Liber L., Cap. 3
HERU-RA-HA
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These five (or seven) words have several simultaneous interlocking meanings.
Chapters I and II opened with identifying (or caption) verses declaring the former to be “the manifestation of Nuit” (“to manifest” = ChVH, “Eve”) and the latter “the hiding of Hadit” (Greek ΑΔ = Hebrew אדם). Nuit and Hadit represent the two great complementary polarities of infinity. She “bends down;” He “lifts up” himself. Their union is in the Hexagram, the ensign of love, union, and the fulfillment of the Great Work. All of this is represented by the word “Abrahadabra.”
“Abrahadabra” — as we learned in 1:20 (120!) — is “The key of the rituals,” a sobriquet of the Rosy Cross. It would be perfectly correct, I believe, to read this verse as “The Rosy Cross; the reward of Ra Hoor Khut.”
In my meditation on 1:20, I summarized the main meanings of Abrahadabra. It is especially a word of eleven letters which unites the 5 with the 6, the Microcosm with the Macrocosm, ΑΓΑΠΗ with ΘΕΛΗΜΑ. (“Had” in the midst of 11 letters = Had as the “secret centre” of Nuit.)
In Abrahadabra is the completion and fulfillment of the Great Work. [NOTE: 146 = consummata est, “It is finished,” and סוף, “end, limit.”] It is especially the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. (Abrahadabra is especially a symbol of the 5=6 equilibration. There is a different Word which reflects the equilibration of 8=3.) The Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is “the reward of Ra Hoor Khut.” Horus is an exterior image, or “visible object of worship,” of the Holy Guardian Angel, the Child (of the Great Mother and Great Father) who is part of the Magical Image of Tiphereth.
The exact form here — Ra Hoor Khut — is different from the form encountered previously, in Cap. I. For one thing, its numerical value is 10 less, 453. This is also the value of Behemoth (BHMVTh), the great land-monster of Hebrew mythology; and of nephesh chiah (NPhSh ChYH) “breath of life,” a term for the Animal Soul in its fullness, i.e. including the Creative Will (Chiah).
I also suspect that this orthography is intended to point us in a particular direction. The name “Ra-Hoor-Khuit” does not appear, as such, in any of the old Egyptian records; but there are some very similar names, especially Ra-Heru-Khuti or Ra-Heru-Khut. I think the Author of this Book is directing our attention to that particular archetype (even as mine own Angel led me, within the last few days, to review and relearn the material from which the following analysis is drawn).
Heru-Khuti is a very common name in the old writings. It is the Horakhte of which Fagan especially writes, properly translated “Horus of the Horizon.” Heru-Khuti or Horakhte (the Greek Hrumachis) is an especially mighty and wondrous manifestation of the Sun, virtually a Redeemer God. This name usually appears in combination with other names which specify the exact aspect of the Sun which is intended; for example, Tum-Heru-Khuti is the setting Sun.
Ra-Heru-Khuti (or Ra Hoor Khut) is, then, especially the rising Sun, the inner and natural experiences alike which can at once be represented by a Golden Dawn and the Rosy Cross. The newborn Sun, rapturously rising at dawn, is a stupendous emblem of this “reward.” When the “i” is added in the next verse, returning the value to 463, this symbol is again identified with Sushumna. It especially represents the translation of the nephesh chiah (453) into Sushumna (463). Here, in verse 1, the name is more specifically telling us that, in the dawning of this new Aeon of the Child, Hrumachis hath arisen (cf. verse 34).
I also recall Crowley’s observation that “reward” may have a double meaning; i.e. it may mean to “re-ward,” to set the wards again.
Thus, in this great Ritual of the Equinox of the Gods, the knell of the new Utterance hath sounded, the new Hierophant hath been seated upon His throne in the East (“throne” implies Binah as well; thus, His is a Supernal office of super-consciousness), and the universal temple is now to be re-warded — purified, consecrated, and sealed upon the reception of all the officers into their stations. The dictation (and verily the reading!) of this Third Chapter is a ritual whose guardians are now securely posted so that we may hear the promulgation of the Aeon — so to speak, the Hierophant’s lection of the occasion.
Abrahadabra is this warding, this sealing of the quarters by the interlocking triangles of Fire and Water, and by the Pentagram: 3-5-3 = [Water Triangle / Pentagram / Fire Triangle].
There is a clean, clear start at the beginning of this new chapter. The first two or three verses are setting up what is to follow. The function of this verse 2 is parallel the function of Chokmah in the Tree of Life, and it commences by declaring a fundamental duality: “There is division.”
In this verse, as well, there seem to be multiple simultaneous meanings (although only one primary current, which I shall get to in a bit). For example, “division” reflects that the God of this chapter is a Twin-God. The path of the Twins, Zayin, opens from the Sphere of Tiphereth just acknowledged (in verse 1) unto the Sphere of Binah, “home.” Whereas Nuit in Cap. I is the foundation or basis of nihilism, and Hadit in Cap. II of monism, so is Heru-Ra-Ha in Cap. III the foundation of a philosophy of dualism. Within Thelema, all three of these rivers of philosophy coexist, and our Qabalah shows how they are necessarily interrelated and coexistent.
But the primary meaning here, I am sure, is along other lines. “...the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all” (I:30). This verse, this entire chapter, simultaneously displays the Next Step for humanity collectively, and the Next Step for each of us individually. The enthroning of Horus is for the world what the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is for the individual. Throughout, we will see this parallel, repeatedly and (I think) exactly.
The “division” is the fundamental duality within us each, and especially the separation from the Holy Guardian Angel, the “wound” that is to be healed — the mystery of the Divine Twins in many lands, especially as treated by Jung and Hillman. The pain of this division “is as nothing,” yet, “the joy of dissolution” is “all.” It is unto the Reality that is Heru-Ra-Ha that the world must turn, that it must embrace; and it is unto the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, “the joy of dissolution,” that each must turn. This division is “hither homeward,” i.e. between “here” and “home,” the final goal (which, perhaps due to equations of “home” and “mother,” keeps appearing to me as Binah).
“there is a word not known.” Every word of this is pregnant with rich meaning! “there is a word” may mean only “a word exists;” but I believe it means “there is a word.” It is “there,” in or at the state called “home.” (Later: I see that AC agrees that “there” is positional, but he thinks it refers to verse 1. I will stick to my guns on this one, however.) This “word” is a teaching, a doctrine, a key — not, perhaps, literally verbal; in fact (“Spelling is defunct”), I am pretty sure no literal word (i.e. one make up of actual letters) is meant. It is silent Truth, Will in motion. It may be the “word not” (LA), as one of the ubiquitous “31” keys to this Book; but it is clearly “not known.” We do not have “knowledge” of it, in the sexual (union) sense. It is “there,” at “home,” and we have not yet united ourselves with this Logos of our being.
Note also that this is not a “Lost Word.” It would have been the easiest thing for Aiwass to have dictated, “the word is lost.” But this new Word has never yet been found! It is still unknown, unembraced, “undesired, most desirable.”
Again, the doctrine is very explicitly that of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
“Spelling is defunct.” At one level, this warns us that we should not play word games in trying to find this “word not known.” But I also agree with AC that the double use of “spelling” and “spell” in this verse is a clue, that the “spelling” which is defunct is the old way of executing spells.
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“Spelling is defunct.” The old ways of composing letters and words (ideas, themes, forms) is outdated. “Defunct,” as AC suggested, means, “no longer able to function.” New modes of magical working, new formulae, now emerge.
“all is not aught.” I think I will skip this sentence for the rest of this lifetime! The word “aught” has the damnable quality (useful, however, in the metaphysics of Nuit) of meaning both “everything” (all) and “nothing.” In English this sentence either means “All is not all,” or “All is not nothing.” By Qabalah it gets even more confusing, with such equations as all = 61 = AYN (“nothing”), both equal to “aught” in meaning. The problem with this sentence is that it means so much — virtually everything! — that it means nothing at all. (God, I didn’t mean to do that!) Astounding! The sentence itself, by its very character of complex simultaneous meanings, enacts by the process of the sentence the literal meaning(s) of the sentence. Four words. Thirteen letters. A tremendously, marvelously complete and multilevel summation of Chapter I’s doctrine. [NOTE: AC, in the New Comment (N.C.), called this “an excessively neat cipher or hieroglyph of the great key to this Book.”] But why is it here? What has it to do with this verse in this chapter? My guess is that (by its incomprehensibility and simultneous internal self-contradiction and self-affirmation, if nothing else) it is intended to lift the mind out of Ruach into Neshamah, expanding on the effect of the immediately proceeding sentence, “Spelling is defunct.”
“Beware,” though expressed as a warning, simply means, “Be wary!” or “Be alert!” Aiwass is hollering, “Heads up!” It is an instruction in attentiveness, concentration, and mindfulness. “Hold” probably refers to self-discipline more than to halting or groping. Together, “Beware! Hold!” are an instruction in the method of yoga.
And the consequence — which is also our “assignment” — is the “raising” of “the spell of Ra-Hoor-Khuit.” Among all its other interlocking meanings, this especially refers to the raising of the kundalini in the attainment of the K&C of the HGA, pictured in terms of this solar-phallic-Self-GOD (Ra-Hoor-Khu-it).
Ra-Hoor-Khuit (RA-HVVR-KVYT) = 463. This is the value of the Middle Pillar of the Tree of Life (Th = 400, S = 60, G = 3) and of Sushumna (SVShVMNA). This solar-phallic-Self-GOD is the Sushumna, who is our Middle Pillar.
This, then, is the fulfillment — and the uttering of the Word (this verse 2) — of which the redemptive and effulgent rising Sun of verse 1, Ra Hoor Khut, is the seed of promise.
“there is a word not known.” Compare this to the corresponding verse in Cap. II, “Come! all ye, and learn the secret that hath not yet been revealed.” In Cap. I, the corresponding verse is, “The unveiling of the company of heaven.” They are very similar, but with a progressive withdrawal from naked disclosure.
This is a very difficult verse. It requires that I address some of the recurrent themes of this chapter, especially that of war. My views on this are complex, because they change with the level of which we are speaking.
First, there is no mistaking the fact that, since 1904, this planet has been bathed in blood as it has not been since fully barbaric days — perhaps not even then, considering the vast population differences. Furthermore, these wars have had a powerful effect on the social, political, and ideological evolution of all cultures. Furthermore, this bloodshed has been triggered, with an amazing reliability, concurrent with the strongest steps of establishing the Law of Thelema in the world.
However, I think it a serious blunder to presume war as a necessary consequence of the energies of Horus. These wars are a result of the failure and weakness of humanity in the birthing of this new Aeon. Perhaps “labor pains” were inevitable, and the tantrums of an unruly child to be expected. Yet infants are usually only unruly in this way if given painful provocation.
The social and spiritual impetus which is Horus demands real change and real transformation. It is a certainty of the human constitution that if powerful inner forces are ignored or denied, these forces will exteriorize; and, not being consciously nurtured and directed, they will exteriorize in an immature and generally destructive fashion. It is only the ignorance of humanity, its failure to recognize these inner needs and forces, its stubborn and inertial resistance to real change, which has necessitated the pattern we have witnessed thus far — at least until about 1989 e.v.
(The commencement of open temple work by T.'.O.'.T.'. at the Spring Equinox, 1989 e.v., heralded the most extensive redrawing of the world map since at least World War II.)
This, by the way, is what must be true about all the so-called “prophecies” in this Book. Crowley was very excited about such things. To him, they were confirmations of the miracle of the transmission — as if the transmission itself were not miracle enough! However, I must regard them rather as “leaks.” The primary level of interpreting these verses must be in consciousness. Given the archetypal trueness, the same symbols will tend to “distill” into manifestation — that is, to exteriorize — to the extent that they are unfulfilled interiorly. The successful test of this premise is that, if it is true, there will be a tendency to have only negative or (consciously) undesirable prophecies exteriorize; and, in fact, it is primarily in the references to war, sacrifice, and sorrow, the tragedy of the Scarlet Woman, etc., that such outer manifestations of these “prophecies” appeared and were cited by AC. No one is bubbling over about the “good” prophecies being fulfilled. What of the “rich man from the west”? On the outer, everyone is still waiting for the golden shower!
The true warrior spirit blended with a redemptive or healing god must require that the battlefield is within ourselves, and that there is no opponent save ourselves.
In the present verse, it is the inner battle with self that must be our war. Also, in Hebrew characters, “war” is VAR = 207. That is, it is an anagram of AVR, “Light.” Horus is a God of Light, and it is as such that He is to inspire and mobilize us.
“Vengeance” is generally understood to be “the act or motive of punishing another in payment for a wrong or injury he has committed; retribution.” But it also means “with great violence or fury; excessively,” as in, “He acted with a vengeance.” Its root is the Latin vindicare, a most interesting word; for though it comes into English as “vindicate,” its full meaning is, “to lay a legal claim to; to protect, defend; to appropriate; to demand; to avenge, punish.”
* * * * * * *
I have taken the intervening time since yesterday to examine further my resistance to the most literal interpretation of Ra-Hoor-Khuit as “a god of War and of Vengeance.” It appears the psychological necessity arises from the fact that (a) I feel inwardly deeply connected to the Horus archetype, and yet (b) I could never really accept my God being one of violence and cruelty which are ideas I fully relate to the usual meanings of “War and Vengeance.” That is one reason I became disillusioned with the Old Testament Jehovah, but could totally accept Krishna’s views on war which, for Arjuna, were perfectly Thelemic.
But I am not sure any usual meaning of “War and Vengeance” is put before us here. Why, for example, are they capitalized? (We are told twice in this Book that the “style of the letters” is important.) These cannot reasonably be the relatively petty human passions that humanity is all too eager to project onto its deities.
So, first: By mythic archetype I recognize that Horus, son of Osiris, was the avenger of his father’s murder.
It is completely clear that the highly energized and martial character of this God (whom I have previously equated with the kundalini and the primal power of the Sun) is to act “excessively” (i.e. “exceedingly;” see diary re: Cap. II, especially verse 71) and “with great fury.” There are no restrained half-measures typical of Him.
Also it is abundantly clear to me that the primary war we have each to wage is within our respective lives, our characters, our personae. That is the actual nature of the Great Work.
Nor shall I ever forget my tour of South-Central Los Angeles — the La Brea and Rodeo area in particular — the morning after the L.A. riots began after the first Rodney King verdict. With doors locked and radio off, I opened myself psychically to feel and enter into the collective reality of the rioting masses as I drove quietly and slowly through the riotous streets of scavengers. There, as the smoke rose (often black and always thick) from the burning buildings, it began to take shape in answer to my inner, stunned “Why?” The smoke rose and congealed massively above one building, into the gray-black form of a huge hawk, and its voice thundered through my being: “The God of Justice is a God of War; and for so great an injustice there must be an equally severe equilibration.” (Or words to that effect; see my diary of the time.)
And therein lies the key. Fear, severity, and brutality are the basest manifestations of Geburah. Its general nature is strength, and its highest manifestation is DYN, din, Justice. For so great an injustice there was demanded an equally great retribution — literally, “paying back” — and especially a compensating equilibration, and equalization of the distributed forces.
This is not the god of some petty human need for revenge, but the great God of Justice. “War and Vengeance,” closely examined, mean Light and Justice, Tiphereth and Geburah — Ra and Hoor.
After the foregoing it seems anticlimactic to attack the concluding sentence of this verse, “I shall deal hardly with them;” but it must be done.
This is an unusual use of “hardly,” though it is correctly employed in an adverbial form.
The common meaning of “scarcely, barely” hardly applies here.
It may also mean “in a hard way,” i.e. “harshly.”
A somewhat antiquated variant usage — which mostly survives as the contemporary word “hardily” — gives the meaning “strenuously.” The Middle English root hardli meant “boldly,” i.e. in a hardy fashion. This is the class of meanings that applies here.
What is the antecedent of “them”? I fear we have sloppily, unthinkingly ignored the grammatical integrity to easily accept the word as depicting the Great Vague Them — as in “us vs. them” — perhaps regarding it broadly as the nonspecific and generic enemies of Thelema or some sort of thing. Such ass-blind bigotry is, however, unworthy of a God — nor is it even good grammar!
Since the antecedent is not likely to be “War and Vengeance,” it likely reflects back to verse 2: the division, the ignorance, the “defunct spellings,” and all that is out of whack. These “wrongs,” i.e. “sins” (in the way this Book defines that word), will be dealt with in a strenuous and hardy fashion by the God of Light and of Justice.
These six verses form an apparent set. Like much of this Book, and especially like the first three verses of the present chapter, they are subject to simultaneous interpretation on several levels. That is, the essential principles here enunciated may exteriorize to various extents, in diverse areas of life, giving an apparency of multiple meanings.
I believe it is a waste of time for political science majors to scour the headlines for a geopolitical interpretation of these verses. Even if a clear “fit” were to be identified, it would be more or less irrelevant. The real and essential meaning must be the inmost; and any geopolitical consequence would be merely the working out of one particular example of a general principle.
The primary meaning, I believe, is very close to that which Fra. O.M. gave as his “mystical meaning” in the Old Comment (O.C.), to wit:
4. [Choose] one of the Cakkrams or nerve-centers in the spine.
5. Concentrate the mind upon it.
6. Prevent any impressions from reaching it.
7. I will describe a new method of meditation by which —
8. Ye shall easily suppress invading thoughts.
9. May mystically describe this method (e.g. Liber HHH, Section 3).
The deep meaning is a yogic meaning — with several possible variations on a theme. The battle being waged is not of Britain, but is fought within oneself over the integrity and fulfillment of Will.
The “island” may be a chakra, as AC speculated. Even more deeply, being a dry protrusion from a surrounding sea, it is a symbol of Hadit, a point of view within the Great Sea of Nuit. Here is the emergence, or coming forth, of a discrete individual. On a lower plane, it is the formulation of a distinctive ego on similar principles. It basically says, “Determine who you are.”
Translated into life, this also gives practical instruction in getting on. In a particular situation it says to get clear on what you want, what is your point of view or desired outcome or position; and stick to your guns! If it is in accord with True Will, Ra-Hoor-Khuit will fortify you with everything you need to succeed!
“Fortify it!” The ego must be strongly formulated — otherwise, it is a dysfunctional vehicle for the True Will.
