The Dark Lord: H.P. Lovecraft, Kenneth Grant, and the Typhonian Tradition in Magic - Peter Levenda 2013

Kalas, Tithis, And Nityas
Appendix

WHILE KENNETH GRANT goes on at great length through all of his books in discussing the kalas—the vaginal secretions that are so central to his concept of Tantra and Thelemic magic—he does not enumerate them or describe the individual kalas. For someone who wants to dig deeper into this system, this is a glaring hole in the data. There are some good reasons for this, and one of them is that this is a subject fraught with complexity and a bewildering number of Sanskrit terms and Vedic references, not all of which agree with each other. Another reason might be the advisability of using Vedic astrology in conjunction with the Ritual of the Fire Snake. And Vedic astrology is not well-known in the West (aside from a few popular books on the subject) and it is virtually ignored among the Thelemic magicians of the author's acquaintance (admittedly, very few!). To become reasonably expert in Vedic astrology would require a good knowledge of Sanskrit and tremendous patience with the rather disorganized and confusing array of books on the subject, and this is somewhat lacking among occultists in the West.

So what the author offers here is a list of the kalas with their associations and a discussion of the kalas and the tithis: the phases of the Moon which are the same in number as the kalas and which can afford us a better understanding of the whole subject. In addition, the Nityas will also be listed: these are the deities associated with the individual phases, or tithis. In this way, it is hoped that the new generation of Typhonian magicians (and those simply interested in the subject) will have access to a more profound understanding of the praxis.

As a side note, there will often be those who object to bringing in Asian concepts and practices into a seemingly purely Western or European discipline. The objection may be from an academic, anti-universalist point of view or simply may be a matter of taste. But the Typhonian Tradition, as the author understands it, is concerned with the pre-dynastic Egyptian traditions and those that are much older even than Sumer or Mohenjo Daro. Ifwe recognize that control over the serpent brain is a key feature of this type of magic, then we also must recognize that this part of the human anatomy developed before the races had become differentiated from each other. What we share is the basic psycho-biological structure of our anatomy. The practices that work in India will also work in Mexico, in Europe, and everywhere else once linguistic and cultural differences have been addressed. It's just that they have been codified better in India and China, which—as many academics now seem to agree—was the source for the Western alchemical tradition, even though they were patently biological (and not strictly or exclusively) mineral.

The Typhonian Tradition, it should be obvious by now, rejects nothing and accepts whatever works.

The Kalas

Quite often, the kalas are identified with the tithis, or the phases of the Moon. However, the phases of the Moon have their own nomenclature (really little more than numbers) while the kalas have more descriptive names.

There are sixteen kalas, of which only fifteen are considered visible. Their names are as follows:

In the above list, the last kala—Amrita—is the invisible one. Readers will recall that amrita is the word signifying the elixir vitae, the soma that descends from the cranial vault (or from a space a little above it) down through the body once union between Kundalini and Shiva has been attained. For this reason, the kala named Amrita is ruled by a Nitya (in this case, a kind of Goddess of the kala) called the Maha Tripura Sundari, i.e., the Goddess of the Sri Chakra. The other Nityas are as follows:

Nityas

Thus, as we have said, the last Nitya—Maha Tripura Sundari, also known as the Goddess Sixteen—is not visible, and is associated with the kala Amrita.

Tithis

As mentioned, the names of the tithis are really just numbers in Sanskrit, but since one will come across the names again and again in the Tantric and Jyotish literature, the full list is given here:

1. Pratipada

2. Dwitiya (i.e., “second”)

3. Tritiya (i.e., “third” etc.)

4. Chaturthi

5. Panchami

6. Shashthi

7. Saptami

8. Ashtami (this is the Half Moon phase)

9. Navami

10. Dashami

11. Ekadashi

12. Dwadashi

13. Trayodashi

14. Chaturdashi

15. Purnima (for the Full Moon) or

Amavasya (for the New Moon).

