Cochrane Quote

[shuvanilu]

Found this searching around today....Is this an accurate quote??---shuvanilu



"...the order of 1734 is not a date of an event but a grouping of numerals that mean something to a witch.

"One that becomes seven states of wisdom - the Goddess of the Cauldron. Three that are the Queens of the Elements - Fire belonging alone to Man, and the Blacksmith God. Four that are Queens of the Wind Gods.

"The Jewish orthodoxy believe that whomever knows the Holy and Unspeakable name of God has absolute power over the world of form. Very briefly, the name of God spoken as Tetragrammaton ... breaks down in Hebrew to the letters YHVH, or the Adam Kadmon (The Heavenly Man). Adam Kadmon is a composite of all Archangels - in other words a poetic statement of the names of the Elements.

"So what the Jew and the Witch believe alike, is that the man who discovers the secret of the Elements controls the physical world. 1734 is the witch way of saying YHVH." (Cochrane, 1966)

[Ben Gruagach]

I don't see any reason to doubt this is an actual Cochrane quote. It's very much in line with other things he's written.

Did you have a question about the content of the quote that you'd like to discuss?

[shuvanilu]

Well, let's see...I no right next to nothing about the Cochrane system, so if I say something completely ignorant, please forgive:)


"One that becomes seven states of wisdom - the Goddess of the Cauldron. Three that are the Queens of the Elements - Fire belonging alone to Man, and the Blacksmith God. Four that are Queens of the Wind Gods....

The seven states of wisdom...is this the 7 pillars of Wisdom---in the Biblical sense? Wisdom/Sophia? 3 elemental Queens...Fire belonging to man and the Blacksmith God (Cain, I'm guessing?). How is it that Air, Water and Earth are female and Fire is male? Do they elemental Queens have names specifically used in 1734? The Queens of the Wind Gods....um, are we talking Eurus, Boreas, Zephyrus, Notus?

"The Jewish orthodoxy believe that whomever knows the Holy and Unspeakable name of God has absolute power over the world of form. Very briefly, the name of God spoken as Tetragrammaton ... breaks down in Hebrew to the letters YHVH, or the Adam Kadmon (The Heavenly Man). Adam Kadmon is a composite of all Archangels - in other words a poetic statement of the names of the Elements.

"So what the Jew and the Witch believe alike, is that the man who discovers the secret of the Elements controls the physical world. 1734 is the witch way of saying YHVH." (Cochrane, 1966)

How is "a composit of all of the Archangels" a "poetic statement of the names of the elements"? Is he talking about the Archangel pentacle correspondences? When he says that 1734 is the witch way of saying YHVH, is he saying YHVH the "being" or "YHVH" the idea? Or the elemental representation? What directions on the pentacle do YHVH correspond to? How can the two H's be different elements? Or is YHVH placed at the top point? Am I making any sense?---shuvanilu

[shuvanilu]

Well, let's see...I no right next to nothing about the Cochrane system, so if I say something completely ignorant, please forgive:)


I apparently KNOW nothing about grammar or spelling today either! Geez!

[Ben Gruagach]

Well, I don't consider myself to be a Cochrane initiate or anything like that although I have read some of his writing and things by people who do follow Cochrane's teachings. (Particularly "The Robert Cochrane Letters," "The Roebuck in the Thicket," "The Pillars of Tubal Cain," and a few others.) I'll certainly see what I can do to suggest meanings.


"One that becomes seven states of wisdom - the Goddess of the Cauldron. Three that are the Queens of the Elements - Fire belonging alone to Man, and the Blacksmith God. Four that are Queens of the Wind Gods....

That bit was from the second letter Cochrane wrote to Joe Wilson. Just before that statement Cochrane also said that the One Goddess was also the Seven that is One. He says to think of the Seven as the days of the week and that they should be seen as feminine, not masculine. To me that is saying that the Goddess is a Goddess of eternity and time, divisible and distinct but each of those divisible and distinct parts being a slice of a larger reality. (It sounds to me like an attempt to describe "soft polytheism" in a sort of poetic way.)


The seven states of wisdom...is this the 7 pillars of Wisdom---in the Biblical sense? Wisdom/Sophia?

