that is, meaningless but malignant, in so far as it craves to become real. These forms swirl senselessly into haphazard heaps like dust devils, and each such chance aggregation asserts itself to be an individual and shrieks, "I am I!" though aware all the time that its elements have no true bond; so that the slightest disturbance dissipates the delusion just as a horseman, meeting a dust devil, brings it in showers of sand to the earth." [1]
Interpretations after Crowley
As with all invisible, intangible entities, it is impossible to document objective facts about Choronzon; the researcher is thus limited to documenting what has been written and theorised concerning it. As one often finds in matters of religion and magic, multiple schools of thought exist concerning Choronzon.
In one post-Crowleyan interpretation, Choronzon represents the internal chaos experienced when the ego confronts a higher mode of being which, the ego feels, threatens its destruction. It is the bargaining and trickery of the ego trying (desperately) to retain control of the self.
Its appearance as a strange, demonic entity can thus be seen as a matter of perspective. In experiencing the so-called Abyss, one may suddenly and jarringly identify with a part of oneself that is not the ego, yet find oneself drawn back toward ordinary consciousness through what seems like demonic (and external) threats and manipulation -- through words and sleights that are not (are no longer) one's own. From this point of view, Choronzon is, in a sense, one's normal mind, at a distance.
This understanding contends that Choronzon can be psychologically dangerous to encounter as an external 'entity,' because it has perfect knowledge of one's hurts and terrors, and in a sense personifies them. But Choronzon is also, in a sense, that part of us that we normally think of as our 'self,' which guards and takes care of us in the world through its vigilance. The terror of losing that part is a quite real and understandable terror, and we can think of Choronzon, so-called, as being in horror of losing us as well -- of letting go of the control that keeps and protects us, and being 'nobody.'
The astral experience of the Abyss is a pageant of this process, and an arena in which opposed parts of the self can contend and damage each other.
Yet despite Choronzon's apparent agitation, the crossing of the 'Abyss' does not destroy the ego or any part of the self, but only shifts perspective (and control). It is the ego's watchfulness and fear of abandonment that makes 'destruction' seem possible.
Non-Thelemic views of Choronzon
In much the same way that Satan has been championed by those who object to Christianity, Choronzon has been turned into a positive figure by some iconoclastic occultists, in particular chaos magicians who object to what they see as the stultifying and restrictive dogma of Thelema. Peter Carroll's "Mass of Chaos" includes such a reference to Choronzon. This in part has served as an inspiration for the "Work and Play of the 333 Current" - the basis of "actions" (technomancy and other modernised ritual magery, usually purged of most "old mysticism", astrology, numerical correspondences and suchlike - which spurred the western half of the Choronzon music project into being.)
References
- Crowley, Aleister (1982). Magick Without Tears. Phoenix, AZ: Falcon Press.
- Crowley, Aleister (1998). The Vision & the Voice. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser.
- Wikipedia (2006). Choronzon. Retrieved July 24, 2006.
External links
- The Vision and the Voice - The Cry of the Tenth Aethyr - Crowley's account of his encounter with Choronzon
- Benjamin Rowe - "The Illusion of the Abyss." An account of an alleged crossing of the Abyss by a contemporary magician.
- Esoterica777 - Coronzom - Scroll down to 'What's in a name' for details regarding the spelling Coronzom (page includes a jpg image taken from the original manuscript- Cotton XLVI Pt. I, fol. 91a)