Now, to complicate things a little further, we must take the waning and waxing periods of the Moon into consideration. There are thus a total of 30 kalas or tithis to make a complete lunar cycle. In Indian astrology these are divided into the Shukla Paksha (the waxing Moon) and the Krishna Paksha (the waning Moon). Thus, we can be more specific in our enumeration of the tithis, as follows:

1. Shukla Pratipada

2. Shukla Dwitiya

3. Shukla Tritiya

4. Shukla Chaturthi

5. Shukla Panchami

6. Shukla Shashthi

7. Shukla Saptami

8. Shukla Ashtami

9. Shukla Navami

10. Shukla Dashami

11. Shukla Ekadasi

12. Shukla Dwadashi

13. Shukla Trayodashi

14. Shukla Chaturdashi

15. Purnima (Full Moon)

16. Krishna Pratipada

17. Krishna Dwitiya

18. Krishna Tritiya

19. Krishna Chaturthi

20. Krishna Panchami

21. Krishna Shashthi

22. Krishna Saptami

23. Krishna Ashtami

24. Krishna Navami

25. Krishna Dashami

26. Krishna Ekadasi

27. Krishna Dwadashi

28. Krishna Trayodashi

29. Krishna Chaturdashi

30. Amavasya (New Moon)

The first tithi—Shukla Pratipat—is 12 degrees of the Moon away from union with the Sun. The second tithi—Shukla Dwitiya—is thus 24 degrees of separation from the Sun, etc. This concept is quite important because the relationship between the Moon and the Sun is central to Indian astrology which computes everything from the Moon rather than the Sun. As we mentioned before, Indian astrology is not solar-based. The positions of the planets are computed from the Moon, and the houses of the astrological chart are similarly constructed. In addition, the actual positions of the planets against the sidereal zodiac are employed, and the conventional dates of the zodiacal signs are not used. One's birthday, therefore, is calculated every year by reference to the original positions of both the Sun and the Moon on the day of birth. Thus, if one were born with the Sun in Libra and the Moon in the fifth tithi, one's birthday is not celebrated until both of those positions repeat themselves. So a birthday in Indian astrology is both solar return and lunar return. The exact degrees will not be repeated each year, of course, but to some Vedic astrologers the emphasis will be on the lunar phase (the tithi) being the same with the solar degree remaining the variable. When a Vedic astrologer computes an annual transit horoscope, for instance, it is calculated from the tithi (the same one that occurred on the day of birth) rather than from the solar return position. Both are taken into consideration, of course, because the angle between the Sun and the Moon—the two luminaries, but also representing the two essences that gave life to the individual, the kala and the bindu, the “blood” and the semen, the red and the white—is of utmost importance. It has been a defect of Western astrology that the emphasis is on the solar aspects of the cosmos rather than the mingling of the essences of Shiva and Shakti, of the Moon and the Sun.

Each of the phases of the moon—the tithis—have yantras (magic diagrams) and mantras associated with them. Each of the Nityas has her own yantra, mantra, and shakti as well. They also represent the sixteen vowels of the Sanskrit alphabet. According to several of the Tantras, the fifteen Nityas are to be visualized as occupying spaces around the central, downward-pointing, triangle of the Sri Cakra. This inner triangle represents the yoni of the Goddess. In the very center of this triangle is the bindu, the dot, that represents the Sixteenth Kala and therefore the Goddess Sixteen herself.

Recourse to a book on Indian astrology would be helpful to the reader who wishes to understand this concept better, especially with regard to the kalas, the tithis and their ruling Nityas. Inclusion of the appropriate mantras and yantras as part of the Ritual of the Fire Snake as offered by Grant may be helpful as well, at least in the beginning, in order to orient oneself with regard to the chakras, the kalas, the phases of the Moon, etc.

While this information concerns the vaginal secretions, the male secretion is not ignored entirely. It is believed by yogins, Ayurvedic physicians, and Indian alchemists that it takes fourteen days to replenish the semen after an ejaculation; this is roughly equivalent to one paksha—i.e., either the waning or the waxing period of the Moon—so it may be safe to say that they are connected. Remember that as the Moon waxes, amrita is being poured into it (according to the Tantras); i.e., it is being stored in the lunar vessel. The day after the Full Moon, the amrita begins pouring back to the Sun until the Moon is completely empty. It is the Tantrika who interrupts this process by drawing the amrita down into his or her own body. A relevant image would be the Tarot Trump known as Temperance in the old decks, which depicts a blonde Angel in robes and wings pouring liquid from one cup to another. The Tarot trump known as the Star depicts a naked woman pouring the liquid onto the earth; above her head are seven stars, surrounding a larger star in the central axis.

Thus, a word to the Wise is sufficient.