THE VISION AND THE VOICE
Liber 418
By Aleister Crowley
I N T R O D U C T I O N
The Vision and the Voice of the Angels of the thirty Aethyrs, reprinted
from the Equinox, Volume 1, Supplement to No. 5, but here represented
for the first time with an elaborate commentary by the MASTER THERION, is unique
in that it attempts to describe in a perfectly sane and scientific manner spiritual
experiences, and the investigations of the more subtle planes.
The first attempts to obtain these visions were made in 1900, in Mexico, where
FRATER PERDURABO had journeyed in his efforts to obtain a perfect understanding
of the mystic traditions and methods of attainment of every race and clime.
The first two Aires were investigated on November 14 and 17, 1900. The Vision
and the Voice was mysterious and terrific in character. But what he saw
was not altogether beyond his previous experiences; what he heard was as unintelligible
to him as William Blake to a 7th Day Adventist. He was encouraged by the evident
importance of these results, but found that he was absolutely unable to proceed
with the 28th Aethyr. It became evident, some 9 years later, that what stopped
his further exploration of the Aethyrs in 1900 was simply that his Grade did
not entitle him to go further than the 29th. In fact only a Master of the Temple,
8x = 3{square x}, can penetrate beyond a certain point, and further, as sections
of the Comment point out, even a Master of the Temple cannot pierce through
the veils surrounding the outer of these Aires.
The Seer had not thought of continuing this work for nearly 9 years. It is
not at all clear how the idea came to him in 1909, during a walk through the
Desert with Frater O.V., (Victor Neuburg) a Probationer of the A{.'.} A{.'.},
but at Aumale a Hand suddenly smote its lightning into his heart, and he knew
that now, that very day, he must take up The Vision and the Voice from
the point where he had laid it down in 1900. Parallel to this, it is also possible
that he had in his ruck sack one of his earliest Magical Note Books, where he
had copied with infinite patience the 19 Calls or Keys obtained by Sir Edward
Kelly from certain Angels and written down by Queen Elizabeth's astrologer,
Dr. John Dee.
The facts that stamp these Keys or Calls are these. Over 100 squares filled
with letters were obtained by these two Magicians, in a manner which no one
yet has quite understood. Dee would have one or more of these tables (as a rule
49 by 49) --- some full, others lettered only on alternate squares --- before
him on a writing table. Kelly would sit at what they called the Holy Table,
and gaze into a "Shewstone" in which he would see an Angel, who would
point with a wand to letters on one of these charts in succession. Kelly would
report, for example, "He points to column 6, rank 31", and so on,
apparently not mentioning the letter, which Dee found and wrote down from the
"Table" before him. When the Angel had finished, the message was rewritten
backwards. It had been dictated backwards as being too dangerous to communicate
forwards --- each word being in its nature so powerful that its direct communication
would have evoked forces which were not wanted at that time.
These Keys being re-written backwards, there then appeared conjurations in
a language which they called "Enochian", or "Angelic". It
is not a jargon; it has a grammar and a syntax of its own. It is far more sonorous,
stately and impressive than even Greek or Sanskrit and the English translations,
though in places difficult to understand, contain passages of a sustained sublimity
that Shakespeare, Milton and the Bible do not surpass.
"Can the Wings of the Wind understand your voices of Wonder? O Ye! The
Second of the First! whom the burning flames have framed in the depths of my
Jaws! Whom I have prepared as cups for a wedding, or as flowers in their beauty
for the chamber of Righteousness! Stronger are your feet than the barren stone!
and mightier are your voices than the manifold winds! For you are become a building
such as is not, save in the mind of the All-Powerful." (Second Key)
There are nineteen of these Keys: the first two conjuring the element called
Spirit; the next sixteen invoke the Four Elements; each sub-divided into four;
the nineteenth, by changing two names, may be used to invoke any one of what
are called the thirty "Aethyrs" or "Aires".
The genuineness of these Keys, altogether apart from any critical observation,
is guaranteed by the fact that anyone with the smallest capacity for Magick
finds that they work. The Seer had used these Keys a great deal, ---
always with excellent effect. It was in Mexico that the idea occurred to him
to discover for himself what these Aethyrs really were, by invoking them in
turn by means of the nineteenth key, and, by skrying in the Spirit Vision, judge
their nature by what he saw and heard.
It was then in Aumale, that he prepared to commence once more the investigations
of these Aethyrs, and accordingly bought a number of notebooks. After dinner,
on the 23rd of November, 1909, he invoked the 28th Aethyr by means of this 19th
Key. When it was compared with those of the 29th and 30th Aethyrs, --- lo and
behold, there were exhibited the same peculiarities of subject and style. This
is true also of the 27th, and so on to the 24th; yet there is a continuous advance
towards coherence both in each Aethyr itself, and as regards its neighbour.
The subject shows solemnity and sublimity, as well as the tendency to fit in
with those conceptions of the Cosmos, those mystic Laws of Nature, and those
ideas of transcendental Truth which had already been foreshadowed in The
Book of the Law (Vernal Equinox, 1904), and the more exalted of the trances
which the Seer had experienced prior to this date.
The Method of obtaining The Vision and the Voice was as follows.
The Seer had with him a great golden topaz (set in a Calvary Cross of six squares,
made of wood, and painted vermillion) which was engraved with a Greek Cross
of five squares charged with the Rose of 49 petals. He held this, as a rule,
in his hand. After choosing a spot where he was not likely to be disturbed he
would take this stone and recite the Enochian Call, and after satisfying himself
that the forces invoked were actually present, made the topaz play a part not
unlike that of the looking glass in the case of Alice. (He had long learned
not to trouble himself to travel to any particular place in his Body of Light.
He realized that Space was not a thing in itself, but merely a convenient category
[one of many such] by reference to which we can distinguish objects from each
other.) He would then describe what he saw and repeat what he heard, and Frater
O.V., the Scribe, would write down his words, and incidentally observe any phenomena
which struck him as peculiar. (For instance, He would at times pass into a deep
trance so that many minutes might pass between two successive sentences, as
the text to the later Aethyrs shows.)
They walked steadily through the Desert, invoking the Aethyrs, one by one,
at convenient times and places, or when the Spirit moved them. As a rule, one
Aethyr was obtained every day. Bou-Sada was reached on November 30th; on December
8th they started again through the desert for Biskra which they reached on December
16th, completing the work on the 19th. By the time Bou-Sada was reached, and
they had arrived at the 20th Aethyr, the Seer began to understand that these
visions were, so to speak, cosmopolitan. They brought all systems of Magical
doctrine into harmonious relation. The symbolism of Asiatic cults; the ideas
of the Qabalah, both Jewish and Greek; the Arcana of the Gnostics; the Pagan
Pantheon, from Mithras to Mars; the Mysteries of Ancient Khem; the Rites of
Eleusis; the Scandinavian Sagas; Celtic and Druidical ritual; Mexican and Polynesian
traditions; the Mysticism of Molinos no less than that of Islam,--- all these
fell into their proper places without the slightest tendency to quarrel. The
whole of the past Aeon, in short, appeared in detailed perspective, and each
element therefore surrendered its sovereignty to Horus, the Crowned and Conquering
Child, the Lord of the Aeon announced in The Book of the Law
Love is the law, love under will.
Frater E{.'.}N{.'.}L{.'.}
The titles of the Thirty AEthyrs whose dominion extendeth
in ever
widening circles without and beyond the Watch Towers of
the Universe
(The first is Outermost) 1 LIL 16 LEA
2 ARN 17 TAN
3 ZOM 18 ZEN
4 PAZ 19 POP
5 LIT 20 KHR
6 MAZ 21 ASP
7 DEO 22 LIN
8 ZID 23 TOR
9 ZIP 24 NIA
10 ZAX 25 VTI
11 ICH 26 DES
12 LOE 27 ZAA
13 ZIM 28 BAG
14 UTA 29 RII
15 OXO 30 TEX
THE CALL OR KEY OF THE THIRTY AETHYRS
MADARIATZA das perifa LIL1cahisa micaolazoda saanire caosago
od fifisa balzodizodarasa Iaida. Nonua gohulime: Micama adoianu MADA faoda
beliorebe, soba ooaona cahisa luciftias peripesol, das aberaasasa nonuafe
netaaibe caosaji od tilabe adapehaheta damepelozoda, tooata nonuafe jimicalazodoma
larasada tofejilo marebe yareryo IDOIGO2; od torezodulape
yaodafe gohola, Caosaga, tabaoreda saanir od caharisateosa yorepoila tiobela
busadire, tilabe noalanu paida oresaba, od dodaremeni zodayolana. Elazodape
tilaba paremeji peripesatza, od ta qurelesata booapisa. Ianibame oucaho sayomepe,
od caharisateosa ajitoltorenu, mireca qo tiobela lela. Tonu paomebeda dizodalamo
asa pianu, od caharisateosa aji-la-tore-torenu paracahe a sayomepe. Coredazodizoda
dodapala od fifalazoda, lasa manada, od faregita bamesa omaoasa. Conisabera
od auauotza tonuji oresa; catabela noasami tabejesa leuitahemonuji. Vanucahi
omepetilabe oresa! Bagile? Moooabe OL coredazodizoda. El capimao itzomatzipe,
od cacocasabe gosaa. Bajilenu pii tianuta a babalanuda, od faoregita teloca
uo uime.
Madariiatza, torezodu!!! Oadariatza orocaha aboaperi! Tabaori periazoda aretabasa!
Adarepanu coresata dobitza! Yolacame periazodi arecoazodiore, od quasabe qotinuji!
Ripire paaotzata sagacore! Umela od peredazodare cacareji Aoiveae coremepeta!
Torezodu! Zodacare od Zodameranu, asapeta sibesi butamona das surezodasa Tia
balatanu. Odo cicale Qaa, od Ozodazodama pelapeli IADANAMADA!
THE CALL OR KEY OF THE THIRTY AETHYRS
O Ye Heavens which dwell in the first Aire1, ye are mighty
in the parts of the Earth, and execute therein the Judgment of the Highest!
Unto you it is said: Behold the Face of your God, the beginning of Comfort,
whose eyes are the brightness of the Heavens, which provided you for the Government
of the Earth, and her unspeakable variety, furnishing you with the power of
understanding to dispose of all things according to the Foresight of Him that
Sitteth on the Holy Throne2, and rose up in the Beginning, saying: The Earth, let
her be governed by her parts, and let there be Division in her, that the glory
of her may be always ecstasy and imitation of orgasm. Her course, let it run
with the Heavens; and as an handmaid let her serve them. One season, let it
confound another, and let there be no creature upon or within her the same.
All her members, let them differ in their qualities, and let there be no one
Creature equal with another. The reasonable Creatures of the Earth, and Men,
let them vex and weed out one another; and their dwelling-places, let them
forget their Names. The work of man and his pomp, let them be defaced. His
building, let it be a Cave for the Beast of the Field! Confound her understanding
with darkness! For why? It repenteth me concerning the Virgin and the Man.
One while let her be known, and another while a stranger: because she is the
bed of an Harlot, and the dwelling-place of him that is fallen.
O ye Heavens arise! The lower heavens beneath you, let them serve you! Govern
those that govern! Cast down such as fall. Bring forth with those that increase,
and destroy the rotten. No place let it remain in one number. Add an diminish
until the stars be numbered. Arise! Move! and appear before the Covenant of
His mouth, which He hath sworn unto us in His Justice. Open the Mysteries
of your Creation, and make us partakers of THE UNDEFILED KNOWLEDGE.
A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE CONTENTS OF THE CALLS OF THE
THIRTY AIRES OR AETHYRS
Aethyr
30. "Exordium of the Equinox of the Gods."
29. "The Disruption of the Aeon of Osiris."
28. "The Vision of the Dawn of the Aeon of Horus (Atu XVII)"
27. "The Vision of the Initiation of Hecate (Atu XIV)
The Redemption of the Woman of Witchcraft by Love."
26. "The Slave-Gods superseded (The Vision of Atu XX, the Stl)
The Vision of the Stl of Revealing, abolishing the Aeon of the Slave-Gods."
25. "The Path of Teth (Atu XI. The Fire-Kerub in the Initiation).
The Vision of the Fruit of the Great Work of the Beast - 666. The Lion."
24. "The Rose. (The Woman of Atu XIV. Minister of Babalon;
The Water-Kerub in the Initiation.) The First Kiss Of the Lady of Initiation."
23. "The Kerubim of Earth and Air (Minor officers in the Initiation
to 8x = 3{square x}.) The Vision of the Interplay And Identity of Earth and
Air."
22. "The 49-fold Table (First appearance of the Crowned and Conquering
Child to the Exempt Adept as in the Pastos) The Vision of the Rose, the Heart
of BABALON and of The Birth of the Universe."
21. "Kether. (TheHierophant prepares the Candidate). The Vision of the
Ineluctable Destiny."
20. "The Path of Kaph (Atu X). The Hiereus prepares the Candidate).
The Vision of the Wheel of Fortune. The Three Energies of the Universe."
19. "The Path of Gimel (The Hegemone between the Pillars. Preliminary:
The Vision of the Unguided Universe.)"
18. "Tiphereth. (The King's Chamber. The Vision of the holy Guardian
Angel.) The Instruction concerning the Obtaining of the Vision and the Voice
of the Thirty Aethyrs. The Preparation of the Candidate." Aethyr
17. "The Path of Lamed. (The combination Gimel, Lamed, Samech. The Vision
of the Justice or Balance of the Universe."
16. "Keter. (Path of Pe.) The Overthrow of the Salve-Gods by The Beast
666."
15. "The Vision of the rose of 49 petals, and of the Holy 12-fold Table.
Examination of the Candidate for M.T."
14. "The Vision of the City of the Pyramids. The Reception Of the Master
of the Temple."
13. "The Garden of Nemo. The Work of the Magister Templi."
12. "The Path of Cheth. The Bearer of the Sangraal. The Black Brothers."
11. "Yesod. The Frontier of the Abyss."
10. "The Abyss. Choronzon, his Nature."
9. "Malkuth. (The Pure Virgin.) The reward of the Magister Templi."
8. "The Holy Guardian Angel. His instruction."
7. "The Path of Daleth. The Black Brothers."
6. "The Vision of the Urn. The Magus 9x = 2{square x}. The Three Schools
of Magick."
5. "The Vision of the Middle Pillar. (Arrow). The Mystery Of Atheism."
4. "The Marriage of Yod and He. (The common Tibetan Symbol.) The Seer
identifies himself with it."
3. "The Magus of the Tarot. (Atu 1). Mayan, the Maker of Illusion. The
Seer in Illusion (Lilith)."
2. "The Marriage of the Seer with BABALON. (Atu VI)."
1. "The Vision of The Crowned and Conquering Child, the Lord Of the
Aeon."
Note: In various footnotes to the text, Crowley makes correspondences to
Enochian letters and Astrological symbols. An ambiguity exists in regard to
the letter "T". The Germer/Thelema Publishing Edition of 1952 e.v.
makes extensive use of symbols for Astrological concepts, and it is not possible
to clearly differentiate the signs for Leo and Caput Draconis in all instances,
since the handwritten symbols for these two correspondences are usually indistinguishable
in the Germer edition. Enochian corresponds directly to English letters, while
the astrological correspondences come from correspondences to Hebrew letters.
There are two letters in Hebrew which are loosely rendered "T" in
English/Enochian; Tet = Leo and Taw = Caput Draconis/Saturn. Crowley uses
both Leo and Caput Draconis for the Enochian "T" in his notes. Where
Leo or Caput Draconis is made clear by the context of the note, the rendering
has been duplicated here. Where this is ambiguous, T is assumed to be matched
to Leo in this text. F.I.Regardie, in his edition, usually renders the Enochian
"T" as Caput Draconis, a practice reversed in this present version.
A concise edition should therefore be made only after careful examination
of the notations for every instance of the use of the Enochian "T",
with citation of uncertainty in regard to Leo or Caput Draconis where Crowley's
intention is unclear.
WEH = Bill Heidrick (William E. Heidrick, TG OTO)
Back
Or other Aire as may be willed.
This name may be appropriately
varied with the Aire.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 30th Aethyr
Which is Called TEX1
I AM in a vast crystal cube in the form of the Great God Harpocrates. This
cube is surrounded by a sphere2. About me are four
archangels in black robes, their wings and armour lined out in white.
In the North3 is a
book on whose back and front are A.M.B.Z. 4 in Enochian characters.
({ENO:z}{ENO:b}{ENO:m}{ENO:a})
Within it is written:
I AM, the surrounding of the four.
Lift up your heads, O Houses of Eternity: for my Father goeth forth to judge
the World. One Light, let it become a thousand, and one sword ten thousand,
that no man hide him from my Father's eye in the Day of Judgment of my God.
Let the Gods hide themselves: let the Angels be troubled and flee away: for
the Eye of My Father is open, and the Book of the Aeons is fallen.
Arise! Arise! Arise! Let the Light of the Sight of Time be extinguished: let
the Darkness cover all things: for my Father goeth forth to seek a spouse to
replace her who is fallen and defiled.
Seal the book with the seals of the Stars Concealed: for the Rivers have rushed
together and the Name {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}is broken in a thousand
pieces (against the Cubic Stone).
Tremble ye, O Pillars of the Universe5, for Eternity is in travail of
a Terrible Child; she shall bring forth an universe of Darkness, whence shall
leap forth a spark that shall put his father to flight.
The Obelisks are broken; the stars have rushed together: the Light hath plunged
into the Abyss: the Heavens are mixed with Hell.
My Father shall not hear their Noise: His ears are closed: His eyes are covered
with the clouds of Night.
The End! the End! the End: For the Eye of Shiva He hath opened: the Universe
is naked before Him: for the Aeon of Saturn leaneth toward the Bosom of Death6.
[Figure: This is an isosceles triangle with height about 7 times the base.
It extends with base on a true vertical from the left. A line extends vertically
upward from the apex, equal to the length of the base. A trefoliate of three
isosceles triangles of base slightly smaller than the first triangle and sides
equal to the first triangle is created at the upper tip of the line. The tree
component triangles of the terfolate meet the upper tip of the line with their
apices --- one vertically and two to right and left.]7
The Angel of the East8
hath a book of red written in letters of Blue A.B.F.M.A.9 in Enochian ({ENO:a}
{ENO:m} {ENO:f} {ENO:b} {ENO:a}). The Book grows before my eyes and filleth
the Whole Heaven.
Within: "It is Written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God."
I see above the Book a multitude of white-robed Ones from whom droppeth a great
rain of Blood10; but above them is a Golden Sun,
having an eye, whence a great Light11.
I turned me to the South12:
and read therein:
Seal up the Book! Speak not that which thou seest and reveal it unto none:
for the ear is not framed that shall hear it: nor the tongue that can speak
it!
O Lord God, blessed, blessed, blessed be Thou for ever!
Thy Shadow is as great Light.
Thy Name is as the Breath of Love across all Worlds.
[Figure: This is a swastika or fylfot cross. It is widdershins, with each bend
going to the right when viewed down one arm from the center. All elements are
either vertical or horizontal, none diagonal.]13
(A vast Svastika is shewn unto me behind the Angel with the Book.)
Rend your garments, O ye clouds! Uncover yourselves! for the Love of My Son!
Who are they that trouble thee?
Who are they that slew thee?
O Light! Come thou, who art joined with me to bruise the Dragon's head14.
We, who are wedded, and the Earth perceiveth it not!
O that Our Bed were seen of Men, that they might rejoice in My Fertility: that
My Sister might partake of My Great Light.
O Light of God, when wilt thou find the heart of man --- write not! I would
not that men know the Sorrow of my Heart, Amen!
I turned me to the West15,
and the Archangel bore a flaming Book, on which was written AN16
in Enochian ({ENO:n}{ENO:a}). Within was drawn a fiery scorpion, yet cold withal17.
Until the Book of the East be opened!
Until the hour sound!
Until the Voice vibrate!
Until it pierce my Depth;
Look not on High!
Look not Beneath!
For thou wilt find a life which is as Death: or a Death which should be infinite.
For Thou art submitted to the Four: Five thou shalt find, but Seven is lone
and far18.
For she is "lone and far", i.e., beyond the Abyss.
O Lord God, let Thy Spirit hither unto me!
For I am lost in the night of infinite pain: no hope: no God: no resurrection:
no end: I fall: I fear.
O Saviour of the World, bruise Thou my Head with Thy foot to save the world,
that once again I touch Him whom I slew, that in my death I feel the radiance
and the heat of the moving of Thy Robes!
Let us alone! What have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth?
Go! Go!
If I keep silence --- Or if I speak each word is anguish without hope.
And I heard the Aethyr cry aloud "Return! Return! Return! For the work
is ended; and the Book is shut; and let the glory be to God the Blessed for
ever in the Aeons, Amen." Thus far is the voice of TEX and no more.
{Leo}{Virgo}{Spirit}
cf. AL, II, 7
North: Destruction = the Old Formula
is abrogated.
{Taurus}{Aquarius}{Aries}{Leo}.
The Forthsaying of the New Aeon.
cf. AL, III, 71. Also LIL.
{Saturn} = 400 Death = 50 400 +
50 = 450 {GRK:Nu}{GRK:Upsilon} etc.
Represents the formula of Drawing
all to a point: whence blooms erect a Triple Triad.
East. Adepts: cleansed of their
Blood, and brought to Light. = There is a way to light through giving up one's
Blood. (See 12th Aethyr)
{Taurus}{Aries}{Cauda Draconis}{Aquarius}{Taurus}
= Opening of New Aeon.
Symbolism of the Cup of Babalon.
This refers to Kether --- Horus.
South. Silence. Marriage in Binah.
= This leads to the Rapture of the Ineffable Union. Closing of Old Aeon.
The Swastika has 17 squares out
of 25, The Pentagram, or Human square. It is also {HEB:Aleph} = Harpocrates,
Bacchus Diphues, Parzival, etc., the Pure Fool, the Wanderer, who weds the
King's Daughter.
Means the Stooping Dragon (see
4x = 7{square x} ritual): but also the phrase = break the Maidenhead of Draco
(Nuit).
West. Fate (Refusing Initiation.)
= The alternative is despair --- of loneliness.
{Taurus}{Scorpio} AN (Hebrew)
means Pain: NA = Failure. These = 51 = 3x17. Note the Three Vibrations as
spoiling the ideas of 17 (IAC). The Doom of the Old Aeon.
{Scorpio} = {HEB:Nun} = Fish
= Jesus.
Tetragrammaton --- the blind
forces of the Elements --- bind the Uninitiate. He may attain to the Pentagram
--- Jeheshua ---the Man Master of those Elements. But he cannot reach Seven
--- Babalon. (See Sigil of A{.·.} A{.·.} 77 + 7 + 7 + 77 = 156 Babalon)
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 29th Aethyr,
Which is Called RII1
The sky appears covered with stars of gold; the background is of green. But
the impression is also of darkness.
An immense eagle-angel is before me. His wings seem to hide all the Heaven2.
He cried aloud saying: The Voice of the Lord upon the Waters: the Terror of
God upon Mankind. The voice of the Lord maketh the Skies to tremble: the Stars
are troubled: the Aires fall. The First Voice Speaketh and saith: Cursed, cursed
be the Earth, for her iniquity is great. Oh Lord! Let Thy Mercy be lost in the
great Deep! Open thine eyes of Flame and Light, O God, upon the wicked! Lighten
thine Eyes! The Clamour of Thy Voice, let it smite down the Mountains!
Let us not see it! Cover we our eyes, lest we see the End of Man.
Close we our ears, lest we hear the cry of Woman.
Let none speak of it: let none write it: I, I am troubled, my eyes are moist
with dews of terror: surely the Bitterness of Death is past.
And I turned me to the South and lo! a great lion3 as wounded and
perplexed.
He cried: I have conquered! Let the Sons of Earth keep silence; for my Name
is become as That of Death!
When will men learn the Mysteries of Creation?
How much more those of the Dissolution (and the Pang of Fire)?
I turned me to the West and there was a great Bull4; White with horns
of White and Black and Gold. His mouth was scarlet and his eyes as Sapphire
stones. With a great sword he shore the skies asunder, and amid the silver flashes
of the steel grew lightnings and deep clouds of Indigo.
He spake: It is finished! My mother hath unveiled herself!
My sister hath violated herself! The life of things hath disclosed its Mystery.
The work of the Moon is done! Motion is ended for ever!
Clipped are the eagle's wings: but my Shoulders have not lost their strength.
I heard a Great Voice from above crying: Thou liest! For the Volatile hath
indeed fixed itself; but it hath arisen above thy sight. The World is desert:
but the Abodes of the House of my Father are peopled; and His Throne is crusted
over with white Brilliant Stars, a lustre of bright gems.
In the North is a Man upon a Great Horse, having a Scourge and Balances5
in his hand (or a long spear glitters at his back or in his hand). He is clothed
in black velvet and his face is stern and terrible.
He spake saying: I have judged! It is the end: the gate of the beginning. Look
in the Beneath and thou shalt see a new world!
I looked and saw a great abyss and a dark funnel of whirling waters or fixed
airs, wherein were cities and monsters and trees and atoms and mountains and
little flames (being souls) and all the material of an universe.
And all are sucked down one by one, as necessity hath ordained. For below is
a glittering jewelled globe of gold and azure, set in a World of Stars6.
And there came a Voice from the Abyss, saying: "Thou seest the Current
of Destiny! Canst thou change one atom in its path? I am Destiny. Dost thou
think to control me? for who can move my course?"
And there falleth a thunderbolt therein: a catastrophe of explosion: and all
is shattered. And I saw above me a Vast Arm reach down, dark and terrible, and
a voice cried: I AM ETERNITY.
And a great mingled cry arose: "No! no! no! All is changed; all is confounded;
naught is ordered: the white is stained with blood: the black is kissed of the
Christ! Return! Return! It is a new chaos that thou findest here: chaos for
thee: for us it is the skeleton of a New Truth!"
I said: Tell me this truth: for I have conjured ye by the Mighty Names of God,
the which ye cannot but obey.
The voice said:
Light is consumed as a child in the Womb of its Mother to develop itself anew.
But pain and sorrow infinite, and darkness are invoked. For this child riseth
up within his Mother and doth crucify himself within her bosom. He extendeth
his arms in the arms of his Mother and the Light becometh fivefold7.
Lux in Luce,
Christus in Cruce;
Tarot and Mezla.
Deo Duce
Sempiterno8.
And be the glory for ever and ever unto the Most High God, Amen!
Then I returned within my body, giving glory unto the Lord of Light and of
the Darkness. In Saecula Saeculorum. Amen!
(On composing myself to sleep, I was shewn an extremely brilliant {HEB:Dalet}9 in the Character of the Passing
of the River, in an egg of white light. And I take this as the best of Omens.
The letter was extremely vivid and indeed apparently physical. Almost a Dhyana.)
November 17, 1900, Die.
A NOTE10
Concerning the thirty Aethyrs:
The Visions of the 29th and 30th Aethyrs were given to me in Mexico in August11,
1900, and I am now (23.11.9) trying to get the rest. It is to be remarked that
the last three aethyrs have ten angels attributed to them12,
and they therefore represent the ten Sephiroth. Yet these ten form but one,
a Malkuth-pendant to the next three, and so on, each set being, as it were,
absorbed in the higher. The last set consists, therefore, of the first three
aethyrs with the remaining twenty-seven as their Malkuth. And the letters of
the first three aethyrs are the key- sigils of the most exalted interpretation
of the Sephiroth.
I is therefore Kether;
L, Chokmah and Binah;
A, Chesed;
N, Geburah;
R, Tiphereth;
Z, Netzach;
N, Hod;
O, Jesod.
The geomantic correspondences of the Enochian alphabet form a sublime commentary.
Note that the total angels of the aethyrs are 91, the numeration of Amen.
{Pisces}{Sagittarius}{Sagittarius}
= {HEB:Qof}{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Samekh} = 220. 220 is the number of verses of
The Book of the Law: And this book brings about the disruption described
in this Aethyr.
In the East. He thus represents
the immediate future: and this is dark, Bewildering, and terrifying.
{Leo}. This is the Beast 666 as
yet unprepared for his Work. But already (1900 e.v.) He was dreaded by his
fellow Magicians. South: proper place of {Sun} in his strength.
The Bull is Osiris or Jesus: he
complains of the terrible things that are Happening, especially the Freedom
(which he thinks shamelessness) or Woman. He does not understand the New Aeon,
or that he is about to be destroyed. He is in the West, i.e. going into Oblivion.
Cr. West in he 30th Aethyr.
The severest aspect of Justice.
Libra.
Nuit.
The LVX Cross hidden in the Svastika
is probably the Arcanum here connoted. This Cross on Mars square adds to 65
Adonai, Shone, Gloried, ha-Yekal HS = keep silence. Svastika itself adds to
231 = 0 + 1 + 2 + ... + 21, the 21 Keys. The cubical Svastika regarded as
composed of this LVX Cross and the arms has a total of 78 Faces
This is but the beginning of a
sort of hymn. It was never written down, the Seer being unable to hear it
properly. These four lines are in fact probably incorrect, certainly incomplete.
There were four more lines which he failed to hear --- from fear of getting
them wrong.
Daleth = the Gateway.
This note, written before invoking
the 28th Aire, represents a crude and imperfect view. It is retained so as
to show how very inadequate was the Understanding of the Seer; therefore the
immense superiority of the communicating Intelligences and Their separate
individual Consciousness.
Query: November ? See above.
See Equinox I, VII,
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 28th Aethyr,
Which is Called BAG1
There cometh an Angel into the stone with opalescent2 shining garments
like a wheel3 of fire
on every side of him, and in his hand is a long flail of scarlet lightning4;
his face is black5,
and his eyes white without any pupil or iris6. The face is very terrible indeed
to look upon. Now in front of him is a wheel7,
with many spokes, and many tyres; it is like a fence8 in front of him.
And he cries: O man, who art thou that wouldst penetrate the Mystery9?
for it is hidden unto the End of Time10.
And I answer him: Time11
is not, save in the darkness of Her womb by whom evil came.
And now the wheel breaks away, and I see him as he is. His garment is black
beneath the opal veils, but it is lined with white, and he has the shining belly
of a fish, and enormous wings of black and white feathers, and innumerable little
legs and claws like a centipede, and a long tail like a scorpion. The breasts
are human, but they are all scored with blood; and he cries: O thou who hast
broken down the veil, knowest thou not that who cometh where I am must be scarred
by many sorrows12?
And I answer him: Sorrow13
is not, save in the darkness of the womb of Her by whom came evil.
I pierce the Mystery13
of his breast13, and
therein is a jewel13.
It is a sapphire as great as an ostrich egg{13SUP:2}, and thereon is graven this
sigil:
[Figure: This is in the form of two "U" shapes, very elongated in
the risers. The one to the right is lower than the first, and its left riser
extends 2/3's of the way up inside the center of the one to the left. The left
"U" turns back down to the far left, ending 1/5th the way down in
a tiny circle. The right bends abruptly horizontally left across the other and
also ends there in a tiny circle.]
But there is also much writing on the stone, very minute characters carved.
I cannot read them. He points with his flail to the sapphire, which is now outside
him and bigger than himself14;
and he cries: Hail! warden of the Gates of Eternity who knowest not15
thy right hand from thy left16;
for in the aeon of my Father is a god with clasped hands wherein he holdeth
the universe, crushing17 it into the dust that ye call
stars.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right eye16 from thy left;
for in the aeon of my Father there is but one light.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right nostril16 from thy left;
for in the aeon of my Father there is neither life nor death.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right ear16 from thy left;
for in the aeon of my Father there is neither sound nor silence.
Whoso hath power to break open this sapphire stone shall find therein four
elephants having tusks of mother-of-pearl, and upon whose backs are castles,
those castles which ye call the watch-towers of the Universe18.
Let me dwell in peace within the breast of the Angel that is warden of the
aethyr. Let not the shame of my Mother be unveiled. Let not her be put to shame
that lieth among the lilies that are beyond the stars.
O man, that must ever be opening, when wilt thou learn to seal up the mysteries
of the creation? to fold thyself over thyself as a rose in the embrace of night?
But thou must play the wanton to the sun, and the wind must tear thy petals
from thee, and the bee must rob thee of thy honey, and thou must fall into the
dusk of things. Amen and Amen.
Verily the light is hidden, therefore he who hideth himself is like unto the
light; but thou openest thyself; thou art like unto the darkness that bindeth
the belly of the great goddess19.
OLAHO VIRUDEN MAHORELA ZODIREDA! ON PIREDA EXENTASER; ARBA PIRE GAH GAHA GAHAL
GAHALANA VO ABRA NA GAHA VELUCORSAPAX20.
And the voice of the aeon cried: Return, return, return! the time sickeneth,
and the space gapeth, and the voice of him that is, was and shall be crowned
rattles in the throat of the mighty dragon of eld21. Thou canst not pass by me, except
thou have the mystery of the word of the abyss.
Now the angel putteth back the sapphire stone into his breast; and I spake
unto him and said, I will fight with thee and overcome thee, except thou expound
unto me the word of the abyss.
Now he makes as if to fight with me. (It is very horrible, all the tentacles
moving and the flail flashing, and the fierce eyeless face, strained and swollen.)
And with the Magic sword I pierce through his armour to his breast. He fell
back, saying: Each of these my scars was thus made, for I am the warden of the
aethyr. And he would have said more; but I cut him short, saying: expound the
word of the Abyss. And he said22: Discipline is
sorrowful and ploughing is laborious and age is weariness.
Thou shalt be vexed by dispersion23.
But now, if the sun arise24{SUP:1},
fold thou thine arms24;
then shall God smite thee into a pillar of salt25.
Look not so deeply into words and letters; for this Mystery hath been hidden
by the Alchemists. Compose the sevenfold into a fourfold regimen26; and when thou hast understood
thou mayest make symbols27; but by playing child's games
with symbols thou shalt never understand28. Thou hast the
signs; thou hast the words; but there are many things that are not in my power,
who am but the warden of the 28th Aethyr.
Now my name thou shalt obtain in this wise. Of the three angels of the Aethyr,
thou shalt write the names from right to left and from left to right and from
right to left, and these are the holy letters:
The first 1, the fifth 2, the sixth 3, the eleventh 4, the seventh 5, the twelfth
6, the seventeenth 7.
Thus hast thou my name29
who am above these three, but the angels of the 30th Aethyr are indeed four,
and they have none above them; wherefore dispersion and disorder30.
Now cometh from every side at once a voice, terribly great, crying: Close the
veil; the great blasphemy hath been uttered; the face of my Mother31 is scarred by the nails of the
devil. Shut the book, destroy the breaker of the seal!
And I answered: Had he not been destroyed he had not come hither, for I am
not save in the darkness in the womb of Her32
by whom came evil into the world.
And this darkness swallows everything up33, and the angel is --------------------
gone from the stone34; and there is no light therein,
save only the light of the Rose and of the Cross35.
Aumale, Algeria. November 23, 1909, between 8 and 9 p.m.
{Aries}{Taurus}{Cancer} = {HEB:Heh}
+ {HEB:Vau} + {HEB:Chet} = 19. {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Chet} = Eve = to manifest,
to shew forth.
Opal = rainbow = {Sagittarius}
XIX = The Wheel of the Sun, symbolic
of universally radiating energy; and 19 is the glyph of the circle.
19 = Angel L.T.D. Of {Sagittarius}
19 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Dalet}
was black.
References to Binah.
See above, note 3.
{HEB:Chet} = Fence.
Binah = Eve. 19 is the Great Glyph
of the Feminine.
Same as above.
{HEB:Taw} Time = {Saturn} = Binah.
i.e. must attain to 8x = 3{square
x}
All are references to Binah.
Binah absorbs all.
Binah destroys knowledge.
Hands: {Mercury}: for Hand is
Iod, Virgo. Also the two hands are the Twin Serpents. Eyes {Sun} & {Moon}
The Positive and Negative. Executive currents of the Logos. Nostrils {Mars}
& {Venus} The mouth attributed the Mercury in the usual system, cannot
be used in this phrase; for the Ears {Jupiter} & {Saturn} Mouth is One,
not Two, being the Logos itself. And the Lodgos is essentially an Unity, although
manifested through Vibration. It is therefore not destroyed with the other
objects of Knowledge, though its dual modes of expression, the hands, are
no longer known apart.
See Liber AL, III, v.
72.
The Elements are hidden in Binah.
In the light of the cry ofLOE, this
passage seems to mean precisely the opposite of its apparent meaning. The
whole cry, from "Let me dwell ..." is an Invocation of Binah. It
is a foreshadowing of the Mysteries of the Crossing of the Abyss.
The translation of this is in my
private copy (white and gold binding). Possibly also in the Cefalu set which
was copied from that (?) by Estai. (?).
Binah or Nuit = Draco, the Dragon.
See the 14th and 13th Aethyr.
See the 10th Aethyr. These statements
are prophetic.
Tiphereth; and the sign of Osiris
risen in 5x = 6{square x}.
Prophetic of the 8x = 3{square x}
attainment; the pillar is phallic, and salt is {Salt}, of Binah, the Great
Sea. Cf. Lib. LXV, Cap. V, vv. 5, 23, 25.
The completed system which is made
by the 7x = 4{square x}.
The 8x = 3{square x} may devise a
new Qabalah.
One cannot become 8x = 3{square x}
by intellectual manipulations.
This would appear to be: PXINBAL
<---? FCCISNI>C = LIXIPSP = {Cancer}{Sagittarius}{Spirit} {Sagittarius} {Leo}{Gemini}{Leo}
={HEB:Chet}{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Taw}{HEB:Samekh} {HEB:Tet} {HEB:Zain} {HEB:Tet}
= 553 = RAPOLXD <---Y {HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Gemel}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}
{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Ta w}="Draco" Magnus, the Mighty Dragon. This is the symbol
of Nuit or Binah. The whole symbolism of this Angel is therefore exactly confirmed
through a Qabalistic equation of which the Seer had no idea at the time. N.B.
He is above the dispersion and disorder just as Binah is above the Abyss of
Choronzon.
The four elements unharmonized break
up into Choronzon.
Further reference to Binah.
Binah.
Typical gesture of Binah.
The general attribution of this Aethyr
is to Atu XVII.
Binah being gone, the seer descends
to his normal place in Tiphereth.
The Cry of the 27th Aethyr,
Which is Called ZAA1
There is an angel with rainbow wings, and his dress is green2
with silver, a green veil over silver3 armour. Flames of many- coloured
fire dart from him in all directions. It is a woman of some thirty years old,
and she has the moon for a crest, and the moon is blazoned on her heart, and
her sandals are curved silver, like the moon.
And she cries: Lonely am I and cold in the wilderness of the stars5.
For I am the queen of all them that dwell in Heaven, and the queen of all them
that are pure upon earth, and the queen of all the sorcerers of hell6.
I am the daughter of Nuit, the lady of the stars. And I am the Bride of them
that are vowed unto loneliness7. And I am the mother
of the Dog Cerberus8. One person am I, and three gods9.
And thou who hast blasphemed me shalt suffer knowing me. For I am cold as thou
art cold, and burn with thy fire10.
Oh, when shall the war of the Aires and the elements be accomplished11?
Radiant are these falchions of my brothers, invisibly about me, but the might
of the aethyrs beneath my feet beareth me down. And they avail not to sever
the Kamailow12. There is one
in green armour, with green eyes, whose sword is of vegetable fire13.
They shall avail me. My son is he14, ---and how shall I bear him that
have not known man?
All this time intolerable rays are shooting forth to beat me back or destroy
me; but I am encased in an egg of blue-violet, and my form is the form of a
man with the head of a golden hawk15.
While I have been observing this, the goddess has kept up a continuous wail,
like the baying of a thousand hounds16; and now her
voice is deep and guttural and hoarse, and she breathes very rapidly words that
I cannot hear. I can hear some of them now.
UNTU LA LA ULULA UMUNA TOFA LAMA LE LI NA AHR IMA TAHARA ELULA ETFOMA UNUNA
ARPETI ULU ULU ULU MARABAN ULULU MAHATA ULU ULU LAMASTANA17.
And then her voice rises to a shriek, and there is a cauldron18
boiling in front of her; and the flames under the cauldron are like unto zinc
flames19, and in the cauldron is the Rose,
the Rose of 49 petals20, seething in it. Over the cauldron
she has arched her rainbow wings; and her face is bent over the cauldron, and
she is blowing opalescent silvery rings on to the Rose; and each ring as it
touches the water bursts into flame, and the Rose takes new colours21.
And now she lifts her head, and raises her hands to heaven, and cries: O Mother22,
wilt thou never have compassion on the children of earth? Was it not enough
that the Rose should be red with the blood of thine heart23,
and that its petals should be by 7 and by 7?
She is weeping, weeping24.
And the tears grow and fill the whole stone with moons25. I can see nothing
and hear nothing for the tears, though she keeps on praying. "Take of these
pearls26, treasure them
in thine heart. Is not the Kingdom of the Abyss accurst?" She points downward
to the cauldron; and now in it there is the head of a most cruel dragon27, black and corrupted.
I watch, and watch; and nothing happens.
And now the dragon rises out of the cauldron, very long and slim (like Japanese
Dragons, but infinitely more terrible), and he blots out the whole sphere of
the stone28.
Then suddenly all is gone, and there is nothing in the stone save brilliant
white light and flecks like sparks of golden fire; and there is a ringing, as
if bells were being used for anvils. And there is a perfume which I cannot describe;
it is like nothing that one can describe, but the suggestion is like lignum
aloes29. And now all
these things are there at once in the same place and time30.
Now a veil of olive and silver31 is drawn over the stone, only
I hear the voice of the angel32 receding, very sweet and faint
and sorrowful, saying: Far off and lonely in the secret stone is the unknown,
and interpenetrated is the knowledge with the will and the understanding. I
am alone. I am lost, because I am all and in all; and my veil is woven of the
green earth and the web of stars. I love; and I am denied, for I have denied
myself. Give me those hands, put them against my heart. Is it not cold? Sink,
sink, the abyss of time remains. It is not possible that one should come to
ZAA. Give me thy face. Let me kiss it with my cold kisses. Ah! Ah! Ah! Fall
back from me. The word, the word of the aeon is MAKHASHANAH33{SUP:1}. And these
words shalt thou say backwards: ARARNAY OBOLO MAHARNA TUTULU NOM LAHARA EN NEDIEZO
LO SAD FONUSA SOBANA ARANA BINUF LA LA LA ARPAZNA UOHULU34{SUP:2}. when thou wilt call my
burden unto appearance, for I who am the Virgin goddess am the pregnant goddess,
and I have cast down my burden even unto the borders of the universe35{SUP:3}. They
that blaspheme me are stoned, and my veil36{SUP:4} is fallen
about me even unto the end of time37{SUP:5}.
Now there arises a great raging of thousands and thousands of mighty warriors
flashing through the aethyr so thickly that nothing is to be seen but their
swords, which are like blue-gray plumes. And the noise is confused, thousands
of battle-cries harmonizing to a roar, like the roar of a monstrous river in
flood. And all the stone is dull, dull gray. The life is gone from it39{SUP:1}.
There is no more to see.
Sidi Aissa, Algeria. November 24, 1909, 8-9 p.m.
ZAA = {Leo}{Taurus}{Taurus} = {HEB:Tet}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Vau}
= 21. A mystery of Atu XVIII, "The Moon". {Pisces} in which {Venus}
is exalted.
Possibly the traditional green
of the huntress.
Colour of {Moon}.
The green of Venus is perhaps the
natural veil of Luna, her external show.
