By Charlotte Wenner

Tags: astrology, Black Moon, Lilith

Perhaps one of the most significant overall contribution to the development of modern astrology that Dane Rudhyar made was his emphasis on the horoscope as mandala. Its significators are all interrelated and involved in cyclic processes of change, transformation, and, at best, evolution.

Mercury–Vulcan (hypothetical), Moon–Priapus, Sun–Black Moon. The three “mother” letters are the triune processes of consciousness.

As Rudhyar wrote in The Astrology of Personality

…out of the this ever-active, ever sounding chord of being and becoming – of becoming operating in and through being, of being substantialized and made operative in and through becoming – emerges the creative wholeness of the organic whole.Astrology illustrates, exemplifies, and provides applications for all these correlations. But it too must be understood whole… the genius of astrology is to be in correlations, in groupings, in balancing lights against shadows, blacks against whites, formative against destructive agencies – accepting all of them as the functions of the organic wholeness of the whole…[1] Dane Rudhyar, The Astrology of the Personality (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Paperback: 1970) pp. 445 – 446..

Yet despite the insistence on assessing astrology through the dynamic inter play of relationships by Rudhyar, Alexander Ruperti, and countless other process-oriented astrologers, the tendency to add whatever new astronomical object which ‘resonates’ with them without integrating it within the totality of the horoscope or established astrological structure.

Stephen Arroyo argues against the integration of the plethora of dwarf planets, junior and senior asteroids, planetoids, TNOs, Arabic Parts, fixed stars and midpoints on offer nowadays in his last book, Experiments and Experience in Astrology. ‘There are some otherwise excellent and perceptive astrologers whose motto seems to be – if it moves, interpret it.’ Simplicity, he continues, is key to providing a meaningful analysis, and that simplicity is based on the foundational factors of astrology. ‘My view is that one should use a minimum of major, reliable factors in order to see a client and his or her situation clearly. Otherwise you’ll project confusion, not order, to the client.’ [2]

In other words, an astrologer needs to have a clear philosophical approach and a coherent structure in order to synthesize any new objects within the established astrological tradition. As Robert Hand put it, the lack of a coherent philosophical foundation is the greatest deficiency in modern astrology. He urges a return to Platonic and Hermetic principles instead of the Theosophical distortions of ancient wisdom that has crept into astrological theory of today. [3]

The Black Moon ‘Lilith’ is a specific case in point. While the use of ‘Lilith’, a second, or ‘Black Moon’, has become increasingly popular in the past fifty years, it is, for the most part, treated like a cherry on the top of an astrological cake rather than an integrated factor in post-modern astrology. This has led to a divergence of interpretations and calculations which indeed projects more confusion than order.

Lilith, Dark Moon, Black Moon and Asteroid

Few new objects added to the modern astrological pantheon have inspired so much speculation as the Dark or Black Moon, Lilith. The concept of a second, invisible Moon arose amid the fervor by astronomers at the end of the end of the nineteenth century to discover more celestial bodies invisible to the naked eye like Uranus and Neptune. The German astronomer George Waltemath postulated such a dark, second – satellite of the Moon in 1898. Within two months Theosophist Walter Richard Old, better known by his pseudonym Sepharial, was publishing articles in his astrology magazine, Coming Events, which embraced Waltemath’s Dark Moon. He named it Lilith.[4]

The popular story of Lilith as Adam's first wife originates primarily from the Alphabet of Ben Sira. However, this is held to have been a medieval satirical work rather than an authoritative Jewish scripture. In that tale, Lilith refuses to submit to Adam, claiming they are, and she departs from Eden. Later folklore elaborated on the character, turning her into a demonic figure who enticed young men and killed babies. It combined medieval storytelling with ancient Near Eastern myths of female night spirits. [5]