The “enginery of war” (which — see verse 3 — especially means “enginery of Light”) is the strength, Light, fortification, power, and all other sources necessary to prosecute the objective. In a major way, we are each the “war-engine” — we are each, with our successive layers or vehicles, complex constructions, “wired” to execute when empowered by adequate energy.
v. 7: Again, “I will give you a LIGHT-engine.” (I also find it curious that 152, the number of this verse with respect to the entire Book, is the value of Concilio Firmata Dei, “Strengthened by God’s Counsel,” the motto of Jeanne d’Arc.)
v. 8: “The peoples” — not “The people” — at first implies a race war. The extra letter is no accident. Still, it clearly represents “the voice of the multitude,” the reactive and invading thoughts and idle thought-formations of which AC spoke. These are the more superficial aspects of our psyches. Our yoga must certainly take us deeper than this!
Ra-Hoor-Khuit — the Holy Guardian Angel — gives all of this help to those who persevere in the way of True Will. His “war-engine” is that inner aid which is best represented by the unfettered majesty of the Sun, before which Sempiternal Splendor the superficial and transient cannot stand.
Verse 9 may indeed describe the method — but it is more likely Liber Turris than Liber H. The “thus” in verse 9 is critical; for it confirms that whatever the preceding verses mean, they are the explication of Ra-Hoor-Khuit’s worship “about [His] secret house.” What is that “secret house” if not the heart, the inner and true Vault of the Adepti, the only true “sovereign sanctuary.” (AC’s New Comment on verse 9 slyly refers to a different “sovereign sanctuary.”)
N.B. Many of the English words in these 6 verses need to be looked up for more precise definitions, including etymological references.
* * * * * * *
It has been a week and a half since I have worked on the verses of Chapter III of Liber Legis. There is an adjustment taking place. These verses are of an entirely different nature than those of either Cap. I or Cap. II. They are like nothing we have encountered before. And, despite my years of familiarity with this Book, and the particular advantage I might expect from the inner relationship I have forged or found with the Horus archetype, there is no great assistance.
It will, perhaps, be necessary for me to formally invoke Horus for assistance in this. Perhaps the Supreme Ritual will be helpful? [N.B. This was done on the following day, a Tuesday.]
Nuit and Hadit have, so to speak, formulated the two mating triangles; but in Cap. III we encounter Him who is their union in the Sacred Hexagram; and He is immeasurably different than these components. In this archetype of the Holy Guardian Angel there is a distinctive manifestation of one particular illimitable yet unextended aspect of Identity of Self-consciousness (Hadit) experiencing the universe (Nuit); and in doing so, it is both immeasurably limited by its discrete manifestation, and immeasurably empowered to fulfill its distinctive and irreplicable function or destiny.
So much in this Third Chapter seduces its witness to a literal interpretation. Furthermore, AC actualized, that is, materialized, many of these “prophecies” in his own life. Yet, even knowing this, I continue to be inwardly counseled that I am to view every part of this Book primarily at an archetypal level; and that its outward actualizations are to be valued merely as particular cases of a general meaning. Scanning forward, I find that this is difficult to do, in the verses immediately ahead, without feeling forced or artificial. Artifice is the last thing I want to bring to this particular work. It will be necessary for me to progress step by step, verse by verse; and my intellectual powers often will be the least useful of my tools until the point of actually framing what I learn into expressible language. This has frequently been true in the first two chapters; but I suspect it is to be considerably more so now. This path before me has very much the feeling of an initiation; of entering anew the Path of Darkness — the unknown and unguessed, the “undesired and most desirable.” May I walk this Path under the Shadow of the Wings of that One who goest ever before me, bearing the Light even when I know it not.
* * * * * * *
On November 9 I left off with a note that many of the words in vv. 4-9 need to be looked up in a dictionary, with especial attention to their etymology, to seek subtler meanings than have been hitherto obvious. I do not expect to find much; but historically, this has often proven quite revelatory.
In verse 4, “island” has the broader and subtler meaning previously suspected. The word is used broadly in English to mean anything completely isolated in the way that an island is isolated. As such, it means any object of meditation whatsoever, and also is a distinctive metaphor of Hadit’s nature. Interestingly, the Indo-European root is akwa- (the Latin aqua) meaning “water.” All objects of attention, as all individual beings, are isolations within an infinite ocean of consciousness, the Qabalistic Great Sea.
The use of “dung” in verse 6 is interesting. If this is a conventional military usage, the dictionary does not reflect it. The word, of course, refers to feces; and its use as a verb means to pack manure around the base of a thing, as to fertilize a plant. (Its old root means “heap.”) From the Egyptian context of the Book’s dictation, we cannot fail to note the metaphor of the dung beetle, divinized as Khephra, God of Resurrection; and even without this metaphor, we certainly are led to see in this verse the employment of “excrement” — old and outworn forms and energies, qlippothic residue, dead and excreted patterns; in short, any of the refuse or “old shit” of our psyches — as protection, sustenance, fortification, and fertilizer for each new reality we are building. The Sword of Horus has come to sweep away the old; but every bit of the old has its use in tending the garden of new growth, the garden of the future. Nothing is lost but old forms; the essence is reconverted to new “plantings,” to new growth.
An “engine” is a special kind of “machine” — from Doric Greek machos, “contrivance or means.” A “machine” is thus something contrived — intentionally devised, as by a human mind — to be the “means” to make something happen. Its basic definition is, “any system, usually of rigid bodies, formed and connected to alter, transmit, and apply directed forces in a predetermined manner to accomplish a specific objective, such as the performance of useful work.” From the de-structed old patterns we are to draw raw resources to build up a new, more functional (and thus “better” structure which will serve our present ends in a far superior way.
An “engine” is a particular kind of machine which translates or converts energy into mechanical motion; or, more broadly, any agent, instrument, or means of accomplishment. Its purpose is accomplishment, movement, action. And, again, it is the result of intentional human contrivance, the use of our minds to formulate it; for the root of “engine” is ingenium.
It is a “war” engine = aur engine; so the raw stuff of which this is being built is L.V.X. (“War” comes from the Indo-European root wers-, meaning “to confuse,” i.e. to create a state of chaos and confusion. This brings the added meanings of a force which disables, for a time, the ordering and orderly function of the intellect; which, like the forces depicted in Atu XVI, The Tower, displaces our rigid control of definition for a time, so that we can actually experience what is before us and create or distill a new and superior Order. This is certainly a good description of the effect of this chapter’s construction on my mind. Briah must guide if we are to Understand.)
This “mechanism of confusion” (or “engine of Light”) is to be aimed at the general populace. The instruction is not only to shake up one’s own reality, but also, and perhaps especially, that of the world. Note that this is not by violence except violence of thought, not letting the comfortable rest in their comfort [NOTE: I am a great believer in the traditional job description of a priest — which I apply to any such spiritual guide — which says that the chief duty is to bring comfort to the discomfitted, and discomfort to the comfortable.], but shaking their foundation a little so that they come awake on their own. (An earthquake in California is often termed “nature’s wake-up call.”) The word “stand” in verse 8 means “withstand.”
“Lurk” is to lie in wait, to be still, to be concealed (a meditative method aspiring to Hadit). “Withdraw” is its complement, the pulling out of the concealed; but it also means to retire or isolate oneself. Thus, these two words again describe the basic practice of the yoga of stillness (even as they subtly describe a somewhat more active if esoteric methodology). They are the methods that depict what is really meant by Ra-Hoor-Khuit’s “Battle of Conquest.”
Throughout the day I have turned my attention many times to the words of this verse and the ones which follow it. In a way that is not true of Chapters I and II, this Chapter III is composed of words called into the service of a direct superconscious Message incapable of verbal expression. The metatext is as important as the literal text; that is, there is as much “message” in the indirect way that the lucidity and illucidity, the rhythm and texture, and other “invisible” characteristics interleave as there is in the actual words. In meditation, the heightened pitch of the superconscious Ideas that are bound into these words rebounds and rings as the clanging of steel on steel, high impact resounding.
Now is the Pillar established in the Void; now is Asi fulfilled of Asar; now is Hoor let down into the Animal Soul of Things like a fiery star that falleth upon the darkness of the earth.
Through the midnight thou art dropt, O my child, my conqueror, my sword-girt captain, O Hoor! and they shall find thee as a black gnarl’d glittering stone, and they shall worship thee. (Liber LXV, Cap. V, vv. 5-6)
On its surface, Cap. III is the most literal of the three; yet if that premise is followed, if the Chapter is held to a literal criterion, then the language balks and escapes. It leads the mind necessarily outside the bounds of any usual use of language, into a meta-language of its own. Yet to discuss it at all, even to record an outline of ideas for my own later reference, I must compel the ideas to incarnate as language, that I may constrain them to this page.
Turning to the words of verse 10, I am again confronted with the need to examine virtually every word, as well as the hidden assumptions behind them. Even in the first sentence is the phrase “stélé of revealing.” From our present position, four score and twelve years into the promulgation of the Law of Thelema, we may easily forget that, prior to this very verse, these words had never been strung together into a name or label.
Now, there appears no question of the allusion. In verse 19 we shall learn for sure that it is stélé 666 from the Boulaq Museum. Also, “stélé of revealing” is not given here as a proper name — it is not capitalized — so it is more descriptive than nominal. Why is this description given? AC never said. It seems so deeply ingrained in him that he never saw the need to explain it.
Did he, for example, see the dictation as an apokalupsis — literally a “revelation” — like that of St. John? His diary of just before the Vernal Equinox in ’04 e.v. refers to such a “revelation” coming through. Had this become his way of referring to the time? For the stélé is clearly that of the message of Liber Legis.
To “reveal” is to divulge or disclose, to make known; to bring to view, expose, show, etc. It is the “unveiling” that first appeared in Cap. I, v. 2, where the Body of Nuit — a higher octave of the same idea represented by Isis — is unveiled. Literally its Latin root revelare means “to pull back the veil.” By description, a “stélé of revealing” is a stélé of unveiling.
There is, however, a special theological meaning of “revelation” as “a manifestation of divine will or truth.” This seems to be the meaning really intended here.
Here enters also the English Qabalah Simplex; for by this method, revealing = 93. This is the “stélé of 93.” (stélé of revealing = 175.)
Thus far have we come merely identifying what is meant — that is, what may be the relevance — of the object intended.
We are to “get” the stélé and “set it in thy secret temple.” On the surface this seems to be an instruction to obtain a certain item and lock it away someplace. But I have long held — and now feel even more strongly that it is true — that this verse means something entirely different. In the verses preceding, we have been instructed in a process of isolative meditation, even of incarnation. In a practical sense, I believe this present verse means we are to take the image of the stélé and set it within the heart center (or, I suppose, whatever other “island” one has chosen). More deeply, of course, it means to place within the appropriate center the meaning, or inner reality, implied by the stélé.
This “secret temple” — possibly part of the “secret house” of verse 9 — has many more secrets. I was drawn to add up the word “thy” in Anglo-Hebraic script, ThY = 410. I believe this prompting was solely to alert me to the word for “secret temple,” MShKN, which also enumerates to 410. The phrase “in thy secret temple” is then BMShKNH = 417; and “in his secret temple” (no stranger a distortion that AC did with Cap. II, v. 78) is BMShKNV = 418.
The “secret house” of the God is essentially the same as the “secret temple” of the aspirant; and we are told that it “is already aright disposed.”
It is this sacred image, this Eidolon of Thelema, which, kept within the secret temple of an aspirant’s heart (or other “island”) is to be ever that person’s Kiblah, the “direction” he or she turns for regular worship. With perseverance in the practice it is readily discoverable that, “It shall not fade, but miraculous colour shall come back to it day after day.” This is a far greater (and more useful) miracle than “the Trick of the Self-Revivifying Paint Sampler.”
The last sentence of the verse is a puzzle to me. The physical stélé has, of course, been closed in locked glass for years. However, if all the foregoing line of development is correct (as I have been inwardly advised it surely is), then there must be an at least metaphorical meaning here. “Lock” comes from a root leug- meaning “to bend, turn, wind,” hence lock (a strand of hair as much as a security apparatus), luxury, etc.; and it probably comes from the idea of “bending together” or “shutting.”
* * * * * * *
An examination of the definitions for “glass” produces no new clues except for very unfocused metaphors that the image is to be sealed (“locked”) yet its shield should be transparent (“glass”), and I am exceedingly skeptical of vague rubbish like this.
The Indo-European root of “glass” is ghel-, meaning “to shine.” I am reminded of words in other languages — like the English “clear” — which imply both transparency and lucidity. (Such ideas are closely associated with the Path of Beth; see The 32 Paths of Wisdom.) Derivations of ghel- refer to various colors, and to bright (especially yellow) materials of various types, hence such words as yellow, gull, gall, the Greek chloros (yellow-green; hence chloroform), gold, gleam, glimpse, glimmer, glisten, glass, glaze, glad, glee, glow, gloat, etc.
I must admit that this range of ideas, now laid out, does intrigue me much more with the idea that “glass” refers to a Mercurial idea (“Transparent or Clear Consciousness”). “Locked glass” then, is “fixed Mercury,” i.e. concentrated and firmly held thought. This gives a meaning totally consistent with everything in verses 3-10.
In conclusion, I feel strongly that this verse overall describes a method of worship for all, wherein the most sacred visual image of Thelema, a stélé summarizing the key features of Liber Legis, is held within an interior center (“island” or “secret temple”) such as the heart; the worshipper regularly turns in meditation toward this “Kiblah”; the image, rather than fading, is daily reinforced, becomes more lustrous and vivid, “new colour” returning to it day after day; and the enclosure of this image in firm and concentrated thought produces the only necessary or real “proof to the world” of Thelema. This “proof” is the way that the teachings infuse and inform the soul of the worshipper, and the consequences thereof. For it is ultimately the God of Silence who is the God of Strength.
I now note that AC, in the N.C., also doubts the literal meaning of this verse. He comments that, “The language is here so obvious and so inane that one is bound to suspect a deeper sense. It sounds as bad as ‘the last winking Virgin’ or St. Janarius.” (2/17/01 EV)
The numerical positioning of this verse in this Book overwhelms almost every other detail, and consumes the structural details of its words in a subsuming and purifying fire.
First, as the sixth verse in the present ten-verse series (vv. 151-160), it is a verse of Tiphereth: “Ra-hoor-Khu is with thee.” The Holy Guardian Angel is here, with you now. Horus is established as the governing spiritual force in the world.
But, beyond that, this is verse 11 of the present chapter, and verse 156 of the entire Book. Eleven is the characteristic nunmber of Nuit; 156 is the value of “Babalon,” the name of “the Victorious Queen” (This numeration appears in either Greek or Hebrew, which is strong evidence, incidentally, that Enochian words must be rightly enumerated either as Greek or as Hebrew.) This verse is, therefore, the manifestation of Nuit in Her aspect as Bbaln, the “secret name which I will give him when at last he knoweth me” (CCXX, 1:22).
The entire verse radiates with the characteristic qualities of Babalon. I know of no verse in the whole of Liber Legis that is so characteristic of the heart of The Vision & the Voice, or of Liber Cheth, or of the classic Babalon communications from the Dee and Kelly source works. (See also the [...] Ceremony of Temple of Thelema.) Her mark — her actual scent — is all over this verse like civet on a cat in heat.
This being said, I am hesitant to peer too deeply into the verse, to try to explain it too concretely. If my perceptions so far are correct, it would require a Master of the Temple 8=3 to Understand it. Normally I would, therefore, content myself with a rational analysis and let the deeper levels evolve in their own time; but for a verse such as this, such rational opinions could be little more than the dung of Choronzon. It is the feeling that must saturate my being here, not the thoughts; and the image presented by Nesahamah to confront the babbling Ruach is like an impassioned woman who grabs her lover by the collar or throat and, pulling him to her, exclaims, “Shut up and come to me now,” then proceeds to explain to him — or, more likely, show him — what she can do.
Having rested a long time in Her embrace, and with my Chiah still worshiping before Her Areopagus (which is that temple of Ares upon a certain hill of Athens), I now record what reason is presently given to know.
“This shall be your only proof.” The antecedent is whatever was meant by “proof to the world” in the verse preceding. I believe it to be the result of Thelemic worship, both in terms of inner aspiration and outer living, which are necessarily linked. The true “proof to the world” is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and its reflection into the other microcosm which is human society, regenerated by the Word Thelema. (Yet this latter transformation can only occur as a consequence of individuals perfecting the former.)
This “only proof” is the “conquering” which “is enough.” The conquest is of onself. (The word “Conquer,” very martial in style, ultimately means only to be victorious, to win; especially to gain or secure control or dominion.) The word comes from the Latin conquierere, “to search for, procure, win,” from quaerere, “to seek.” That is, “conquest” is a quest (cf. “question”), the chief metaphor of the Great Work.
The God of Conquest, however, forbids argument. Thelema is not a proselytizing religion. Verbal and intellectual disputes are specially foreign to the whole idea. Similarly, the real sanctuaries of initiation have traditionally issued manifestos proclaiming who they are, but have never indulged in debate beyond the clarification of their nature annd principles, nor proselytized for members.
Even this present “commentary,” often couched in the form of rational development of ideas, is not intended to be a debate nor to contend, but merely to trace the paths whereby certain ideas have precipitated into the intellectual plane, and how they can thereby become usefully embodied in words and nurtured in our teachings. It is a record of a particular birth, not a claim to know the only way to build a baby!
Although the Latin arguere meant “to make clear, assert, prove,” the English cognate is derived through the intermediary of the French arguer which means, “to blame!” This is idea that Aiwass forbids through the persona of Ra-Hoor-Khuit.” (1990s EV)
I am equally certain that the present verses do not advise either animal sacrifice or child sacrifice. There is a more hidden meaning.
Crowley, as I recall, held the same basic view; and, concretizing these verses into events in his personal life, he saw their fulfillment in the death of the daughter he shared with Rose. (In later life he lost other children. His desire to sire viable progeny unfolded in a long story of grief and loss.)
I am certain, however, that there is a deeper meaning, one of universal significance. It is not to Mr. and Mrs. Aleister Crowley that these prophecies are made, but, rather, to the Beast and the Scarlet Woman.
I have written of these two archetypes in reference to Cap. I, v. 15 of this Book. They are not individuals, but officers of the Order during the Aeon of Horus. They are easiest to understand as a solar-phallic representation of Chokmah (666), and a lunar-yonic representation of Binah (667); but they are much deeper Briatic realities than this. Within the microcosm, they are the Chiah and Neshamah, respectively.