For {Moon} is virgin, and the path
of {HEB:Gemel} crosses the wilderness of the Abyss.
Diana Trivia is thus described.
She is the Virgin Goddess of Pure Love; and the Lady of Heaven. She is the
Virgin Goddess of Pure Love; and she is Hecate, the waning Moon, presiding
over Witchcraft. (See Macbeth, etc.)
{Virgo} = IX = The Hermit (opposite
{Pisces} in the Zodiac).
The Jackals of Atu XVIII.
{Moon} = {HEB:Gemel} = 3. Cerberus
has three heads.
For the {Moon} is the Sensorium;
she reflects man's spiritual state in terms of sensuous experiences.
i.e. the coefficients of the
Circle and the Square be commensurable. "When" means "Through
what mode of resolution?" --- "On what plane?"
{GRK:Kappa}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:mu}{GRK:eta}{GRK:lambda}{GRK:omicron}
{GRK:sigma}, a camel, i.e. {HEB:Gemel} Jimmel. {GRK:Kappa}{GRK:alpha} {GRK:mu}{GRK:alpha}
{GRK:iota}{GRK:lambda}{GRK:omicron} {GRK:sigma}, a rope. And Jimmel is likened
to a rope, a threefold ({HEB:Gemel} = 3) cord linking Kether and Tiphereth.
The Angel of {HEB:Dalet} = {Venus}
who is green, and {HEB:Dalet} "avails" {HEB:Gemel}, crossing it
on the Tree by joining Chokmah and Binah. That is, the Love of these Supernals
balances the Isolation of the Virgin Moon.
{Moon} in 20x {Pisces} at nativity
of 666.
i.e. I assume the god-form of
Horus, Sol in the Womb of the Night-sky blue of Binah, who is the Mother of
all Stars and thus is potent against Hecate.
The hounds that follow Hecate.
The jackals of Atu XVIII. Quote A.C. "Ode to Hecate".
The Lunar language. "Ye
hounds! Ho! Ho! Tally-ho! sent the poison of the path --- Here! There! Bark!
Sweep around! There goes the quarry down the glade of mossy rock. The foremost
has caught him. Tally ho! Tally ho! Tally ho! pull him down! Tally-ho boys!
Wind the mort! Tally ho! Tally ho! The hunt is ended." ULU = "Hail"
plus "come" = very nearly "Ahoy!"
The witches' cauldron.
Ultra violet of {Pisces}.
{Venus} in {Pisces}.
All this paragraph refers to
Atu XIV Sagittarius, for she is now in her huntress form. Hence the Alchemical
and rainbow symbolism.
he appeals to Binah, the highest
form of Luna.
This is the use to which BABALON
puts the Blood of the Masters of the Temple (see 12th Aethyr) to vivify the rose of Universal Creation, i.e. The
Attainment of the Master of the Temple fills the World with Life and Beauty.
Hecate does not understand this, or else she regards it as hostile to her
own Formula.
{Water} of {Pisces}.
She can produce nothing but images
of herself.
Pearls, the M.T.'s secreted by
Binah round the specks of dust which they have become.
A veil or mask of Khephra (in
Atu XVIII).
All Hecate can see of the Great
Work of 8x = 3{square x} is the Black Brotherhood; i.e., the failure of that
Work.
Sagittarius (Atu XIV) again.
The phenomena are the experiences of the attained Master of the Temple.
The attainment has destroyed
the conditions of physical manifestation.
Olive --- Water in Malkuth (Queen
Scale) also Water (Emperor Scale). Silver is Luna in Queen Scale.
Hecate now aspires to Binah,
accepts the Formula of Love (kisses), surrenders her nature ("Fall back"
etc.) and so finds the Word.
{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Koph}{HEB:Aleph}
{HEB : Mem} = 418. A word of 8 letters is necessary to perform the Great work
on one whose Formula is 3: 8x = 3{square x}. The Seer "knew" that
this Word was not the correct Word, which is Abrahadabra = 418. But
on writing it down in Hebrew, as above, he saw that it was the correct word
after all. Observe that this proves the Angel to have been an Intelligence
not of the Seer's conscious mind. Had he given the Word which the Seer knew,
it might have been derived from his subconscious Self. Furthermore, this Word
contains more than the mere 418 because of its 8 letters suiting the special
Formula required by this particular Angel, whereas the other Word is a general
Formula, being of 11 letters, all Magick being referred to 11. so far as ABRAHADABRA
is specialized, it refers to the Work of 5x = 6{square x}, there being 5 alephs
and 6 other letters. In the Latin script also Makhashanah does have 11 letters.
Again, the operation of the Cauldron (above) is described by the 5 consonants
of this Word.
{HEB:Mem} = {Water} (Water)
{HEB:Koph} = Wheel (Rose)
{HEB:Shin} = Fire {Dee}
{HEB:Nun} = {Scorpio}
{HEB:Heh} = Binah
Translation: "Hither, O
Holy one/ whose burden pulls at thy spine/ Ho! Ho! Ho! The two-headed God
(Janus) ploughs thy back/ sows habitations upon thy back/ thou many-phallused
queen/ of princely loves/ which are all sodomies/ so that the holy ones laugh
and shake with laughter/ while the lords of mischief/ spend upon thee/ TUTULU
(this word cannot be translated. See Liber VII). down bounces from
thy back/ the merry mad foetus-faces/ an emission/ Gather ye sun-roses, sun-roses
gather ye from the split backside of the Virgin (Earth).
The Word of the Master has gone
forth into every part of the world.
Therefore it is always possible to call Him forth to one's assistance by the
proper use of the above Formula.
Symbols of Binah.
Same as above.
Many of these Visions end in
some way unconnected with the substance of the Aethyr. One must not look for
coherence in such places. They are merely episodes on the return journey,
useful to break the shock. analogy: one might see a cab accident while returning
to one's house from the theatre. This spectacle need have no connection with
either the play or one's home life.
The Cry of he 25th Aethyr,
Which is Called VTI1
There is nothing in the stone but the pale gold of the Rosy Cross.
Now there comes an Angel with bright wings, that is the Angel of the 25th Aire.
And all the aire is a dark olive about him, like an alexandrite 2 stone. He bears a pitcher3
or amphora4 And now
there comes another Angel upon a white horse5, and yet again
another Angel upon a black bull6. And now there comes a lion7
and swallows the two latter angels up. The first angel goes to the lion and
closes his mouth8. And behind them are arrayed a
great company of Angels with silver spears, like a forest. And the Angel says:
Blow, all ye trumpets, for I will loose my hands from the mouth of the lion,
and his roaring shall enkindle the worlds9. Then the trumpets blow, and the
wind rises and whistles terribly. It is a blue wind with silver specks; and
it blows through the whole Aethyr. But through it one perceives the lion, which
has become as a raging flame10. And he roareth in an unknown
tongue. But this is the interpretation thereof: Let the stars be burnt up in
the fire of my nostrils11!
Let all the gods and the archangels and the angels and the spirits that are
on the earth, and above the earth, and below the earth, that are in all the
heavens and in all the hells, let them be as motes dancing in the beam of mine
eye12! I am he that
swalloweth up death13 and victory14. I have slain
the crowned goat15,
and drunk up the great sea16.
Like the ash of dried leaves the worlds are blown before me. Thou hast passed
by me, and thou hast not known me. Woe unto thee, that I have not devoured thee
altogether! On my head is the crown, 419 rays17 far-darting. And my body is the
body of the Snake18, and my soul is the soul of the
Crowned Child19. Though
an Angel in white robes leadeth me20, - who shall ride upon me but
the Woman of Abominations21? Who is the Beast22? Am not I one
more than he23? In
his hand is a sword that is a book24. In his hand is a spear that is
a cup of fornication25. Upon his mouth is set the great
and terrible seal26. And he hath the secret of V27.
His ten horns spring from five points28, and his eight heads29
are as the charioteer of the West30. Thus doth the fire of the sun
temper the spear of Mars31, and thus shall he be worshipped,
as the warrior lord of the sun32. Yet in him is
the woman that devoureth with her water all the fire of God33.
Alas! my lord, thou art joined with him that knoweth not these things34.
When shall the day come that men shall flock to this my gate, and fall into
my furious throat, a whirlpool of fire? This is hell unquenchable, and all they
shall be utterly consumed therein. Therefore is that asbestos unconsumable made
pure35. Each of my
teeth36 is a letter
of the reverberating name. My tongue is a pillar of fire37,
and from the glands of my mouth arise four pillars of water38.TAOTZEM39{SUP:19} is the
name by which I am blasphemed. My name thou shalt not know, lest thou pronounce
it and pass by.
And now the Angel comes forward again and closes his mouth.
All this time heavy blows have been raining upon me from invisible angels,
so that I am weighed down as with a burden greater than the world40. I am altogether crushed. Great
millstones are hurled out of heaven upon me41.
I am trying to crawl to the lion42, and the ground is covered with
sharp knives. I cut myself at every inch43.
And the voice comes: Why art thou there who art here44? Hast thou not
the sign of the number45, and the seal of the name46,
and the ring of the eye47?
Thou wilt not48.
And I answered and said: I am a creature of earth, and ye would have me swim.
And the voice said: Thy fear is known; thine ignorance is known; thy weakness
is known; but thou art nothing in this matter. Shall the grain which is cast
into the earth by the hand of the sower debate within itself, saying, am I oats
or barley? Bondslave of the curse, we give nothing, we take all. Be thou content.
That which thou art, thou art. Be content49.
And now the lion passeth over through the Aethyr with the crowned beast upon
his back, and the tail of the lion goes on instead of stopping, and on each
hair of the tail is something or other --- sometimes a little house, sometimes
a planet, at other times a town. Then there is a great plain with soldiers fighting
upon it, and an enormously high mountain carved into a thousand temples, and
more houses and fields and trees, and great cities with wonderful buildings
in them, statues and columns and public buildings generally. This goes on and
on and on and on and on and on and on all on the hairs of this lion's tail50.
And then there is the tuft of his tail, which is like a comet, but the head
is a new universe, and each hair streaming away from it is a Milky Way.
And then there is a pale stern figure, enormous, enormous, bigger than all
that universe is, in silver armour, with a sword and a pair of balances51. That is only vague. All has gone
into stone-gray, blank.
There is nothing.
Ain el Hajel. November 25, 1909. 8:40-9:40 p.m.
(There were two voices in all this Cry, one behind the other --- or, one was
the speech, and the other the meaning. And the voice that was the speech was
simply a roaring, one tremendous noise, like a mixture of thunder and water-falls
and wild beasts and bands and artillery. And yet it was articulate, though I
cannot tell you what a single word was. But the meaning of the voice --- the
second voice --- was quite silent, and put the ideas directly into the brain
of the Seer, as if by touch. It is not certain whether the millstones and the
sword-strokes that rained upon him were not these very sounds and ideas.)
VTI = {Capricorn}{Leo}{Sagittarius} = Caput
Draconis, the head of the Lion-Serpent, the Beast 666. His father is {Capricorn}
Set or Pan; his mother, the woman clothed with the Sun as in Atu XIV. See
27th Aethyr. He is the burden of the Moon, sanctified by 418. Atu XI (a partial
form) with Atu XX (XI + XX = XXXI) gives the Key of the New Aeon.
The stone of Gemini, the twins, composing
Heru-Ra-Ha, his Lord. Also the house of {Mercury}; that is, his form is Oracular.
The angel is an avatar of BABALON.
{GRK:alpha}{GRK:mu}{GRK:phi}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:rho}{GRK:eta}
= 719. This Angel is a veil for 156, the Woman who closes the mouth of the
lion in the old Atu XI, and is the Scarlet Woman who rides upon him in the
new form.
The sorrow of Death.
This represents Jehovah and Jesus. The Pain
of Toil. (Sin is Restriction).
Symbol of the Beast, 666.
See Atu XI. Babalon and the Beast conjoined.
BABALON prepared 666 (in a certain very
secret manner) to utter the word {GRK:Theta}{GRK:epsilon}{GRK:lambda}{GRK:eta}{GRK:mu}{GRK:alpha}.
(This may have some reference to Crowley´s first wife Rose who was the moving
spirit in getting him prepared for invoking Thoth and Horus in the Spring
1904, and then for the writing of The Book of the Law.)
666 is now inspired.
Nostrils = {Mars} and {Venus}. Energy and
passion, also Breath of the Word.
Eye = Creative Light, i.e. of the Word.
Scorpio.
Netzach.
Capricornus.
Hod (the mercurial water): in all the Sephiroth
below Tiphereth, out of balance, and the paths leading from them/
Leo = {Leo} = {HEB:Tet} = {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Tet}
= 419. t = {Leo}. {HEB:Tet} = snake by meaning. {Leo} = Horus.
The magical image of the 1st Decan of Leo,
rising at the birth of 666, is a lion-headed serpent.
Horus, the Lord of 666.
The Avatar of Binah, in the opening of this
Aethyr.
BABALON. See Atu XI.
419-418=1. Or 667-666=1. 667 = {GRK:eta}{GRK:kappa}
{GRK:omicron} {GRK:kappa} {GRK:kappa}{GRK:iota}{GRK:sigma}{GRK:eta} {GRK:gamma}{GRK:upsilon}{GRK:nu}{GRK:eta},
the Scarlet Woman. (WEH note: This is the correct Greek 667 entry from Liber
MCCLXIV).
419-418=1. Or 667-666=1. 667 = {GRK:eta}{GRK:kappa}
{GRK:omicron} {GRK:kappa} {GRK:kappa}{GRK:iota}{GRK:sigma}{GRK:eta} {GRK:gamma}{GRK:upsilon}{GRK:nu}{GRK:eta},
the Scarlet Woman. (WEH note: This is the correct Greek 667 entry from Liber
MCCLXIV)
Liber AL, his weapon.
This allusion must remain secret.
This seal is that of BBABALON. The Seal
of the A{.·.} A{.·.} See the Book of Lies, {GRK:Kappa}{GRK:epsilon}{GRK:phi}.
{GRK:Mu}{GRK:theta} (Cap. 49).
His motto as a Master of the Temple is this
V.V.V.V.V. (Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici).
V.V.V.V.V. Has 10 horns that spring from
5 points.
See the Book of Lies, Cap. {GRK:Mu}{GRK:theta},
49. But there is One Eighth Head too Sacredly terrible to mention.
Refers to Atu VII. {HEB:Chet} = The Chariot
= 8. the Bearer of the Sangraal.
The Mystery 5x = 6{square x} and 6x = 5{square
x}, Heru-Ra-Ha is the Martial aspect of Sol.
See AL, Cap. III, v. 74.
Again a secret allusion. (WEH note: Join
O.T.O. and attain to the mystery).
The Seer was not yet a full initiate, and
was hampered by A.C.
This paragraph prophesies the purging of
the worldly Fire in the Aeon of Horus. "Hell" is the pure Inmost
Self of Man, that suffereth not extinction, but consumeth all the experiences
of Life, coming thereby to know its own Perfection.
32 teeth; hence the Name is {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}
{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Aleph} = 32. Macroprosophus interfused with Microprosophus.
The tongue is the instrument of the Logos
and so a Phallic or creative organ. Chokmah the logos, is the Root of Fire,
and the Masculine Energy.
These are the "Four Rivers of Eden".
It is the fourfold understanding of the Logos. These reflect Him so perfectly
that they reproduce His Form.
{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Tzaddi}{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Taw}
= 600. A "great number" of Sol, normally 6. 600 = Kosmos. The blasphemy
is in taking the material for the Spiritual Sun.
"The Sin of the whole world".
See the Mediterranean Manifesto.
Prophetic of the pains, the initiation to
9x = 2{square x}, undergone by 666 in order to become himself.
Prophetic of the pains, the initiation to
9x = 2{square x}, undergone by 666 in order to become himself.
Prophetic of the pains, the initiation to
9x = 2{square x}, undergone by 666 in order to become himself.
i.e. "Why art Thou not consciously
identical with 666?"
The Qabalistic Proofs (of the truth of Aiwass)
given by the virtues of 93.
666.
The ring of V.V.V.V.V., mentioned in LXV,
v. 16.
My resistance to the Great Work.
The Angel promises the Seer that he shall
be 666 in all truth, and counsels him to await His Hour in perfect confidence.
Prophetic of the results of the Great Work
delivered by 666.
This refers to the Aeon which is to follow
this of Horus. See Liber AL, Cap. III, v. 34. Its Lord is "the
double-wanded one" "Thmaist --- Justice."
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 24th Aethyr,
Which is Called NIA1
An angel comes forward into the stone like a warrior clad in chain- armour.
Upon his head are plumes of gray2, spread out like
the fan of a peacock3. About his feet a great army of
scorpions and dogs, lions, elephants, and many other wild beasts. He stretches
forth his arms to heaven and cries; In the crackling of the lightning, in the
rolling of the thunder, in the clashing of the swords and the hurling of the
arrows4: be thy name
exalted!
Streams of fire come out of the heavens, a pale brilliant blue5,
like plumes. And they gather themselves and settle upon his lips. His lips are
redder than roses, and the blue plumes gather themselves into a blue rose6, and from beneath the petals of
the rose come brightly coloured humming-birds7,
and dew falls from the rose- honey-coloured dew8. I stand in the
shower of it.
And a voice proceeds from the rose: Come away! Our chariot is drawn by doves9.
Of mother-of-pearl and ivory is our chariot10 and the reins thereof are the
heart-strings of men. Every moment that we fly shall cover an aeon. And every
place on which we rest shall be a young universe rejoicing in its strength;
the meadows thereof shall be covered with flowers. There shall we rest but a
night, and in the morning we shall flee away, comforted.
Now, to myself, I have imagined the chariot of which the voice spake, and I
looked to see who was with me in the chariot. It was an Angel of golden hair
and golden skin, whose eyes were bluer than the sea, whose mouth was redder
than the fire, whose breath was ambrosial air. Finer than a spider's web were
her robes. And they were of the seven colours11.
All this I saw; and then the hidden voice went on low and sweet: Come away!
The price of the journey is little, though its name be death. Thou shalt die
to all that thou fearest and hopest and hatest and lovest and thinkest and art.
Yea! thou shalt die, even as thou must die. For all that thou hast, thou hast
not; all that thou art, thou art not12!
NENNI OFEKUFA ANANAEL LAIADA I MAELPEREJI NONUKA AFAFA ADAREPEHETA PEREGI ALADI
NIISA NIISA LAPE OL ZODIR IDOIAN13.
And I said: ODO KIKALE QAA. Why art thou hidden from me, whom I hear?
And the voice answered and said unto me: Hearing is of the spirit alone14.
Thou art a partaker of the five-fold mystery15. Thou must roll up the ten divine
ones like a scroll, and fashion therefrom a star16.
Yet must thou blot out the star in the heart of Hadit17.
For the blood of my heart is like a warm bath of myrrh and ambergris; bathe
thyself therein. The blood of my heart is all gathered upon my lips if I kiss
thee, burns in my fingertips if I caress thee, burns in my womb when thou art
caught up into my bed. Mighty are the stars; mighty is the sun; mighty is the
moon; mighty is the voice of the ever-living one, and the echoes of his whisper
are the thunders of the dissolution of the worlds. But my silence is mightier
than they. Close up the worlds like unto a weary house; close up the book of
the recorder, and let the veil swallow up the shrine, for I am arisen, O my
fair one, and there is no more need of all these things.
If once I put thee apart from me, it was the joy of play. Is not the ebb and
flowing of the tide a music of the sea? Come, let us mount unto Nuit our mother
and be lost! Let being be emptied in the infinite abyss! For by me only shalt
thou mount; thou hast none other wings than mine18.
All this while the Rose has been shooting out blue flames, coruscating like
snakes through the whole Aire. And the snakes have taken shapes of sentences.
One of them is: Sub umbra alarum tuarum Adonai quies et felicitas19.
And another: Summum bonum, vera sapientia, magnanima vita, sub noctis nocte
sunt20. And another is: Vera medicina
est vinum mortis21. And another is: Libertas
evangelii per jugum legis ob gloriam dei intactam ad vacuum nequaquam tendit22.
And another is: Sub aqu lex terrarum23. And another
is: Mens edax rerum, cor umbra rerum; intelligentia via summa24.
And another is: Summa via lucis: per Hephaestum undas regas25.
And another is: Vir introit tumulum regis, invenit oleum lucis26.
And all round the whole of these things are the letters TARO; but the light
is so dreadful that I cannot read the words. I am going to try again. All these
serpents are collected together very thickly at the edges of the wheel, because
there are an innumerable number of sentences. One is: tres annos regimen
oraculi27. And another
is: terribilis ardet rex {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Ayin}28. And another
is: Ter amb (amp?) (can't see it) Rosam oleo (?)29.
And another is: Tribus annulis regna olisbon30. And the marvel is that with those
four letters you can get a complete set of rules for doing everything, both
for white magic and black.
And now I see the heart of the rose again. I see the face of him that is the
heart of the rose, and in the glory of that face I am ended. My eyes are fixed
upon his eyes; my being is sucked up through my eyes into those eyes. And I
see through those eyes, and lo! the universe, like whirling sparks of gold,
blown like a tempest. I seem to swell out again into him. My consciousness fills
the whole Aethyr. I hear the cry NIA, ringing again and again from within me.
It sounds like infinite music, and behind the sound is the meaning of the Aethyr.
Again there are no words.
All this time the whirling sparks of gold go on, and they are like blue sky,
with a lot of rather thin white clouds in it, outside. And now I see mountains
round, far blue mountains, purple mountains. And in the midst is a little green
dell of moss, which is all sparkling with dew that drips from the rose. And
I am lying on that moss with my face upwards, drinking, drinking, drinking,
drinking, drinking of the dew.
I cannot describe to you the joy and the exhaustion of everything that was,
and the energy of everything that is, for it is only a corpse that is lying
on the moss. I am the soul of the Aethyr31.
Now it reverberates like the swords of archangels, clashing upon the armour
of the damned; and there seem to be the blacksmiths of heaven beating the steel
of the worlds upon the anvils of hell, to make a roof to the Aethyr32.
For if the great work were accomplished and all the Aethyrs were caught up
into one, then would the vision fail; then would the voice be still.
Now all is gone from the stone.
Ain el Hajel. November 26, 1909. 2-3:25 p.m.
NIA = {Scorpio}{Sagittarius}{Taurus} = 116.
She is Atu XIV --- "The Woman clothed with the Sun", see 27th Aire,
between {Scorpio}, Love as the instrument of change by Putrefaction, and {Taurus},
the heavenly Isis. But cf. also AL III, v. 72 -- Coph Nia. This completes
the Mystery of Atu XI by the Vision of 156, also in a partial form. The Beast
and the Scarlet Woman at attributed to {Leo} and Water {Scorpio}. They are
the two-in-one Chief Officers, of the Temple of the New Aeon of Heru-Ra-Ha.
(Note: The Eagle Kerub in the 23rd Aire is Aquarius {Aquarius}. Scorpio is
the Woman-Serpent. This is important; for the old attribution is of the Eagle
to {Scorpio})
The Ajna-Chakra --- Chokmah.
Sacred to Juno.
Arrows of {Sagittarius} the rainbow which
follows this storm.
Blue of Sagittarius (Atu XIV).
Woman in {Sagittarius}.
Sacred to Venus.
Distilled from Cauldron in Atu XIV. The Elixir.
In this Aire is a Mystery of the IX° of the O.T.O.
Sacred to {Venus}. This woman combines {Jupiter}
(Juno) and {Venus}; but she is more than all this, the Quintessence of Scorpio,
the Lady of the Cup.
Chariot = Atu VII = {Cancer} cardinal sign
of {Water}. Mother of Pearl is sacred to {Water}; cups symbolize Pleasure,
especially sexual pleasure. Ivory comes from the tusks of the Elephant: teeth
pertain to {HEB:Shin}, the fire of the Spirit. Ivory is thus a symbol of the
hard gleaming militant delight of sexual energy, which bears Love in her Chariot
through Heaven.
All typical of {Venus}.
Prophetic of the 8x = 3{square x} Initiation.
Love is the motive power which makes the Adeptus Exemptus take the plunge
into the Abyss.
Enochian.
The traditional attribution.
i.e. of the Pentagram.
The ten Sephiroth form the Flaming Sword.
The idea is to make a perfect Man. (the Pentagram) by folding up his 10 consecutive
qualities into a single symmetrical symbol.
This star must itself be blotted out in
the Point-of View, the Quintessence of Individuality.
The totality of experiences has amounted
to Perfection. There is then no more need of a manifested Universe. See AL.
I, v. 29, for the Object of Division.
Refers to 5x = 6{square x} initiation.
Refers to the Night of Pan (see later Aires)
and so to 8x = 3{square x} which with 5x = 6{square x} make the two initiated
steps.
Cf. the general doctrine about Death. AL
II, vs. 72-74, et al.
Combines the four sentences in this order
{Aquarius}{Taurus}{Leo} {Scorpio} on the circular altar in the vault of Christian
Rosencreutz. The meaning is: Liberty, Law, Light fill the Universe.
S.A.L.T.
M.E.R.C.U.R.I.U.S. Meaning: the mind destroys
the external (by abstracting its reality: see any good Yoga treatise). The
heart is their shadow (i.e. Reality only appears as impressions). Binah (8x
= 3{square x}) is the Highest Way.
S.U.L.P.H.U.R. An alchemical injunction;
a reference to AL, Cap. 2, v. 57.
V.I.T.R.I.O.L. Reference to IXx O.T.O.
Refers to time required to assimilate the
Initiation of 8x=3{squarex} For three years is 156 weeks; and 156 = BABALON.
Elyon: the exalted one, nVLI (?). 156, a
name of BABALON, (see the Urn) with with the Phallic Yod in the midst.
Meaning: the Rose must be thrice anointed
(?) with oil. (That is, with the oil.)
Refers to the Tree of Life; to be ruled
by the three reciprocating Paths, {HEB:Dalet}, {HEB:Tet}, {HEB:Peh}; that
is, by the supernal love, by the Formula of Babalon and the Beast conjoined,
and by that Formula at which is hinted in Liber AL. 1,2,3,4. all T.A.R.O.
This passage describes an Initiation, the
first of this series. It is the exhaustion of the lower Self of the Seer in
his first union with BABALON.
This roof seems to be the Path of {HEB:Peh}
(Mars, blacksmiths, steel, etc., the first ring that binds the {GRK:omicron}{GRK:lambda}{GRK:iota}
{GRK:omicron}{GRK:beta}{GRK:omicron}{GRK : sigma}). The union with his Mate
first occurs In Yesod, of which {HEB:Peh} may be called the roof. Later we
shall find the other marriages of {HEB:Tet} and {HEB:Dalet}.
The Cry of the 23rd Aethyr,
Which is Called TOR1.
In the brightness of the stone are three lights, brighter than all, which revolve
ceaselessly2. And now there is a spider's web
of silver3 covering
the whole of the stone. Behind the spider's web is a star of twelve rays4;
and behind that again, a black bull, furiously pawing up the ground. The flames
from his mouth increase and whirl, and he cries: Behold the mystery of toil,
O thou who art taken in the toils of mystery5.
For I who trample the earth thereby make whirlpools in the air; be comforted,
therefore, for though I be black, in the roof of my mouth is the sign of the
Beetle6. Bent are the backs
of my brethren, yet shall they gore the lion with their horns. Have I not the
wings of the eagle, and the face of the man?
And now he is turned into one of those winged Assyrian bull-men.
And he sayeth: The spade of the husbandman is the sceptre of the king7.
All the heavens beneath me, they serve me. They are my fields and my gardens
and my orchards and my pastures.
Glory be unto thee, who didst set thy feet in the North8;
whose forehead is pierced with the sharp points of the diamonds in thy crown
9; whose heart is pierced
with the spear of thine own fecundity 10.
Thou art an egg of blackness, and a worm of poison. But thou hast formulated
thy father, and made fertile thy mother.
Thou art the basilisk whose gaze turns men to stone, and the cockatrice at
the breast of an harlot that giveth death for milk. Thou art the asp that has
stolen into the cradle of the babe. Glory unto thee, who art twined about the
world as the vine that clingeth to the bare body of a bacchanal11.
Also, though I be planted so firmly upon the earth, yet is my blood wine and
my breath fire of madness. With these wings, though they be but little, I lift
myself above the crown of the yod12,
and being without fins I yet swim in the inviolate fountain13.
I disport myself in the ruins of Eden, even as Leviathan in the false sea14,
being whole as the rose at the crown of the cross15. Come ye unto
me, my children, and be glad. At the end of labour is the power of labour16.
And in my stability is concentrated eternal change17.
For the whirlings of the universe are but the course of the blood in my heart.
And the unspeakable variety thereof is but my divers hairs, and plumes, and
gems in my tall crown. The change which ye lament is the life of my rejoicing,
and the sorrow that blackeneth your hearts is the myriad deaths by which I am
renewed.
And the instability which maketh ye to fear, is the little waverings of balance
by which I am assured18. And now the
veil of silver tissue-stuff closes over him, and above that, a purple veil,
and above that, a golden veil, so that now the whole stone is like a thick mat
of woven gold wires; and there come forth, one from each side of the stone,
two women, and grasp each other by both hands, and kiss, and melt into one another;
and melt away19. And
now the veils open again, the gold parts, and the purple parts, and the silver
parts, and there is a crowned eagle, also like the Assyrian eagles. And he cries:
All my strength and stability are turned to the use of flight20.
For though my wings are of fine gold, yet my heart is the heart of a scorpion21.
Glory unto thee, who being born in a stable didst make thee mirth of the filth
thereof, who didst suck in iniquity from the breast of thy mother the harlot;
who didst flood with iniquity the bodies of thy concubines. Thou didst lie in
the filth of the streets with the dogs; thou wast tumbled and shameless and
wanton in a place where four roads meet. There wast thou defiled, and there
wast thou slain, and there wast thou left to rot. The charred stake was thrust
through thy bowels, and thy parts were cut off and thrust into thy mouth for
derision22. All my unity
is dissolved; I live in the tips of my feathers23.
That which I think to be myself is but infinite number24. Glory unto the
Rose and the Cross, for the Cross is extended unto the uttermost end beyond
space and time and being and knowledge and delight! Glory unto the Rose that
is the minute point of its center! Even as we say; glory unto the Rose that
is Nuit the circumference of all, and glory unto the Cross that is the heart
of the Rose25!
Therefore do I cry aloud, and my scream is the treble as the bellowing of the
bull is the bass26. Peace in the highest and peace
in the lowest and peace in the midst thereof! Peace in the eight quarters, peace
in the ten points of the Pentagram! Peace in the twelve rays of the seal of
Solomon, and peace in the four and thirty whirlings of the hammer of Thor27! Behold! I blaze upon thee. (The
eagle is gone; it is only a flaming Rosy Cross of white brilliance.) I catch
thee up into rapture. FALUTLI, FALUTLI28!
... O it dies, it dies.
Bou Sada. November 28, 1909. 9:30-10:15 A.M.
TOR = {Leo}{Libra}{Pisces}.
The Three Gunas, Sattvas, Rajas, Tamas. This
is an Introit to the Aethyr. As we proceed, we find more and more obstacles
to entering.
More introit; veils to the true Vision.
Tamas, Kerub of Earth. He and the Eagle of
Air make up the 4 Officers of the New Temple.
A warning to the Seer not to allow himself
to ignore or despise the plain facts of life. Mysteries --- nay, even The
Mysteries themselves! are apt to seduce the Aspirant. He becomes exalt (as
the cold rational French, observing these errors, call him) instead of exalted.
The tradition of the Bull Apis. The Beetle
is the Midnight Sun, the hidden hope of Earth.
The King rules by virtue of the labour of
his people. Even {Taurus} Earth is necessary as the support of Heaven. Nuit
is upheld by Shu, who stands on Seb. Neglect to understand this causes many
"pure Mystics" to fall lamentably. They "go off their base"
in the significant slang of common-sense folk.
The Bull is stationed in the North.
The Bull is sacred to Osiris. This refers
to the Crown of Thorns.
Again a reference to the Formula of Osiris.
The Spear (Sacred Lance, Phallus) pierces the heart of the Dying God.
These two paragraphs declare the identity
of the Bull with his Zodiacal opposite, Scorpio.
The Crown of Yod (as a path on the Tree)
is Chesed. It leads thither from Tiphereth. The path of the Bull leads from
Chokmah down to Chesed.
Refers to the Symbol of the woman and the
Bull. See 16th Aire.
See Knorr von Rosenroth on the Qlipoth (the
Shells). He wrote Kaballa Denudata in Latin which was translated
into English as The Kaballah Unveiled by McGregor Mathers, one of
the Chiefs of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
"The Rose of Earth" surmounts
the Cross of Fire in the symbol of Venus.
Toil creates kinetic energy.
See 11th Aire.
All this paragraph explains this doctrine
of Stability = Change. (Yesod, Support of the Tree, is also {Air} & {Moon}).
These are intended to show symbolically
that the Bull is the same as the Eagle.
This transformation into Air shows the identity
(in ultimate philosophy) of the two forces of change which constitute the
Lesser Mysteries of the Sword and the Disk.
Refers to the Scorpion in the Symbol of
the Bull of Mithras.
These two paragraphs refer to the Formula
of the Dying God, its perversion and profanation at the hands of those who
abused it.
Air has a peripheral consciousness.
The True Unity does not exist in any particular
number, but in {HEB:Aleph}x as a whole.
The Rose and Cross are not merely symbols
of definite types of energy, female and male. They are extended in the correlative
symbols of Infinity: Nuit and Hadit.
Air and Earth are harmonious vibrations,
complementary.
The vibrations of Tetragrammaton, Jeheshua,
the Hexagram, and the Swastika are Swastika re duplicated, being complete
in each of the two Series, Air and Earth, the lower forms of Masculine and
Feminine.
See Liber VII, Cap. V, v. 30. It
is the cry of the consummated rapture of the Dissolution of any symbol by
virtue of Love. FAL is Aleph (AFL, thick darkness; PLA, the Hidden Wonder,
a title of Kether.) The whole symbolism of Aleph, 111, must be studied thoroughly.
It is especially the equations: One = Zero; and Three = One. Aleph is Iacchus,
Lord of Ecstasy; Harpocrates, Lord of Silence: Zeus Arrhenotheleus; Bacchus
Diphues, Baphomet, etc. Lord of the Two-in-One Love; Parsifal, The Pure Fool,
the Wandering Spirit of God, who impregnates the King's Daughter. UT is the
title of the Holy Guardian Angel in the Upanishads. C.q.v. also the poem of
"UT" in "The Winged Beetle". LI is the Hebrew for "to
me". See AL I, v. 51, 53, 61, 62, 63. (L is Atu VIII = {HEB:Lamed} =
the Satisfied Woman; I is {HEB:Yod}, Atu IX, the Hermit). See AL II, v. 24
--- The Hidden Virtue which satisfies Her. {GRK:Phi}{GRK:Alpha}{GRK:Lambda}
{GRK:Upsilon} {GRK:Tau}{GRK:Lambda}{GRK: I ota} = 1271 = 2542/2. 2542 = {GRK:Theta}
{GRK:epsilon} {GRK:lambda} {GRK:eta} {GRK:mu} {GRK:alpha} spelt in full.
The Cry of the 22nd Aethyr,
Which is Called LIN1
There comes first into the stone the mysterious table of forty-nine squares2.
It is surrounded by an innumerable company of angels; these angels are of all
kinds, --- some brilliant and flashing as gods, down to elemental creatures.
The light comes and goes on the tablet; and now it is steady, and I perceive
that each letter of the tablet is composed of forty-nine other letters, in a
language which looks like that of Honorius; but when I would read, the letter
that I look at becomes indistinct at once.
And now there comes an Angel, to hide the tablet with his mighty wing. This
Angel has all the colours mingled in his dress; his head is proud and beautiful;
his headdress is of silver and red and blue and gold and black, like cascades
of water, and in his left hand he has a pan-pipe of the seven holy metals, upon
which he plays3. I cannot
tell you how wonderful the music is, but it is so wonderful that one only lives
in one's ears; one cannot see anything any more.
Now he stops playing and moves with his finger in the air. His finger leaves
a trail of fire of every colour, so that the whole Aire is become like a web
of mingled lights. But through it all drops dew4.
(I can't describe these things at all. Dew doesn't represent what I mean in
the least. For instance, these drops of dew are enormous globes, shining like
the full moon, only perfectly transparent, as well as perfectly luminous.)
And now he shows the tablet again, and he says: As there are 49 letters in
the tablet, so are there 49 kinds of cosmos in every thought of God. And there
are 49 interpretations of every cosmos, and each interpretation is manifested
in 49 ways. Thus also are the calls 495, but to each call
there are 49 visions. And each vision is composed of 49 elements, except in
the 10th Aethyr, that is accursed, and that hath 426.
All this while the dewdrops have turned into cascades of gold finer than the
eyelashes of a little child7. And though the
extent of the Aethyr is so enormous, one perceives each hair separately, as
well as the whole thing at once8.
And now there is a mighty concourse of angels rushing toward me from every side,
and they melt upon the surface of the egg in which I am standing in the form
of the god Kneph9, so
that the surface of the egg is all one dazzling blaze of liquid light.
Now I move up against the tablet, --- I cannot tell you with what rapture.
And all the names of God, that are not known even to the angels10,
clothe me about.
All the seven senses are transmuted into one sense, and that sense is dissolved
in itself ...11 (Here occurs
Samadhi.) ... Let me speak, O God; let me declare it ... all. It is useless;
my heart faints, my breath stops. There is no link between me and P . . .12 I withdraw myself.
I see the table again.
(He was behind the table for a very long time13. O.V.)
And all the table burns with intolerable light; there has been no such light
in any of the Aethyrs until now. And now the table draws me back into itself;
I am no more.
My arms were out in the form of a cross, and that Cross was extended, blazing
with light into infinity. I myself am the minutest point in it. This is the
birth of form14.
I am encircled by an immense sphere of many-coloured bands; it seems it is
the sphere of the Sephiroth projected in the three dimensions. This is the
birth of death15.
Now in the centre within me is a glowing sun. That is the birth of hell16.
Now all that is swept away, washed away by the table. It is the virtue of the
table to sweep everything away. It is the letter
I in this Aethyr that gives this vision, and L is its purity, and N is its
energy17. Now everything
is confused, for I invoked the Mind, that is disruption18.
Every Adept who beholds this vision is corrupted by mind. Yet it is by virtue
of mind that he endures it, and passes on, if so be that he pass on. Yet there
is nothing higher than this, for it is perfectly balanced in itself. I cannot
read a word of the holy Table, for the letters of the Table are all wrong. They
are only the shadows of shadows. And whoso beholdeth this Table with this rapture,
is light. The true word for light hath seven letters. They are the same as ARARITA,
transmuted19.
There is a voice in this Aethyr, but it cannot be spoken. The only way one
can represent it is as a ceaseless thundering of the word Amen. It is not a
repetition of Amen, because there is no time. It is one Amen continuous20.
Shall mine eye fade before thy glory? I am the eye. That is why the eye is
seventy21. You can never understand why,
except in this vision22.
And now the table recedes from me. Far, far it goes, streaming with light.
And there are two black angels bending over me, covering me with their wings,
shutting me up into the darkness; and I am lying in the Pastos of our Father
Christian Rosenkreutz, beneath the Table in the Vault of seven sides. And I
hear these words:
The voice of the Crowned Child, the Speech of the Babe that is hidden in the
egg of blue23. (Before me is the flaming Rosy
Cross.) I have opened mine eye, and the universe is dissolved before me, for
force is mine upper eye-lid and matter is my lower eye- lid24.
I gaze into the seven spaces, and there is naught25.
The rest of it comes without words; and then again:
I have gone forth to war, and I have slain him that sat upon the sea, crowned
with the winds26. I put forth my power and he was broken. I
withdrew my power and he was ground into fine dust27.
Rejoice with me, O ye Sons of the Morning; stand with me upon the Throne of
Lotus28; gather yourselves up unto me, and we shall play together
in the fields of light. I have passed into the Kingdom of the West after my
Father29.
Behold! where are now the darkness and the terror and the lamentation? For
ye are born into the new Aeon; ye shall not suffer death30.
Bind up your girdles of gold! Wreathe yourselves with garlands of my unfading
flowers! In the nights we will dance together, and in the morning we will go
forth to war; for, as my Father liveth that was dead, so do I live and shall
never die31.
And now the table comes rushing back. It covers the whole stone, but this time
it pushes me before it, and a terrible voice cries: Begone! Thou hast profaned
the mystery; thou hast eaten of the shew-bread; thou hast spilt the consecrated
wine32! Begone! For the Voice is accomplished. Begone! For
that which was open is shut. And thou shalt not avail to open it, saving by
virtue of him whose name is one, whose spirit is one, whose individuum is one,
and whose permutation is one33; whose light is one, whose life
is one, whose love is one. For though thou art joined to the inmost mystery
of the heaven, thou must accomplish the sevenfold task of the earth, even as
thou sawest the Angels from the greatest unto the least. And of all this shalt
thou take back with thee but a little part, for the sense shall be darkened,
and the shrine re-veiled. Yet know this for thy reproof, and for the stirring
up of discontent in them whose swords are of lath34, that in
every word of this vision is concealed the key of many mysteries, even of being,
and of knowledge, and of bliss35; of will, of courage, of wisdom,
and of silence36, and of that which, being all these, is greater
than all these. Begone! For the night of life is fallen upon thee. And the veil
of light hideth that which is.
With that, I suddenly see the world as it is, and I am very sorrowful.
Bou-Sada.
November 28, 1909. 4-6 p.m.
(Note. --- You do not come back in any way dazed; it is like going
from one room into another. Regained normal consciousness completely and immediately.)
LIN = {Cancer}{Sagittarius}{Scorpio} {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Samekh}
{HEB:Chet} is Chassan, ruler of Air; also, Strength. 118 = 2 x 59. 59 = Brethren
(referred especially to Lilith and Samael). LIN declares therefore the Twins
concealed in Heru-Ra-Ha. 118 is also "to change, pass, renew" and
"to ferment"; indicating the Formula of Horus; His first Formula
is that of BABALON, for He is as yet within Her womb. But see note on 10th
Aire, regarding PARAOAN.
See The Equinox, I, VII, page 231.
This table contains the names of the Angels of the Seven Planetary Spheres:
Shabathiel, Tzedquiel, Madimiel, Shemashiel, Negahal, Kokabiel, and Levaniel.
This seven-fold arrangement is of the Sigil of A{.·.} A{.·.} Babalon. See
Book of Lies, Cap. 49. And she is the Mother of Heru-Ra-Ha.
This "Angel" is in fact PAN. See
the 9th Aire "unto All hath she born him."
This "dew" is the Supernal Lion-Serpent
in his Menstruum of liquid Pearl.
42 is the number of the Demiurge (see Genesis
I), of the Assessors of the Dead (see any book on Egyptian religion), of the
Sterile Mother {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Aleph}, of Terror and Destruction
{HEB:Heh} {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Bet}, of loss ({HEB:Yod} {HEB:Lamed} {HEB:Bet}),
of the verb "to cease" ({HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Chet}), and of
{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Tzaddi-final}, the Earth of Malkuth. It is connected
with the 10th Aethyr. See Equnox I, VII, pages 229-243, for the whole
symbolism.
See Equnox I, VIII, pp. 99-128.
The Solar Child develops from the "Dew".
These violations of Normal Logic are stigmatic
of most of the higher types of Spiritual Experience. There must be no muddle;
that is the usual mistake made by most Mystics. Confused thought is the evil
and averse image of the One Clear Light.
