The Anabasis (Αναβασις, accent on the second syllable, like “Boleskine”) is the history of a military campaign. Written by Xenophon in the fifth century BCE, it chronicles the progress of an army of Greek mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger to overthrow his brother Artaxerxes, the Emperor of Persia.

Anabasis in History

In the first major engagement, Artaxerxes’ forces killed Cyrus and routed his army. The Greeks, who had prevailed in their section of the battle, found themselves alone deep within enemy territory.

Cyrus had kept the ultimate aim of his campaign a secret in order to take Artaxerxes by surprise. He also feared that the rank and file of his forces might abandon the venture had they known Cyrus’ goal was not to subjugate a rebellious satrapy, but to conquer the most powerful empire in the world. The effect, however, was clear. By subverting their will to the will of Cyrus, the Greek mercenaries found themselves surrounded by hostile forces a thousand miles from home.

At the moment the Greeks discovered the precarious nature of their situation, they ceased to be mercenaries and became a “marching republic” of self-governing men with individual Wills, but a common goal. Under the leadership of Xenophon, they fought their way 850 miles northward to the Greek settlement at Trebizond on the coast of the Black Sea.

Symbolism Related to The Man of Earth Triad

In certain ways, this is comparable to our Mysteries. The Man of Earth Triad is a battle, but one that the candidate wages against his own shortcomings and imbalances. It is also a test of endurance.

To take another example from Greek military history, a conflict that has come to be associated with endurance races is the Battle of Marathon. Removing the letters M-A-R-A-T-H-O-N from M-A-N O-F E-A-R-T-H leaves the letters F-E. On one level, by completing the marathon of the Man of Earth Triad, one reveals the iron within.

On a more spiritual level, “Every man and every woman is a star.” Stars are immense hydrogen factories, but, as they move through their life cycle, they begin to produce other elements as well. The final element a star produces before it becomes a supernova is an isotope of iron, specifically Fe-56. As the candidate moves through incarnation, birth, life, death, perfection, and annihilation, all that remains is I-56, or, 156, the number of Babalon, the Victorious Queen.

Third, αναβασις means “going upward, an ascent.” The Greeks fought their way upward toward the Black Sea, which Qabalistically relates to Babalon through the Sephira of Binah, which is both “the great sea” and black according to the Queen Scale of Color. Ascent also implies a mountain, which has its own initiatory potential.

Numeric Magical Symbolism

On a magical level, the value of ΑΝΑΒΑΣΙΣ in Greek is 465. This is also the number of the interstate highway, the magical circle of asphalt and concrete, surrounding and protecting the city of Indianapolis with the constant deosil and widdershins movement of its traffic.

465 is also the product of 93 multiplied by 5, or θελημα multiplied by the power of iron and manifested in the Microcosm. This power of iron alludes to both initiatory progress in M∴M∴M∴ and the Mysteries of E.G.C. This formula also represents לאשטאל refracted through the power of ה, wherein “h” is equally valid viewed as “The Star,” or the window through which the Thelemic light may shine.

Finally, 465 is also the product of 15 and 31. Fifteen is the mystic number of Binah, the importance of which is examined above. Thirty-one is

“[t]he highest feminine trinity–zero through the glyph of the circle.”

Thus, concealed within the name ΑΝΑΒΑΣΙΣ is a feminine force of the highest magnitude, balancing the overtly masculine nature of Xenophon’s Anabasis.