The Hymn to the Master of Death is a hymn we use on Saturday, the day belonging to Saturn, the lord of Time and Death – the great transformation. It invokes the spirits of Saturn (Agiel, Zazel), its angel (Zaphkiel), and its divine names (Shaddai). The “Dark Lord” thus besought is a form of Satan. Therefore, it is important to stress that the angelic host of Thrones, or established power over the matter ruled by Saturn’s spirit, are the thrones of Truth, even though their dominion might seem to human beings as heartless powers. For the more real world of being, the liquid space known as aether, is “hid as with a stone,” and like the deepest layer of Dantean hell, our physical reality is “frozen.” The physical realm under Saturn is the realm of ash statues, frozen in mid-motion, from the viewpoint of spirit. It is a terrible world where karma is being freed by dharma, where the lack of equilibrium is being corrected by apparent retribution, seemingly lasting forever. As said Mephistopheles: “Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.” And Blavatsky: “Thus Satan and the anointed were identified in ancient thought. […] Satan is the minister of God, Lord of the seven mansions of Hades […] Hell, is simply our globe, the Earth, and thus Satan is called – the angel of the manifest Worlds.” It is “Satan who is the god of our planet and the only god,” and this without any allusive metaphor to its wickedness and depravity. For he is one with the Logos […]” (Secret Doctrine, II, p.234.)
Hymn to the Master of Death
Agiel, Zazel, Zaphkiel,
hear me, O Father of Vastness.
God of Darkness, Angel of Death,
Dark Lord in front of the Throne of Truth.
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh.
The waters are hid as with a stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
My feet lean upon the Imperishable Rock.
O Prince of Darkness, Father of Death,
Lord of Cold Night, Master of the Frozen Hell.
Abrai, Shaddai, Shabathai,
in nomine lucis rationis augustissimae,
fiat nox, fiat nox, fiat nox.
Super quo bases illius solidatae sunt
aut quis dimisit lapidem angularem eius,
cum me laudarent simul astra matutina
et iubilarent omnes filii Dei.
Numquid ingressus es profunda maris
et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti,
numquid apertae tibi sunt portae mortis
et ostia tenebrosa vidisti.
Amen, Amen, Ameth.
[Fosforos commentary & translations:]
Father of Vastness = Saturn was the ultima thule for the old solar system. As a god of lower reason he also represents the last limit of our personal consciousness, and this limit is the vastness of dark space. Where Venus is “the space beyond space,” herein it means the space that can be perceived as an absence of form, like the blackness amid the stars.
God of Darkness = As it is said in The Secret Doctrine, the darkness is the fundamental form of light.
Angel of Death = But not that of violence, which is the result of a mistake, namely force.
Dark Lord = For he manifests the unmanifested (the original Absolute) that the lower self realizes only by the lack of something, in the point zero.
In front of the Throne of Truth = But not on that throne. The place on the throne is reserved for the ruling solar gods (Sun & Jupiter).
Kadosh = Holy.
The waters are hid as with a stone…. = The work of Saturn is the crystallization of reality, the placing of the emanated elemental energy with the help of the four basic powers into the solid state that is often represented as the crucifixion of the spirit.
My feet lean upon the Imperishable Rock = I lean my own psychology on that which is indestructible and unchangeable, in other words, on the spirit and the immortality of the Ego. This is the only way for a man to avoid the metamorphoses in front of unavoidable death – which is the constant changing of the formal world.
Master of the Frozen Hell = “The Frozen Hell” is the state of absolute cold, in other words, the state of a perfect non-creation that as an immovable zero-point supports all creation. It becomes the place of suffering only in a situation in which the consciousness becomes bound to that zero-point of existence, unable to break away from its gravitational pull. This can happen if the illusion of separatism has powerful influence over the individual.
In nomine lucis… = In the name of the most august light of reason, let there be night. Pekka Ervast presented this chant as a spell of grey magic in his play H.P.B. It glorifies the meaning of the formulating intelligence, which is still mortal and without power of its own when left without spiritual truth.
Super quo bases… = “Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” We must remember that despite the possibility for materialistic reason to explain everything, consciousness should be based upon the spirit and immortality, which is also the final foundation of the world. “Below” is ultimately strife, pain, and death. “Above” is ultimately peace, happiness, and life. Yet the fundamental unity of these two realities has to be unlocked through the latter and not the former.
Numquid ingressus… = “Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea [into the fundaments of Maya]? Or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?”
Salome 