The winged Egg, the omniform Zero (0x) from
which all positive manifestation comes.
This experience is perfectly clear and definite,
to the peculiar type of higher consciousness which is aware of it.
These are those of the Table itself, read
across or down, instead of diagonally, as is done to obtain the names given
in note 5, p. 32. See also LXXXIV (page 231).
Perdurabo, the Motto (in the Outer Order)
of the Seer. Even below the True Consciousness with the material and intellectual
basis of him.
i.e. The Seer was in Samadhi; the Table
had been a Veil of the Infinite.
Form is the conception of the Self in extension.
Death is the conception of the Self extended,
not into the positive balanced cross, but into the negative circle (or sphere)
of Nuit.
For Hell, see Liber Aleph. Hell,
is the Secret Centre of the Self. One perceives one's Star as one's True Self.
{ENO:j} = {Sagittarius}. The Rainbow is
connected with the Sevenfold projection. {ENO:l} = {Moon} decreasing in {Cancer}.
Luna, when active, always purifies. It is the passive Moon that may be "evil";
i.e. when she reflects not the Sun, her Lord, but divers spectres of the Night.
{ENO:n} = {Mars} in {Scorpio}, the type of energy which informs Vision. {Mars}
in {Taurus} would cause action.
The Seer had begun to analyze the conceptions
presented to him by the Vision. Instantly the internal coherence of its Unity
was destroyed. The next two phrases show that this is a difficulty peculiar
to this Vision.
{HEB:Resh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Taw}
{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Yod} the essence of the Yod girt by Sun's tending inwardly
upon it. {HEB:Resh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Resh} (?) = 412 = {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Bet}
= {HEB:Bet} = {Mercury}. For ultimately Kether and Sol are not Light. Light
is a duplex vibration, energized by Them and is, therefore, of their
Messenger, Mercury. (Alostrael's notebook has a different version from Yorke's
"...energized by Them and is {.·.} of their Messenger Mercury."
--- Copyist's note.)
AUMGN (See explanation in Book 4,
Part III).
{HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Ayin} = an
Eye = {HEB:Ayin} = 70.
The general idea is perhaps this: 70 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Heh}
Hush! and {HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed}, NIght, and {HEB:Dalet} {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Samekh}
The Secret. The Glory is so great that it cannot be manifested by any positive
means.
Heru-Ra-Ha.
These ideas are complementary; when they
combine they produce positive manifestation, which covers up the Glance of
the Eye of Shiva, which annihilates all external existence.
The Seven spaces are the "Palaces"
which contain the Sephiroth.
This is the foe of Horus, the Dweller of
Nile. The winds which crown him are not the pure powers of Air of Libra, but
the cloudy (mixed) forces of Aquarius, opposite in the Zodiac to Leo, the
sign of Horus.
The Energy of Horus destroys indeed, but
must be withdrawn to complete the work, for His rays, if left in their object,
would keep it vitalized. The coherence of the broken matter must be withdrawn.
Harpocrates stands or sits upon the Lotus,
his fortress against the malice of the Water-demon.
Osiris has been chased into Amennti by Horus,
who follows him thither, that his reign may be established even in the realms
of "Death". In the New Aeon, Death is become Life Triumphant, not
through Resurrection, but in its own Essence.
See last note. The Thelemite does not "suffer
death". He is eternal and perceives Himself the Universe, by virtue of
the categories of Life and Death, which are not real but subjective
forms of his artistic presentation.
Osiris, tricked into the belief in death,
had to overcome it by Magick, the Formula IAO.
The Seer has erred, it seems, by translating
the Doctrine into intelligible symbols. for this is likely to cause a new
"Fall" into the barren kingdoms of Ratiocination.
ARARITA (--- a name of God, which is a Notariqon
of the sentence: "One is His beginning; One is his Individuality; His
Permutation One.") The use of this Name and Formula is to equate and
identify every idea with its opposite; thus being released from the obsession
of thinking any one of them as "true" (and therefore binding); one
can withdraw oneself from the whole sphere of the Ruach. See Liber 813,
vel Ararita. Contrast each verse of Cap. I with the corresponding verse
of Cap. II for the first of these methods. Thus in Cap. III (stil verse by
verse correspondence) the Quintessence of the ideas is extracted; and in Cap.
IV they are withdrawn each one into the one beyond it. In Cap. V they have
disappeared into the Method itself. In Cap. VI they reappear in the Form appointed
by the Will of the Adept. Lastly, in Cap. VII they are dissolved, one into
the next until all finally disappear in the Fire Qadosh, the Quintessence
of Reality.
Those whose analytical methods are incapable
of destroying Illusion. This insistence on the Virtue of the Vision is intended
to encourage them to make greater efforts.
Sat-Chit-Ananda.
The Sphinx.
The Cry of the 21st Aethyr,
Which is Called ASP1
A mighty wind rolls through all the Aethyr; there is a sense of absolute emptiness;
no colour, no form, no substance. Only now and then there seem as it were, the
shadows of great angels, swept along. No sound; there is something very remorseless
about the wind, passionless, that is very terrible. In a way, it is nerve-shaking.
It seems as if something kept on trying to open behind the wind, and just as
it is about to open, the effort is exhausted. The wind is not cold or hot; there
is no sense of any kind connected with it. One does not even feel it, for one
is standing in front of it.
Now, the thing opens behind, just for a second, and I catch a glimpse of an
avenue of pillars, and at the end a throne, supported by sphinxes. All this
is black marble2.
Now I seem to have gone through the wind, and to be standing before the throne;
but he that sitteth thereon is invisible. Yet it is from him that all this desolation
proceeds3.
He is trying to make me understand by putting tastes in my mouth, very rapidly
one after the other. Salt, honey, sugar4,
assafoetida, bitumen, honey again, some taste that I don't know at all; garlic,
something very bitter like nux vomica, another taste, still more bitter; lemon,
cloves, rose-leaves, honey again; the juice of some plant, like a dandelion,
I think; honey again, salt, a taste something like phosphorus, honey, laurel,
a very unpleasant taste which I don't know, coffee, then a burning taste, then
a sour taste that I don't know. All these tastes issue from his eyes; he signals
them.
I can see his eyes now. They are very round, with perfectly black pupils, perfectly
white iris, and the cornea pale blue. The sense of desolation is so acute that
I keep on trying to get away from the vision5.
I told him that I could not understand his taste-language, so instead he set
up a humming very much like a big electric plant with dynamos going.
Now the atmosphere is deep night-blue; and by the power of that atmosphere,
the pillars kindle to a dull glowing crimson, and the throne is a dull, ruddy
gold6. And now, through
the humming, come very clear, bell-like notes, and farther still a muttering,
like that of a gathering storm.
And now I hear the meaning of the muttering: I am he who was before the beginning,
and in my desolation I cried aloud, saying, let me behold my countenance in
the concave of the abyss7.
And I beheld, and lo! in the darkness of the abyss my countenance was black,
and empty, and distorted8, that was (once)
invisible and pure.
Then I closed mine eye, that I might not behold it, and for this was it fixed.
Now it is written that one glance of mine eye shall destroy it9. And mine eye I dare not open,
because of the foulness of the vision. Therefore do I gaze with these two eyes
throughout the aeon10.
Is there not one of all my adepts that shall come unto me, and cut off mine
eyelids, that I may behold and destroy11?
Now I take a dagger, and, searching out his third eye, seek to cut off the
eye-lids, but they are of adamant. And the edge of the dagger12
is turned.
And tears13 drop from
his eyes, and there is a mournful voice: So it hath been ever: so must it ever
be! Though thou hast the strength of five bulls, thou shalt not avail in this14.
And I said to him: Who shall avail? And he answered me: I know not15.
But the dagger of penance16
thou shalt temper seven times, afflicting the seven courses of thy
soul. And thou shalt sharpen its edge seven times by the seven ordeals.
(One keeps on looking round to try to find something else because of the terror
of it. But nothing changes17 at all. Nothing
but the empty throne, and the eyes, and the avenue of pillars!)
And I said to him: O thou that art the first countenance before time18;
thou of whom it is written that "He, God, is one; He is the eternal one,
without equal, son or companion. Nothing shall stand before His face19"; all we have heard of thine
infinite glory and holiness, of thy beauty and majesty, and behold! there is
nothing but this abomination of desolation.
He speaks; I cannot hear a word; something about The Book of the Law.
The answer is written in The Book of the Law, or something of that
sort20.
This is a long speech; all that I can hear is: From me pour down the fires
of life and increase continually upon the earth. From me flow down the rivers
of water and oil and wine. From me cometh forth the wind that beareth the seed
of trees and flowers and fruits and all herbs upon its bosom. From me cometh
forth the earth in her unspeakable variety. Yea! all cometh from me, naught
cometh to me. Therefore am I lonely and horrible upon this unprofitable throne.
Only those who accept nothing from me can bring anything to me.
(He goes on speaking again: I cannot hear a word. I may have got about a twentieth
of what he said.) And I say to him: It was written that his name is Silence,
but thou speakest continually.
And he answers: Nay, the muttering that thou hearest is not my voice. It is
the voice of the ape21.
(When I say that he answers, it means that it is the same voice. The being
on the throne has not uttered a word.) I say: O thou ape that speakest for Him
whose name is Silence, how shall I know that thou speakest truly His thought?
And the muttering continues: Nor speaketh He nor thinketh, so that which I say
is true, because I lie in speaking His thoughts22.
He goes on, nothing stops him; and the muttering comes so fast that I cannot
hear him at all.
Now the muttering has ceased, or is overwhelmed by the bells, and the bells
in their turn are overwhelmed by the whirring, and now the whirring is overwhelmed
by the silence. And the blue light is gone, and the throne and the pillars are
returned to blackness, and the eyes of him that sitteth upon the throne are
no more visible.
I seek to go up close to the throne, and I am pushed back, because I cannot
give the sign. I have given all the signs I know and am entitled to23, and I have tried to give the
sign that I know and am not entitled to24, but have not
the necessary appurtenance; and even if I had, it would be useless; for there
are two more signs necessary25.
I find that I was wrong in suggesting26 that a Master of the Temple had
a right to enter the temple of a Magus or an Ipsissimus. On the contrary, the
rule that holds below, holds also above. The higher you go, the greater is the
distance from one grade to another27.
I am being slowly pushed backwards down the avenue, out into the wind. And
this time I am caught up by the wind and whirled away down it like a dead leaf.
And a great Angel sweeps through the wind, and catches hold of me, and bears
me up against it; and he sets me down on the hither side of the wind, and he
whispers in my ear: Go thou forth into the world, O thrice and four times blessed
who hast gazed upon the horror of the loneliness of The First28.
No man shall look upon his face and live. And thou hast seen his eyes, and understood
his heart, for the voice of the ape is the pulse of his heart and the labouring
of his breast. Go, therefore, and rejoice, for thou art the prophet of the Aeon
arising, wherein He is not29.
Give thou praise unto thy lady Nuit, and unto her lord Hadit, that are for
thee and thy bride, and the winners of the ordeal X30.
And with that we are come to the wall of the Aethyr, and there is a little
narrow gate, and he pushes me through it, and I am suddenly in the desert.
The Desert, near Bou Sada31.
November 29, 1909. 1:30 - 2:50 p.m.
ASP = {Taurus}{Virgo}{Leo} = {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Tet}
= 25 = {HEB:Dalet} {HEB:Vau} {HEB:Heh} {HEB:Yod} = Jehevid, God of Geburah
of Briah = {HEB:Aleph} {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod} {HEB:Chet} The Beast. The aire shows
the supplanting of that by this. (A's MS. has "Mythus (?)" for "by
this".) Taurus is Osiris. Virgo the Virgin (the lonely one). These are
the Dying God symbols, which Leo --- the Lion, Atu XI, The Beast --- replaces.
This setting symbolizes the Way of Time in
the Temple of Inscrutable Destiny.
This Deity is Necessity or Fate. This whole
Aire is of a metaphysic more difficult to understand than any of the earlier.
The student must have finally shut out of his mind not only the crude ideas
of Good and Evil, but the most fundamental logical conceptions, such as that
of being obliged to think of a state of mind, or an individual, as being true
to itself. This God is at the same time an Abomination and a supreme Overlord.
One may indeed say that the student ought to be in a state not far from Samadhi
before meditating the meaning of the Aire.
Salt Water or Earth, probably ............................
M
Honey Bees: feminine symbol. Binah. Probably ............. E (This E is not
a real vowel. It enables consonants to join with the minimum of disturbance.
This is exactly the role of the feminine passive element.)
Sugar Venus ............................................... D
Assafoetida Saturn --- Capricornus = {HEB:Ayin} .......... {Taurus}
Bitumen Fiery --- Water = {HEB:Nun-final} ................... N
Honey ..................................................... E
Unknown Possibly Kether .................................... St
Garlic Saturnian element of Venus .......................... L
Nux vomica Tonic. Geburah.
Still more bitter. Lemon Mercury Cloves Venus --- earthy. Taurus ........................
U or V Rose Leaves Venus. Mercury ..................................... I
Honey ..................................................... E Dandelion Solar.
Tiphereth ................................... O Honey .....................................................
E Salt ..................................................... M Phosphorus
Sol. Leo or Geburah ................................ Th
Honey ..................................................... E
Laurel Apollo .............................................. R
Very unpleasant --- ? --- the insipidness of Mercury ................ I
Coffee Stimulant --- wakeful. Erectile ............. {Taurus}
Burning Scorpio ............................................. N
Sour End of oxidation --- acid --- Sagittarius ........... S
Translation: "The Earth is sick of love; with disease and death is she
sick ... the natural lust, fierce as it is, is not enough; virgins, boys woman
(make men) sick, weak of semen and sick. The earth shall be cured of her sickness
by true Art-of-Sun, and thine own pleasures, and thou ..., shall abolish the
world's woe, and bring on the Age of Righteousness.
Black, white, and pale blue, there is no
warmth in Destiny. It is intolerable to see the mere mechanism of
life.
Now comes the warm Night-Blue of Nuit and
of Ra-Hoor-Khuit. The pillars assume the crimson of Binah, and the throne,
the gold of Tiphereth. Thus is it as if Ra-Hoor-Khuit were alive in the midst
of the Womb of His Mother.
cf. the account of the beginning in the Upanishads.
See Eliphaz Levi's drawing of the two Countenances.
The Shivaite Dogma. (This is a reference
to the philosophical notion that if Shiva opened his eyes, the universe would
be destryed. I. R.)
See the Kaballah Unveiled by McGregor
Mathers. The Most Holy Ancient One has One Eye: Microprosophus two.
Shiva again. For the eyelids, see above,
the 22nd Aire, the speech of the Babe Horus.
This minor elemental weapon is evidently
useless against fundamental ideas like force and matter, of which it is itself
but a trivial complex.
Binah, Mother of Sorrow - the tears from
the Great Sea, her symbol. The first issue of understanding of the trance
of sorrow.
The Bull = Taurus = Vau = V. The motto of
the Seer is in the grade of Binah, 8° = 3°, is V.V.V.V.V., the five bulls.
He had already chosen this motto, though he had refused to accept the grade
when offered to him three years before by the chiefs, after the episode of
crossing the Abyss during the walk across the lower borders of China. We now
approach those Aethyrs in which his full initiation to that grade was accomplished.
I = {HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Aleph} = 61.
Know = No ={HEB:Aleph} {HEB:Lamed} = 31. Not = {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}
= 61. Also I know not --- I know that which is Not. Such are the roots of
the Equation of Ambiguity, used often by Higher Intelligences (especially
in The Book of the Law, q.v.) to prove their identity as Individuals
separate from the Seer, and superior to him.
This rebukes the Seer for having tried to
use the elemental Dagger. Perhaps the four sevens in the injunction refer
to Netzach, Victory. For Netzach = 7; and 28 = {GRK:Sigma}1-7 as well as 4x7,
28 is a "perfect" number; its factors add up to itself.
That is the extreme horror: for Change is
Life, the issue of love.
{HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Peh}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Aleph}
{HEB:Koph- final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Resh}{HEB:Aleph} The Great Countenance (which
beheld not Countenance).
The Chapter of the Unity, in the Qu'ran.
This may refer to the Formula 0 = 2.
Kether, of course, does not speak. His Nature
is made apparent by Thoth, the Logos, the Creative Word. But this Word must
evidently be false, since He is Silence. Thoth, however, is himself accompanied
by the Cynocephalos, the dog-headed Ape, who imitates and caricatures all
His actions, and misinterprets His speech.
The idea is that Truth may be stated by
denying a falsehood. This lands us in the quagmires of "Zigzagginess",
the paradox of Epaminoneas, et hoc genus omne. One great point of the Initiated
Doctrine is that the Ruach (the Mechanism of Thought) is in its essential
nature self-contradictory. From now on, the Angels of the Aethyrs begin to
speak in the language of Neshamah; they use the logic which pertains above
the Abyss. The student will, accordingly, find statements which must be reversed
and reversed again and again; both are true and false at once; neither is
true or false --- and so on.
The sign of the Grades up to 7x = 4{square
x}.
the sign of 8x = 3{square x}.
The signs of 9x = 2{square x} and 10x =
1{square x}; necessary because this Vision pertains to Kether.
See the "Wake World" in Konx
Om Pax.
See One Star in Sight.
Observe the point-of-view, so totally opposite
to any ever previously set forth, about the psychology of Kether.
In the Ontology of the New Aeon, whose prime
theorem is 0 = 2, Kether exists only as the Child of any Marriage of one particular
Hadit with one particular aspect of Nuit. There are thus as many Kethers as
there are positive possibilities. More, Kether is not in any case a sole Unity,
for each Marriage produces a Twin, {HEB:Heh} + {HEB:Yod} = {HEB:Heh} + {HEB:Vau}.
There is a positive "Third Being", a Kether; and there is an Ecstasy,
or dissolution into Nothing, by the same Event. One is the Magical, the other
the Mystical, Result of an Act of Love under Will.
See Liber AL III, v. 22.
this night I took the shew-stone to my breast
to sleep, and immediately a Dhyana arose of the sun, seen more clearly afterwards
as the Star. Exceeding was its brilliance.
The Cry of the 20th Aethyr,
Which is Called KHR1
The dew that was upon the face of the stone is gone, and it is become like
a pool of clear golden water. And now the light is come into the Rosy Cross.
Yet all that I see is the night, with the stars therein, as they appear through
a telescope2. And there
cometh a peacock3 into
the stone, filling the whole Aire. It is like the vision called the Universal
Peacock, or, rather, like a representation of that vision. And now there are
countless clouds of white angels4 filling the Aire as the peacock
dissolves.
Now behind the angels are archangels with trumpets. These cause all things
to appear at once, so that there is a tremendous confusion of images. And now
I perceive that all these things are but veils of the wheel, for they all gather
themselves5 into a wheel6
that spins with incredible velocity. It hath many colours, but all thrilled
with white light, so that they are transparent and luminous. This one wheel
is forty-nine wheels, set at different angles, so that they compose a sphere;
each wheel has forty-nine spokes, and has forty-nine7
concentric tyres at equal distances from the centre. And wherever the rays from
any two wheels meet, there is a blinding flash of glory. It must be understood
that though so much detail is visible in the wheel, yet at the same time the
impression is of a single, simple object.
It seems that this wheel is being spun by a hand8. Though the wheel
fills the whole Aire, yet the hand is much bigger than the wheel. And though
this vision is so great and splendid, yet there is no seriousness with it, or
solemnity. It seems that the hand is spinning the wheel merely for pleasure,
it would be better to say amusement.
A voice comes: For he is a jocund and a ruddy god, and his laughter is the
vibration of all that exists, and the earthquakes of the soul.
One is conscious of the whirring of the wheel thrilling one, like an electric
discharge passing through one.
Now I see the figures on the wheel, which have been interpreted as the sworded
Sphinx, Hermanubis and Typhon9. And that is wrong.
The rim of the wheel is a vivid emerald snake; in the centre of the wheel is
a scarlet heart; and, impossible to explain as it is, the scarlet of the heart
and the green of the snake are yet more vivid than the blinding white brilliance
of the wheel10.
The figures on the wheel are darker than the wheel itself; in fact, they are
stains upon the purity of the wheel, and for that reason, and because of the
whirling of the wheel, I cannot see them. But at the top seems to be the Lamb
and Flag, such as one sees on some Christian medals, and one of the lower things
is a wolf, and the other a raven. The Lamb and Flag symbol is much brighter
than the other two. It keeps on growing brighter, until now it is brighter than
the wheel itself, and occupies more space than it did.
It speaks: I am the greatest of the deceivers, for my purity and innocence
shall seduce the pure and innocent, who but for me should come to the centre
of the wheel11. The wolf betrayeth
only the greedy and the treacherous; the raven betrayeth only the melancholy
and the dishonest 12.
But I am he of whom it is written: He shall deceive the very elect.
For in the beginning the Father of all called forth lying spirits that they
might sift the creatures of the earth in three sieves, according to the three
impure souls. And he chose the wolf for the lust of the flesh, and the raven
for the lust of the mind; but me did he choose above all to simulate the pure
prompting of the soul13.
Them that are fallen a prey to the wolf and the raven I have not scathed; but
them that have rejected me, I have given over to the wrath of the raven and
the wolf14. And the jaws
of the one have torn them, and the beak of the other has devoured the corpse.
Therefore is my flag white, because I have left nothing upon the earth alive.
I have feasted myself on the blood of the saints, but I am not suspected of
men to be their enemy, for my fleece is white and warm, and my teeth are not
the teeth of one that teareth flesh; and mine eyes are mild, and they know me
not the chief of the lying spirits that the Father of all sent forth from before
his face in the beginning15.
(His attribution is salt; the wolf mercury, and the raven sulphur16.)
Now the lamb grows small again, there is again nothing but the wheel, and the
hand that whirleth it.
And I said: "By the word of power, double in the voice of the Master;
by the word that is seven, and one in seven; and by the great and terrible word
21017, I beseech thee,
O my Lord, to grant me the vision of thy glory." And all the rays of the
wheel stream out at me, and I am blasted and blinded with the light. I am caught
up into the wheel. I am one with the wheel. I am greater than the wheel18.
In the midst of a myriad lightnings I stand, and I behold his face. (I am thrown
violently back on to the earth every second, so that I cannot quite concentrate.)
All one gets is a liquid flame of pale gold. But its radiant force keeps hurling
me back.
And I say: By the word and the will, by the penance and the prayer, let me
behold thy face. (I cannot explain this, there is confusion of personalities.)
I who speak to you, see what I tell you; but I, who see him, cannot communicate
it to me, who speak to you19.
If one could gaze upon the sun at noon, that might be like the substance of
him. But the light is without heat. It is the vision of Ut20
in the Upanishads. And from this vision have come all the legends of Bacchus
and Krishna and Adonis21. For the impression is of a youth
dancing and making music. But you must understand that he is not doing that,
for he is still22.
Even the hand that turns the wheel is not his hand, but only a hand energized
by him.
And now it is the dance of Shiva. I lie beneath his feet, his saint, his victim23.
My form is the form of the God Phtah24, in my essence, but the form of
the god Seb in my form25. And this is the reason of existence,
that in this dance which is delight, there must needs be both the god and the
adept. Also the earth herself is a saint; and the sun and the moon dance upon
her, torturing her with delight.
This vision is not perfect. I am only in the outer court of the vision, because
I have undertaken it in the service of the Holy One, and must retain sense and
speech26. No recorded
vision is perfect, of high visions, for the seer must keep either his physical
organs or his memory in working order. And neither is capable. There is no bridge.
One can only be conscious of one thing at a time, and as the consciousness moves
nearer to the vision, it loses control of the physical and mental. Even so,
the body and the mind must be very perfect before anything can be done, or the
energy of the vision may send the body into spasms and the mind into insanity.
This is why the first visions give Ananda, which is a shock. When the adept
is attuned to Samadhi, there is but cloudless peace27.
This vision is particularly difficult to get into, because he is I28.
And therefore the human ego is being constantly excited, so that one comes back
so often. An acentric meditation practice like mahasatipatthana ought to be
done before invocations of the Holy Guardian Angel, so that the ego may be very
ready to yield itself utterly to the Beloved.
And now the breeze is blowing about us, like the sighs of love unsatisfied
--- or satisfied. His lips move29. I cannot say
the words at first.
And afterwords: "Shalt thou not bring the children of men to the sight
of my glory30? 'Only thy silence and thy speech
that worship me avail.' 'For as I am the last, so am I the next, and as the
next shalt thou reveal me to the multitude31.'
Fear not for aught; turn not aside for aught, eremite of Nuit, apostle of Hadit,
warrior of Ra Hoor Khu! The leaven taketh, and the bread shall be sweet; the
ferment worketh, and the wine shall be sweet. My sacraments are vigorous food
and divine madness. Come unto me, O ye children of men; come unto me, in whom
I am, in whom ye are, were ye only alive with the life that abideth in Light."
All this time I have been fading away. I sink. The veil of night comes down
a dull blue-gray with one pentagram in the midst of it, watery and dull. And
I am to abide there for a while before I come back to the earth32.
(But shut me the window up, hide me from the sun. Oh, shut the window!)33
Now, the pentagram is faded; black crosses fill the Aethyr gradually growing
and interlacing, until there is a network.
It is all dark now. I am lying exhausted34, with the sharp edge of the shew-stone
cutting into my forehead.
Bou-Sada.
November 30, 1909. 9:15 - 10:50 a.m.
KHR = {Dee}{Air}{Gemini} = {HEB:Shin}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau}
= 308. (N.B. by Temurah, R.H.K. = Ra-Hoor-Khuit). 308 = 28 x 11. 28 = {HEB:Chet}
{HEB:Koph} = {Cancer}{Jupiter} (Jupiter is exalted in Cancer) means Power.
And 29 is the "mystic number" of Netzach, Victory, the Sephira that
hangs from the Sphere of Jupiter, by the path of Jupiter, Atu X, the Wheel
of Fortune. This Atu is the main subject of the vision in this Aethyr. In
this Aethyr the Solar Body (Ruach --- the human consciousness) of the Seer
was prepared for the Great Initiation which follows, as in the 27th Aire his
Lunar Body (Nephesch --- automatic Consciousness) was purified.
These preliminary visions are veils.
The bird sacred to Juno, the feminine counterpart
of Jupiter, whose Energy is about to appear.
The Chasmalim, "The brilliant ones",
are the Chior of Angels which pertain to Jupiter.
This unification is necessary to all true
comprehension.
The Wheel of Fortune (so called); Atu X is
the Wheel of the Samsara whose spokes are the Three Gunas, the three fundamental
Modes of Energy, Sattvas, Rajas, and Tamas. See also Book of Lies,
Cap. 78.
The symbolism of the Table (see 22nd Aire)
still retains its prominence. 7 is the number of the Inferiors, of the Feminine
Perfection. 3 x 49 = 147 = {HEB:Heh} {HEB:Vau} {HEB:Heh} {HEB:Yod} + {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Aleph}
+ {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Lamed} {HEB:Gemel}{HEB:Aleph} + {HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Aleph}
= the Four Names of god used in the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. Thus there
is here the symbolism of the Fourfold Regimen (Tetragrammaton) implied in
3 x 7 x 7.
Hand = {HEB:Yod} = {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}
= 20 = K = 4. But also the first is itself K. There is, however, an esoteric
doctrine in this phrase. {HEB:Yod} is the spermatozoon, the source of all
Spiritual Energy, the Minute Point, Hadit, the foundation of the Alphabet,
(Hebrew). But also K = {HEB:Peh-final}{HEB:Koph} = 100 = 10 x 10 = {HEB:Yod}
x {HEB:Yod}; and K and P are the initials of Ketis and {GRK:theta} {GRK:alpha}
{GRK:lambda} {GRK:lambda}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} whose union releases {HEB:Yod}.
Thus the Universe is shown as being set in motion by Love under Will. See
Book of Lies, Cap. 43.
See the usual drawing of Atu X by minor initiates.
The symbolism here assumes the form of Liber
LXV. It is simpler and therefore more difficult than the sevenfold. The
counter charges become more frequent; the Seer is being led up to the state
in which opposites are not only equal, but identical.
All unbalanced symbols are necessarily evil.
They distract the attention from the true object of Vision, and so destroy
Concentration.
Note that no hostile force is hurtful. The
enemy is always oneself.
The attacks are against Nephesch, Ruach,
and Neshama respectively.
When the aspiration (Neshama), the natural
protection against all lower forces, is sullied, befooled, or weakened, the
wretch becomes an easy prey to grosser forms of temptation. We see in fact
only too often that a man of the utmost probity and intellectual integrity,
who errs in some strictly spiritual matter, lose every trace of rationality,
and throw off all moral restraint, becoming the helpless victim of ludicrous
and hideous temptations which had never threatened him before in his whole
life. His nature is so radically corrupted that his friends believe him to
have become insane. But his fall is quite logical, as a tumbling steeple may
crush the perfectly sound structures beneath it.
It is the superficial appeal of the idea
of "Jesus" to the sentimental type of aspiration (the vilest parody
of Neschamah is this pollution by the least virile elements of Nephesh) that
has made possible the corruption implied in the doctrines of Sin and Vicarious
Atonement. From this error have sprung the putrefaction of the reasoning faculties,
and the suppression of all clear thinking, and the abominations of greed,
persecution and the rest.
{Salt} for Neschamah; {Mercury} for Ruach;
{Sulphur} for Nephesch.
N.O.X. = {HEB:Tzaddi}{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Nun}
= 210. {Earth} represents the reduction of the Dyad to Unity by Love under
Will, and thence to 0 by dissolution in Nuit. It is here used by the Seer
to destroy all positive symbols, for the true Wheel (apart from ornaments)
is the circle, Nuit Herself.
Note the above-the-Abyss-consciousness.
Cf. "I who am all, and made it all, abide its separate Lord." (Bhagavad
Gita)
This personality-paradox is characteristic
of visions of similar exaltation. It constitutes an essential difficulty of
expression superadded to that natural to the description of things seen and
heard, which are yet not subject to the ordinary Laws of perception.
See previous note on Falutli.
These are Solar, not Jupiterian deities.
The Jupiter of the Wheel is that Invisible Energy, whom one can only divine
from his Hand, his means of Expression. He is Amoun, the Concealed One, whose
plumes are Truth, and whose Phallus is the Middle Pillar, the Shivalingam.
We hind accordingly that these Solar Deities, who spring from the manifested
Jupiter (as it at first sight appears) are soon recognized in their deeper
nature.
Change = Stability. 2x = 9{square x}. See
the 11th Aethyr. Again this series of paradoxes (implied in the equations
0x = 0{square x}, 1x = 10{squarex}, etc.) is of the essence of the Aire.
See any true Image of Shiva, who dances
upon the Yogi, whom he has destroyed in the Union of Love.
Phtah, the still and silent Creative Energy.
That is, the form of the Seer is now the
Earth itself, the Malkuth at the other end of the scale from, yet identical
with, His Kether.
See note 5, page 44. Any vision as exalted
as this must obviously be indicible. The plastic form of the expression, the
definite character of the shapes, colours, and numbers employed, is far better
mnemonically than the vaguely beatific outbursts customary in the records
usually offered by Mystics.
The psychology of the previous note explained
at length.
In previous visions the Angel of the Aethyr
has always been peculiar to his Aire. Even in ZAA, where the Angel is Luna,
and the Vision represents the lustration of the Lunar Body (the Automatic
Consciousness) of the Seer, He was not so wholly involved. For his normal
consciousness was above that which the Aethyr affected.
It seems that the seer recognized in this
Aethyr, the Knowledge and Conversation of His Holy Guardian Angel.
In the Crossing of the Abyss by the Seer
("The Temple Of Solomon the King", Equinox I, No. Viii,
Sammasati. He became aware of his True Will, of the purpose for which he had
undertaken Incarnation. And this was expressed thus: to aid Mankind to take
the Next Step. And at the time he understood this as meaning: to lead them
to aspire to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
Liber LXV describes this attainment
in the fullest detail. The first quotation is from Liber VII, Cap.
VI, verse 35. The second is from Liber LXV, Chapter III, v. 62. (The
persons are transposed --- "I" to "Thou", etc.)
The splendour of the Vision would have made
too rapid a return a shock intolerable to human weakness.
It was done. --- O.V.
The Seer had not previously experienced
so intense a Communion and had contributed his physical energy to maintain
it. This was, of course, an error.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 19th Aethyr,
Which is Called POP1
At first there is a black web over the face of the stone. A ray of light pierces
it from behind and above. Then cometh a black cross2,
reaching across the whole stone; then a golden cross, not so large. And there
is a writing in an arch that spans the cross, in an alphabet in which the letters
are all formed of little daggers3,
cross-hilted, differently arranged. And the writing is: Worship in the body
the things of the body; worship in the mind the things of the mind; worship
in the spirit the things of the spirit4.
(This holy alphabet must be written by sinners, that is, by those who are impure.)5
"Impure" means those whose every thought is followed by another thought,
or who confuse the higher with the lower, the substance with the shadow. Every
Aethyr is truth, though it be but a shadow, for the shadow of a man is not the
shadow of an ape6.
(Note. --- All this has come to me without voice, without vision,
without thought.)
(The shew-stone is pressed upon my forehead and causes intense pain; as I go
on from Aethyr to Aethyr, it seems more difficult to open the Aethyr.
The golden cross has become a little narrow door, and an old man like the Hermit7
of the Taro has opened it and come out. I ask him for admission: and he shakes
his head kindly, and says: It is not given to flesh and blood to unveil the
mysteries of the Aethyr, for therein are the chariots of fire8. and the tumult
of the horsemen; whoso entereth here may never look on life again with equal
eyes. I insist.
The little gate is guarded by a great green dragon. And now the whole wall
is suddenly fallen away; there is a blaze of the chariots and the horsemen;
a furious battle is raging. One hears nothing but the clash of steel and the
neighing of the chargers and the shrieks of the wounded. A thousand fall at
every encounter and are trampled under foot. Yet the Aethyr is always full;
there are infinite reserves.
No; that is all wrong, for this is not a battle between two forces, but a mle
in which each warrior fights for himself against all the others. I cannot see
one who has even one ally. And the least fortunate, who fall soonest, are those
in the chariots. For as soon as they are engaged in fighting, their own charioteers
stab them in the back9.
And in the midst of the battlefield there is a great tree, like a chinar-tree10.
Yet it bears fruits. And now all the warriors are dead, and they are the ripe
fruits that are fallen -- the ground is covered with them.
There is a laugh in my right ear: "This is the tree of life11."
And now there is a mighty god, Sebek12, with the head of a crocodile.
His head is gray, like river mud, and his jaws fill the whole Aire. And he crunches
up the whole tree and the ground and everything.
Now then at last cometh forth the Angel of the Aethyr, who is like the Angel
of the fourteenth key of Rota13, with beautiful
blue wings, blue robes, the sun in her girdle like a brooch, and the two crescents
of the moon shapen into sandals for her feet. Her hair is of flowing gold, each
sparkle as a star. In her hands are the torch of Penelope and the cup of Circe14.
She comes and kisses me on the mouth15, and says: Blessed art thou who
hast beheld Sebek my Lord in his glory. Many are the champions of life, but
all are unhorsed by the lance of death. Many are the children of the light,
but their eyes shall all be put out by the Mother Darkness. Many are the servants
of love, but love (that is not quenched by aught but love) shall be put out,
as the child taketh the wick of a taper between his thumb and finger, by the
god that sitteth alone16.
And on her mouth, like a chrysanthemum of radiant light, is a kiss, and on
it is the monogram I.H.S. The letters I.H.S. mean In Homini Salus and Instar
Hominis Summus, and Imago Hominis deuS. And there are many, many other meanings,
but they all imply this one thing; that nothing is of any importance but man;
there is no hope or help but in man17.
And she says: Sweet are my kisses, O wayfarer that wanderest from star to star.
Sweet are my kisses, O householder that weariest within four walls. Thou art
pent within thy brain, and my shaft pierceth it, and thou art free. Thine imagination
eateth up the universe as the dragon that eateth up the moon. And in my shaft
is it concentrated and bound up. See how all around thee gather my warriors,
strong knights in goodly armour ready for war. Look upon my crown; it is above
the stars. Behold the glow and the blush thereof! Upon thy cheek is the breeze
that stirs those plumes of truth. For though I am the Angel of the fourteenth
key, I am also the Angel of the eighth key18.
And from the love of these two have I come, who am the warden of Pop and the
servant of them that dwell therein. Though all crowns fall, mine shall not fall;
for my plumes reach up unto the Knees of Him that sitteth upon the holy throne,
and liveth and reigneth for ever and ever as the balance of righteousness and
truth. I am the Angel of the moon. I am the veiled one that sitteth between
the pillars veiled with a shining veil, and on my lap is the open Book of the
mysteries of the ineffable light19.
I am the aspiration unto the higher; I am the love of the unknown. I am the
blind ache within the heart of man. I am the minister of the sacrament of pain.
I swing the censer of worship, and I sprinkle the waters of purification. I
am the daughter of the house of the invisible. I am the Priestess of the Silver
Star20.
And she catches me up to her as a mother catches her babe, and holds me up
in her left arm, and sets my lips to her breast21.
And upon her breast is written: Rosa Mundi est Lilium Coeli22
squares in the midst. It radiates a blaze of light, too dazzling to make out
the characters, and a voice says: Non haec piscis omnium23.
(To interpret that, we must think of '{GRK:Iota}{GRK:chi}{GRK:theta} {GRK:upsilon}
'{GRK:sigma}, which does not conceal Iesous Christos Theon Uios Soter
as traditionally asserted, but is a mystery of the letter Nun and the letter
Qoph, as may be seen by adding it up24.)
('{GRK:Iota}{GRK:chi}{GRK:theta}{GRK:upsilon}'{GRK:sigma} is only connected
with Christianity because it was a hieroglyph of syphilis, which the Romans
supposed to have been brought from Syria; and it seems to have been confounded
with leprosy, which also they thought was caused by fish- eating.)
(One important meaning of '{GRK:Iota}{GRK:chi}{GRK:theta} {GRK:upsilon}'{GRK:sigma}:
it is formed of the initials of five Egyptian deities and also of five Greek
deities: in both cases a magic formula of tremendous power is concealed25.
As to the Holy Table itself, I cannot see it for the blaze of light; but I
am given to understand that it appears in another Aethyr, of which it forms
practically the whole content. And I am bidden to study the Holy Table very
intently so as to be able to concentrate on it when it appears.
I have grown greater, so that I am as great as the Angel. And we are standing,
as if crucified, face to face, our hands and lips and breasts and knees and
feet together, and her eyes pierce into my eyes like whirling shafts of steel,
so that I fall backwards headlong through the Aethyr26
---and there is a sudden and tremendous shout, absolutely stunning, cold and
brutal: Osiris was a black god27! And the Aethyr
claps its hands, greater than the peal of a thousand mighty thunders.
I am back.
Bou-Sada.
November 30, 1909 10-11:45 p.m.
POP = {Leo}{Libra}{Leo} = {HEB:Tet}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Tet}.
This Aire introduces the Hegemone, or leader of the Candidate through the
Ceremony of Initiation. She is the Holy Guardian Angel, in the form of Isis-Urania,
the Instructress. {ENO:p} is {Sun} in his Northern declination, the form of
Horus in his strength of Summer. He appears in his dual form, as it were the
pillars between which the Hegemone, who bears a mitreheaded wand, symbolical
of the Balances, is seated. (See the Neophyte Ceremony ---Equinox,
I, II, pp. 244-261.) She is the reconciler between all opposites. (See the
Ceremony of the Equinox --- given in Equ. I, VII, pp. 372-5). Her function
is to equilibrate all symbols in the sphere of the Candidate; this is the
one supremely important formula of Instruction. This Aethyr contains accordingly
the knowledge (somewhat fragmentary at first sight) necessary to the Aspirant
to the Grade of Magister Templi. 48 is {HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Chet}, a woman;
also strength, an army. {HEB:Chet} the Bearer of the Graal; and the seed of
life; {HEB:Lamed} the Balances, i.e. She bears the Seed of Life in the Holy
Cup ion balance. 48 is {HEB:Mem-final}{HEB:Heh} Ham; see the sudden Revelation
at the end of the Vision.
The Hebemone wears a Black Cross. See also
16th Aire, last paragraph.
The idea is that every idea, however apparently
atomic, is to be analyzed.
Worship all things; for all things are alike
necessary to the Being of the All. But keep separate the planes. Failure to
do this is the most frequent Cause of error.
For purity means full simplification ---
and the keeping of each idea in its Own true perfection, separate from all
others.
Worship each thing in itself for its own
sake, not inventing ideas.
See Note 1. This is the Sphere of Kokab ({Mercury}).
Hence the Man of Atu IX.
The Chariot (Atu VII) of the Bearer of the
Sangraal. (See Note 1). {HEB:Chet} depends from Binah, the sphere of the Hegemone.
This seems to be a Vision of the Ideas which
the Alphabet of Daggers is to analyze. The confusion suggests the influence
of Choronzon. It is a warning of what the Aspirant must expect if he once
lose his grip on Binah.
One of the noblest trees of Hindustan.
The Tree of Life bears fruit of innumerable
ideas. They are all self- destroying and valueless unless organized by Understanding.
The Saturnian Destroyer --- as opposed to
Shiva. Time swallows up all ideas, all experiences, Life itself. That is a
statement of the condition which the Exempt Adept aspires to transcend by
becoming a Magister Templi.
She is the Angel of Binah, though in this
form. For Atu XIV is Sagittarius, the house of the Huntress.
She keeps Love alight by patient Fidelity
--- the Holy Guardian Angel awaits eternally the address of Her Charge. And
she is also the Arch- harlot, always ready to seduce and to intoxicate him
who lusts after Her.
Relations with the Seer have been established
long ago.
The Destruction of the Universe by the Devourer
of all Things is the necessary beginning of the Initiation to the Grade of
Magister Templi.
Man is the Candidate; he partakes of the
Truth of all the Gods initiating.
See note 1.
See note 1. She is Isis-Urania, in Atu II.
As Atu XIV she leads directly upwards to Tiphereth ({HEB:Vau}), as Atu VII
directly upwards to Binah ({HEB:Heh}), and as Atu II, directly upwards to
Kether (the top point of {HEB:Yod}).
The full title of Atu II. Note "Silver
Star" as title of the Third Order. Hence she must appear as Hegemone
to lead the Candidate to the first grade of that Order --- Magister Templi.
The Babe of the Abyss is taken to its Mother's
breast. (There is a reference here to the technique of the grade.)
i.e.. Malkut is Binah. (The two Hehs of
Tetragrammaton are attributed to these Sephiroth; the daughter does indeed
become the mother.
Pisces = fish. Nun literally means fish.
Qoph refers to the sign Pisces. The versicle means: She is not attained by
all men.
'{GRK:Iota}{GRK:chi}{GRK:theta}{GRK:upsilon}'{GRK:sigma}
= 1219 = {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Resh}{HEB:Bet} {HEB:Resh}{HEB:Zain}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}.
The Former (rock-maker) of that which was in the Beginning. It refers to {HEB:Nun}
and {HEB:Qof}: to {HEB:Nun} because the Fish is "Life in the Water",
i.e. the Primal Water of Thales: to {HEB:Qof} because Atu XVIII shews that
Life appearing in the Waters of Midnight, Kephra in the Pool of Great Dark
Sea. This is the Glyph of Birth natural to Binah. There is presumably a further
mystery --- numerical --- still not found.
Egyptian: Greek:
Isis --- The Mother -- Binah I.
Cneph --- The Winged Egg --- Binah Ch.