Cochrane drew heavily from Christian and Jewish mythology in his system and blended it with Pagan myth and ideas. So it wouldn't surprise me if the 7 pillars of Wisdom were specifically referring to a biblical reference. (The name Tubal Cain is another one which was taken directly from Christian lore rather than Pagan lore.)

There are a lot of seven references in the Christian bible, especially in the Book of Revelation which so many occultists and prophets are enamoured of. http://www.angelfire.com/az/rainbowbridge/seven.html has a summary of at least some of them. (I find it particularly interesting that they associate the number seven with the words "finished" and "done" -- which I would venture to say also equate with "complete" or "whole" -- as in Cochrane's One Goddess who is Everything.)


3 elemental Queens...Fire belonging to man and the Blacksmith God (Cain, I'm guessing?). How is it that Air, Water and Earth are female and Fire is male? Do they elemental Queens have names specifically used in 1734? The Queens of the Wind Gods....um, are we talking Eurus, Boreas, Zephyrus, Notus?

I'm not sure why Cochrane decided that three of the four elements were to be considered feminine. I understand why he insists that fire is male -- it ties in with his whole gothic witchcraft/ Margaret Murray postulate that the male figure venerated by witches is the Christian Devil. Although of course it's not REALLY the Christian Devil. But Cochrane with his gothic Murrayite emphasis would push the Luciferian connections which are largely associated with the element fire rather than air, water, or earth.

Cochrane's system also differs from Gardner's teachings (and systems descended from Gardner) in that there isn't the same emphasis on balance, especially the idea of polar balance between masculine and feminine. So perhaps Cochrane decided that three of the four elements being female was another way to stand apart from Gardnerian teachings, by underlining the unnecessary (to Cochrane) idea of polarity and gender balance.


"The Jewish orthodoxy believe that whomever knows the Holy and Unspeakable name of God has absolute power over the world of form. Very briefly, the name of God spoken as Tetragrammaton ... breaks down in Hebrew to the letters YHVH, or the Adam Kadmon (The Heavenly Man). Adam Kadmon is a composite of all Archangels - in other words a poetic statement of the names of the Elements.

"So what the Jew and the Witch believe alike, is that the man who discovers the secret of the Elements controls the physical world. 1734 is the witch way of saying YHVH." (Cochrane, 1966)

This just strikes me as Cochrane attempting to affirm his version of YHVH as being important and magickally valid. It also shows that he was at least familiar with Hermetic and Qabbalistic material at least at a superficial level.


How is "a composit of all of the Archangels" a "poetic statement of the names of the elements"?

He's saying that 1734 is essentially an abbreviation that when decoded stands for "the Whole." The same way that YHVH is often described as a keyword that contains everything, and is therefore the Name of God.

Wiccans today use the pentagram as a symbol of that totality, usually explaining the meaning as the four classical elements surmounted by the "fifth element" of Spirit.

It's another way of talking about the idea of microcosm and macrocosm.


Is he talking about the Archangel pentacle correspondences?

I'm not sure what you mean by "archangel pentacle correspondences." There are archangels who are described as corresponding to the four directions and also the four elements, so I suppose they could be shown on a pentagram diagram too, but I'm not sure which archangel is supposed to correspond to Spirit, as that element would really be God and not an archangel.


When he says that 1734 is the witch way of saying YHVH, is he saying YHVH the "being" or "YHVH" the idea? Or the elemental representation? What directions on the pentacle do YHVH correspond to? How can the two H's be different elements? Or is YHVH placed at the top point? Am I making any sense?---shuvanilu

I think Cochrane is trying to make the number 1734 into a multilayered symbol with lots of different meanings and interpretations. That's the beauty of working with symbols -- they can be interpreted many ways. I'm not sure there is such a thing as a "correct" interpretation that means the others are wrong.

With regard to the interpretations of YHVH I'd recommend you turn to Qabala texts or experts as there are undoubtedly whole books on the topic. And I'm sure too that they see the two H's as distinct and not just the same letter twice. This Wikipedia entry on YHVH (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YHVH) might get you started on that if you're interested.

[shuvanilu]

All good info--thank you. BTW, when I said "archangel pentacle correspondences", I was referring to the AA direction and elemental coresspondences. I've used them in pentacle diagrams.---shuvanilu