Sepharial suggested that this hidden, second-moon ‘Lilith’ symbolized an influence which ‘is undoubtedly obstructive and fatal, productive of various forms of catastrophes and accidents, sudden upsets, changes and states of confusion’. In the same article, he claimed that according to the Kabballah, ‘Lilith is the wife of Cain, as the Moon (Evah) is the wife of Adam’. He continued by citing unknown ‘authorities’ who ‘regard Lilith as the second wife of Adam after his fall from the angelic state’. From this, he concluded that ‘Lilith would certainly seem to bear a bad reputation and to be in such a way associated with a degraded and dark destiny’. [6]

Waltemath’s moon was repudiated by the astronomical community almost immediately, when its passage before the Sun on 3 February and 30 July 1898 that he predicted failed to materialize. [7] Only Sepharial, who claimed to have seen it pass in front of the Sun in 1918, and a Canadian meteorologist who suggested such an object could have been Waltemath’s moon, corroborated the German astronomer’s claim. Similarly, Sepharial’s reference to Lilith as wife to Cain does not actually appear in the Kabballah but seems the product of the occult imagination of the time.

Using ancient texts to validate creations of what Wouter Hanegraaf calls the ‘Theosophical imagination’ was a common practice within Helena Blavatsky’s circle. [8] Diana Brown argues that Blavatsky interpreted traditions such as Kabbalah through an ‘occult hermeneutic’ that considered symbolic correspondences, intuition, and esoteric synthesis more important than actual historical-critical textual analysis. [9]

Unfortunately, this practice has continued within astrology, and Sepharial’s name for Waltemath’s hypothetical moon and his interpretation is still used. In fact, this interpretation is often indiscriminately applied to completely different points. In particular, Sepharial’s original dark prophecy concerning Waltemath’s second moon has been extended to the physical asteroid, ‘Lili’ or ‘Lilith’, and the point located at the Moon’s apogee, first posited by French astrologer Pierre Rougie (writing under the pseudonym Dom Neroman), called the Black Moon.

Dom Néroman was inspired to ‘correct’ Waltemath’s calculation when he took up the challenge set out by Paul Choisnard to reform astrology along more scientific lines. Néroman, a mine engineer by trade, ‘discovered’ the Black Moon Lilith by extrapolating on the wider implications of Kepler’s elliptical orbits. Néroman realized that the difference between a circular orbit and an ellipse is that one is oriented to a single center, while the other necessitates two centers of focus, or ‘foci’. An ellipse is a shape where, for any point on its edge, the distance to one focus plus the distance to the other focus always adds up to the same total.

With regard to the geocentric model of the cosmos used in astrology, one of the two ‘foci’ is physically occupied by the Earth, while the other mathematical focus is only ‘occupied’ by space – energy. Néroman proposed an internally coherent structure for astrology incorporating modern developments in astrophysics and science such as ellipses and the new trans-Saturnal planets. [10] Yet even Néroman’s work was influenced by the occultism of the previous century. He was also limited by the scarcity of reliable translations of ancient texts.

Thus Néroman reasoned that the unoccupied center of the Moon’s orbit would be in the vicinity of the lunar apogee, the point farthest from Earth in its orbit. In his first full discussion of the Black Moon in Les Présages à la lumière des lois de l'évolution, Néroman refers to the point on the apogee as ‘Lilith’, and remarks on the ephemeris based on Waltemath’s and Sepharial’s observations. Graves points out that:

it would seem from his own testimony that he has accessed them without knowing the history of how they have been calculated or on what basis. He therefore would appear to have only a vague notion of what they are referring to, and no inkling of the extremely recent origin of the ‘tradition’ they are based on. Instead, he seems to be labouring under the illusion that they may be a distortion of a much earlier astrological tradition surrounding the daily motion of Lilith, a distortion he believes he has corrected in his study. [11]

Néroman’s decision to call this point the Lune Noire, the Black Moon or Lilith, continued the occult symbolic practices in early 20th century astrology. It may suggest that he wished to reform astrological belief within the occult rather than rid astrology of it. He considered the Black Moon and the Lunar nodes to be energetic ‘antennae’, able to receive and mediate cosmic influences on humanity. [12]

