» LIBER SCRIPTUM «

Aleister Crowley

The Old Comment
to Liber AL vel Legis

The Book of the Law

This comment was extracted from as it originally appears in,
part of "The Temple of Solomon the King" from Equinox Vol.I. No.VII.

[ » SEE ALSO : The New Comment to Liber AL vel Legis « ]

THE BOOK OF THE LAW

LIBER AL VEL LEGIS

sub figurâ CCXX

as delivered by (LXXVIII) XCIII unto DCLXVI
with a commentary by THE BEAST, TO MEGA THERION 666

CHAPTER I | CHAPTER II | CHAPTER III

CHAPTER I

I.1. Had! The manifestation of Nuit.

Compare II.1, the complement of this verse. In Nu is Had concealed; by Had is Nu manifested. Nu being 56 and Had 9, their conjunction results in 65, Adonai, the Holy Guardian Angel. Also Hoor, who combines the force of the Sun with that of Mars. Adonai is primarily Solar, but 65 is a number sacred to Mars.

See the “Sepher Sephiroth”, and “The Wake World” in “Konx Om Pax” for further details on 65.

Note moreover, the sixty-five pages of the MS. of Liber Legis.

Or, counting NV 56, Had 10, we get 66, which is (1-11). Had is further the centre of the Key-Word ABRAHADABRA.

I.2. The unveiling of the company of heaven.

This book is a new revelation, or unveiling of the holy ones.

I.3. Every man and every woman is a star.

This should not be understood in the spiritualistic sense. It means that in each person is the sublime starry nature, a consciousness to be attained by the prescribed methods.

[Yet it may mean some real connection between a given person and a given star. Why not? Still, this is not in my knowledge. See: Liber 418.]

I.4. Every number is infinite; there is no difference.

The limited is a mere mask; the illimitable is the only truth.

I.5. Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men!

Nu, to unveil herself, needs a mortal intermediary, in the first instance.

It is to be supposed that Ankh-f-n-khonsu, the warrior lord of Thebes, priest of Men Tu, is in some subtle manner identical with either Aiwass or the Beast.

I.6. Be thou Hadit, my secret centre, my heart & my tongue!

The recipient of this knowledge is to identify himself with Hadit, and thus fully express the thoughts of her heart in her very language.

I.7. Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of Hoor-paar-kraat.

Aiwass — see Introduction. He is 78, Mezla the “influence” from the Highest Crown, and the number of cards in the Tarot, Rota, the all- embracing Wheel.

Hoor-paar-Kraat. See II. 8.

Aiwass is called the minister of Hoor-paar-Kraat, the God of Silence; for his word is the Speech in the Silence.

I.8. The Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs.

Khabs is the secret Light or L.V.X.; the Khu is the magical entity of a man.

I find later (Sun in Virgo, An VII.) that Khabs means star. In which case “cf. v.” 3.

The doctrine here taught is that the Light is innermost, essential man. Intra (not Extra)

Nobis Regnum Dei.

I.9. Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light shed over you!

That Khabs is declared to be the light of Nu. It being worshipped in the centre, the light also fills the circumference, so that all is light.

I.10. Let my servants be few & secret: they shall rule the many & the known.

This is the rule of Thelema, that its adepts shall be invisible rulers.

This, it may be remarked, has always been the case.

I.11. These are fools that men adore; both their Gods & their men are fools.

“The many and the known,” both among Gods and men, are revered; this is folly.

I.12. Come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your fill of love!

The Key of the worship of Nu. The uniting of consciousness with infinite space by the exercise of love, pastoral or pagan love. But “vide infra.”

I.13. I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.

This doctrine implies some mystic bond which I imagine is only to be understood by experience; this human ecstasy and that divine ecstasy interact.

A similar doctrine is to be found in the Bhagavad Gita.

I.14. Above, the gemmed azure is
The naked splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
The winged globe, the starry blue,
Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!

This verse is a direct translation of the first section of the stele. It conceals a certain secret ritual, of the highest rank, connected with the two previous verses.

I.15. Now ye shall know that the chosen priest & apostle of infinite space is the prince-priest the Beast; and in his woman called the Scarlet Woman is all power given. They shall gather my children into their fold: they shall bring the glory of the stars into the hearts of men.

The authority of the Beast rests upon this verse; but it is to be taken in conjunction with certain later verses which I shall leave to the research of students to interpret. I am inclined, however, to believe that “the Beast” and “the Scarlet Woman” do not denote persons, but are titles of office, that of Hierophant and High Priestess ו and ג {Vau and Gimel}, else it would be difficult to understand the next verse.

I.16. For he is ever a sun, and she a moon. But to him is the winged secret flame, and to her the stooping starlight.

In II. 16 we find that Had is to be taken as 11 (see II. 16, comment). Then Hadit = 421, Nuit = 466.

421 - 3 (the moon) = 418.

466 + 200 (the sun) = 666.

These are the two great numbers of the Qabalistic system that enabled me to interpret the signs leading to this revelation.

The winged secret flame is Hadit; the stooping starlight is Nuit; these are their true natures, and their functions in the supreme ritual referred to above.

I.17. But ye are not so chosen.

“Ye” refers to the other worshippers of Nuit, who must seek out their own election.

I.18. Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!

The serpent is the symbol of divinity and royalty. It is also a symbol of Hadit, invoked upon them.

I.19. O azure-lidded woman, bend upon them!

Nuit herself will overshadow them.

I.20. The key of the rituals is in the secret word which I have given unto him.

This word is perhaps Abrahadabra, the sacred word of 11 letters.

I.21. With the God & the Adorer I am nothing: they do not see me. They are as upon the earth; I am Heaven, and there is no other God than me, and my lord Hadit.

Refers to the actual picture on the stele. Nuit is a conception immeasurably beyond all men have ever thought of the Divine. Thus she is not the mere star-goddess, but a far higher thing, dimly veiled by the unutterable glory. This knowledge is only to be attained by adepts; the outer cannot reach to it.

