DeConick A.D

211
HELL WALKS AND STAR TREKS
a memorized prayer and displaying a secret sign or seal. The exact route of
their soul journey through the zodiac houses aligns with the astrological
teaching of a second-century Pythagorean philosopher, Numenius.
Numenius taught that the soul ascended through the star gate Capricorn
(Porphyry, Cave of Nymphs 23). The ascending soul leaves the body
at death by making its way around the nocturnal houses of the zodiac,
from Capricorn through Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, exiting
via Cancer. Incarnation involved descent along the other half of the
zodiac, the diurnal houses, when the soul entered through Cancer’s star
gate and descended through Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius,
and finally dropped through Capricorn and was embodied.
The Ophian Christians, following this same astrological pattern,
thought that when the soul leaves its body it flies through the Capricorn
star gate. Capricorn is ruled by the planet Saturn, which the Ophians
identified with the chief of the dark lords, the Jewish god whom they
called by the secret name Ialdabaoth but who also carried the angel name
Michael. This god is lion-shaped and ferocious. Standing before him, the
initiate says, “Greetings, Solitary King, Bond of Blindness, Reckless Forgetting,
First Power. I am guarded by the spirit of Pronoia and by Sophia.
Now I am sent forth pure. I am already part of the light of the Son and
the Father. May grace be with me. Yes, Father, may it be with me” (Origen,
Against Celsus 31, my translation).
The next stop of the zodiac avenger is the star gate Aquarius, which is
also ruled by Ialdabaoth. A second prayer is recited in which the avenger
identifies his own nous or mind as more powerful than Ialdabaoth. The
initiate considers himself a perfect product of the Son and the Father. The
initiate shows Ialdabaoth a secret seal that is imprinted with the symbol of
life. These actions open Ialdabaoth’s cosmic gate and allow the liberated
initiate to go past Ialdabaoth a second time.
The initiate continues, entering the star gate Pisces, which is ruled by
Iao, lord of the planet Jupiter. “Greetings, ruler from whom the mysteries
of the Son and the Father are concealed, Iao, the Second Lord Shining in
the Night and the First Lord of Death,” says the initiate (Origen, Against
Celsus 31, my translation). In his avenging prayer, the initiate claims to be
mature yet innocent, having overpowered the negative aspects of his self
made by Iao.
Likewise, at the star gate Aries the initiate overpowers Sabaoth, also
known as Raphael, the dark lord of Mars. Then, at the Taurus gate he