Probably the hardest word to understand (I did not consciously intend to use Chokmah and Binah language there, but the thread is representative of what is flowing through me in response to these verses) is "cattle." How is it to be taken? This leaves verse 12 a great mystery.
I will begin by saying that I keep thinking of "cattle" as meaning the generic masses - what are elsewhere in this Book referred to as "the people," those avatars of Public Opinion. This idea has been recurrent for days, and throughout the present meditation, despite my determination to view this in a more even and orderly fashion; so I will accept, for now, that this is the likely meaning.
In the world - "big," macrocosm - these are the general (mob) populace. Their "little," or microcosmic, counterparts are the random and babbling thoughts that populate the superficial regions of our minds. ("Cattle" = lots of Alephs (Air) = little thoughts.)
But before these cattle are sacrificed, a child is to be sacrificed. This part is almost easy. It is the child of the Beast and the Scarlet Woman, of Chokmah and Binah. There are, however, two possible solutions. Their "child" may be Da'ath or Tiphereth - and, as we know from the Zohar, these two are often regarded as one and the same. (It may represent the progressive sacrifice of each Middle Pillar sephirah, progressively, depending on one's grade.)
It is useful and easy to see the sacrifice of superficial thoughts as a consequence of the sacrifice of Da'ath, Knowledge.
However, I am inclined to accept that Tiphereth (Vav, the Qabalistic "Son") is the correct solution here. We have been seeing, in prior verses of this chapter, the progressive overthrowing of the archetypes of times past; and now it appears that even the heart of Beauty, as previously recognized, is to be sacrificed upon the altar of that Higher Light to which even 666 and 667 turn their uplifted sight. Perhaps this is specifically the Christ child; perhaps not.
Certainly the ego, as formulated and understood in the past, is now due to fulfill its function by its surrender to a higher truth. Humanity under Osiris evolved an ego; under Horus, this eventually must be sacrificed in its completion and fulfillment.
But not now.
That is - per v. 13 - that is all premature. It shall occur within the term of this present Aeon of the Child - within the lives of the Beast and Scarlet Woman - but not within the lives of Aleister and Rose.
In fact, the real purpose of this Aeon of the Child is the sacrifice - literally, "making sacred," or sanctification - of the Child. (This is also the technique that consequently sanctifies the "cattle" as well.)
"But not now." Surely this is advisory that the indicated results are still a way down the road. Yet the formulation of this verse is intriguing. Three words, of three letters each. All three are formed of a vowel between two consonants. The vowels - u, o, o - are all equivalent to Vav, as if the center spirit of these words were 6 6 6. The consonants - b-t., n-t, n-w - are as if in progression, each evolving into the other with one small change; and each is representative of Nuit.
Gematria: "b-t" = 11; "n-t" is "not" or "Nuit;" "n-w" = NV, Nu. Together they are 11+ 59 + 56 = 126, q.v. Adding three 6s begins the total to 14; or, adding 666 brings it to 792. All this should be looked up.
In verse 14, "Ye" is again Yod-Heh, reinforcing the Chokmah-Binah interpretation of 666 and 667. Verse 15shows their union, and the "sacrifice" of the "child" as the gateway to the Vision of Sorrow. ("Sad" - possibly also meaningSod - is 65 in Anglo-Hebraic script. The verse number,15, is the value of HY, "lamentation," and is a number of Saturn.” (1990s; edited 10/23/11 EV)
In reference to the verses preceding, it means simply, “Don’t even think you know what I’m talking about. Just take it all down like I said, and it will be clear (to someone) in time.”
Aiwass is giving the same advice that found it say into Cap. I of Liber O. In this Third Chapter there are portrayed things both of great horror and of great beauty. We should not, however, ascribe to anything soever the importance it first appears to have.
“Don’t go rushing off towrad the good stuff you think is promised! And don’t be all in a panic about this horrible-sounding stuff. Cool out! You’re taking it all wrong, man. You ain’t gettin’ what I’m saying.”
Besides this, there is, of course, the point that, even if we did understand these verses correctly, we should have a certain detachment, giving way neither to fear nor to lust of result.
“...know not this meaning all (AL) is, of course, one of the Frater Achad keys, invoking to LA [Lamed-Aleph, lo] = AL [Aleph-Lamed, el] complement — which veils a secret, or rather a class of secrets, subsequently related to the 7=4 Grade of A.'.A.'. and, by [symbolic] correspondence, to the 7° of Temple of Thelema. (4/3/95 EV)
Practical advice, both for life and for the practice of yoga. “Fear is failure, and the forerunner of failure.” Fear is the entrapment of the martial force natural to the Svadisthana chakra into a withdrawn and introverted state; and the essence of this force is the will. Even the Neophyte of the A.'.A.'. learns, in confronting the façade of fear, that
Thy flame is mine
To weave my maiden spell.
This verse is a good catalog of things in our contemporary world before which most of us, at one time or another, cower in a self-conscious tremor of self-diminishment. Money means power, so we may feel helpless in the face of another’s wealth, or at least inwardly (and wrongly) diminish ourselves in the face of another’s wealth.
We fear ridicule, finding it oh so easy to join others in our own diminishment (for, after all, we know better than anyone else, what pathetic failures we are).
Yet — equally with this — only we can know, each person for himself or herself, the real measure of the pure gold of which we are made.
We fear “Fate” if we feel out of control of our destinies; yet Fate is but the assurance of the immutable omnipotence of our inmost self. We fear “gods” and “men” if we are unwilling to step forward and stand as equals among their company. In brief, if we will not own and actualize our own power, it becomes (by its suppression) a projection, and we see nothing but the power of others and, in contrast, our own weakness.
Fear is the self-consuming intraversion of our strength and courage and light. It is a Will that knows not where to go, or that will not go.
Do we fear, most of all, the damage we will do — the Tower-like destruction of which we are capable — if we, in fact, do our wills? Do we fear our clumsy first trials at truth? Is it not love, which should be most fulfilled in the free expression of will, which in fact stifles our power of action in fear?
The antithesis of this verse — the fearless expression of honest power — is the refrain in Liber Samekh:
Hear Me, and make all Spirits subject unto Me: so that every Spirit of the Firmament and of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth: on dry Land and in the Water: of Whirling Air, and of Rushing Fire, and every Spell and Scourge of God may be obedient unto Me.
“in heaven or upon the earth or under the earth” can easily be taken as the three strata of the psyche: Neshamah, Ruach, and Nephesh, respectively.
The final sentence is a powerful formula of many aspects. Taken of itself it expresses Nuit as the all-encompassing mother, the refuge which is the whole of the universe itself. How could we ever fear while in the arms of such a mother? And there is, in fact, no place else to be. Hadit, furthermore, is the inmost light. How fear the dark when we have such a light? And Ra-Hoor-Khuit Himself — the Holy Guardian Angel to each of us — is strength, force, and vigor in life. (Actually, Nu, Had, and RHK are here each credited with an important attribution of the HGA.)
AC’s O.C. addresses this beautifully. Yet also, “Nu is your refuge” is a formula, as a Buddhist might begin a meditation by acknowledging refuge in the Dhamma. Surely this is as potent a formula, at least for those who love Thelemic symbols. Commence a meditation by saying, “Nu is my refuge” (pause to take refuge in Her), “as Hadit my light” (pause to find the real center of light which begins the meditation), “and Heru-Ra-Ha is the strength, force, vigour of my arms” (experience the star that you are, in Their union). I have used this in a different way in the ritual Liber Pleiades.
Finally, this sentence is the Thelemic phrase corresponding to the traditional Rosicrucian prayer of the Osiris Age:
Ex Deo nascimur.
In Iesu morimur.
Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus.
The O.C. makes reference to “the great Red Triangle” which is “as a shield.” This refers to the distinctive symbol of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, a red triangle, one point down (such as is usually attributed to Water). It especially refers to the middle triad on the Tree of Life.
This ensign of Horus is a powerful symbol. I suspect it would have as much defensive and authoritative power on the astral as would a Pentagram. I have never tried this, but believe it is so. AC’s description of it as a “shield” tipped me to the idea. He described it as having “rays” (as from the points) that “are far-darting arrows.”
The exact form of this worn by the Adepts of Temple of Thelema would be especially powerful on the astral in almost all conditions, especially to one sacramentally linked to the symbol and who knows its intent; and, secondarily, to all others to whom those Seniors have pledged their magical protection and support. (c. 1995 EV)
The antithesis, on the Tree of Life, of Mercy (Chesed) is Strength or Severity (Geburah). The initial wording is a little strange, but it clearly warrants a Geburan attitude, not that of Chesed.
This verse especially makes clear why we should not “quote scripture” out of context. The verses of this Book are connected and interrelated. The present verse is especially the antidote for the timorous and cowering behavior addressed by the prior verse: Act with Strength! Express your full aggressive vitality!
A fundamentalist reading of this verse would take it as an injunction to “Kill and torture,” and so forth. Although I have no easy explanation for my point of view, I simply renounce this meaning. (On further thought, I see that the explanation for my views is the more fundamental key of Thelema. None of us has the right to infringe another’s will, as by murder.) I suspect layers of meaning I have not tapped. Mostly, I just regard it as an injunction to let loose and ACT rather than brood in your timid closet.
AC, in the O.C., sees this verse as supporting the process of natural selection, and denouncing the artificial protection of the unfit. (4/3/95 EV)
The end, which was so difficult for Crowley, is now easy for us. The only real name ever given to the “stélé of revealing,” to our knowledge, was its catalog number in the museum where the Crowleys found it: Στηλη 666 = 52 + 666 = 718.
To Aleister, this eventual discovery was a tremendous breakthrough. To us it is a commonplace. What else is in the verse for us?
The surface meaning of the first sentence (especially in context of verse 18) seems to be an image of warring Thelemites sweeping across the land — whether physically or ideologically is not clear — with Stélé 666 as their ensign, terrifying the atavists in their path. I think this is all a little dramatic; but it does alert us that the stélé should be our visible public ensign. It is the seed-image, the image which encapsulates all of the chief symbols of The Book of the Law. It is Chapter 0 of this Book.
I think this all sounds a bit too apocalyptic — the same impression I had when first reading the Book almost ninety years ago. Interesting to be sure — but a little too apocalyptic.
Why shall “they” call it “the Abomination of Desolation”? I should look up these words and examine them very carefully. I am sure there are very subtle meanings held in these careful word selections.
Superficially it means that we scare the hell out of the status quo.
By English Simplex, “Revealing” is 93. Let’s try the same trick here.
ABOMINATION = 113
OF = 21
DESOLATION = 114
(THE = 33)
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION = 248
+ THE = 281
[LATER: Nothing was found that seemed relevant.]
It is clear that Στηλη 666 = 718. But there is also something elsewhere; for “it shall be to you as 718.” Why “as”? What else is meant by 718? I’ll look, but I don’t think I’ll find it in similarly valued words and phrases. 718 is 418 (Abrahadabra &c.) plus 300 (Shin, spirit). This is quite meaningful by itself. The stélé displays much that is meant by 418, and, when one works with it, it takes on the deep contact of three-fold spirit. But this is probably a superficial meaning.
718 = חין : The Chariot (of the Crowned & Conquering Child?), the Hermit (Hadit?), and the finality of Death : Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio : VIII + IX + XIII = XXX. The chariot of war, the prophet, and death certainly paint an apocalyptic image; the populace could see them as an “Abomination of Desolation.”
Yet “Abomination of Desolation” is what it is to them; and 718 is what it is to us. These two modes of identification should not be confused, should not be cross-linked. Perhaps (in the absence of any other meaning) it is to us to be simply Στηλη 666. For Hadit is the infinitesimal point of light (Yod contracted 10 → 1); and Nuit is the infinite circumference, the 0 of Aleph expanded to its utmost (Aleph = 111); and Ra-Hoor-Khuit is the Hierophant and the solar Child of their union (Vav = 6): 1 x 111 x 6 = 666, IAO.
[Here follows the 12/27 entry from the diary, as an addendum.)
An "“abomination” is a loathing or abhorrence for something, or a thing which elicits such a response. It carries a connotation of something thoroughly unpleasant, exceedingly dislikable. It comes from the Latin abominari, “to shun as a bad omen;” lit., ab-omen, “(to shy) away from a (bad) omen.”]
“Desolation” is the act of rendering a thing desolate, or the state of being desolate or in ruin. “Desolate” is devoid of inhabitants, deserted, rendered unfit for habitation, devastated, dreary, dismal, gloomy, lonely, &c. It comes from the Latin desolatus, from the past participle of desolare, “abandon,” from de-, completely + solus, alone.
There are not the hidden secrets here that I hoped for. An "Abomination of Desolation" is a thing loathsome or abhorrent (which is viewed as) rendering its surroundings devoid of inhabitants, deserted, unfit for habitation, etc.
AC, other than elucidating the 718 mystery, says the first reference “appears to be to the old prophecies of ‘Daniel’ and ‘John.’” I will have to research this.
This verse, which characterizes the stélé of revealing, is verse 164 of the entire Book. “Stélé” means a stone or memorial post or pillar, as Fra. [...] has often mentioned; and 164 is the value of the Hebrew phrase ehben ophel (אבן אפל), “the Hidden Stone” — as well as the secondary forms of ehben aleph, “the First Stone,” and ehben pelah, “the Wonderful Stone.” “Desolate,” meaning “devoid of inhabitants,” is related to “desert” or “deserted;” and the Greek word for “solitude, desert” is ‘ερημια.
Later: Sor. Meral, letter of 4/22/95, renders “abomination” as “a bombing nation.” (c.1995 EV)
This is verse 165 of the entire Book. 165 = NEMO (Nun Heh Mem A’ayin), a generic name for the Master of the Temple, 8=3. This is an appropriate verse for this number!
This verse especially goes with the preceding verse, and shows the frailty of logical exploration in the face of the elegant mystery of 718; solved eventually not by reason (despite its utterly rational nature) but by a seeming fluke such as startles by its inspiring electricity.
Because (by English Simplex = 56) was previously used in this Book as a variant name of Da’ath.
This present verse is a sublime ridicule of Reason. Even a child knows that the only answer to “Why” is “Because!” And here it is because Because ain’t good enough!
“Why” — Vav Heh Yod, by transliteration — is the Trigrammaton spelled qlippothically backwards. That is, it is an observation to the averse aspect of the Divine Name, manifest only to the plane of Yetzirah. [NOTE TO SELF: Develop it, though, also as the Pathway to its real answer — Vav, Heh, Yod as an ascent through the planes, from pure reason (Vav) to Briah (Heh), etc.]
Why is Because a “he”? Why is “he” “not there”? Why “again”? The obvious answer is — Because! (4/3/95 EV)
On its surface, this appears to be only a physical detail of the mode of worship; and such it certainly is, though not exclusively.
To set up a deity’s image “in the East” is to place it at the focal point of worship. The east is the place of the rising sun, the Golden Dawn. From verse 1 of this chapter, we know that this god is Ra-Heru-Khuti, the splendid and golden Sun in His Rising. It is also, as previously stated, a generic image or “stand in” for the Holy Guardian Angel in each of us. All of this, the entire Tipheric archetype, is to enter into our understanding of this phrase as an inward positioning of the god of our worship.
In brief: Ra-Hoor-Khuit in general, and the HGA specifically, are to be inwardly equated with the rising Sun, the Golden Dawn.
The word “image” indicates a specific magical act, employing Yetziratic means to manifest a higher principle. “Set up” further emphasizes specific magical action.
This may, of course, also be regarded as an appropriate physical detail of worship. AC recorded that he did, indeed, suddenly find such an image easy to obtain. (I think it was a bronze or golden hawk. I have forgotten the details.) Each of us, in turn, may respond to this in our own ways, according to what the HGA “will show thee, especial. “ If a generic image is sought, the st&eactue;lé of revealing fills the bill.
The last sentence is also very interesting. The first level of meaning is probably for Crowley alone. (However, it did not take much prophetic power to predict that, in Cairo in 1904, AC would find it “suddenly easy” to buy some kind of “image” of Horus.) Just about anyone who has ever started out in magick knows that a phase comes when it is “suddenly easy” to acquire this or that important item. The phenomenon is pretty reliable when someone is ready to take the next step.
The Tipheric implications of this verse are utterly clear. Establishing an “image” of Ra-Hoor-Khuit in the East is very Tipheric. This wonderfully confirms the enumeration of the verse, for it is both verse 166 of the entire Book — one of the “6” verses — and also verse 21 of this chapter, 21 being Σ(1-6), the Mystic Number of Tiphereth, and a number otherwise keyed to Kether. But it is more than Tipheric. 21 is יהו, the Trigrammaton, and shows the Supreme Name manifest to the level of Vav, the Son, and to the World of Yetzirah, the World of Images. It shows the Central Light of Yod extended to the level of image.
AC confirms that this verse refers “to the rites of public worship of Ra-Hoor-Khuit.” He wondered — as I did — if the word “Set” refers, in some obscure fashion, to the god of that name. I decided to drop that as a nonproductive idea that was probably “stretching it.” (c. 1995 EV)
Ra-Hoor-Khuit is “the visible object of worship.” This is a tremendously important sentence and concept in Thelemic religion. It has many concepts attached to it, including the following:
RHK is the visible object of worship. That is — perhaps because he manifests as a Khu — he reaches to the level of images, Yetzirah, and is capable of manifesting his Divine and Briatic aspects to that plane.
“the others are secret.” The “others” require direct spiritual apprehension, an awakened Briatic (samadhic) consciousness that can receive their impressions.
I am not at all sure that “the others” are “the other images.” They may be, or not. [NOTE 1/2/12: I have long settled into a certainty that they are not.] This gives two divergent but related lines of development.
The “others” — Nuit and Hadit — “are secret.” They really are not even comprehensible to most folks. (There are, of course, lower octaves that the Yetziratic mind can grasp. Nuit, by Her image, as a form of the Great Mother, is certainly within reach of even the uninitiated. She can be seen in Mary &c. But this is not Her.) The worship of these “others” is reserved (by capacity, not by ordinance) to:
What is “the Ordeal x”? The clue is in the initials “O x.” This could mean many things; on many levels, the highest of which is an allusion to Aleph (“Ox”). Generally, though, it refers to Adepts. OX is a reference to the Rosy Cross. This seems true, and also seems to be what AC had in mind when he issued Liber NV and Liber H A D for use of the Adeptus Minor and designated them, “for the Winners of Ordeal X.“ At a higher level, of course, [the N.O.X. sigil] refers to the Magisteri, who are on a par with “the Beast & his Bride.” Yes, I think this is it. “Beast & his Bride” refers to Chokmah- and Binah-consciousness in general, and “winners of the Ordeal x” to that of Tiphereth. Yod, Heh, and Vav. “God” sends angels to communicate to those who cannot look directly upon Her face. (I should not fail to mention that O and X themselves refer to Nuit and Hadit as the circumference and the center point. The “knowing” intended in the last sentence is the gnosis arising from samadhi, whence these phenomena are self-evident.)
