Liber L., Cap. 2
HADIT
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This verse is the obvious complement of Cap. I, v. 1. Cross-reference should be made to the portion of htis record addressing that verse, in order to put in perspective this completion or complementation.
This chapter is witnessed from the point of view of Nuit. It is within Her that Hadit is hidden. Even as Cap. I, v. 1 was v. 1 of the entire Book of the Law — corresponding to Hadit as Kether — so is this v. 67 of the Book overall. 67 is the value of Binah (BYNH).
Hadit is the Hidden One, Hades. THis identification is of tremendous importance. He is Lord of Hell, the Hidden Place, the unconscious, etc. Even the obvious Mercurial elements we shall see are due to Hermes being a guide of the dead, conductor in the realm of Hades. The chief difference, however, is that where Hades is purely God of the Dead, Had is God of Life. This, too, is part of what we shall encounter in the verses ahead.
GEMATRIA: Hades is alternately [Greek letters] `ADHS = 213 or `AIDHS = 223. The name literally means, “the unseen.”
666 has a brief but sound discussion of all this in the New Comment (N.C.), where he observes, “Every individual manifests the whole; and the whole conceals every individual. The soul interprets the universe; and the universe veils the soul. Nature understands herself by becoming self-conscious in her units; and the consciousness loses its sense of separateness by dissolution in Her.” (4/3/95 EV; tweaked slightly 12/11/07 EV)
Immediately the tone is utterly changed! This verse is practically the patter of a circus barker, even a little clownish. This effect swarms around the first person pronoun which is at the heart of the verse and stands in acute contrast to the whole flavor of Nuit’s words in Cap. I.
Presumably the first sentence merely summons our attention to the fact that there is a further Mystery than that of Nuit. Beyond that which si revealed is that which is Hidden, SVD = 70 = Capricorn, Set = Had, &c.
It is in this verse that we are told certain basics which we have long come to take for granted. Hadit is the complement of Nuit. He speaks of Nuit as his “bride,” which further establishes the particular nature of their polarity.
He is an unextended point. “Unextended” refers to more than spatial dimensions. AC had already developed, in his essay Berashith, the concept of every characteristic whatsoever being a “dimension” in which an object could be “extended.” The idea of “the unextended” (or unconditioned) he represented mathematically as 00 (zero to the zeroth power). Mathematically this equals 1; and qabalistically “the unextended” is the Point which we call Kether, Sephirah 1.
[NOTE: Any number to the zeroth power equals 1, xince x0 = xy-y = xy ÷ xy = 1; and 00 = 1 by definition (since division by 0 is undefined, and it otherwise conforms to the general case of x÷x).]
His “House” is Khabs, the (Light of the) Star which is at the heart of every man and every woman. (We are later told, in v. 6, that he is “the core of every star.”) This identifies Him as the inmost point of each of us. A more complex development is possible here which He elaborated for me in the writing of the 3° (Artisan) ritual of T.'.O.'.T.'.; but I can say simply in this place that Khabs is closely related to Kokab, which means both “star” and “Mercury.” Also, “House” is Beth, the letter of Mercury. “Khabs is the name of my House” essentially says, “Mercury = Mercury” — and appears to affirm the Mercury = Beth attribution to the Hebrew alphabet — and “name” is a distinctive Mercury concept. Hadit is housed, or contained, within each star that is an aspect of the body of Nuit.
666, in the New Comment (N.C.), refers to this as “the impersonal identity [Had] within the individuality [Khabs] of ‘every man and every woman.’” (4/3/95 EV; tweaked slightly 12/11/07 EV)
In v. 3, punctuation in the original manuscript (used above) varies from that which AC employed when editing The Book for publication. He was explicitly authorized to edit punctuation as he saw fit. Nonetheless, in seeking to understand The Book, I believe we should draw our own conclusions about original intent. Authorized editing doesn’t infer inspired editing! — In this case, I don’t think the change significantly alters the meaning, but there are shadings of meaning distinguishing the two. Here they are:
In the sphere I am everywhere, the centre as she the circumference is nowhere found.
In the sphere I am everywhere the centre, as she, the circumference, is nowhere found.
In the original, Hadit’s first statement is simply that he is everywhere — inferred period! Then he goes on to supplement it. In AC’s edited version, he says he is “everywhere the centre.” I think the composition is better in the second than in the first (though still portraying atypical syntax), and it likely expresses the underlying meaning better; but there is something raw, simplistic, and thus attractive about the untouched original.
Verse 3 declares a mathematical property of any point soever within an infinite space. Thus, the “sphere” in question must be infinite (which explains why its limit is “nowhere found”). Every point is the center. Also, perceptually, the point of view composes reality so as to be centered around it. We are told here, between the lines, that this is true for all points of view. This necessarily means that all points of view are entirely equal in value and legitimacy. (Most people do not realize that conceptual orientation is locational, even though our language is loaded with words and phrases that treat point of view or opinion as locational, as if within an “idea space”: “my position,” “where I’m at,” “where I’m coming from,” “are we getting closer (or farther apart) on that,” etc.)
Again, these verses conctinue the definition of Had’s and Nu’s basic polarity. She is the circumference, He the center; but, as He is the Point of View itself (eye = Capricorn = 70 = SVD), He is never seen. She, on the other hand, is “known.” That is, all that is “seen” in any fashion is Her.
I suppose I should mention that “he vs. she” is also part of their essential distinction or polarization.
AC, in his commentaries of thse verses, identifies RHK as Kether. I question this. Hadit is best identified as Kether (and, by correspondences inherent in Cap. II, v. 8, Harpocrates as well). RHK is, in one sense, the entire Tree of Life extended from that seed, with special relevance to Tiphereth and (in another sense) Geburah. (But as the generic “stand in” for the HGA, RHK would correspond to Yechidah.)
I should also mention that, even with this utterly reversed reference frame from Nuit to Hadit, these are still the words of the Holy Guardian Angel, that inmost seed of Light within each of us. (Supplemented 7/21/06 EV)
What “Knowledge?” Based on the preceding verse it is the knowledge of Nuit. (Does the capital “K” imply that “Knowledge” is a proper noun, i.e., Da’ath (DOTh)? Nothing leads me to believe it is so.)
AC, as “the prophet,” is given specific instrucitons about the New Order. The essential information here is that some of the existing rituals are “good” and some are to be “purged” (revised to conform to the new teachings); some are “evil” and are to be dropped. Note that “black” cannot mean “evil,” since all of the old rituals are “black,” but some are “good” and some “evil.” Perhaps “black” means simply “Osirian,” since “Osiris is a black god.” In any case, the wording suggests that they are incapable of reflecting light to their witnesses.
“Evil” and “good” are polarities entirely atypical of this Book. A purely functional understanding is possible here.
Also, a specifically ritualistic approach is ordained in order that “this Knowledge” “shall... go aright.”
(At a later time I want to meditate more deeply on the meaning if “Knowledge” is taken as DOTh.) (4/3/95 EV)
This is one of the most important defining verses of Hadit in the entire Chapter — possibly the most often quoted as well.
Hadit is the very spark of life, the essence of Life itself. This is what ultimately separates him from Hades and identifies him more closely with that other Hidden One, Amoun, who is very much a God of life and procreation. He is the Central Seed (atom or Atma) within each of us, and also that seed which is scattered and sown with vast prodigality.
The inmost flame of the human heart is stated to be identical to the flame within “the core of every star.” I believe this means actual physical stars in addition to each Khabs; for the Secret Doctrine has long equated human conscionsness with sunlight and starlight, and found consciousness itself in the latter.
But again we are reminded that He, simply, is Life. All life. Each spark, each seed, and all sparks, all seeds. As Yod is both Kether and Chokmah, point and line, so is Had both seed-speark of life and flowing stream of life. “Life” and “the giver of Life” are one and the same, are this Stream. He is, therefore, every bit as omnipresent aqs Nuit, but with a sublime distinction: the characteristic of Reality as Hadit is always to experience itself as centered in a single out-looking point.
It is, then, self-evident that the “knowledge” of Hadit is “the knowledge of death.” This is clear from two different angles. First, life and death are two aspects of the common idea of Life. The Knowledge of one is the knowledge of the other, for the eternal Serpent Life (Hadit) passes rhythmically through both phrases. Yet again, we are already told that Hadit is never known. He is certainly not “known” in time. Nor can he be known (objectified), when what one is IS THAT. To know Him is to be Him; i.e., to Be. There can be no objectification of Life, for that would mean one was apart from it, outside of it. Finally, the real and profound knowledge of Hadit would be samadhi on Life itself, which would dissolve the distinction of an individual point of view, i.e., dissolve the Individuality.
666 (N.C.) subtly plays on this by saying that, since Hadit cannot be known, there is no death, but rather an awakening to impersonal immortality. He also gives a wonderful and precise discussion of the relationship of the ego to the Self:
One may attain to be aware that one is but a particular ‘child’ of the Play of Hadit and Nuit; one’s personality is then perceived as being a disguise. It is not only not a living thing, as one had thought; but a mere symbol without substance, incapable of life. It is the conventional form of a certain cluster of htoughts, themselves the partial and hieroglyphic symbols of an ‘ego.’ The conscious and sensible ‘man’ is to his Self just what the printed letters on this page are to me who have caused them to manifest in colour and form. They are arbitrary devices for conveying my thought; I could use French or Greek just as well. Nor is this thought, here conveyed, more than one ray of my Orb; and even that whole Orb is but the garment of Me. The analogy is precise; therefore when one becomes “the knower,” it involves the ‘death’ of all sense of the Ego. One perceives one’s personality precisely as I now do these printed letters; and they are forgotten, just as, absorbed in my thought, the trained automatism of my mind and body expresses that thought in writing, without attention on my part, still less with identification of the extremes involved in the process.
(4/3/95 EV)
We have already seen Him as related to a Mercurial idea; and here that becomes even more strikingly clear. The “Magician” is Beth, Mercury, and especially related to Yod, Virgo. The “Exorcist” is but the opposite side of that coin. And “axle” is, in Hebrew, Yod, the axle (both center and shaft, Kether and Chokmah) of the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Fortune.
The Magician is both Word and Will. He is also likely used here to represent the weaver of illusion, the formulator of Maya (see Liber Magi and Liber 418). “Magician and the Exorcist” are then the creator and banisher of a given reality, that which utterly defines and patterns reality by its passage &c.
If “the cube in the circle.” means the “cube within the sphere,” then it refers to the Enochian model of the cubical Universe within concentric spherical Aethyrs. If “circle” is literally meant, however, then we have an altar within a magical circle, and a phallic stone or cube existing within the feminine symbol. “Cube” and “stone,” of course, depict the object of the Great Work whereby “Father” and “Son” are seen as One (ABN). “Cube” also requires six sides, hence a solar (which also always means stellar) idea within the circle of Nuit, or (within the microcosm) of a given ego.
Correspondent Robert Westmoreland has written that “cube in the circle” suggests to him the Islamic Kaaba, “which is a cubic stone surrounded by an ever-moving circle of the faithful. The word kaaba comes from the Arabic word kab, meaning ‘cube.’” I am very excited about this perspective — it may even have been a specific image that inspired Crowley’s mind during the writing, and it integrates many of the other ideas expressed here.
In any case, this “axle” and “cube” are both something at the center, and the “wheel” and “circle” are both circular or cyclical. Both express Centrum in Trigono Centri, and many ideas we have aleady associated with Hadit, including the phallic, creative, central, vital, &c.