Thoth --- The Moon God (measurer Themis --- the satisfied woman of time) {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}
Uramoth --- The Water Goddess Uranus --- Heaven, sphere above (The Great Sea)
the Abyss.
Sebek --- The Devourer (Time) Selene --- The Moon All these deities represent
divers forms and functions of the Idea of Binah. How to combine them in order
to obtain Magical Formulae must be studied in the light of Book 4,
Part III.
The Seer cannot make Union with his Guide.
She is the feminine form of his Holy Guardian Angel; but the impulse to unite
is only valid when it comes from above. In the 20th Aire this was the case;
and so the Marriage was accomplished.
This, to the Seer at that time, was a Revelation
of the most appalling terror. The doctrine of the Third Order had not been
promulgated. He expected to unite with the Great Mother in a Mode similar
to that experienced in attaining to the Knowledge and Conversation of the
Holy Guardian Angel. But the attainment of the Grade of Magister Templi involves
the Annihilation of the aspirant. "Osiris was a black god"; i.e.
of the nature of Binah--- BLACK. The love of Binah is that of the Queen Scorpion,
who devours her mate. This revelation therefore, was much as if a romantic
lover of the Richard Feveral type, were suddenly made fully aware that the
Maiden of his Dreams intended to conclude their First Night of Love by a Breakfast,
of which he was to form the staple dish! The Doctrine implied is that one
must not be the child, but the Mother.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 18th Aethyr,
Which is Called ZEN1
A Voice comes before any vision: Accursed are they who enter herein if they
have nails, for they shall be pierced therewith; or if they have thorns, for
they shall be crowned withal; or if they have whips, for with whips they shall
be scourged: or if they bear wine, for their wine shall be turned to bitterness;
or if they have a spear, for with a spear shall they be pierced unto the heart.
And the nails are desires, of which there are three; the desire of light, the
desire of life, the desire of love2.
(And the thorns are thoughts, and the whips are regrets, and the wine is ease,
or perhaps unsteadiness, especially in ecstasy, and the spear is attachment.)
And now there dawns the scene of the Crucifixion; but the Crucified One is
an enormous bat, and for the two thieves are two little children. It is night,
and the night is full of hideous things and howlings3.
And an angel cometh forth, and saith: Be wary, for if thou change so much as
the style of a letter, the holy word is blasphemed4.
But enter into the mountain of the Caverns, for that this (how much more then
that Calvary which mocks it, as his ape mocks Thoth?) is but the empty shell
of the mystery of ZEN. Verily, I say unto thee, many are the adepts that have
looked upon the back parts of my father, and cried, "our eyes fail before
the glory of thy countenance5."
And with that he gives the sign of the rending of the veil, and tears down
the vision. And behold! whirling columns of fiery light, seventy- two6. Upon them is supported a mountain
of pure crystal. The mountain is a cone, the angle of the apex being sixty degrees7. And within the
crystal is a pyramid of ruby8, like unto the Great Pyramid of
Gizeh.
I am entered in by the little door thereof, and I am come into the chamber
of the king, which is fashioned like unto the vault of the adepts, or rather
it is fitting to say that the vault of the adepts is a vile imitation of it.
For there are four sides to the chamber, which with the roof and the floor and
the chamber itself makes seven9.
So also is the pastos seven10,
for that which is within is like unto that which is without. And there is no
furniture, and there are no symbols.
Light streams from every side upon the pastos. This light is that blue of Horus
which we know, but being refined it is brilliance. For the light of Horus only
appears blue because of the imperfection of our eyes11. But though the
light pours from the pastos, yet the pastos remains perfectly dark, so that
it is invisible. It hath no form: only, at a certain point in the chamber, the
light is beaten back12.
I lie prostate upon the ground before this mystery. Its splendour is impossible
to describe. I can only say that its splendour is so great that my heart stops
with the terror and the wonder and the rapture of it13. I am almost
mad. A million insane images chase each other through my brain...14
A voice comes: (it is my own voice -- I did not know it). "When thou shalt
know me, O thou empty God, my little flame shall utterly expire in thy great
N.O.X.15" There is
no answer16. ... (20
minutes. O.V.) ...
And now, after so long a while, the Angel17 lifts me and takes me from the
room18, and sets me
in a little chamber19 where is another Angel like a
fair youth in shining garments, who makes me partake of the sacraments; bread,
that is labour; and fire, that is wit; and a rose, that is sin; and wine, that
is death20. And all
about us is a great company of angels in many-coloured robes, rose and spring-green,
and sky-blue, and pale gold, and silver, and lilac, solemnly chanting without
words. It is music wonderful beyond all that can be thought.
And now we go out of the chamber; on the right is a pylon, and the right figure
is Isis, and the left figure Nephthys, and they are folding their wings over,
and supporting Ra21.
I wanted to go back to the King's Chamber22. The Angel pushed me away, saying:
"Thou shalt see these visions from afar off, but thou shalt not partake
of them save in the manner prescribed. For if thou change so much as the style
of a letter, the holy word is blasphemed.23"
And this is the manner prescribed:
Let there be a room furnished as for the ritual of passing through Tuat24.
And let the aspirant be clad in the robes of, and let him bear the insignia
of his grade. And at the least he shall be a neophyte25.
Three days and three nights shall he have been in the tomb, vigilant and fasting,
for he shall sleep no longer than three hours at any one time, and he shall
drink pure water, and eat little sweet cakes consecrated unto the moon, and
fruits, and the eggs of the duck, or of the goose, or of the plover. And he
shall be shut in, so that no man may break in upon his meditation. But in the
last twelve hours he shall neither eat nor sleep.
Then shall he break his fast, eating rich food, and drinking sweet wines, and
wines that foam26; and he shall banish the elements
and the planets and the signs and the sephiroth27;
and then shall he take the holy table that he hath made for his altar; and he
shall take the call of the Aethyr of which he will partake, which he hath written
in the angelic character, or in the character of the holy alphabet that is revealed
in Pop, upon a fair sheet of virgin vellum; and therewith shall he conjure the
Aethyr, chanting the call. And in the lamp that is hung above the altar shall
he burn the call that he hath written28.
Then shall he kneel29
before the holy table, and it shall be given him to partake of the mystery of
the Aethyr.
And concerning the ink with which he shall write; for the first Aethyr let
it be gold, for the second scarlet, for the third violet, for the fourth emerald,
for the fifth silver, for the sixth sapphire, for the seventh orange, for the
eighth indigo, for the ninth gray, for the tenth black, for the eleventh maroon,
for the twelfth russet, for the thirteenth green-gray, for the fourteenth amber,
for the fifteenth olive, for the sixteenth pale blue, for the seventeenth crimson,
for the eighteenth bright yellow, for the nineteenth crimson adorned with silver,
for the twentieth mauve, for the twenty-first pale green, for the twenty-second
rose-madder, for the twenty-third violet cobalt, for the twenty-fourth beetle-brown,
blue-brown colour, for the twenty-fifth a cold dark gray, for the twenty- sixth
white flecked with red, blue, and yellow; the edges of the letters shall be
green, for the twenty-seventh angry clouds of ruddy brown, for the twenty-eighth
indigo, for the twenty-ninth bluish-green, for the thirtieth mixed colours30.
This shall be the form to be used by him who would partake of the mystery of
any Aethyr. And let him not change so much as the style of a letter, lest the
holy word be blasphemed.
And let him beware, after he hath been permitted to partake of this mystery,
that he await the completion of the 91st hour of his retirement, before he open
the door of the place of his retirement; lest he contaminate his glory with
uncleanness, and lest they that behold him be smitten by his glory unto death31.
For this is a holy mystery, and he that did first attain to reveal the alphabet
thereof32, perceived not one ten-thousandth
part of the fringe that is upon its vesture.
Come away! for the clouds are gathered together, and the Aire heaveth like
the womb of a woman in travail. Come away! lest he loose the lightnings from
his hand, and unleash his hounds of thunder. Come away! For the voice of the
Aethyr is accomplished. Come away! For the seal of His loving-kindness is made
sure. And let there be praise and blessing unspeakable unto him that sitteth
upon the Holy Throne, for he casteth down mercies as a spendthrift that scattereth
gold. And he hath shut up judgment and hidden it away as a miser that hoardeth
coins of little worth33.
All this while the Angel hath been pushing me backwards, and now he is turned
into a golden cross with a rose at its heart, and that is the red cross wherein
is set the golden shewstone.
Bou-Sada.
December 1, 1909. 2:30 - 4:10 p.m.
ZEN = {Leo} {Virgo} {Scorpio} = {HEB:Tet}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun}
= 69. 69 = {HEB:Samekh} {HEB:Vau} {HEB:Bet} {HEB:Aleph}, a manger, stable,
enclosure. This Aethyr describes the Place of the Preliminary Ceremony of
the Initiation of the Master of the Temple. The Candidate is fortified for
the Ordeal of Intimate Communion with his Holy Guardian Angel, who comes upon
him unaware, and prepares him interiorly below any normal sphere of consciousness.
The Exempt Adept must be freed from all attachment.
The aspirant is reminded by this vision of
the horror which is always ready to take the place of a True Magical Operation.
Coruptio optimi pessima.
This warning is given directly.
It is repeated in detail.
The number of the letters of Shemhamphorash,
the "Divided Name", i.e., Tetragrammaton in detail. Also, 72 = {HEB:Bet}{HEB:Ayin},
the "Secret Nature" of Atziluth, the Archetypal World of Pure Reality.
The cone is a figure of Iacchus, Lord of
the Highest Ecstasy. It is the Phallus. Its mathematical implications are
many and important. In particular, its relations with the Great Pyramid of
Cheops yield remarkable correspondences.
{GRK:pi}{GRK:upsilon}{GRK:rho}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:mu}{GRK:iota}{GRK:sigma}=
831
Similarly, the Hexagram is attributed to
the Seven Planets; for the Centre contains {Sun}.
Compare this whole geometrical symbolism
with that given in the Ritual of Adeptus Minor.
Compare, in external nature, the appearance
of the blue sky.
This very strange phenomenon is perhaps
quite inadequately described. It is a general condition of most Spiritual
Experience that the familiar laws of Nature do not obtain in their accustomed
forms. It is only when Experience enables one to observe them with detachment
that they are seen to be as uniform, simple and exact as those of normal physics.
Compare with this unlighted, light-radiating
Pastos, the Boundless Cube in the Vision of Pure Love: "In the morning
I woke early, before 7, in an absolutely renewed physical condition. I had
the clean fresh feeling of a healthy boyhood, and was alert and active as
a kitten --- post talem mortem! Mentally, I woke into Pure Love.
This was symbolized as a cube* of blue-white light like a diamond of the best
quality. It was lucid, translucent, self-luminous, and yet not radiating forth.
I suppose because there was nothing else in the Cosmos." *. I say "a
cube", yet its most salient property was that it was without boundaries.
Experience of similar trances is necessary for the understanding of this statement,
which is a perfectly proper expression of a a perfectly observed fact, despite
its intellectual self-contradiction. This withdrawal from sense of the Pastos,
which is the Inmost and most sacred Self of the Aspirant, is the surrender
of "all that he has and all that he is" on entering the Abyss.
There is a fleeting Image of the Horror
of the Abyss, as a mountaineer, leaping a Bergschrund, obtains a momentary
glimpse of the Terrors beneath his airy Path. Cf. 10th Aire for these images
of madness.
This quotation is from Liber VII
I, v. 40. (This Book describes in detail the whole Attainment of the Grade
of Magister Templi. It had been given to the Seer, years previously; but he
had not understood it, even with his Neshamah, as a coherent entity. Nor does
he even yet (An XXI, {Sun} in {Cancer}) understand it with his Rauch. Incidentally
the full meaning of this Book 418, as a connected account of his Initiation,
is only now becoming clear to him in the process of writing this Commentary
upon it. For N.O.X., see Note above, 20th Aire. Observe that although the
Exempt Adept, or the Babe of the Abyss, is completely baffled by the circumstances,
and in no wise understands the situation, his Chiah, the Magician in him,
acts with sublime confidence and correctness.
The quotation, accepting annihilation, instantly
destroys the myriad of insane images which hastened to occupy the vacuum created
by the leap of the Exempt Adept into the Abyss. Had he faltered, he would
have become --- against his will --- a "Black Brother". But this
being involuntary, he would not have attempted to maintain his coherence,
as the Black Brothers do. He would therefore, have been destroyed at once;
that is, to outward appearance he would have become a demented babbler. Spiritists
present this phenomenon, on a much lower plane, and in a diluted form; though,
with them as with the average Theosophist, there is usually a certain degree
of obsession by pet phantoms --- a "Chinese Guide," or "Koot
Hoomi," or what not --- to lend a species of semi-organized structure
to the legions of disconnected ideas that throng their disintegrated gray
matter.
(No Angel has been mentioned. The Seer was
lost to being.) In this preliminary --- and so to say, symbolic --- crossing
of the Abyss, His Holy Guardian Angel comes to the rescue of the Aspirant.
Contrast the unspeakable Terror of the actual Crossing, when that Angel Himself
abandons the Seer (see 11th Aire, the last paragraph.) Exactly how the Angel
dealt with the Seer in this 20 minutes of earthly time is impossible to say;
for he has no memory soever --- nor had he even at the time --- of what took
place. We may, however, deduce from the fact that the Communion took place
in a sphere beyond even Neschamah. It may well have been a Quintessence of
Union sufficiently intimate to have identified the Seer with his Angel so
perfectly as to have given him the right to make the passage fully, in every
sense; and to have ensured his safety on the way. For the Angel cometh forth
from above the Abyss, and dwelleth of right in the Bosom of the Great Mother.
But the Angel deals not with the little pile of dust in the City of the Pyramids,
(see 14th Aethyr) but with the Star that is cast forth to give light
to the Earth.
This pyramid, where is the Pastos, is the
Chamber of Annihilation. The Pastos contains the Essence of the Aspirant,
and is in a Chamber containing the Essence of the Universe. This is all ready
to be burnt up in the Energy of Aspiration to the Creative Annihilation, the
Ruby Pyramid of Phallus. Finally, this Pyramid is within a Cone, a figure
combining the straight line and the circle (Rose and Cross in their purest
form) representing the new Universe into which the Old is to be transmuted.
It is established, like all types of Universe, upon the Four Elements (divided
into 72) which are the conditions of manifested Existence. (The elements are
not only "material"; they include categories like "Time",
"Space" and "Causality".)
This is the Birth-Chamber, where the Magister
Templi awakes from the Oblivion of the Abyss.
These sacraments furnish him with the material
of his new Life. Bread ({Spirit}) is labour, the nourishment of his being.
Fire is the perception of clear understanding (Neschamah). The Rose ({Air})
is Sin, the restriction which prevents him from being dissolved in pure light
(Kether) for his Oath as a Master of the Temple is to deny himself the enjoyment
of that privilege, for the sake of the Love that he bears to Mankind; wherefore
is that Sin fragrant with the sent of love. Finally, Wine ({Water}) is Death,
the Ecstasy of transmuting all things into Joy by the Sacrament of Creative
Love.
Isis, Nature, and Nephthys, Perfection,
preside over the Arising of the New Star. The Magister Templi is a little
pyramid of dust in the City of the Pyramids (see 14th Aire) awaiting the Fire
that shall burn him up to a white Ash (see 6th Aire). But the original combination
of Sankharas (tendencies --- the elements of the Character of the Man) is
void of the Ego. Ahamkara (the ego-making faculty) has been assimilated. The
Sankharas are, however, still linked by the Karma of the Adept; for they had
to be most strongly knit by him that he might be able to concentrate their
whole Energies upon the Great Work of abandoning in a single gesture "all
that he has and all that he is". They accordingly hold together: His
Will has been accomplished, and he is free from them; but they depend upon
the Elements which compose that true Will, which, since he has succeeded,
can only be that Sublime Passion for Mankind, to help it to "Conquer
Space, and lastly climb the walls of Time, and by the Golden Path the great
have trod, Reach up to God." A phenomenon of this nature thus appears
"as a morning star, or as an evening star, to give light to them that
sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death". This is then the man himself,
save that his separate individuality is no longer present; it is replaced
by this single passion to rescue mankind.
The Seer's first impulse was to proceed
with the Work on which he had been engaged when the Dissolution of his Being
took place.
As stated in a previous Aire, these higher
visions are not to be obtained by the methods applicable to less exalted spheres.
See the Book of the Dead, as adopted for
modern use by the Authorities of the G{.·.} D{.·.}
He must be a neophyte to have access to
the Ritual of Passing Through the Tuat.
See Liber AL, I. v. 51. The general
idea is to create true appetite in a body purified by fasting and a mind clarified
by meditation, so as to make certain of being perfectly intoxicated. It should
be needless to say that this state of mind, like all others, should be absolutely
willed, criticized and controlled.
The Aethyrs pertain to an order of nature,
sui generis. Though they possess many correspondences with the 32
Paths of Wisdom, all of these must be impartially banished; otherwise the
Vacuum would be disturbed by an unequilibrated symbol sympathetic with the
Aire to be invoked, which would flood the circle, and prevent the Aethyr arising
in its perfect plenitude.
This injunction has several obvious Magical
advantages. The symbolic gesture is to consume the matter of the Operation
in the Spirit thereof.
This is by no means a gesture of supplication,
the vile attitude of the unmanly devotee of the Slave-Gods. It has as specific
and positive practical purpose, which should be easy for the Neophyte to divine
if his Zelator have well and wisely so instructed him.
I. Gold for Horus.
II. Scarlet for Babalon.
III. Violet for {Mercury} House of IV. Emerald for {Venus} Love of Juggler.
Virgin. V. Silver for Star A{.·.} A{.·.} VI. Sapphire for Chokmah. VII. Orange
for (?) VIII. Indigo for (?) IX. Grey for Binah, fertilized. X. Black for
the Abyss. XI. Maroon, for Yesod the XII. Russet for the Concealed threshold.
Blood in the Cup. XIII. Green-gray for Garden of Nemo XIV. Amber for Atu VII,
XV. Olive for Salome, {Water} of XVI. Pale Blue for (?) Malkuth. XVII. Crimson
for {Pisces}. XVIII. Bright yellow for Holy Guardian Angel and Hegemone. XIX.
Crimson-silver for XX. Mauve for Atu X. Binah and {Moon}. XXI. Pale green
for (?) XXII. Rose madder for Rose of 49. XXIII. Violet Cobalt for XXIV. Beetle
Brown, for {Scorpio} {Aquarius} Eagle. Love. XXV. Cold dark gray for {Capricorn}
XXVI. White flecked with red, blue & yellow (edges green) for Osiris.
XXVII. Angry Clouds, red brown XXVIII. Indigo for Night sky of brown for smoke
of cauldron. Binah. XXIX. Blue green for {Scorpio} XXX. Miscellaneous colours
for Change. original confusion of dying Aeon.
This injunction is to be taken very seriously.
I have known uninitiates made ill by the shock of seeing Adepts of too high
"residual charge"; worse, thrown off their moral balance.
Presumably Sir Edward Kelly. There is certainly
no hint of the sublimity and profundity of such visions as the present series
in the working of that adept.
This peroration suggests that early working
by its style. It has little definite thought contained in it; the sublimity
of the language ill conceals its vagueness. Nevertheless, it is a fitting
conclusion to the mystery of this Aire. The ritual, and its lyrical outburst,
were doubtless necessary to let the seer down gently from the colossal exaltation
of the central event of the Aethyr.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 16th Aethyr,
Which is Called LEA1
There are faint and flickering images in a misty landscape, all very
transient. But the general impression is of moonrise at midnight, and
a crowned virgin riding upon a bull2.
And they come up into the surface of the stone. And she is singing a
chant of praise: Glory unto him that hath taken upon himself the image
of toil. For by his labour is my labour accomplished.
For I, being a woman, lust ever to mate myself with some beast. And this
is the salvation of the world, that always I am deceived by some god,
and that my child is the guardian of the labyrinth that hath two-and-seventy
paths3.
Now she is gone.
And now there are Angels, walking up and down in the stone. They are
the Angels of the Holy Sevenfold Table. It seems that they are waiting
for the Angel of the Aethyr to come forth.
Now at last he appears in the gloom. He is a mighty King4,
with crown and orb and sceptre, and his robes are of purple and gold.
And he casts down the orb and sceptre to the earth, and he tears off his
crown, and throws it on the ground, and tramples it. And he tears out
his hair, that is of ruddy gold tinged with silver, and he plucks at his
beard, and cries with as terrible voice: Woe unto me that am cast down
from my place by the might of the new Aeon. For the ten palaces are broken,
and the ten kings are carried away into bondage, and they are set to fight
as the gladiators in the circus of him that hath laid his hand upon eleven5.
For the ancient tower is shattered by the Lord of the Flame and the Lightning.
And they that walk upon their hands shall build the holy place6. Blessed are they who have turned
the Eye of Hoor unto the zenith, for they shall be filled with the vigour
of the goat7.
All that was ordered and stable is shaken. The Aeon of Wonders is come.
Like locusts shall they gather themselves together, the servants of the
Star and of the Snake8,
and they shall eat up everything that is upon the earth. For why? Because
the Lord of Righteousness delighteth in them.
The prophets shall prophesy monstrous things, and the wizards shall perform
monstrous things. The sorceress shall be desired of all men, and the enchanter
shall rule the earth.
Blessing unto the name of the Beast, for he hath let loose a mighty flood
of fire from his manhood, and from his womanhood hath he let loose a mighty
flood of water. Every thought of his mind is as a tempest that uprooteth
the great trees of the earth, and shaketh the mountains thereof. And the
throne of his spirit is a mighty throne of madness and desolation9,
so that they that look upon it shall cry: Behold the abomination10!
Of a single ruby shall that throne be built, and it shall be set upon
a high mountain11, and men shall see it afar off.
Then will I gather together my chariots and my horsemen and my ships of
war. By sea and land shall my armies and my navies encompass it, and I
will encamp round about it, and besiege it, and by the flame thereof shall
I be utterly devoured. Many lying spirits have I sent into the world that
my Aeon might be established, and they shall be all overthrown.
Great is the Beast that cometh forth like a lion, the servant of the
Star and of the Snake. He is the Eternal one; He is the Almighty one.
Blessed are they upon whom he shall look with favour, for nothing shall
stand before his face12.
Accursed are they upon whom he shall look with derision, for nothing shall
stand before his face.
And every mystery that hath not been revealed from the foundation of
the world he shall reveal unto his chosen. And they shall have power over
every spirit of the Ether; and of the earth and under the earth; on dry
land and in the water; of whirling air and of rushing fire. And they shall
have power over all the inhabitants of the earth, and every scourge of
God shall be subdued beneath their feet. The angels shall come unto them
and walk with them, and the great gods of heaven shall be their guests.
But I must sit apart, with dust upon my head, discrowned and desolate.
I must lurk in forbidden corners of the earth. I must plot secretly in
the by-ways of great cities, in the fog, and in marshes of the rivers
of pestilence. And all my cunning shall not serve me. And all my undertakings
shall be brought to naught. And all the ministers of the Beast shall catch
me and tear out my tongue with pincers of red-hot iron, and they shall
brand my forehead with the word of derision, and they shall shave my head,
and pluck out my beard, and make a show of me.
And the spirit of prophecy shall come upon me despite me ever and anon,
as even now upon my heart and upon my throat; and upon my tongue seared
with strong acid are the words: Vim patior13.
For so must I give glory to him that hath supplanted me, that hath cast
me down into the dust. I have hated him, and with hate my bones are rotten.
I would have spat upon him, and my spittle hath befouled my beard. I have
taken up the sword against him, and I am fallen upon it, and mine entrails
are about my feet.
Who shall strive with his might? Hath he not the sword and the spear
of the Warrior Lord of the Sun? Who shall contend with him? Who shall
lift himself up against him? For the latchet of his sandal is more than
the helmet of the Most High. Who shall reach up to him in supplication,
save those that he shall set upon his shoulders? Would God that my tongue
were torn out by the roots, and my throat cut across, and my heart torn
out and given to the vultures, before I say this that I must say: Blessing
and Worship to the Prophet of the Lovely Star14!
And now he is fallen quite to the ground, in a heap, and dust is upon
his head; and the throne upon which he sat is shattered into many pieces.
And dimly dawning in this unutterable gloom, far, far above, is the face
that is the face of a man and of a woman, and upon the brow is a circle,
and upon the breast is a circle, and in the palm of the right hand is
a circle15. Gigantic
is his stature, and he hath the Uraeus crown, and the leopard's skin,
and the flaming orange apron of a god. And invisibly about him is Nuit,
and in his heart is Hadit, and between his feet is the great god Ra Hoor
Khuit. And in his right hand is a flaming wand, and in his left a book16.
Yet is he silent; and that which is understood between him and me shall
not be revealed in this place. And the mystery shall be revealed to whosoever
shall say, with ecstasy of worship in his heart, with a clear mind, and
a passionate body: It is the voice of a god, and not of a man17.
And now all that glory hath withdrawn itself; and the old King lies prostate,
abject.
And the virgin that rode upon the bull cometh forth, led by all those
Angels of the Holy Sevenfold Table, and they are dancing round her with
garlands and sheaves of flowers, loose robes and hair dancing in the wind.
And she smiles upon me with infinite brilliance, so that the whole Aethyr
flushes warm, and she18 says with a subtle sub-meaning,
pointing downwards: By this, that19.
And I took her hand and kissed it, and I say to her: Am I not nearly
purged of the iniquity of my forefathers20?
With that she bends down, and kisses me on the mouth, and says: "Yet
a little, and on thy left arm shalt thou carry a man-child21,
and give him to drink of the milk of thy breasts. But I go dancing.22"
And I wave my hand, and the Aethyr is empty and dark, and I bow myself
before it in the sign that I, and only I, may know. And I sink through
waves of blackness, poised on an eagle, down, down, down.
And I give the sign that only I may know.
And now there is nothing in the stone but the black cross of Themis23,
and on it these words: Memento: Sequor. (These words probably mean that
the Equinox of Horus is to be followed by that of Themis.)
Bou-Sada.
December 2, 1909. 4:50 - 6:5 p.m.
LEA = {Libra}{Virgo}{Taurus}. The waning
moon, the virgin, the bull; exactly as in the second sentence; {HEB:Chet}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Vau}
= 24.
See previous note.
This reference is to Pasiphae and the
Minotaur. All mythologies contain this mystery of the woman and the
beast as the heart of the cult. Notably certain tribes on the Terai
at this day send their women annually into the jungle and any half-monkeys
that result are worshipped in their temples. Atu XI exhibits this mystery,
and it is the subject of constant reference in the higher Aires.
This is the Jehovah-god of the Aeon
of Osiris, on whose existence (as an offended and vengeful deity) the
whole theory of Atonement depends.
For 10 is the stable number of the
established system, which regards 11 the number of Magick (by the equation
0 = 2 = 11, 11 being the active form of 2) as "Evil". Hence
the Beast took 11 as his formula and thereby destroyed the 10.
See Atu XVI. The figures cast out of
the Tower are in the form of the letter {HEB:Ayin}; they "walk
upon their hands". They pertain to {Capricorn}; --- Set or Had,
i.e. the Holy Place is to be built from within, from the "core
of every star", not from above, as in the shattered tower of Theism.
{Capricorn} is the goat. The eye of
Hoor turned to the zenith refers to a mystery of magick, practical and
puissant, which the student must be left to solve for himself.
See AL II, 21. - 72 - Righteousness
delighteth in them.
See Liber VII, Cap. III, v.
20. He has manifested the insanity of the Ruach; that is his "throne";
i.e. the basis of his philosophical position.
See Liber VII, Cap. III,
v. 21.
See Liber VII, Cap. III,
vv. 22, 23.
Adaptions of the Qu'ran are to be
found in this passage.
"I suffer constraint."
See AL, II, v. 79.
"Circle" --- a blind for
"the Mark of the Beast" --- {Sun} --- which at that time it
was necessary to keep secret.
This is a vision of the Angel of the
Beast himself, as identified with the Stele of Revealing. This book
in the hand of Aiwass is The Book of the Law.
The recognition of the authorship
of Liber AL as praeter-human, with ecstatic joy, etc. is the
key to the portal of the New Aeon.
This is Babalon, the true mistress
of the Beast; of Her all mistresses on lower planes are but avatars.
This phrase need not be analyzed;
it is the promise to give herself to the Beast.
The Seer was even at this time still
struggling in himself with the complexes due to his heredity and early
training.
Therion, the Logos of the Aeon.
This means that the Seer will soon
be "Isis Rejoicing"; i.e. a Master of the Temple.
See the Neophyte Ritual of the G{.·.}
D{.·.}, Equinox Vol. I, No. 2 and AL, III, v. 34.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 15th Aethyr,
Which is Called OXO1
There appears immediately in the Aethyr a tremendous column of scarlet
fire, whirling forth, rebounding, crying aloud. And about it are four
columns of green and blue and gold and silver, each inscribed with writings
in the character of the dagger. And the column of fire is dancing among
the pillars. Now it seems that the fire is but the skirt of the dancer,
and the dancer is a mighty god. The vision is overpowering.
As the dancer whirls, she chants in a strange, slow voice, quickening
as she goes: Lo! I gather up every spirit that is pure, and weave him
into my vesture of flame. I lick up the lives of men, and their souls
sparkle from mine eyes. I am the mighty sorceress, the lust of the spirit.
And by my dancing I gather for my mother Nuit the heads of all them that
are baptized in the waters of life. I am the lust of the spirit that eateth
up the soul of man. I have prepared a feast for the adepts, and they that
partake thereof shall see God2.
Now it is clear what she has woven in her dance; it is the Crimson Rose
of 49 Petals, and the Pillars are the Cross with which it is conjoined.
And between the pillars shoot out rays of pure green fire; and now all
the pillars are golden. She ceases to dance, and dwindles, gathering herself
into the centre of the Rose. Now it is seen that the Rose is a vast ampitheatre,
with seven tiers, each tier divided into seven partitions. And they that
sit in the Amphitheatre are the seven grades of the Order of the Rosy
Cross. This Amphitheatre is built of rose-coloured marble, and of its
size I can say only that the sun might be used as a ball to be thrown
by the players in the arena. But in the arena there is a little altar
of emerald3, and
its top has the heads of the Four Beasts, in turquoise and rock-crystal4.
And the floor of the arena is ridged like a grating of lapis lazuli5.
And it is full of pure quicksilver6.
Above the altar is a veiled Figure, whose name is Pan. Those in the outer
tier adore him as a Man; and in the next tier they adore him as a Goat;
and in the next tier they adore him as a Ram; and in the next tier they
adore him as a Crab; and in the next tier they adore him as an Ibis; and
in the next tier they adore him as a Golden Hawk; and in the next tier
they adore him not7.
And now the light streameth out from the altar, splashed out by the feet
of him that is above it. It is the Holy Twelve-fold Table of OIT8.
The voice of him that is above the altar is silence, but the echo thereof
cometh back from the walls of the circus, and is speech. And this is the
speech: Three and four are the days of a quarter of the moon, and on the
seventh day is the sabbath, but thrice four is the Sabbath of the Adepts
whereof the form is revealed in the Aethyr ZID; that is the eighth of
the Aires9. And the mysteries of the Table
shall not be wholly revealed, nor shall they be revealed herein. But thou
shalt gather of the sweat of thy brow a pool of clear water wherein this
shall be revealed. And of the oil that thou burnest in the midnight shall
be gathered together thirteen rivers of blessing; and of the oil and the
water I will prepare a wine to intoxicate the young men and the maidens10.
And now the Table is become the universe; every star is a letter of the
Book of Enoch. And the Book of Enoch is drawn therefrom by an inscrutable
Mystery, that is known only to the Angels and the Holy Sevenfold Table11. While I have
been gazing upon this table, an Adept has come forth, one from each tier,
except the inmost Tier.
And the first12
drove a dagger into my heart, and tasted the blood, and said: {GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho}
{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} , {GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}
{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} , {GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta} {GRK:alpha}
{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} , {GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha} {GRK:theta} {GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}
{GRK:sigma} , {GRK:chi} {GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}
{GRK:sigma} , {GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}
{GRK:sigma}13.
And the second14
Adept has been testing the muscles of my right arm and shoulder, and he
says: fortis, fortis, fortis, fortis, fortis 15.
And the third16
Adept examines the skin and tastes the sweat of my left arm, and says:
TAN, TAN, TAN, TAN.17 And the fourth18 Adept examines
my neck, and seems to approve, though he says nothing19;
and he hath opened the right half of my brain, and he makes some examination,
and says: "Samajh, samajh, samajh.20"
And the fifth Adept examines the left half of my brain, and then holds
up his hand in protest, and says "PLA . . .21"
(I cannot get the sentence, but the meaning is: In the thick darkness
the seed awaiteth spring.)
And now am I again rapt in contemplation of that universe of letters
which are stars.
The words ORLO, ILRO, TULE are three most secret names of God. They are
Magick names, each having an interpretation of the same kind as the interpretation
of I.N.R.I., and the name OIT, RLU, LRL, OOE are other names of God, that
contain magical formulae, the first to invoke fire; the second, water;
the third, air; and the fourth, earth22.
And if the Table be read diagonally, every letter, and every combination
of letters, is the name of a devil. And from these are drawn the formulae
of evil magick23. But the holy
letter I above the triad LLL dominateth the Table, and preserveth the
peace of the universe24.
And in the seven talismans about the central Table are contained the
Mysteries of drawing forth the letters. And the letters of the circumference
declare in glory of Nuit, that beginneth from Aries25.
All this while the Adepts must have been chanting as it were an oratorio
for seven instruments. And this oratorio hath one dominant theme of rapture.
Yet it applieth to every detail of the universe as well as to the whole.
And herein is Choronzon brought utterly to ruin, that all his work is
against his will, not only in the whole, but in every part thereof, even
as a fly that walketh upon a beryl-stone.
And the tablet blazeth ever brighter till it filleth the whole Aire.
And behold! there is is one God therein, and the letters of the stars
in his crown, Orion, and the Pleiades, and Aldebaran, and Alpha Centauri,
and Cor Leonis, and Cor Scorpionis, and Spica, and the pole-star, and
Hercules, and Regulus, and Aquila, and the Ram's Eye.
And upon a map of the stars shalt thou draw the sigil of that name; and
because also some of the letters are alike, thou shalt know that the stars
also have tribes and nations26.
The letter of a star is but the totem thereof. And the letter representeth
not the whole nature of the star, but each star must be known by itself
in the wisdom of him that hath the Cynocephalus in leash27.
And this pertaineth unto the grade of a Magus --- and that is beyond
thine. (All this is communicated not by voice, or by writing; and there
is no form in the stone, but only the brilliance of the Table. And now
I am withdrawn from all that, but the Rosy Cross of 49 petals is set upright
upon the summit of a pyramid, and all is dark, because of the exceeding
light behind.)
And there cometh a voice: The fly cried unto the ox, "Beware! Strengthen
thyself. Set thy feet firmly upon the earth, for it is my purpose to alight
between thy shoulders, and I would not harm thee." So also are they
who wish well unto the Masters of the Pyramid.
And the bee said unto the flower: "Give me of thine honey,"
and the flower gave richly thereof; but the bee, though he wit it not,
carried the seed of the flower into many fields of sun. So also are they
that take unto themselves the Masters of the Pyramid for servants.
Now the exceeding light that was behind the Pyramid, and the Rosy Cross
that is set thereon, hath fulfilled the whole Aire. The black Pyramid
is like the back of a black diamond. Also the Rosy Cross is loosened,
and the petals of the Rose are the mingled hues of sunset and of dawn;
and the Cross is the Golden light of noon, and in the heart of the Rose
there is the secret light that men call midnight.
And a voice: "Glory to God and thanksgiving to God, and there is
no God but God. And He is exalted; He is great; and in the Sevenfold Table
is His Name writ openly, and in the Twelvefold Table is His Name concealed."
And the Pyramid casts a shadow of itself into the sky, and the shadow
spreads over the whole stone. And an angel clad in blue and scarlet, with
golden wings and plumes of purple fire, comes forth and scatters disks
of green and gold, filing all the Aire. And they become swiftly-whirling
wheels, singing together.
And the voice of the angel cries: Gather up thy garments about thee28,
O thou that hast entered the circle of the Sabbath; for in thy grave-clothes
shouldest thou behold the resurrection.
The flesh hangeth upon thee like his rags upon a beggar that is a pilgrim
to the shrine of the Exalted One. Nevertheless, bear them bravely, and
rejoice in the beauty thereof, for the company of the pilgrims is a glad
company, and they have no care, and with song and dance and wine and fair
women do they make merry. And every hostel is their place, and every maid
their queen.
Gather up thy garments about thee, I say, for the voice of the Aethyr,
that is the voice of the Aeon, is ended, and thou art absorbed into the
lesser night, and caught in the web of the light of thy mother in the
word ARBADAHARBA29.
And now the five and the six are divorced30, and I am come again within my
body.
Bou-Sada.
December 3, 1909. 9:15 to 11:10 a.m.
OXO = {Libra}{Spirit}{Libra}. The Rose
of Earth on the Place of Judgment; this is the scene of the Aire. {HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Taw}
{HEB:Lamed} = 460 = {HEB:Heh} {HEB:Vau} {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod} {HEB:Lamed}
{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Qof} "Holy unto the Lord", and refers
to the consecration (after examination) of the Exempt Adept. It is his
final preparation for undergoing in consciousness the full ceremony
of passing to the grade of Magister Templi.
This is a form of Babalon. There is
a reference to the story of Salome in the lesser mysteries of the dagger
and disk in the cult of "the God, John". "John"
is "ON" --- Oannes, Nu, Noah, Jonah, etc., the Sun entering
the watery sign of Cancer (the sign of the whale, ark, etc.) at the
summer solstice.
The colour of {Venus}, love. This is
the basis of the act of worship.
Sacred to the sphere of the stars,
and to Malkuth, the sphere of Earth, respectively.
The body of Nuith, the star-strewn
Blue.
The Universal Mercury, instrument of
the constant Change and Flux which constitutes life.
That is, in the lowest grade of the
Second Order 5x = 6{square x}, "God" is worshipped under the
form of a man (Tiphareth). In 6x = 5 {squarex}, he seems as a goat (Mendes
Kahn). In 7x = 4{square x}, a ram (Amoun). In 8x = 3{square x}, a crab
(connected with the star sponge vision). In 9x = 2{square x}, an ibis
(Thoth). In 10x = 1 {square x} a golden hawk (Ra Hoor Khuit). Above
this (Kether), He is the Negative only.
This table is:
ZDDDBDDDBDDD? ZDDDDDDDDBDDDDDDDDDDDDDBDDDDDDDDDDD?
3 O 3 I 3 T 3 3 Libra 3 Sagittarius 3 Leo 3
CDDDEDDDEDDD4 CDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDD4
3 R 3 L 3 U 3 3 Pisces 3 Cancer 3 Capricorn 3
CDDDEDDDEDDD4 CDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDD4
3 L 3 R 3 L 3 3 Cancer 3 Pisces 3 Cancer 3
CDDDEDDDEDDD4 CDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDD4
3 O 3 O 3 E 3 3 Libra 3 Libra 3 Virgo 3
@DDDADDDADDDY @DDDDDDDDADDDDDDDDDDDDDADDDDDDDDDDDY
The Seven are the inferiors, unless
the reference be to Babalon, as in the table of 49 squares. Twelve refers
to HUA = 12 and the Zodiac The interweaving of multiplication is to
the juxtaposition of addition as is chemical combination to mechanical
mixture.
Cf. the Zohar for 13 rivers of Holy
Oil that flow down the Beard of Macroprosopus. (These are the first
13 letters.)
See 22nd Aire for a fuller indication
of this mystery, and infra.
5x = 6{square x}.
This Adept guards Tiphareth and tests
the heart (which pertains thereto) for its purity. ({GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}
{GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} = pure) six times; 6 being
the number of Tiphareth.
6x = 5{square x}.
Similarly the right arm (of Geburah)
five times. Fortis means strong.
7x = 4{square x}.
Similarly the left arm (of Chesed)
four times, for the virtue of Chesed, Mercy. (See 17th Aire).
8x = 3{square x}. {WEH Note: Crowley's
TS only has: 8 = 3}
The neck is of Daath which is not
a Sephirah, and so has no number or corresponding symbol.
This part of the brain is of Binah
(3). Samajh means understanding. That is, he admitted the right of the
seer to the grade of Magister Templi.
The seer was not worthy of the grade
of Magus. Note that each adept uses a different language.
All these practical mysteries must
be worked out by the student himself. Any formula given by the annotator
would probably be "dead" in the hands of another man.
See previous note.
The easiest explanation of this is
to suppose that the letters are not attributed as usual (i.e. I to {Sagittarius},
L to {Cancer}), but taken for their English shape: I the Middle Pillar,
L the Square --- but this is far from satisfactory.
Note that the corner letters in this
table are all B
i.e. there are different systems of
physical motion for certain groups.
i.e. Thoth. The attribution of the
fixed stars to the Enochian alphabet has not been worked out. It pertains
to the grade of Magus, and would have no interest or meaning for those
of lower grades.
Since the examination in the amphitheatre
I have been a naked spirit without garments or anything; by garments
he means the body.
ABRAHADABRA spelt backwards, to reverse
its formula, that of uniting the five with the six. See next paragraph.
Because of saying ABRAHADABRA = 418,
backwards.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 14th Aethyr,
Which is Called UTI1
There come into the stone a white goat, a green dragon, and a tawny bull2.
But they pass away immediately. There is a veil of such darkness before
the Aethyr that it seems impossible to pierce it. But there is a voice
saying: Behold, the Great One of the Night of Time3
stirreth, and with his tail he churneth up the slime, and of the foam
thereof shall he make stars. And in the battle of the Python4
and the Sphinx shall the glory be to the Sphinx, but the victory to the
Python.
Now the veil of darkness is formed of a very great number of exceedingly
fine black veils, and one tears them off one at a time. And the voice
says, There is no light or knowledge or beauty or stability5 in the Kingdom of the Grave, whither
thou goest. And the worm is crowned. All that thou wast hath he eaten
up, and all that thou art is his pasture until to-morrow. And all that
thou shalt be is nothing. Thou who wouldst enter the domain of the Great
One of the Night of Time, this burden must thou take up. Deepen not a
superficies6.
But I go on tearing down the veil that I may behold the vision of UTI,
and hear the voice thererof. And there is a voice: He hath drawn the black
bean. And another voice answers it: Not otherwise could he plant the Rose.
And the first voice: He hath drunk of the waters of death. The answer:
Not otherwise could he water the Rose. And the first voice: He hath burnt
himself at the Fires of life. And the answer: Not otherwise could he sun
the Rose. And the first voice is so faint that I cannot hear it. But the
answer is: Not otherwise could he pluck the Rose7.
And still I go on, struggling with the blackness. Now there is an earthquake.
The veil is torn into thousands of pieces that go flying away in a whirling
wind. And there is an all-glorious Angel before me, standing in the sign
of Apophis and Typhon8.
On his Forehead is a star, but all about him is darkness, and the crying
of beasts. And there are lamps moving in the darkness.
And the Angel says: Depart! For thou must invoke me only in the darkness.
Therein will I appear, and reveal unto thee the Mystery of UTI. For the
Mystery thereof is great and terrible. And it shall not be spoken in sight
of the sun.
Therefore I withdraw myself. (Thus far the vision upon Da'leh
Addin, a mountain in the desert near Bou-Sada.9)
December 3, 2:50-3:15 p.m.
The Angel re-appears.