I.22. Now, therefore, I am known to ye by my name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knoweth me. Since I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof, do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.

A promise — not yet fulfilled. [Since (Sun in Sagittarius, An V.) fulfilled.]

A charge to destroy the faculty of discriminating between illusions.

I.23. But whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!

The chief, then, is he who has destroyed this sense of duality.

I.24. I am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty.

Nu נ {Nun} = 6 + 50 = 56.

I.25. Divide, add, multiply, and understand.

Dividing 6/50 = 0.12.

0 the circumference, Nuit.

. the centre, Hadit.

1 the Unity proceeding, Ra-Hoor-Khuit.

2 = the Coptic H, whose shape closely resembles the Arabic figure 2, the Breath of Life, inspired and expired. Human consciousness. Thoth.

Adding 50 + 6 = 56, Nu, and concentrating 5 + 6 = 11, Abrahadabra, etc.

Multiplying 50 x 6 = 300, HB:Sh and Ruach Elohim, the Holy Spirit.

I am inclined to believe that there is a further mystery concealed in this verse; possibly those of 418 and 666 again.

I.26. Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bendingdown, a lambent flame of blue, all-touching, all penetrant, her lovely hands upon the black earth, & her lithe body arched for love, and her soft feet not hurting the little flowers: Thou knowest! And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body.

The prophet demanding a sign of his mission, it is promised: a Samadhi upon the Infinite.

This promise was later fulfilled — see “The Temple of Solomon the King,” which proposes to deal with the matter in its due season.

(P.S. It did so, vide Equinox I.)

I.27. Then the priest answered & said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat: O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!

I.28. None, breathed the light, faint & faery, of the stars, and two.

I.29. For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union.

I.30. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.

I.31. For these fools of men and their woes care not thou at all! They feel little; what is, is balanced by weak joys; but ye are my chosen ones.

(27-31.) Here is a profound philosophical dogma, in a sense possibly an explanation and illumination of the propositions in “Berashith”.

The dyad (or universe) is created with little pain in order to make the bliss of dissolution possible. Thus the pain of life may be atoned for by the bliss of death.

This delight is, however, only for the chosen servants of Nu. Outsiders may be looked on much as the Cartesians looked on animals.

Yet, of course, this is only on the plane of Illusion. One must not discriminate between the space marks.

(P.S. The Christian is one who has acquiesced in his own dishonour; a renegade from manhood).

I.32. Obey my prophet! follow out the ordeals of my knowledge! seek me only! Then the joys of my love will redeem ye from all pain. This is so: I swear it by the vault of my body; by my sacred heart and tongue; by all I can give, by all I desire of ye all.

The rule and purpose of the Order: the promise of Nuit to her chosen.

I.33. Then the priest fell into a deep trance or swoon, & said unto the Queen of Heaven; Write unto us the ordeals; write unto us the rituals; write unto us the law!

The prophet then demanded instruction: ordeals, rituals, law.

I.34. But she said: the ordeals I write not: the rituals shall be half known and half concealed: the Law is for all.

The first demand is refused, or, it may be, is to be communicated by another means than writing.

[It has since been communicated.]

The second is partially granted; or, if fully granted, is not to be made wholly public.

The third is granted unconditionally.

I.35. This that thou writest is the threefold book of Law.

Definition of this book.

I.36. My scribe Ankh-af-na-khonsu, the priest of the princes, shall not in one letter change this book; but lest there be folly, he shall comment thereupon by the wisdom of Ra-Hoor-Khuit.

The first strict charge not to tamper with a single letter of this book.

The comment is to be written “by the wisdom of Ra-Hoor-Khuit,” “i.e.” by open, not by initiated wisdom.

I.37. Also the mantras and spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of the wand and the work of the sword; these he shall learn and teach.

An entirely new system of magic is to be learnt and taught, as is now being done.

I.38. He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals.

The usual charge in a work of this kind. Every man has a right to attain; but it is equally the duty of the adept to see that he duly earns his reward, and to test and train his capacity and strength.

I.39. The word of the Law is θέλημα.

Compare Rabelais. Also it may be translated, “Let Will and Action be in harmony.”

But Θελημα {Thelema} also means Will in the higher sense of Magical One-pointedness, and in the sense used by Schopenhauer and Fichte.

I suggest —

The	the essential את {Aleph-Taw} , Azoth, etc., = Θε.
Word	Chokmah, Thoth, the Logos, the Second Emanation.
of	the Partitive, Binah the Great Mother.
the	Chesed, the paternal power, reflection of the "The" above.
Law	Geburah, the stern restriction.
is	Tiphereth, visible existence, the balanced harmony of the worlds.
Θελημα {Thelema}	The idea embracing all this sentence in a word.

Or —

Θ {Theta}	The	= ט {Teth} the Lion, "Thou shalt unite all these symbols into the form of a Lion."
ε {Epsilon}	Word	= ה {He} the letter of Breath, the Logos.
λ {Lambda}	of	= ל {Lamed}, ♎ {Libra} the Equilibrium.
η {Eta}	the	= ח {Cheth} 418, Abrahadabra.
μ {Mu}	Law	= מ {Mem} the Hanged Man, or Redeemer.
α {Alpha}	is	= א {Aleph} the 0 (zero, Nuit, which is Existence).
	Θελημα {Thelema}	the sum of all.

I.40. Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look but close into the word. For there are therein Three Grades, the Hermit, and the Lover, and the man of Earth. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Θε {Theta-epsilon}, the Hermit, י {Yod} invisible, yet illuminating. The A ∴ A ∴

λη {lambda-eta}, the Lover, ז {Zain} visible as is the lightning flash. The College of Adepts.