The last sentence merely reiterates, perhaps more clearly, what we already have discovered. Unlike Nuit, He does not say, “Come unto me;” for it is He who responds to Her love-song. His nature is that of going, the essential nature of Deity. In this there is a marvelous pun; for we shall learn in v. 16 that His name may begin with a “V” and vadit is Latin for “He goes.” (Last updated 12/15/07 EV)
The closest one can come to worshipping Hadit, the Hidden One, He who Goes, is to worship the Silence.
Harpocrates (Heru-pa-kraath) is also attributed to Kether, or to Kether within the Ayin Soph Aur. In his commentary to 777 Revised, AC wrote, “Against the number Zero Harpocrates is Silence and Rest. Amoun is the Concealed.” And Amoun is Hadit. In N.C. he equates Harpocrates with “the Secret Self of every man.”
Yet, we are admonished, the whole idea of worshipping Hadit is foolish. It is a wrong idea. Thus, this Book describes the distinctive cults of Nuit and Horus, but not one of Hadit, except as one Livest as Him.
In N.C., AC continued: “It is bad Magick to admit that one is other than one’s inmost Self. One should plunge passionately into every possible experience; by doing so one is purged of these personal prejudices which we took so stupidly for ourselves....” (4/3/95 EV; edited 7/21/06 EV)
A fundamental doctrine of Thelema. Here the God who is the Magician and Life, and especially therefore the mysteries of the Lingam — who is Existence itself in any way we may conceive of such — tells us that Existence is pure joy. The rest is Maya, the Devil, the game, the shadow play inevitably cast by so great a light. Existence is eternal, immortal. It “remains.” (4/3/95 EV)
The historical relevance of these verses is well recorded. Crowley, on 4/9/04 e.v., was a confirmed Buddhist. He seriously held that all is Sorrow. His ego rejected the teachings of v. 9, and fought mightily against them. But the Way of Hadit, of ecstasy and joy, was greater. The ego could not prevail against the deepest Seed of Self, nor the personality’s obstinacy against True Will.
The basic message is that Hadit — our Hidden Self — is the fulcrum of all leverage, the mighty Source, the inescapable Truth. From such a place we are invulnerable and all-potent; against it, the personality that we mistake for ourselves is impotent.
In v. 11 (v. 77 of the entire Book), note “hand” refers, by a pun, to Yod or Hadit as well. “stronger“ is OZ, 77 (or XI, “Strength”).
v. 12 (v. 78): The “me in Thee” corresponds to 78 in multiple ways — one of which is that 78 is Sum(1-12), the Mystic Number of the Path of Beth, Mercury. 78 is also the value that AC mistakenly gave to the name “Aiwass” (as AYVAS) for several years.
v. 13 (v. 79): AC is Hadit, who is “the knower;” and so are we each. More deeply, this entire Book has been dictated by AC’s HGA, of whom all these things are true as well. The strange grammatical use of “me” rather than “I” probably means that AC was MH, “Not” — that is, of the Zero rather than of the One (“I”). This, then, serves to clarify the correct interpretation of the prior verse which might otherwise have been missed: “Because of MH in Thee which thou knewest not.” (7/5/95 EV; tweaked 12/15/07 EV)
This entire chapter is aimed at “hiding” Hadit. Now, having disclosed his attributes as extensively as the “Unextended One” intends, He calls for a veiling, or hiding, of that Truth. It cannot be seen of itself, but only by the blinding light which drapes it. This, it will be recalled, is “starlight;” for Hadit’s “house” is Khabs.
Also, a “veiling of this shrine” recalls the Tabernacle of the Wilderness, the Holy of Holies of which was veiled. (The Holy of Holies was the inmost part of the tabernacle, even as Hadit is the inmost part of each of us.) The veil was paroketh (PRKTh). This present veil is pure light, which is devoiring; i.e., it “swallows them up.” Perhaps it also means a “stepping down” from Supernal Truth to the L.V.X. of the Rosy Cross.
The “blinding light” at this exact juncture is a marvelous representation of the 8220;lightning flash” effects of the Path of Peh — perhaps inferred by the fact that this is verse 80 of the entire Book. (Revised 12/16/07 EV)
Here begin the numerical puzzles. As with Nuit’s “11,” I do not think conventional gematria is the primary key. I have accumulated many ideas on this verse over the years and, by proceeding carefully, I believe we can unveil important doctrines.
“I am perfect, being Not.” He is Nuit, although in another sense Her complement. They are not separate, but identical; not distinct, but, rather, distinctive views of One Thing, even as a volume of space is indistinguishable from the infinite number of geometric points which compose it.
“my number is nine by the fools; but with the just I am eight...” Both “fools” and “just” hint at Aleph and Lamed, even with the lower case letters. I am not sure I know to what these refer exactly, though I assert they cannot be overlooked. Throughout this work, “fools” (a word that tends to show in Kether verses such as this one) has consistently had its common meaning, much more so than acting as an allusion to Aleph.
Let us start, though, by comparing 9 and 8, to try to discover the framework wherein this is meaningful.
I firmly believe the key is in Yesod vs. Hod. I will return to this.
Even as 11 was found meaningful by plenary spelling of its numerals to produce 131, so we must note that 9 = Teth = 419 and 8 = Cheth = 418. Now, this is interesting! Although Teth, 419, is a valid way of expressing the phenomena of Hadit, He is much more keenly known as 418, Abrahadabra, the Key-Word of the Aeon, which veils Him in its very center (again, Had = Sod).
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9 = 32. 8 = 23. Both are the expansion resulting from the interplay of 2 and 3, the Binary and the Ternary. Now, 2 is the play of the Magus, and 3 is the Substance, or Maya, which he molds; that is, they are Chokmah and Binah, Will and Love, Chiah and Neshamah (ChYH + NShMH = 418). The correct way to view Hadit is not by the two-dimensional working out of the idea of 3 (Binah or Gimel), but by the three-dimensional working out of the idea of 2 (Chokmah or Beth); that is, by the Word made flesh, or Will living and expressing itself through the fabric of substance or Love. This is, in fact, just another way of describing the actualization of experience produced by the constant play of Hadit through the infinite aspects of the Body of Nuit. This is the Rosy Cross.
Finally — though very superficially, perhaps suited entirely to the bourgeois — the numeral 9 shows a circle which extends into a line that comes to a final ending. It terminates. This is a profane view of Life. But 8 shows a different view of Life. The numeral 8 is eternal, never ending, infinitely retwining about the same figure without the need to stop or retrace. Of all ten numerals, only 0 also has this characteristic.
Which returns us to the original idea, that the Key here is in the comparison of Yesod and Hod. I have one absolute confirmation of this: YSVD = 80, and one of its great numbers is 81 (all four being 9, 81, 369, and 3,321); HVD enumerates to 15. This present verse is the 15th verse of this chapter, and the 81st verse of the entire Book! It deals with the interrelationship of the Mysteries of Yesod (81) and Hod (15).
To the fools — the “windbags” — Hadit is 9, Yesod. Life is viewed through the organs of procreation which, from the infinite circle of life, extend a single current downward into a finite and mortal termination, even as in the numeral 9. In the verses that follow, Hadit makes entirely clear that He is the “serpent-force.” To “the fools” this is expressed primarily through the genitals. It is what, in v. 25, He calls drooping down of His head (cf., again, the shape of the numeral 9).
But to others — “the just,” those who have made an “adjustment,” those, perhaps, who have set certain currents within themselves into a balanced disposition — He is 8. In Hod, the same “serpent-force” is equally important, but no longer through the vehicle of sexual procreation. Where Yesod corresponds to the genitals, Hod corresponds to the channels of nerve force. Hod is androgynous, sexually self-contained because of the coexistence of opposites, the internal balance of polarities. Here the work, as well as the symbolism, of kundalini is imminently important; and it is as this that Hadit is viewed “with the just.” It is what, in v. 26, he calls lifting up His head so that “I and my Nuit are one.”
Had is Hod. Even the Hebrew spelling HVD is significant: Vav is the Hebrew conjunction “and,” so HVD would have been “The Empress (D) and (V) The King (H)” if only Heh were The Emperor — which it is not! But Heh is the Hebrew definite article “the,” so the same letters could be read as ha-Vad (HVD), “The (H) Hierophant (V) and Empress (D).” (See next verse following.) Unfortunately, however interesting, this does not solve the numerical puzzles of v. 16, so it is not a complete solution: Hod explains, in part, why Had is 8, and reinforces all the other abundant Mercury symbolism but goes no further to resolve the other numerical puzzles.
Thus for 8 vs. 9.
He then says: “...I am eight, and one in eight.” Here are many subtle communications. Several truths are existent at once; but one central idea subsumes them all.
Of all of our numerals, only 0 and 8 may be drawn unendingly without lifting the pen or changing direction; and they are the numerals that are traditionally related to infinity. In fact, as 0 & [infinity] they express the nature of Nuit (0) and Hadit (8).
Take a string and make a 0. This is Nuit. Double it over to make two 0s tangent to each other, [infinity sign]. Here, the whole is still Nuit — nothing has been added or subtracted — but she appears in mirror image, “divided for love’s sake,” two perfect replicas of the original 0. Yet, without anything being added, something new is now seen! For the single point where the two circles tangentially touch is now defined and distinct; and this point is the very symbol of Hadit! He has manifested as a result of Her “division;” yet She is no less infinite. Divide (0/2=0), add (0+0=0), multiply (0x0=0) — and Understand.
This is the One in the Eight; or, rather, the “eight, and one in eight.”
It has been observed that if an 8 and a 1 are superposed, they essentially make a Caduceus, and also a glyph of balanced kundalini.
Also, the only Qabalistic idea that is, at once, both 8 and 1 is Mercury, who wields that Caduceus; and we have seen throughout that Mercury is a superb representation of the self-description of Hadit. As Hod, Mercury is 8; as Beth, Mercury is Atu I.
There are other numerical ideas — especially the number 414, which is “one in eight,” and Azoth, and Ain Soph Aur, &c. — which play this out; but I believe I have stated the essential doctrine.
Not only is 414 AYN SVPh AVR; but AYN SVPh = AVR = 207. This is, therefore, formed symbolically by the “0-[infinity]” string analogy I gave before, where the Limitless (AYN SVPh = 207) perfectly duplicated itself without addition or subtraction to form that Same Thing which is here represented by 414. It is what I have often called the discovery of the serpentine (or rhythmic, or vibrational) patterns inherent in the Limitless which are recognized as the Light. Hence my original Neophyte Pantacle (rejected by my Zelator): [illustration here in original]
To continue with the verse:
“Which is vital, for I am none indeed.” First, we already know He is “none,” i.e., Nuit. But as His nature is To Go, He is the same “none” in deed. Similarly, I take the first phrase to mean that this 8, this Serpent-force &c., is entirely vital. It is the stuff of life. The life of the attained yogi is rich, vital, living, even if the exterior sometimes looks withdrawn &c.
The last sentence primarily says that His name is not spelled Heh-Daleth, as AC probably first thought. This sets up for the next verse. But I also note that The Emperor & the Empress are Sulphur and Salt and other obvious sexual polarities. There is the formulation of IV + III = VII = Cheth, 418, &c. But this is explicitly not meant here. (4/3/95 EV; minor editing 7/21/06 EV)
First, we already know He is "eleven, as my bride is eleven," for He truly is of the stuff of Nuit. But the rest of the verse — for all of its simplicity — has been terribly difficult for students in the past.
The correct spelling is
V A D
(Vav Aleph Daleth)
By letter values, 6 + 1 + 4 = 11.
By Tarot values, V + 0 + III = 8.
The resulting implicit name, Vadit, is Latin for “He goes."
