Correspondences: Solstices, Equinoxes, Solar Adorations, & More

Many magicians nowadays practice Solar Adorations, such as Crowley's Liber Resh vel Helios or the Cicero G.'.D.'. variant of Kheperu Nu Ra (which I personally use). These correspond to the four pivotal points of the Sun's journey throughout the day: Sunrise, Noon, Sunset, and Midnight (effectively every 6 hours), and thus the ritual attunes us to the cycles of the Sun and its life-giving rays, as well as constantly reminding us of the spiritual throughout our day. But there is much more to this, and it can be found via correspondences, some of which I've come up with via meditations and ponderings.

The gods are an obvious correlation and are taken from the Adorations themselves (in this case from the Cicero one, since I'm making correspondences within the Golden Dawn system itself). However, these four points of the day also relate to the four points of the year, for the Sun's journey is not merely a daily one, but a yearly one too. Sunrise is when the Sun begins its journey, coming out of the depths (and death) of Night. The Vernal Equinox is the beginning of Spring, the emergence of the Sun out of the depths (and death) of Winter. Noon is the figurative height of the Sun, equated with the most obvious and potent of Sun-gods, Ra; it is also equated with the Summer Solstice, the zenith of the Sun within the scope of the year. Sunset is when the Sun diminishes, and thus it is tied to the Autumnal Equinox, for Autumn sees the diminishing of the Sun as it makes it way into the Underworld of Winter. This leads us to Midnight, which is when the Sun is "hidden", just as it is at the Winter Solstice, where we yearn for its Light once more. All of these are thus related to the Zodiac Signs, for when the Vernal Equinox occurs the Sun enters Aries. Likewise the Sun enters Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn at the Summer Solstice, Autumnal Equinox, and Winter Solstice respectively. We can, therefore, relate these to the daily Solar Adorations. We are, as an example, effectively adoring and invoking the powers of Aries during the Sunrise Adoration, and Libra during the Sunset one.

The three primary Officers (the "HHH" or "Middle Pillar" ones) are also related to the Equinoxes and Solstices. I can't remember where I read this correspondence, but it was probably Pat Zalewski's The Equinox & Solstice Ceremonies of the Golden Dawn. Regardless, the Hierophant is related to the Summer Solstice, since it is the height of the Sun, and the Hierophant is also related to the Sephirah of Tiphareth, the epitome of the Sun (see here for more on the relation of the Officers to the Middle Pillar). The Hiereus, in contrast, takes the polar opposite of the Winter Equinox, given the relation to Malkuth and its proximity to the Qlippoth (these are also technically related to East [Hierophant] and West [Hiereus] and thus to Sunrise and Sunset, but there are multiple layers, and not all will correlate). The Hegemon corresponds to both Equinoxes, because the Hegemon is the officer of balance, and the Equinoxes are the pivotal times of balance.

In the Practicus (3=8) ceremony the Kabiri are mentioned, and these three primary Officers each classify themselves as one of the Kabiri, thereby giving us the final correspondences shown in the images above. The Hierophant relates to Axieros, the Hiereus to Axiokersos, and the Hegemon to Axiokersa. This gives us another set of deities to work with in relation to the Sephiroth, the Zodiac Signs, the Festivals, the Egyptian gods, and the Solar Adorations. The main point I want to make with this post, however, is that the Solar Adorations done daily are the microcosmic reflection of the macrocosmic adorations we do during the four primary festivals throughout the year, the Solstices and Equinoxes.