AC, in the N.C., blatantly said:
There are to be no regular temples of Nuit and Hadit, for they are incommensurables and absolutes. Our religion therefore, for the People, is the Cult of the Sun, who is our particular star of the Body of Nuit, from whom, in the strictest scientific sense, come this earth, a chilled spark of Him, and all our Light and Life. His vice-regent and representative in the animal kingdom is His cognate symbol the Phallus, representing Love and Liberty. Ra-Hoor Khuit, like all true Gods, is therefore a Solar-Phallic deity. But we regard Him as He is in truth, eternal; the Solar-Phallic deities of the old Æon, such as Osiris, “Christ,” Hiram, Adonis, Hercules, &c., were supposed, through our ignorance of the Cosmos, to “die and rise again.” Thus we celebrated rites of “crucifixion” and so on, which have now become meaningless. Ra-Hoor-Khuit is the Crowned and Conquering Child. This is also a reference to the “Crowned” and Conquering “Child” in ourselves, our own personal God. Except ye become as little children, said “Christ,” ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is Malkuth, the Virgin Bride, and the Child is the Dwarf-Self, the Phallic consciousness, which is the true life of Man, beyond his “veils” of incarnation. We have to thank Freud — and especially Jung — for stating this part of the Magical Doctrine so plainly, as also for their development of the connexion of the Will of this “child” with the True or Unconscious Will, and so for clarifying our doctrine of the “silent self” or “Holy Guardian Angel.”
(I quoted this in The Mystical & Magical System of the A.'.A.'. with respect to the HGA. It has some chance of being misunderstood if people misinterpret “phallic.” Nonetheless, it discloses a great deal... a very great deal.) (c. 1995 EV)
The incense of Ra-Hoor-Khuit contrasts markedly with that of Nuit. They share, of course, some similarities — for example, each upholds the Abramelin tradition in one way or the other — but his explicitly contains blood, and hers explicitly does not, at least not animal blood. With Ra-Hoor-Khuit, we explicitly stir up the animal element; for he “hast been let down into the Animal Soul of things,” if I remember my Liber 65 correctly.
I have long thought there is some discernible alchemical pattern in these ingredients, but I have not hitherto found it. These are usually regarded as six ingredients; but I believe the olive oil is a component of the Abramelin Oil. Thus we have five ingredients, with blood, the “activating agent,” being Spirit, and the others perhaps relating to the four elements, or perhaps the four lower sephiroth. Meal, of course, is easy, being of Earth and Malkuth; but we should be careful not to jump hastily to read something into this overly easily.
Honey’s sweetness suggests Venus, and bees are attributed to Venus (by legend, they came to earth from Venus), and honey is in several ways tied into the sexual reproduction process; so it seems, all ’round, to relate to Netzach, with some Yesod qualities. The “leavings of red wine” are a sedimentation. This resembles Earth again, and especially the “salt” of the wine (as the alcohol is its “mercury,” &c.). Redness is probably here because it takes red wine to have such “leavings;” but its similarity to blood would be appropriate for Horus. The oil of Abramelin is a very exalted substance, combining myrrh and cinnamon and galangal — Binah and Tiphereth and a root of the earth — in a perfume base. Though its exaltation implies Fire, perfume itself implies Air, and in many ways this compound corresponds well to Yesod. Therefore, I think we have meal as Earth and Malkuth, oil of Abramelin as Air and Yesod, thick leavings of red wine as Water and Hod, and honey as Netzach and Fire. Blood, which is the essence of life, is Spirit, Shin, and the “activating ingredient” as said before, corresponding to Tiphereth.
This is to be used as incense. (Only later does the Book refer to this substance as being useful for cakes.) The proportions would be difficult to get right. I have never smelled one burning that smelled like anything other than burnt pie crust; but this could perhaps be adjusted to make a moist cohesive mass.
There is probably also a subtle meaning as well. The real incense — that which inwardly rises up in aspiration to the highest — is composed of the four elements symbolically, to which one adds one’s own lifeblood, one’s passion and fervor.
Some of the word choices — like “soften & smooth down” — deserve more attention than I have yet given them.
Notice that the blood is to be “rich” and “fresh.” The vitality is strongest at the time of shedding. (c. 1995 EV; minor editing 1/2/12 EV)
(This is a Yesod verse, and commences with an important mystery of the Moon.)
What kind of blood to use? They are given in the order of quality.
The first, of course, is menstrual blood. Why is it the best? A partial answer is that there are certain tantric teachings of its virtue, and these seem supportable in at least some instances. But also, this blood is given freely and without loss of existing life.
The colons and semicolons segregate the “blood types” here. Therefore, the second type is, “the fresh blood of a child, or dropping from the host of heaven.” This is not baby’s blood! The latter part of the phrase links it unmistakably to manna, the sole food of the Isrælites in their 40-year sojourn under Moses’ leadership. Given obligations I have taken, I can do nothing more (since others will read this) than say that it takes two to make a child.
The third type is the blood of enemies. This is interesting! By surface implication it means blood spilled in violent conflict with an enemy. Whether or not it is advised, this is tremendously powerful by tradition (and, a dim and distant memory insists, it is so in practice). Only the former two exceed its virtue. (NOTE 1/2/12: I’m aware of a quite different level of meaning here, which I have to take the time to write up sometime. It answers the question: What if this blood, like the two before and the first one after, is also taken without injury or loss of life.)
Next is the blood of the priest or worshippers, blood given freely.
Finally, as a last resort, any blood will do.
Crowley (N.C.) discusses the second kind in much more detail than I feel I may. His passage should be consulted. He openly links it to certain knowledge held within the IX° of O.T.O. He says,
The “child” is “BABALON and THE BEAST conjoined, the Secret Savior,” that is Being symbolized by the Egg and Serpent, hieroglyph of the Phoenician adepts. The second kind is also a form of BAPHOMET, but differs from the ‘child’ in that it is the Lion-Serpent in its original form.
Such are the emblems.
(I should also record here Crowley’s statement that, “It is inadvisable to word this explanation in terms too intelligible to the profane, since uninitiated attempts to make use of the formidable arcana of Magick presented in this passage could lead only to the most fulminating and irremediable disaster.” Some folks think I overstate this point; but AC makes me look like a pussy cat in comparison.) (c. 1995 EV)
Practical instruction continues. The substance described in the last two verses is to be burned, i.e., used as incense. (In this era of sensitivity to blood borne diseases, Frater [...] thinks the cakes should be burned!)
Also, cakes are to be made of it. These are the Cakes of Light. Note, though, that while this is the best known use of the compound, it is the second use given in the Book. From experience I can say that, while they smell bad in burning, they taste far better.
A third use is then given. Crowley tried these experiments and obtained a staggeringly good result, exactly as described. The method is to place the “perfume” before a statue of Horus (or perhaps the stélé would do), and to adoringly pray often before this. One can expect that some sort of vermin would eventually result. AC’s results were quite extraordinary.
An interesting note here is that these “creeping things” are then sacred to Ra-Hoor-Khuit. (If nothing else, they will have been lunching on consecrated Cakes of Light!)
(This is the tenth verse of the Peh series, and seems to reach a sufficient grounding. It essentially shows the topic of the two prior verses brought into material expression.) (c. 1995 EV)
A method of talismanic magick, pure and simple, based on the animal sacrifice of cockroaches — something the whole family can enjoy!
But notice that we should think carefully about who are enemies are — whether they can ever be outside of us the way they are within us. (AC properly references Liber 418, 1st Aethyr, last long paragraph, for the rightr idea. (4/3/95 EV)
I would like to think that “these” refers to the cakes; but in the previous verse it is certainly the beetles, and there is no grammatical reason to think it is otherwise here.
“strong in war” may be taken literally, but surely also means “strong in light.” This is verse 28 of the present chapter; and one Hebrew word for “strength“ enumerates to 28: כח.
Regarding vv. 26-29, AC wrote obscurely:
There is a considerable amount of evidence in my possession which throws light upon this part of the chapter; but no important purpose would be served by producing it at present. These are circumstances when apparent frankness defeats its own end as well as those of policy.
Okay, I admit he was so adequately obscure that I haven’t the vaguest idea what he means. It does, however, warrant further exploration. (c. 1995 EV)
(Chesed verse, "swelling.")
Again, the cakes or the beetles? This time, I'm not sure. It is not my experience that the consecrated cakes build increasing power over time, at least if stored in the usual way. I have no experience with these beetles. (c. 1995 EV)
“Brass” is a familiar alchemical blind for copper. Ra-Hoor-Khuit’s altar is described here, and may, in fact, be physically described; but it is especially an altar sacred to Venus. We can conclude that his worship is an “open work” of Venus, i.e., an open act of love.
And this love is especially sexual. Silver and gold are the metals of Luna and Sol. They represent the natures and functions of the female and male, respectively (including, in my experience, the aspect of the very interior body that is most suitable for sexual congress on the inner planes). The meaning of the whole verse is quite clear, including the “burning” thereon.
I asked myself whether this was to be taken alternately as a higher form of love, a union of the inner Sun and Moon in the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. The answer I received is that, while such would of course be a worthy worship of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, it is not what is meant here. The verse instructs us each to burn “in silver or gold, ” not “and, ” so that it does not reflect, except by distant allegory, the union of the interior Sun & Moon.
There is, however, the special alchemical significance wherein gold, copper, and silver represent, respectively, the heart, throat, and “third eye” chakras, and Visuddha is the translation or transformational center that interfaces the gold and silver. There is something definite to pursue here, distinctive from the interior Sun-Moon wedding discussed in the previous paragraph.
Gematria: Venus, Moon, and Sun = ד + ג + ר = 207. This represents many things, including the אור and ואר (“war”) mentioned previously in this chapter. — If the foregoing interpretation were not already clear, I would note that this is verse 175 of the whole Book; and 175 is one of the four Great Numbers of Venus. (c. 1995 EV)
At a material level, this sounds like a wish phantasm; but we should also remember that Crowley was fairly well off in 1904, actually wealthy in a modest way.
If someone is waiting for this prophecy to come true physically, they are likely going to have to wait a while longer.
Meral told me once that this is a reference to the HGA. I am inclined to agree with her on an intuitive basis, although it is harder than usual to sort out the “hows.” (I note, though, that this verse 176 is a Tiphereth verse in the present series.)
He is “from the West” — note the capital “W” — thus referring to sunset. He is “from beyond death” as the saying would go, and related to completion, fulfillment, wholeness.
There may also be a Qabalistic mystery here involving the words and their numbers. I have not yet detected these.
Gematria: By Anglo-Hebraic transliteration: “rich man” = ריח מאן, which is 218 + 91 = 309. This is pretty amazing, since 309 is שט (Crowley’s idea of Set, Sun and Moon conjoined — στ = [Sun-Moon ligature], cf. the immediately preceding verse — and also ‘Αρης. I do this from memory, and seem to recall that there is more.)
Gematria: By English Simplex: RICH MAN = 38+28 = 66, Σ(0-11), a Great Number of magick, and an especial reference to Kundalini (see Liber 66 — and compare it to the present verse with this in mind!).
AC, in N.C., confirms that, in an Egyptian document, “from the West” would mean “from the House of the Dead.” (c. 1995 EV)
Gold is the metal attributed to the Sun, as iron is to Mars. This verse appears to reflect the attainment of Geburah, based upon the foundational attainment of Tiphereth.
Or, perhaps this is not so specific. In any case, it shows that real strength — or any other attributes attributable to steel — is to be wrought from this inner gold. The Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is the foundation of all real strength — and a tremendous strength it is. Real strength is, at least initially and primarily, inner strength, which then may be expressed (or manifested) as action in life.
There is a subtlety that could be easily missed because it seems self-evident; but it is, in fact, a reciprocal meaning. This verse may be read as, “It is from this gold that you will forge your steel. ” It is, therefore, a direct admonishment to attain to the K&C of the HGA as the source of all strength. (c. 1995 EV)
This appears to be a simple reference to the “fight or flight” reflex which is related to the Svadisthana chakra and the planet Mars. (There is usually a third “F” related to this constellation of expressions.) This gives some confirmation of our interpretation of the prior verse, that it refers to an expression of the Mars force.
The advice, then, is to in fact actively manifest this Mars energy, and be prepared to use it. (c. 1995 EV)
Now we come to one of the longest and most interesting verses of the entire Book, one which — among other things — characterizes this new Æon, even at its beginning, as finite, and alerts us to what is to come later, at its climax.
As a preamble I should note that, having (in the two or three verses preceding) risen to the Mars current, we next encounter a verse that is closely related in symbolism to the letter Peh and its Tarot trump, The Tower or House of God.
We learn that the present Æon shall fall, but not for “centuries.”
AC believed the “house” here mentioned was his home at Boleskine, on Loch Ness, and that this was to serve as the primary Kiblah of Thelema — what New Agers would call a “psychic hot spot” on the globe. And this may be. Yet, from this verse itself, we learn that this detail is not all that important.
The “holy place” is primarily an inner reality. Its physical shell is fairly inconsequential; for “an invisible house there standeth” regardless of the physical status of the place. This “invisible house” or “holy place” is equivalent to the “secret house” whereat C.R.C. established the Fraternity R.C. in 1405 e.v.
“Holy place” is, of course, the name of the outermore of the two chambers of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, before the veil of the Holy of Holies.
It first seems that the reference to it being “burnt down & shattered” merely refers to the physical shell’s destruction; but “fire & sword” are devices by which we were told, in verse 11, to worship Ra-Hoor-Khuit! I had not seen this before. Its destruction through fire and sword is a ritual sacred unto Horus, a fulfillment of the Mars current as represented in Atu XVI, The Tower. And, with absolute clarity, this verse makes plain that the “holy place” is an inner place, an astral center; for it shall be untouched even if burned and shattered.
This inner sacred space is, so to speak, the “astral temple” of all of Thelema, the unifying and broadcasting station of its spiritual current, a Lamp of Invisible Light. It shall stand so long as the Æon stands, then shall fall at the next Equinox of the Gods.
We now come to a very tricky part, the identity and meaning of Hrumachis. At least one of my students has thought this passage meant that the next Æon is that of Hrumachis. No, we know from other sources that the next Æon is that of Maat, to be followed by that of Anubis, and so forth.
The Greek name Hrumachis is the Egyptian Horakhte or Heru-Khuti, as I have already noted with respect to verse 1 of this chapter. It is usually (historically) translated “Horus of the Two Horizons, ” but more likely simply means “Horus of the Horizon” (see both Fagan and Faulkner). It is a particular form of the Sun god, virtually the Egyptian redeemer deity.
However, it is not even a separate God than the one who is Lord of the present chapter. Ra-Hoor-Khuit is a variation of Ra-Heru-Khuti, or Ra-Horakhty. In fact, the identity is even closer than I previously thought: On the Stélé 666, the figure we here identify as Ra-Hoor-Khuit is labeled by hieroglyphics first transliterated (in 1904 at the Boulaq Museum) as Râ Hor Khut, who was given the description her nuteru, “Chief of the Gods.” It was this that Crowley had in hand when he wrote his poetic paraphrase of the stélé sometime before the dictation of The Book of the Law. That is, he somehow invented the name “Ra-Hoor-Khuit” prior to the dictation, from the “Ra-Hor-Khut” he‣d been given by the Boulaq translator. Then, sometime after the dictation and before 1912, he commissioned two leading British Egyptologists — Sir Alan Gardiner and Battiscombe Gunn — to translate the stélé anew. They transliterated the same name as Ra-Horakhti. That is, Ra-Hoor-Khuit is Ra-Horakhti or Hrumachis. (The “Modern Analysis,” dated 1982 e.v. and included in Equinox III:9, also renders the stélé hieroglyphics as Horakhty.)
So Hrumachis, or Horakhty, or Heru-Khuti, is representative (almost generically) of the rising Sun of spiritual renewal. (Crowley, in the N.C., confirms his understanding that, “Hrumachis is the Dawning Sun.”) Ra-Hoor-Khuit is a specific form of this, especially applicable to the present Æon, and uses this thoroughly self-referential name to describe the next of a series of new sunrises which shall replace the present “day” — the spiritual forces of renewal of the next Æon, even as of this one, which shall paint the day afresh and inaugurate a new beginning.
What a remarkable and wondrous teaching! For unlike the scientific views at the dawning of the Osiris Æon, we now know that each day is not the birth of a new Sun that dies but, rather, our refreshed return to the same Sun, eternally shining and pouring forth its life-giving rays. The REALITY represented by Ra-Hoor-Khuit — both as Spiritual Sun (the Holy Guardian Angel) and as a symbol of change inaugurating this present so-called revolutionary Æon — is the same eternal spiritual REALITY that led and inspired humanity in all prior Æons, and shall inspire them in all yet to come. In this sense there is nothing at all “revolutionary” about this new Æon — it is not something entirely new but, rather, the invariable and eternal Truth of all times — except in the sense that what is revolving is the Earth. We, as a species, have changed since our last collective spiritual sunrise thousands of years ago so that now, when again we view together a new dawn, it looks altogether different than it ever did before. What is more, standing together to greet this new sunrise, we look altogether different to ourselves and to each other. Yes, it has been a long night awaiting this dawn. Perhaps they are all long nights. But somehow, in the glistening dew of this particular sunrise, it is hard to remember that there has ever been one before, or to keep in our minds that there will be a further one tomorrow. Our focus for now is on the rising Sun and how beautiful each of our companions looks in the morning light.
The spiritual principles of the new æon are, thus, the eternal principles of all times, but viewed afresh. The Holy Guardian Angel has always been the central doctrine, no matter how labeled. The Order by day has ever been that of the Golden Dawn. In time, another sunrise will appear in the East — the “throne and place” of the Hierophant.