Notice that these three letters correspond to three of the four Paths connecting to Chokmah; and Hadit’s correspondence to Chokmah (at one level of symbolism) has been clearly established. Heh, the remaining Path, is The Star, or Khabs, the name of His House, and exteriorizes into the consciousness of Tiphereth.
There may also be a secondary meaning here. For example, The Empress is Venus; and The Hierophant is Taurus, ruled by Venus. Or perhaps He is saying that He is “Love [The Empress], the Revealer of the Mysteries [the Hierophant].”
It is tempting (as AC did) to treat the Aleph in VAD as the “one” (A =1) in “eight” (V+III); but these are two entirely separate scales of meaning, and make a mockery of the Qabalah. (In other words, Aleph = 1 by its actual letter value, but Vav + Daleth = 8 through Tarot attributions, which are of a different “scale.”) (Revised 12/16/07 EV)
Pretty simple. Cf. Liber Tzaddi.
Of course, Hadit is never to be known! A cynic could turn this, therefore, into a pretty desperate situation. I think, however, that a little license must be allowed to this “Aiwass Soft Shoe Shuffle.”
The main point is that life is joyous (cf. v. 9).
The Greek ALGHMA, “sorrow,” enumerates to 83, the number of this verse; but the same number also gives Fiat Lux, “Let there be Light (L.V.X.)!”
666, in N.C., expands on the theme of v. 9 here. The “shadows” are not of Hadit, i.e., are not Real. (4/3/95 EV)
Continues the theme, and begins the very Teth-like descriptions of Hadit, his gifts, and his ethics. Thelema, without apology, is elitist. Though the law is for all, there is no room within us for “the poor and sad” aspects, or inferior aspects, or defeated aspects, of our own being.
In a more constrained fashin, this elitism applies to those other stars in our environment as well, although here other issues commingle with those of the present verse; consider, for example, Cap. II, v. 58.
They are “dead,” i.e., they are not of Life, Hadit. Also, they “are not for the poor and sad,” because the consciousness of Nuit and Hadit dissolves all sadness.
An important consideration here is that all personalities — all personae — are “shadows” by definition. They consist of unreality. They are but distorted reflections, greater or lesser degrees of clarity reflecting the true Light for which they are the vehicle.
666, N.C.: “The sole test of one’s lordship is to know what one’s True Will is, and to do it.” (4/3/95 EV)
From this, and many other verses, it is clear that Liber L. uses animals to represent the lower, subhuman aspect of consciousness. (Native Americans would, therefore, dispute that this Book is for “all,” since they regard all in the animal kingdom as their brothers.) At a first estimation we can say that “dog” refers to the Nephesh (“animal soul”) aspect; but this is not always correct, and, in the present verse, I think this simple understanding would lead us astray.
The Qabalistic reversal of “God” into “dog” is the very kind of reversal of image implied by the metaphors of shadows and reflections to which allusion has been made in recent verses. The reality called “God” — in fact, any autonomous reality — is not able to abide in a pale, shadowy reflection of itself. We also note the Arab influence that the Sahara wrought on this Book, for “God” and “dog” are characteristic Arabic references to the Highest and the lowest.
But the Doctrine of Hermes gives us cause to pause; for the Highest does replicate its patterns even into the lowest. Yet does it “indwell” it? In any full sense, certainly not. I think the principle here is that the Temple must be rightly builded before the God can indwell it. Here, then, “the highest” means those who have forged of their own raw matter the most fit temples. (4/3/95 EV; tweaked 12/18/07 EV)
To be taken literally and simply, as a continuation of this line of discussion. “Beauty and strength:” the Holy Guardian Angel unites the attributes of Tiphereth and Geburah, 5=6 and 6=5. I seem to recall that “force and fire” are part of the analysis of Abrahadabra.
AC correctly instructs that, “As soon as one realizes one’s self as Hadit, one obtains all His qualities. It is all a question of doing one’s Will... Beauty and Strength come from doing one’s will; you have only to look at any one who is doing it to recognize the glory of it.” (Last revised 12/18/07 EV)
The same theme has been repeated so often in this chapter that I keep feeling that I should be responding to its subtleties, to why it is expressed one way instead of another in a given place. But it is all much the same. The term “unfit” is now introduced. “Fitness” implies both an appropriateness to a given task, and a healthy readiness and preparedness based on strength.
There is also advice not to obsess about the fallen; to realize that their ability to feel pain is as proportionately small as their ability to feel joy. This part is really advice to the yogi: If you spend your energies fretting about the outcast, you can’t meditate!
“Compassion is the vice of kings.” (But see also v. 52.) Yet, is it not the highest virtue of the Mysteries East and West alike, whose repository is Chesed? But Chesed is still below the Abyss. The “kings” are the Adepts; and we are here told that the Adepts of Thelema are so constituted that they are characteristically inclined to be compassionate — and, if they are thus found to be short-sighted...? It is a vice, but surely the best of them; and all in the service of Hadit, of Life.
None of us — certainly not a king — is counseled by this Book to be anything but what we genuinely are. We must live according to the characteristics which compose us, whether otherwise called virtue, vice, or what-not.
We are told that the law of the Current of Life is survival of the fittest. This is honest fact, whether our “civilized” morality likes it or not. Again, “fitness” is an essential characteristic.
We are told by the God of Death that Death is the great lie. (Is Hadit-Hades not also Hermes?) The text can be taken very literally. Note, though, that it especially speaks of the death of “the body of the King.” It is to the Adepts of Thelema that these results are especially promised, to them that the conscious ecstasy of death is made so certain. O, the rapture of the Rosy Cross! “Nuit! Hadit! Ra-Hoor-Khuit!”
“servants of the Star & the Snake”: I take this to mean the servants of Nuit & Hadit. (Cf. Liber 418, 8th Aethyr, where star, serpent, and sword correspond to Nu, Had, & RHK, respectively. (12/18/07 EV)
He identifies Himself further and overtly as Kundalini. The “Snake” idea also confirms the 8 or [infinity symbol] symbolism, among other things; and, especially (as the eighth version in the current set) conforms to the relationship of Hod to Kundalini phenomena.
“Knowledge & Delight” could be a Hod-Netzach polarity, but are surely, instaed, on a higher plane. “Knowledge” is likely gnosis, and the rapture of the Rosy Cross (intimate knowledge). This result is intoxicating (of the inmost, not the outermost — see Liber LXV.)
The admonishment about drugs knocks down old taboos. However, the abuse of these, as is well shown in our time, can destroy. Yet what is destroyed is only shadow. One’s health, one’s sanity, and one’s life may be destroyed; but from Hadit’s point of view, that which is truly you, beyond those shadows, will be harmed not at all!
With their proper use, there is happier news!
It is the unfit, the outcast, the sorrowful, the pained, the inwardly impoverished — the shadow souls ” who are most likely to be damaged by drugs. The sane, healthy, fit, joyous, and inwardly rich are likely to obtain a very different effect with the right use of the right drugs.
Perhaps most important of all, here, is the idea that intoxication and its ecstasy are essential to the religious rexpression of humanity. Whether caused by chemicals or not, it is the rael key of religion.
As 666 remarks (N.C.), “Any one who is doing his true Will is drunk with the delight of Life.”
And most important, “this folly against self” is a lie. Self-abnegation is a lie. Who you are is infinitely grand and holy and glorious. Your essence is that of a god, like Dionysus. Celebrate this with your rapture!
AC, in the Old Comment (O.C.), candidly identifies Kundalini as “the central magical force in man.” (Revised slightly 12/15/07 EV)
(N.B. 89 = “silence”)
The supreme annunciation of Kether. The second phrase begins with the Pass Word of te 9=2 Grade. Ultimately says the same thing as v. 10. “Allah has no Allah.” (4/3/95 EV)
The definition of the Hermits. Yet it may be that these are the Adepti, not the Masters. In any case, the attitude is clear: Their “hermitage” is not induced by living in isolation or outside the raptures of life, but rather from living life to its fullest. If they are “apart from others” it is because they clearly go their own way, live by their own rules. Hadit is Life — He is the flame in the Lamp of the Hermit, and those who bear this Light must be veritable apostles of the living of Life in its fullness. I, who am Frater Yod, and A.L., and L.F., do assert this.
90 is the value of MLK, “king.” It is also Tzaddi, The Emperor. This is a verse of kingship.
Frankly, I like “the forest” and “the mountains,” and it is my way to go there occasionally. But I do not spend my life there.
“beds of purple:” Purple is Kaph here, not Yesod. The Hermits, Yod, are in the company of Kaph and Teth in this symbolism, these being the three Paths attaining to Chesed. And these women are (inwardly, at least) in the image of Babalon. Again, the essence of their experience is vast joy. The closing sentences continue the previous themes, encourage passionate love of each for his or her fellows, and say in a new way, “Thou hast no right but to do thy will.” (Revised 12/20/07 EV)
“Ye” is plural! The word “chosen” does not apply solely to AC, but to more — presumably to a number of “chosen,” perhaps to all Thelemic “kings.” There is every common sense reason to assume this to be true for each other use of the word “chosen” throughout the Book.
This being determined, the rest of the verse is straightforward. The true individual — and especially the individual of genius — is always against the general populace with their commonplacisms and nigh atavistic views. Public opinion is a tool to be used, but not a damsel to be courted.
In a more important sense, this also posits the initiate as “against” all that is commonplace and servile in himself or herself. (12/20/2007 EV)
Again Hadit is described as the Serpent Kundalini, coiled and ready to spring. According to the Eastern teachings, when this “serpent power” is coiled, it is within the Muladhara chakra, which gives us at least one anatomical site for Hadit.
There is also a specific instruction concerning the distinctive results of this coiled serpent either ascending the spine or being discharged through the genitals in sexual relese. There is no indication in the Book that one or the other mode of release is “right” or “wrong,” merely a clear discussion of the differences. This, too, is a commentary on the relationship of the right and averse pentagrams.
See Liber HHH, Cap. III (SSS), for a practical application of this doctrine, suited especially to the Practicus.
I should say also that — if this verse is to be taken as definitive — we should regard only the esexual expression of the “serpent power” as having material consequence, i.e., as magically causing “rapture of earth.” However, the question is slightly more complicated than that. (4/3/95 EV)
“great danger”: This is true at several levels. For one, it would be an error to presume any moral mandate in the two prior verses; they merely indicate a menu of choices. Also, in a practical sense, there may be “great danger” for one who would ignorantly attempt to unleash this “serpent” — in either direction — without proper discipline and skill.
But beyond this is the fact that these verses have been describing, in more or less accessible terms, a Reality that is superconscious and beyond any reasonable assessment. On the plane of reason, Hadit cannot be understood. Such is the trap of Da’ath, a further name of which is Because. All of this chapter’s seemingly common descriptions of Hadit are but interpolations of a higher Truth into a language not built to house it! Intuition must be used to follow the threads to this Truth.
In fact, the word “runes” discloses that a secret meaning is hidden in the words, only accessible by the trained, the initiated, and the intuitive. It is this I have sought to bring forth; but even then, there is an inherent constraint in one’s ability to give it expression.
“the pit called Because” is the Abyss. The rest is clear enough. If you cannot get past the limits of reason, and into actual spiritual perception, then you are stuck where you are.