The blackness gathers about, so thick, so clinging, so penetrating, so
oppressive, that all the other darkness that I have ever conceived would
be like bright light beside it10.
His voice comes in a whisper: O thou that art master of the fifty gates
of Understanding, is not my mother a black woman? O thou that art master
of the Pentagram, is not the egg of spirit a black egg11? Here abideth terror, and the
blind ache of the Soul, and lo! even I, who am the sole light, a spark
shut up, stand in the sign of Apophis and Typhon.
I am the snake that devoureth the spirit of man with the lust of light.
I am the sightless storm in the night that wrappeth the world about with
desolation. Chaos is my name, and thick darkness. Know thou that the darkness
of the earth is ruddy, and the darkness of the air is grey, but the darkness
of the soul is utter blackness.
The egg of the spirit is a basilisk egg, and the gates of the understanding
are fifty, that is the sign of the Scorpion12.
The pillars about the neophyte are crowned with flame, and the vault of
the Adepts is lighted by the Rose. And in the abyss is the eye of the
hawk13. But upon the great sea shall
the Master of the Temple find neither star nor moon.
And I was about to answer him: "The light is within me." But
before I could frame the words, he answered me with the great word that
is the Key of the Abyss14.
And he said: Thou hast entered the night; dost thou yet lust for day?
Sorrow is my name, and affliction. I am girt about with tribulation. Here
still hangs the Crucified One, and here the Mother weeps over the children
that she hath not borne. Sterility is my name, and desolation. Intolerable
is thine ache, and incurable thy wound. I said, Let the darkness cover
me; and behold, I am compassed about with the blackness that hath no name.
O thou, who hast cast down the light into the earth, so must thou do for
ever. And the light of the sun shall not shine upon thee, and the moon
shall not lend thee of her lustre, and the stars shall be hidden, because
thou art passed beyond these things, beyond the need of these things,
beyond the desire of these things.
What I thought were shapes of rocks, rather felt than seen, now appear
to be veiled Masters, sitting absolutely still and silent. Nor can any
one be distinguished from the others.
And the Angel sayeth: Behold where thine Angel hath led thee! Thou didst
ask fame, power and pleasure, health and wealth and love, and strength,
and length of days. Thou didst hold life with eight tentacles, like an
octopus. Thou didst seek the four powers and the seven delights and the
twelve emancipations and the two and twenty Privileges and the nine and
forty Manifestations, and lo! thou art become as one of These. Bowed are
their backs, whereon resteth the universe. Veiled are their faces, that
have beheld the glory Ineffable.
These adepts seem like Pyramids --- their hoods and robes are like Pyramids.
And the Angel sayeth: Verily is the Pyramid a Temple of Initiation. Verily
also is it a tomb15}. Thinkest thou that there is
life within the Masters of the Temple, that sit hooded, encamped upon
the Sea? Verily, there is no life in them.
Their sandals were the pure light, and they have taken them from their
feet and cast them down through the abyss, for this Aethyr is holy ground.
Herein no forms appear, and the vision of God face to face, that is transmuted
in the Athanor called dissolution, or hammered into one forge of meditation,
is in this place but a blasphemy and a mockery.
And the Beatific Vision is no more, and the glory of the Most High is
no more. There is no more knowledge. There is no more bliss. There is
no more power. There is no more beauty. For this is the Palace of Understanding:
for thou art one with the Primeval things.
Drink in the myrrh of my speech, that is bruised with the gall of the
roc, and dissolved in the ink of the cuttle-fish, and perfumed with the
deadly nightshade.
This is thy wine, who wast drunk upon the wine of Iacchus. And for bread
shalt thou eat salt, O thou on the corn of Ceres that didst wax fat! For
as pure being is pure nothing, so is pure wisdom pure ---16, and so is pure understanding
silence, and stillness, and darkness. The eye is called seventy, and the
triple Aleph whereby thou perceivest it, divideth into the number of the
terrible word that is the Key of the Abyss17.
I am Hermes, that am sent from the Father to expound all things discreetly
in these the last words that thou shalt hear before thou take thy seat
among these, whose eyes are sealed up, and whose ears are stopped, and
whose mouths are clenched, who are folded in upon themselves, the liquor
of whose bodies is dried up, so that nothing remains but a little pyramid
of dust.
And that bright light of comfort, and that piercing sword of truth, and
all that power and beauty that they have made of themselves, is cast from
them, as it is written, "I saw Satan like lightning fall from Heaven."
And as a flaming sword is it dropt through the abyss, where the four beasts
keep watch and ward. And it appeareth in the heaven of Jupiter18 as a morning star, or as an evening
star19. And the
light thereof shineth even unto the earth, and bringeth hope and help
to them that dwell in the darkness of thought, and drink of the poison
of life. Fifty are the gates20
of understanding, and one hundred and six21 are the seasons thereof. And the
name of every season22 is Death.
During all this speech, the figure of the Angel has dwindled and flickered,
and now it is gone out.
And I come back in the body, rushing like a flame in a great wind. And
the shew-stone has become warm, and in it is its own light.
Bou-Saada.
December 3, 1909 9:50-11:15 p.m.
UTI = {Capricorn}{Caput Draconis}{Sagittarius}
= {HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Gemel} {HEB:Samekh} = 133 ={HEB:Chet}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Mem-
final}{HEB:Yod} = The Salt Sea, i.e. Binah.
The bull was probably seen in mistake
for a stag. Then U = {HEB:Ayin} = the goat. T = {Caput Draconis} (Caput
Dranconis) = the Dragon. I = {Sagittarius}, the stag.
This is Saturn. He is conceived as
a dragon, Theli. He is referred to Binah.
The Sphinx is one of the four elements
referred to the path of Tau = Saturn. The Python is the great snake
that surrounds and devours the Universe. This is his victory; glory
is a function of the manifested existence of the Sphinx.
On the Middle Pillar: Kether, Dath,
Tiphereth, Yesod. Thus the spine of existence itself is destroyed in
this initiation.
An injunction of Zoroaster. It is useless
to seek the soul of things beneath their surface; for their surface
is their soul!
To accomplish the Great Work in Tiphereth,
one must be an initiate of Binah, its mother.
He is about to destroy.
There was also an instruction to build
a Temple of stone with altar and circle. There was a public sacrifice
offered to the God Pan by the Rite of XI degree O.T.O. See Equinox
I, No. X, pp. 114-115.
This is the absolute negation of light,
which is Binah. For she absorbs it perfectly.
Akasa, the Tatva (element) of Spirit
is a black egg, symbolically. It is the darkness in which all things
are conceived.
The fifty gates of Binah have been
variously explained. They do not appear to be of any great importance;
it is only their number which is significant. The reference is to {HEB:Nun}
= 50 = {Scorpio} Atu XIII -- Death. {WEH Note: The Fifty Gates of Understanding
are very well known in Orthodox Hebrew Qabalah. They consist of taking
the influence of each of the lower seven Sephiroth upon each other ---
7x7=49. When one is perfectly harmonized in this practice, the fiftieth
gate, Binah or Understanding, opens. Crowley repeatedly describes his
efforts at such a harmonizing, but is ignorant of the significance of
this reference to the Fifty Gates in the Cry.}
Reference to previous ceremonies of
initiation.
N.O.X. = = 210.
It is also a phallus, which dies itself to communicate
life to others.
I suppose that only a Magus could
have heard this word. It seems to be "Inertia" or some equivalent.
It is the reverse of the three Binah qualities to balance them: speech,
and motion, and light.
70 v 333 = .210. The process of reducing
the dyad to zero, which at once becomes again the dyad, is recurrent;
the cycle of existence and non-existence.
Different M. T.'s may be cast out
into different spheres. {WEH Note: In the Germer edition, this note
is #7, and out of sequence. The notes have been resequenced in this
version, for improved scansion}
The Sankharas --- the constituent
elements --- of the man that has become a Master of the Temple, are
reconstituted below the Abyss, so that they can function as an Exempt
Adept. But their permanent function is in that grade to which their
"centre of gravity" (so to speak) tends.
50 = {Scorpio} = {HEB:Nun}.
{HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Nun}
= 106.
These seasons (in the case of the
seer) to be proved lunar months.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 13th Aethyr,
Which is Called ZIM1
Into the Stone there cometh an image of shining waters, glistening in
is of gold. Yet the sense thereof is of fruitlessness.
And an Angel cometh forth, of pure pale gold, walking upon the water.
Above his head is a rainbow, and the water foams beneath his feet. And
he saith: Before his face am I come that hath the thirty-three thunders
of increase in his hand. From the golden water shalt thou gather corn2.
All the Aire behind him is gold, but it opens as it were a veil. There
are two terrible black giants, wrestling in mortal hatred. And there is
a little bird upon a bush, and the bird flaps its wings. Thereat the strength
of the giants snaps, and they fall in heaps to the earth, as though all
their bones were suddenly broken3.
And now waves of light roll through the Aethyr, as if they were playing.
Therefore suddenly I am in a garden4, upon a terrace
of a great castle, that is upon a rocky mountain. In the garden are fountains
and many flowers. There are girls also in the garden, tall, slim, delicate
and pale. And now I see that the flowers are the girls, for they change
from one to another; so varied, and lucent, and harmonious is all this
garden, that it seems like a great opal5.
A voice comes: This water which thou seest is called the water of death6.
But NEMO hath filled therefrom our springs.
And I said: Who is NEMO?
And the voice answered: A dolphin's tooth, and a ram's horns, and the
hand of a man that is hanged, and the phallus of a goat7.
(By this I understand that nun is explained by shin, and he' by resh,
and mem by yod, and ayin by tau8. NEMO is therefore called 165 =
11 x 15; and is in himself 910 = 91 Amen x 10; and 13 x 70 = The One Eye,
Achad Ayin.)
And now there cometh an Angel into the garden, but he hath not any of
the attributes of the former Angels, for he is like a young man, dressed
in white linen robes.
And he saith: No man hath beheld the face of my Father. Therefore he
that hath beheld it is called NEMO. And know thou that every man that
is called NEMO hath a garden that he tendeth9.
And every garden that is and flourisheth hath been prepared from the desert
by NEMO, watered with the waters that were called death.
And I say unto him: To what end is the garden prepared?
And he saith: First for the beauty and delight thereof; and next because
it is written, "And Tetragrammaton Elohim planted a garden eastward
in Eden." And lastly, because though every flower bringeth forth
a maiden, yet is there one flower that shall bring forth a man-child.
And his name shall be called NEMO, when he beholdeth the face of my Father.
And he that tendeth the garden seeketh not to single out the flower that
shall be NEMO. He doeth naught but tend the garden.
And I said: Pleasant indeed is the garden10, and light is the toil of tending
it, and great is the reward.
And he said: Bethink thee that NEMO hath beheld the face of my Father.
In Him is only Peace.
And I said: Are all gardens like unto this garden?
And he waved his hand, and in the Aire across the valley appeared an
island of coral, rosy, with green palms and fruit-trees, in the midst
of the bluest of the seas11.
And he waved his hand again, and there appeared a valley shut in by mighty
snow mountains, and in it were pleasant streams of water, rushing through,
and broad rivers, and lakes covered with lilies12.
And he waved his hand again, and there was a vision, as it were of an
oasis in the desert13.
And again he waved his hand, and there was a dim country with grey rocks,
and heather, and gorse, and bracken14.
And he waved his hand yet again, and there was a park, and a small house
therein, surrounded by yews15. This time the
house opens, and I see in it an old man, sitting by a table. He is blind.
Yet he writeth in a great book, constantly. I see what he is writing:
"The words of the Book are as the leaves of the flowers in the garden.
Many indeed of these my songs shall go forth as maidens, but there is
one among them, which one I know not, that shall be a man-child, whose
name shall be NEMO, when he hath beheld the face of the Father, and become
blind."
(All this vision is most extraordinarily pleasant and peaceful, entirely
without strength or ecstasy, or any positive quality, but equally free
from the opposites of any of those qualities.) And the young man seems
to read my thought, which is, that I should love to stay in this garden
and do nothing for ever; for he sayeth to me: Come with me, and behold
how NEMO tendeth his garden16.
So we enter the earth, and there is a veiled figure, in absolute darkness.
Yet it is perfectly possible to see in it, so that the minutest details
do not escape us. And upon the root of one flower he pours acid so that
that root writhes as if in torture. And another he cuts, and the shriek
is like the shriek of a mandrake, torn up by the roots. And another he
chars with fire, and yet another he anoints with oil.
And I said: Heavy is the labour, but great indeed is the reward.
And the young man answered me: He shall not see the reward, he tendeth
the garden17.
And I said: What shall come unto him?
And he said: This thou canst not know, nor is it revealed by the letters
that are the totems of the stars, but only by the stars.
And he says to me, quite disconnectedly: The man of earth is the adherent.
The lover giveth his life unto the work among men. The hermit goeth solitary,
and giveth only of his light unto men18.
And I ask him: Why does he tell me that?
And he says: I tell thee not. Thou tellest thyself, for thou hast pondered
thereupon for many days, and hast not found light. And now that thou art
called NEMO, the answer to every riddle that thou hast not found shall
spring up in thy mind, unsought. Who can tell upon what day a flower shall
bloom19?
And thou shalt give thy wisdom unto the world, and that shall be thy
garden. And concerning time and death, thou hast naught to do with these
things. For though a precious stone be hidden in the sand of the desert,
it shall not heed for the wind of the desert, although it be but sand.
For the worker of works hath worked thereupon; and because it is clear,
it is invisible; and because it is hard, it moveth not.
All these words are heard by everyone that is called NEMO. And with that
doth he apply himself to understanding. And he must understand the virtue
of the waters of death, and he must understand the virtue of the sun and
the wind, and of the worm that turneth the earth, and the stars that roof
in the garden. And he must understand the separate nature and property
of every flower, or how shall he tend his garden?
And I said to him: Concerning the Vision and the Voice, I would know
if these things be of essence of the Aethyr, or of the essence of the
seer20.
And he answers: It is of the essence of him that is called NEMO, combined
with essence of the Aethyr, for from the 1st Aethyr to the 15th Aethyr,
there is no vision and no voice, save for him that is called NEMO. And
he that seeketh the vision and the voice therein is led away by dog- faced
demons that show no sign of truth, seducing from the Sacred Mysteries,
unless his name be NEMO.
And hadst thou not been fitted, thou too hadst been led away, for before
the gate of the 15th Aethyr, is this written: He shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie. And again it is written: The
Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. And again it is written that God tempteth
man. But thou hadst the word and the sign, and thou hadst authority from
thy superior21, and licence22. And thou hast
done well in that thou didst not dare, and in that thou dost dare23.
For daring is not presumption.
And he said moreover: Thou dost well to keep silence, for I perceive
how many questions arise in thy mind; yet already thou knowest that the
answering, as the asking, must be vain. For NEMO hath all in himself.
He hath come where there is no light or knowledge, only when he needeth
them no more.
And then we bow silently, giving a certain sign, called the Sign of Isis
Rejoicing24. And then he remaineth to ward
the Aethyr, while I return unto the bank of sand that is the bed of the
river near the desert.
The River-bed near Bou-Sada.
December 4, 1909. 2:10-3:45 p.m.
ZIM = {Leo}{Sagittarius}{Aquarius}.
See, in the Aire, the solar symbolism of the opening, the transmutation
of the middle, and the Saturnian ending.
This pure pale gold is the symbol of
the dawning life, arisen after passing through the night of the 14th
Aire.
This is a parable of the illusion of
matter, whose vast horror is destroyed by the moving of the wings of
initiation.
Rather like the Alhambra.
There is here a memory picture of the
Alhambra; or something like it.
The Great Sea of Binah - darkness.
{HEB:Nun} = Nun, the fish (dolphin):
E = {Aries}, the ram; M = Atu XII = the Hanged Man; O = {Capricorn},
the goat.
910 = {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Resh}
Beginning. These attributions explain the nature of NEMO, the Master
of the Temple.
Every Magister Templi has a Work to
do for the world. {WEH Note: This boy in a white robe who stands before
the face of the Father is called Mettatron in traditional Qabalah. Qabalah
also calls Binah "Gan Eden", or "the Garden of Eden"
and Chokmah "Gan", or "the Garden".}
All this is to instruct the Magister
Templi in his duties.
The South Seas.
Kashmir.
The Sahara.
The Highlands of Scotland.
A certain secret house of the Great
White Brotherhood. Yews, and certain other trees, as Persian Nuts, are
used to indicate to passing initiates that they have there a resting
place.
Now follow further instructions to
the Master of the Temple, how he is to do his work.
Otherwise: "Art for art's sake".
See AL I, 40. These are the
three true grades of the Great Order.
This certainly happened.
The seer enquires into the objectivity
of the vision. These doubts arose in his mind because of the memory
pictures in the earlier paragraphs.
D.D.S.
Conferred December 1906 e.v.
O.M. refused for three years to take
the grade of 8x = 3{square x} after it was offered him. He thought it
almost presumptuous, taking it now.
Giving suck to babe held in left arm.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 12th Aethyr,
Which is Called LOE1
There appear in the stone two pillars of flame, and in the midst is a
chariot of white fire.
This seems to be the chariot of the Seventh Key of Tarot. But it is drawn
by four sphinxes, diverse, like the four sphinxes upon the door of the
vault of the adepts, counterchanged in their component parts.
The chariot itself is the lunar crescent, waning. The canopy is supported
by eight pillars of amber. These pillars are upright, and yet the canopy
which they support is the whole vault of the night.
The charioteer is a man in golden armour, studded with sapphires, but
over his shoulders is a white robe, and over that a red robe. Upon his
golden helmet he beareth for his crest a crab. His hands are clasped upon
a cup2, from which radiates
a ruddy glow, constantly increasing, so that everything is blotted out
by its glory, and the whole Aire is filled with it.
And there is a marvelous perfume in the Aire, like unto the perfume of
Ra Hoor Khuit, but sublimated, as if the quintessence of that perfume
alone were burnt. For it hath the richness and voluptuousness and humanity
of blood, and the strength and freshness of meal, and the sweetness of
honey, and the purity of olive-oil, and the holiness of that oil which
is made of myrrh, and cinnamon, and galangal3.
The charioteer speaks in a low, solemn voice, awe-inspiring, like a large
and very distant bell: Let him look upon the cup whose blood is mingled
therein, for the wine of the cup is the blood of the saints. Glory unto
the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, that rideth upon
the Beast4, for she hath spilt their blood
in every corner of the earth and lo! she hath mingled it in the cup of
her whoredom.
With the breath of her kisses hath she fermented it, and it hath become
the wine of the Sacrament, the wine of the Sabbath; and in the Holy Assembly
hath she poured it out for her worshippers, and they had become drunken
thereon, so that face to face they beheld my Father. Thus are they made
worthy to become partakers of the Mystery of this holy vessel, for the
blood is the life. So sitteth she from age to age, and the righteous are
never weary of her kisses, and by her murders and fornications she seduceth
the world. Therein is manifested the glory of my Father, who is truth.
(This wine is such that its virtue radiateth through the cup, and I reel
under the intoxication of it. And every thought is destroyed by it. It
abideth alone, and its name is Compassion. I understand by "Compassion,"
the sacrament of suffering, partaken by the true worshippers of the Highest.
And it is an ecstasy in which there is no trace of pain. Its passivity
(=passion) is like the giving-up of the self to the beloved.)
The voice continues: This is the Mystery of Babylon, the Mother of abominations,
and this is the mystery of her adulteries, for she hath yielded up herself
to everything that liveth, and hath become a partaker in its mystery.
And because she hath made herself the servant of each, therefore is she
become the mistress of all. Not as yet canst thou comprehend her glory.
Beautiful art thou, O Babylon, and desirable, for thou hast given thyself
to everything that liveth, and thy weakness hath subdued their strength5. For in that union thou didst understand.
Therefore art thou called Understanding, O Babylon, Lady of the Night!
This is that which is written, "O my God, in one last rapture let
me attain to the union with the many.6" For she is
Love, and her love is one, and she hath divided the one love into infinite
loves, and each love is one, and equal to The One, and therefore is she
passed "from the assembly and the law and the enlightenment unto
the anarchy of solitude and darkness. For ever thus must she veil the
brilliance of Her Self.7" O Babylon, Babylon, thou
mighty Mother, that ridest upon the crown d beast, let me be drunken upon
the wine of thy fornications; let thy kisses wanton me unto death, that
even I, thy cup-bearer, may understand.
Now, through the ruddy glow of the cup, I may perceive far above, and
infinitely great, the vision of Babylon. And the Beast whereon she rideth
is the Lord of the City of the Pyramids, that I beheld in the fourteenth
Aethyr.
Now that is gone in the glow of the cup, and the Angel saith: Not as
yet mayest thou understand the mystery of the Beast, for it pertaineth
not unto the mystery of this Aire, and few that are new-born unto Understanding
are capable thereof8.
The cup glows ever brighter and fierier. All my sense is unsteady, being
smitten with ecstasy.
And the Angel sayeth: Blessed are the saints, that their blood is mingled
in the cup, and can never be separate any more. For Babylon the Beautiful,
the Mother of abominations, hath sworn by her holy cteis, whereof every
point is a pang, that she will not rest from her adulteries until the
blood of everything that liveth is gathered therein, and the wine thereof
laid up and matured and consecrated, and worthy to gladden the heart of
my Father. For my Father is weary with the stress of eld, and cometh not
to her bed. Yet shall this perfect wine be the quintessence, and the elixir,
and by the draught thereof shall he renew his youth; and so shall it be
eternally, as age by age the worlds do dissolve and change, and the universe
unfoldeth itself as a Rose, and shutteth itself up as the Cross that is
bent into the cube.
And this is the comedy of Pan, that is played at night in the thick forest.
And this is the mystery of Dionysus Zagreus, that is celebrated upon the
holy mountain of Kithairon. And this is the secret of the brothers of
the Rosy Cross; and this is the heart of the ritual that is accomplished
in the Vault of the Adepts that is hidden in the Mountain of the Caverns,
even the Holy Mountain Abiegnus9.
And this is the meaning of the Supper of the Passover, the spilling of
the blood of the Lamb being a ritual of the Dark Brothers, for they have
sealed up the Pylon with blood, lest the Angel of Death should enter therein.
Thus do they shut themselves off from the company of the saints. Thus
do they keep themselves from compassion and from understanding. Accurs
d are they, for they shut up their blood in their heart10.
They keep themselves from the kisses of my Mother Babylon, and in their
lonely fortresses they pray to the false moon. And they bind themselves
together with an oath, and with a great curse. And of their malice they
conspire together, and they have power, and mastery, and in their cauldrons
do they brew the harsh wine of delusion, mingled with the poison of their
selfishness.
Thus they make war upon the Holy One, sending forth their delusion upon
men, and upon everything that liveth. So that their false compassion is
called compassion, and their false understanding is called understanding,
for this is their most potent spell.
Yet of their own poison do they perish, and in their lonely fortresses
shall they be eaten up by Time that hath cheated them to serve him, and
by the mighty devil Choronzon, their master, whose name is the Second
Death11, for the blood
that they have sprinkled on their Pylon, that is a bar against the Angel
Death, is the key by which he entereth in12.
The Angel sayeth: And this is the word of double power in the voice of
the Master, wherein the Five interpenetrateth the Six13.
This is its secret interpretation that may not be understood, save only
of them that understand. And for this is the Key of the Pylon
of Power, because there is no power that may endure, save only the power
that descendeth in this my chariot from Babylon, the city of Fifty Gates,
the Gate of the God On [{HEB:Nun- final} {HEB:Ayin} {HEB:Lamed} {HEB:Aleph}
{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Aleph} {HEB:Bet}]14
. Moreover is On the Key of the Vault that is 120. So also do the Majesty
and the Beauty derive from the Supernal Wisdom.
But this is a mystery utterly beyond thine understanding. For Wisdom
is the Man, and Understanding the Woman, and not until thou hast perfectly
understood canst thou begin to be wise. But I reveal unto thee a mystery
of the Aethyrs, that not only are they bound up with the Sephiroth, but
also with the Paths. Now, the plane of the Aethyrs interpenetrateth and
surroundeth the universe wherein the Sephiroth are established, and therefore
is the order of the Aethyrs not the order of the Tree of Life. And only
in a few places do they coincide. But the knowledge of the Aethyrs is
deeper than the knowledge of the Sephiroth, for that in the Aethyrs is
the knowledge of the Aeons, and of {GRK:Theta}{GRK:epsilon} {GRK:lambda}
{GRK:eta} {GRK:mu} {GRK:alpha}. And to each shall it be given according
to his capacity. (He has been saying certain secret things to the unconscious
mind of the seer, of a personal nature.)
Now a voice comes from without: And lo! I saw you to the end.
And a great bell begins to toll. And there come six little children out
of the floor of the chariot, and in their hands is a veil so fine and
transparent that it is hardly visible. Yet, when they put it over the
Cup, the Angel bowing his head reverently, the light of the Cup goes out
entirely. And as the light of the Cup vanishes, it is like a swift sunset
in the whole Aire, for it was from the light of that Cup alone that it
was lighted.
And now the light is all gone out of the stone, and I am very cold.
Bou-Sada.
December 4 - 5, 1909. 11:30 p.m. - 1:20 a.m.
LOE = {Cancer}{Libra}{Virgo}. These
are all aspects of Babalon.
The true Sangreal, of which the Christian
legend is a perversion.
See AL III, 23 - 25. The recipe
for the oil is given in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage.
As in Atu XI.
Cf. Tao Teh King. Also The
Book of Lies, Cap. 4.
See Liber VII, Cap. VII, v.
41.
See Liber VII, Cap. VII, vv
43 - 44.
It is given in "The Urn".
See also the Sixth Aire, wherein the seer, becoming a Magus, is himself
identified with the Beast, 666.
All these mysteries are taught in the
O.T.O.
Here is the first account of the Black
Brothers of the Left Hand Path. Each a Exempt Adept must choose between
the Crossing of the Abyss to become a Master of the Temple, and the
building of a false tower of egoism therein.
Note that the death or love of the
saints is really increased life. The formula of 156 is constant copulation
or Samadhi on everything.
(I think the trouble with these people
was, that they wanted to substitute the blood of someone else for their
own blood, because they wanted to keep their personalities.)
ABRAHADABRA.
Bab = gate. Al = God. On = ON. O =
70. N = 50. ON = 120. Note that Her Name does not appear properly spelt
until the 10th Aire is done. The Seer had no idea how to spell the name
till he was told by the Angel.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 11th Aethyr,
Which is Called IKH1
There appears in the stone immediately the Kamea2 of the Moon. And
it is rolled up; and behind it there appeareth a great Host of Angels. Their
backs are turned towards me, but I can see how tremendous are their arms, which
are swords and spears. They have wings upon their helmets and their heels: they
are clad in complete armour, and the least of their swords is like the breaking
forth of a tremendous storm of lightning. The least of their spears is like
a great water-spout. On their shields are the eyes of Tetragrammaton, winged
with flame, --- white, red, black, yellow and blue. On their flanks are vast
squadrons of elephants, and behind them is their meteor-artillery. They that
sit upon the elephants are armed with the thunderbolt of Zeus.
Now in all that host there is no motion. Yet they are not resting upon their
arms, but tense and vigilant. And between them and me is the God Shu, whom before
I did not see, because his force filleth the whole Aethyr3. And indeed he
is not visible in his form. Nor does he come to the seer through any of the
senses; he is understood, rather than expressed.
I perceive that all this army is defended by fortresses, nine mighty towers4
of iron upon the frontier of the Aethyr. Each tower is filled with warriors
in silver armour5. It is impossible to describe the
feeling of tension; they are like oarsmen waiting for the gun.
I perceive that an Angel is standing on either side of me; nay, I am in the
midst of a company of armed angels, and their captain is standing in front of
me. He too is clad in silver armour; and about him, closely wrapped to his body,
is a whirling wind6,
so swift that any blow struck against him would be broken.
And he speaketh unto me these words:
Behold, a mighty guard against the terror of things, the fastness of the Most
High, the legions of eternal vigilance; these are they that keep watch and ward
day and night throughout the aeons. Set in them is all force of the Mighty One,
yet there stirreth not one plume of the wings of their helmets.
Behold, the foundation of the Holy City, the towers and the bastions thereof!
Behold the armies of light that are set against the outermost Abyss, against
the horror of emptiness, and the malice of Choronzon. Behold how worshipful
is the wisdom of the Master, that he hath set his stability in the all-wandering
Air and in the changeful Moon7.
In the purple flashes of lightning hath He written the word Eternity, and in
the wings of the swallow hath He appointed rest.
By three and by three and by three hath He made firm the foundation against
the earthquake that is three. For in the number nine is the changefulness of
the numbers brought to naught. For with whatsoever number thou wilt cover it,
it appeareth unchanged8.
These things are spoken unto him that understandeth, that is a breastplate
unto the elephants, or a corselet unto the angels, or a scale upon the towers
of iron; yet is this mighty host set only for a defense, and whoso passeth beyond
their lines hath no help in them.
Yet must he that understandeth go forth unto the outermost Abyss, and there
must he speak with him that is set above the four-fold terror, the Princes of
Evil, even with Choronzon, the mighty devil that inhabiteth the outermost Abyss.
And none may speak with him, or understand him, but the servants of Babylon,
that understand, and they that are without understanding, his servants.
Behold! it entereth not into the heart, nor into the mind of man to conceive
this matter; for the sickness of the body is death, and the sickness of the
heart is despair, and the sickness of the mind is madness. But in the outermost
Abyss is sickness of the aspiration, and sickness of the will, and sickness
of the essence of all, and there is neither word nor thought wherein the image
of its image is reflected.
And whoso passeth into the outermost Abyss, except he be of them that understand,
holdeth out his hands, and boweth his neck, unto the chains of Choronzon. And
as a devil he walketh about the earth, immortal, and be blasteth the flowers
of the earth, and he corrupteth the fresh air, and he maketh poisonous the water;
and the fire that is the friend of man, and the pledge of his aspiration, seeing
that it mounteth ever upward as a pyramid, and seeing that man stole it in a
hollow tube from Heaven, even that fire he turneth unto ruin, and madness, and
fever, and destruction. And thou, that art an heap of dry dust in the city of
the pyramids, must understand these things.
And now a thing happens, which is unfortunately sheer nonsense; for the Aethyr
that is the foundation of the universe was attacked by the Outermost Abyss,
and the only way that I can express it is by saying that the universe was shaken.
But the universe was not shaken. And that is the exact truth; so that
the rational mind which is interpreting these spiritual things is offended;
but, being trained to obey, it setteth down that which it doth not understand.
For the rational mind indeed reasoneth, but never attaineth unto Understanding;
but the Seer is of them that understand.
And the Angel saith:
Behold, He hath established His mercy and His might, and unto His might is
added victory, and unto his Mercy is added splendour9.
And all these things hath He ordered in beauty, and He hath set them firmly
upon the Eternal Rock, and therefrom He hath suspended His kingdom as one pearl10 that is set in a jewel of threescore
pearls and twelve11. And He hath garnished it with
the Four Holy Living Creatures for Guardians, and He hath graven therein the
seal of righteousness12,
and He hath burnished it with the fire of His Angel, and the blush of His loveliness
informeth it, and with delight and with wit hath He made it merry at the heart,
and the core thereof is the Secret of His being, and therein is His name Generation.
And this His stability had the number 80, for that the price thereof is War13.
Beware, therefore, O thou who art appointed to understand the secret of the
Outermost Abyss, for in every Abyss thou must assume the mask and form of the
Angel thereof. Hadst thou a name, thou wert irrevocably lost. Search, therefore,
if there be yet one drop of blood that is not gathered into the cup of Babylon
the Beautiful, for in that little pile of dust, if there could be one drop of
blood, it should be utterly corrupt; it should breed scorpions and vipers, and
the cat of slime14.
And I said unto the Angel:
Is there not one appointed as a warden?
And he said:
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani.
Such an ecstasy of anguish racks me that I cannot give it voice, yet I know
it is but as the anguish of Gethsemane. And that is the last word of the Aethyr.
The outposts are passed, and before the seer extends the outermost Abyss.
I am returned.
Bou-Sada.
December 5, 1909. 10:10-11:35 p.m.
IKH = {Sagittarius}{Dee}{Air} = {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Aleph},
the Supernal Triad, the Hexagon and Malkuth, the arrangement of the Tree of
Life. Also 361 Adonai ha-Aretz. For it is the formulation of the Sephiroth
which is a barrier of organic structure against the confusion of matter.
Kamea --- "magic square" containing
the letters corresponding to the numbers (in this case from 1 to 81) - so
arranged that each line, vertical or horizontal, shall add to the same total.
Shu is in Jesod, as the supporter of the
Tree of Life, and he is Zeus, the Lord of Air. But also Zeus is the orderer
of all things.
Jesod = 9
Silver for the moon of Jesod.
Jesod is Air.
Both {Air} and {Moon} are in Jesod, Stability.
e.g 9 x 7 = 63. 6 plus 3 = 9. 9 x 127 = 1143.
1 plus 1 plus 4 plus 3 = 9.
"For they cross with the currents reflected."
Malkuth.
The 72 pearls are the quinaries of the Zodiac.
They appear in the XXIst Atu. See Liber CCXXXI (Equinox I, vii),
v. 21.
Full title of Jesod is Tzedeq Jesod Olahm,
"The Righteous is the Foundation of the World."
I.S.V.D., Jesod = 80, the number of p, the
letter of Mars.
This is the danger which threatens all aspirants
to the Grade of Magister Templi. Woe to those who accept it lightly, or without
the fullest preparation. {WEH Note: a "cat of slime" is a slug or
shell-less snail.}
Back to Liber 418
In nomine BABALON Amen.
Restriction unto Choronzon1.
The Tenth Aethyr2 is Called ZAX3.
This Aethyr being accursèd, and the seer forewarned, he taketh
these precautions for the scribe.
First let the scribe be seated in the centre of the circle in
the desert sand, and let the circle be fortified by the Holy Names of God ---
Tetragrammaton and Shaddai El Chai and Ararita.
And let the Demon be invoked within a triangle, wherein is inscribed the name
of Choronzon, and about it let him write ANAPHAXETON --- ANAPHANETON -- PRIMEUMATON,
and in the angles MI-CA-EL4:
and at each angle the Seer shall slay a pigeon5, and having done
this, let him retire to a secret place, where is neither sight nor hearing,
and sit within his black robe, secretly invoking the Aethyr6. And let the Scribe perform the
Banishing Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram7,
and let him call upon the Holy Names of God, and say the Exorcism of Honorius8,
and let him beseech protection and help of the Most High.
And let him be furnished with the Magick Dagger9, and let him strike
fearlessly at anything that may seek to break through the circle, were it the
appearance of the Seer himself. And if the Demon pass out of the triangle, let
him threaten him with the Dagger, and command him to return. And let him beware
lest he himself lean beyond the circle. And since he reverenceth the Person
of the Seer as his Teacher, let the Seer bind him with a great Oath to do this.
Now, then, the Seer being entered within the triangle, let him take the Victims
and cut their throats, pouring the blood within the Triangle, and being most
heedful that not one drop fall without the Triangle; or else Choronzon should
be able to manifest in the universe.
And when the sand hath sucked up the blood of the victims, let him recite the
Call of the Aethyr apart secretly as aforesaid. Then will the Vision be revealed,
and the Voice heard.
The Oath
I, Omnia Vincam, a Probationer of A{.·.} A{.·.}, hereby solemnly promise upon
my magical honour, and swear by Adonai the angel that guardeth me, that I will
defend this magic circle of Art with thoughts and words and deeds. I promise
to threaten with the Dagger and command back into the triangle the spirit incontinent,
if he should strive to escape from it; and to strike with a Dagger at anything
that may seek to enter this Circle, were it in appearance the body of the Seer
himself. And I will be exceeding wary, armed against force and cunning; and
I will preserve with my life the inviolability of this Circle, Amen.
And I summon mine Holy Guardian Angel to witness this mine oath, the which
if I break, may I perish, forsaken of Him. Amen and Amen.
The Cry of the 10th Aethyr,
Which is Called ZAX
There is no being in the outermost Abyss, but constant forms come forth from
the nothingness of it10.
Then the Devil of the Aethyr, that mighty devil Choronzon, crieth aloud, Zazaz11, Zazas, Nasatanada Zasas.
I am the Master of Form12,
and from me all forms proceed.
I am I. I have shut myself up from the spendthrifts, my gold is safe in my
treasure-chamber, and I have made every living thing my concubine, and none
shall touch them, save only I. And yet I am scorched, even while I shiver in
the wind. He hateth me and tormenteth me. He would have stolen me from myself,
but I shut myself up and mock at him, even while he plagueth me. From me come
leprosy and pox and plague and cancer and cholera and the falling sickness.
Ah! I will reach up to the knees of the Most High, and tear his phallus with
my teeth, and I will bray his testicles in a mortar, and make poison thereof,
to slay the sons of men13.
(Here the Spirit stimulated the voice of Frater P., which also appeared to
come from his station and not from the triangle.)
I don't think I can get any more; I think that's all there is.
(The Frater was seated in a secret place covered completely by a black robe14,
in the position called the "Thunderbolt". He did not move or speak
during the ceremony.)
Next the Scribe was hallucinated, believing that before him was a beautiful
courtesan whom previously he had loved in Paris. Now, she wooed him with soft
words and glances, but he knew these things for delusions of the devil, and
he would not leave the circle.
The demon then laughed wildly and loud.
(Upon the Scribe threatening him, the Demon proceeded, after a short delay.)
They have called me the God of laughter, and I laugh when I will slay. And
they have thought that I could not smile, but I smile upon whom I would seduce.
O inviolable one, that canst not not be tempted15. If thou canst command me by the
power of the Most High, know that I did indeed tempt thee, and it repenteth
me. I bow myself humbly before the great and terrible names whereby thou hast
conjured and constrained me. But thy name is mercy, and I cry aloud for pardon.
Let me come and put my head beneath thy feet, that I may serve thee. For if
thou commandest me to obedience in the Holy names, I cannot swerve therefrom,
for their first whispering is greater than the noise of all my temptests. Bid
me therefore come unto thee upon my hands and knees that I may adore thee, and
partake of thy forgiveness. Is not thy mercy infinite?
(Here Choronzon attempts to seduce the Scribe by appealing to his pride.
But the Scribe refused to be tempted, and commanded the demon to continue with
the Aethyr.
There was again a short delay.)
Choronzon hath no form, because he is the maker of all form; and so rapidly
he changeth from one to the other as he may best think fit to seduce those whom
he hateth, the servants of the Most High.
Thus taketh he the form of a beautiful woman, or of a wise and holy man, or
of a serpent that writheth upon the earth ready to sting16.
And, because he is himself, therefore he is no self; the terror of darkness,
and the blindness of night, and the deafness of the adder, and the tastelessness
of stale and stagnant water, and the black fire of hatred, and the udders of
the Cat of slime; not one thing, but many things. Yet, with all that, his torment
is eternal. The sun burns him as he writhes naked upon the sands of hell, and
the wind cuts him bitterly to the bone, a harsh dry wind, so that he is sore
athirst. Give unto me, I pray thee, one drop of water from the pure springs
of Paradise, that I may quench my thirst.
(The Scribe refused.)
Sprinkle water upon my head. I can hardly go on17.
(This last was spoken from the triangle in the natural voice of the Frater,
which Choronzon again simulated. But he did not succeed in taking the Frater's
form --- which was absurd!
The Scribe resisted the appeal to his pity, and conjured the demon to proceed
by the names of the Most High. Choronzon attempted also to seduce the faithfulness
of the Scribe. A long colloquy ensued. The Scribe cursed him by the Holy Names
of God, and the power of the Pentagram.17)
I feed upon the names of the Most High. I churn them in my jaws, and I void
them from my fundament. I fear not the power of the Pentagram, for I am the
Master of the Triangle. My name is three hundred and thirty and three, and that
is thrice one18. Be
vigilant, therefore, for I warn thee that I am about to deceive thee. I shall
say words that thou wilt take to be the cry of the Aethyr, and thou wilt write
them down, thinking them to be great secrets of Magick power, and they will
be only my jesting with thee.
(Here the Scribe invoked the Angels, and the Holy Guardian Angel of the Frater
P. . . . The demon replied:)
I know the name of the Angel of thee and thy brother P. . . ., and all thy
dealings with him are but a cloak for thy filthy sorceries.
(Here the Scribe averred that he knew more than the demon, and so feared him
not, and ordered the demon to proceed.)
Thou canst tell me naught that I know not, for in me is all Knowledge: Knowledge
is my name. Is not the head of the great Serpent arisen into Knowledge19?
(Here the Scribe again commanded Choronzon to continue with the call.)
Know thou that there is no Cry in the tenth Aethyr like unto the other Cries,
for Choronzon is Dispersion, and cannot fix his mind upon any one thing for
any length of time. Thou canst master him in argument, O talkative one; thou
wast commanded, wast thou not, to talk to Choronzon? He sought not to enter
the circle, or to leave the triangle, yet thou didst prate of all these things.
(Here the Scribe threatened the demon with anger and pain and hell. The demon
replied:)
Thinkest thou, O fool, that there is any anger and any pain that I am not,
or any hell but this my spirit? Images, images, images, all without control,
all without reason. The malice of Choronzon is not the malice of a being; it
is the quality of malice, because he that boasteth himself "I am I",
hath in truth no self, and these are they that are fallen under my power, the
slaves of the Blind One that boasted himself to be the Enlightened One. For
there is no centre, nay, nothing but Dispersion.
Woe, woe, woe, threefold to him that is led away by talk, O talkative One.
O thou that hast written two-and-thirty books of Wisdom, and art more stupid
than an owl, by thine own talk is thy vigilance wearied, and by my talk art
thou befooled and tricked, O thou that sayest that thou shalt endure. Knowest
thou how nigh thou art to destruction? For thou that art the Scribe hast not
the understanding20 that alone availeth
against Choronzon. And wert thou not protected by the Holy Names of God and
the circle, I would rush upon thee and tear thee. For when I made myself like
unto a beautiful woman, if thou hadst come to me, I would have rotted thy body
with the pox, and thy liver with cancer, and I would have torn off thy testicles
with my teeth. And if I had seduced thy pride, and thou hadst bidden me to come
into the circle, I would have trampled thee under foot, and for a thousand years
shouldst thou have been but one of the tape-worms that is in me. And if I had
seduced thy pity, and thou hadst poured one drop of water without the circle,
then would I have blasted thee with flame. But I was not able to prevail against
thee.
How beautiful are the shadows of the ripples of the sand!
Would God that I were dead.
For know that I am proud and revengeful and lascivious, and I prate even as
thou. For even as I walked among the Sons of God, I heard it said that P. .
. . could both will and know, and might learn at length to dare, but that to
keep silence he should never learn. O thou that art so ready to speak, so slow
to watch, thou art delivered over unto my power for this. And now one word was
necessary unto me, and I could not speak it. I behold the beauty of the earth
in her desolation, and greater far is mine, who sought to be my naked self.
Knowest thou that in my soul is utmost fear? And such is my force and my cunning,
that a hundred times have I been ready to leap, and for fear have missed. And
a thousand times am I baulked by them of the City of the Pyramids, that set
snares for my feet. More knowledge have I than the Most High, but my will is
broken, and my fierceness is marred by fear, and I must speak, speak, speak,
millions of mad voices in my brain.
With a heart of furious fancies, Whereof I am Commander, With a burning spear
And a horse of Air To the wilderness I wander.