I originally thought Hrumachis the “double-wanded one;” but Crowley, in the N.C., is clear that he regards this as Themis = Maat. On reconsideration, I am led to agree with him. Thus, this present verse explicitly names the Lady of the next Æon. Its Word will be, perhaps, that “Builder’s Word” which is hidden in Her name.
The essential evidence I have found is as follows: The R.R. et A.C. paper Z1: The Enterer of the Threshold, after describing the mitre-headed scepter of the G.D. Hegemon, who is Maat, uses the following specific language: “She is the Wielder of the Sceptre of Dual Wisdom from Chokmah and therefore is the Mitre head split in two and not closed, to indicate the Dual Manifestation of Wisdom and Truth: even as the Hall of the Neophytes is called ‘the Hall of the Dual Manifestation of the Goddess of Truth. ’” Her “dual” nature is, I believe, primarily related to the fact that she represents the dual balances of truth and justice. In ancient Egypt she was most characteristically seen with the Ankh in her left hand and the Lotus Wand in her right, similar to most deities; and I cannot find any Egyptological reference to her as “double-wanded. ” However, based on the Golden Dawn’s ceremonial representation of her, and the way that this symbolism registered in Crowley’s psyche, I am inclined to recant (or at least convert!) and to admit that the phrase “double-wanded one” in the present verse is an explicit reference to her.
* * * * * * *
The remainder of the verse, poetic and lyrical, merely describes the recurrent circumstances. There are perhaps, in these, some important doctrinal ideas, especially since they tend to refer to recurrent ideas from one æon to another. The “fresh fever” implies fire from heaven, and resembles certain alchemical doctrines. Ideas of “fire” and “heaven” probably mean renewed spiritual forces represented by the Interior Fire. The prophet — here implicitly male — draws this down from “the skies” as we would invoke Nuit. The “woman” reciprocates by awakening “the lust & worship of the Snake,” as the female would raise Hadit; and this also is cognate to the symbolism of Shakti to controlling and directing and arousing kundalini. The reference to a “globéd” priest is interesting, as implying Chesed perhaps; but the important part is that the Divine and the animal are linked and united in the Adept. The “sacrifice” staining “the tomb” is a symbol of sunset. The new “king” who “shall reign” is a symbol of noon.
Or, thus do I read these now. These “prophecies,” on one hand, would not be expected to be understood for many centuries. On the other hand, they are but a notation of an eternally-repeating process which we have witnessed in this century as well.
Note that the “Hawk-headed... Lord” — Horus — is explicitly called “mystical.” This is not an attribution most Thelemites probably think to attribute to Ra-Hoor-Khuit. But it is explicitly given. As Lord of the Æon, he is a “mystical Lord, ” the sempiternal Spiritual Sun accessed by mystical-spiritual means.
Gematria: Horakhty is what we usually know as “Hoor-Khuit. ” By our usual method, this is 262. Among other entries, 262 is the value of גבוראן, “severities,” a definite association with Ra-Hoor-Khuit. It is also ma-zahir (מזהיר), “radiant, illuminating, shining, bright, brilliant,” the name of the mode of consciousness attributed to Chokmah. Hrumachis, if I remember correctly, is ‘Ρυμαχις = 1,351. This particular form is worthy of some analysis since it is what literally appears in the text.
Turning to the N.C., we find AC especially focused on Maat as Justice, Atu VIII, being the symbol of the next Æon. Whereas our present Magick Number is 11 (perhaps related to Teth, XI, the Beast, Horakhty, &c.), the Magick Number of the next Æon will seemingly be 8. (c. 1995 EV)
What has long intrigued me of this verse is that it is the 180th in the entire Book; and 180 is the number of degrees that marks half a circle.
This is hardly the half-way point of the Book, which would be vv. 110-111 (Cap. II, vv. 44-45); nor the half-way point of the third chapter, which would be verse 38, yet to come.
It is interpolated as though an announcement or a marking point; but I do not readily see how it divides the chapter. (Grady McMurtry, in one of his more clever short articles, pointed out that while everyone is looking for a “Fourth Chapter” of Liber Legis, they have one right here — Cap. III being “halved” into two parts.)
But it is not as though this verse demarcated a line separating a Ra-Hoor-Khuit section from a Hoor-Paar-Kraat section. Nothing so simple was done. In fact, while the meaning of the verse seems clear enough, what is not clear is why it is exactly here. What does it do for the continuity? Why is it in this exact position?
My own tentative view is related to the topic with which I began this entry. I believe this verse is pointedly here, in the 180th place, to confirm the nature of the internal architecture of the Book, the significance of continuous verse enumeration from 1 through 220.
Also, though it is not the half-way point of the chapter, it does mark a critical thematic turning point, if my working model is correct (as it appears to be). Specifically, I believe this Book is divided into 22 sets of 10 verses each, which correspond to the Hebrew letters from א to ת within which the sephiroth show from 1 to 10. The first five verses of this chapter were at the tail end of the Samekh set. (Verse 1, announcing “Abrahadabra,” was the Tiphereth verse of the Samekh series, which is about as perfect as things get.) Thereafter, we have encountered 30 consecutive verses composing the series of ע (Capricorn, where Mars is exalted), then פ (Mars itself), then צ; (Aries, where Mars rules by day). These would be, theoretically, the largest collective of patently martial verses in the entire Book, and they have not disappointed me in this regard.
Now this present verse marks the end of that. It is the tenth and last verse (Malkuth) of the Tzaddi series. It draws the line. The very next verse — the first of a new series — clearly begins a new theme and goes off in another direction. The remainder of the chapter contains the 40 verses attributed to ק, ר, ש, and ת.
Or such is my understanding.
I consider this an important discovery; and it is the only thing that seems to explain why this present verse is here, now.
What, then, does the verse say in and of itself?
It is the first mention of the name Heru-Ra-Ha. It is the verse that defines the “halves” of HRH called RHK and HPK, who we have come to know as the twins or, rather, the one Twin-God.
Gematria: Heru-Ra-Ha is the highest manifestation of this archetypal Being. The first two parts of his name are but a variation of Ra-Hoor; but whereas “Khu” draws the latter down into human manifestation, “Ha” is a syllable of pure breath, of spirit; and yet that Breath is solar, enumerating as it does to 6. The entire name, הרו-רא-הא, enumerates to 418, the value of the Word of the Aeon, Abrahadabra (and also of Ra-Hoor, רא-הוור).
הרו = 211 is, by itself, the Sun standing between the Pentagram and Hexagram, a perfect hieroglyph of attainment. It is cognate to the name of the great archangel Hru who presides over the works of the Magick of L.V.X. This number is also ארי, “lion,” and גבור, “strong,” so that, in itself, it combines ideas of Mars and the Sun, 5 and 6. It is הארה, “lightning flash,” the full illumination of the descent of the awakening consciousness from Kether to instantaneously define the entire Tree of Life. It is ירא, yahreh, “to tremble,” the sign of the wonderment of “the Lord” which is the beginning of all Wisdom (even as it is the verb חרג, charag, “to shake or tremble”). And this number is so many other things, too numerous and wondrous to here list. [...]
[A lengthy section is deleted at this point, though preserved in the magician’s private Magical Record. Each reader is encouraged to examine the gematria of the number 211 individually. The following paragraphs are edited to give much of the raw data, but little or none of the present writer's conclusions.]
Gematria: 211 is at once ’Ασι, Isis; and Ιο Παν; and ’Ισα, Jesus. Among the Greeks, ’ισα is also “equilibrium.” In Latin it is septem lampades ardentes, the “seven lamps of fire,” and Collegium Rosae Crucis, the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross.
All this I see in the Qabalah of the first part alone of the name Heru-Ra-Ha.
Ra, רא, is the great name of the Sun itself as God, soaring falcon of orange and gold. The name is composed of letters of the Sun and of free-wandering air and spirit. The reversal of the letters spells אר, the Chaldee word for “light” (cf. Hebrew אור). It is נוגה, the name of Venus which means “splendor, ” spelled in plenitude. And it is both Collegium Aureae Crucis, “Fraternity of the Golden Cross,” and Caput Fraternitatis, the “Head of the Fraternity” — and “head” is Resh, the Sun.
Ha, הא, as mentioned before, is a name of pure spirit, but by number related also to the Sun. (Remember in all of this that the third Great Number of the Sun, 111, is also the value of Aleph in plenitude. Throughout this Name we find Air, Spirit, and the Sun interrelated and interweaving, as well they should.) Six is a perfect number, and Tiphereth, and Vav the Hierophant. It is the Mystic Number of Binah, the Supernal attainment and Sanctifying Consciousness. It is the number of letters in θελημα. הא is also the spelling of the letter name Heh in Atziluth, so once more it is the great Mother in the world of the Supernals, of pure spirit, and literally means “Lo! Behold!” It is not only the final word of this name, but the final word of the entire Book of the Law — as we shall discuss again at verse 75.
Together they are 211 + 201 + 6 = 418, which has already been explained.
We are again presented with “Ra-Hoor-Khut” as in verse 1. This does tie in interestingly with the preceding verse 34 and the entire discussion of Hrumachis, and him who is re-warding the sanctuary at the dawn of this New Aeon. His complement, his Twin, is Hoor-pa-kraat, the infant god of Silence, who is א, The Fool, the innocent, the babe in the egg, or upon the lotus, or standing upright upon the crocodiles in the Nile: the Greek ‘Αρποκρατης = 880. הוור is 217, פ is 80, כרעת is 299. Together, 596.
596 = א, ב, and ב (the three paths emanating from Kether) spelled in full (111 + 412 + 73); and ירושלים, Jerusalem, the symbol of attainment among the Jews; and שכינה, Shekinah, also spelled in full. In Greek it is ’ογδοηκοντα, “80,” which is Π or פ, Mars.
Crowley confirms much of the above in the N.C.:
The language suggests that Heru-Ra-Ha is the “true Name” of the Unity who is symbolized by the Twins, Harpocrates and Horus. Note that the Twin Sign — and the Child Sign — is Gemini, whose letter is Zain, a sword.
The doctrine of the dual character of the God is very important to a proper understanding of Him. “The Sign of the Enterer is to be followed immediately by the Sign of Silence”: such is the imperative injunction to the Neophyte.
To which I add: Strength is Silence, as Silence is Strength. (c. 1995 EV)
(We now begin the Qoph section of verses. As I look ahead, I see that this has a clear beginning in the text of the stélé, and a clear ending in the three verses pertaining to the Scarlet Woman.)
From AC’s description of the dictation, we know that all of the Book, as taken down, was from Aiwass in one way or another. Even the parts that appear to record AC’s dialogue were given in the form of, “Then Aiwass said that I said the following, “ &c. Also, no matter what deity is allegedly speaking, Aiwass is the actual speaker — the story-teller — throughout.
So verse 36, on the one hand, is first more of Aiwass telling a story. On the other hand, the content of that story is that Crowley now addresses “the God,” apparently Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
Yet there is another story behind this story. From Cap. I, v. 14, we have seen clues that AC is somehow connected with Ankh-af-na-Khonsu, who had this stélé made as his funeral plaque c. 725 B.C.E. There is at least a mystical link of some kind between the two men; and there is no reason to distrust Crowley’s recollection that he was Ankh-af-na-Khonsu in a prior incarnation. Especially in this present section of the Book, Ankh-af-na-Khonsu is Crowley; and for the sake of the Book’s purposes we can take it that this is so. Ankh-af-na-Khonsu’s own verse to his God is now being retrieved from Egypt’s 25th Dynasty, after more than 26 centuries, to be employed here.
There are, however, some serious problems to be thought through regarding this part of the Book. They affect the
Aiwass did not dictate most of the next two verses. After, “I adore thee in the song,” the original manuscript says, “‘I am the Lord of Thebes’ &c from vellum book — — ‘fill me.’” This refers to the fact that the Crowleys had found the stélé in the Boulaq Museum a week or so earlier; AC had procured a French translation from the museum staff; and he had then rendered that translation into poetic English verse in the interim. (Why? We can only speculate. Was he overtly or subtly prompted? Did he have his own agenda? I certainly cannot say.) During the dictation on April 10, Aiwass then directed AC to insert this prewritten text into the body of the Book.
The problem begins with the fact that Egyptology, like other fields, has grown in the nine decades since; and we now know that there are at least some errors in the translation. Secondly, there are apparent misinterpretations by AC of what the translations meant in the first place.
Finally, I must consider the principle that what is contained in The Book of the Law is not to be changed. Once there, it is to be taken as is. However, this is further complicated by the question of whether that rule applies only to the Book as dictated — as actually written down at the time, and contained in the original manuscript — or to the Book as directed by Aiwass, including such text as these directed interpolations.
In brief, if we find the 1904 translation was wrong, do we go with the correct meaning of the stélé, or with the meaning of AC’s translations and paraphrase as written down at the time?
I am inclined to go with the latter, but with a specific reservation.
From the point of view of Thelema, it does not matter what was meant in the 25th Dynasty. It matters what is meant now. The process of the writing of Liber Legis was at least a 22-day affair (the communications actually began earlier), from Vernal Equinox through April 10. The translation and transliteration of the stélé were part of this process; and these events are as likely to have been “guided” by the hand of Aiwass as was the actual dictation. I take it, in short, that when Aiwass said, “Insert this stuff you wrote,” He knew exactly what was in that stuff. The verse is, thus, canonical so far as Liber Legis is concerned. It would not matter a whit for this purpose if we found that the whole thing was mistranslated. It would not alter the text of Liber Legis, per se.
I am inclined, however, to use the more fundamental source texts to learn what is really meant by some of the phrases, terms, and poetic expressions. Although I have used this text in countless rituals over the last 15 to 16 years, and exult in its beauty, I would, in some ways, have preferred a prosaic expression just from the point of understanding.
Verses 37 and 38 contain five verses from the stélé of revealing. The correct translation appears to be as follows:
Words spoken by Osiris (i.e., the deceased), the priest of Mentu Lord of Thebes, the opener of the doors of the sky in Thebes, Ankh-ef-en-khonsu, the Justified:
“O Sublime One! May the one great of spirit (i.e., power) be praised, that formidable (i.e., of great dignity) spirit (ba) that established fear of himself (even) among the gods; He who shines forth upon his great throne, who establishes the way for my soul (ba), my spirit (khu), and my shadow (Khabt = body?).
“For I am provided with a Khu, being thus equipped. Make for me a pathway unto the place in which are Ra, Tum, Khephra, and Hathor.
[Signed] Osiris (i.e., the deceased), priest of Mentu the Lord of Thebes, Ankh-ef-en-khonsu, the Justified, son of a man of the same rank, Bes-en-maut, and of the musician of Amon-Ra, the mistress of the house, Ta-Neshi.”
At the time he wrote these poetic paraphrases, AC had been provided a French translation which renders into English as follows, and represents his belief regarding their meaning at that time:
The deceased prophet of Mentou, lord of Thebes, Ankh-f-n-Khonsu, true-of-voice, says:
“O sublime one! I adore the greatness of your spirits, O formidable soul, who inspires terror of himself among the gods. Appearing on his great throne, he travels the path of the soul, of the spirit, and of the body, having received the light, being equipped, I have made my path towards the place in which Ra, Toum, Khepra, and Hathor are; I, the deceased priest of Mentou, lord of Thebes, Ankh-f-n-khonsu, son of a person of the same rank, Bes-n-maut, and of the priestess of Amoun-ra, the mistress of the house Ta-nech.”
Having read the first translation above, it is imminently clear that this stélé is a standard funeral plaque. The priest Ankh-f-n-Khonsu's name is inserted, as are those of his parents. He is invoking a high aspect of deity — very likely some aspect of the Sun — to lead him to the Next World, and proclaims that he possesses a Khu of adequate brilliance and virtue to substantiate this request.
Some of this clarity is lost in the older translation; but it is still reasonably clear.
However, what Crowley made of it is something entirely different! No longer is it a dead man’s headstone; no, now it is verse for life, verse suitable for the foundation of a new Great Work. These lines, as rewritten by him, are among the most potent spells in the whole of Liber L.
Any actual meditation on these verses at the present time would be inconsequential compared to 16 years of their reverent repetition: How sublime the recognition of that “Unity” which is “uttermost showed!” The rest flows naturally, provided one gets that initial experience or relationship.
I should note here that, except for the first verse, these are used as the Adoration that accompanies Liber Resh. Meral has made this an open teaching. I suppose there is no harm in adding that the first verse is added once one reaches 2=9 of A.'.A.'.. Before that point, it has little meaning, and would usually lead to a wrong perception. At Zelator, the truth of this first verse takes hold in a new way, due in no small part to the Zelator Initiation ceremony.
Crowley misinterpreted the original in a key point. It is the solar god Mentu who is “Lord of Thebes,” not Ankh-f-n-Khonsu. But I suppose the latter interpretation is now consecrated by its inclusion, at Aiwass’ instruction, in Liber L. I am already on record as interpreting Thebes (תהבאי) as 418.
“forth-speaker” is a literal of “prophet.” The phrase, “I invoke, I greet,” &c. is entirely new, and not at all from the stélé.
The “throne of Ra,” or “throne of the Sun,” is the heart, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit, the HGA, is being invoked to “appear” there.
The relationship between Khu, Ka, and Khabs does not appear, as such, in the Egyptian original. It is a very free paraphrase, more “inspired” by the stélé than a rendering of it. I have discussed Khabs and Khu in Cap. I as the Briatic aspect and the Ruach, respectively, i.e., the Supernals and Tiphereth. Ka, according to Faulkner, is “the vital life-force or genius of a person, born with him and resembling him exactly. Attendant on him in life and especially death.” In other words, it corresponds to Yesod.
(A “middle pillar” ritual could be created with Had at Crown, Khabs at throat, Khu at Tiphereth, Ka at Yesod, and Khat at Malkuth.)
The “Aum” produces a profound silence if one will let it; and then “it” fills one, and there is no question but that, “The light is mine; its rays consume me.”
At this point in Liber Legis there is a bridge between verse 37 and verse 38. This light is to fill the magician so that “thy light” — specifically the Light of the Holy Guardian Angel — “is in me.” The HGA is explicitly represented here as Horus. This verse 38 is very important to me personally. It invokes the light of Horus to be within one, and the red flame (a Mars attribute) of that light “is as a sword in my hand to push thy order,” i.e., the Order of that one whose identity is veiled by the name Horus. For this reason did I consecrate my magick sword with the name “Light of Horus,“ or AVR HRV; and, years later, was led to the knowledge that this is my own rightful aspiration name unto the Grade of Geburah.