This verse likely has an importance far above what it may have on first appearance; for this is the 93rd verse of Liber L. , even as it is the Binah verse of the current set. (Revised 12/22/07 EV)
In a system such as Thelema, it is all but impossible to find a Devil (thank Had!). Devils result from the supppression of acceptability and the fear of a taboo aspect of divinity. (They also come from the dark labeling of a defeated enemy’s gods, so “Christ” comes close to filling the bill for thelemites. AC preempted this disaster by so clearly labeling him a fiction that he would not become quite a bogey man; and by allowing Osiris and the entire solar-cycle theogeny a valid place in the overall scheme of things. Even this Book of the Law cites a role for Isa, i.e., Jesus, in 1:49.
But the one great Thelemic “devil” is Choronzon. This is a devil worthy of the name! Thelemic mothers can tell their children horror stories of him at night that make the blood chill. Though Fra. O.M. confronted him directly, it was only by the gravest necessity; and this great demon is still the night-terror used to snap little adepts into the right way of thinking — uh, make that, of not thinking.
This is pretty impressive in a system that otherwise tolerates anything and everything. It seems that the dispersion factor of Choronzon and the Abyss runs so contrary to the focus, certainty, and natural precisionof the Will that he becomes the Anti-Will, the Gerat Beast 333 which atavistic door-to-door fundamentalist Thelemites can put on the cover of their Enochian Watchtower Magazine in the year 1994 A.L. (3898 EV) in their obsessive resistance to the continued march of the Aeons.
(Have I a sick imagination, or what?)
I suppose my point here is that sometime we have to do something to counter this devilizing trend and, for all of its pragmatic karmic dangers, de-Devilize the old “Demon of the Black Pit of Because.” This is the only real alternative to giving Choronzon a disporportionate handicap on the green.
Which brings me to the word “curse” in v. 28.
“Therefore fear not the Spirits, but be firm and courteous with them; for thou hast no right to despite or revile them; and this too may lead thee astray. Command and banish them, curse them by the Great Names if need be; but neither mock nor revile them, for so assuredly wilt thou be led into error [emphasis added]. — Liber Librae, v. 8
I do not think the attitude of “cursing” the “accurséd Because” has been rightly understood. It is purely a technical process. A thing may be censured, bounced, or cast out, the way a lout can be expelled from a fine restaurant, efficiently and dispassionately; and, if done well, it will not disturb too much of the dining experience of the other patrons. A curse is a scourge used in strength, not a shield of avoidance or the buckshot of a scatter gun. Nor must we empower its demonic hold by getting all in a fuss and generating all sorts of projections.
The foregoing applies to all sorts of recalcitrant spirits — as the evocationist should know.
The messages in these verses are predominantly that each thing should be kept on its own plane. Rational argument (an aspect of the Yellow Ray) is incompatible with the purity of Power and Will. It does not fit into magick per se. Choronzon is dispersal and infinite multiplicity and the shadowy phantasms of unchained thought-patologies that must be healed, must be made whole.
The attack upon reason and “words” is in the Hod verse of the present set. The instruction concerning Power is in the Netzach verse. Verse 99 finishes with the whole subject, and 99 is the value of the transliteration of “because” into Hebrew leters, BHKAVSH.
The verses have other small matters to address. In v. 28, who or what are the kin of Because? Presumably this means “all related mental intrusions.” Verses 30-31 are simply good psychology. Verse 32 also asserts a psychological truism, that Truth lies inviolable in Neshamah, and thei ntellect is but a tool that attempts — perhaps never adequately — to mirror it. (Revised 12/15/07 EV)
Notice how this second chapter of the Book has some substantial differences from Chapter 1, as an evolution, perhaps, from April 8 to April 9. In Chapter 1, it was so easy to read every verse as the words of the HGA. And, although Chapter 2’s verses can be read that way as well, they do not leap off the page in the same way.
Additionally, all of Chapter 1 can be read as though its message is intimately and personally for AC; but, by Chbapter 2, the instructions are branching out, specifically to embrace vast numbers of others, to carry the word to others; and, by Chapter 3, we will see this trend well established in a practical way.
Here, in the hundredth verse of the Book (the Malkuth verse of the current Yod decanate), Hadit calls to all of “my people” — Hadit’s people — to “rise up and awake,” to pull their heads out of the abyss of Because and come awake to the higher life.
“rise up”: Samekh, the Path unto the K&C of the HGA, literally means, “that which raises up.” Also, there is the doctrine of Kundalini. (12/23/07 EV)
Verses 35 and 44 are instructions on how to approach life. In addition, v. 35 is an important instruction in how the entire religious and magical life is to be approached by those who have responded to the call to “rise up & awake.” In the decades since the dictation of this Book, v. 35 has become a worthy standard, even a little commonplace ” for which I am personally pleased. This verse is a basic standard of the work of the Temple of Thelema.
Verse 36 defines two types of activity: “rituals of the elements” and “feasts of the times.” Are these separate, or do they overlap? On inspection, it appears they are distinct; and 666 apparently believed so, at least in the N.C. period.
The Equinoxes, vernal and autumnal, traditionally have been celebrated as a “ritual of the elements,” and continue to be so celebrated by both the A.'.A.'. and the T.'.O.'.T.'. — indeed, by all Orders whose fundamental formula is that of the Neophyte. Additionally, the T.'.O.'.T.'. Winter Solstice celebration (The Ceremony of the Return of the Light) is emphatically a “ritual of the elements;” and, near Summer Solstice, another ceremony is annually performed as well....
The “feasts of the times” are those now to be itemized.
Verse 37 (a Binah verse): AC and Rose were married on August 12, 1903 e.v., the birthday of H.P. Blavatsky; and the Book, brought through as a result of the union of the two, declares that this anniversary should be celebrated. A feast is ordained, not a ritual; but a ceremony adoring the Mysteries of Lingam and Yoni would fit well. It would also be consistent with principles of Thelemic couples annually celebrated their own “first night.”
Verse 38 (a Chesed verse): April 8, 9, and 10 of each year. The custom has arisen to read (individually and, perhaps, socially) the appropriate chapter on each respective day, ideally between noon and 1:00 PM.
Verse 39: Should I disclose this secret, even here in my diary? AC’s one-liner is so uncharacteristically withheld as not even to give a subtle hint. I know only what was revealed to me as a result of that day. For those others who read this in the future, I shall only say — perhaps imprudently — that, in this particular verse, “the Prophet” does not distinctly mean AC, nor any single person; and that the secret is discussed indirectly somewhere in a paper issued in the Architect Degree of Temple of Thelema. (105, the verse number with respect to the entire book, is also the value of H.P.K., the notariqon of Hoor-Paar-Kraat; and it gives other significant clues.)
Verse 40 (a Tiphereth verse): The Equinox of the Gods was inaugurated March 20, 1904 e.v., and there should be a festival each year on this date regardless of the date of the actual Vernal (or, in Australia, Autumnal) Equinox. 666, in N.C., holds that the Supreme Ritual is the Invocation of Horus performed by him on 20 March 1904 e.v., and I entirely support him in this determination. 666 issued, in N.C., a specific instruction to celebrate every Equinox “in the manner known to Neophytes of the A.'.A.'..”
Verse 41 (a Netzach verse, marking the points of convergence of Nun and Kaph!): The first two are puberty rites for lads and lassies — the social and magical equivalent of a confirmation, or First Eucharist, or Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Birth — and to a lesser extent, birth anniversaries — shall be celebrated as a Feast for Life. Death — and to a lesser extent, death anniversaries — shall be celebrated as a Feast for Death; and the latter shall be the greater of the two.
The custom (in some circles) of calling someone’s death their “greater feast” is repugnant and disgusting. It is one more avoidance of frankly saying “death.” It also misreads the sentence and its implications, and an English speaker’s inability or unwillingness to read and understand basic English compositiion is offensive. The official terms employed in Temple of Thelema — Feast for Life and Feast for Death — are elegant, beautiful, and stirring. (Crowley, in N.C., uses the term “feast for death,” not “greater feast.”)
(Another serious problem with the term “greater feast” as used by the aforementioned riffraff of Thelema. “Greater” is a comparative, not a superlative. Used as in v. 41, it correctly contrasts the Feast for Death against one other example, the Feast for Life. But used in isolation, it necessarily states that the person only ever experienced on other “feast” — of any kind — ever! Yet here, in these verses, are listed numerous feasts throughout life — and, in vv. 42-43, every day and every night! Some people just don’t think!)
Verses 42-43: Clear, rapturous, a basis of celebration unlike that of any other religion. (12/23/07 EV)
This concludes the set. Its doctrine is clear, especially as to erroneous ideas of death. (4/3/95 EV)
We have just been told that there is no death. Now we learn that, “There is death for the dogs.”
Since there is no death, this cannot refer to the death of any living being. Liber L. uses animals, especially dogs, to refer to the lower aspects of our being, and especially the shadowy and insubstantial reflections which are but poor intimations of the Truth. Dogs are sacred to the Moon, and especially to Hecate. They are, therefore, a proper symbol of illusion and shadow.
It is this — the illusion or shadow, the mere intimation of reality — which dies. The truth endures. Therefore, this verse really says much the same as verse 9.
This is verse 45 of this chapter, alluding to the doctrine that Deus est Homo (45=45). It is also verse 111 of the entire Book, disclosing Aleph and other tokens of eternal life. Its message is clear. What we really are does not die. Perhaps the yapping pet at The Fool’s heels; but not The Fool.
As verse 111, this is also the Kether verse of the twelfth, or Lamed, decanate of verses. These ten verses (from 2:45 through 2:54) are a levied judgment. Read them as such — as a Sephirah-by-Sephirah pronouncement of Lamed’s judgment, with the present verse as the theme sentence of a paragraph — and there will be many fascinating things made evident in the words. (12/25/07 EV)
The Prophet’s reaction to v. 45 was apparently sorrowful. “Fail” here means “fall short.” It is, thus, identical with “sin.” Such “failure” is necessarily associated with fear and grief, which balk the Will. Frater P. is now to be shown that his are mistaken reactions, i.e., that they do not reflect right knowledge of what is so. Furthermore, weakness, sorrow, and fear are emotions that draw one away from the “I am” (Hadit). (4/3/95 EV)
This is the Chesed verse within the Lamed set of verses. It is a commentary on true compassion from the perspective of judgment.
This continues the theme which occupies much of this chapter. An important feature of Hadit’s message is the doctrine of strength, the fostering of fitness and eradication of weakness by letting the forms of weakness die off.
This doctrine can never be understood correctly by those to whom these forms are the prevalent reality. A person — persona, personality — is just a casing for the being, the Star, within it. This chapter is spoken from the perspective of Hadit, the essential and unextended Center, and therefore addresses the reality of the spiritual center of each of us.
The utter destruction — de-structuring — of a “person” leaves the Star unharmed. It is immortal, invulnerable. From Hadit’s perspective, evolution is fostered by letting failed and fallen forms self-destruct. On that plane of vision, this is the only true compassion.
We begin to run into trouble, however, when we try to bridge the planes and apply this transcendental Wisdom to our workaday lives. To get to the point: Just how are we to treat other people? The final answer is necessarily given in the tetralogism, “Do what thou wilt,” especially through the filter of its corollary, “Love under will.” Very good. We are to act consistently with the kind of beings we truly are, rather than apply some arbitrary morality; and we are necessarily to act with the realization that we are inherently one with each other.
How does this translate into behavior in the present situation? In other words, what kind of beings are we truly? I think this is the very question that Hadit, the deep center of our common being, is answering for us here. The first step is to realize that no one answer applies in every situation. Ethics are necessarily situational, if all pertinent factors are to be considered in each instance. The second step is to realize that the most complete love for another Star is not always served by supporting or tolerating the structure or form or pattern they have created. This is more popularly seen in the recognition that we can love a person without accepting their behavior The third step is to realize that, in any case, pity accomplishes nothing. It just wastes your energy and rewards the other person with secondary gain for their failure. Either do something substantial to help, or mind your own business! And if the support given is merely verbal, do not coddle them. Speak truth. Create a context in which their strength can flourish. But do not accept, encourage, support, or tolerate their continuing a pattern that weakens them. It is far better, given your own nature, simply to leave before doing that!