… μα {mu-alpha}, the Man of Earth, פּ {Pe} the Blasted Tower. The 3 Keys add up to 31 = לא {Lamed-Aleph} Not and אל {Aleph-Lamed} God. Thus is the whole of Θελημα {Thelema} equivalent to Nuit, the all-embracing.

See the Tarot Trumps for further study of these grades.

Θε {Theta-epsilon} = 14, the Pentagram, rule of Spirit over ordered Matter. Strength and Authority (ט {Teth} and ה {He}) and secretly 1 + 4 = 5, the Hierophant ו {Vau}. V. Also: ♌ ♈ {Leo Aries}, the Lion and the Ram. “Cf.” Isaiah. It is a “millennial” state.

λη {lambda-eta} = 38, the Key-word Abrahadabra, 418, divided by the number of its letter, 11. Justice or Balance and the Charioteer or Mastery. A state of progress; the church militant.

μα {mu-alpha} = 41, the Inverted Pentagram, matter dominating spirit. The Hanged Man and the Fool. The condition of those who are not adepts.

“Do what thou wilt” need not only be interpreted as licence or even as liberty. It may for example be taken to mean Do what thou (Ateh) wilt; and Ateh is 406 = תו {Taw-Vau} = T, the sign of the cross. The passage might then be read as a charge to self-sacrifice or equilibrium.

I only put forward this suggestion to exhibit the profundity of thought required to deal even with so plain a passage.

All the meanings are true, if only the interpreter be illuminated; but if not, they are all false, even as he is false.

(P.S. There was a sub-intention in the above paragraphs for the benefit of – Dwarfs!)

I.41. The word of Sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not thy wife, if she will! O lover, if thou wilt, depart! There is no bond that can unite the divided but love: all else is a curse. Accursed! Accursed be it to the aeons! Hell.

I.42. Let it be that state of manyhood bound and loathing. So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.

(41-42.) Interference with the will of another is the great sin, for it predicates the existence of another. In this duality sorrow consists. I think that possibly the higher meaning is still attributed to “will.”

I.43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.

“No other” shall say “nay” may mean —

No-other (= Nuit) shall pronounce the word No, uniting the aspirant with Herself by denying and so destroying that which he is.

I.44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

Recommends “non-attachment.” Students will understand how in meditation the mind which attaches itself to hope of success is just as bound as if it were to attach itself to some base material idea. It is a bond; and the aim is freedom.

I recommend serious study of the word “unassuaged” which appears not very intelligible.

I.45. The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!

Perhaps means that adding perfection to perfection results in the unity and ultimately the Negativity.

But I think there is much more than this.

I.46. Nothing is a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the Jews call it; I call it eight, eighty, four hundred & eighteen.

61 = אונ {Aleph-Vau-Nun}. But the True Nothing of Nuit is 8, 80, 418. Now 8 is ח‎ {Cheth}, which spelt fully,  חית {Cheth-Yod-Taw}, is 418. And 418 is Abrahadabra, the word of Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Now 80 is פּ {Pe}, the letter of Ra-Hoor-Khuit. [Qy. this.]

(Could 80 = {infinity} 0. Infinity x Zero?)

I.47. But they have the half: unite by thine art so that all disappear.

Let us, however, add the Jewish half 61.
8 + 80 + 418 = 506. “Cf.” verses 24, 25.
506 + 61 = 567 = 27 x 21 = ?

But writing 506 qabalistically backwards we get
605, and 605 + 61 = 666.

666 = 6 x 111, and 111 = א {Aleph} = 0 in Taro
= 1 + 2 + … + 36, the sum of the numbers in the Magic Square of
Sol.
= the Number of the Beast

Or, taking the keys of 8, 80, 418, we get vii., xvi., vii., adding to 30.
30 + 61 = 91 = אמן {Aleph-Mem-Nun}, Amen.

This may unite Nuit with Amon the negative and concealed. Yet to my mind she is the greater conception, that of which Amoun is but a reflection.

I.48. My prophet is a fool with his one, one, one; are not they the Ox, and none by the Book?

See above for 111. “My prophet is a fool,” “i.e.” my prophet has the highest of all grades, since the Fool is HB:A.

I note later (An V., Sun. in Aquarius) that “v.” 48 means that all disappears when 61 + 8, 80, 418 are reduced to 1. And this may indicate some practical mystic method of annihilation. I am sure (Sun in Libra, An VII.) that this is by no means the perfect solution of these marvellous verses.

I.49. Abrogate are all rituals, all ordeals, all words and signs. Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods; and let Asar be with Isa, who also are one. But they are not of me. Let Asar be the adorant, Isa the sufferer; Hoor in his secret name and splendour is the Lord initiating.

Declares a New System of Magic and initiation. Asar — Isa — is now the Candidate, not the Hierophant. Hoor — see Cap. III. — is the Initiator.

I.50. There is a word to say about the Hierophantic task. Behold! there are three ordeals in one, and it may be given in three ways. The gross must pass through fire; let the fine be tried in intellect, and the lofty chosen ones in the highest. Thus ye have star & star, system & system; let not one know well the other!

Our system of initiation is to be triune.
For the outer, tests of labour, pain, etc.
For the inner, intellectual tests.
For the elect of the A ∴ A ∴, spiritual tests.
Further, the Order is not to hold lodges, but to have a chain-system.

{WEH NOTE: This was written when Crowley had not yet joined O.T.O. and before he chartered O.T.O. lodges}

I.51. There are four gates to one palace; the floor of that palace is of silver and gold; lapis lazuli & jasper are there; and all rare scents; jasmine & rose, and the emblems of death. Let him enter in turn or at once the four gates; let him stand on the floor of the palace. Will he not sink? Amn. Ho! warrior, if thy servant sink? But there are means and means. Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines that foam! Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me.

The candidate will be brought through his ordeals in divers ways.

The Order is to be of freemen and nobles.