Néroman’s work was continued by the astrological institution he established, the College Astrologique. The astrologers in this tradition continued to interpret the Dark Moon Lilith as exaggerating any negative potential: as Néroman put it, turning the gourmet into a glutton, rendering charm mere ‘sex appeal’ and transforming pleasurable experiences into orgies. [13]

The English-Language Wave: Feminism, Esotericism and Evolution

Much as the interpretation of astrological ‘Lilith’ was inspired by the occult and Theosophical imagination, alternative perspectives on the Black Moon Lilith seem to have been influenced by theories from feminism, Jungian psychology and about the soul’s evolution which emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. While some astrologers still interpret the Black Moon as a kind of seductress, many books published on ‘Lilith’ portray the Black Moon as a kind of submerged, feminine aspect of rage and primitive wisdom.

This new symbolism arose concurrent with the wave of feminist literature of the seventies and eighties. Judith Plaskow’s The Coming of Lilith from 1972 sketches a similar portrait to that used by astrologers. Plaskow describes ‘how Lilith, instead of being a reactionary monster, she is actually a suppressed woman that managed to vindicate for her freedom, becoming an admirable paradigm for all women in the world, struggling with oppression’. [14]

An example of recent astrological works which present this perspective include Finding Our Way in the Dark by Demetra George. She grouped Dark Moon Lilith, Asteroid Lilith and Black Moon Lilith as the three faces of the ‘Dark Goddess’ Lilith. She describes that she first became aware of the Black Moon Lilith, as opposed to the Dark Moon, during a lecture by French astrologer Marc Beriault, who seems to have continued Neroman’s work.

After listening to Beriault, she decided to discard Waltemath’s Dark Moon until she realized, ‘like a Uranian thunderbolt’, that the Goddess always has a triple aspect, and grouped the Dark Moon, the asteroid Lili and Néroman ‘s Black Moon as different phases of feminine psychic development [15]. It is interesting that her interpretation of Black Moon Lilith bears more resemblance to the work by Jean Carteret (see below) than Dom Néroman. [16]

More recently, Kelly Hunter has published work in which she also groups the three ‘Liliths’ with the star Algol. She claims that it had also been called Lilith by Hebrew astronomers. [17] As she wrote in 2016,

This is a very profound and essential aspect of our experience, the deep desire of the soul for union with the divine… This essential self calls for authenticity and spiritual liberation. Our Lilith Self is a deeply erotic essence of the life force that invites us into an intriguing field of inquiry that lures us beyond the comfort level of the Moon Self and even the personal happiness level of our Venus Self. [18]

Other interpretations draw on Carl Jung’s religious-historical process. This emphasizes the replacement of maternal law by patriarchal authority. Publishing under the auspices of the Jeffrey Green School of Evolutionary Astrology, Mary Blue restores women to their role as ‘guardians of humankind’s original nature’. [19] Blue refers to Jeffrey Green’s teaching on the entirety of humanity’s evolutionary history and knowledge to be contained in the sexual fluids. The key to this information is held by Lilith:

…contrary to patriarchal religious dogma which exalts Spirit over Flesh, the true archetype of Lilith exalts their synthesis. Womankind transmitted through their bodies the wisdom nature from the Flame of Spirit that danced in their hearts. Through Spirit’s sacred teachings, imparted during their daily activities or in ritual seclusion during their menses, they learned, shared stories, songs, dances, and rituals that impregnated their people’s hearts, bodies and minds with their wisdom to inspire and guide their way through the often dark crucible of Time and its cycles of change. [20]

Such descriptions are certainly inspiring. They particularly support women, who are twice as likely to believe in astrology than men, according to a recent survey. [21] Yet despite occasionally grouping three (or four) Black/Dark Moons as phases of development, the Black Moon is not integrated into the larger planetary context nor delineated in a process-oriented approach.