I repeat: “the fallen” are but shells, the husks of Stars.
“Hate” is the complement of love. Both love and hate are a form of passion. We cannot be separate from that which we truly hate. I must admit that I have always found it difficult to understand hate, and have a similar blind spot with the present verse. Although I can think of things which, now or in the past, I have severely disliked, or with which I have been severely angry, I have trouble identifying anything I have ever truly hated. I believe hate is an “acquired taste” that must be learned. How can a God of the sublimity and rarity of Hadit hate? The answer must be that He cannot. Such passion cannot be attributed to this “unextended” Point. We must take this in a different sense — not even an “intense dislike” which is still far too human, but, rather, a defining the “hated”object as adverse to (literally, “turned away” from) one’s own nature. “Consolation” is grossly inconsistent with the nature of Hadit — fiercely so. That is about all this verse can mean. True religion is found in Strength, not weakness.
I guess 666 came to essentially the same conclusion. In N.C., he notes that “falling” is impossible, thus an illusion. The error is in loving hate unreal, in perpetuating falsehood. (4/3/95 EV; expanded 12/23/07 EV)
This verse continues the theme, then adds a new element. It is the element of Spirit, or Shin as the unifying and central truth within the Maya respresented by Tetragrammaton. Here, in this Geburan verse of the Lamed set of verses, Hadit is again the God of Strength and Fitness. The shells die and fade. They are “of the 4,” i.e., of the microcosmic elements; but, “there is a fifth,” Akasha, whose Power is To Go. It is Spirit — “Amen” is a title of Kether — and Hadit is like Harpocrates the Silent within this Akashic egg.
(As AC points out indirectly, this may also read that “Amen” is “of the 4.” AMN = 741 = Sh + M + A + Th, the four elements. 666 suggested, in N.C., that the Pentagram is completed by adding Beth to AMN= 93, thus BAMN — which Fra. R.Q.S. would probably abhor!)
It may be, by the way ,that this verse number, 49, implies that Rose which is rightly on the Cross thus formed. (4/3/95 EV; tweaked 12/23/07 EV)
Hadit is describing Himself, particularly in his serpentine form. I take the first part as saying that He is blue and gold when reflecting the blue and gold image of Nuit (vide 1:60). Perhaps, too, this is especially his image in the night. For one who is “unextended,” any color, of course, is impossible; so these verses must be taken even more allegorically than most other things herein. To follow the metaphor, then, we are reminded of his invisibility — his perfect camouflage — in her presence.
But, intrinsically — and perhaps especially “by day” — He is covered with green and purple spangles, and has gleaming red eyes. This is a clear description of his serpentine form. Green and purple remind me of the interior colors most prevalent under very pure LSD. The purple is not chromatic purple, but “Purple beyond purple,” ultra-violet, which is, scientifically, “the light higher than eyesight.” Interestingly, U.V. lamps have come to be called “black light,” and have some interesting properties. If U.V. closes the color wheel, it and green are opposite each other, for green is the mid-color of the visible spectrum. Purple and green per se seem to imply Jupiter and Venus; but I think the “purple” meant here is the color of Spirit. Since vision is attributed to Fire, “higher than eyesight” means “higher than Fire,” or, once more, Spirit (Quintessence). This is, then, a further commentary on the “egg” of verse 49.
AC (O.C.) gives the “Magical Image of Hadit” as “an Eye within a coiled serpent, gleaming red, &c.” I think that was an undeveloped or immature view, and that the serpent itself — with its own eyes red and gleaming — is a superior idea. (4/3/95 EV; tweaked 12/23/07 EV)
Throughout this entire Lamed series (vv. 45-54) we have been addressing various aspects of illusion. Hadit having (especially in vv. 50-51) exposed himself as transcendent — infinitely dimensioned, being Zero to the zeroth power — now depicts that particular veil which drapes conventional human reality. It is, again, an illusion, and “none of me.”
It would be an error to specify too painstakingly the nature of this veil. I do not think it can be pinned down precisely. It dominates so much of the reality we normally occupy that language cannot well denominate it. We are specifically told, “it is the veil of sorrow, & the pall of death,” so that it is an expression of duality. It is called, “lying spectre of the centuries.” In brief, it is the manifest shadow of all the joy, life, and strength of light.
I am newly taken, however, with the expression “veil of the modest woman.” I have always previously taken this as referring to coldness, sexual avoidance, the denial of love, &c.; but I now sense a usage more of the flavor found repeatedly in Liber VIII and Liber LXV. This veil is like unto the veil of Isis — even of Nuit Herself! It is this shadow, this pall, of sorrow, death, and sterility with which a demure GODDESS veils Herself.
Remember the tremendous Islamic influence permeating this Book. In the Arabic culture, in the midst of which AC received this dictation, such veiling was a sign of honor by the woman herself. (This is not to deny the simultaneous significance of sexual suppression and gender suppression; merely to add a concurrent mystical idea.)
But the veil is not the reality which it covers. And, it seems, we are no longer to wait for Isis to part her veil but, rather, tear it down and dare to stare upon Truth. This we can only do because the veil is within ourselves. It is the distance of ourselves from Hadit, our alienation from Truth-of-Self, which veils from us reality. Thus, the “tearing down” is not rape, but rather a clearing of our own vision.
“veil not your vices in virtuous words.” Do not hide the truth of yourself, especially when that truth is an affirmation of life, joy, vitality, and creation.
“these vices are my service.” This is now self-evident. I cannot escape the fact that such “vices” include that mentioned in 2:21 which is characteristic of the Adepts of Thelema.
“ye do well, & I will reward you here and hereafter.” Again, “ye.” All of us. These rewards are surely intrinsic. I especially take the first three words as a present tense statement of fact, not one half of a bargain.
AC’s essay in N.C. is superb! It is the complement and confirmation of what I have written here, and simply excellent social commentary.
Mohammed struck at the root of the insane superstition of tabu with his word: “Women are your field; go in unto them as ye will.” He only struck half the blow. I say: go in unto them as ye will and they will. Two-thirds of modern misery springs from Woman’s sexual dissatisfaction. A dissatisfied woman is a curse to herself and to everybody in her neighbourhood. Women must learn to let themselves enjoy without fear or shame, and both men and women must be trained in the technique of sex. Sex-repression leads to neurosis, and is the cause of social unrest. Ignorance of sexual technique leads to disappointment, even where passion is free and unrestrained. Sex is not everything in life, any more than food is: but until people have got satisfaction of these natural hungers, it is useless to expect them to think of other things. The truth is vital to the statesman, now that women have some direct political power; they will certainly overthrow the Republic unless they obtain full sexual satisfaction. Also, women outnumber men; and one man cannot satisfy a woman unless he be skillful and diligent. The New Aeon will have a foundation of Happy Women: A Woman under Tabu is loathsome to Life, detested by her fellows, and wretched in herself.
(4/3/95 EV; tweaked 12/23/07 EV)
Apparently, this is direct to Crowley personally. (This Book is, after all, a direct communication to him by his own HGA, however universal its message.) It reassures him that he is one of the chosen, i.e., that he is “of Hadit.” He is told that the inner reality of his life is one of intense rapture, a rapture that will shine through his eyes onto those upon whom he looks with gladness. Yet the outer details of his life shall appear a different thing. Atu XV, the “mask of sorrow,” symbolizes the veiling of the light of the sun by illusion. To the outer he shall appear fallen — shall appear as the Devil! ” but, in truth, he is lifted up (Samekh) by the love of the HGA.
Besides the personal assurances to AC, I believe the important part of this verse is its continuing the teaching of the difference between inner essence and outer form. This “mask of sorrow” is more or less the same as the “veil of sorrow” &c. of the prior verse. It is a lie. But here, more importantly, it is a mask. Hadit (AC’s own central Self) had every intention that the truth about AC be hidden, obscured, distorted to the outer world. It was essential to the entire mission of AC’s life that “the people” not be able to think of him as fitting their stereotypes of a “holy man.” Otherwise — for example — we would have had just one more example of a religion that deifies the teacher and abrogates the dignity of the devotee. AC is a self-slaying Buddha!
I consider it virtually the first criterion of a serious Thelemic student (I write here in jest, yet not in jest) that you not be able to stand AC the man, and that you feel pretty sure you would not want him as a friend. The second criterion is then an accepting him for what he was an is as a fellow traveler. The third criterion is seeing the whole joke! The fourth is seeing, blessing, and adoring that pure and beautiful Light which is the heart of every aspect of his being and his teaching. Sometimes these stages take time.
“Fear not” is one of the first lessons of all initiation, and is given here especially so that we not be distracted from the golden thread. (4/3/95 EV)
Continues the former verse. Success is assured. AC is particularly fortified against the illusion of his detractors who, however, have no substance to their “folly.” All who would detract from the elegant truth of our Law are (of necessity) alienated from their own Wills, their own Words, their own Truth. How else could they deny it? And without Hadit burning passionately in their hearts, how could they prevail? They are “the slaves of because” in that there is only intellectual form to their folly — all hot air! — and no real spirit.
Then begins a technical note pertaining to the manuscript. The “stops” apparently refer to the punctuation, where great latitude is given in interpretation; but the letters themselves are not to be altered at all. The message is to stand as originally given, to be encountered anew by each generation, each new student, that they may draw their own wisdom from its undisturbed content.
The “style” is clear; but what of the “value”? More on this emerges in verse 55 which follows, where AC is instructed to “obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet.” This has always been taken to refer to the numerical value, a rule of English gematria. But I note that he is not to “change” the “value;” and in the next verse he is to “obtain... the value.” It already exists, and he is not to mess with it.
There is a deeper level, too. What is the real “value” of “the letters?” Is this quantifiable, or is it on an entirely different (nonnumerical) plane? I feel strongly that there is something very important that we are missing here, that somehow the surface reading of the verse does not deliver to us its real meaning — its, uh, value.
AC believed that, “There is an elaborate cryptographic meaning in this verse.” He keyed it to the words folly, naught, it, and me, and said it required further research. I am sure I do not have it decoded. However, there are fragments that disclose themselves upon inspection. “thou meanest naught” may be read, “thou teachest Nuit,” or the mystery of Zero, which “thou shalt reveal,” i.e., manifest (Cap. I, vv. 1, 5). There is also the strange use of “avail.” As in Cap. I, v. 23, this seems always to have been superficially read as “prevail.” However, there simply is no English language validity to that rendering. As an intransitive verb it means, “to be of use, value, or advantage; to serve.” The literal meaning here is thus that, “they who cry aloud their folly that thou meanest nought” shall be neither of value nor service; but the Beast shall serve, shall be of value.
“They are not of me” could be read, “They are Naught of Naught” (Greek MH = “naught”). (4/3/95 EV)
This verse seems to ordain a uniquely English Qabalah. There have been many theories on this, including a couple of my own. I am not thoroughly satisfied with any of it.
Let us analyze the verse carefully to see exactly what we know and what we do not.
Context: The preceding verse (II:54) made reference to the “style” and “value” of “the letters” of this Book. This seems to have stirred a question in AC’s mind about what the “value” might be. This present v. 55 seems to be a brief digression to address that question.
“Thou.” Singular. It seems to refer to AC uniquely, especially in context of the surrounding verse.
