The Intelligence of Luna

After the Luna Rite, I found myself drawn towards an analysis of the names of the Intelligence and Spirit of Luna. In my interpretation of the dream that followed the creation of the Talisman, I deduced that the name of the Spirit, Shad Barshimath ha-Sharthathan, represented a wrathful, wilderness-dwelling Tannin who, like his Lunar counterpart Asmoday, responds to curses and enacts wrathful vengeance.

An analysis of the name of the Intelligence of Luna, however, reveals an entity of a feminine, celestial nature.

מלכא	בתרשישים	ועד	ברוה	שהרים
Malka	be-Tharshishim	va'ad	be-ruah	Shaharim
Daughter	of the Virtues	and constantly	with the Spirit	of the Dawning Ones

The word ‘Malka’ corresponds to both ‘Queen’ and ‘Daughter.’ With the Tharshishim, ‘the Brilliant Ones,’ being a cognate of the Angelic Order of Virtues, she can either be seen as either the Queen of that Order, then,  or an offshoot of it. With the Intelligences being lesser Angels and the Tharshishim denoting the choir of Angels of Briah in Geburah, it would be more correct to place her as a spiritual offshoot of that order who inherits a middle management function amongst the Choir of the Ishim in the Heaven of Levanah rather than a higher ranking entity in the Heaven of Madim. 

The Choir of the Ishim, whose name depicts ‘flaming’ or ‘sparks,’ are reflected by the Order of Kerubim in the realm of Assiah, and preside over the elements and the motions of the celestial bodies and the natural and elemental forces as they manifest in Malkuth. These natural and celestial functions are reflected in the name ‘Shaharim,’ a spiritual Order with whom the Intelligence of Luna is in constant accord. This Order derives its name from Shahar, the Ugaritic god of dawn and offspring of El, who, with his twin, the dusk god Shalim, ruled the liminal boundaries of night and day. 

With the morning and evening stars being one in Venus, and with the ‘Daughter of the Virtues’ being an offspring of the Heavenly order of Mars, what we see in the Intelligence of Luna is an energy formed by a blending of those of Mars and Venus. This merging of male and female energies is reflected in Luna’s traditional magical power of ‘the White Tincture,’ the stone formed by the Whitening process of Alchemy,  in which the feminine aspect of the soul is realised to be a precursive stage to the Coniunctio that occurs with the production of Gold in Tiphereth. Likewise, the Vision of the Machinery of the Universe associated with Yesod reflects the powers of the Order of Kerubim with their governance of Celestial mechanics.