(The idea was to keep the Scribe busy writing, so as to spring upon him. For,
while the Scribe talked, Choronzon had thrown sand into the circle, and filled
it up. But Choronzon could not think fast and continuously, and so resorted
to the device of quotation.
The Scribe had written two or three words of "Tom o'Bedlam," when
Choronzon sprang within the circle (that part of the circumference of which
that was nearest to him he had been filling up with sand all this time), and
leaped upon the Scribe, throwing him to the earth. The conflict took place within
the circle. The Scribe called upon Tetragrammaton, and succeeded in compelling
Choronzon to return into his triangle. By dint of anger and of threatening him
with the Magick Staff did he accomplish this. He then repaired the circle. The
discomfited demon now continued:)
All is dispersion. These are the qualities of things.
The tenth Aethyr is the world of adjectives, and there is no substance therein.
(Now returneth the beautiful woman who had before tempted the Scribe. She prevailed
not.)
I am afraid of sunset, for Tum is more terrible than Ra, and Khephra the Beetle
is greater than the Lion Mau.
I am a-cold.
(Here Choronzon wanted to leave the triangle to obtain wherewith to cover his
nakedness. The Scribe refused the request, threatening the demon. After a while
the latter continued:)
I am commanded, why I know not, by him that speaketh. Were it thou, thou little
fool, I would tear thee limb from limb. I would bite off thine ears and nose
before I began with thee. I would take thy guts for fiddle- strings at the Black
Sabbath.
Thou didst make a great fight there in the circle; thou art a goodly warrior!
(Then did the demon laugh loudly. The Scribe said: Thou canst not harm one
hair of my head.)
I will pull out every hair of thy head, every hair of thy body, every hair
of thy soul, one by one. (Then said the Scribe: Thou hast no power.)
Yea, verily I have power over thee, for thou hast taken the Oath, and art bound
unto the White Brothers, and therefore have I the power to torture thee so long
as thou shalt be.
(Then said the Scribe unto him: Thou liest.)
Ask of thy brother P. . . ., and he shall tell thee if I lie!
(This the Scribe refused to do, saying that it was no concern of the demon's.)
I have prevailed against the Kingdom of the Father, and befouled his beard;
and I have prevailed against the Kingdom of the Son, and torn off his Phallus;
but against the Kingdom of the Holy Ghost shall I strive and not prevail. The
three slain doves are my threefold blasphemy against him; but their blood shall
make fertile the sand21, and I writhe
in blackness and horror of hate, and prevail not.
(Then the demon tried to make the Scribe laugh at Magick, and to think that
it was all rubbish, that he might deny the names of God that he had invoked
to protect him; which, if he had doubted but for an instant, he had leapt upon
him, and gnawed through his spine at the neck.
Choronzon succeed not in his design.)
In this Aethyr is neither beginning nor end, for it is all hotch- potch, because
it is of the wicked on earth and the damned in hell. And so long as it be hotch-potch,
it mattereth little what may be written by the sea-green incorruptible Scribe.
The horror of it will be given in another place and time, and through another
Seer, and that Seer shall be slain as a result of his revealing. But the present
Seer, who is not P. . . ., seeth not the horror, because he is shut up, and
hath no name.
(Now was there some further parleying betwixt the demon and the Scribe, concerning
the departure and the writing of the word, the Scribe not knowing if it were
meet that the demon should depart.
Then the Seer took the Holy Ring, and wrote the name BABALON, that is victory
over Choronzon, and he was no more manifest.)
(This cry was obtained on Dec. 6, 1909, between 2 and 4:15 p.m., in a lonely
valley of fine sand, in the desert near Bou-Sada. The Aethyr was edited and
revised on the following day.)
After the conclusion of the Ceremony, a great fire was kindled to purify the
place, and the Circle and Triangle were destroyed.
NOTE BY SCRIBE
Almost from the beginning of the ceremony was the Scribe overshadowed, and
he spoke as it were in spite of himself, remembering afterwards scarcely a word
of his speeches, some of which were long and seemingly eloquent.
All the time he had a sense of being protected from Choronzon, and this sense
of security prevented his knowing fear.
Several times did the Scribe threaten to put a curse upon the demon; but ever,
before he uttered the words of the curse, did the demon obey him. For himself,
he knoweth not the words of the curse.
Also is it meet to record in this place that the Scribe several times whistled
in a Magical manner, which never before had he attempted, and the demon was
apparently much discomforted thereat.
Now knoweth the Scribe that he was wrong in holding much converse with the
demon; for Choronzon, in the confusion and chaos of his thought, is much terrified
by silence. And by silence can he be brought to obey.
For cunningly doth he talk of many things, going from subject to subject, and
thus he misleadeth the wary into argument with him. And though Choronzon be
easily beaten in argument, yet, by disturbing the attention of him who would
command him, doth he gain the victory.
For Choronzon feareth of all things concentration and silence: he therefore
who would command him should will in silence: thus is he brought to obey.
This the Scribe knoweth; for that since the obtaining of the Accursed Tenth
Aethyr, he hath held converse with Choronzon. And unexpectedly did he obtain
the information he sought after having long refused to answer the demon's speeches.
Choronzon is dispersion; and such is his fear of concentration that he will
obey rather than be subjected to it, or even behold it in another.
The account of the further dealings of Choronzon with the Scribe will be found
in the Record of Omnia Vincam.
Choronzon is described by Sir Edward Kelly
as "that mighty devil", as the first and deadliest of all the powers
of evil. Rightly so, for although he is not a person, he is the metaphysical
contrary of the whole Process of Magick.
The three Governors of this Aethyr, Lexarp,
Comanan, and Tabiton, are drawn from the "little Black Tablet" of
Spirit, which united the four watchtowers of the elements. (See Equinox
I, No. VII, Plate III; facing p. 234). The one extra letter, L, is the eighth
of the reversed letters beneath the bars of the Calvary Crosses in the watch-towers
to form trilateral names which designate malignant forces. These letters are
thus impurities introduced into the perfection of the Elementary Schema. (That
they should be attributed to the element of spirit, which harmonizes and sanctifies
the four, is a sublime mystery. The arcanum is declared --- as far as may
be --- in this book 418 itself). The other 7 letters form the name PARAOAN,
which is the central governor of the 22nd Aire; but here is a correspondence
with I, the center letter of LIN; this Aire discloses the glory of the Table
7 x 7, which is pure spirit, the rose which is the heart of Babalon.
ZAX = {Caput Draconis}{Taurus}{Spirit}. Z
is the Sun in His southern declination, i.e. at his weakest effect on an hemisphere.
Follows the Bull, the type of the "Dying Gods", and the element
of Earth. This letter X occurs only in this, the 15th and 30th Aires. In the
15th, water is the prima materia which is treated by being placed between
the pillars of judgement. In the 30th, it represents the reduction to mere
matter of the false structure of the Aeon of the false formula. Here X is
the basis, without constructive possibilities, of the universe; thus the whole
formula represents the weakening of the energy of the Sun, and the falling
into incoherent elements of all that is organized.
For this arrangement see the Geotia of Lemegeton
of Solomon the Kin
Concerning the bloody sacrifice, see Book
4, part 3, cap. 12. For the pigeons see the text.
The greatest precautions were taken at the
time, and have since been yet further fortified, to keep silence concerning
the rite of evocation. The Major Adept is warned most seriously against attempting
to emulate this operation, which is (in any case) improper for him to perform.
To call forth Choronzon, unless one be wholly above the Abyss, is to ensure
the most appalling and immediate catastrophe.
These are given in the Equinox Vol.
I, No. 2.
Given in the French translation by Eliphaz
Levi: and in the English by Aleister Crowley in "The Winged Beetle."
("The Magician" is the title of that poem, see p. 228.)
See Book 4, part 2, caps. 4 and
8.
It is very difficult to give a good metaphysical
interpretation of this statement. But to one who is given this perception,
the words will appear to be the natural and inevitable expression of the facts.
These words are from some vision of old
time: by them Adam was said to have opened the gates of Hell. These are the
traditional words which open the Abyss.
This (and many following assertions) must
not be taken as true. Choronzon is in no sense the master of anything. It
is the personification of a moral idea in a much more far-fetched way than
that in which we say "Venus is the Lady of Love". For one can imagine
Venus as a living individual being, while Choronzon is essentially not any
sort of person.
Various elements had been bound up into
a "bundle" by the energy of the Call, and thus constituted a momentary
unity capable of sensation and of expression. The obsessing idea of any such
being, conscious that it is not a true organism, and threatened with immediate
dissolution, which in its rudimentary psychology it is bound to dread, is
of necessity, fear; and fear breeds pain, malice, and envy. Above all there
is an insane hatred for the supposed creator because the supposed blessing
of creation has been withheld from the "bundle".
That of modesty, none less.
Here the assumed character of this courtesan
who was a marvelous mistress of irony as of fascination, intrudes upon that
of the demon proper.
He actually assumed these forms at the time.
In this Aethyr are certain silences maintained.
{HEB:Nun- final}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Zain}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Resh}
{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Chet} = 333 = 3 x 111, and 111 = {HEB:Peh- final} {HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Aleph}
= {HEB:Aleph} = 1. 333 also is {GRK:alpha} {GRK:kappa} {GRK:rho} {GRK:alpha}
{GRK:sigma} {GRK:iota} {GRK:alpha}, impotence, lack of control; and {GRK:alpha}{GRK:kappa}
{GRK:omicron}{GRK:lambda}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:sigma}{GRK:io ta}{GRK:alpha}, dispersion.
The seer had no idea of these correspondences: nor had Dr. Dee and Sir Edward
Kelly, from whom we have the name.
Dath. The doctrine of the "Fall"
and the "Stooping Dragon" must be studied carefully. Equinox
Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 3, have much information, with diagrams, in the "Temple
of Solomon the King". See also Liber 777. This question of the
Abyss must be thoroughly understood. The entire system of initiation of the
A{.·.} A{.·.} depend on these theorems. (See "One Star in Sight").
Originally, for "understanding"
was written "power". Choronzon was always using some word that did
not represent his thought, because there is no proper link between his thought
and speech. Note that he never seems able to distinguish between the Frater
and the Scribe, and addresses first one, then the other, in the same sentence.
This actually happened. On returning to
Bou-Sada on another journey this spot had begun to show signs of vegetation.
The Cry of the 8th Aethyr,
Which is Called ZID1
There appears in the stone a tiny spark of light. It grows a little, and seems
almost to go out, and grows again, and it is blown about the Aethyr, and by
the wind that blows it is it fanned, and now it gathers strength, and darts
like a snake or a sword, and now it steadies itself, and is like a Pyramid of
light that filleth the whole Aethyr.
And in the Pyramid is one like unto an Angel, yet at the same time he is
the Pyramid, and he hath no form because he is of the substance of light, and
he taketh not form upon him, for though by him is form visible, he maketh it
visible only to destroy it.
And he saith: The light is come to the darkness, and the darkness is made light.
Then is light married with light, and the child of their love is that other
darkness, wherein they abide that have lost name and form. Therefore did I kindle
him that had not understanding, and in The Book of the Law did I write
the secrets of truth that are like unto a star and a snake and a sword2.
And unto him that understandeth at last do I deliver the secrets of truth in
such wise that the least of the little children of the light may run to the
knees of the mother and be brought to understand.
And thus shall he do who will attain unto the mystery of the knowledge and
conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel:
First, let him prepare a chamber, of which the walls and the roof shall be
white, and the floor shall be covered with a carpet of black squares and white,
and the border thereof shall be blue and gold.
And if it be in a town, the room shall have no window, and if it be in the
country, then it is better if the window be in the roof. Or, if it be possible,
let this invocation be performed in a temple prepared for the ritual of passing
through the Tuat.
From the roof he shall hang a lamp, wherein is a red glass, to burn olive oil.
And this lamp shall he cleanse and make ready after the prayer of sunset, and
beneath the lamp shall be an altar, foursquare, & the height shall be thrice
half of the breadth or double the breadth.
And upon the altar shall be a censor, hemispherical, supported upon three legs,
of silver, and within it an hemisphere of copper, and upon the top a grating
of gilded silver, and thereupon shall he burn incense made of four parts of
olibanum and two parts of stacte, and one part of lignum aloes, or of cedar,
or of sandal. And this is enough.
And he shall also keep ready in a flask of crystal within the altar, holy anointing
oil made of myrrh and cinnamon and galangal.
And even if he be of higher rank than a Probationer, he shall yet wear the
robe of the Probationer, for the star of flame showeth forth Ra Hoor Khuit openly
upon the breast, and secretly the blue triangle that descendeth is Nuit, and
the red triangle that ascendeth is Hadit. And I am the golden Tau in the midst
of their marriage. Also, if he choose, he may instead wear a close-fitting robe
of shot silk, purple and green, and upon it a cloak without sleeves, of bright
blue, covered with golden sequins, and scarlet within.
And he shall make himself a wand of almond wood or of hazel cut by his own
hands at dawn at the Equinox, or at the Solstice, or on the day of Corpus Christi,
or on one of the feast-days that are appointed in The Book of the Law.
And he shall engrave with his own hand upon the plate of gold the Holy Sevenfold
Table, or the Holy Twelvefold Table, or some particular device. And it shall
be foursquare within a circle, and the circle shall be winged, and he shall
attach it about his forehead by a ribbon of blue silk.
Moreover, he shall wear a fillet of laurel or rose or ivy or rue, and every
day, after the prayer of sunrise, he shall burn it in the fire of the censor.
Now he shall pray thrice daily, about sunset, and at midnight, and at sunrise.
And if he be able, he shall pray also four times between sunrise and sunset.
The prayer shall last for the space of an hour, at the least, and he shall
seek ever to extend it, and to inflame himself in praying. Thus shall he invoke
his Holy Guardian Angel for eleven weeks, and in any case he shall pray seven
times daily during the last week of the eleven weeks.
And during all this time he shall have composed an invocation suitable, with
such wisdom and understanding as may be given him from the Crown, and this shall
he write in letters of gold upon the top of the altar.
For the top of the altar shall be of white wood, well polished, and in the
centre thereof he shall have placed a triangle of oak-wood, painted with scarlet,
and upon this triangle the three legs of the censor shall stand.
Moreover, he shall copy his invocation upon a sheet of pure white vellum, with
Indian ink, and he shall illuminate it according to his fancy and imagination,
that shall be informed by beauty.
And on the first day of the twelfth week he shall enter the chamber at sunrise,
and he shall make his prayer, having first burnt the conjuration that he had
made upon the vellum in the fire of the lamp.
Then, at his prayer, shall the chamber be filled with light insufferable for
splendour, and a perfume intolerable for sweetness. And his Holy Guardian Angel
shall appear unto him, yea, his Holy Guardian Angel shall appear unto him, so
that he shall be wrapt away into the Mystery of Holiness.
All that day shall he remain in the enjoyment of the knowledge and conversation
of the Holy Guardian Angel.
And for three days after he shall remain from sunrise unto sunset in the temple,
and he shall obey the counsel that his Angel shall have given unto him, and
he shall suffer those things that are appointed.
And for ten days thereafter shall he withdraw himself as shall have been taught
unto him from the fullness of that communion, for he must harmonize the world
that is within with the world that is without.
And at the end of the ninety-one days he shall return into the world, and there
shall he perform that work to which the Angel shall have appointed him.
And more than this it is not necessary to say3, for his Angel
shall have entreated him kindly, and showed him in what manner he may be most
perfectly involved. And unto him that hath this Master there is nothing else
that he needeth, so long as he continue in the knowledge and conversation of
the Angel, so that he shall come at last into the City of the Pyramids.
Lo! two and twenty are the paths of the Tree, but one is the Serpent of Wisdom;
ten are the ineffable emanations, but one is the Flaming Sword.
Behold! There is an end to life and death, an end to the thrusting forth and
the withdrawing of the breath. Yea, the House of the Father is a mighty tomb,
and in it he hath buried everything whereof ye know.
All this while there hath been no vision, but only a voice, very slow and clear
and deliberate. But now the vision returns, and the voice says: Thou shalt be
called Danae, that art stunned and slain beneath the weight of the glory of
the vision that as yet thou seest not. For thou shalt suffer many things, until
thou art mightier than all the Kings of the earth, and all the Angels of the
Heavens, and all the gods that are beyond the Heavens. Then shalt thou meet
me in equal conflict, and thou shalt see me as I am. And I will overcome thee
and slay thee with the red rain of my lightnings.
I am lying underneath this pyramid of light. It seems as if I had the whole
weight of it upon me, crushing me with bliss. And yet I know that I am like
the prophet that said: I shall see Him, but not nigh.
And the Angel sayeth: So shall it be until they that wake are asleep, and she
that sleepeth be arisen from her sleep4.
For thou art transparent unto the vision and the voice. And therefore in thee
they manifest not. But they shall be manifest unto them unto whom thou dost
deliver them, according unto to the word which I spake unto thee in the Victorious
City5.
For I am not only appointed to guard thee, but we are of the blood royal, the
guardians of the Treasure-house of Wisdom. Therefore am I called the Minister
of Ra Hoor Khuit6: and
yet he is but the Viceroy of the unknown King. For my name is called Aiwass,
that is eight and seventy7. And I am the influence
of the Concealed One, and the wheel that hath eight and seventy parts, yet in
all is equivalent to the Gate that is the name of my Lord when it is spelt fully.
And that Gate is the Path that joineth the Wisdom with the Understanding8.
Thus hast thou erred indeed, perceiving me in the path that leadeth from the
Crown unto the Beauty9. For that path bridgeth the abyss,
and I am of the supernals. Nor I, nor Thou, nor He can bridge the abyss. It
is the Priestess of the Silver Star, and the Oracles of the gods, and the Lord
of the Hosts of the Mighty10. For they are the servants of
Babalon, and of the Beast, and of those others of whom it is not yet spoken.
And, being servants, they have no name, but we are of the blood royal, and serve
not, and therefore are we less than they.
Yet, as a man may be both a mighty warrior and a just judge, so may we also
perform this service if we have aspired and attained thereto. And yet, with
all that, they remain themselves, who have eaten of the pomegranate
in Hell11. But thou,
that art new-born to understanding, this mystery is too great for thee; and
of the further mystery I will not speak one word.
Yet for this cause am I come unto thee as the Angel of the Aethyr, striking
with my hammer upon thy bell, so that thou mightest understand the mysteries
of the Aethyr, and of the vision and the voice thereof.
For behold! he that understandeth seeth not and heareth not in truth, because
of his understanding that letteth him12.
But this shall be unto thee for a sign, that I will surely come unto thee unawares
and appear unto thee. And it is no odds, (i.e., that at this hour I
appear not as I am), for so terrible is the glory of the vision, and so wonderful
is the splendour of the voice, that when thou seest it and hearest it in truth,
for many hours shalt thou be bereft of sense. And thou shalt lie between heaven
and earth in a void place, entranced, and the end thereof shall be silence,
even as it was, not once nor twice, when I have met with thee, as it were, upon
the road to Damascus13.
And thou shalt not seek to better this my instruction; but thou shalt interpret
it, and make it easy14, for them that
seek understanding. And thou shalt give all that thou hast unto them that have
need unto this end15.
And because I am with thee, and in thee, and of thee, thou shalt lack nothing.
But who lack me, lack all. And I swear unto thee by Him that sitteth upon the
Holy Throne, and liveth and reigneth for ever and ever, that I will be faithful
unto this my promise, as thou art faithful unto this thine obligation.
Now another voice sounds in the Aethyr, saying: And there was darkness over
all the earth unto the ninth hour.
And with that the Angel is withdrawn, and the pyramid of light seems very far
off.
And now I am fallen unto the earth, exceeding weary. Yet my skin trembles with
the impact of the light, and all my body shakes. And there is a peace deeper
than sleep upon my mind. It is the body and the mind that are weary, and I would
that they were dead, save that I must bend them to my work.
And now I am in the tent, under the stars.
The Desert between Bou-Sada and Biskra.
December 8, 1909. 7:10-9:10 p.m.
ZID = {Leo}{Aquarius}These symbols refer
to the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}
then did "kindle" in order to bring us to the N.O.X. of Pan.
There is therefore no commentary to this
passage.
This prophecy is still (An. XXI, {Sun} in
{Leo}) obscure.
i.e. in The Book of the Law.
Note that the Holy Guardian Angel of the
Seer claims to be Aiwass, the author of The Book of the Law.
This conceals a mystery. I have been fooled
myself with my AIVAS {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}
= 78. {ENO:n} or 8 plus 70 = {HEB:Chet} and {HEB:Ayin}. {HEB:Chet} = 418,
the formula of the New Aeon; and {HEB:Ayin} or {Capricorn} is Set or Hadit,
the Eye: and He is that Hadit who is manifested as 418.
i.e. In Daleth.
i.e. In Gimel.
The paths Gimel, Zayin and H bridge the
Abyss. Nothing is said of the path Vau, which also does this. The omission
is probably inadvertent.
See a later note. So the Master Therion
is of the root Aleister Crowley, instead of being a Magus de novo.
All interpretation is, in essence, false,
as transplanting one thing from one plane to another.
It is not fitting to comment on the fulfillment
of this prophecy.
This is being done through the established
ways of the Great White Brotherhood.
This has always been done.
Back to Liber 418
The Cry of the 7th Aethyr,
Which is Called DEO1
The stone is divided, the left half dark, the right half light, and at the
bottom thereof is a certain blackness, of three divergent columns. And it seems
as if the black and white halves are the halves of a door, and in the door is
a little key-hole, in the shape of the Astrological symbol of Venus. And from
the key-hole issue flames, blue and green and violet, but without any touch
of yellow or red in them. It seems as if there were a wind beyond the door,
that is blowing the flame out.
And a voice comes: "Who is he that hath the key to the gate of the evening
star?"
And now an Angel cometh and seeketh to open the door by trying many keys. And
they are none of any avail. And the same voice saith: "The five and the
six are balanced in the word Abrahadabra, and therein is the mystery disclosed.
But the key unto this gate is the balance of the seven and the four; and of
this thou hast not even the first letter. Now there is a word of four letters
that containeth in itself all the mystery of the Tetragrammaton2,
and there is a word of seven letters which it concealeth3, and that again
concealeth the holy word that is the key of the abyss4.
And this thou shalt find, revolving it in thy mind.
Hide therefore thine eyes. And I will set my key in the lock, and open it.
Yet still let thine eyes be hidden, for thou canst not bear the glory that is
within.
So, therefore, I covered mine eyes with my hands. Yet through my hands could
I perceive a little of those bowers of azure flame.
And a voice said: It is kindled into fire that was the blue breast of ocean;
because this is the bar of heaven, and the feet of the Most High are set thereon.
Now I behold more fully: Each tongue of flame, each leaf of flame, each flower
of flame, is one of the great love-stories of the world, with all its retinue
of mise-en-sc ne. And now there is a most marvelous rose formed from
the flame, and a perpetual rain of lilies and passion-flowers and violets. And
there is gathered out of it all, yet identical with it, the form of a woman
like the woman in the Apocalypse, but her beauty and her radiance are such that
one cannot look thereon, save with sidelong glances. I enter immediately into
trance. It seems that it is she of whom it is written, "The fool hath said
in his heart 'there is no God.'" But the words are not Ain Elohim, but
La (=nay!) and Elohim contracted from 86 to 14, because La is 31, which x 14
is 434, Daleth, Lamed, Tau. This fool is the fool of the Path of Aleph, and
sayeth, which is Chokmah, in his heart, which is Tiphereth, that she existeth,
in order first that the Wisdom may be joined with the Understanding; and he
affirmeth her in Tiphereth that she may be fertile.
It is impossible to describe how this vision changeth from glory unto glory,
for at each glance the vision is changed. And this is because she transmitteth
the Word to the Understanding, and therefore hath she many forms, and each goddess
of love is but a letter of the alphabet of love.
Now, there is a mystery in the word Logos, that containeth the three letters
whose analogy hath been shown in the lower heavens, Samech, and Lamed, and Gimel,
that are 93, which is thrice 31, and in them are set the two eyes of Horus5.
(Ayin means an eye.) For, if it were not so, the arrow could not pierce the
rainbow, and there could be no poise in the balance, and the Great Book should
never be unsealed. But this is she that poureth the Water of Life upon her head,
whence it floweth to fructify the earth6. But now the whole
Aethyr is the most brilliant peacock blue. It is the Universal Peacock
that I behold.
And there is a voice: Is not this bird the bird of Juno, that is an hundred,
and thirty, and six7? And therefore is she the mate
of Jupiter8.
And now the peacock's head is again changed into a woman's head sparkling and
coruscating with its own light of gems.
But I look upwards, seeing that she is called the footstool of the Holy One,
even as Binah is called His throne. And the whole Aethyr is full of the most
wonderful bands of light, --- a thousand different curves and whorls, even as
it was before, when I spake mysteries of the Holy Qabalah, and so could not
describe it.
Oh, I see vast plains beneath her feet, enormous deserts studded with great
rocks; and I see little lonely souls, running helplessly about, minute black
creatures like men9.
And they keep up a very curious howling, that I can compare to nothing that
I have ever heard; yet it is strangely human.
And the voice says: These are they that grasped love and clung thereto, praying
ever at the knees of the great goddess. These are they that have shut themselves
up in fortresses of Love.
Each plume of the peacock is full of eyes, that are at the same time 4 x 7.
And for this is the number 28 reflected down into Netzach; and that 28 is Kaph
Cheth (Kach), power. For she is Sakti, the eternal energy of the Concealed One.
And it is her eternal energy that hath made this eternal change. And this explaineth
the call of the Aethyrs, the curse that was pronounced in the beginning being
but the creation of Sakti. And this mystery is reflected in the legend of the
Creation, where Adam represents the Concealed One, for Adam is Temurah of MAD,
the Enochian word for God, and Eve, whom he created for love, is tempted by
the snake, Nechesh, who is Messiah her child. And the snake is the magical power,
which hath destroyed the primordial equilibrium.
And the garden is the supernal Eden, where is Ayin, 70, the Eye of the Concealed
One, and the creative Lingam; and Daleth, love; and Nun the serpent10. And therefore
this constitution was implicitly in the nature of Eden (cf. Liber L.,
I., 29, 30), so that the call of the Aethyrs could not have been any other call
than that which it is.
But they that are without understanding have interpreted all this askew, because
of the Mystery of the Abyss, for there is no Path from Binah unto Chesed; and
therefore the course of the Flaming Sword was no more a current, but a spark.
And when the Stooping Dragon raised his head unto Dath in the course of that
spark, there was, as it were, an explosion, and his head was blasted. And the
ashes thereof were dispersed throughout the whole of the 10th Aethyr. And for
this, all knowledge is piecemeal, and it is of no value unless it be co-ordinated
by Understanding.
And now the form of the Aethyr is the form of a mighty Eagle of ruddy brass.
And the plumes are set alight, and are whirled round and round until the whole
heaven is blackness with these flying sparks therein.
Now it is all branching streams of golden fire tipped with scarlet at the edges11.
And now She cometh forth again, riding upon a dolphin. Now again I see those
wandering souls, that have sought restricted love, and have not understood that
"the word of sin is restriction."
It is very curious; they seem to be looking for one another or for something,
all the time, constantly hurrying about. But they knock up against one another
and yet will not see one another, or cannot see one another, because they are
so shut up in their cloaks.
And a voice sounds: It is most terrible for the one that hath shut himself
up and made himself fast against the universe. For they that sit encamped upon
the sea in the city of the Pyramids are indeed shut up. But they have given
their blood, even to the last drop, to fill the cup of BABALON.
These that thou seest are indeed the Black Brothers, for it is written: "He
shall laugh at their calamity and mock them when their fear cometh." And
therefore hath he exalted them unto the plane of love.
And yet again it is written: He desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather
that he should turn from his wickedness. Now, if one of these were to cast off
his cloak he should behold the brilliance of the lady of the Aethyr; but they
will not.
And yet again there is another cause wherefore He hath permitted them to enter
thus far within the frontiers of Eden, so that His thought should never swerve
from compassion. But do thou behold the brilliance of Love, that casteth forth
seven stars upon thine head from her right hand, and crowneth thee with a crown
of seven roses. Behold! She is seated upon the throne of turquoise and lapis
lazuli, and she is like a flawless emerald, and upon the pillars that support
the canopy of her throne are sculptured the Ram, and the Sparrow, and the Cat,
and a strange fish12.
Behold! How she shineth! Behold! How her glances have kindled all these fires
that have blown about the heavens! Yet remember that in every one there goeth
forth for a witness the justice of the Most High. Is not Libra the House of
Venus? And there goeth forth a sickle that shall reap every flower. Is not Saturn
exalted in Libra? Daleth, Lamed, Tau13.
And therefore was he a fool who uttered her name in his heart, for the root
of evil is the root of breath, and the speech in the silence was a lie.
Thus is it seen from below by them that understand not. But from above he rejoiceth,
for the joy of dissolution is ten thousand, and the pang of birth but a little14.
And now thou shalt go forth from the Aethyr, for the voice of the Aethyr is
hidden and concealed from thee because thou hadst not the key of the door thereof,
and thine eyes were not able to bear the splendour of the vision. But thou shalt
meditate upon the mysteries thereof, and upon the lady of the Aethyr; and it
may be by the wisdom of the Most High that the true voice of the Aethyr, that
is continual song, may be heard of thee.
Return therefore instantly unto the earth, and sleep not for a while; but withdraw
thyself from this matter. And it shall be enough.
Thus then was I obedient unto the voice, and returned into my body.
W'ain-T-Aissha, Algeria.
December 9, 1909. 8:10-10 p.m.
DEO = {Virgo}{Libra}. These symbols pertain
to Babalon.
TARO: it conceals all the mysteries of Tetragrammaton
through the cards which declare him.
This may be Babalon, for Malkuth concealeth
Binah. Also 156 = 2 x 78.
This word is N.O.X. = , Babalon conceals
this word because She is the Lady of the City of the Pyramids beneath the
Night of Pan. These words are probably BABALON, ChAOS, TARO.
i.e. the two letters O.O = {Capricorn}, the
Eye.
Refers to ATU XVII, "The Star",
which shows this figure.
{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod} = 136.
The fourth of the mystic numbers of Jupiter
is 136.
Again the Black Brothers.
Eden = {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Ayin}
= 124.
These visions seem defects of concentration;
or rather, necessary rest for the over-strained seer.
All sacred to Her, in virtue of certain
of Her qualities.
Daleth, {HEB:Dalet}, is spelt {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Dalet}.
See AL I, 30.
The Cry of the 6th Aethyr,
Which is Called MAZ1
There cometh into the stone the great Angel whose name is Av2,
and in him there are symbols which strive for mastery, --- Sulphur and the Pentagram,
and they are harmonized by the Swastika3.
These symbols are found both in the name of Av4 and in the name
of the Aethyr. Thus he is neither Horus nor Osiris. He is called the radiance
of Thoth; and this Aethyr is very hard to understand, for the images form and
dissolve more rapidly than lightning. These images are the illusions made by
the Ape of Thoth. And this I understand, that I am not worthy to receive the
mysteries of this Aethyr. And all this which I have seen (being all the thoughts
that I have ever thought) is, as it were, a guardian of the Aethyr5.
I seem quite helpless. I am trying all sorts of magical methods of piercing
the veil: and the more I strive, the farther away I seem to get from success.
But a voice comes now: Must not understanding lie open unto wisdom as the pyramids
lie open to the stars?
Accordingly, I wait in a certain magical posture which it is not fitting to
disclose, and above me appears the starry heaven6
of night, and one star greater than all the other stars. It is a star of eight
rays. I recognize it as the star in the seventeenth key of the Tarot, as the
Star of Mercury. And the light of it cometh from the path of Aleph. And the
letter Cheth is also involved in the interpretation of this star, and the paths
of he' and vau are the separations which this Star unites7. And in the heart of the star is
an exceeding splendour, --- a god standing upon the moon, brilliant beyond imagining8. It is like unto the vision of
the Universal Mercury. But this is the Fixed Mercury, and he' and vau are the
perfected sulphur and salt. But now I come into the centre of the maze, and
whirling dust of stars and great forgotten gods. It is the whirling Svastika
which throws off all these things, for the Svastika is in aleph by the shape
and number9, and in beth by
the position of the arms of the Magician10, and in gimel11
because of the sign of the Mourning of Isis, and thus is the Crown defended
by these three thunderbolts. Is not thrice seventeen fifty-one, that is, failure
and pain?
Now I am shut out again by this black Svastika with a corona of fire about
it.
And a voice cries: Cursed be he that shall uncover the nakedness of the Most
High, for he is drunken upon the wine that is the blood of the adepts. And BABALON
hath lulled him to sleep upon her breast, and she hath fled away, and left him
naked, and she hath called her children together, saying: Come up with me, and
let us make a mock of the nakedness of the Most High.
And the first of the adepts covered His shame with a cloth, walking backwards;
and was white. And the second of the adepts covered His shame with a cloth,
walking sideways and was yellow. And the third of the adepts made a mock of
His nakedness, walking forwards; and was black. And these are three great schools
of the Magi, who are also the three Magi that journeyed unto Bethlehem; and
because thou hast not wisdom, thou shalt not know which school prevaileth, or
if the three schools be not one12. For the Black
Brothers lift not up their heads thus far into the Holy Chokmah, for they were
all drowned in the great flood, which is Binah, before the true vine could be
planted upon the holy hill of Zion.
Now again I stand in the centre, and all things whirl by with incessant fury.
And the thought of the god entereth my mind, and I cry aloud: Behold, the volatile
is become fixed; and in the heart of eternal motion is eternal rest. So is the
Peace beneath the sea that rageth with her storms; so is the changeful moon,
the dead planet that revolveth no more. So the far-seeing, the far-darting hawk
is poised passionless in the blue; so also the ibis that is long of limb meditateth
solitary in the sign of Sulphur. Behold, I stand ever before the Eternal One
in the sign of the Enterer13. And by virtue of my speech is
he wrapped about in silence, and he is wrapped in mystery by me, who am the
Unveiler of the Mysteries. And although I be truth, yet do they call me rightly
the God of Lies, for speech is two-fold, and truth is one14.
Yet I stand at the centre of the spider's web, whereof the golden filaments
reach to infinity15.
But thou that art with me in the spirit-vision art not with me by right of
Attainment, and thou canst not stay in this place to behold how I run and return,
and who are the flies that are caught in my web. For I am the inmost guardian
that is immediately before the shrine.
None shall pass by me except he slay me16, and this is his curse, that,
having slain me, he must take my office and become the maker of Illusions, the
great deceiver, the setter of snares17;
he who baffleth even them that have understanding. For I stand on every path,
and turn them aside from the truth by my words, and by my magick arts.
And this is the horror18
that was shown by the lake that was nigh unto the City of the Seven Hills19,
and this is the Mystery of the great prophets that have come unto mankind. Moses,
and Buddha, and Lao Tan, and Krishna, and Jesus20,
and Osiris, and Mohammed; for all these attained unto the grade of Magus, and
therefore were they bound with the curse of Thoth. But, being guardians of the
truth, they have taught nothing but falsehood, except unto such as understood;
for the truth may not pass the Gate of the Abyss21.
But the reflection of the truth hath been shown in the lower Sephiroth. And
its balance is in Beauty, and therefore have they who sought only beauty come
nearest to the truth. For the beauty receiveth directly three rays from the
supernals, and the others no more than one22. So, therefore, they that have sought
after majesty and power and victory and learning and happiness and gold, have
been discomfited. And these sayings are the lights of wisdom that thou mayst
know thy Master, for he is a Magus. And because thou didst eat of the Pomegranate
in hell, for half the year art thou concealed, and half the year revealed23.
Now I perceive the Temple that is the heart of this Aethyr24;
it is an Urn suspended in the air, without support, above the centre of a well.
And the well hath eight pillars, and a canopy above it, and without there is
a circle of marble paving-stones, and without them a great outer circle of pillars.
And beyond there is the forest of the stars. But the Urn is the wonderful thing
in all this; it is made of fixed Mercury; and within it are the ashes of the
Book Tarot25, which
hath been utterly consumed26.
And this is that mystery which is spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles; that
Jupiter and Mercury (Kether and Chokmah) visited (that is, inspired), Ephesus,
the City of Diana27,
Binah --- was not Diana a black stone? -- and they burnt their books of magick.
Now it seems that the centre of infinite space is that Urn, and Hadit is the
fire that hath burnt up the book Tarot. For in the book Tarot was preserved
all of the wisdom (for the Tarot was called the Book of Thoth), of the Aeon
that is passed. And in the Book of Enoch was first given the wisdom of the New
Aeon. And it was hidden for three hundred years, because it was wrested untimely
from the Tree of Life by the hand of a desperate magician28. For it was the
Master29 of that Magician
who overthrew the power of the Christian church; but the pupil rebelled against
the master, for he foresaw that the New (i.e., the Protestant) would be worse
than the Old. But he understood not the purpose of his Master, and that was,
to prepare the way for the overthrowing of the Aeon30.
There is a writing upon the Urn of which I can but read the (two) words: Stabat
Crux juxta Lucem. Stabat Lux juxta Crucem.
And there is writing in Greek above that. The word "nox" written
in Greek, and a circle with a cross in the centre of it, a St. Andrew's cross31.
Then above that is a sigil(?), hidden by a hand32.
And a voice proceedeth from the Urn: From the ashes of the Tarot who shall
make the phoenix-wand? Not even he who by his understanding hath made the lotus-wand
to grow in the Great Sea. Get thee back, for thou art not an Atheist, and though
thou have violated thy mother, thou hast not slain thy father33.
Get thee back from the Urn; thy ashes are not hidden here34.
Then again arose the God Thoth, in the sign of the Enterer, and he drove the
seer from before his face. And he fell through the starry night unto the little
village in the desert.
Benishrur, Algeria.
December 10, 1909. 7:40-9:40 p.m.
MAZ ={Aquarius}{Taurus}{Leo} = 105 = to change.
Also 105 = d1-14.
See Dr. John Dee and Sir Edward Kelly.
{Sulphur} is the active Fiery Nature, and
the the Microcosm of the Elements. But Atu IV, The Emperor, refers to {HEB:Heh}
= 5, and he forms {Sulphur}, the sign for Sulphur, by the position of his
arms and legs. Then harmonizes these, being the fiery thunderbolt, the electric
whirling; and also the balance of the elements (its 4 arms) in a Microcosm.
A = {HEB:Aleph} the Swastika; V = {HEB:Vau}
= Atu V, the Pentagram; E = {Aries} and Atu IV, {Sulphur}.
{Aquarius} = the Man, the Pentagram; A, the
Swastika; {Leo} the House of {Sulphur}.
Masloth = the sphere of Chokmah = {Mercury}.
{HEB:Vau} and {HEB:Heh} lead from Chesed and Tiphareth to Chokmah.
Atu XVII has the letter {HEB:Heh} in the
new Thelemic attribution. The Star is {Mercury} (Chokmah), for He is the light
of Binah, the naked woman of the Atu. (Her arms make the Swastika; it is the
sign of the Mourning of Isis. Aleph is the Path through which the light of
Kether comes to Chokmah. Cheth is said in the Zohar to interpret H; and Cheth
is the Path which conveys the Cup of Binah to the Inferiors. {Mercury} Unites
H and Vau, for they are {Sulphur} and {Salt} (V = the Kerub of {Spirit}).
Tahuti is sometimes so shewn.
The has 17 squares. 17 = IAO, the Triune
Kether.
In Atu I.
3. For {HEB:Gemel} is {Moon}, Isis.
4. This doctrine of the Three Schools is
of extreme interest. Roughly, it may be said that the White is the Pure Mystic,
whose attitude to God is one of reverence. The Yellow School conceals the
Mysteries indeed, but examines them as it goes. The Black School is that of
pure Skepticism.
Of Horus; or, of Projection of Energy.
See Liber Magi.
i.e. He is also Solar. For the identification
of Sol with Mercury (in some aspects) see "The Paris Working."
The crucifixion of a toad in AN XII.
See Liber Magi.
See "The King of the Wood", a
story by Aleister Crowley of a Priest of Nemi.
The Lake of Nemi. See J. G. Frazer, The
Golden Bough.
This name is cunningly slipped in by the
Art of the God, for "Jesus" is but the figure-head used by the priests
for their "Great Sorcery".
See again Liber Magi for this disheartening
doctrine.
See the Tree of Life.
It has been curiously true, that the Seer
since this time has usually been concealed in A Great Magical Retirement for
about half of every year. This doctrine of the eating of the pomegranate refers
to the fact that he refused to adopt one of the routine methods of success
in Magick. He, being the Beast, 666, felt that he must keep his hold on Tiphereth
by maintaining the Formula of the Rosy Cross.
This is like the Temple of Vesta at Rome
in some way.
This perhaps is also the karma of the new
Magus. Somewhere it says that a white ash is prepared from the dust of NEMO
by Hermes, the Invisible. For Urn see Azbogah {Mercury} = {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Koph}
= a pot, 24. But it may be 86 = {HEB:Samekh} {HEB:Vau} {HEB:Koph} q.v.
The Master of the Temple who is chosen to
proceed to the Grade of Magus has his little Pyramid of Dust consumed to ashes,
and these are preserved in this Urn.
Vesta = {Virgo}.
Sir Edward Kelly. The reference is to the
famous passage which Dee maintained to be given by demons. It taught that
there was no sin, etc.
Martin Luther.
Martin Luther's magical act of cohabitation
with a nun was the key to this doctrine.
= {GRK:Nu}{GRK:Omicron}{GRK:Chi} = N.O.X.
All this required a Magus to see properly.
This again means that the Magus 9x = 2{square
x} must burn up all his karma.
This fact is now maintained openly. As to
Atheists see Liber LXV, V. 34 - 40. Also 5th Aire; the Magister Templi
is already being subtly prepared to attain to be a Magus.
The Cry of the 5th Aethyr,
Which is Called LIT1
There is a shining pylon, above which is set the sigil of the eye, within the
shining triangle. Light streams through the pylon from before the face of Isis-Hathor,
for she weareth the lunar crown of cows' horns, with the disk in the centre;
at her breast she beareth the child Horus2.
And there is a voice: thou knowest not how the Seven was united with the Four;
much less then canst thou understand the marriage of the Eight and the Three.
Yet there is a word wherein these are made one3, and therein is contained the Mystery
that thou seekest, concerning the rending asunder of the veil of my Mother.
Now there is an avenue of pylons (not one alone), steep after steep, carved
from the solid rock of the mountain; and that rock is a substance harder than
diamond, and brighter than light, and heavier than lead. In each pylon is seated
a god. There seems an endless series of these pylons. And all the gods of all
the nations of the earth are shown, for there are many avenues, all leading
to the top of the mountain.
Now I come to the top of the mountain, and the last pylon opens into a circular
hall, with other pylons leading out of it, each of which is the last pylon of
a great avenue; there seem to be nine such pylons. And in the centre is a shrine,
a circular table, supported by marble figures of men and women, alternate white
and black; they face inwards, and their buttocks are almost worn away by the
kisses of those who have come to worship that supreme God, who is the single
end of all these diverse religions. But the shrine itself is higher than a man
may reach.
But the Angel that was with me lifted me, and I saw that the edge of the altar,
as I must call it, was surrounded by holy men. Each has in his right hand a
weapon --- one a sword, one a spear, one a thunderbolt, and so on, but each
with his left hand gives the sign of silence. I wish to see what is within their
ring. One of them bends forward so that I may whisper the pass-word. The Angel
prompts me to whisper: "There is no god." So they let me pass, and
though there was indeed nothing visible therein, yet there was a very strange
atmosphere, which I could not understand.