“shalt.” Although this could be a command, it could also be a prophesy: “It will happen.” If so, it seems to have been a prophesy failed. (AC’s brief attempt to relate the letters to the trigrams of Liber 27 was later abandoned by him.) In the absence of any clear discovery by him, we certainly are warranted to proceed ourselves, and to seek out this solution.
“obtain.” This is a critical word. The solution is something he did not already have. It is definitely an acquisition. (There is also an obscure and mostly antiquated use of “obtain” to mean “attain to” or “succeed;” this should be kept in mind for future investigation.)
“order & value.” These are the key words of the sentence, and deserve close scrutiny. Only “value” has gotten adequate attention. But let us not miss the fact that AC was told to “obtain the order.... of the English Alphabet”! Now, normally we assume we know the order of the English Alphabet. This in itself suggests very strongly that the order is not the same as that of the normal alphabet.
Now, there is one solution used by AC which is not generally recognized as such. As far as I can tell, he was the first to employ English-Hebraic transliteration and transvaluation. Even if he was not the first, he certainly employed it generously. Calculations such as LOVE = LOVH {Heb.} = 111, or ALONE = ALONH {Heb.} = 156, or LAW = LAV {Heb.} = 37 were not commonplace before AC, and were used readily by him and his close successors.
Such a system (“obtained”) does give hitherto unused values and a hitherto unused order to the English Alphabet. In such a case, the “new symbols” are the new visual interpretations of the Major Arcana of the Tarot.
If this is not the solution, then it appears there is no solution found by AC in his lifetime.
The method of English Qabalah which I personally find most interesting is the English Simplex — simply valuing the 26 letters from 1 to 26 in sequence. It parallels the Latin system, and is the key to Western numerology of the more popular (and adequately proven) kind.
Admittedly, since it uses the natural “order” of the English letters, it would seem not to be that system to which this verse refers. Nonetheless, it produces one startling solution that must be recorded here: The present verse is the 121st verse in The Book of the Law; and, by English Simplex, “order & value” = 60 & 61 = 121!
Could the “new” in “new symbols” be a clue confirming this, since N-E-W are three “5” letters — 5, 14, 23 — down the exact middle of the English enumeration table? Is this a clue to this verse 55?
(A couple of idle observations on this system from a personal perspective: By English Qabalah Simplex, my given civil name has the same value as the Name of my Holy Guardian Angel. This discovery was made years after the Angel’s Name was known. “Temple of Thelema,” deliciously, is 156.) (4/3/95 EV; last edited 11/14/2008 EV)
This now picks up the therad from vv. 53-54, returning from the digression of v. 55.
The message is straightforward. Those who mock thse teachings, this word, this law — those who “cry aloud their folly that thou meanest nought” — are cast aside. I should say, rather, that they cast themselves aside. They are not even allowed the trick of laughing their mockery in Hadit’s honor; for their laughter is not genuine laughter, not heartfelt joy, but rather a blind and haughty denial of the essential truths of their own hearts. When their false pleasure fades and they discover the emptiness of their truth, they are advised to recognize this as the “forsaking” of Hadit, i.e., of that which is to each his or her Self. (4/3/95 EV)
Verse 57 is based on Rev. Cap. 22, v. 11.
These verses teach an extraordinary doctrine. It is the doctrine that each thing, each being, is to strive to be what most truly it is, and not other.
This is not, however, a doctrine of narrow predestination. Each person may manifest himself or herself along a continuum or scale of greater or lesser fulfillment of their nature.
I think what the verse is saying, actually, is that the Indian caste system, as applied to reincarnation, is a falsehood. “Good karma” does not turn a “filthy untouchable” into a “king,” nor does “bad karma” do the opposite. “There is none that shall be cast down or lifted up; all is ever as it was.” You are now what you have always been and always will be — within the framework, of course, of what you make of it.
This deep honoring of the essential nature of a being is, amazingly, even clearer in the Rev. 22:11 passage. I quote below from the King James translation on which Crowley was weaned:
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Note the sequence: “unjust, filthy, righteous, holy.” It is an ascending scale, nearly the formal caste scheme.
Verse 58 is one of the most important in understanding human behavior. It holds powerful lessons for interpersonal relationships. How often do we hear that someone is holding out hope that a spouse will “change?” Now, certainly a healing of warped behavior is possible; a person may come to be more wholly himself or herself; but the essential nature will not change. We should not waste our time worrying about someone else changing — we should change ourselves if necessary, or forget it! Make your major decisions based upon what you see in front of you, not some speculation about how it would be if you “fixed”" it.
“the kings of the earth shall be Kings forever.” I take this to mean that one who is truly kingly while incarnated here is also kingly in all other levels of manifestation, on no matter what world they dwell.
“the slaves shall serve.“ This is not enforcing a cosmic class system. I read this as, “the slaves shall become servants.“ A slave is the opposite of a servant in attitude, even if identical in actions; for a slave does a thing against his or her will, whereas a servant does the same thing under will.
This verse is the first clear reference to Hadit’s servants. (We have had prior description of Nuits servants, and those of Horus.) His servants are “masked ones;” that is, like Hadit, they are “hidden ones.” Compare this to Nuit’s servants who are “secret.”
The rest speaks clearly for itself.
Crowley summarizes all this as, “We are to do what we will, and leave others to do what they will. We are infinitely tolerant, save of intolerance.”
(I should add that I am not at all happy with what I have written here. I agree with it, but I think I have expressed it badly and have shown a poor sense of proportion in how I have dealt with it all.) (c. 1995 EV)
In contrast to many parts of this Book, which are veiled under qabalistic codes and the like, much of Hadit’s doctrine is straightforward, no-nonsense. Its only veiling is in any tendency of the mind to distort it because of insufficient understanding, or because of adherence to antiquated moral philosophies.
The present verse — and the next, which accompanies it — are of this variety. The doctrine is so simple, I scarcely know what to say. My mind wanders to the different ways it could be misunderstood. I try to anticipate what someone else would need to hear about it (since these reflections will be shared with others). Yet, where I to respond to those promptings, I would wander all over the place in a misleading essay of excesses.
The very need for this verse in this place is based on an error — the very error I almost now committed.
It is an error that people need codling; but most of all it is an error that one category of people needs special attention in comparison to another.
Why would someone give special treatment to a King? If one considered oneself his peer, it would be the reciprocal and cofraternal recognition of nobility, noblesse oblige. But I suppose for most people it would be a fear based upon viewing themselves as inferior to the King. Whether out of a desire for boon or a fear of reprisal, one does not want to get caught in a Prince & the Pauper snare if one feels oneself inferior to the King who is veiled. (It is usually only through desire or fear that we open ourselves to the possibility of psychic attack or invasion of any sort.)
In all of the above categories, the essential foolishness is that such inherent rankings exist at all. Each person is who they are, and no simple “lady & the tramp” caste system could be made to work. Something can be learned from everyone and taught to everyone (in theory). Every beggar is a king in his or her own domain (if they but live it), and every king a beggar.
Let me say this differently. Wariness (“Beware”) is not the point. One does not love all because a King may perchance be concealed. One simply loves all. Period. Get the motive right; or, rather, get rid of the motive. Love is the law, the nature of will, and the fundamental fabric of reality — the body of Nuit. It does not need excuses which vainly strive to “lift up” one or “cast down” another.
Having written the foregoing, I turn to AC’s commentary. I note that his O.C. utterly misses the point — since every star is invulnerable in the Light of Hadit. But I am then delighted to see that, in the second paragraph of the N.C., he comes to the same conclusion I have: “We should indeed love all — is not the Law ‘Love under Will’?” He then develops it with a somewhat different emphasis than I have. (4/3/95 EV)
In view of the Marquis of Queensbury, this means, “damn the rules, fight dirty.”
“to hell with them” generally means, “hurl it into subconsciousness.”
“master” — but in v. 65 Hadit will make clear that He is the Master.
So all of this is very unsatisfactory. Fragments that usually consent to ready (albeit “tricky“) understanding, here fail to produce a satisfying interpretation.
I think we should start on the surface, and certainly connect it to the verse preceding. In that context, it represents strong follow-through. It is not advice per se to “strike hard & low,” except in those situations where such behavior is otherwise warranted; but don’t fail to hit hard just because you are afraid of pummeling a king. Probably you shouldn’t be pummeling anybody. But if you are required to fight, go for it. Dont "take a dive" out of fear or anxiety.
There is an ambiguity about “them.” The seeming antecedent — “King” in vv. 58 and 59 — is singular. There is no proper antecedent in the usual grammatical sense. This is one of those situations where I otherwise might be tempted to edit the Book; but its rules are clear. Change no words. There is a real meaning in this apparent grammatical error. “They” may be, for example, the fear, loathing, and other errors which would foster wrong action and wrong attitude.
I do not accept AC’s O.C. Life is not founded on constantly striking out. (However, if it be one’s Will to strike out, false considerations should not impede one from doing so.)
Turning to the N.C., however, gives some important clarity. I have interpreted hell — “hidden” — as subconsciousness. 666 interprets it as unconsciousness, but more pointedly as superconsciousness. I had forgotten one of my main principles in approaching this chapter, that Had = Hades. 666 quotes Liber Aleph where he renders “hell” as “Concealed Place” or “Hidden Wisdom.” If Hades is Had, then his domain — his “house” — is Khabs, the star at the heart of our being. To send a thing “to hell” may colloquially mean we want to become unconscious of it — but here it means to cast it consciously into the fires of that Truth which lies at the center of our being. (c. 1995 EV)
(A Netzach verse that, most interestingly, expresses itself in terms of desire.)
Much error has been set aside. The essential truth of the splendid Light at the center of our being has been made plain. Truth is intrinsic to each being, and its disclosure affirms, brightens, unveils, and makes plainer the Reality of that being.
This verse could not begin to have this meaning so clearly unless we rightly understood the verse preceding. The “hiding of Hadit” is approaching its climax — and we can now see that “hiding” (in addition to the philosophical implications discussed under v. 1) means the right recognition of Him to be within “the hidden place,” Hell, at the center of our Khabs.
This light is “most desirable.” This is beautiful and subtle wording. Desire is the magnetic menstruum of the Will. (By “menstruum” here I mean to infer that it is both centripetal and centrifugal, and thus — although frequently viewed linearly — in fact implies a “field” of movement.) It therefore arises naturally from who one is, from one’s Nature. To be “most desirable” is to deeply satisfy ones essential nature (the inmost, not the outermost). Yet, at this juncture, the light is “undesired.” Much truth is resisted for a time, even when it is that which most fulfills. Crowley’s HGA, Aiwass, is employing the voice of Hadit to say, “You don’t know you want this yet, but you do. The light unleashed, the joy set free by this Word, will fulfill all that you are, while you, little one, remain yet blind to it. In time... In time.... ”
AC, in the O.C., recorded that at this juncture of the dictation he was “rapt away by the God. First came a strange new light, His herald.” In the N.C. he observed that, “The revelation or ‘hiding’ of Hadit had by now sunk into the soul of the Beast, so that He realized Himself.” (c. 1995 EV)
A strong manifestaiton of kundalini to the heart level. This is the exact state of worship described in Cap. I, v. 61: the consequence, or result, is the intense impact of the stellar reality of Nuit upon the merely human flesh of AC. This verse is very descriptive of such a powerful kundalini raising ot Anahatta and the extreme awakening thereof.