Gematria: AVR HRV = 418. The “light of Horus” is, in this verse, equivalent to “a sword in my hand,” which is zayin be-yadi, ZYN BYDY = 93. Again, 418=93; and my earliest “magical name” was Yod.
The "secret door" which the Prophet made to establish the "way" of Horus "in all the quarters" are the solar adorations of Liber Resh, which appear already to have been written at this point. (The verse makes the most sense if AC is held to be speaking, except for the parenthetical phrase which is an interpolation [or reassertion] by Aiwass.)
Gematria: Also, “secret door” would be SVD DLT = 504 (or 74, if Daleth is simply 4). Or perhaps “door” is, alone, the key word. This warrants further work at a later time. 504 is Hebrew DRSh, “sought for.” In Greek, it is δισκος, “disk“ (of the Sun?); Qεσπις, “divine, inspired by God;” and ‘ροδινος, “rosy.” Not bad, but nothing brilliant or seemingly inspired. 74, of course, is Lamed, LMD, the “ox-goad,” and several other words that border on significance but do not exactly “hit clean,” however interesting they may be. I note, however, that “door” itself is Daleth, 4, and we know at least that this “secret door” is four-fold.
The penultimate verse from the stélé is now self-evident in its meaning, but only to be understood fully by longtime use of this adoration as part of Liber Resh. There is also the particular potent formula which is taught to the Zelator of the A.'.A.'. at his or her initiation. (The verse in the text is essentially literal from the stélé.)
The final verse combines several formulae, and ends with four lines not in the original which make the whole a formula of invocation of the stélé, and thus of the god-forces of The Book of the Law. Bes-na-Maut was Ankh-f-n-Khonsu’s father, and Ta-Nech (“ch” in French = “sh” in English) was his mother. He was a priest of Mentu, and she a musician sanctified to Amon-Ra, these being two of the three chief deities of Thebes (the third being Maut, after whom Bes-na-Maut was named). These names are employed in the A.'.A.'., at the Yetziratic level, as Invisible Officers or “contact points” to the currents of the Order in its formal ceremonials, to channel the sublime natures of Hadit and Nuit, respectively. Thus, he can be considered a channel of the current of Sol, and she of Luna. (And, in fact, T-NYSh = 369, one of the sacred numbers of Luna, and the value of Chasmodai, &c.).
The heartbeat of the breast is sponsored by the Sun, even as the “weaving” of the spell is fostered by the Moon.
This verse has another important significance, a historical one. It makes clear that the exact names Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit were worked out by AC prior to the dictation of Liber Legis, and contrary to the translation he had been provided of the stélé which identified them as Nout, Houdit (or Hudit), and Harmakhis (or Ra Hor Khut).
It was AC’s view that Ankh-f-n-Khonsu had “recorded for my benefit the details of the Magical Formula of Ra-Hoor-Khuit.” His further brief remarks are worth reading also. I also think this is the case. It is not at all unusual for an adept to leave something of value for later discovery. (I had an apparent memory, many years ago, of having hidden an object of great value — not necessarily monetary value — somewhere in Burma or nearby. I was aware that there was no rush, that I need not retrieve it in this lifetime, but that “one of these days,” in some upcoming incarnation over the next few centuries, I would do that.)
I do not think, however, that this text is the legacy left to AC, since most of the allegedly revelatory parts are actually mistranslations. But the image on the front of the stélé — that is another matter altogether! (c. 1995 EV)
In one way, this verse is very obvious in meaning. It is a practical instruction to AC concerning his preservation and reproduction of the manuscript of Liber Legis, and his commentary thereon.
But in another way, its meaning is not clear to me at all. There are some definite strangenesses. I am not at all sure that the meaning is straightforward.
Take, for example, the opening phrase, “All this and a book,” &c. Out of context it seems understandable enough, the mind fills in the context of what must have gone before — except that no such thing went before! Verse 35 was a clean break. Verse 36 began an obviously new direction. Verses 36-38 seem to be the only antecedent to the pronoun “this.” But how does it make any sense?
Okay, let’s try an entirely different approach. I will diagram the sentence. Suddenly, this works! The subject of the sentence is very complex. The compound subject of the sentence is:
(a) All this [presumably the content of the dictation; or “אל this”] and
(b) a book to say how thou didst come hither and
(c) a reproduction of this ink and paper for ever [...] and
(d) thy comment upon this Book of the Law
The verb is then, “shall be printed.” The above is the table of contents. All of this “shall be printed beautifully in red ink and black upon beautiful paper made by hand.”
The set-off dependent clause, “for in it is the word secret,” &c., seems to say that “this ink and paper” means the original ms., not just examples of the ink and paper used.
This part of the verse is thus describing what became The Equinox of the Gods, i.e. Book Four, Part 4 (The Equinox Vol. III, No. 3). “how thou didst come hither” probably means not only how AC ended up in Cairo in April, 1904, but also how his life threaded its way to that juncture point.
It has become abundantly clear over the years that The Book of the Law contains “the word secret & not only in the English.” Superficially we have seen how the ancient languages of the Qabalistic art support this point. The name “Nuit” means distinctly more to a Frenchman than to an Englishman. And this barely caresses the surface. The nature of this Book is that every reader who also peers deeply into it will find secret wealth for themselves, and probably, in each case, something that no one else has ever seen. And I have every reason to believe that this is as true in other languages as it is in English.
“word secret:” I am sure this phrase has at least two meanings. First, I think a literal word is meant, and that word is “Abrahadabra.” It is “hidden” countless times in this ms.; and we have AC’s assurance that it is the “secret word” of Cap. I, v. 20. Second, “secret word” means “hidden message, ” which is obvious enough.
I need to reflect further on what this verse means to all the rest of us who are not Aleister Crowley. It is certainly clear how this verse applies to him; but “the Law is for all.“ This verse applies to each of us personally as much as it did to AC. However, in such generalization, it is not the outermost details that apply, but the innermost. Such a broad meaning must refer to consciousness, not to details. It does not mean we are all to write and publish our own Equinox of the Gods.
“All this” is the fruit of a given person’s aspiration and attainment.
“a book to say how thou didst come hither” is the record of the path that led thereto, which probably should be written.
“a reproduction of this ink and paper for ever” is interesting. Note the word “reproduction” as having a sexual and generational meaning. Human reproduction takes the uniting of two poles, from which a third thing is born. This is especially the applicable formula during this Aeon of the Child. The Book of the Law as given to us must unite with us, interact, interpenetrate. To the aspirant, to “reproduce” it is to build it into one’s cells by memorization or constant study or deep meditation. To the adept, “reproduction” is the new birth of himself or herself in an entirely new form as a result of the intimate union with the Book (this “knowledge” of it), the final result neither being a copy of the Book, nor the person the adept previously was, but a whole new generation of being.
“thy comment upon this Book of the Law:” First, since I do not take the so-called “Class A Comment” as inspired, I have no problem with everything it prohibits. At the same time, discretion discourages certain behaviors. As these present meditations should make clear, I believe it is a religious duty of every Thelemite to peer deeply into this treasure and, for their own sake, to draw their own conclusions, find their own truth herein. I also think the sequence in which these words fall in the verse — after the “reproduction” discussed above — has something to tell us. The real “comment” for the individual is the inner perspective that arises from the attainment. This nonverbal communication is a far better “comment” on Thelema than any words.
All this shall be printed “beautifully,” i.e., in conformity with the instinct of Tiphereth, “in red ink and black.” Many ideas arise as to what this could mean. By works of Mars and Saturn, for example, i.e., by struggles, ordeals, and the efforts of the will shall this trace be left on the Inner Manuscript of the Eternal. It shall be written in our very life blood, the whole of ourselves being turned over to the work. The “paper” (a product of “trees;” cf. Cap. I, v. 59; it may represent, at one level, the aspirant’s nervous system) is “made by hand,” i.e., by Yod, the primal will into whose pattern it cheerfully conforms, and this “paper,” too, must be “beautiful.”
I have to comment about the effect of this heavy virus on me. It makes it far easier to slip into a Yetziratic view of things. I both slide out of the purely physical, and never quite make it to Briah. I wonder if this present verse will come out differently reapproached in better health. I think I have caught its symbolic, i.e., Yetziratic, importance very well, but have missed a deeper kernel.
The last half of the verse goes a separate, though related, direction. I have known many who interpret “it is the Law to give” as an intimation to hand out The Book of the Law to everyone one meets. (Taken more literally, it would have required AC to hand out a copy of The Equinox of the Gods to everyone!) I think this interpretation arose out of a mind set in which people are “not supposed” to discuss Liber Legis. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that the changes this Book have wrought in an individual are then his or her own. They are the veins of gold that the Book has mined for them. Being the truths of their own hearts, these “nuggets” are entirely appropriate to share, and intimate human relationship requires this kind of sharing of the truths of one’s own heart. It is, however, an entirely different matter to start off saying, “Here is what this Book means,” because that is an interpretation of it for someone else.
It is “giving the Law” to “each man and woman that thou meetest” simply to greet them with, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” It is a similar “giving” to speak of one’s own deep beliefs, to the extent that is socially appropriate. (Notice that I did not say “acceptable,” but did say “appropriate.”) But this may not be a “sales effort,” a proselytizing. We must be indifferent to the outcome. They are each either ready, or not. They are suited, or not. Here is the formula of every traditional Manifesto of the Real Order: say who you are, do not try to sell, then shut up. If someone is interested, they'll make further inquiries.
“Do this quickly!” It was probably (especially when verse 40 is also examined) an instruction on the book that is described. But we may also mobilize these three words to describe how we are to “give” the “Law” to those we meet: briefly, in few words, then drop it! (c. 1995 EV)
Note 7/5/95 E.V. The phrase, “and thy comment upon this the Book of the Law,” is in the original ink (on the original manuscript), but appears to have been put in later, after the rest of the page was written. Consider this! (NOTE 1/9/12: In the years sense, I have become all but persuaded that these words were not part of the original dictation and should be deleted.)
Aleister despaired at this verse for decades. His idea of a “comment” was anything but easy, and his pen was never “swift and secure” for it. He eventually penned the so-called “Class A Comment” in just such an impulsive fashion. My own view, however, is that it is neither Class A, nor is it the “Comment” here mentioned, but rather an eruption of AC’s grief at the occasion and circumstances. (Yes, I know that one does not exclude the other; and I stand my place on both views.)
Gematria: I note that this is verse 185. 185 is the value of אלף למד, i.e., אל spelled in full. These letters were central to one of the most important interpretive keys of the whole Book.
Whatever was intended for AC, I can certainly say that, for myself, the present work is hardly easy; and the actual expression of the acquired point of view is certainly the hardest part. Then again, sometimes that all changes, and this work is as easy as can be. Certainly this has much to do with how thoroughly I have assimilated the teachings of a given verse. (c. 1995 EV)
Money changes are acceptable within the precincts of the temple; indeed, they are mandatory. This is not because the spirit can be sold, for it cannot, nor is initiation ever for sale. Within the A.'.A.'., there is an absolute bar against receiving money connected to the Order for personal profit or gain. The same rule exists in T.'.O.'.T.'.. All this is clear.
But the Work itself must be supported! Someone has to pay for the temple and the library and the electricity and the supplies. In Thelema we refuse to be hypocrites about this.
Incidentally, the double “a” in Kaaba implies an A’ayin. I don’t care what the Arabic is — within the present Book it is, foremost, an English word, to be enumerated by the Prophet’s key to the “order & value” of the English alphabet. The word, therefore, is כעבא, which enumerates to 93. (c. 1995 EV)
(A Netzach verse speaks of Victory.)
In chapter I we were told by Nuit that the ordeals were unwritten. Now, though, we learn that some ordeals are “blind ones.” These probably are the ones mentioned by Nuit. We understand clearly enough what those mean. (Someone, by the way, should write a whole large book on the ordeals that arise naturally from the Path of Initiation.) But there are other ordeals, and AC (presumably) is told to oversee them.
What does this mean? Why is it said here?
I believe — though this has been previously missed — that this sentence is the specific appointment of AC to head the Order in the Outer. The term “ordeal” applies not only to individual hurdles; it is used more broadly to refer to the course of progress itself.
In AC’s first notebook record of the forming A.'.A.'. system, he listed the primary tasks of each grade and labeled these “the Ordeals.” This is essentially what later became Liber XIII.
Furthermore, the word "ordeal" comes from a root -dail, meaning “to divide.” That is, it is a means of discrimination. Its basic English meaning is, “a trying experience,” that is, a trial or testing by which one is sorted into one of two groups, whether “in vs. out,” “innocent vs. guilty,” or whatever the situation requires.
The second sentence of the verse is the general rule of A.'.A.'. Probation. AC felt Probationers were always afforded (by life) the opportunity to betray the Order. Note that “destroy[ing] the traitors” is not a conscious act of the man Aleister Crowley, nor of any other leader in the Order then or since; but it is the natural consequence of his Silent Will and of the nature of the course of progress, i.e., of the actual nature of the Great Work.
“Success is thy proof” is unique within this Book. I believe it is the only phrase essentially repeated, word for word, in two different parts of the Book. (Four verses later it appears as “Success is your proof,” differing only by the age of the English. [NOTE 1/2/12: Or, if the age of the English is the same, then the first appearance is a plural.]) It is, as well, a distinctive principle of this Book. It may also mean, “Succession is thy proof,“ the evidence of properly preparing one’s replacement. We are advised not to argue and not to “convert,” for, “By our fruits shall they know us.” The value of our gold shall be measured by its out-and-out worth, not by how well we can “talk it up.“ The rest of the verse sounds a lot like Chapter II, and I am too tired from this virus to analyze this type of thing all over again. (There are likely many fine points in these few lines.)
As I look ahead to the three verses next following, which describe the Binah aspect of each of us, I am led to realize that this present verse refers not so much to Crowley, but to Therion, 666; and, especially, to the Chokmah function of each of us. It is this, our True Word or Will, that oversees the ordeals in each of our lives, that dissolves or destroys “traitors,” that finds its “proof in the pudding,“ that strikes lightning-quick and serpent-sleek to smite its foes, &c. What I miss in this analysis, however, is something in the text that keys the subconscious mind to the fact that such a Chokmah key is about to be given. (c. 1995 EV)
We now begin three consecutive verses that discuss the Scarlet Woman. I will treat them mostly as a set.
For those who eventually read this, I feel I must review some basic definitions of my views on this matter. Look back to my remarks on Cap. I, v. 15. The Scarlet Woman is one of the two great governing officers of the Aeon. She is not a person. She is a deep and abiding archetype, purely of Binah though often functionally reflected into Geburah after a fashion. My page or so at I:15 explains the matter rather well. I ultimately summarized this archetype as “a lunar-yonic representation of Binah... at a very high level, surely Briatic.” She is the Neshamah of each of us.
Crowley was all too happy — overly so, in a tragic fashion — to interpret these dire prophecies as referring to Rose’s life. Admittedly there is a resemblance. How much his projections (or hers; for her subconscious was very tied into the Book) fostered this outcome I cannot say and will not debate. It is, in any case, a consequence irrelevant to the rest of us in the course of discovering our own relationship to this Book.
But look! See what happens when we interpret 667 [the Scarlet Woman] as our own Neshamah, as the state of consciousness corresponding naturally to the Master of the Temple! All becomes at once clear. All the problems dissolve like morning mist before the rising Sun.
“Let the Scarlet Woman beware!” The words instantly capture and hold the attention of the Binah within us.
“pity and compassion and tenderness” have no place in Binah. None of them (none of these three, I might point out) allows a thing to be viewed and accepted as it is without an impulse to alter it. All three make “a difference... between any one thing & any other” (I:22). They are intellectual views of the Ruach, mixed with clinging emotional attachments of Nephesh. For Neshamah to permit any of these to “visit her heart” — Tiphereth, her Son, the extended center of ego-consciousness of the discrete being that Neshamah employs to her service — is for Neshamah to abdicate her rightful place, and give her throne over to divisive logic and labile reaction.
“leave my work” — “my” apparently refers to Ra-Hoor-Khuit. It seems we are seeing here, especially, a discussion concerning the subtle, and at times inextant, line between Nephesh and Neshamah, between the so-called “lower” and “higher” aspects of the unconsciousness, between the instinctual and the sacramental. (The instincts may, of course, be employed in a sacrament — and that translates the energies from Nephesh to Neshamah, which is the whole idea.) The Daughter, once placed upon the Mother’s throne must then be the Queen, and can no longer be what she was before. Her “old sweetnesses” are the things which previously seduced the soul’s attention before it found its “one true love” in the Prince that is the Holy Guardian Angel. Ra-Hoor-Khuit represents this Angel with respect to the Daughter, and simultaneously corresponds to Kether so far as the Mother can see. His “vengeance” ’ that is, his Justice — is a rightful, if seemingly severe, adjustment or compensation for the displacement of the Neshamah’s rightful focus.
In short, you can’t go back! Each aspect of consciousness must function according to its own truth, its own nature, and the Neshamah must act in a way consistent with the “laws” of its own plane.
“I will slay me her child. I will alienate her heart.” Child and heart are both of Tiphereth. The ego center may entirely cave in, resulting in insanity; or may simply be alienated from the higher intuition, if this error occurs.
“I will cast her out from men.“ This is more obscure. I think we are being shown the rupture between Neshamah and Ruach from different perspectives, here from the plane of Ruach. The final sentence shows the weak aspiration, the befouled intuition, the withering and worn remnants of a truly spiritual life rotting, discarded, in a gutter; and so it is for those who, having attained, turn from their attainment to return to their own “old sweetnesses,” the things of their former life.
(But see Liber Cheth, especially vv. 13-15, for those who pass through entirely. Also, the severity of the words here used does not apply as such to those who have not truly turned away, but whose progress reflects the flux and reflux, the ebb and flow, of an undulating path.) (c. 1995 EV; tweaked 1/8/12 EV)
The alternative is that the aspiration shall not falter, but shall fulfill itself in its own terms — even as we each must do, as all life must do. This verse also reflects the redemption of women in this Aeon, for it shows the redemption — the truly setting aright — of our individual and collective view toward the feminine within us, and thus, as well, of those in female form who embody that principle on earth.
“my way” is not at odds with “her way,” any more than Binah is at odds with the higher, more transcendent Kether.