Suspended in the air there is a silver star, and on the forehead of each of
the guardians there is a silver star4.
It is a pentagram, --- because, says the Angel, three and five are eight; three
and eight are eleven. (There is another numerical reason that I cannot hear.)
And as I entered their ring, they bade me stand in their circle, and a weapon
was given unto me. And the pass-word that I had given seems to have been whispered
round from one to the other, for each one nods gravely as if in solemn acquiescence,
until the last one whispers the same words in my ears. But they have a different
sense. I had taken them to be a denial of the existence of God, but the man
who says them to me evidently means nothing of the sort: What he does mean I
cannot tell at all. He slightly emphasized the word "there"5.
And now all is suddenly blotted out6, and instead appears the Angel
of the Aethyr. He is all in black, burnished black scales, just edged with gold.
He has vast wings, with terrible claws on the ends, and he has a fierce face,
like a dragon's, and dreadful eyes that pierce one through an through.
And he says: O thou that art so dull of understanding, when wilt thou begin
to annihilate thyself in the mysteries of the Aethyrs? For all that thou thinkest
is but thy thought; and as there is no god in the ultimate shrine, so there
is no I in thine own Cosmos.
They that have said this are of them that understood. And all men have misinterpreted
it, even as thou didst misinterpret it. He says some more: I cannot catch it
properly, but it seems to be to the effect that the true God is equally in all
the shrines, and the true I in all the parts of the body and the soul. He speaks
with such a terrible roaring that it is impossible to hear the words; one catches
a a phrase here and there, or a glimpse of the idea. With every word he belches
forth smoke, so that the whole Aethyr becomes full of it.
And now I hear the Angel: Every particle of matter that forms the smoke of
my breath is a religion that hath flourished among the inhabitants of the worlds.
Thus are they all whirled forth in my breath.
Now he is giving a demonstration of this Operation. And he says: Know thou
that all the religions of all the worlds end herein, but they are only the smoke
of my breath, and I am only the head of the Great Dragon that eateth up the
Universe; without whom the Fifth Aethyr would be perfect, even as the first.
Yet unless he pass by me, can no man come unto the perfections.
And the rule is ended that hath bound thee, and this shall be thy rule: that
thou shalt purify thyself, and anoint thyself with perfume; and thou shalt be
in the sunlight, the day being free from clouds. And thou shalt make the Call
of the Aethyr in silence.
Now, then, behold how the head of the dragon is but the tail of the Aethyr!
Many are they that have fought their way from mansion to mansion of the Everlasting
House, and beholding me at last have returned, declaring, "Fearful is the
aspect of the Mighty and Terrible One." Happy are they that have known
me for whom I am. And glory unto him that hath made a gallery of my throat for
his arrow of truth, and the moon for his purity7.
The moon waneth. The moon waneth. The moon waneth. For in that arrow is the
Light of Truth that overmastereth the light of the sun, whereby she shines.
The arrow is fledged with the plumes8
of Maat, that are the plumes of Amoun, and the shaft is the phallus of Amoun,
the Concealed One. And the barb9 thereof is the
star that thou sawest in the place where was No God.
And of them that guarded the star, there was not found one worthy to wield
the Arrow. And of them that worshipped there was not found one worthy to behold
the Arrow. Yet the star that thou sawest was but the barb of the Arrow, and
thou hadst not the wit to grasp the shaft, or the purity to divine the plumes.
Now therefore is he blessed that is born under the sign of the Arrow10, and blessed
is he that hath the sigil of the head of the crowned lion and the body of the
Snake and the Arrow therewith11.
Yet do thou distinguish between the upward and the downward Arrows, for the
upward arrow is straitened in its flight, and it is shot by a firm hand, for
Jesod is Jod Tetragrammaton12,
and Jod is a hand, but the downward arrow is shot by the topmost point of the
Jod; and that Jod is the Hermit13, and it is the
minute point that is not extended, that is nigh unto the heart of Hadit14.
And now it is commanded thee that thou withdraw thyself from the Vision, and
on the morrow, at the appointed hour, shall it be given thee further, as thou
goest upon thy way, meditating this mystery. And thou shalt summon the Scribe,
and that which shall be written, shall be written.
Therefore I withdraw myself, as I am commanded.
The Desert Between Benshrur and Tolga.
December 12, 1909, 7 - 8:12 p.m.
Now then art thou approached unto an august Arcanum; verily thou art come unto
the ancient Marvel, the winged light, the Fountains of Fire, the Mystery of
the Wedge. But it is not I that can reveal it, for I have never been permitted
to behold it, who am but the watcher upon the threshold of the Aethyr15.
My message is spoken, and my mission is accomplished. And I withdraw myself,
covering my face with my wings, before the presence of the Angel of the Aethyr.
So the Angel departed with bowed head, folding his wings across.
And there is a little child in a mist of blue light; he hath golden hair, a
mass of curls, and deep blue eyes. Yea, he is all golden, with a living, vivid
gold. And in each hand he hath a snake; in the right hand a red, in the left
a blue. And he hath red sandals, but no other garment16.
And he sayeth: is not life a long initiation unto sorrow? And is not Isis the
Lady of Sorrow? And she is my mother. Nature is her name, and she hath a twin
sister Nephthys, whose name is Perfection. And Isis must be known of all, but
of how few is Nephthys known! Because she is dark, therefore is she feared.
But thou who hast adored her without fear, who hast made thy life an initiation
into her Mystery, thou that hast neither mother nor father, nor sister nor brother,
nor wife nor child, who hast made thyself lonely as the hermit crab that is
in the waters of the Great Sea, behold! when the sistrons are shaken, and the
trumpets blare forth the glory of Isis, at the end thereof there is silence,
and thou shalt commune with Nephthys.
And having known these, there are the wings of Maut the Vulture17.
Thou mayest draw to an head the bow of thy magical will; thou mayest loose the
shaft and pierce her to the heart. I am Eros18.
Take then the bow and the quiver from my shoulders and slay me; for unless thou
slay me, thou shalt not unveil the Mystery of the Aethyr.
Therefore I did as he commanded; in the quiver were two arrows, one white,
one black. I cannot force myself to fit an arrow to the bow.
And there came a voice: It must needs be.
And I said: No man can do this thing.
And the voice answered, as it were an echo: Nemo hoc facere potest.
Then came understanding to me, and I took forth the Arrows. The white arrow
had no barb, but the black arrow was barbed like a forest of fish- hooks; it
was bound round with brass, and it had been dipped in deadly poison. Then I
fitted the white arrow to the string, and I shot it against the heart of Eros,
and though I shot with all my force, it fell harmlessly from his side. But at
that moment the black arrow was thrust through mine own heart. I am filled with
fearful agony.
And the child smiles, and says: Although thy shaft hath pierced me not, although
the envenomed barb hath struck thee through, yet I am slain, and thou livest
and triumphest, for I am thou and thou art I.
With that he disappears, and the Aethyr splits with a roar as of ten thousand
thunders. And behold, The Arrow! The plumes of Maat are its crown, set about
the disk. It is the Ateph crown of Thoth, and there is the shaft of burning
light, and beneath there is a silver wedge.
I shudder and tremble at the vision, for all about it are whorls and torrents
of tempestuous fire. The stars of heaven are caught in the ashes of the flame.
And they are all dark. That which was a blazing sun is like a speck of ash.
And in the midst the Arrow burns!
I see that the crown of the Arrow is the Father of all Light, and the shaft
of the Arrow is the Father of all Life, and the barb of the Arrow is the Father
of all Love. For that silver wedge is like a lotus flower, and the Eye within
the Ateph Crown crieth: I watch. And the Shaft crieth: I work. And the Barb
crieth: I wait. And the Voice of the Aethyr echoeth: It beams. It burns. It
blooms19.
And now there cometh a strange thought; this Arrow is the source of all motion;
it is infinite motion, yet it moveth not, so that there is no motion.
And therefore there is no matter. This Arrow is the glance of the Eye of Shiva.
But because it moveth not, the universe is not destroyed. The universe is put
forth and swallowed up in the quivering of the plumes of Maat, that are the
plumes of the Arrow; but those plumes quiver not20.
And a voice comes: That which is above is not like that which is below.
And another voice answers it: That which is below is not like that
which is above.
And a third voice answers these two: What is above and what is below? For there
is the division that divideth not, and the multiplication that multiplieth not.
And the One is the many21.
Behold, this Mystery is beyond understanding, for the winged globe is the crown,
and the shaft is the wisdom, and the barb is the understanding. And the Arrow
is one, and thou art lost in the Mystery, who art but as a babe that is carried
in the womb of its mother, that art not yet ready for the light.
And the vision overcometh me. My sense is stunned; my sight is blasted; my
hearing is dulled.
And a voice cometh: Thou didst seek the remedy of sorrow; therefore all sorrow
is thy portion. This is that which is written: "God hath laid upon him
the iniquity of us all." For as thy blood is mingled in the cup of BABALON,
so is thine heart the universal heart. Yet is it bound about with the Green
Serpent, the Serpent of Delight22.
It is shown me that this heart is the heart that rejoiceth, and the serpent
is the serpent of Death22 for herein all
the symbols are interchangeable, for each one containeth in itself23
its own opposite. And this is the great Mystery of the Supernals that are beyond
the Abyss. For below the Abyss, contradiction is division; but above the Abyss,
contradiction is Unity. And there could be nothing true except by virtue of
the contradiction that is contained in itself.
Thou canst not believe how marvelous is this vision of the Arrow. And it could
never be shut out, except the Lords of Vision troubled the waters of the pool,
the mind of the Seer. But they send forth a wind that is a cloud of Angels,
and they beat the water with their feet, and little waves splash up--- they
are memories. For the seer hath no head; it is expanded into the universe, a
vast and silent sea, crowned with the stars of night24.
Yet in the very midst thereof is the arrow25. Little images
of things that were, are the foam upon the waves. And there is a contest between
the Vision and the memories. I prayed unto the Lords of Vision, saying: O my
Lords, take not away this wonder from my sight.
And they said: It must needs be. Rejoice therefore if thou hast been permitted
to behold, even for a moment, this Arrow, the austere, the august. But the vision
is accomplished, and we have sent forth a great wind against thee. For thou
canst not penetrate by force, who hast refused it; nor by authority, for thou
hast trampled it under foot. Thou art bereft of all but understanding, O thou
that art no more than a little pile of dust!
And the images rise up against me and constrain me, so that the Aethyr is shut
against me. Only the things of the mind and of the body are open unto me. The
shew-stone is dull, for that which I see therein is but a memory.
Tolga, Algeria
December 13, 1909. 8:15-10:10 p.m.
LIT = {Cancer}{Sagittarius}{Caput Draconis}.
Luna is the mother of the Beginning: Caput Draconis, the Angel of the Aethyr:
{Sagittarius} is the arrow of the main vision.
Compare certain mysteries in Liber AL
with the above.
BAPHOMET, in which three vowels are equilibrated
with five consonants. He is also BABALON after a certain mystery, and Zeus
Arrhenoteleus. Hence the allusion at the end of this sentence.
The Star of the A{.·.} A{.·.}.
Possibly the meaning is: In the Shrine seek
not for God. For He is everywhere. But in such a place as this all possible
meanings are equally true.
This reception among the atheists is a necessary
prelude to the vision of the Aethyr itself.
{Moon}, {Sagittarius} and {Caput Draconis}
(Caput Draconis, in the name of the Aethyr.)
Lamed = Justice.
Aleph = the Pentagram.
Query: refers to Sir Edward Kelly, the true
Adeptus Major, who founded this whole work of the Watchtowers and the Aethyrs.
This seems to refer partly to the Seer himself,
but partly to Cagliostro, who was one of the incarnations of him who is now
the Seer.
See the Zohar. Yesod is the Phallus
of the Most High.
Yod = {Virgo}.
See AL II, 6 etc. the whole passage
is a mystery of the path of {Sagittarius}.
He is spoken of in the earlier part as if
he were himself the Angel of the Aethyr; this is the error of the Seer.
i.e. He is a God.
The Mother Goddess behind even such lofty
ideas as Isis and Nephthys.
This is then the Child of Atu VI, pertaining
to {Gemini}. {Gemini} is opposite to {Sagittarius} in the Zodiac; their symbols
are therefore complementary.
These are the words of a certain grade of
A{.·.} A{.·.}
Cf. 11th Aire.
An essential mystery of Thelema. Let it
be studied well!
Cf. Liber LXV.
This is the most important of all the doctrines
that concern the Supernals, for the student of the Mysteries. It explains
the necessity of his arming himself with a new kind of logic.
His Kether is dissolved in Ain Soph.
The arrow persists for it is the direction
of Energy, the Will that createth all Becoming.
The Cry of the 4th Aethyr,
Which is Called PAZ1
The Stone is translucent and luminous, and no images enter therein.
A voice says: Behold the brilliance of the Lord, whose feet are set upon him
that pardoneth transgression. Behold the six-fold Star that flameth in the Vault,
the seal of the marriage of the great White King and his black slave2.
So I looked into the Stone, and beheld the six-fold Star: the whole Aethyr
is as tawny clouds, like the flame of a furnace. And there is a mighty host
of Angels, blue and golden, that throng it, and they cry: Holy, Holy, Holy art
thou, that art not shaken in the earthquakes, and in the thunders! The end of
things is come upon us; the day of be-with-us is at hand! For he hath created
the universe, and overthrown it, that he might take his pleasure thereupon.
And now, in the midst of the Aethyr, I beheld that god.
He hath a thousand arms, and in each hand is a weapon of terrible strength.
His face is more terrible than the storm, and from his eyes flash lightnings
of intolerable brilliance. From his mouth run seas of blood. Upon his head is
a crown of every deadly thing. Upon his forehead is the upright tau, and on
either side of it are the signs of blasphemy. And about him clingeth a young
girl, like unto the king's daughter that appeareth in the ninth Aethyr. But
she is become rosy by reason of his force, and her purity hath tinged his black
with blue.
They are clasped in a furious embrace, so that she is torn asunder by the terror
of the god; yet so tightly clingeth she about him, that he is strangled. She
hath forced back his head, and his throat is livid with the pressure of her
fingers. Their joint cry is an intolerable anguish, yet it is the cry of their
rapture, so that every pain, and every curse, and every bereavement, and every
death of everything in the whole universe, is but one little gust of wind in
that tempest-scream of ecstasy3.
The voice thereof is not articulate. It is in vain to seek comparison. It is
absolutely continuous, without breaks or beats. If there seem to be vibration
therein, it is because of the imperfection of the ears of the seer.
And there cometh an interior voice, which sayeth to the seer that he hath trained
his eyes well and can see much; and he hath trained his ears a little, and can
hear a little; but his other senses hath he trained scarcely at all, and therefore
the Aethyrs are almost silent to him on those planes. By the senses are meant
the spiritual correlations of the senses, not the physical senses. But this
matters little, because the Seer, so far as he is a seer, is the expression
of the spirit of humanity4.
What is true of him is true of humanity, so that even if he had been able to
receive the full Aethyrs, he could not have communicated them.
And an Angel speaks: Behold, this vision is utterly beyond thine understanding.
Yet shalt thou endeavour to unite thyself with the dreadful marriage-bed.
So I am torn asunder, nerve from nerve and vein from vein, and more intimately
--- cell from cell, molecule from molecule, and atom from atom, and at the same
time all crushed together. Write down that the tearing asunder is a
crushing together5.
All the double phenomena are only two ways of looking at a single phenomenon;
and the single phenomenon is Peace. There is no sense in my words or in my thoughts.
"Faces half- formed arose." This is the meaning of that passage; they
are attempts to interpret Chaos, but Chaos is Peace. Cosmos is the War of the
Rose and the Cross6.
That was "a half-formed face" that I said then. All images are useless.
Blackness, blackness intolerable, before the beginning of the light. This is
the first verse of Genesis. Holy art thou, Chaos, Chaos, Eternity, all contradictions
in terms!
Oh, blue! blue! blue! whose reflection in the Abyss is called the Great One
of the Night of Time; between ye vibrateth the Lord of the Forces of Matter.
O Nox, Nox qui celas infamiam infandi nefandi, Deo solo sit laus qui dedit
signum non scribendum. Laus virgini cuius stuprum tradit salutem.
O Night, that givest suck from thy paps to sorcery, and theft, and rape, and
gluttony, and murder, and tyranny, and to the nameless Horror, cover us, cover
us, cover us from the Rod of Destiny; for Cosmos must come, and the balance
be set up where there was no need of balance, because there was no injustice,
but only truth. But when the balances are equal, scale matched with scale, then
will Chaos7 return.
Yea, as in a looking-glass, so in thy mind, that is backed with the false metal
of lying, is every symbol read averse. Lo! everything wherein thou hast trusted
must confound thee, and that thou didst flee from was thy saviour. So therefore
didst thou shriek in the Black Sabbath when thou didst kiss the hairy buttocks
of the goat, when the gnarled god tore thee asunder, when the icy cataract of
death swept thee away8.
Shriek, therefore, shriek aloud; mingle the roar of the gored lion and the
moan of the torn bull, and the cry of the man that is torn by the claws of the
Eagle, and the scream of the Eagle that is strangled by the hands of the Man.
Mingle all these in the death-shriek of the Sphinx, for the blind man hath profaned
her mystery. Who is this, Oedipus, Tiresias, Erinyes? Who is this, that is blind
and a seer, a fool above wisdom? Whom do the hounds of heaven follow, and the
crocodiles of hell await9? Aleph, vau, yod,
ayin, resh, tau, is his name10.
Beneath his feet is the kingdom, and upon his head the crown. He is spirit
and matter; he is peace and power; in him is Chaos and Night and Pan, and upon
BABALON his concubine, that hath made him drunk upon the blood of the saints
that she hath gathered in her golden cup, hath he begotten the virgin that now
he doth deflower. And this is that which is written: Malkuth shall be uplifted
and set upon the throne of Binah11.
And this is the stone of the philosophers that is set as a seal upon the tomb
of Tetragrammaton, and the elixir of life that is distilled from the blood of
the saints, and the red powder that is the grinding-up of the bones of Choronzon.
Terrible and wonderful is the Mystery thereof, O thou Titan that hast climbed
into the bed of Juno! Surely thou art bound unto, and broken upon, the wheel12; yet hast thou uncovered the nakedness
of the Holy One, and the Queen of Heaven is in travail of child, and his name
shall be called Vir, and Vis, and Virus, and Virtus, and Viridis, in one name
that is all these, and above all these13.
Desolate, desolate is the Aethyr, for thou must return unto the habitations
of the Owl and the Bat, unto the Scorpions of the sand, and the blanched eyeless
beetles that have neither wing nor horn. Return, blot out the vision, wipe from
thy mind the memory thereof; stifle the fire with green wood; consume the Sacrament;
cover the Altar; veil the Shrine; shut up the Temple and spread booths in the
market place; until the appointed time come when the Holly One shall declare
unto thee the Mystery of the Third Aethyr.
Yet be thou wake and ware, for the great Angel Hua is about thee, and overshadoweth
thee, and at any moment he may come upon thee unawares. The voice of PAZ is
ended.
Biskra, Algeria.
December 16, 1909. 9 - 10:30 a.m.
PAZ = {Leo}{Taurus}{Caput Draconis}. This
{Taurus} = 7 = Atu V, The Hierophant. He is Microprosopus, the Demiurge, appearing
in the House of the Sun. Cf. the 9th Aire, where His Bride is similarly placed.
This is common Alchemical symbolism; it occurs
also in Tibetan mythology. The meaning is always the same; that here stated.
This all refers to "Love under will,"
the Law by which the universe proceeds.
He is 666, the Angel of Tiphereth, the Middle
Kingdom of the Sephiroth, Mankind.
Again the logic of the Supernals.
It is "Love under will", which
unites them.
Chaos is the Great Father, in one particular
aspect.
See Liber CCCLXX and elsewhere.
Refers to Atu 0.
This path joins the Sephiroth 1, 2, 4, 6,
8, o 9, and 10. It adds to 687 = 3 x 229. 229 is \{HEB:Aleph} a possible spelling
of Aiwass (in Hebrew) o in full. |{HEB:Vau} o /{HEB:Yod} o {HEB:Ayin} / o
{HEB:Resh}\ o |{HEB:Taw} o
This mystery of the Daughter awakening the eld of the all-Father
and thus perpetuating Tetragrammaton is of great importance.
Refers to Ixion, who embraced Juno in the form of a cloud.
Vi, Veri, Universum Vivus Vici, the motto of the Seer as
Magister Templi.
The Cry of the 3rd Aethyr1,
Which is Called ZON2
There is an angry light in the stone; now it is become clear.
In the centre is that minute point of light which is the true Sun, and in the
circumference is the Emerald Snake. And joining them are the rays which are
the plumes of Maat, and because the distance is infinite, therefore are they
parallel from the circumference, although they diverge from the centre.
In all this is no voice and no motion.
And yet it seems that the great Snake feedeth upon the plumes of Truth as upon
itself, so that it contracteth3. But ever so little
as it contracteth, without it gloweth the golden rim, which is that minute point
in the centre.
And all this is the sigil of the Aethyr, gold and azure and green. Yet also
these are the Severities.
It is only in the first three Aethyrs that we find the pure essence, for all
the other Aethyrs are but as Malkuth to complete these three triads, as hath
before been said. And this being the second reflection, therefore is it the
palace of two hundred and eighty judgments4.
For all these paths5
are in the course of the Flaming Sword from the side of Severity. And the other
two paths are Zayin, which is a sword; and Shin, which is a tooth. These are
then the five severities which are 280.
All this is communicated to the Seer interiorly.
"And the eye of His benignancy is closed. Let it not be opened upon the
Aethyr, lest the severities be mitigated, and the house fall.6"
Shall not the house fall, and the Dragon sink? Verily all things have been swallowed
up in destruction; and Chaos hath opened his jaws and crushed the Universe as
a Bacchanal crusheth a grape between her teeth. Shall not destruction swallow
up destruction, and annihilation confound annihilation? Twenty and two are the
mansions7 of the House of
my Father, but there cometh an ox8 that shall set
his forehead against the House, and it shall fall. For all these things are
the toys of the Magician9
and the Maker of Illusions, that barreth the Understanding from the Crown.
O thou that hast beheld the City of the Pyramids, how shouldst thou behold
the House of the Juggler10? For he is wisdom,
and by wisdom hath he made the Worlds, and from that wisdom issue judgements
70 by 4, that are the 4 eyes of the double-headed one; that are the 4 devils,
Satan, Lucifer, Leviathan, Belial, that are the great princes of the evil of
the world11.
And Satan is worshipped by men under the name of Jesus; and Lucifer is worshipped
by men under the name of Brahma; and Leviathan is worshipped by men under the
name of Allah; and Belial is worshipped by men under the name of Buddha.
(This is the meaning of the passage in Liber Legis, Chap. III.)12
Moreover, there is Mary, a blasphemy against BABALON, for she hath shut herself
up13; and therefore
is she the Queen of all those wicked devils that walk upon the earth, those
that thou sawest even as little black specks that stained the Heaven of Urania.
And all these are the excrement of Choronzon.
And for this is BABALON under the power of the Magician, that she hath submitted
herself unto the work; and she guardeth the Abyss14.
And in her is a perfect purity of that which is above; yet she is sent as the
Redeemer to them that are below. For there is no other way into the Supernal
Mystery but through her, and the Beast on which she rideth; and the Magician
is set beyond her to deceive the brothers of blackness, lest they should make
unto themselves a crown15; for if there
were two crowns, then should Ygdrasil, that ancient tree, be cast out into the
Abyss, uprooted and cast down into the Outermost Abyss, and the Arcanum which
is in the Adytum should be profaned; and the Ark should be touched, and the
Lodge spied upon by them that are not masters, and the bread of the Sacrament
should be the dung of Choronzon; and the wine of the Sacrament should be the
water of Choronzon; and the incense should be dispersion; and the fire upon
the Altar should be hate. But lift up thyself; stand, play the man, for behold!
there shall be revealed unto thee the Great Terror, the thing of awe that hath
no name.
And this is the mystery that I declare unto thee: that from the Crown itself
spring the three great delusions; Aleph is madness, and Beth is falsehood, and
Gimel is glamour16.
And these three be greater than all, for they are beyond the words that I speak
unto thee; how much more therefore are they beyond the words that thou transmittest
unto men.
Behold! the Veil of the Aethyr sundereth, and is torn, like a sail by the breath
of the tempest, and thou shalt see him as from afar off. This is that which
is written, "Confound her understanding with darkness," for thou canst
not speak this thing17.
It is the figure of the Magus of the Taro18; and in his right arm the torch
of the flames blazing upwards; in his left the cup of poison, a cataract into
Hell. And upon his head the evil talisman, blasphemy and blasphemy and blasphemy,
in the form of a circle. That is the greatest blasphemy of all19.
On his feet hath he the scythes and swords and sickles; daggers; knives; every
sharp thing20, --- a millionfold, and all in
one. And before him is the Table that is a Table of wickedness, and 42-fold
Table. This Table is connected with the 42 Assessors of the Dead, for they are
the Accursers, whom the soul must baffle; and with the 42-fold name of God,
for this is the Mystery of Iniquity, that there was ever a beginning at all21. And this Magus
casteth forth, by the might of his four weapons, veil after veil; a thousand
shining colours, ripping and tearing the Aethyr, so that it is like jagged saws,
or like broken teeth in the face of a young girl, or like disruption, or madness.
There is a horrible grinding sound, maddening. This is the mill in which the
Universal Substance, which is ether, was ground down into matter.
The Seer prayeth that a cloud may come between him and the sun, so that he
may shut out the terror of the vision. And he is afire; he is terribly athirst;
and no help can come to him, for the shew-stone blazeth ever with the fury and
the torment and the blackness, and the stench of human flesh. The bowels of
little children are torn out and thrust into his mouth, and a poison is dropped
into his eyes. And Lilith22, a black monkey crawling with
filth, running with open sores, an eye torn out, eaten of worms, her teeth rotten,
her nose eaten away, her mouth a putrid mass of green slime, her dugs dropping
and cancerous, clings to him, kisses him.
(Kill me! kill me!)23
There is a mocking voice: Thou art become immortal. Thou wouldst look upon
the face of the Magician and thou hast not beheld him because of his Magick
veils.
(Don't torture me!)
Thus are all they fallen into the power of Lilith, who have dared to look upon
his face.
The shew-stone is all black and corrupt. O filth! filth! filth!
And this is her great blasphemy: that she hath taken the name of the First
Aethyr24, and bound
it on her brow, and added thereunto the shameless yod and the tau for the sign
of the Cross.
She it is that squatteth upon the Crucifix, for the nastiness of her pleasure.
So that they that worship Christ suck up her filth upon their tongues, and therefore
their breaths stink25.
I was saved from that Horror by a black shining Triangle, with apex upwards26,
that came upon the face of the sun.
And now the shew-stone is all clear and beautiful again.
The pure pale gold of a fair maiden's hair, and the green of her girdle, and
the deep soft blue of her eyes.
Note. --- In this the gold is Kether, the blue is Chokmah, the green
is Binah.
Thus she appeareth in the Aethyr, adorned with flowers and gems. It seems that
she hath incarnated herself upon earth, and that she will appear manifest in
a certain office in the Temple.
I have seen some picture like her face; I cannot think what picture. It is
a piquant face, with smiling eyes and lips; the ears are small and pink, the
complexion is fair, but not transparent; not as fair as one would expect from
the hair and eyes. It is rather an impudent face, rather small, very pretty;
the nose very slightly less than straight, well- proportioned, rather large
nostrils. Full of vitality, the whole thing. Now very tall, rather slim and
graceful; a good dancer.
There is another girl behind her, with sparkling eyes, mischievous, a smile
showing beautiful white teeth; an ideal Spanish girl, but fair. Very vivacious.
Only her head is visible, and now it is veiled by a black sun, casting forth
dull rays of black and gold.
Then the disk of the sun is a pair of balances, held steady; and twined about
the central pole of the balance is the little green poisonous snake, with a
long forked tongue rapidly darting27.
And the Angel that hath spoken with me before, saith to me: The eye of His
benignancy is opened; therefore veileth he thine eyes from the vision. Manfully
hast thou endured; yet, hast thou been man, thou hadst not endured; and hadst
thou been wholly that which thou art, thou shouldst have been caught up in the
full vision that is unspeakable for Horror. And thou shouldst have beheld the
face of the Magician that thou hast not been able to behold, - of him from whom
issue forth the severities that are upon Malkuth, and his name is Misericordia
Dei.
And because he is the dyad, thou mayest yet understand in two ways. Of first
way, the Mercy of God is that Mercy which Jehovah showed to the Amalekites28; and the second way is utterly
beyond thine understanding, for it is the upright, and thou knowest nothing
but the averse, - until Wisdom shall inform thine Understanding, and upon the
base of the Ultimate triangle arise the smooth point29.
Veil therefore thine eyes, for that thou canst not master the Aethyr, unless
thy Mystery match Its Mystery. Seal up thy mouth also, for thou canst not master
the voice of the Aethyr, save only by Silence.
And thou shalt give the sign of the Mother, for BABALON is thy fortress against
the iniquity of the Abyss, for the iniquity of that which bindeth her unto the
Crown30, and barreth
her from the Crown; for not until thou art made one with CHAOS31
canst thou begin that last, that most terrible projection, the three-fold Regimen
which alone constitutes the Great Work.
For Choronzon is as it were the shell or excrement of these three paths, and
therefore is his head raised unto Dath, and therefore have the Black Brotherhood
declared him to be the child of Wisdom and Understanding, who is but the bastard
of the Svastika. And this is that which is written in the Holy Qabalah, concerning
the Whirlpool and Leviathan, and the Great Stone32.
Thus long have I talked with thee in bidding thee depart, that the memory of
the Aethyr might be dulled; for hadst thou come back suddenly into thy mortal
frame, thou hadst fallen into madness or death. For the vision is not such that
any may endure it.
But now thy sense is dull, and the shew-stone but a stone. Therefore awake,
and give secretly and apart the sign of the Mother, and call four times upon
the name of CHAOS33,
that is the four-fold word that is equal to her seven-fold word. And then shalt
thou purify thyself, and return into the World.
So I did that which was commanded me, and returned.
Biskra.
December 17, 1909. 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
The last three Aethyrs are so tremendously
sublime that comment is only too likely to mar the effect upon the reader.
They must be read as masterpieces of Art, and their full magical import apprehended
as such. This remark, indeed applies to the whole series, though not so formidably.
The proper way is first to study the book in detail, so as to assimilate perfectly
its intellectual content, and then to read it (so to say) ceremonially.
ZON. {Leo}{Libra}{Scorpio} The Sun, the Balance,
and the Snake. See text of Aire.
Cf. the doctrine of the Snake Ananta.
The letters of Judgment, those that have
a final form, {HEB:Mem} {HEB:Koph} {HEB:Nun} {HEB:Peh} {HEB:Tzaddi}, all add
to 280.
{HEB:Resh}, {HEB:Lamed} and {HEB:Nun} ({Sun},
{Libra} and {Scorpio}), the Sun, the Balance or plumes of Maat, and the Snake.
Added they make 280.
Note this. If the Seer had seen this vision
truly, he should have become a Magus right then. The vision following was
really a Guard to the Aethyr.
Beth, an house.
The letter Aleph.
The path of {Mercury}, Beth, which joins
and separates Kether and Binah.
Atu I.
See the Book of the Sacred Magic of
Abramelin the Mage.
666's later annotation to this: "My
own silly note."
She seeks to resist Change, which is Life,
she refuses the Formula, "love under will." Yet {GRK:Mu}{GRK:Alpha}{GRK:Rho}{GRK:Iota}
{GRK:Epsilon} (Greek) = 156.
She is Binah, ruled by the path of Beth.
Meaning, to construct a true Tree, of which
Dath should be the summit. This is in fact the great error of the rationalists
- both in science, like Bchner, and in religion, like Buddha. Knowledge is
not, and cannot be, the crown of Consciousness, if only because the Logic
beyond the Abyss convicts it of essential self contradiction. Dath, as seen
by the Magister Templi, is so far from being the opposite of Ignorance that
it is actually a demonstration that the Intellect is incapable of Truth.
Aleph is incapacity to apprehend --- the
absence of any steady truth. ({HEB:Aleph} = {Air}, the volatile). Beth is
the assertion of false relations, even in the illusion of the dyad. ({HEB:Bet}
= {Mercury}) And Gimel is the clouding of aspiration by the marsh miasma of
desire ({HEB:Gemel} = {Moon}). Such are the evil and averse counterparts of
the three highest faculties of the Soul: Aleph, the inspiration of the soul
in ecstasy; Beth, the virtue of Truthfulness without care of other issues;
and Gimel, the direct link of the human with the divine Consciousness.
The Seer was being warned all the time that
he was seeing only a Guard.
Atu I. This is Mayan, the Great Magician,
he who has created the Dyad ({HEB:Bet} = 2) and thus made possible the conception
of Opposition, and hence of "Evil". He is to be distinguished from
Chokma, the creative Mercury who transmits the Essence of Kether as a Logos,
that Kether may become intelligible to Himself through Binah. This lower Mercury
asserts the Dyad as Reality, and denies alike Kether and the Ain. Hence its
issue is in Materialism.
i.e., that the circle should be profaned.
The evil circle is of three concentric rings. The circle demands the square
(or Cross) to fulfill it.
Curiously, for his retirement in New Hampshire
(An XII) the Seer bought an axe, knife, and a saw for his magical weapons.
He had completely forgotten this passage. P.S. ({Sun} in {Leo}, {Moon} in
{Cancer}) (An XII) I have just realized (after some days woodcarving) that
the use of a knife is to fashion shapeless things into Beauty. This is then
the task of a Magus which, in my then Grade, I could not see. Now, O Lord,
let me behold the true Vision of the Magus as he is.
42 = 2 x 21. 21 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Aleph},
God-name of Kether; thus 42 asserts the Dyad as against the Monad, and denies
Love. 42 = {HEB:Aleph} {HEB:Mem} {HEB:Aleph}, the Mother unfertilized, the
Virgin-on-principle -- the feminine equivalent of the Black Brothers.
{HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed}
= 480 = {HEB:Taw} {HEB:Yod} {HEB:Ayin} = Malkuth, of the 42-fold name in Yetzirah.
Also 480 ={HEB:Taw} {HEB:Vau} {HEB:Ayin} {HEB:Dalet}, Dath, in the Plural.
Lilith is etymologically "The Woman of Night"; but is diversely
described by different authorities. To one she is, "from the head to
the navel, a woman --- from the navel to the feet of her, a man". To
another, "lovely shape that concealeth a black monkey, even as a figure
that draweth with her hands small images of men down into hell" (Liber
Ararita II, 10). She is also the "first wife of Adam" i.e.
the succubus who visits in their sleep those boys and men who have not previously
purified themselves by Right Coitus. The whole world of demons was in fact
created (according to Rabbinical tradition) by the nocturnal pollutions of
Adam. This is a true parable. For every sexual act produces its natural effect
on all planes. All forms of spiritual experience may be obtained in this manner,
according to the Magical Knowledge and Skill of the Operator. And there is
always a Child begotten on some plane or other, as the conditions of the experiment
decide. (Note. --- A.C. added the following here in his copy of Eqx.
I, No. 5. "Doris Gomez who came just before Jeanne Foster. It's a perfect
description of her normal nature. Add Laura Brown for the sake of completeness.
What about Alostrael?")
The Seer was physically overwhelmed by the
horror of this experience. It may seem surprising that such phenomena should
occur above the Abyss. But this Lilith is a positive form created by the Magus;
whereas, Choronzon is the breaking-up of all coherence. Here also is a mystery
of mysteries. Lilith is truly Babalon, as imagined by this energy of Mayan.
LIL.
For the Christian, obsessed by Mayan, sees
Love in this obscene form. It is all a matter of the point-of-view.
This is the Sigil of Binah in one of Her
forms. It instantly destroys the illusion of Lilith, who now appears in her
true shape as an avatar; a corporeal imagine of BABALON, recalling the maiden
of the 9th Aethyr. (Note. --- in A.C.'s Eqx. here to the para. beginning
"I have seen some picture" he notes in the margin "Hilarion,
Jeanne Robert Foster". --- To the para. beginning "then the disk
of the sun", he notes "Alice Ethel Coomaraswamy. She has Libra rising
and Sol in Scorpio and she is mad about green." --- To the para. beginning
"There is another girl", he notes "Helen Westley? - or Myriam
Deroxe.")
It would be improper in this place to comment
upon these prophecies. The student may seek enlightenment in "The Urn".
An XII. Now I understand. It's the fashioning
I missed. All my life I have been cutting to destroy. Now I'll cut to create.
All this passage is typical of the supernal
Logic.
The path of Beth.
The mystery of CHAOS is beyond the comprehension
of any but Masters of the Temple. One can only hint that this is at once the
Formula of the Feminine Trinity and of the All-Father.
The student is advised to study these matters
in the original documents.
{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Koph}
= 156.
The Cry of the 2nd Aethyr,
Which is Called ARN1
In the first place, there is again the woman riding on the bull, which is the
reflection of BABALON, that rideth on The Beast. And also there is an Assyrian
legend of a woman with a fish, and also there is a legend of Eve and the Serpent,
for Cain was the the child of Eve and the Serpent, and not of Eve and Adam;
and therefore when he had slain his brother, who was the first murderer, having
sacrificed living things to his demon, had Cain the mark upon his brow, which
is the mark of the Beast spoken of in the Apocalypse, and is the sign of initiation2.
The shedding of blood is necessary, for God did not hear the children of Eve
until blood was shed3. And that is external religion;
but Cain spake not with God, nor had the mark of initiation upon his brow, so
that he was shunned by all men, until he had shed blood. And this blood was
the blood of his brother. This is a mystery of the sixth key of the Taro, which
ought not to be called The Lovers, but The Brothers4.
In the middle of the card stands Cain; in his right hand is the Hammer of Thor
with which he hath slain his brother, and it is all wet with his blood. And
his left hand he holdeth open as a sign of innocence. And on his right hand
is his mother Eve, around whom the serpent is entwined with his hood spread
behind her head; and on his left hand is a figure somewhat like the Hindoo Kali,
but much more seductive. Yet I know it to be Lilith. And above him is the Great
Sigil of the Arrow, downward, but it is struck through the heart of the child.
This Child is also Abel5.
And the meaning of this part of the card is obscure, but that is the correct
drawing of the Taro card; and that is the correct magical fable from which the
Hebrew scribes, who were not complete Initiates, stole their legend of the Fall
and the subsequent events. They joined different fables together to try and
make a connected story, and they sophisticted them to suit their sociall and
political conditions.
All this while no image hath come unto the Stone, and no voice hath been heard.
I cannot get any idea of the source of what I have been saying. All I can say
is, that there is a sort of dew, like mist, upon the Stone, and yet it has become
hot to the touch6.
All I get is that the Apocalypse was the recension of a dozen or so totally
disconnected allegories, that were pieced together, and ruthlessly planed down
to make them into a connected account; and that recension was re-written and
edited in the interests of Christianity, because people were complaining that
Christianity could show no true spiritual knowledge, or any food for the best
minds: nothing but miracles, which only deceived the most ignorant, and Theology,
which only suited pedants.
So a man got hold of this recension, and turned it Christian, and imitated
the style of John.7 And this explains why the end of
the world does not happen every few years, as advertised8.
There is nothing whatever in the Stone but a White Rose. And a voice comes:
there shall be no more red roses, for she hath crushed all the blood of all
things into her cup.
It seemed at one time as if the rose was in the breast of a beautiful woman,
high-bosomed, tall, stately, yet who danced like a snake. But there was no subsistence
in this vision9.
And now I see the white Rose, as if it were in the beak of a swan, in the picture
by Michael Angelo in Venice. And that legend too is the legend of BABALON.
But all this is before the veil of the Aethyr. Now will I go and make certain
preparations10, and I will return and repeat
the call of the Aethyr yet again.
Biskra.
December 18, 1909. 9:20 - 10:5 a.m.
It is not a question of being unable to get into the Aethyr, and trying to
struggle through; but one is not anywhere near it11.
A voice comes: When thy dust shall strew the earth whereon She walketh, then
mayest thou bear the impress of Her foot. And thou thinkest to behold Her face!
The Stone is become of the most brilliant whiteness, and yet, in that whiteness,
all the other colours are implicit12.
The colour of anything is but its dullness, its obstructiveness. So is it with
these visions. All that they are is falsity. Every idea merely marks
where the mind of the Seer was too stupid to receive the light, and therefore
reflected it. Therefore, as the pure light is colourless, so is the pure soul
black13.
And this is the Mystery of the incest of CHAOS with his daughter14.
There is nothing whatever visible.
But I asked of the Angel that is at my side if the ceremony hath been duly
performed. And he says: Yes, the Aethyr is present. It is thou that canst not
perceive it, even as I cannot perceive it, because it is so entirely beyond
thy conception that there is nothing in thy mind on to which it can cast a symbol,
even as the emptiness of space is not heated by the fire of the sun. And so
pure is the light that it preventeth the formation of images, and therefore
have men called it darkness. For with any lesser light, the mind responds, and
makes for itself divers palaces15.
It is that which is written: "In my Father's house there are many mansions";
and if the house be destroyed, how much more the mansions that are therein!
For this is the victory of BABALON over the Magician that ensorcelled16
her. For as the Mother she is 3 by 52, and as the harlot she is 6 by 26; but
she is also 12 by 13, and that is the pure unity17.
Moreover she is 4 by 39, that is, victory over the power of the 4, and in 2
by 78 hath she destroyed the great Sorcerer18.
Thus is she the synthesis of 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, which being added are 10,
therefore could she set her daughter upon her own throne, and defile her own
bed with her virginity19.
And I ask the Angel if there is any way by which I can make myself worthy to
behold the Mysteries of this Aethyr.
And he saith: It is not in my knowledge. Yet do thou make once more in silence
the Call of the Aethyr, and wait patiently upon the favour of the Angel, for
He is a mighty Angel, and never yet have I heard the whisper of his wing.
This is the translation of the Call of the Aethyr20.
O ye heavens which dwell in the first Aire, and are mighty in the parts of
the earth, and execute therein the judgment of the highest, to you it is said:
Behold the face of your God, the beginning of comfort, whose eyes are the brightness
of the heavens which provided you for the government of the earth, and her unspeakable
variety, furnishing you with a power of understanding, that ye might dispose
all things according to the foresight of Him that sitteth on the Holy Throne,
and rose up in the beginning, saying, The earth, let her be governed by her
parts (this is the prostitution of BABALON to Pan), and let there be division
in her (the formation of the Many from the One), that her glory may be always
ecstasy and the irritation of orgasm. Her course let it round with the heavens
(that is, let her way be always harmonious with heaven), and as an handmaid
let her serve them (that is, the Virgin of Eternity climbing into the bed of
CHAOS). One season let it confound another (that is, let there be unwearying
variety of predicates)21}, and let there be no creature
upon or within her the same (that is, let there be an unwearying variety of
subjects)22. All her members let them differ
in their qualities, and let there be no one creature23
equal with another (for if there were any duplication or omission, there would
be no perfection in the whole). The reasonable creatures of the earth and men,
let them vex and weed out one another (this is, the destruction of reason by
internecine conflicts in the course of redemption). And their dwelling places,
let them forget their names. (This is, the arising of Nemo.) The work of man
and his pomp, let them be defaced. (That is, in the Great Work man must lose
his personality.) His building, let it be a cave for the Beast of the Field.