I.52. If this be not aright; if ye confound the space-marks, saying: They are one; or saying, They are many; if the ritual be not ever unto me: then expect the direful judgments of Ra Hoor Khuit!

But distinctions must not be made before Nuit, either intellectually, morally, or personally.

Metaphysics, too, is intellectual bondage; avoid it!

Otherwise one falls back to the Law of Hoor from the perfect emancipation of Nuit. This is a great mystery, only to be understood by those who have fully attained Nuit and her secret Initiation.

I.53. This shall regenerate the world, the little world my sister, my heart & my tongue, unto whom I send this kiss. Also, o scribe and prophet, though thou be of the princes, it shall not assuage thee nor absolve thee. But ecstasy be thine and joy of earth: ever To me! To me!

The prophet is retained as the link with the lower.

Again the word “assuage” used in a sense unintelligible to me.

I.54. Change not as much as the style of a letter; for behold! thou, o prophet, shalt not behold all these mysteries hidden therein.

I.55. The child of thy bowels, he shall behold them.

I.56. Expect him not from the East, nor from the West; for from no expected house cometh that child. Aum! All words are sacred and all prophets true; save only that they understand a little; solve the first half of the equation, leave the second unattacked. But thou hast all in the clear light, and some, though not all, in the dark.

(54-55-56.) to the word “child.” A prophecy, not yet (May 1909 O.S.) fulfilled, so far as I know. I take it in its obvious sense.

{WEH NOTE : Fulfilled An. XII, Sun in 0 degrees Cancer.}

(56.) from the word “Aum.”

All religions have some truth.

We possess all intellectual truth, and some, not all, mystic truth.

I.57. Invoke me under my stars! Love is the law, love under will. Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the House of God.

All these old letters of my Book are aright; but צ {Tzaddi} is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise.

Invoke me, — etc. — I take literally. See Liber NV for this ritual.

Love under will — no casual pagan love; nor love under fear, as the Christians do. But love magically directed, and used as a spiritual formula.

The fools (not here implying א {Alef} fools, for III., 57 says, All fools despise) may mistake.

This love, then, should be the serpent love, the awakening of the Kundalini. The further mystery is of פּ {Pe} and unsuited to the grade in which this comment is written.

The last paragraph confirms the Tarot attributions as given in 777. With one secret exception.

I.58. I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.

The Grace of our Lady of the Stars.

I.59. My incense is of resinous woods & gums; and there is no blood therein: because of my hair the trees of Eternity.

“Because,” etc. This mystical phrase doubtless refers to some definite spiritual experience connected with the knowledge of Nuit.

I.60. My number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the circle is Red. My colour is black to the blind, but the blue & gold are seen of the seeing. Also I have asecret glory for them that love me.

Nu = 56 and 5 + 6 = 11.

The Circle in the Pentagram? See Liber NV.

The uninitiated perceive only darkness in Night: the wise perceive the golden stars in the vault of azure.

Concerning that Secret Glory it is not here fitting to discourse.

I.61. But to love me is better than all things: if under the night stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the Serpent flame therein, thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in spendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich headdress. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me!

Practical and literal, yet it may be doubted whether “to lose all in that hour” may not refer to the supreme attainment, and that therefore to give one particle of dust (perhaps the Ego, or the central atom Hadit her complement) is the act to achieve.

I.62. At all my meetings with you shall the priestess say — and her eyes shall burn with desire as she stands bare and rejoicing in my secret temple — To me! To me! calling forth the flame of the hearts of all in her love-chant.

I.63. Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you!

(62-63.) Again practical and literal. Yet the “Secret Temple” refers also to a knowledge incommunicable — save by experience.

I.64. I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky.

The supreme affirmation.

I.65. To me! To me!

The supreme adjuration.

I.66. The Manifestation of Nuit is at an end. 

The end.

[ « back to TOC ]

CHAPTER II

II.1. Nu! the hiding of Hadit.

“Cf.” I. 1. As Had, the root of Hadit, is the manifestation of Nuit, so Nu, the root of Nuit, is the hiding of Hadit.

II.2. Come! all ye, and learn the secret that hath not yet been revealed. I, Hadit, am the complement of Nu, my bride. I am not extended, and Khabs is the name of my House.

Nuit is Infinite Extension; Hadit Infinite Contraction. Khabs is the House of Hadit, even as Nuit is the house of the Khu, and the Khabs is in the Khu (I, 8). These theologies reflect mystic experiences of Infinite Contraction and Expansion, while philosophically they are the two opposing Infinites whose interplay gives Finity.

II.3. In the sphere I am everywhere the centre, as she, the circumference, is nowhere found.

A further development of higher meaning. In phrasing this verse suggests an old mystical definition of God: “He Whose centre is everywhere and Whose circumference nowhere.”

II.4. Yet she shall be known & I never.

The circumference of Nuit touches Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Kether; but her centre Hadit is for ever concealed above Kether. Is not Nu the “Hiding” of Hadit, and Had the “Manifestation” of Nuit? [I later, Sun in Libra, An VII., dislike this note; and refer the student to Liber XI. and Liber DLV.]

II.5. Behold! the rituals of the old time are black. Let the evil ones be cast away; let the good ones be purged by the prophet! Then shall this Knowledge go aright.

A reference to certain magical formulae known to the scribe of this book. The purification of said rituals is in progress at this time, An V.

II.6. I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is theknowledge of me the knowledge of death.

Hadit is the Ego or Atman in everything, but of course a loftier and more secret thing than anything understood by the Hindus. And of course the distinction between Ego and Ego is illusion. Hence Hadit, who is the life of all that is, if known, becomes the death of that individuality.

II.7. I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. "Come unto me" is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

Hadit is both the Maker of Illusion and its destroyer. For though His interplay with Nuit results in the production of the Finite, yet His withdrawing into Himself is the destruction thereof.

“The axle of the wheel,” another way of saying that He is the Core of Things.