“work the work of wickedness.” W.W.W. = ו ו ו or 666; and “wicked” comes from a root meaning “wisdom.” Let her be the Sun unto herself, not merely its reflection. Let the consciousness of Binah take up the work of Chokmah, becoming veritably the Beast itself. (It is the natural evolutionary flow of the consciousness of any one sephirah to ascend unto that which is next above it.)
“Let her kill her heart!” Again, see Liber Cheth, especially verse 11: “For if thou dost not this with thy will, then shall We do this despite thy will.” Having fulfilled the work of the Sun (W.W.W. = 666), let her slay this as well. This is the normal transition of the Adept into the Master by crossing the Abyss; or the slaying even of the Chokmah unto which She has attained.
“Let her be loud and adulterous!” Probably this verse is referring to the casting off of the chains by which the feminine has been restrained and bound for millennia. She is not a possession, but is herself.
“Let her be covered with jewels, and rich garments.” Cf. the complement in 1:61. This is also the proper raiment of a Queen = ה = Binah.
“let her be shameless before all men!” Only Puritanism has distorted this meaning to imply immorality. It simply means that she is to be without shame! What a wonderful freeing of the soul! What emancipation from the imprisoning and implanted lie of “original sin.” Binah is above and beyond — free from — all such taints. Supernal Saturn accepts and understands and embraces; it is not the devouring monster that slays his own children.
Gematria: 44 = דם, “blood.”
(c. 1995 EV; tweaked 1/8/12 EV)
As is true of every level of our psyches, when Neshamah fulfills itself of its own nature, it “passes on.” The reward is intrinsic. In this 10th verse of the present set, corresponding to Malkuth, She is promised the Kingdom and more.
She is “lifted up,” as Malkuth was unto Binah. Since Binah is already beyond Geburah, “pinnacle of power” probably refers to Chokmah. By the union of Binah and Chokmah, a new child shall come forth — not the ego of old, but a new Tiphereth, which in the outer appears as a spiritually renewed individual. She shall be filled with joy as is her nature — Isis Rejoicing, not Isis in Mourning. She need wander no longer seeking the missing phallus outside of herself, for it is inherently within her, always as her own. She — even She — shall be lifted even higher, the Binah within us attaining to Kether — to Hadit.
Gematria: Some Qabalistic correspondences to the verse number, 45 (which otherwise is well documented as a number equating humanity with divinity), are: זבול, zebul, “lofty, elevation, pinnacle,” and מאד, meode (the root of Madim), meaning “greatly, strongly, exceedingly; strength, might,” etc., all of which describe the “child.” Also, 45 is one of the Great Numbers of Saturn.
With verse 46, I feel we are “entering the home stretch.” After this last segment relating to the letter Qoph — vv. 36-45 — we have but Resh, Shin, and Tav to go, all of which are much more dynamic. They reflect the crescendo, the building climax, of the entire Book. After only a few “loose ends” are bound together in vv. 46 and 47, the strokes are all bold, precise, and resounding. Here, the Sun is clearly dawning on a new Æon for the World. (c. 1995 EV)
Heru-Ra-Ha identifies Himself as “I am,” the great Name of Unity and the crown.
The physical prophecies seem unusually acute here. Horus is a solar-martial force; that is, a solar war-force. He corresponds to atomic power. As Nuit and Hadit, the Circumference and the Center, imply subatomic particles, so is their Child the product of their union, the Atom, the Kether of a given World (whether the physical universe or human consciousness; it is all the same). Verse 49 (yet to come) can be understood to refer to the four fundamental forces, and Horus is surely all of these (strong force, weak force, gravitation, and electromagnetism). Therefore, in the physical universe, He is atomic power. As such He was definitely “the warrior Lord of the Forties,” and also that before which “the Eighties” — the Chernobyl-and-Reagan years — did “cower” and were “abased.”
But within each of us, this Atom is the Atman, or Yechidah. Here, again and clearly, is the voice of the Holy Guardian Angel. In this sense, what does the first sentence mean? I don't know; but I have a good guess. 40 is מ, a Path especially associated with Adepthood. 80 is פ, the highest path of the First Order, of those who are not Adepts. Horus, the HGA, to the Adept is “the warrior Lord,” the source of strength and light; but to those outside the Veil of Paroketh, He is the blasting terror of Mars unleashed, before which the psyche cowers and is abased. מ is peace and stillness, Harpocrates, wherein is strength; פ is the severity of the shattered tower, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, of whom it is written:
Mine eyes have seen the Glory
Of the coming of the Lord,
He is trampling out the vintage
Where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He hath loosed the fearful lightning
Of his terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on.
And,
The Lord is a god of war and vengeance. “Lord of Armies” [יהוה צבאות] is His Name.
Together, Harpocrates and Ra-Hoor-Khuit are Heru-Ra-Ha, even as Mem + Peh = 40 + 80 = that wonderful number 120.
The rest is all clear on its own. This is Horus, the image of the Holy Guardian Angel, speaking at his best and clearest. The promises are the natural consequences of the K&C of the HGA and, before that, of the knowing and doing of the True Will.
AC, in the N.C., adds that מ and פ represent the “Destruction of the World by Water and by Fire,” symbolic language for complementary Forces (and perhaps methods) that are to be equally mastered. (c. 1995 EV)
Instructions on the promulgation, mostly to be taken literally. But there is definitely other meaning behind the literal.
The translation “into all tongues” means that each person must understand this Book in his or her own words, not those of another; but the original, regardless, is to be preserved undistorted. It is the catalyst that will ignite each person’s own Truth.
The phrase, “for in the chance shape,” &c., has been discussed, more or less, throughout these observations. I don’t think it is in any way obscure. “Let him not seek to try” means that it is a futile and misleading waste of time for AC, or anyone else, to try to dig out every possible meaning for every possible person, since each is perfectly capable of doing this on their own if they will.
Some keys are then given to decoding some of the Book’s hidden mysteries, to emphasize what is really important. They all agree in saying “Just do the Great Work. Attain to the K&C of the HGA.”
“Then this line drawn is a key.” The line passes through the letters s t Be t say f a: 300 + 9 + 12 + 9 + 71 + 6 + 1 = 418. The “circle squared in its failure” — I do not understand “failure,” but the illustration is a slightly imperfect circle-and-cross, a symbol of the Rosy Cross. “And Abrahadabra“ is, of course, both 418 and the Rosy Cross.
“It shall be his child & that strangely.” I am not sure this is a prediction of a successor at all. (Earlier in the verse, the “one” who “cometh after him” is likely Frater Achad — אחד — who did “discover the Key of it all,” i.e., of אל .) I think this “child“ is more likely a Tipheric idea, and certainly has an obscure meaning. We have encountered similar language before, and it has been discussed adequately, I think.
Crowley’s O.C. and the first sentence of the N.C. are interesting, but may be spurious other than on the physical plane. I shall keep silent concerning my opinions in full. (c. 1995 EV)
Once more, the transition is almost non sequitur. If Aiwass were required to specify all ambiguous antecedents, he would be polishing this little composition halfway into the next Æon. But it is the very ambiguities (at first sight) which lead the mind in a particular direction and along particular channels. This seems to me — as I have observed previously — to be part of the method of the Book.
So, we have to ask: What “mystery of the letters”?
The apparent answer is the reference to “the chance shape of the letters and their position to one another” from the verse preceding. Aiwass is adamant that He is “done” with that mystery. Presumably he means that he has given us all the clues we need.
The chief clues were the three that I summarized (in the last verse) as referring to the Rosy Cross. I am sure that the ultimate meaning is that the Key to understand the mysteries of this Book is to attain to the K&C of the HGA, and thereafter to interpret all in the bright light of the mystic topaz. But there are also lesser mysteries. I believe these are coded in certain letter codes.
In 2:55 we were admonished to “obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet,” &c. Note that the Keys in verse 47 only enumerates to 418 if the Anglo-Hebraic transliteration were used. That, in fact, is the one method that makes all of these “keys” functional.
There is, as well, the mystery of “the numbers & the words” in 2:76. Are these part of the “mystery of the letters” indicated by the present verse?
The implication of this verse 48 is that the “mystery of the letters,” however mysterious or sublime, is relatively exoteric to that which follows. Aiwass, in the guise of Horus, now withdraws further inward, as from the Holy Place of the Tabernacle to the “holier place,” the Sanctum Sanctorum. As the climax of the Book kicks into high gear, He will no longer hang around at the level of Ruach mysteries, but will now “go on.” (c. 1995 EV)
I have previously stated my view that, in Assiah, these are the four fundamental forces of physics, Horus himself being the essence of the Atom, or Atma.
AC (in Book of Lies, I believe) interpreted this “secret fourfold word” as “Do what thou wilt.” (P.S. — It was in N.C., too.)
I believe it is simply the Tetragrammaton, יהוה — no more and no less. Any other attributions are but particularizations of this Master Key.
יהוה is the formulation of the whole Tree of Life — and one thing Ra-Hoor-Khuit certainly is is the embodiment of the entire Tree, in exactly the same sense as is Adam Qadmon, the Solar Humanity.
This יהוה is, of course, not Jehovah, who is but one of the “gods of men” against whom Ra-Hoor-Khuit or Heru-Ra-Ha is a “blasphemy;” for in His light — the L.V.X. of the Holy Guardian Angel — all people see that they, themselves, are God.
Ra-Hoor-Khuit is that “Unity uttermost showed” before whom all lesser gods, and even death, tremble. By RHK we mean that Ineffable ONE, indescribable and beyond all condition, of which all human-conceived deities are, at best, its veils.
It is that which is represented in Yesod by the Phallus, and in Tiphereth as the Sun; but in Kether, it is beyond Knowledge, and exists only as itself, without veil.
It is that, as well, which we veil under the Name of the Holy Guardian Angel, blesséd be His Name. “Adonai” is a generic name for this reality, a name in Malkuth; but it has long been openly stated that “Adonai” is an outer articulation — a “substituted Word,” as that of the 3° of Freemasonry — which veils the true Unpronounceable Name, written as יהוה, the Divine Name of Tiphereth and the pattern of the whole Tree of Life and, equally, of the whole Qabalah. In יהוה are all four Worlds united, and the Great Work completed.
Before leaving this point, I should mention that the name Aiwass (עיוז) is, itself, a tetragrammaton. For the most part, the mysteries of this Name were Crowley's alone to pursue; but I can surely be forgiven my curiosity. As a personal message to him, could it be that the “secret fourfold word” which is “the blasphemy against all gods of men” was
ע The Devil,
י the Secret Seed or Atman which is also
ו the inner Revealer of the Mysteries, and
ז appears outwardly as a Twin God of the Sword, Children of the Sun
and whose name enumerates to 93, as do Θελημα, ’Αγαπη, &c.? (c. 1995 EV)
The threefold curse is apparently against the “gods of men,” i.e., the outer shells of Divinity.
A curse is (according to the dictionary) an appeal unto supernatural powers that evil or harm shall befall someone or something. (It could, of course, just mean to swear or “cuss” at them.) Ecclesiastically, it is any ban or censure.
I do not think there is anything too esoteric in this language. Aiwass is merely damning “all gods of men,“ i.e., the relatively outer images of spiritual Truth. Ultimately, the worship of such gods is idolatry. (Remember, Aiwass is viewing all of this from “the holier place” — see verse 48.) (c. 1995 EV)
These six verses, with all of their potential theological and prophetological complexities, are really very simple. Before getting into any fine points, we pretty much understand what is being said.
Horus is represented in his aspect of a hawk. As such, He carries out, symbolically, the cursing or damnation of the other façades of popular religion. In this way, He represents the inarticulatable Truth which is the essence of all religious, including all of those here addressed. The inner kernel of truth is devastating to the outer forms. As part of the hierophantic task, there must be conventions and forms that provide access to the inner pathways; but the details of those forms are, for that very reason, arbitrary. (Incidentally, it is for the same reasons that they can be so very valuable.)
These present verses will likely be totally misunderstood unless we remember the teachings of Cap. I, v. 56: “All words are sacred and all prophets true; save only that they understand a little....”
I am sure that the unbuffered Light of Truth did blind Mohammed. Even dhyâna has that affect on most people, varying inversely to their state of preparation. The ego, intellect, and emotions become obsessive when one floats back down off a mountain peak, unless one has some real skill in dealing with them. And perhaps the Spirit was equally blinding to the mythical “Jesus” in his crucifixion — were not the Sun and Moon, the eyes of the Macrocosm, in eclipse that hour?
Indian, Buddhist, and Mongol are clear as nationalities, and likely represent the obvious religions. Even as Cap. I, v. 37 ordered the assimilation and transmitting of all the world’s spiritual methods, so do these verses show that all of their outer forms and sacred cows fail before the Reality of what lies commonly at their core.
Din is not recognizable among these religions. It is, of course, the Hebrew word for Justice, the highest aspect of Geburah. It is also the name of a spirit of Mercury, as I recall. דין = 64.
Bahlasti — באהלאשטי — is 358, Messiah and all the rest (or, without the ה, 353 = Hermes).
Ompehda — עמפהדא — is 200, the Sun! These two fierce exclamations are thus common elements of Tiphereth. They represent the power of the Pentagram (358) and the Life, Love, Liberty, and Light of Sol (200). It is with this singular Glory that what we here represent as Horus ravages the desecrated husks of prior religious.
I see no difference between this and Bahá’u’lláh saying that the one true Word, being repeatedly corrupted, requires, every so many centuries, the arising of a new prophet to tell the same old story — but free of time’s distortions and dilution, and reframed for a new place and time.
These ten verses 46-55 correspond, in the model I am using, to the letter Resh, The Sun; and this present set climaxes with the 200th verse of the entire Book. The interpenetrating force is sunlight, and everything that it symbolically means.
(Note that, within this set of ten verses, the Jesus verse corresponded to Tiphereth; Mohammed to Netzach, where he belongs; multiple Eastern systems plus the mysterious Din, the name of a Mercurial Spirit, to Hod; the intervention of the redemptive sunlight of “Bahlasti! Ompehda!” to Yesod, reflecting the Sun; and Mary-Marah-Malkah to Malkuth. This occurs in verse 55, the Mystic Number of Malkuth. Mary in Malkuth and Jesus in Tiphereth — what better could you want?)
It is the inviolate Mary that is to be torn. Her closed off antisexual image is an assault, it being but an image of the black veil of restriction and denial. (The exoteric doctrine of the “virgin birth” is one religion’s way of continuing the persecution, controlling, and restriction of women by invoking shame upon unmarried mothers — unless, of course, God did it!) The Book even seems to imply that it is not Mary’s real image; that the implied disgrace — literally, dis-grace — of so-called “chastity” is an error. For its destruction is for the sake of beauty, and of love, as verse 56 meaningfully tells us.
Beauty and love — two sublime attributions of the Holy Guardian Angel. The reality of the experience of that Angel's beauty and love makes clear exactly what is meant by these six verses on which I have wasted three pages of worthless handwriting. (c. 1995 EV)
Cowardice — the absence of the Third Power of the Sphinx — is the ruin of all virtue. Courage is of the Lion — Leo — and one who has not courage has no heart (Latin cor). Those without courage are deceitful. They attack from weakness and therefore cannot be trusted. Honest here-and-now fear is as sacred as any other feeling, and usually motivates action of the highest integrity; but most fear is residual fear, in whole or in part. That is, it is not of the here-and-now. And the cancerous grip of chronic or persisting fear in the heart is the death of all honor.
“professional soldiers,” or mercenaries, fight for entirely wrong reasons. They fight for money, rather than for belief. Again, they squander spiritual strength for coin, and live not by the canon of their hearts.
Or, to look at the sentence a different way: Despise those who will not be themselves, who will not live the life that is theirs to live: It is an example of the dilemma of Arjuna. And certainly despise fools! (c. 1995 EV)
“Brothers,” in Hebrew, is AChYM, echiym = 59, the number of this verse.
Our comradeship, or kinship within Thelema, is with “the keen and the proud, the royal and the lofty.” This is what we intrinsically are, the standard to which our young aspire. It is among such others — beings of strength and honor and integrity, with the courage to live their lives wholly and by their own sure knowledge of their course — that we belong, that we feel at home. With such as these shall we stand if need be, shoulder to shoulder, facing any common foe to that Life of Liberty, that Light of Love, which we hold so dear. (4/3/95 EV)
I cannot possibly put here all of my thoughts on this. This great Law has been the basis of most of this Book. I will limit myself here to two remarks.
61 is “naught,” the Silence that absorbs all. This verse decisively begins the final absorption of the newly uttered Word into the Silence where it must gestate before fully giving itself over to its birth. The number is also diagrammatically represented by the hexagram of 6 planets with the 1 Sun at their center, in their midst; it is thus a hieroglyph for the literal meaning of this verse.
The God, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, is “enthroned in Ra’s seat.” Ra’s seat is the Sun. It is the throne deep in the heart. It is the throne in the East, the place of the rising Sun, of the Golden Dawn, whereupon is seated the true Revealer of the Mysteries.
And, “There is an end” to this God’s word; both a conclusion and, especially, a purpose to this word, “Do what thou wilt.”
The presence of Ra-Hoor-Khuit — of the Holy Guardian Angel, the Union of the powers of the 5 and the 6 in the Sun — lightens the girders of the soul. This verse (the Tiphereth verse of the present set) is one of the most truly beautiful in the entire Book. I could sit for a very long time dwelling within the wonderful imagery of these 20 words. (4/3/95 EV)
Again, vast doctrines are encoded in startlingly few words. “To Me” — note the unusual capitalization — is Το Μη, the Naught, the Qabalistic Zero of Nuit; and also 418, the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. To this are we to do reverence, are we to come. The journey will be one of tribulation — that is, of being tried and tempered, as reflected in the symbols and attributes of the Path of Samekh. Nonetheless, these ordeals are blissful. Properly witnessed, they are the direct workings of the Angel with the soul.
And we are all called to this. “Ye” is the plural. It is also, again, Yod-Heh. In the union of opposites in every possible interpretation of these words on every imaginable plane is the Formula of the Rosy Cross found. The words “come ye” have particular significance on several planes.
This verse continues the golden splendor of the one preceding it.
In this regard, I quote the closing text from the NC for verse 62:
This seems to indicate the means to be used in freeing the soul from its "girders."