AC cross-references this verse to Liber LXV, and to the imagery of the “heart girt with a serpent.” (4/3/95 EV)
The use of respiratory language focuses this verse. In the state described, the sensuality of the breath becomes rapturous, and is well described here. (Pranayama can give a hint of this by itself; and it is possible on psychadelics so to open the heart that this becomes a readily verifiable experience.)
Such words as “voluptuous” paint a very sensual picture, and I believe this is the primary level at which these phenomena are best described. It grounds the absurd and almost fanatical language that one would otherwise be tempted to use to describe the immaterial.
Perhaps needless to say, “Hell’s own worm” is not that of the corpse, but of Hadit as kundalini. (4/3/95 EV)
The fullness of the experience (in this Malkuth verse). The spiritual ordination and coronation of the Priest-King. The Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel under the imagery of the Thelemic pantheon, the Hexagram represented by the union of Nuit and Hadit.
130 is the value of MLK HGAL, “the Angel of Redemption.” It is also the value of OIN, the letter name A’ayin, one of the literal meanings of which is “delight.”
“we are upon thee; our delight is all over thee.” This has to be the most loving and wondrous “gotcha!” in all of literature. Once, and once again, is his transcendaent orgasm invoked. Splendor, rapture, and a “passionate peace,” a Pax Profunda.”
His mission: “write sweet words for the Kings.” (This latter probably also means, “Yes, I know this is fun, but don’t get so caught up in it that you forget to keep taking down this Book of the Law that I'm dictating to you.”) (4/3/95 EV)
N.B. 7/5/95 EV. I have conformed this verse to the original manuscript in terms of punctuation, and have also capitalized “Splendour” in accordance therewith.
Here is the full Knowledge given to AC of Hadit. It continues and climaxes all of the foregoing.
The verse commences “I am.” It is a verse of Kether, the words of the Atma or Yechidah, the voice, in a sense, of the Holy Guardian Angel. (It begins the ten verses attributable to Nun, and these verses, 65-74, are a self-contained thought.)
This is verse 65 of the present chapter, and verse 131 of the entire Book. The Speaker is that One known as ADNI (=65), the HGA. It is also Pan (=131).
Yet the fact that “I and thou” have been differentiated already shows a dropping away from the supreme ecstasy of v. 64.
666, in the N.C., also noted that this is verse 65. He commented, “It seems that He [the HGA] is Hadit [Yechidah or Atman].”
It is in the commentary to this verse, by the way, that 666 remarked, “I have never liked the term ‘higher self’; True Self is more the idea. For each star is the husk of Hadit, unique and conquerer, sublime in His own virtue, independent of hierarchy.” (4/3/95 EV; revised 12/23/07 EV)
Many short, individual items are contained in this verse. I will examine them separately. But before doing so, I should write something about the verse overall. It is a continuation of previous verses, and shows a flooding-in of communication, or realization or understanding, as the mind returns from samadhi to its normal state.
The first two sentences are closely synonymous, especially since it was AC’s “work” to “write.” In thus fulfilling his Will he would find the ecstasy from being the “bed” of the copulations of Nuit and Hadit, the throne of their ecstasy. (By the way, these verses are very useful for some kinds of talismans dealing with work.) These Gods do not separate him from his work in the world, but rather are fulfilled in his fulfillment, Their ecstasy and his being coeval. So it is with each of us.
“Thrill with the joy of life & death!“ Life and death, the movement of this infinite serpent through every bend and twist of its coils. This begins a lengthy section discussing death and the ecstasy thereof.
There is then a promise to AC of a “lovely” death. However, this is not necessarily a unique or personal promise for AC. Death is lovely per se — to the one experiencing it — in most cases. In AC’s case there have been conflicting reports of the exact circumstances of his death. Unfortunately, not even an eye-witness of the external circumstances of his death would necessarily be in a position to comment on this prophesy. The inner reality may be very different.
There are occasional reports of the death of an adept with witnesses. One example is Ann Davies, whose daughter was blessed with the chance to witness the inner as well as outer beauty of the event.
It is to me a certainty, based on experience, that every soul, at death, has a loving caretaker awaiting to guide them beyond mortal existence. This portion of my record is not the place to elaborate on all of this. At AC’s death, certain special circumstances were in operation which, in my experience, were unique (or at least rare).
In any case, I have every reason to believe that the exact circumstances described here came to pass. The main reason I believe so, however, is that most deaths — especially those of advanced spiritual aspirants, and especially of adepts — fit these circumstances. Let this be a deep and secure comfort to any who read this.
In the last sentence, AC again cycled back into a deeper samadhi: “We are one; we are none.” 2 1 0 (which is, in turn, the Mystic Number of the 20th Path of Yod = Hadit). (c.1995 EV)
These verses are a powerful expression of the torrential storms of rapture which the advanced mystic must endure. The sexual allusion is obvious, and actually becomes a useful technique in producing parallel results through sexuality.
Liber A’ash provides an extension of this teaching; but in no place is it so wonderfully expressed at a feeling level as in these verses.
Orgasm is the organism’s mechanism for terminating its pleasure when a certain threshold is reached. By training and practice, one can learn to accept higher and higher thresholds of pleasure. This training serves one well in the course of aspiration.
AC asserted that the first word dictated in v. 68 was “Harden,” not “Harder.” But he left the manuscript unretouched. Frankly, I see only a little difference in the implications of one or the other.
Crowley's N.C. on v. 67 could also serve as a codicil to Liber Samekh.
The instructions in the text of this and the next verse were actual indications as to how to behave, so as to get the full effect of the Trance... It is of the utmost importance to resist the temptation to let oneself be carried away into trance. One should summon one’s reserve forces to react against the tendency to lose normal consciousness. More and more of one’s being is gradually drawn into the struggle, and one only yields at the last moment. (It needs practice and courage to get the best results.)
His comment on v. 68 should serve as encouragement to aspirants:
It is remarkable that this extraordinary experience has practically no effect upon the normal consciousness of the Beast. “Intoxicate the inmost, o my God” [a paraphrase of Liber LXV, 1:64] — and it was His Magical Self, 666, that was by this ecstasy initiated. It needed years for this light to dissolve the husks of accident that shrouded his true seed.
(c. 1995 EV)
The parallel is unmistakable to the stunned reemrgence of the Ruach after an extraordinary orgasm. Here it is the mind’s return from samadhi. Even the interpretive faculty is silent. The mind (through the faculty of hearing = Spirit) is opened to perception, to instruction. He wonders if the dictation ended while he was “out.” (AC describes the experience with more detail in N.C.)
See Equinox of the Gods, p. 123: ”I think that this was the one passage in the whole book which was not spoken by Aiwaz....” (Revised 7/21/06 EV)
Swami Vivekanada repeatedly emphasized — especially in his Bhakti Yoga — that strength is essential to religion. His eloquent insistence on this is surely one of the strong formative influences on Crowley. It is of real importance here.
“Wisdom says...” That is, the instruction is from Chokmah, and especially applies thereto. Let Will be strong and sure, and thus better fit to unite through love with the object of its desire.
Furthermore, uplift your joy to the highest level. Both perfect the technical methods of obtaining the rapture, and also raise it to include as many planes of consciousness as possible. Apply science and art to your pleasure.
To “exceed” is to excel, to reach past, to transcend prior constraints. Yet this excellence — as any real Epicurean knows — is obtained in subtlety and delicacy as well as by intensity.
The real idea here is to “uplift thyself” — to raise these powerful, pleasurable experiences from the gross to the aesthetic and artistic and unto the spiritually devotional. (This cannot occur, however, unless one inaugurates the current in the first place.)
As 666 summarized: “There is a general instruction to refine pleasure, not by excluding its gross elements, but by emphasizing all elements in equilibrated development. Thus one is to combine the joys of Messalina with those of St. Theresa and Isolde in one single act.”
Why “eight and ninety”? I simply don’t know. My speculations move along the same Tarot lines as those of 666, i.e. royally and majestically, with both control and surrender, &c. (variations on Tzaddi = Aries = Emperor and Cheth = Cancer = Chariot).
N.B. — The English Simplex system of numeration produces some stunning coincidences in this verse; but I haven’t the slightest idea what, if anything, they mean. First, in investigating the perplexing numeration, I discovered that “EIGHT + NINETY” = 49 + 87 = 136, the number of this verse! Then — seemingly unrelated to that — at least three separate phrases all enumerate to a common value, one number different; specifically, 135 = “Exceed by delicacy,” “Rules of Art,” and “If thou drink.” (2/13/01 EV)
The injunction to “Strive ever to more!” continues the theme of the foregoing. It is important to realize that “exceed” does not mean to indulge in “excess, “ but rather to excel, to surpass. There is no weariness in this striving; yet nor is there any rest for the Thelemite who is a devotee of the Hidden One. Never settle for mediocrity. Never let “good enough” be good enough!
The language throughout is easiest to understand if applied to the art of sexual love. Yet it applies to all areas of life. In a life so lived, death ’ which is in almost any case lovely ’ becomes in fact the transcendence of one last barrier, one great limit.
In the course of the verse, AC is told to have no doubt that he is Hadit’s. Although the word “thou” is singular, this recognition surely extends to any who live life in this fashion. Hadit is the Self, the Center, and — at the risk of oversimplifying — one could only be not “of Hadit” if one were deeply alienated from one’s own kernel of being. Even an outer alienation would not be sufficient if — as with most people? — the deep relationship is sound. Such alienation would necessarily result in serious neurosis or even psychosis. (One pathway to such sickness is the sincere denial of the principles of Thelema, which means a sincere and deluded denial of that which is most true about oneself; and, reciprocally, the path to healing such a breach comes with accepting and affirming those principles. It is of great importance to realize that, in these last many years, although we have frequently encountered resistance, from newcomers or inquirers, to anything to do with Aleister Crowley, we have encountered essentially no resistance to Thelema per se. To me, this means that Crowley succeeded thoroughly in his mission — on both counts.) (c. 1995 EV)
The sexual metaphor continues, as a model of how to live life. The prolongation of ever increasing pleasure, the resistance or deferral of orgasm in the constantly ascending spiral of intensity, is not only the key to true sexual fulfillment, it is also the attitude and method put forth for the living of every area of life. It is also a technique of the highest magick known to me (and no, I do not specifically or necessarily mean tantric techniques, although they may be subsumed within the bigger scheme).
Liber A’ash then becomes an instruction in the living of life.
The ego displacement and intensity of “Ah” is obvious. This is a word composed of letters and sounds of pure breath, spiritus. It is virtually an unconscious effort to “give up the ghost (geist, gust). ” Only the smallness (mediocrity) of a person foreshortens his or her ability to persist through ever-ascending waves of ecstasy, light, and reality. Therefore have we been counseled to be strong, to exceed by delicacy, to develop subtlety, to strive ever to more, and to exceed the limits of our present parameters. Thus fortified, life becomes an ever expanding bed of worshipful delight.
“The length of thy longing shall be the strength of its glory. ” Aye, amen, and again amen.
DIGRESSION: Amen — AMN — is itself a formula of this Task: Aleph = the illimitable source of Life; Mem = the ecstatic surrender to its Reality; Nun = the invocation of death=ecstasy in its transformation and transmutation. Amen!)
The final sentence of v. 74 is the natural result for one who lives life in this way. It really needs no exposition. I suppose (on second thought) that I should state what should be obvious, that this means, “He that lives long in this way...” It is not a recipe for chronically depressed geriatrics, but rather for those whose fullness of life seems ever to be an increasing spiral of expanded and fulfilled living.
GEMATRIA: 140 is the value of MLKYM, “kings, ” which is also the name of the Angelic Choir of Tiphereth.