“The cube in the Circle.” “Cf.” Liber 418, “The Vision and the Voice,” 30th AEthyr.

“Come unto me” is a foolish word; for it is I that go. That is, Hadit is everywhere; yet, being sought, he flies. The Ego cannot be found, as meditation will show.

II.8. Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me; ill, for I am the worshipper.

He is symbolised by Harpocrates, crowned child upon the lotus, whose shadow is called Silence.

Yet His Silence is the Act of Adoration; not the dumb callousness of heaven toward man, but the supreme ritual, the Silence of the supreme Orgasm, the stilling of all Voices in the perfect rapture.

II.9. Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains.

Hence we pass naturally and easily to the sublime optimism of Verse 9. The lie is given to pessimism, not by sophistry, but by a direct knowledge.

II.10. O prophet! thou hast ill will to learn this writing.

The prophet who wrote this was at this point angrily unwilling to proceed.

II.11. I see thee hate the hand & the pen; but I am stronger.

He was compelled to do so,

II.12. Because of me in Thee which thou knewest not.

For the God was in him, albeit he knew it not.

II.13. for why? Because thou wast the knower, and me.

For so long as any knower remains, there is no thing known. Knowledge is the loss of the Knower in the Known. “And me” (not “and I”), Hadit was the passive, which could not arise because of the existence of the Knower; “and” implying further the duality — which is Ignorance.

II.14. Now let there be a veiling of this shrine: now let the light devour men and eat them up with blindness!

Enough has been said of the Nature of Hadit, now let a riddle of L.V.X. be propounded.

II.15. For I am perfect, being Not; and my number is nine by the fools; but with the just I am eight, and one in eight: Which is vital, for I am none indeed. The Empress and the King are not of me; for there is a further secret.

 I am perfect, being Not (31 לא {HB:LA} or 61 אין‎ {HB:AYN}).

My number is Nine by the fools (IX. the Hermit of Virgo and Mercury).

With the just I am Eight. VIII., Justice Libra Maat ל {Lamed}, and One in Eight, א {Aleph}.

Which is Vital, for I am None indeed, לא {HB:LA}.

The Empress {Daleth} III., the King ה {He} IV., are not of me. III. + IV. = VII.

II.16. I am The Empress & the Hierophant. Thus eleven, as my bride is eleven.

I am the Empress and the Hierophant ו {Vau} III. + V. = VIII., and VIII. is XI., both because of the 11 letters in Abrahadabra ( = 418 = חיטשׁ‎ {HB:ChYTh} = ח {Cheth} = 8), the Key Word of all this ritual, and because VIII. is not Leo, Strength, but Libra, Justice, in the Tarot (see Tarot Lecture and 777).

II.17. Hear me, ye people of sighing!
The sorrows of pain and regret
Are left to the dead and the dying ,
The folk that not know me as yet.

II.18. These are dead, these fellows; they feel not. We are not for the poor and sad: the lords of the earth are our kinsfolk.

II.19. Is a God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of us. They shall rejoice, our chosen: who sorroweth is not of us.

II.20. Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious languor, force and fire, are of us.

II.21. We have nothing with the outcast and the unfit: let them die in their misery. For they feel not. Compassion is the vice of kings: stamp down the wretched & the weak: this is the law of the strong: this is our law and the joy of the world. Think not, o king, upon that lie: That Thou Must Die: verily thou shalt not die, but live. Now let it be understood: If the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain in pure ecstasy for ever. Nuit! Hadit! Ra-Hoor-Khuit! The Sun, Strength & Sight, Light; these are for the servants of the Star & the Snake.

(17-21.) This passage was again very painful to the prophet, who took it in its literal sense.

But “the poor and the outcast” are the petty thoughts and the qliphothic thoughts and the sad thoughts. These must be rooted out, or the ecstasy of Hadit is not in us. They are the weeds in the Garden that starve the Flower.

II.22. I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for this.

Hadit now identifies himself with the Kundalini, the central magical force in man.

This privilege of using wine and strange drugs has been confirmed; the drugs were indeed revealed.

Follows a curse against the cringing altruism of Christianity, the yielding of the self to external impressions, the smothering of the Babe of Bliss beneath the flabby old nurse Convention.

II.23. I am alone: there is no God where I am.

The Atheism of God.

“Allah's the Atheist! he owns

No Allah.” Bagh-i-Muattar.

To admit God is to look up to God, and so not to be God. The curse of duality.

II.24. Behold! these be grave mysteries; for there are also of my friends who be hermits. Now think not to find them in the forest or on the mountain; but in beds of purple, caressed by magnificent beasts of women with large limbs, and fire and light in their eyes, and masses of flaming hair about them; there shall ye find them. Ye shall see them at rule, at victorious armies, at all the joy; and there shall be in them a joy a million times greater than this. Beware lest any force another, King against King! Love one another with burning hearts; on the low men trample in the fierce lust of your pride, in the day of your wrath.

Hermits — see “v.” 15.

Our ascetics enjoy, govern, conquer, love, and are not to quarrel (but see vv. 59, 60 — Even their combats are glorious).

II.25. Ye are against the people, O my chosen!

The cant of democracy condemned. It is useless to pretend that men are equal; the facts are against it. And we are not going to stay, dull and contented as oxen, in the ruck of humanity.

II.26. I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.

The Kundalini again. The mystic Union is to be practised both with Spirit and with Matter.

II.27. There is great danger in me; for who doth not understand these runes shall make a great miss. He shall fall down into the pit called Because, and there he shall perish with the dogs of Reason.

The importance of failing to interpret these verses. Unspirituality leads us to the bird-lime of Intellect. The Hawk must not perch on any earthly bough, but remain poised in the ether.

II.28. Now a curse upon Because and his kin!

II.29. May Because be accursed for ever!

II.30. If Will stops and cries Why, invoking Because, then Will stops & does nought.