The Second French Wave: Carteret, Abellio and Consciousness

Dom Néroman’s initial work that is almost entirely overlooked is that he always maintained that Lilith was one end of an axis. This axis was formed by the maximum separation from and closeness to the Earth. The polarity point of the Black Moon was called Priapus, located at the lunar perigee. He writes, ‘It seems quite evident that the system of the two lunar axes is complete only if one defines the opposite of Lilith…the second focal point, which is the void, that is Lilith…and on the other side, the perigee…the god of generation’. The perigee is thus ‘the point that the moon, called upon, approaches and responds’. [22]

Néroman also established the Black Sun, located at the aphelion in the apparent orbit of the Sun around the Earth. Its polar opposite, the Diamond, lies at the perihelion. He wrote that given its extremely slow progress through the Zodiac (he established it at 1.71438 degrees per Julian century), the Black Sun could only be concerned with the Earth ‘as a whole’ and with the ‘destiny of the entire Globe’. [23]

Rudhyar was aware of and impressed by the work done by Dom Néroman:

(H)is movement is barely surviving him for lack of trained minds to handle the complexities of his comprehensive system. When I heard of his work in 1961 I was astonished to find significant correlations between his approach and mine, and I hope that his system and his voluminous books can some day be condensed for English-speaking students.[24]

Unfortunately, it seems that most astrologers would agree with Guinard that Néroman’s work was so speculative and complex in its details that it is practically ‘unworkable’. [25] Halbron states that it was left to his ‘apostle’, Jean Carteret, to popularize these factors more widely. [26]

Carteret published very little on astrology apart from the book he co-wrote with Andre Breton in 1974on a symbolic interpretation of the cycles of Uranus and Neptune. However, Carteret most often uses the term Black Moon, or ‘Head and Tail of the Moon’ in his extensive collection of notebooks to refer to the apogee and perigee of the lunar orbit. Carteret occasionally refers to it as Lilith, but only when relating it to the first story of creation in Genesis and the Immaculate Conception. [27]

After 40 years of continued attention to these points, Carteret concluded that ‘compared to the Sun and the Moon, the Black Luminaries stand out clearly as components of consciousness’. [28] Carteret interpreted Néroman’s work using foundational principles of traditional astrology, the symmetry of its structure and dialectical nature of its symbols, and applied them to the development of consciousness.

He compared the ‘Black’ to the ‘White’ Luminaries as a representing the relationship between the Metaphysical and the Physical, respectively, or between the visible and the invisible, between matter and spirit. The four luminaries are bound in an eternal struggle between two extremes: of Fullness, necessary to life, versus Emptiness, the foundation of pure human consciousness. As Carteret put it, ‘The human is the emptiness above and the fullness below, while the world is the fullness above and the emptiness below’. [29]

Carteret’s dialectics were influenced by his collaboration with post-Structural philosopher Raymond Abellio, who was an amateur astrologer himself. Abellio met Carteret in 1953, and the following year they cooperated with others in establishing the CEM (Cercle d’Etudes Metaphysics). The institute was inspired by the desire to establish a ‘strict’ philosophical structure inspired by the phenomenology of Husserl and his ‘transcendental I’. [30]

Abellio designed a method of spiritual transformation using a system which described the awakening of consciousness. It was based on the relationship between the 6 (senarium) and the 7 (septenary). These numbers are, of course, fundamental to astrological symbolism.

Abellio’s senarium–septenary provides insight in the way a structured world (six) becomes fully conscious and unified through reflexive awareness (seven). The signs of the Zodiac, their rulers, and the houses in the houses (2 x 6) provide the perfectly organized map of the internal, personal being in its relationship to the world. The new and old planets are the septenary: 2 x (2 luminaries + 5 wanderers = 7). The geocentric perspective adds ‘the fact that it is being read’ to the map. In other words, the central position of the Earth introduces reflective consciousness.