("His building" means the Vault of the Adepts, and the "Cave"
is the Cave of the Mountain of Abiegnus, and the "Beast" is he upon
whom BABALON rideth, and the "Field" is the supernal Eden.) Confound
her understanding with darkness. (This sentence is explained by what has been
said concerning Binah.) For why, it rejoiceth me concerning the Virgin and the
Man24. (Kelly did not
understand this Call at all, and he would not believe this sentence was written
so, for it seemed to contradict the rest of the Call, so he altered it.) One
while let her be known and another while a stranger, (that is, the Mystery of
the Holy One being at the same time identical with everything and apart from
it), because she is the bed of an harlot, and the dwelling of him that is fallen.
(That is that Mystery which was revealed in the last Aethyr; the universe being,
as it were, a garden wherein the Holy Ones may take their pleasure.) O ye heavens,
arise; the lower heavens beneath you, let them serve you. (This is a command
for the whole of things to join in universal rapture.) Govern those that govern;
cast down such as fall; bring forth those that increase; and destroy the rotten.
(This means that everything shall take its own pleasure in its own way.25) No place let
it remain in one number. ("No place" is the infinite Ain . . . "Let
remain in one number"; that is, let it be concentrated in Kether.) Add
and diminish until the stars be numbered. (It is a mystery of the Logos being
formulated by the Qabalah, because the stars, are all letters of the Holy Alphabet,
as it was said in a former Aethyr.) Arise! Move! and Appear! before the covenant
of his mouth which he hath shewn unto us in his Justice. ("The Covenant"
is the letter Aleph; "His mouth", pe'; "His Justice", lamed;
and these add up again to Aleph, so that it is in the letter Aleph, which is
zero, thus symbolizing the circles of the Aethyrs, that he calleth them forth.
But men thought that Aleph was the initial ARR, cursing, when it was really
the initial of AChD, unity, and AHBH, love. So that it was the most horrible
and wicked blasphemy of the blackest of all the black brothers to begin Barashith
with a beth, with the letter of the Magician. Yet, by this simple device, hath
he created the whole illusion of sorrow.26)
Open the mysteries of your creation, and make us partakers of the undefiled
knowledge. (The word here is "IADNAMAD" is not the ordinary word for
knowledge. It is a word of eight letters, which is the secret name of God, summarized
in the letter cheth; for which see the Aethyr which correspondeth to that letter,
the twelfth Aethyr.27)
Now from time to time I have looked into the Stone, but never is there any
image therein, or any hint thereof; but now there are three arrows, arranged
thus:
[Figure here: Three arrows intersecting in the common centers of the three
shafts. Two are diagonal, forming an "X" with points to top and fledging
to bottom. The third is vertical, bisecting the "X" with point below
and fledging to the top.]
This is the letter Aleph in the Alphabet of Arrows.
(I want to say that while I was doing the translation of the Call of the Aethyrs,
the soles of my feet were burning, as if I were on red hot steel.28)
And now the fire was spread all over me, and parches me, and tortures me. And
my sweat is bitter like poison. And all my blood is acrid in my veins, like
gleet. I seem to be all festering, rotting; and the worms eating me while I
am yet alive.
A voice, neither in myself nor out of myself, is saying: Remember Prometheus;
remember Ixion29.
I am tearing30 at
nothing. I will not heed. For even this dust31 must be consumed
with fire.
And now, although there is no image, at last there is a sense of obstacle,
as if one were at length drawing near to the frontier of the Aethyr.
But I am dying.
I can neither strive nor wait. There is agony in my ears, and in my throat,
and mine eyes have been so long blind that I cannot remember that there ever
was such a thing as sight32.
And it cometh to me that I should go away, and await the coming of the veil
of the Aethyr; not here. I think I will go to the Hot Springs33.
So I put away the Stone upon my breast.
Biskra
10:15-11:52 a.m.
Flashes of lightning are playing in the Stone, at the top; and at the bottom
of the Stone there is a black pyramid34,
and at the top thereof is a vesica piscis. The vesica piscis35
is of colourless brilliance.
The two curves of Pisces are thus:
[Figure here: The Pisces sign without the cross-line. In Essence ") (",
but larger with thick curves.]
They are the same curves as the curves of vesica piscis, but turned round36}.
And a voice comes: How can that which is buried in the pyramids37
behold that which descendeth unto its apex38?
Again it comes to me, without voice: Therefore is motherhood the symbol of
the Masters. For first they must give up their virginity to be destroyed, and
the seed must lie hidden in them until the nine moons wax and wane, and they
must surround it with the Universal Fluid. And they must feed it with the blood
for fire. Then is the child a living thing. And afterwards is much suffering
and much joy, and after that are they torn asunder, and this is all their thank,
that they give it to suck39.
All this while the vision in the Shew-Stone stays as it was, save that the
lightning grows more vehement and clear; and behind the vesica piscis is a black
cross40 extending to
the top and to the edges of the Stone. And now blackness spreads, and swallows
up the images.
Now there is naught but a vast black triangle having the apex downwards41,
and in the centre of the black triangle is the face of Typhon, the Lord of the
Tempest, and he crieth aloud: Despair! Despair! For thou mayest deceive the
Virgin, and thou mayest cojole the Mother; but what wilt thou say unto the ancient
Whore that is throned in Eternity? For if she will not, there is neither force
nor cunning, nor any wit, that may prevail upon her.
Thou canst not woo her with love42, for she is love. And
she hath all, and hath no need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with gold43, for all the Kings and captains
of the earth, and all the gods of heaven, have showered their gold upon her.
Thus hath she all, and hath no need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with knowledge, for knowledge is the thing that
she hath spurned44. She hath it all, and hath no
need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with wit45, for her Lord is Wit.
She hath it all, and hath no need of thee. Despair! Despair!
Nor canst thou cling to her knees and ask for pity; nor canst thou cling to
her heart and ask for love; nor canst thou put thine arms about her neck, and
ask for understanding; for thou had all these46, and they avail thee not. Despair!
Despair!
Then I took the Flaming Sword47, and I let it loose against Typhon,
so that his head was cloven asunder, and the black triangle dissolved in lightnings48.
But as he parted his voice broke out again: Nor canst thou win her with the
Sword, for her eyes are fixed upon the eyes of Him in whose hand is the hilt
of the Sword49. Despair! Despair!
And the echo of that cry was his word, which is identical, although it be diverse:
Nor canst thou win her by the Serpent50,
for it was the Serpent that seduced her first. Despair! Despair!
(Yet he cried thus as he fled:)
I am Leviathan, the great Lost Serpent of the Sea. I writhe eternally in torment,
and I lash the ocean with my tail into a whirlpool of foam that is vemonous
and bitter, and I have no purpose. I go no whither. I can neither live nor die.
I can but rave and rave in my death agony. I am the Crocodile51
that eateth up the children of men. And through the malice of BABALON I hunger,
hunger, hunger.
All this while the Stone is more inert than ever yet; a thousand times more
lifeless than when it is not invoked. Now, when it kindles, it only kindles
into its physical beauty. And now upon the face of it is a great black Rose,
each of whose petals, though it be featureless, is yet a devil-face. And all
the stalks are the black snakes of hell. It is alive, this Rose; a single thought
informs it. It comes to clutch, to murder. Yet, because a single thought alone
informs it, I have hope therein.
I think the Rose has a hundred and fifty-six petals, and though it be black,
it has the luminous blush52.
There it is, in the midst of the Stone, and I cannot see anyone who wears it.
Aha! Aha! Aha! Shut out the sight53!
Holy, Holy, Holy art thou!
Light, Life and Love are like three glow-worms at thy feet: the whole universe
of stars, the dewdrops on the grass whereon thou walkest!
I am quite blind54.
Thou art Nuit! Strain, strain, strain my whole soul55!
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru56.
Falutli! Falutli57!
I cling unto the burning Aethyr like Lucifer that fell through the Abyss, and
by the fury of his flight kindled the air.
And I am Belial, for having seen the Rose upon thy breast, I have denied God.
And I am Satan! I am Satan! I am cast out upon a burning crag! And the sea
boils about the desolation thereof. And already the vultures gather, and feast
upon my flesh.
Yea! Before thee all the most holy is profane, O thou desolator of shrines!
O thou falsifier of the oracles of truth! Ever as I went, hath it been thus.
The truth of the profane was the falsehood of the Neophyte, and the truth of
the Neophyte was the falsehood of the Zelator! Again and again the the fortress
mut be battered down! pylon must be over thrown! Again and again must the gods
be desecrated!
And now I lie supine before thee, in terror and abasement. O Purity! O Truth!
What shall I say? My tongue cleaveth to my jaws, O thou Medusa that hast turned
me to stone! Yet is that stone the stone of the philosophers. Yet is that tongue
Hadit.
Aha! Aha58!
Yea! Let me take the form of Hadit59 before thee, and sing:
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
Nuit! Nuit! Nuit! How art thou manifested in this place! This is a Mystery
ineffable. And it is mine, and I can never reveal it either to God or to man.
It is for thee and me !
Aha! Aha!
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
. . . My spirit is no more; my soul is no more. My life leaps out into annihilation!
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
It is the cry of my body! Save me! I have come too close. I have come too close
to that which may not be endured. It must awake, the body; it must assert itself.
It must shut out the Aethyr, or else it is dead.
Every pulse aches, and beats furiously. Every nerve stings like a serpent.
And my skin is icy cold60.
Neither God nor man can penetrate the Mystery of the Aethyr.
(Here the Seer mutters unintelligibly.)
And even that which understandeth cannot hear its voice. For to the profane
the voice of the Neophyte is called silence, and to the Neophyte the voice of
the Zelator is called silence. And so ever is it.
Sight is fire, and is the first angle of the Tablet61; spirit is hearing,
and is the centre thereof; thou, therefore, who art all spirit and fire, and
hast no duller elements in thy star; thou art come to sight at the end of thy
will. And if thou wilt hear the voice of the Aethyr62,
do thou invoke it in the night, having no other light but the light of the half
moon. Then mayest thou hear the voice, though it may be that thou understandeth
it not. Yet shall it be a potent spell, whereby thou mayest lay bare the womb
of thy understanding to the violence of CHAOS.
Now, therefore, for the last time, let the veil of the Aethyr be torn.
Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha!
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru63.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
This Aethyr must be left unfinished then until the half moon.
Hammam Salahin.
December 18, 1909 3:10 - 4:25 p.m.
An olvah nu arenu olvah. Diraeseu adika va paretanu poliax poliax in vah rah
ahum subre fifal. Lerthexanax. Mama ra-la hum fifala maha64.
All this is the melody of a flute, very faint and clear. And there is sort
of a sub-tinkle of a bell.
And there is a string instrument, somewhat like a zither. And there is a human
voice.
And the voice comes: this is the Song of the Sphinx, which she singeth ever
in the ears of men.
And it is the song of the syrens. And whoever heareth it is lost65.
I III
Mu pa telai, O chi balae
Tu wa melai Wa pa malae: --
A, a, a Ut! Ut! Ut!
Tu fu tulu! Ge; fu latrai,
Tu fu Tulu Le fu malai
Pa, Sa, Ga. Kut! -- Hut! -- Nut.
II IV
Qwi Mu telai AI OAI
Ya Pa melai; Rel moai
u, u, u. Ti -- Ti -- Ti!
'Se gu melai; Wa la pelai
Pe fu telai, Tu fu latai
Fu tu lu. Wi, Ni, Bi.
Translation of Song.
I
Silence! the moon ceaseth (her motion),
That also was sweet
In the air, in the air, in the air!
Who Will shall attain!
Who Will shall attain
By the Moon, and by Myself, and by the Angel of the Lord!
II
Now Silence ceaseth
And the moon waxeth sweet;
(It is the hour of) Initiation, Initiation, Initiation.
The kiss of Isis is honeyed;
My own Will is ended,
For Will hath attained.
III
Behold the lion-child swimmeth (in the heaven)
And the moon reeleth: --
(It is) Thou! (It is) Thou! (It is) Thou!
Triumph; the Will stealeth away (like a thief),
The Strong Will that staggered
Before Ra Hoor Khuit! -- Hadit! -- Nuit!
IV
To the God OAI66
Be praise
In the end and the beginning!
And may none fall
Who Will attain
The Sword, the Balances, the Crown!
And that which thou hearest is but the dropping of the dews from my limbs,
for I dance in the night, naked upon the grass, in shadowy places, by running
streams.
Many are they who have loved the nymphs of the woods, and of the wells, and
of the fountains, and of the hills. And of these some were nympholept. For it
was not a nymph, but I myself that walked upon the earth taking my pleasure.
So also there were many images of Pan, and men adored them, and as a beautiful
god he made their olives bear double and their vines increase; but some were
slain by the god, for it was I that had woven the garlands about him67.
Now cometh a song.
So sweet is this song that no one could resist it. For in it is all the passionate
ache for the moonlight, and the great hunger of the sea, and the terror of desolate
places, --- all things that lure men to the unattainable.
Omari tessala marax,
tessala dodi phornepax.
amri radara poliax
armana piliu.
amri radara piliu son';
mari narya barbiton
madara anaphax sarpedon
andala hriliu.
Translation
I am the harlot that shaketh Death.
This shaking giveth the Peace of Satiate Lust.
Immortality jetteth from my skull,
And music from my vulva.
Immortality jetteth from my vulva also,
For my Whoredom is a sweet scent like a seven-stringed instrument,
Played unto God the Invisible, the all-ruler,
That goeth along giving the shrill scream of orgasm.
Every man that hath seen me forgetteth me never, and I appear oftentimes in
the coals of the fire, and upon the smooth white skin of woman, and in the constancy
of the waterfall, and in the emptiness of deserts and marshes, and upon great
cliffs that look seaward; and in many strange places, where men seek me not.
And many thousand times he beholdeth me not. And at last I smite myself into
him as a vision smiteth into a stone, and whom I call must follow.
Now I perceive myself standing in a Druid circle, in an immense open plain.
A whole series of beautiful visions of deserts and sunsets and islands in the
sea, green beyond imagination . . . . But there is no subsistence in them68.
A voice goes on: this is the holiness of fruitless love and aimless toil. For
in doing the thing for the things's sake is concentration, and this is the holiest
of them that suit not the means to the end. For therein is faith and sympathy
and a knowledge of the true Magick69.
Oh my beloved, that fliest in the air like a dove, beware of the falcon! oh
my beloved, that springest upon the earth like a gazelle, beware of the lion!
There are hundreds of visions, trampling over one another. In each one the
Angel of the Aethyr is mysteriously hidden.
Now I will describe the Angel of the Aethyr until the voice begins again.
He is like one's idea of Sappho and Calypso, and all seductive and deadly things70;
heavy eye-lids, long lashes, a face like ivory, wonderful barbaric jewellery,
intensely red lips, a very small mouth, tiny ears, a Grecian face. Over the
shoulders is a black robe with a green collar; the robe is spangled with golden
stars; the tunic is a pure soft blue.
Now the whole Aethyr is swallowed up in a forest of unquenchable fire, and
fearlessly through it all a show-white eagle flies. And the eagle cries: the
house also of death71.
Come away! The volume of the book is open, the Angel waiteth without, for the
summer is at hand. Come away! For the Aeon is measured, and thy spans allotted.
Come away! For the mighty sounds have entered into every angle72. And they have
awakened the Angels of the Aethyrs that slept these three hundred years73.
For in the Holy letter Shin, that is the Resurrection in the Book of Thoth,
that is the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, that is three hundred in the tale of
the years74, hath the tomb
been opened, so that this great wisdom might be revealed.
Come away! For the Second Triad is completed, and there remaineth only the
Lord of the Aeon, the Avenger, the Child both Crowned and Conquering, the Lord
of the Sword and the Sun, the Babe in the Lotus, pure from his birth, the Child
of suffering, the Father of justice, unto whom be the glory throughout all the
Aeon75!
Come away! For that which was to be accomplished is accomplished, seeing that
thou hadst faith unto the end of all.
In the letter N the Voice of the Aethyr is ended76.
Biskra, Algeria.
December 20, 1909. 8:35 - 9:15 p.m.
ARN = {Taurus}{Pisces}{Scorpio}. See the
allusions to Bull, Fish and Serpent in the first paragraph. But {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Qof}{HEB:Nun}
= 156 = BABALON, also here mentioned; and the whole Aethyr is devoted to HER.
This is the "Third Eye", the "Eye
of Shiva", the Pineal Gland, supposed by some anatomists to be a rudimentary
eye.
The "Bloody Sacrifice" is commonly
regarded as "Black Magic". But this depends upon the Formula used
by the Magician. All taking of life could be reprehensible even though necessary
were it not for the Formula of Evolution. One should assume into one's own
Being, ceremonially, the whole Karma of the creature slain; thus building
it up into a higher organic structure, and thus helping it to fulfill its
True Will of Aspiration to a higher Form of Life. This is, of course, a gross
and material method of working, but it is the only method available in such
cases. The animal is in any case doomed to death, and the most fortunate,
the most directly profitable to it, is this immediate translation of its Prana
(in an actual ceremony) or the basis of its Prana (in simple consumption at
the table) into a living organism of superior type. It is important not to
allow this Prana to escape.
There is another, even more important, attribution
of this card.
The Bowman is the father ({HEB:Yod} of {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh} {HEB:Yod})
and the Man, the Son ({HEB:Vau}). The Women are Isis and Nephthys ({HEB:Heh}
and {HEB:Heh} final); and the whole symbolizes a Formula of the Highest Magick,
too obscure and too elaborate to treat in this elementary document.
This child is really Seth, Set, Sol, Hadit.
Abel's blood was the seed of this Seth. Remember that Abel = Baal
"Miracles" of this order constantly
occur in the course of operations of Magick. They are by-products.
There is no question in my mind that this
explanation is correct from the viewpoint of profane scholarship. "Angels"
who offer absurd theories about material affairs are false elementals who
amuse themselves at the expense of the naivet of the would-be- Magician.
In any case forecasts of the future cannot
be made from Qabalistic data, which have nothing to do with terrestrial measures
of time; e.g. to say that King Brahmadatta reigned 120,000 years in Benares,
only means that he reigned in a manner congruous with the ideas symbolized
by 120 and, on a very grand scale, as indicated by the multiplication by 1000.
The allusion may be to one of those who occupied
for a time the post of "Scarlet Woman". See Book 4, part
4, for a list of these women. (Note. - A.C. pencilled in the margin of his
Eqx. here "Myriam Deroxe?" Opposite the next paragraph
re. the white Rose he annotated "Leila Waddell?"
In fact, the Seer was the prey of an intolerable
uneasiness akin to fear. He was intuitively aware of the terrific nature of
the Aethyr, and felt oppressed by the responsibility of seeing and hearing
accurately in a manner of such dread importance. He felt even before penetrating
the Aire, that he was already near the limit of his powers.
It was not that the Call of the Aethyr had
been ill performed, or that its virtue and efficacy were impaired. It was
that the Seer being attached to his human instrument, that instrument automatically
strove with all its might to escape the impact of so tremendous and so dire
an energy which would infallibly be transmitted (to a certain small extent)
through the Seer to it. In the same way, in a much lesser manner, there is
a limit to the degree of pain a man can inflict on himself, as experiments
with the Boulometer (the instrument invented by the Seer to measure this virtue)
have shewn. (Note - it was a self-adjustable thumb screw. - Note by Yorke)
This means more than the obvious. "The
colours of the spectrum compose pure White Light." The Seer could see
these colours directly, at the same time as the White. Another case of hypperabyssic
logic.
This doctrine is most profound and important.
It throws light upon the mystery of evil, and upon the nature of Maya in general.
Chaos is here the Yod of Tetragrammaton,
his daughter the final H. This passage is to be studied closely in connection
with the previous passages and notes with regard to the formula of {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod};indeed
one should preform samyama upon this whole matter.
Note well this thesis. Anything which is
not Pure Nothing is ipso facto unbalanced, and therefore imperfect --- indeed
illusory.
The path of Beth. Contrast this way of illusion
forcibly with the obsession of Microprosopus by Dath. (There are also the
difficulties of the Son with the glamour of the path of Gimel and of the Father
with the path of Aleph. See 3rd Aire concerning the Three Ways of Delusion
that guard the Crown.)
52 = {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph},
the fertile mother = 3 = Binah. 26 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod};
also {HEB:Dalet} {HEB:Bet}{HEB:Koph} = Kabad, the husband of the impure Lilith,
and 1 plus 6 plus 9 plus 10, the Sephiroth of the Middle Pillar, the Phallus.
6 = 1 plus 2 plus 3, the Mystic number of Binah; also {Sun} who shines on
all alike: {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Gemel} to collect, {HEB:Bet} {HEB:Dalet}
a bear (Venus in Furs), and {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Heh} a window, the illicit way
of ingress into a house. 12 = {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Heh} the title of Kether,
the Unity; 13 = {HEB:Dalet} {HEB:Chet} {HEB:Aleph} = Unity.
39 = {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Chet}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}
{HEB:Yod} "Tetragrammaton is One", although He is composed of 4
letters, hence the triumph over the power of 4, limitation. But this explanation
is not as clear, satisfactory and convincing with that singular feeling of
ecstatic illumination which one rightly demands of the Qabalistic demonstration.
There should be some further gematria of 39 not yet discovered. 2 is Beth,
Atu I, Mayan the Great Scorceror. 78 = Mezla ({HEB:Aleph} {HEB:Lamed} {HEB:Zain}
{HEB:Mem}) the Influence from Kether, and the number of the Tarot Cards. I.e.,
she destroys him by his own energies. {WEH Note: In traditional Qabalah Mezla
is not the Influence from Kether, but the omnipresence of Limitless Light
of Ain.}
Because she includes her daughter (10) in
her own formula, she can use the daughter for Her own purposes.
This reversal of the evident exoteric meaning
of the Call is stupendous. This book, 418, is full of similar interpretations
"by the rule of contraries". But this rule must be applied with
skill and discretion, if error is to be avoided. It is a lamentable fact that
a worthy Zelator of A.{SUP:.}. A.{SUP:.}., one Frater Achad, having been taught
(patiently enough) by the Seer to use this formula, was lured by his vanity
to suppose that he had discovered it himself, and proceeded to apply it indiscriminately.
He tried to stand the Serpent of Wisdom on its head, and argued that as he
was a 1x = 10{square x} of the Order, he must equally be a 10x = 1{square
x}. As The Book of Lies says, "I wrenched DOG backwards to find
God; now God barks!" He would have been better advised to reverse his
adored ONE and taken a dose of ENO! (ENO, an English purgative. T.)
The infinity of Nuit.
The infinity of Hadit.
i.e. an "Event, the fundamental unit
of Manifested Existence.
In Kelly's original: "It repenteth
Me that I have made Man." Kelly was in constant trouble with his education
as an orthodox Christian; also Dee forced him to reject the True Messengers,
whose discourse implied antinomian Pantheism.
One general application of the Law of Thelema.
It is a stupid error to try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; it hurts
both parties to the transaction. The basic blunder is to set up an arbitrary
ideal standard of "what ought to be". The "evil beginnings"
on all planes have a proper and a useful function. A strong healthy man cannot
be made by putting him in irons and protecting him artificially from all the
"dangers of life."
The passage is criticism of an obscure doctrine
of the Qabalah. There is however a real mystery behind the rhetoric. {WEH
Note: The doctrine in Qabalah is that the Aleph remained in the mouth of the
Creator, and Beth was the first letter to manifest. This comes partly from
Aleph being the first letter and partly from Aleph being unpronouncable without
another letter. Aleph is a pure aspirant. Beth in Hebrew signifies "in"
as in "in the beginning". What does all This bear on Crowley's use
of "Hadit" from the Stele, in place of the more common "BaHadit",
Egyptian for entrance into the Winged Disk of the Sun?}
All these passages in brackets are the currente
lingua explanations of the Seer (to himself) as each new phrase of the
text was delivered by the Angel. To understand how startling it all was to
him, one must remember that he had been using this Call, in its own obvious
sense, for many weeks, and always with the utmost force and solemnity. His
only warning had been the intuitive feeling that the Call was really a rejoicing
at the opening of the 9th Aire. And he had thought this merely subjective,
due to the relief of having passed through the Abyss.
This was certainly due to no ordinary cause.
The Seer was lying on the roof of the Hotel Royal at Biskra in the shade of
the minaret. It was a cool bright morning.
Prometheus stole the fire of Jupiter. Ixion
attempted the virtue of Juno. The Seer, in trying to penetrate this most holy
Aire, was similarly presumptious.
He was using the Sign of the Rending of
the Veil, (See Liber O, Eqx. I, No. 2) against the obscurity of the
Aire.
i.e. the Magister Templi. See 6th Aethyr
et al. supra. Only a Magus can truly pierce the veil of BABALON. It is written
(of Isis), "No man (i.e., Nemo, the Magister Templi) hath lifted my veil."
But to lift it and look upon HER is one thing; to possess HER another!
The physical exhaustion of the Seer was
complete. He realized that further effort was impossible; and --- more also!
--- that had he suddenly succeeded, while in this state, the fury of the impact
of the Energy of the Aire would have been instantly destructive of his physical
form.
Hammam Salahin: Sulphurous waters, admirably
apt to the idea of BABALON, whom the Seer intuitively understood to be the
Soul of this Second Aire.
Black for Binah. The pyramid for the phallus,
for she is also androgyne. Or, as an unit of Her City, beneath the Night of
Pan. See 14th Aire.
The most perfect and mysterious of the symbols
of the Feminine Principle. Its mathematical correspondences are of the greatest
importance. See The Canon and several other treatises on Qabalistic
Geometry.
This is the last desperate attempt of the
Rauch of the Seer to escape the Terror of the Presence of Babalon.
i.e. the Magister Templi.
This apparently simple phrase conceals an
allusion of the most sublime and terrific import. See AL I, 14, 16,
19. Also The Book of Lies, caps. 4 and 15. Mohammed said, "Cursed
be he that maketh himself Earth, and Woman Heaven!" For he understood
this Formula as of enormous Magical Power and wished to keep it from the profane,
who might abuse it, or injure themselves by ignorant of imprudent application.
See The Book of Lies, Cap. 3.
This seems to refer to Thmaist, whose Aeon
will succeed that of Horus. She is Atu VIII referring to Libra, the House
of Venus. In her also, then, is BABALON the Ageless Virgin-Harlot, our Mother
as our Concubine.
Cf. 3rd Aire, the vision of Lilith. This
triangle seems to symbolize Limitation or Restriction; or so the sequel implies.
The path of {HEB:Dalet}, Daleth. BABALON
is thus shewn as more than merely Binah.
Tiphareth is below Her.
Dath, the outcast into the Abyss, beneath
Her.
Chokmah, the Highest Wisdom.
As shewn in the previous note, the Magister
Templi, though he can lift Her Veil and behold Her with understanding, is
unable to meet Her as an equal and possess Her.
This has its hilt in Kether, and its point
in Malkuth. the Seer uses the entire Hierarchy of Existence against the destroyer
of Osiris.
His energy is transmuted into the primeval
Manifestation of the Divine Will.
i.e. She is wholly set upon Kether. Only
when Her Lover is wholly in His loftiest Selfhood can He possess Her.
The Serpent of Wisdom, the 22 Paths which
join the 10 Sephiroth. It is thus the complement of the Flaming Sword. The
legend of Heva and Nachash is drawn from the mystical Doctrine here in question.
This Serpent is the totality of Magical Manifestation, the Beauty of the 22
Palaces (Atu) of Wisdom. She is at once the Mother and the Sister of Her adulterous
Lord, Mayan, the Logos who created the universe of illusion.
Generally speaking, the monsters which inhabit
water symbolize evil --- in all senses, from the grossest to the most exalted.
They represent the falling into Passivity; whereras the Activity of Energy
is the Idea of Joy.
This Black Rose is then the veil of BABALON
Herself. It is the repulsiveness which is one half of Fascination.
Thus suddenly - BABALON - breaks through
to her lover.
This is meant in its normal physical sense.
The Seer supposed at the time that he had actually lost his sight.
Against the appalling conviction that he
had been stricken blind for his presumption in daring to aspire to BABALON
in so intimate a sense he gathered himself together in a furious assault upon
Her.
From the Stele of Revealing.
The outburst of the orgasm (see Note 3,
page 38). It continued unabated throughout the whole of the vision. The Seer
was all this time seated in the water of the hot spring, struggling with all
the pressure on his body, and roaring aloud in the intensity of his agony
or ecstasy. This helped him to endure physically the continuous spasm of Joy.
AHA = {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Aleph} =
7. It is therefore a God-name of Venus. Interpreted by Yetziratic attribution,
it is "The Crossing of our Lady ({HEB:Heh} = the Supernal Mother) in
the air ({HEB:Aleph})." It is also the Pentagram between two Swastikas.
The symbolism of this word, simple as it is, is far too extensive to discuss
adequately in a note. It must be studied intimately and at length by the Postulant
Hadit is a mathematical expression rather
than a God. By his form is meant the Winged Globe, which is used in the Stele
of Revealing to represent Him.
This was in a pool almost inconveniently
hot to the normal sense.
Meaning, the four watchtowers of the universe
(Eqx. I, VII). For the attributions of the Senses to the Elements
see 777. The growing intelligibility of the words indicates the exhaustion
of the rapture of the Seer. The gradual withdrawal of the immanence of BABALON.
Hitherto, the intellectual content of the
Aethyr has been marked by the Moral (or rather Spiritual) Ravishment of the
Seer by BABALON.
At this point the Seer sank back exhausted.
The Scribe, fearing that he might be drowned, assisted him to come out of
the Pool.
This began instantly on the resumption of
the Vision. We must assume that the Angel of the Aire, or one of His ministers,
undertook the task of preparing the Seer for the "voice of the Aethyr"
in this manner. --- It is the language of the Sappho-Calypso angel, commonly
called Bathyllic. Its translation is: "Now it glides in to the heaven-home,
glides. Seducingly the mentrila of the begotten one of the Holy Head (or Skull)
takes hold of the soft tissues, subtly plying its shuttle. Light follows the
explosion. The soft tissues, cleaving to the shuttle, pump out every drop
of water from the well."
The Magical Fascination of the whole Aethyr
is something quite apart from, and beyond, almost anything else in the experience
of the seer. The effort upon him, 31 Equinoxes later, of writing these notes,
is quite extraordinary. The memory of it diminishes the value of the rest
of his life, with few excepted incidents, almost to nothing.
The reversal of the formula of IAO (see
Book 4, part 3) implies roughly, the general Mystical, as opposed
to the general Magical, Process.
From this it would appear that BABALON (who
is speaking through one of Her ministers) is the Feminine (or Androgyne) equivalent
and not merely complement --- of Pan. This is shewn in many of Her images.
These visions are semi-distractions, due
to the Seer's human weakness, which could not endure the rapture of the Voice.
"Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy." AL,
II, 70. During the great revelation of the Cairo Working, the Seer had been
similarly ravished, and fainted under the excess of Enthusiasm.
AL I, 44. "For pure will,
unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect."
This doctrine is fundamental to all working soever. Its neglect vitiates (by
a paradox curious enough) all fruitfulness in any operation. One may indeed
distinguish work worthy of being performed from menial toil (such as that
of statesmen, financiers, and sewer rats) by this criterion. (Faith, spelt
empirically {GRK:phi} {GRK:alpha} {GRK:iota} {GRK:theta} --- a practice not
to be commended or even defended -- it being of the nature of paranomasia
-- is equivalent to {HEB:Resh}{HEB:Shin} {HEB:Koph} --- lawful.)
BABALON, "in whom all power is given,"
is the Teh, Sakhi, {HEB:Heh}. She is seductive and deadly, being the Disturber
of the Total Equilibrium of the Absolute Zero, which considered as a positive
Idea, is Existence in perfect Peace, an immutable Essence. But He cannot truly
exist without Her; and through Her therefore comes Change, which is Love and
Death.
See the 11th Call, which invokes {Spirit}
of {Water}, the Princess of the Lotus of the Floods. (The reading is a variant
of that given in the official A{.·.} A{.·.} ritual.) The Eagle is snow-white
for Her purity; and He is the White Eagle of the Alchemists.
See the Keys or Calls, especially the 5th
and 6th, where the angels (of the watchtowers) are specifically mentioned.
That is, since the working of Sir Edward
Kelly and Dr. John Dee.
Shin=300. Also Shin is Atu XX - the Last
Judgment (or Resurrection, as implied in the usual form of the Atu). Shin
is Spirit in the regular attribution (the triple tongue of Fire; see the Acts
of the Apostles). 300=Ruach Elohim (Resh, Vau, Cheth and Aleph, Lamed, Heh,
Yod, Mem), the spirit of the gods.
The Seer had absolutely forgotten this prophecy,
and was amazed at the final identification of the child in LIL with Hoor.
This implies that the Voice of the Aethyr
ends never! For N is the vinration which continues through the nostrils. See
Magick in Theory and Practice, pp. 45-47, on the word AUMGN; whereby the Seer
rebuked and perfected the AUM of the Rishis. N Equals Nun, the letter of sexual
immortality, the formula of perfection through putrefaction.
The Cry of the 1st Aethyr,
Which is Called LIL1
First, let praise and worship and honour and glory and great thank be given
unto the Holy One, who hath permitted us to come thus far, who hath revealed
unto us the ineffable mysteries, that they might be disclosed before men. And
we humbly beseech His infinite goodness that he will be pleased to manifest
unto us even the Mystery of the First Aethyr.
(Here followeth the Call of the Aethyr.)2
The veil of the Aethyr is like the veil of night, dark azure, full of countless
stars. And because the veil is infinite, at first one seeth not the winged globe
of the sun that burneth in the centre thereof. Profound peace filleth me, ---
beyond ecstasy, beyond thought, beyond being itself, IAIDA. (This word means
"I am", but in a sense entirely beyond being.)
(Note. --- In Hebrew letters it adds to 26. In Hebrew letters the
name of the Aethyr is 70, ayin; but by turning the Yetziratic attributions of
the letters into Hebrew, it gives 663,
is the sum of the numbers from 0 to 11.)
Yes; there is peace. There is no tendency of any sort, much less any
observation or feeling or impression. There is only a faint consciousness, like
the scent of jasmine.
The body of the Seer is rested in a waking sleep that is deeper than sleep,
and his mind is still; he seems like a well in the desert, shaded by windless
palms.
And it is night; and because the night is the whole night of space, and not
the partial night of earth, there is no thought of dawn. For the light of the
Sun maketh illusion, blinding man's eyes to the glory of the stars. And unless
he be in the shadow of the earth, he cannot see the stars. So, also, unless
he be hidden from the light of life, he cannot behold Nuit. Here, then, do I
abide in unalterable midnight, utterly at peace.
I have forgotten where I am, and who I am. I am hanging in nothing.
Now the veil opens of itself. (To Scribe. Come nearer; I don't want to have
to speak so loudly.)
It is a little child covered with lilies and roses. He is supported by countless
myriads of Archangels. The Archangels are all the same colourless brilliance,
and every one of them is blind. Below the Archangels again are many, many other
legions, and so on far below, so far that the eye cannot pierce. And on his
forehead, and on his heart, and in his hand, is the secret sigil of the Beast.4
And of all this the glory is so great that all the spiritual senses fail, and
their reflections in the body fail.
It is very strange. In my heart is rapture, holy and ineffable, absolutely
beyond emotion; beyond even that bliss called Ananda, infinitely calm and pure.
Yet at the gates of mine eyes stand tears, like warriors upon the watch, that
lean on their spears, listening5.
The great and terrible Angel keeps on looking at me, as if to bar me from the
vision. There is another forcing my head down in sleep.
(It's very difficult to talk at all, because an impression takes such an immense
time to travel from the will to the muscles. Naturally, I've no idea of time.)
I have gone up again to the child, led by two Angels, abasing my head.
This child seems to be the child that one attempted to describe in "The
Garden of Janus".6
Every volition is inhibited. I have tried to say a lot, but it has always got
lost on the way.
Holy art thou, O more beautiful than all the stars of the Night!
There has never been such peace, such silence. But these are positive
things. Singing praises of things eternal amid the flames of first glory, and
every note of every song is a fresh flower in the garland of peace.
This child danceth not, but it is because he is the soul of the two dances,
--- the right hand and the left hand, and in him they are one dance, the dance
without motion.
There is dew on all the fire. Every drop is the quintessence of the ecstasy
of stars.
Yet a third time am I led to him, prostrating myself seven times at every step.
There is a perfume in the air, reflected down even to the body of the seer.
That perfume thrills his body with an ecstasy that is like love, like sleep.
And this is the song:
I am the child of all who am the father of all, for from me come forth all
things, that I might be. I am the fountain in the snows, and I am the eternal
sea. I am the lover, and I am the beloved, and I am the first- fruits of their
love. I am the first faint shuddering of the Light, and I am the loom wherein
night weaveth her impenetrable veil.
I am the captain of the hosts of eternity; of the swordsmen and the spearmen
and the bowmen and the charioteers. I have led the armies of the east against
the armies of the west, and the armies of the west against the armies of the
east. For I am Peace.
My groves of olive were planted by an harlot, and my horses were bred by a
thief. I have trained my vines upon the spears of the Most High, and with my
laughter have I slain a thousand men.
With the wine in my cup have I mixed the lightnings, and I have carved my bread
with a sharp sword.
With my folly have I undone the wisdom of the Magus, even as with my judgments
I have overwhelmed the universe. I have eaten the pomegranate in the House of
Wrath, and I have crushed out the blood of my mother between mill-stones to
make bread.
There is nothing that I have not trampled beneath my feet. There is nothing
that I have not set a garland on my brow. I have wound all things about my waist
as a girdle. I have hidden all things in the cave of my heart. I have slain
all things because I am Innocence. I have lain with all things because I am
Untouched Virginity. I have given birth to all things because I am Death.
Stainless are my lips, for they are redder than the purple of the vine, and
of the blood wherewith I am intoxicated. Stainless is my forehead, for it is
whiter than the wind and the dew that cooleth it.
I am light, and I am night, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am speech, and I am silence, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am life, and I am death, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am war, and I am peace, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am weakness, and I am strength, and I am that which is beyond them.
Yet by none of these can man reach up to me. Yet by each of them must man reach
up to me.
Thou shalt laugh at the folly of the fool. Thou shalt learn the wisdom of the
Wise. And thou shalt be initiate in holy things. And thou shalt be learned in
the things of love. And thou shalt be mighty in the things of war. And thou
shalt be adept in things occult. And thou shalt interpret the oracles. And thou
shalt drive all these before thee in thy car, and though by none of these canst
thou reach up to me, yet by each of these must thou attain to me. And thou must
have the strength of the lion, and the secrecy of the hermit. And thou must
turn the wheel of life. And thou must hold the balances of Truth. Thou must
pass through the great Waters, a Redeemer. Thou must have the tail of the scorpion,
and the poisoned arrows of the Archer, and the dreadful horns of the Goat. And
so shalt thou break down the fortress that guardeth the Palace of the King my
son. And thou must work by the light of the Star and of the Moon and of the
Sun, and by the dreadful light of judgment that is the birth of the Holy Spirit
within thee. When these shall have destroyed the universe, then mayest thou
enter the palace of the Queen my daughter7.
Blessed, blessed, blessed; yea, blessed; thrice and four times blessed is he
that hath attained to look upon thy face. For I will hurl thee forth from my
presence as a whirling thunderbolt to guard the ways, and whom thou smitest
shall be smitten indeed. And whom thou lovest shall be loved indeed. And whether
by smiting or by love thou workest, each one shall see my face, a glimmer through
a thousand veils. And they shall rise up from love's sleep or death's, and gird
themselves with a girdle of snake-skin for wisdom, and they shall wear the white
tunic of purity, and the apron of flaming orange for will, and over their shoulders
shall they cast the panther's skin of courage. And they shall wear the nemyss
of secrecy and the ateph crown of truth. And on their feet shall they put sandals
made of the skin of breasts, that they may trample upon all they were, yet also
that its toughness shall support them, and protect their feet, as they pass
upon the mystical way that lieth through the pylons. And upon their breasts
shall be the Rose and Cross of light and life, and in their hands the hermit's
staff and lamp. Thus shall they set out upon the never-ending journey, each
step of which is an unutterable reward8.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy; yea, thrice and four times holy art thou, because thou
hast attained to look upon my face; not by my favour only, not by thy magick
only, may this be won. Yet it is written: "Unto the persevering mortal
the blessed Immortals are swift."
Mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty; yea, thrice and four times mighty art thou.
He that riseth up against thee shall be thrown down, though thou raise not so
much as thy little finger against him. And he that speaketh evil against thee
shall be put to shame, though thy lips utter not the littlest syllable against
him. And he that thinketh evil concerning thee shall be confounded in his thought,
although in thy mind arise not the least thought of him9.
And they shall be brought unto subjection unto thee, and serve thee, though
thou willest it not. And it shall be unto them a grace and a sacrament, and
ye shall all sit down together at the supernal banquet, and ye shall feast upon
the honey of the gods, and be drunk upon the dew of immortality --- FOR I AM
HORUS, THE CROWNED AND CONQUERING CHILD, WHOM THOU KNEWEST NOT!
Pass thou on, therefore, O thou Prophet of the Gods, unto the Cubical Altar
of the Universe; there shalt thou receive every tribe and kingdom and nation
into the mighty Order that reacheth from the frontier fortresses that guard
the Uttermost Abyss unto My Throne.
This is the formula of the Aeon, and with that the voice of LIL, that is the
Lamp of the Invisible Light, is ended. Amen.
Biskra, Algeria.
December 19, 1909. 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
LIL = {Cancer}{Aquarius}{Cancer} = 76 = {HEB:Nun-
final}{HEB:Vau} {HEB:Yod}{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Chet} = Secret, a refuge; {HEB:Chet}{HEB:Chet}
{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun} rest, peace; and {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Ayin}, a Servant
(in the noble sense). In Hebrew LIL would be 70, the eye of Horus, {HEB:Ayin}.
But see a previous note on the twelvefold table, 15th Aethyr, where these
letters rule the Universe. (scil. that of the present Aeon.)
The Seer was only too well aware that, considering
the dire straits to which he was put to obtain the Second Aire, he was surely
incapable of penetrating the First. In fact, only a full Magus could pierce
the Second properly, and for the First, none but an Ipsissimus would be competent.
This apprehension was in fact justified. Only now and then was he able to
live at the level of LIL; much of the Vision and the Voice here printed is
but a pale reflection in Rauch (and even that at the cost of infinite effort)
of the Word of the Angel of the Aethyr. These "Ersatz-words" are
indicated in the present edition by square brackets.
i.e. by taking L as Luna. In the note in
the title, we have taken it as {Cancer}, experience having shewn that this
mode is more accurate. L is {Moon} in her decrease, and {Cancer} her house.
But the Enochian alphabet is referred to the Zodiac and the Elements; only
indirectly to the planets; and it is imprudent to make any exception.
Sun and moon conjoined
There are long intervals between many of
these paragraphs, the Seer having been lost to Being. The reader will note
that "The Great and Terrible Angel" has not been mentioned, but
comes in suddenly. This was because the Seer's speech was inaudible, or never
occurred. This angel was the "Higher Genius" of the Seer.
See the Winged Beetle and Eqx.
I, No. 3, where this poem is given at length.
This passage is quite spurious, a vague and
false reflection of the true voice, which was a lyrical sequence of the Atus
of Thoth{WEH Note: In this Word lurks a Pun that is Key to all the Work.}
This passage is not wholly wrong; it is the
poor expression, which is to be deplored.
This prophecy has proved true in many cases,
often in the most strange and unexpected ways.
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