“Death is forbidden, ” ultimately, because there is no such thing as death — not of the star, only of its vehicles and veils. In full consciousness, life proceeds on beyond horizon and horizon....
In the N.C. are some of AC’s most important writings on life and the Will — almost a non sequitur where these verses are concerned, but not to be missed in any case:
For this reason, alone, it is all-important to ascertain one’s true Will, and to work out every detail of the work of doing it, as early in life as one can. One is apt (at the best) to define one’s will dogmatically, and to devote one’s life almost puritanically to the task, sternly suppressing all side-issues, and calling this course Concentration. This is error, and perilous. For one cannot be sure that a faculty which seems (on the surface) useless, even hostile, to one’s work, may not in course of time become one of vital value. If it be atrophied — alas! Its suppression may moreover have poisoned one's whole system, as a breast debarred from its natural use is prone to cancer. At best, it may be too late to repair the mischief; the lost opportunity may be a life-long remorse.
The one way of safety lies in applying the Law of Thelema with the utmost rigour. Every impulse, however feeble, is necessary to the stability of the whole structure; the tiniest flaw may cause the cannon to burst. Every impulse however opposite to the main motive, is part of the plan; the rifling does not thwart the purpose of the barrel. One should therefore acquiesce in every element of one’s nature, and develop it as its own laws demand, with absolute impartiality. One need not fear; there is a natural limit to the growth of any species; it either finds that food fails, or is choked by its neighbours, or overgrows itself, and is transformed. Nor need one fret about the harmony and proportion of one’s various faculties; the fit will survive, and the perfection of the whole will be understood as soon as the parts have found themselves, and settled down after fighting the matter out in the balanced stability which represents their right reaction to each other, and to their environment. It is thus policy for an Aspirant to initiation to analyse himself with indefatigable energy, shrewd skill, and accurate subtlety; but then to content himself with observing the interplay of his instincts, instead of guiding them. Not until he is familiar with them all should he perform the practices which enable him to read the Word of his Will. And, then having assumed conscious control of himself, that he may do his Will, he should make a point of using every faculty in a detached way (just as one inspects one’s pistols and fires a few rounds) without expecting ever to need them again, but on the general principle that if they were wanted, one might as well feel confident of the issue.
This theory of initiation is so important to every aspirant that I shall illustrate how my own ignorance bred error, and error injury. My Will was, I now know, to be The Beast, 666, a Magus, the Word of the Æon Thelema; to proclaim this new Law to mankind.
My passion for personal freedom, my superiority to sexual impulses, my resolve to master physical fear and weakness, my contempt for other people’s opinions, my poetic genius: I indulged all these to the full. None of them carried me too far, ousted the other, or injured my general well-being. On the contrary, each automatically reached its natural limit, and each has been incalculably useful to me in doing my Will when I became aware of it, able to organize its armies, and to direct them intelligently against the inertia of ignorance.
But I suppressed certain impulses in myself. I abandoned my ambitions to be a diplomatist. I checked my ardour for Science. I trampled upon my prudence in financial matters. I mortified my fastidiousness about caste. I masked my shyness in bravado, and tried to kill it by ostentatious eccentricity. This last mistake came from sheer panic; but all the rest were quite deliberate sacrifices on the altar of my God Magick.
They were all accepted, as it then seemed. I attained all my ambitions; yea, and more also. But I know now that I should not have forced my growth, and deformed my destiny. To nail geese to boards and stuff them makes foie gras, very true; but it does not improve the geese. It may be said that I strengthened my moral character by these sacrifices, and that I was indeed compelled to act as I did. The mad elephant Wantobemagus pulled over the team of oxen? We may put it like that, certainly; but still I feel that it might have been better had he not been mad. For, today, if I were an Ambassador, versed profoundly in Science, financially armed and socially stainless, I should be able to execute my Will by pressure upon all classes of powerful people, to make this comment carry conviction to thinkers, and to publish the Book of the Law in every part of the world. Instead, I am exiled and suspected, despised by men of science, ostracised by my class, and a beggar. If I were in my teens again! I cannot change my mind about which ridge I’ll climb the mountain by, now when I see, above these ice-glazed pinnacles storm-swept, through gashes torn from whirling wreaths of arrowy sleet, the cloud-surpassing summit, not far, not very far.
I regret nothing, be sure! I may be even in error to argue that an evident distortion of nature, and its issue in disaster, are proof of imprudence. Perhaps the other road would not have taken me to Cairo, to the climax of my life, to my true Will fulfilled in Aiwaz and made Word in this Book. Perhaps it is lingering “lust of result” that whispers hideous lies to daunt me, that urges these plausible arguments to accuse me. It may be that my present extremity is the very condition required for the fulfilment of my Work. Who shall say what is power, what impotence? Who shall be bold to measure the Morrow, or declare what causes conjoin to bring forth an Effect that no man knoweth?
Was not Lao-Tze thrust forth from his city? Did not Buddha go begging in rags? Did not Mohammed flee for his life into exile? Was not Bacchus the scandal and the scorn of men? Than Joseph Smith had any man less learning? Yet each of these attained to do his Will; each cried his Word, that all the Earth yet echoes it! And each was able to accomplish this by virtue of that very circumstance which seems so cruel. Shall I, who am armed with all their weapons at once, complain that I must go into the fight unfurnished?
(Having passed through these ten verses past, it is unmistakably clear that they are the Nun decade of this Book. We now enter unto ten others, attributable in theory to Samekh. And if we need any confirmation of this theory, we have but to look ahead to the sixth verse of its series, that corresponding to Tiphereth, and read: “Abrahadabra; the reward of Ra Hoor Khut. ” Nor do the other verses so collated in any way contradict the premise.) (c. 1995 EV)
This is surely the best known and most obvious of the Qabalistic puzzles of The Book of the Law. It leaps out at the dullest minds, excites even the least educated and most casual reader.
Although an unequivocal solution, clear to all minds, would be useful, I am not all that sure that we should pay overly much attention to it. I say this, having accidentally — and despite myself — worked out a lucid interpretation around 1980 E.V.
I noted back then, as I note now, that the verse does not say that there is a meaning here; it merely said someone would come along later and “expound it,” i.e., display a meaning that had been “pounded out.” This was certain to happen even in the absence of intentional meaning, even if the verse were pure nonsense. Nor does the “one to follow” refer to Frater Achad, since his discoveries (Liber 31) did nothing at all to “expound” this particular mystery.
Nor is it beyond the HGA to drop in a message because of its certain effect, regardless of its literal truth. This verse certainly drove home the point to AC that there were things about this Book that he himself would not understand.
So — despite having worked this out, for myself, to my own satisfaction ” I remain agnostic as to whether there ever was a n intended meaning here.
The really important part of verse 76 is the last sentence. We are given a formula of attainment, and of living, that transcends any qabalistic keys. In three parts, it is:
Nor does it matter particularly that these instructions are, respectively, one for the Hermit, one for the Lover, and one for the Man of Earth. They are to be taken together and applied to the living of live. (Such is one purpose of the instruction in Liber H A D.) (4/3/95 EV)
A follow-on to the prior verse. Further instruction in the attitude of living.
Pride is usually listed as one of the “deadly sins.” This is certainly still true of misplaced or overbearing pride; yet pride is not only the qlippothic aspect of the sun, but the vital core of the rightful dignity it bestows on human life.
Pride and might are the attributes of Sol and Mars, respectively. (Both are also traits corresponding to Leo.) They are, therefore, traits of Ra-Hoor in all his aspects.
“among men.” Is this a sexist residual? It is an old phrase, now mostly antiquated, usually assumed to mean, “among people.” Such a usage is very atypical of Liber L. At the present time I regard this as an unfortunate usage of a now antiquated phraseology, which, nonetheless, is perfectly decipherable to us. (4/3/95 EV)
“Lift up thyself. ” A literal translation of the idea of Samekh, with all of the implications of aspiration, kundalini, moral empowerment, &c.
“there is none like unto thee” &c. This is not only aimed at AC — it is fundamentally true of every one of us. Every star in the universe is unique unto itself, as part of the economy of the universe (see 1:4).
“Lift up thyself” is then repeated, and this time singular to Hadit’s prophet, presumably AC: “thy stature shall surpass the stars. ” Certainly this is encouragement for the prophet, a necessary feature of instructions such as this Book. It may also mean that he shall surpass the Sphere of the Fixed Stars, which corresponds to Chokmah. Intuitively I am guided to read it that He, the Beast, as a Solar Word, shall rise into the starry sky and exceed their brilliance for those who live within sight of His orb.
He is advised that “they shall worship thy name, foursquare, mystic, wonderful, the number of the man. ” The last phrase, from the Book of Revelations, makes clear that the name>/em> is 666. It has always seemed important to me that To Mega Therion’s name bore “the number of a man, ” for, like few other prophets of note, he was emphatically a man, a man among men.
How this number is “foursquare” I do not know. I vaguely recognize this phrase as a very old phrase. I should perform a concordance search for a Biblical usage.
Done; but with no exciting results. “Foursquare” appears ten times in the King James Version of the Bible, the last time in Revelations 21:16. Most of the occurrences are in Exodus. Both the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the New Jerusalem were described as “foursquare, ” the Greek of which is tetragonos (“four-sided”), and the Hebrew of which is rabah; but nowhere do I find a phrase equivalent to the one used here in CCXX 2:78. I now suspect it refers to the Kamea of Sol which inherently declares the Name 666.
“They” shall also worship “the name of thy house 418. ” Crowley interpreted this to mean Boleskine (BVLShKYN) = 418. I think this interpretation is convenient at best. I believe the answer is more universal. First of all, 418 = Cheth, Cancer, ruled by the Moon. is Leo, Teth = 419, correspondent to the Sun. Cancer and the Moon clearly fill the bill as “the house” of the Sun and, in fact, ideas of house and home are commonly attributed to Cancer in astrology.
“House” is, of course, BYTh = 412. The phrase “thy house” is BYThH = 417; but “his house” is BYThV = 418. (This is much more satisfying to me than AC’s forced BYTh ABBA.)
The idea of a “holy house, ” which also comes up in that way in Cap. III, is likely, ultimately, to be an allusion to similar points in the Fama Fraternitatis.
On examining the N.C. for v. 77, I chuckle to see that AC commenced with precisely the same points of Qabalistic analysis as did I.
“thy name” =ShMH, an anagram (temurah) of both ha-Shem (HShM), “the Name [of Tetragrammaton], ” and of Mosheh (MShH), “Moses. ” Its value is 345. AC reinforces an idea I failed to emphasize above, that it is his name that will be worshipped — 666 and all that it means — not Crowley himself.
Regarding “foursquare”: This is verse 144, or 12 x 12. This number brings forth many ideas from the Apocalypse, where these are the key numbers representing the dimensions of the New Jerusalem — which, in turn, is a symbol of the microcosm of the human body. See also T.'.O.'.T.'. Acolyte EL #3. (4/3/95 EV)
The purpose for which this Chapter was dictated is concluded. Its “end” has been attained. Hadit is fully hidden, i.e., established within the Secret Center which (as was seen in Cap. I) is also the Secret Fire.
This is verse 145 of the entire Book. In the Latin Simplex system, there are three really remarkable correspondences to this final verse concluding the hiding of Hadit. 145 is the value of pars magna secreta, “the most secret part;” sum quod sum, “I am what I am,” synonymous with the Hebrew Eheyeh asher Eheyeh; and Summum Bonum, “the highest good,” a phrase referring to the climax of the Great Work, and especially corresponding to Kether.
Blessing & worship to the Beast, the prophet of the lovely Star! (Revised 4/3/95 EV)