When this stage has been reached, it creates a kind of closure, in that nothing lies ‘outside’ of consciousness. The observer is included, moreover, in that which is observed. However, it is not the type of ‘closed-system’ in which everything is predestined, and a person acts merely like a flesh-covered robot. Consciousness is an autopoietic system which maintains its ‘weblike pattern of organization’ while it undergoes structural changes in its interactions with its environment. [31]

This weblike pattern is reflected in the horoscope. By placing the Earth at the center as object for reflection, an outside object with a relationship to the Earth is necessary for observation of it. This is the role for which the ‘second Earth’, the Black Moon at the apogee and second focus of the Moon is ideally suited.

In order to give an example of Carteret’s understanding of the two pairs of luminaries, as well as his ‘poetic’ thinking, I quote from his notes:

George Bode was already an astrologer when he first was introduced to Jean Carteret in Paris by a mutual acquaintance at the end of 1962. In the following fifteen years, Bode travelled frequently to meet Carteret and collaborate on concretizing a new form of astrology. Just two months before Carteret’s passing on 27 June 1980, Bode met with him for the last time. Carteret urged Bode to spread their metaphysical, symbolic and dialectical structure for astrology widely in the international astrological community.

Dutch Structuralist Astrology and the Lemniscate of Enlightenment

Bode bemoaned the piecemeal approach to considering new factors to astrology, and considered its cause the ‘trauma of 1781’. The shock initiated by the addition of Uranus and destruction of the set system used for thousands of years resulted in astrologers interpreting the new, trans-Saturnal planets ‘from a more or less traditional mentality, in which Uranus and the two other planets discovered since then - Neptune (1846) and Pluto (1930) - are regarded as a kind of supplement (my emphasis) to the five planets that have been observed in the night sky for centuries’. [33]

George Bode was careful to the process-oriented delineation of the Black Luminaries which Néroman and Carteret had initiated. Instead of grasping at myths or occult imagination as other astrologers have, Bode applied the scientific method used by Russian chemist Mendelejev:

He classified (the known elements) in ascending order of atomic weight, thereby establishing a specific sequence. Furthermore, he grouped them according to their chemical properties: he placed elements with similar properties next to one another… he attributed the force of a law to his system, and in this way he succeeded in predicting the properties of elements that were not yet known in his time…
In the same way, one can...approach the structure of the solar system. But with this enormous advantage over Mendeleev, that this structure is already known: it has a sevenfold character, in which a division between two (lights) and five (planets) is present. [34]

Bode insisted that in order to define any new astrological objects, their properties must be understood. To begin with, each objects place must be considered within the hierarchy of Star – Planet – Satellite. Furthermore, the astrological system has always incorporated the duality framed in terms of diurnal/nocturnal, masculine/feminine, or active/passive. There is also duality in the space of the horoscope: here/there, above/below. All of these factors have symbolic import, and Bode applied them in his interpretation.

The White Sun is a Star and the Earth a Planet, the Moon is the Satellite of the Earth. The Earth is at the center of this trinity as Satellite to the central Star of the solar system, the Sun. Yet the Earth is also the center of the Earth system for its satellite the Moon. Thus, Earth has a dual function much as Adam, and his ‘wives’, and consciousness has two perspectives, objective and subjective.

The ‘White luminaires’ describe subjective consciousness. The Sun represents the ego-function which organizes perceptions, sensual experiences, and emotions into a coherent sense of self. The Moon represents the emotional response to these experiences and stores them as memories. The cyclic development of the subjective emotional-identity is shown in the symbolism of their phase at birth and their interaction in secondary progression, as Rudhyar, for instance, has described. [35]

The addition of the Black Luminaries provides symbolism illustrating the process of coming to consciousness in which the ‘terrestrial self’ is transcended by the ‘divine self’. Because the apogee is located the farthest from the Earth, the Black Moon is, by implication, the ‘least lunar’ (Figure 1). It is the least receptive to the Earth’s influence and no longer feels itself a mere satellite of the Earth. In contrast to the ‘White’ Moon, which represents ever-changing, diffuse emotions, the Black Moon is an extremely focused form of conscious at one moment – now – at one place – here. This is a form of ‘core consciousness’, to paraphrase neurobiologist Antonio Damasio. [36]

Bode describes the Black Moon as ‘the commitment to the utmost objectivity’. It represents the rejection of circumstances imposed or required by other people and the social environment. The rejection is not rebellion. It is based on inner integrity and a commitment to authenticity rather than mere imitation and adoption of norms imposed by family and society. [37] The ‘void’ referred to by Néroman is not an emptiness of conscious energy, but of material influences. It is not thought but Awareness (See Figure 2).