We have seen that Ra-Hoor-Khuit is in one sense the Silent Self in a man, a Name of his Khabs, not so impersonal as Hadit, but the first and least untrue formulation of the Ego. We are to revere this self in us, then, not to suppress it and subordinate it. Nor are we to evade it, but to come to it. This is done “through tribulation of ordeal.” This tribulation is that experienced in the process called Psychoanalysis, now that official science has adopted — so far as its inferior intelligence permits — the methods of the magus. But the “ordeal” is “bliss; ” the solution of each complex by “tribulation” — note the etymological significance of the word! — is the spasm of joy which is the physiological and psychological accompaniment of any relief from strain and congestion.
207, the number of this verse in the Book as a whole, is the value both of אין סוף, The Limitless, and of אור, Light — two equal perfects, two aspects of zero, which unite to form the complete articulation of Zero, the אין סוף אור.
(c. 1995 EV)
The value one sees in this Book naturally varies with the level of him or her who reads it. This is necessarily true, psychologically. It also has been found true in practice.
As I have journeyed through nearly all of these 220 verses in the last ten months, I have seen little but the Holy Guardian Angel at every turn. The record speaks for itself on this point.
There was a time, especially in the beginning, when I would have seen any mixture of levels of things herein, but especially sought out the delicious predictions and physical details and concrete ideas about its deities. For years thereafter, I saw especially the doctrine of the True Will (the key development and theme of my Yesod work), as well as both the inner and outer themes of a certain Thelemic fraternity to which I then belonged. These were definitely thematically linked to Yesod.
Now, for much of this Book, I have been unable to see anything but the Sun, the Sun of my Soul; and while I am keenly aware of these overly-specific blinders, I can do little or nothing to remove them. Rather, I should say that, as a man in love, I really cannot think of a good reason even to try to remove them, and am utterly unpersuaded by logic. Here is a reflection of my belovéd, and I need nothing else from this Book.
There is probably a reversed and qabalistic meaning of verse 63. The fool, Parsifal (C.S. Jones) read Liber Legis and understood it — as a Master of the Temple Understands — and its message not, אל, the key which he discovered.
However, the simple meaning is that the profane, on first exposure, will have little idea of what it is about.
Let them persevere, both in the Book and in the Great Work. When they have become fully awake in the World of Yetzirah, “it will be... as silver.” Only Yesod, the Moon, will be seen in it to one who abides in Yesod.
Awaken unto the World of Briah, and it shall appear as gold. Every syllable shall be a reflection of the HGA. (This is verse 65 of the present chapter, and verse 210 with respect to the entire Book. Both 65 and 210 are intimately associated with the attainment of Tiphereth, in a big way!)
Awaken further, unto Binah — the “stones of precious water” are pearls, attributed to Binah — and naught but Binah shall be seen. And while these three are the Heh-final, the Vav, and the Heh, the awakening beyond is to Yod; and therein shall it appear as “ultimate sparks of the intimate fire.” Note intimate. Intimacy is the chiefest characteristic of the fulfilled relationship with the HGA.
Crowley’s N.C. on these verses is a section I have surely quoted more often than any other. But I was more taken, this time, by these words in the commentary to vv. 48-62:
See also the six verses following this; the word increases in value as the reader advances on the Path, just as a Rembrandt is a “pretty picture” to the peasant, a “fine work of art” to the educated man, but to the Lover of Beauty a sublime masterpiece, the greater as he grows himself in greatness.
Finally, verse 68. It is flatly true. Few things are so true on the mundane plane. We are reminded in Liber 418 that he who seeks only Beauty comes nearest to the heart of Truth. Therefore, in Beauty shall we seek. Even the most naive exposure to Liber Legis is of ultimate virtue to the soul; and even “its enemies” benefit deeply from it, whatever opinions their intellects may have of it.
This suggests an explicit tactic of promulgating the Law. We already know we are to put it before others, but without talking over much, without argument or proselytizing, etc. There have been times when someone, on my suggestion, has gotten a copy of Liber Legis and come back to say they were confused by it, put off by Chapter III, found themselves somehow uncomfortable with it, etc. The appropriate answer at that time would be something like, “Yeah, but it is beautiful, isn’t it.” — and then drop the matter unless they continue it.
P.S. Crowley, in the N.C. to verse 63, refers the “fools” to the uninitiate who “has four ordeals to pass before he is made perfect.” This is the same language he used in his commentary on Liber 671, the A.'.A.'. Neophyte initiation ritual. There, however, the order is Fire Water Air Earth, whereas here they are reversed from that. I think, however, that they are substantially the same.
I also note that AC took the third ordeal as leading to Kether, and the fourth as leading beyond. Hey, he was an Ipsissimus, and I but a lowly little adept. How should I know!? I guess I will stick with what seems right until I discover something different, for myself, down the road. (c. 1995 EV)
So simple. I do not want to spoil it. It promises success of the Book’s purposes. As a Word to AC from his own HGA, it is the simple assurance that cuts directly to the core and, coming with the divine Voice, wounds all doubts beyond recovery no matter how much they bitch and moan thereafter.
And it is the same promise to each of us. Discovery your True Will. Do that and nothing else. And there is success.
The promise of success composes the final Chesed verse of the Book. (4/3/95 EV)
Aiwass is speaking wholly as the voice of Heru-Ra-Ha. This vast, beautiful, majestic image of the God has always been stunningly clear to me. The verse has always had a powerful effect on me, as do most verses here at the end of all.
It is interesting that his nemyss shrouds, or veils, the Body of Nuit, as if to reiterate that He is the “visible object of worship.” Note, though, that Aiwass — name beginning with A’ayin — would be expected to have an indigo nemyss.
If indigo is not exactly meant, but rather a kind of bluish “ultra-violet,” it is then the ambient aura that can be seen, at times with the physical eye when Heru-Ra-Ha is properly invoked. Heru-Ra-Ha, of course, is both Harpocrates, the Lord of Silence, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit, the Lord of Strength. Furthermore, 215 (the number of this verse with respect to the entire Book) is the value of silentium viresque, “Silence & Strength.” 70 is the value of LYL, “night.”
This verse is the last Geburah verse of the Book. (4/3/95 EV)
All of the verses surrounding this one appear to be the words of Heru-Ra-Ha. This, though, appears to be directed to the Twin God. Thus taken, it says that the hour is “nigh at hand” of the “twin warriors” RHK and HPK. They are “about the pillars of the world,” i.e., at the threshold, between the pillars of its portal, prepared to enter in and take their ruling place. It is as though Crowley — or even Aiwass, the minister of HPK — suddenly turned to address them.
This is the 216th verse of the Book. 216 is a number very sacred to this god. It is 6 x 6 x 6 (666!), the solidification of sunlight, the entering in of these representatives of the new solar current with manifestation in this world. It is GBVRH, “strength,” and ARYH, “Leo, lion,” thus a perfect glyph of this solar-martial God. And it is more — which I cannot write because it is under an obligation I share with others.
Truly, Heru-Ra-Ha is the Twin-God of the sun and of all polaritries, “Lord of the Light and of the Darkness.”
This verse 216 is the last Tiphereth chapter of the Book. (Updated 8/21/09 EV)
Heru-Ra-Ha is again speaking.
The phrase, “Word of Double Power” had been one original interpretation of Abrahadabra (see Cap. I, v. 20). The usual form, “Wand of Double Power,” is here rearranged and altered. It still refers, however, to both polarities of a single Will, the number 2 in its highest and purest manifestation, represented by the active and passive twin aspects of HRH; that is, it refers to the polarity of the two ends of the Wand, or Will.
But this Wand is “the wand of the Force of Coph Nia.” What is this? Crowley originally missed the words during the dictation. It was Rose who later wrote in, “Force of Coph Nia.“ Regardie pointed out that this bears a strange relationship to Ain Soph — the old Greek “S” looks like “C” — as though someone unfamiliar with Hebrew psychically saw אין לוף, understanding intuitively the import of the letters, but getting forward-backward all mixed up. Okay, I thought, that might be plausible. But the idea only works if we can explain why a Greek-style letter (C, not Σ) was used. Why not “Soph Nia”? Well, I thought, maybe this was to cue us to interpret it in Greek (even though it is a Hebrew phrase). Okay, so we have a “Double Wand of Power,” that might be the “wand of the Limitless Force” (Ain Soph means “limitless”), if we can only figure why we are cued to Greek. The answer is immediately obvious on adding it up:
C (Σ) + ο + φ = 200 + 70 + 500 = 770
Ν + ι + α = 50 + 10 + 1 = 61
770 + 61 = 831
831 is the value of the Greek word φαλλος. The “Double Wand of Power,” the “Wand of the Limitless Force,” is the “Wand of the Force of the Phallus.” (831 is also Greek for “pyramid,” and the value of Aleph spelled in full.)
This Mystery of the Double Wand of Power (Heb. כח or 28 = Σ(1-7)) comprises the last Netzach verse of the Book.
The last sentence of the verse merely means that the old world is gone. The new Æon is upon us, ready to grow into its maturity.
AC (N.C.) notes that the Double wand in one hand and nought in the other is the 0=2 equation.
Gematria: 72, the verse number, is the value of the Latin vacuum, meaning “empty, void.”
(c. 1995 EV; tweaked 2/7/2012 E.V.)
This has been taken, usually, to mean that the 65 pages of the original ms. of Liber Legis are to be so arranged. However, I feel certain this is not what it means.
The “sheets” are not of Liber Legis — Sepher TORA — but of Nuit’s book, Sepher TARO or ROTA (see I:57). The “sheets” are the individual pages or trumps of the Tarot. The correct arrangement is given in Liber Tav, all laid out. This is a tremendously important format for the correct study of the Hebrew letters and the corresponding trumps.
Gematria: BYHOLD {Heb} = 121 or 11 x 11, a key to Nuit and, perhaps, confirmation that “Her Book” is intended.
This Mystery of the Pages of the Book comprises the last Hod verse of Liber L. (4/3/95 EV)
This is another verse that AK and I have employed ceremonially. It has, for me, a powerful emotional draw. Its images are varied and vivid. It ignites a Briatic response even when there is no specific Yetziratic visual image that forms.
This verse says so much — applies to so many situations — that I do not wholly know where to begin. It speaks at so many levels, and arises within so many contexts, that I shall surely leave out something important here. But I shall try...
Here, in this penultimate verse, the voice is that of Heru-Ra-Ha, the rising Sun as if of a new dawn; the Lord of the Borning Aeon for humanity and, at the same time, the image of the Holy Guardian Angel to each of us. Yet it is not of sunrise that He now speaks, but of midnight. It matters little. Unlike Osirian scientists, who viewed the Sun as being born, living, and dying each day, we have learned, in centuries intervening, that the Sun is eternal. It is always there, shining incessantly, whether we see it or not; in fact, unaffected by whether we see it or not. It is only that we rhythmically turn toward it and away from it. We ride a rotating planet that is now between us and the Sun, then now unveils the day star to our sight.
Similarly, that Sun within us, which we have chosen to call the Holy Guardian Angel, and now Heru-Ra-Ha — but in the present imagery, perhaps Augoeides is the better term — is always shining, undisturbed, eternally pouring forth its silent rays of Life and Light. It is only that we sometimes turn toward it, and sometimes away — and we must grow in strength before we may safely look upon it with unflinching eyes.
It is “ever the son” for it is Vav, Tiphereth, the Child, the Light, and the revealer of that Light.
So it is, in the world common to us all, with regard to the vast spiritual Light of Horus as Lord of the Aeon, the accessible “image,” so to speak, of all the spiritual forces guiding, leading, maturing, and evolving humankind in this hour.
He is Præmonstrator, for He leads, teaches, and guides with unending Love. He is Imperator, for He governs surely and with illimitable Power. And He is Cancellarius, for He is Chancellor of an even greater Light which is beyond reason, beyond image, beyond name, of which even He is but the façade; and thus is He the Word which leads us with infinite Wisdom. Above these and within these, He is that constant and eternal Light which is at their heart, that white light of which these others are but fractured and partial rays.
The “sun of midnight” is a very ancient term. It is said that the ancient priests of Egypt trained until they could see the Sun even at midnight. This was not the acquisition of “X-ray vision. ” It is, first of all, an abiding recognition of that within which is the Sun, visible even when the day star is not in his heaven visible. It is also and especially the Sun deeply within us, the Silent God within us each. To behold this Sun at midnight — often best viewed, it too often seems, when we are at the nadir of all hope — is to know the truth of what we ourselves and our fellows are, that “Every man and every woman is a star.” This, the first and central teaching of this whole Book of the Law, is now brought forth in renewed clarity at its climax.
Gematria: In Latin, “sun of midnight” is sol mediæ noctus = 157. This number is the value of several interesting and potentially significant Latin phrases. I am most taken, however, by its equivalence to the Hebrew phrase DMDVMY ChMH, “the setting of the Sun.” It is both ZQN, “lingam,” and NQBH, “yoni.”
This Mystery of the Nocturnal Splendour constitutes the final Yesod verse of this Book.
The remainder of this verse would be adequate and true if it were entirely metaphorical. In that sense, it requires no concrete specification. But there are specifics that can be said. First, to each is it given to see a “splendour... hidden and glorious” in the name of his or her Holy Guardian Angel. It matters not a whit, in this matter, what that name is. To each is it a formula most dear and holy, the key to the substance of their own Great Work.
And what of the name Heru-Ra-Ha itself? Yes, these descriptions fit on so many levels. Is there a further hidden Key not discovered? I do not know and, mostly, I do not presently care. The name itself is composed of parts which reflect Horus, the Sun, and Spirit. Both Heru-Ra-Ha and Ra-Hoor enumerate to 418, as does Abrahadabra. (The center, or depths, of Abrahadabra — Had — certainly bears a “splendour... hidden and glorious, as the sun of midnight,” &c.; and it is within 11 letters, as if to say within the body of Nuit; and even its own heart isא, the Silent Babe in the Egg.) In 418 are many splendid and glorious mysteries hidden.
Gematria: This is the 74th verse of Cap. III. 74 is the value, in Latin, of Heru-Ra-Ha, as it is of Pluto, the Hidden One, ruler of the midnight realm of darkness. Yet 74 is also Lamed, LMD, spelled in plenitude, completing, by balance, this doctrine of Horus with that of She who is goad to His ox. Ra-Ha (RA-HA)= 207 = AVR, “light.” Heru-Ra (HRV-RA) is 412, which is Beth, BYTh, in its plenitude, and thus Mercury as Logos. It is also YHShVH in plenitude in the World of Assiah, again the image of the Logos. And it is sod ha-tzelav ha-vered, SVD HTzLB HVRD, “the Secret of the Rosy Cross.”
And surely there are others. But itemizing them here is not the point. The point is that if one peers deeply into such a word, into the midnight depths of its soul (and thus of one’s own), there will be found a “splendour... hidden and glorious” that shall reveal itself, layer by layer, increasingly leading us severally and collectively unto a lucid and renewed image of ourselves. (c. 1995 EV)
Abrahadabra is the completion of the Great Work. It is for this reason that I conclude almost every ritual either by declaring “Abrahadabra!xxq2 or by nocking 3-5-3. This is a declaration that all of the work that has gone before, no matter what its form or immediate purpose, is ultimately devoted to the One Work which is the Great Work.
Abrahadabra is the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is a formula of samyama.
Abrahadabra, the Word of the Aeon, is the ending of the words, for no other words are needed ,all other words are futile, and the the faculty of speech is rendered mute.
In this last verse — this Malkuth verse of the Tav segment, wherein all reaches its fulfillment and conclusion — The Book of the Law is written. This is obvious. It is also Concealed, because it is a Book of Concealed Mysteries. These are concealed not because of blinds or obscurities, but because each must discover them for himself or herself.
The first two chapters had the purpose of manifesting Nuit and hiding Hadit. Now the Book itself has, as well, been both manifest and hidden, “Written and Concealed,” with all the same meanings that were given to these words before.
All this is sealed with the words, Aum Ha. Crowley was explicit that this Aum (as all other occurrences in the Book) was to be transliterated Aleph A’ayin Mem. I agree. It thus enumerates to 111. Ha (Heh Aleph) enumerates to 6. These are two of the four great numbers of the Sun, and ha is the Sanskrit word for “sun.” The product is 666, the supreme number of Sol, and a number significant to Crowley. Some would regard it as the signature of the actual author. Aum Ha is as surely the sempiternal Sun as is Shemesh Olam.
Even spelling Aum alternately as Aleph Vav Mem, the whole (AVM HA) is then equal to 53, the value of ChMH, “the Sun,” among other important words.
There is another interpretation I may not share other than with initiates of Temple of Thelema, but have given in Acolyte Explanatory Lecture No. 3. It is based, in part, on a more literal reading of HA [Hebrew]. This alternate interpretaiton is especially appropriate for this present verse numbered 220. It is roughly synonymous with a certain phrase enumerating to 718, the notariqon of which is X.A.A.
Aum is the first letter of the (devanagari) Sanskrit alphabet, as ha is the name of the last letter. Aum Ha, therefore, is symbolically identical with the Greek Alpha kai Omega, the First and Last.
I note further that aum is a single word composed of three distinct modifications of the breath, even as this Book is composed of three distinct chapters as modifications of one Word. Ha is the one breath that is modified in aum, just as its meanings of Sun and Spirit are the One Radiance which is modified into the three distinctive chaptesr’ messages.
Ha is also the third syllable of the name Heru-Ra-Ha, and has the meanings already discussed. The Book ends on Ha, the solar-spirit breath, and even its last letter, Aleph (the Hebrew cognate of (, is the purest, most unconditioned form thereof, the Silence or Zero into which the Word of Aiwass withdraws.
The first two letters of the Book, as the last two, are thus “Ha.” To put it differently, the entire Book is contained between the letters H-a. Similarly, the Pentateuch is all contained beween its first letter, Beth, and its last letter, Lamed, spelling LB, “heart;” so it is said that the whole of the Five Books of Moses (that earlier “Book of the Law,” or Sepher ha-Torah) are contained within the heart (and within 32, the number of “Paths of Wisdom” in the Hebrew system). Similarly, we can say that the whole Book of the Law is contained in the Spirit (HA), and that the nature of that Spirit is solar (HA, “Sun” = 6). Yet HA is also the spelling of the letter Heh in Atziluth; therefore, 6 must be seen as the Mystic Number of Binah, the sum of 1-3, and Ha represents The Star and the all-embracing Mother on the highest spiritual plane. (11/9/03 EV)