II.31. If Power asks why, then is Power weakness.

(28-31.) The great Curse pronounced by the Supernals against the Inferiors who arise against them.

Our reasoning faculties are the toils of the labyrinth within which we are all caught. “Cf.” Liber LXV. V. 59.

II.32. Also reason is a lie; for there is a factor infinite & unknown; & all their words are skew-wise.

We have insufficient data on which to reason.

This passage only applies to “rational” criticism of the Things Beyond.

II.33. Enough of Because! Be he damned for a dog!

We pass from the wandering in the jungle of Reason to

II.34. But ye, o my people, rise up & awake!

The Awakening.

II.35. Let the rituals be rightly performed with joy & beauty!

Let us be practical persons, not babblers of gossip and platitude.

II.36. There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the times.

II.37. A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride!

II.38. A feast for the three days of the writing of the Book of the Law.

II.39. A feast for Tahuti and the child of the Prophet—secret, O Prophet!

II.40. A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast for the Equinox of the Gods.

II.41. A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for life and a greater feast for death!

II.42. A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture!

II.43. A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost delight!

(36-43.) A crescendo of ecstasy in the mere thought of performing these rituals; which are in preparation under the great guidance of V.V.V.V.V.

II.44. Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread hereafter. There is the dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu.

Without fear rejoice; death is only a dissolution, a uniting of Hadit with Nu, the Ego with the All, י with א {Yod with Aleph}. (Note י {Yod} 10 + א {Aleph}. 1 = 11, Abrahadabra, the Word of Uniting the 5 and the 6.)

II.45. There is death for the dogs.

Those without our circle of ecstasy do indeed die. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

II.46. Dost thou fail? Art thou sorry? Is fear in thine heart?

The prophet was again perplexed and troubled; for in his soul was Compassion for all beings.

But though this Compassion is a feeling perhaps admirable and necessary for mortals, yet it pertains to the planes of Illusion.

II.47. Where I am these are not.

Hadit knows nothing of these things; He is pure ecstasy.

II.48. Pity not the fallen! I never knew them. I am not for them. I console not: I hate the consoled & the consoler.

Hadit has never defiled His purity with the Illusions of Sorrow, etc. Even love and pity for the fallen is an identification with it (sympathy, from συν παθειν), and therefore a contamination.

II.49. I am unique & conqueror. I am not of the slaves that perish. Be they damned & dead! Amen. (This is of the 4: there is a fifth who is invisible, & therein am I as a babe in an egg. )

Continues the curse against the slave-soul.

“Amen.” This is of the 4, “i.e.” should be spelt with 4 letters (the elements), אמתשׁ {Aleph-Mem-Taw-Shin} not אמן {Aleph-Mem-nun} [HB:AMThSh not HB:AMN.]. The fifth, who is invisible, is ע {Ayin}, 70, the Eye. Now אמתשׁ {Aleph-Mem-Taw-Shin} [HB:AMThSh] = 741 + 70 = 811 = IAO IN GREEK, and IAO is the Greek form of יהוה {Yod-He-Vau-He} [HB:YHVHH], the synthesis of the 4 elements אמתשׁ {Aleph-Mem-Taw-Shin} [HB:AMThSh].

(This ע {Ayin} is perhaps the O. in N.O.X., Liber VII. I. 40.)

II.50. Blue am I and gold in the light of my bride: but the red gleam is in my eyes; & my spangles are purple & green.

“Cf.” I. 60.

II.51. Purple beyond purple: it is the light higher than eyesight.

Purple — the ultra-violet (“v.” 51), the most positive of the colours.

Green — the most negative of the colours, half-way in the spectrum.

The Magical Image of Hadit is therefore an Eye within a coiled serpent, gleaming red — the spiritual red of HB:Sh and not mere Fire — at the apex of the Triangle in the half circle of Nuit's Body, and shedding spangles as of the spectrum of eight colours, including the ultra-violet but not the ultra-red; and

II.52. There is a veil: that veil is black. It is the veil of the modest woman; it is the veil of sorrow, & the pall of death: this is none of me. Tear down that lying spectre of the centuries: veil not your vices in virtuous words: these vices are my service; ye do well, & I will reward you here and hereafter.

Set above a black Veil.

This verse is very difficult for anyone, either with or without morality. For what men nowadays call “Vice” is really virtue — virtus, manliness — and “Virtue” — cowardice, hypocrisy, prudery, chastity, and so on are really vices — vitia, flaws.

II.53. Fear not, o prophet, when these words are said, thou shalt not be sorry. Thou art emphatically my chosen; and blessed are the eyes that thou shalt look upon with gladness. But I will hide thee in a mask of sorrow: they that see thee shall fear thou art fallen: but I lift thee up.

But the prophet again disliked the writing. The God comforted him.

Also he prophesied of his immediate future, which was fulfilled, and is still being fulfilled at the time (An V., Sun in 20 Degree Cancer) of this writing. Even more marked now (An VII., Sun in Libra), especially these words, “I lift thee up.”

II.54. Nor shall they who cry aloud their folly that thou meanest nought avail; thou shall reveal it: thou availest: they are the slaves of because: They are not of me. The stops as thou wilt; the letters? change them not in style or value!

The triumph over the rationalists predicted.

The punctuation of this book was done after its writing; at the time it was mere hurried scribble from dictation.

See the MS. facsimile.

II.55. Thou shalt obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet; thou shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto.

done. See Liber Trigrammaton, Comment.

II.56. Begone! ye mockers; even though ye laugh in my honour ye shall laugh not long: then when ye are sad know that I have forsaken you.

The God again identifies himself with essential ecstasy. He wants no reverence, but identity.

II.57. He that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is filthy shall be filthy still.

A quotation from the Apocalypse. This God is not a Redeemer: He is Himself. You cannot worship Him, or seek Him—He is He. And if thou be He, well.