Priapus is the opposite of the Black Moon, writes Bode.

In contrast to the refusal at the apogee, there is an exaggerated acceptance at the perigee…with Priapus, however, it is always about repetition…All in all, Priapus thus turns out to be a point where multiplicity and abundance reign…Priapus is clearly a factor of adaptation and adaptability… [38]

This is the aspect of consciousness which could be called the ‘automatic pilot’ and imitates that which is accepted and established. It is constantly focused on the strategies provided by memories of the past, and projecting them into the future. It is the Persona, and part of the process of socialization.

The Black Sun at the aphelion is the ‘least solar,’ and is thus the least individual, unique, or central. Contrary to the ‘White’ Sun, which shows the psychological ‘I’-entity which a person sees as his or her unique identity, the Black Sun represents a field of unbounded, unstructured, unconditioned, universal Consciousness/energy (See Figure 3). It is experienced as the Universal, the Source, the World Soul. In the horoscope, it symbolizes undifferentiated potential, and infuses the area represented by its house and the personal planets it aspects in the horoscope.

Its polarity point is the Diamond, which shows the highest refinement of human consciousness, sometimes called self-actualization. Bode writes of it

In contrast to the mystical attitude at the aphelion—the desire to merge into a greater whole—stands the gnostic attitude at the Diamond: the urge to cause a greater whole to merge into oneself and to be able to fully comprehend it. Thus, the Black Sun axis becomes the preeminent indicator of the evolution of consciousness. [39]

To put it another way, the Black Sun is symbolic of Being (which contains both Being and non-Being in itself) and is the presence of everything. Awareness, the Black Moon, is the ultimate ability of the individual to distance consciousness from manifestations. Priapus is the earthly consciousness which adapts, the Diamond is the early principle of enlightenment.

The Individual’s Journey of Self Awareness

Carteret used the terms ‘head’ and ‘tail’ to describe the opposite polarities of the Black Moon axes, adopted from the names Caput and Cauda Draconis for the lunar nodes. The ‘heads’ Black Moon/Diamond reflect the ‘masculine’ characteristics of narrowing, individualizing, concretization, while the ‘tails’ Priapus/Black Sun incorporate the feminine principles of expansion, generalization, and repetition. [40] The four poles – Black Moon and Priapus, Black Sun and Diamond – represent the process of coming to consciousness shown in Figure 4.

Wenner, Chapters 4 and 5 in Structural Noetic Astrology Part 1: A New Paradigm of Consciousness and Matter for a complete description of the two Black Luminaries and their polar counterparts.

Briefly stated, this process begins with the state of Unity which exists at birth. This is the ‘core consciousness’ in which separation of the subject and object from self do not yet exist. The baby expresses the elevated aspect of universal consciousness without reservation, and this is not always appreciated or acceptable in the environment. Corrective measures by parents and other authorities are experienced as rejection, and this leads to the ‘self-rejection’ which lies at the center of all behaviors and strategies a person develops to compensate. Priapus is the ability to imitate. The conditioning process gives rise to the ego, inauthentic self, or Persona. Priapus is the aspect of consciousness which imitates, the persona is the psychological structure of an inauthentic self. Likewise, the Black Moon should not be confused with Jung’s shadow. The former is an aspect of pure consciousness, whereas the latter is suppressed psychological content.

