Aeon

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Categories: Astrology | Astrological terms | Thelema | Thelemic terms

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An Aeon in Thelemic philosophy is a period of history during which the Vernal Equinox precesses through a sign of the zodiac, a process which takes approximately 2000 years.

The Aeons in Thelema

History is taken and broken down into a series of "Aeons", each with its own dominant concept of divinity and its own "formula" of redemption and advancement. The last three Aeons have been: The Aeon of Isis, The Aeon of Osiris, and The Aeon we are currently in, The Aeon of Horus or Conquering Child. During Neolithic times, the Aeon of Isis, the female aspect of the Godhead was revered due to a mostly matriarchal society and the fact that "Mother Earth" nourished, clothed and housed man. The Classical/Medieval Aeon of Osiris is considered to be dominated by the Paternal Principle, with a society based mainly on martial principals. We see in this Aeon many wars fought in the name of "God" as well as a rapidly advancing technological structure. This Aeons formula was that of self-sacrifice and submission to the Father God. The modern Aeon of Horus, with our times of self-realization as well as a growing interest in all things spiritual, is considered to be dominated by the Principle of the Child. Individuality and finding the "True Will" are the dominant aspects; its formula is that of growth, in consciousness and love, toward self-realization. The future Aeon, which is seen to eventually replace the present one is the Aeon of Ma'at. According to some, for example, Charles Standfield Jones (Frater Achad) The Aeon of Maat has already arrived. For others, (among them Nema, and the Horus Maat lodge) it is present as a backwards-flowing current grounded in the future. There is a debate as to the temporal span of an Aeon. On the one hand it is argued that an Aeon lasts 2000 years in accordance with the astrological ages generated by the procession cycles of the earth's axis (ie; the 26000 year 'platonic year'), while on the other, Crowley himself suggested that the Horus Age may last as little as 100 years, and that the Aeons might not be uniformly defined in terms of duration. Still another point of view suggests that an Aeon is better interpreted in light of the Gnostic model in which Aeons(or Aions) are considered as stages or spheres of influence in terms of the development of an energy. As such, in this view an Aeon is not Chronological at all, and it is possible for several Aeons to co-exist on the Earth at one time. Contemporary earthly existence of 'prehistoric' cultures, patriarchal structures, and Horus-influenced bastions of individualism, are cited as support for this hypothesis of heterogeneous Aeonics.