Rite of the Carbon Star: A Hymn to Babalon as the Prima Materia.

qabalahtarotwesternhermeticmagickeli.com

The Scarlet Woman and the Carbon Atom: A Western Hermetic Metaphysical Analogy by Eli Serabeth.

In the Western Hermetic Tradition — especially in Thelemic magick and the system of Aleister Crowley — the Scarlet Woman is a central and paradoxical figure. She is:

• The Harlot of the Apocalypse (in her biblical guise),
• The Goddess of sacred sexuality and receptivity (in her Gnostic and Thelemic form),
• The Bride of Chaos and embodiment of Babalon,
• A vessel of transformative alchemical force.

She is reviled by the profane and sanctified by the initiate.

Now consider carbon — the foundational atom of organic life, and a true "harlot" in its own right, but in the most sacred sense:

• Carbon has four valence electrons, making it extremely versatile and capable of forming stable covalent bonds with almost all other elements.
• It is promiscuous in the chemical sense — the great unifier and binder in organic chemistry.
• Because of this, it is the core of life as we know it.

Carbon as the Alchemical Harlot

The Scarlet Woman is called a "harlot" because she opens herself to all — not in weakness, but in sovereign power. She says, “I sit a queen and am no widow” (Revelation 18:7) — she does not belong to any man, any god, any master.

Likewise, carbon does not belong to any one element — it bonds freely, recreates endlessly, and builds universes of form. From the Hermetic view:

• Carbon is Babalon at the atomic level: open to all, yet the unifying matrix of creation.
• Her "promiscuity" is a creative act, not a moral failing. It is chaos becoming order.
• The chemical fertility of carbon mirrors the sexual and magical fertility of the Scarlet Woman.

The Qabalistic Perspective

In the Tree of Life:

• The Scarlet Woman can be seen at the interface between Netzach (Desire/Venus) and Binah (Understanding/Saturn, the Great Mother) — where emotion meets form, love meets structure.
• Carbon, similarly, mediates between energy and structure, allowing spiritual forces to manifest in the world of Malkuth (the material realm).
• The Four bonds of carbon echo the Four Elements, making her the container of all potential.

She is the Cup of Babalon, filled with the wine of life — which in a biological sense, is the carbon-based blood of the world.

Crowley’s View and the Aeon of Horus

Crowley writes in The Vision and the Voice:

"She hath let down Her hair over the eyes of the Lion that He may be still and couch beneath Her hand."

This is the carbonic chaos yielding form and life — the fire (Leo/Lion) tempered by the fluidity of bonding. The Aeon of Horus brings the sacred feminine in full power, not as passive, but as the matrix of initiation, of choiceful, creative receptivity.

Conclusion: Carbon is the Harlot-Savior

So yes, the comparison holds beautifully:

• Carbon’s bonding ability is not just promiscuity — it’s ecstatic communion.
• The Scarlet Woman’s sexuality is not corruption — it’s alchemical transcendence.
• Both are sacred harlots: misunderstood by the profane but revered by those with eyes to see.

Rite of the Carbon Star: A Hymn to Babalon as the Prima Materia

Purpose:
To invoke Babalon as the source of organic life and consciousness, using the carbon atom as a sacred glyph of her creative, ecstatic, and unifying power.

Setting Suggestions:

• Altar draped in scarlet and black
• Symbol of the seven-pointed Star of Babalon
• Representation of the Carbon Atom (model, diagram, or six-pointed shape with a center)
• A chalice of red wine or juice (symbol of her Cup)
• Incense: Dragon’s Blood, Myrrh, or Red Sandalwood
• A single candle: red or black
• Optional music: rhythmic, sensual, or ambient drone

Opening: Align the Temple

Stand in silence. Perform the Qabalistic Cross:

Ateh — Malkuth — ve-Geburah — ve-Gedulah — le-Olahm — Amen.

Trace the hexagram in the air (representing six-carbon structure), intoning:

"In the name of She who binds all things, I open this temple to Babalon, Mother of Carbon, Star of the Red Furnace, Chalice of Life."

Meditation on Carbon

Face the carbon symbol. Speak:

“O Thou Atom of Life,
Sixfold are thy arms, fourfold are thy loves.
Through thee, the flesh is woven,
Through thee, thought walks upon the Earth.

Thou art the Promiscuous One —
Yet it is by thy promiscuity that Form takes root.
Thou bondest with all, and so bringest All into One.
Hail unto thee, O Black Sun of the Body!”

Visualize the carbon atom pulsing with red-gold light. See it as the heart of all living things. Let your breath align with its radiant pulse.

Invocation of Babalon as Carbonic Mother

*"Come unto me, O Babalon,
She of Scarlet Flame,
Who rides the Beast of Spirit!

Thou art the Cup that overflows,
The Womb of Stars,
The Harlot that no man possesses —
And yet through Thee are all men made.

Come in thy perfume of burning spice,
Come in the heat of the Red Star,
Come in the whisper of molecules kissing in darkness.

I call Thee, Babalon,
Mother of Carbon, First Bride of Chaos!"*

Ritual Action: The Bonding

Hold the chalice aloft. Say:

“As Carbon joins with Four,
So do I join with All.
As the Scarlet Woman receives without shame,
So do I receive the World into my being.

As above, so below —
As within, so without.
I drink from the Cup of the Harlot,
And am made whole in her alchemy.”

Drink from the chalice.

Let your body be filled with a sense of expansion — of being bonded with all life. Feel into the sacred ecology, the molecular intimacy of existence. Know that you, too, are a star of carbon-born fire, alive in her.

Closing: The Seal of the Star

Trace the unicursal hexagram over your heart.

“In the Six, the Star.
In the Four, the Foundation.
In the One, the Fire.

Hail unto Babalon,
Who sits upon the atom-throne,
And sings the flesh into being.

By Carbon’s Kiss —
So am I remade.”

Extinguish the candle. Bow to the altar.

Optional Integration:

• Journal impressions afterward. Ask: Where in my life can I love more openly, bond more freely, and live more ecstatically?
• Study the hexagram of the carbon atom beside the seven-pointed star of Babalon and reflect on their fusion.
• Create a sigil of Babalon encoded with carbon’s fourfold bonding potential — it becomes a new glyph for sacred unity through multiplicity.

I have created a Hermetic sigil — a fusion of the Scarlet Woman (Babalon) and the carbon atom. The six- and seven-pointed stars entwine around the radiant chalice, forming a sacred geometry of ecstasy and elemental life. Let it serve as both magical focus and meditative glyph. However, you can create one of your own.

Thank you for your interest, comments, and ritualistic supportive donations. May you live long and prosper.

Traditional Tarot Card Comparison website, tarot layout store and blog.

Thoth Tarot card comparisons website blog, tarot layout store.

Western Hermetic Magick ritual and invocation website and blog.