The same behaviors repeated by Priapus in order to reap admiration, love, and rewards eventually become rather stale. A life filled with the same old, known things often leads to an identity crisis, and certainly by midlife the individual will start looking for alternatives, if not sooner. The search to experience more that the immediate sphere of life leads the individual into the wide world, where endless possibilities beckon. This is the unlimited realm of the Black Sun. Yet more is not necessarily better. Sometimes the Black Sun will just be used to expand horizontally, to augment the Persona with additional behaviors, experiences or possessions through which the false self can be maintained.

Yet occasionally the individual will choose the route of ego-transcendence. Through a conscious choice to integrate all of life’s experiences and knowledge into consciousness, the person refines him- or herself in a continual process of self-actualization, the Diamond. At this point, it is possible to return to the original unity. This is not regression, but the result of an evolutionary integration of consciousness. [41]

In that sense, the story of Lilith has a happy ending. Bode used the metaphor of Eden to illustrate the process of self-actualization. Lilith and Adam are symbolic representations of that which Jung called the Self and the ego. The story portrays Adam, the Sun astrologically, as the horizontal, earthbound, individual aspect of personal consciousness, while Lilith, the Black Moon astrologically, is the vertical, universal, objective awareness of Consciousness.

While Adam merely dreams of putting the world in order, Lilith withdraws into absolute refusal and the icy peaks of solitude. Sooner or later, Adam will go looking for her, drawn by his earliest memories, and free her. The difficult journey to join her represents the entire maturation process that he must undergo.

The story of Lilith and Adam describes the fall from Unity at birth. Adam’s maturation process is, in fact, the quest for ‘enlightenment’, for want of a better word. The rejection and departure from Paradise is, moreover, an essential step in consciously embracing humanity’s divine nature, rather than living in a kind of blissful – or painful - ignorance. This also illustrates the importance of Priapus and Eve. The image of the ‘second wife’ made from Adam’s rib maintains the metaphor of the original ‘first wife/Lilith’ mythology of Black Moon. In addition, the description of Eve also includes the possibility of conscious transformation.

This transformation is mentioned by Diana Carvalho:

Eve’s creation in Genesis not only reveals her relationship with Adam, but also her status as a woman. Unlike Lilith, Eve is not formed from the same material as Adam. Her creation from Adam’s side or rib suggests that she is inferior to her mate… it is interesting to note that Adam calls Eve, “woman.” The Hebrew term is ishah literally means “woman” but also denotes the rules and regulations of marriage as mentioned in Genesis 2:24. The term ishah is placed in direct opposition to the other Hebrew word we attribute to the “first” woman (Lilith, C.W.), Havvah. It is only after Adam and Eve partake of the forbidden fruit of the tree of wisdom in the Garden of Eden, that ishshah becomes Havvah: Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all who live’. [42]

In other words, Eve did not receive her name (Havvah in Hebrew) until she had internalized wisdom. Bode associates the Black Moon with the Tree of Wisdom, and this also reflects the relationship between the first and second wives of Adam. As long as Eve symbiotically fulfilled her role to Adam she was only and inferior ‘copy’ of him. But when she connects with the absolute knowledge and integrity of the Black Moon, Lilith, Eve is transformed into Havvah.

In order to recognize that the ego-terrestrial self is actually a false construct of the repetitive thinking and memory, that the ‘I’ does not exist, is eating the fruit offered by Lilith. Once eaten, man and woman are rejected from unconscious wholeness, and only through the arduous work of coming to consciousness can they recognize that which they have always been. At that point, the learned behaviors of Priapus/Eve serve as support for bringing this consciousness to the world. When the two aspects of consciousness coincide instead of the horizontal, egoic Sun-self dominating the conscious Self, the result is the vertical Sun, Adam Kadmon.

The process described by the ‘Invisible Luminaries’ is the driving force underlying manifestation, both within the individual and in society as a whole. George Bode describes the interaction between them as the ‘essential process, without which the horoscope cannot be fully interpreted; it forms a kind of backbone to which all the other factors of the horoscope are attached like ribs’. [43] The inclusion of the Black Luminaries in a coherent structure offers an astrological symbolism for the PROCESS in which conscious growth can be deepened and understood.