II.58. Yea! deem not of change: ye shall be as ye are, & not other. Therefore the kings of the earth shall be Kings for ever: the slaves shall serve. There is none that shall be cast down or lifted up: all is ever as it was. Yet there are masked ones my servants: it may be that yonder beggar is a King. A King may choose his garment as he will: there is no certain test: but a beggar cannot hide his poverty.

Yet it does not follow that He (and His) must appear joyous. They may assume the disguise of sorrow.

II.59. Beware therefore! Love all, lest perchance is a King concealed! Say you so? Fool! If he be a King, thou canst not hurt him.

Yet, being indeed invulnerable, one need not fear for them.

II.60. Therefore strike hard & low, and to hell with them, master!

Hit out indiscriminately therefore. The fittest will survive.

This doctrine is therefore contrary to that of Gallio, or of Buddha.

II.61. There is a light before thine eyes, o prophet, a light undesired, most desirable.

At the ecstasy of this thought the prophet was rapt away by the God. First came a new strange light, His herald.

II.62. I am uplifted in thine heart; and the kisses of the stars rain hard upon thy body.

Next, as Hadit himself, did he know the athletic rapture of Nuit's embrace.

II.63. Thou art exhaust in the voluptuous fullness of the inspiration; the expiration is sweeter than death, more rapid and laughterful than a caress of Hell's own worm.

Each breath, as he drew it in, was an orgasm; each breath, as it went out, was a new dissolution into death.

Note that throughout these books death is always spoken of as a definite experience, a delightful event in one's career.

II.64. Oh! thou art overcome: we are upon thee; our delight is all over thee: hail! hail: prophet of Nu! prophet of Had! prophet of Ra-Hoor-Khu! Now rejoice! now come in our splendour & rapture! Come in our passionate peace, & write sweet words for the Kings.

The prophet is now completely swallowed up in the ecstasy. Then he is hailed by the Gods, and bidden to write on.

II.65. I am the Master: thou art the Holy Chosen One.

II.66. Write, & find ecstasy in writing! Work, & be our bed in working! Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death shall be lovely: whososeeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our age long love. Come! lift up thine heart & rejoice! We are one; we are none.

(65-66.) The division of consciousness having re-arisen, and been asserted the God continues, and prophesies — of that which I cannot comment.

The ecstasy rekindles,

II.67. Hold! Hold! Bear up in thy rapture; fall not in swoon of the excellent kisses!

II.68. Harder! Hold up thyself! Lift thine head! breathe not so deep — die!

(67-68.) So violently that the body of the prophet is nigh death.

(Harden, not Harder, as the MS. indicates. The memory of DCLXVI says, though with diffidence, that the former is correct.)

II.69. Ah! Ah! What do I feel? Is the word exhausted?

The prophet's own consciousness re-awakens. He no longer knows anything at all—then grows the memory of the inspiration past; he asks if it is all.

[It is evidently his own interpolation in the dictation.]

II.70. There is help & hope in other spells. Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture! If thou drink, drink by the eight and ninety rules of art: if thou love, exceed by delicacy; and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety therein!

Also he has the human feeling of failure. It seems that he must fortify his nature in many other ways, in order that he may endure the ecstasy unbearable of mortals.

There is also a charge that other than physical considerations obtain.

II.71. But exceed! exceed!

Yet excess is the secret of success.

II.72. Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine — and doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! — death is the crown of all.

There is no end to the Path — death itself crowns all.

II.73. Ah! Ah! Death! Death! thou shalt long for death. Death is forbidden, o man, unto thee.

II.74. The length of thy longing shall be the strength of its glory. He that lives long & desires death much is ever the King among the Kings.

(73-74.) Yet death is forbidden: work, I suppose, must be done before it is earned; its splendour will increase with the years that it is longed for.

II.75. Aye! listen to the numbers & the words:

II.76. 4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24 89 R P S T O V A L. What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever. There cometh one to follow thee: he shall expound it. But remember, o chose none, to be me; to follow the love of Nu in the star-lit heaven; to look forth upon men, to tell them this glad word.

(75-76.) A final revelation. The revealer to come is perhaps the one mentioned in I. 55 and III. 47. The verse goes on to urge the prophet to identify himself with Hadit, to practise the Union with Nu, and to proclaim this joyful revelation unto men.

II.77. O be thou proud and mighty among men!

II.78. Lift up thyself! for there is none like unto thee among men or among Gods! Lift up thyself, o my prophet, thy stature shall surpass the stars. They shall worship thy name, foursquare, mystic, wonderful, the number of the man; and the name of thy house 418.

(77-78.) Though the prophet had in a way at this time identified himself with the number 666, he considered the magic square drawn therefrom rather silly and artificial, if indeed it had yet been devised, on which point he is uncertain.

The true Square is as follows:

[It follows when it is discovered!]

The House of the Prophet, not named by him, was chosen by him before he attached any meaning to the number 418; nor had he thought of attaching any importance to the name of the House. He supposed this passage to be mystical, or to refer to some future house.

Yet on trial we obtain at once
Boleskine = בּולשׁכּין {Beth-Vau-Lamed-Shin-Kaph-Yod-Nun} [HB:BVLShKY] = 418

II.79. The end of the hiding of Hadit; and blessing & worship to the prophet of the lovely Star!

So mote it be!

[ « back to TOC ]

CHAPTER III

III.1. Abrahadabra; the reward of Ra Hoor Khut.

Abrahadabra — the Reward of Ra-HoorKhuit. We have already seen that Abrahadabra is the glyph of the blending of the 5 and the 6, the Rose and the Cross. So also the Great Work, the equilibration of the 5 and the 6, is shown in this God; fivefold as a Warrior Horus, sixfold as the solar Ra. Khuit is a name of Khem the Ram-Phallus-two-plume god Amon; so that the whole god represents in qabalistic symbolism the Second Triad (“whom all nations of men call the first”).

It is the Red descending Triangle — the sole thing visible. For Hadit and Nuit are far beyond.

Note that Ra-Hoor ראהוור {Resh-Aleph-He-Vau-Vau-Resh} [HB:RAHVVR] = 418.

III.2. There is division hither homeward; there is a word not known. Spelling is defunct; all is not aught. Beware! Hold! Raise the spell of Ra-Hoor-Khuit!

Suggested by a doubt arising in the mind of the prophet as to the unusual spelling. But the “I” makes a difference in the qabalistic interpretation of the name.

III.3. Now let it be first understood that I am a god of War and of Vengeance. I shall deal hardly with them.

— end. This whole books seems intended to be interpreted literally. It was so taken by the scribe at the time.

Yet a mystical meaning is easy to find. Exempli gratia; vv. 4-9.

III.4. Choose ye an island!

An Island = one of the Cakkrams or nerve-centres in the spine.

III.5. Fortify it!

Fortify it! = Concentrate the mind upon it.

III.6. Dung it about with enginery of war!

= Prevent any impressions reaching it.

III.7. I will give you a war-engine.

 = I will describe a new method of meditation by which

III.8. With it ye shall smite the peoples; and none shall stand before you.

Ye shall easily suppress invading thoughts.

III.9. Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them! this is the Law of the Battle of Conquest: thus shall my worship be about my secret house.

May mystically describe this method [“e.g.”, Liber HHH, Section 3].

But the course of history will determine the sense of the passage.

III.10. Get the stélé of revealing itself; set it in thy secret temple — and that temple is already aright disposed — & it shall be your Kiblah for ever. It shall not fade, but miraculous colour shall come back to it day after day. Close it in locked glass for a proof to the world.

The Stéle of Revealing — see illustration.

That temple; it was arranged as an octagon; its length double its breadth; entrances on all four quarters of temple; enormous mirrors covering six of the eight walls (there were no mirrors in the East and West or in the western halves of the South and North sides).

There were an altar and two obelisks in the temple; a lamp above the altar; and other furniture.

Kiblah — any point to which one turns to pray, as Mecca is the Kiblah of the Mahometan.

“It shall not fade,” etc. It has not hitherto been practicable to carry out this command.

III.11. This shall be your only proof. I forbid argument. Conquer! That is enough. I will make easy to you the abstruction from the ill-ordered house in the Victorious City. Thou shalt thyself convey it with worship, o prophet, though thou likest it not. Thou shalt have danger & trouble. Ra-Hoor-Khu is with thee. Worship me with fire & blood; worship me with swords & with spears. Let the woman be girt with a sword before me: let blood flow to my name. Trample down the Heathen; be upon them, o warrior, I will give you of their flesh to eat!

“Abstruction.” It was thought that this meant to combine abstraction and construction, “i.e.”, the preparation of a replica, which was done.

Of course the original is in “locked glass.”

III.12. Sacrifice cattle, little and big: after a child.

III.13. But not now.

III.14. Ye shall see that hour, o blessèd Beast, and thou the Scarlet Concubine of his desire!

III.15. Ye shall be sad thereof.

(12-15.) This, ill-understood at the time, is now too terribly clear. The 15th verse, apparently an impossible sequel, has justified itself.

III.16. Deem not too eagerly to catch the promises; fear not to undergo the curses. Ye, even ye, know not this meaning all.

Courage and modesty of thought are necessary to the study of this book. Alas! we know so very little of the meaning.

III.17. Fear not at all; fear neither men nor Fates, nor gods, nor anything. Money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any other power in heaven or upon the earth or under the earth. Nu is your refuge as Hadit your light; and I am the strength, force, vigour, of your arms.

The infinite unity is our refuge, since if our consciousness be in that unity, we shall care nothing for the friction of its component parts. And our light is the inmost point of illuminated consciousness.

And the great Red Triangle is as a shield, and its rays are far-darting arrows!

III.18. Mercy let be off: damn them who pity! Kill and torture; spare not; be upon them!

An end to the humanitarian mawkishness which is destroying the human race by the deliberate artificial protection of the unfit.

III.19. That stélé they shall call the Abomination of Desolation; count well its name, & it shall be to you as 718.

718 is υπομονη {upomone}, the abstract noun equivalent to Perdurabo. (Sun in 3 Degree Cancer, An. VII.)

III.20. Why? Because of the fall of Because, that he is not there again.

In answer to some mental “Why” of the prophet the God gives this sneering answer. Yet perhaps therein is contained some key to enable me one day to unlock the secret of verse 19, at present (Sun in 20 Degree Virgo, An. V.) obscure. [Now (Sun in Libra, An VII.) clear.]

III.21. Set up my image in the East: thou shalt buy thee an image which I will show thee, especial, not unlike the one thou knowest. And it shall be suddenly easy for thee to do this.

This was remarkably fulfilled.

22. The other images group around me to support me: let all be worshipped, for they shall cluster to exalt me. I am the visible object of worship; the others are secret; for the Beast & his Bride are they: and for the winners of the Ordeal x. What is this? Thou shalt know.

This first charge was accomplished; but nothing resulted of a sufficiently striking nature to record.

The Ordeal “X” will be dealt with in private.

III.23. For perfume mix meal & honey & thick leavings of red wine: then oil of Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward soften & smooth down with rich fresh blood.

III.24. The best blood is of the moon, monthly: then the fresh blood of a child, or dropping from the host of heaven: then of enemies; then of the priest or of the worshippers: last of some beast, no matter what.

III.25. This burn: of this make cakes & eat unto me. This hath also another use; let it be laid before me, and kept thick with perfumes of your orison: it shall become full of beetles as it were and creeping things sacred unto me.

(23-25.) This incense was made; and the prediction most marvellously fulfilled.

III.26. These slay, naming your enemies; & they shall fall before you.

(26-29.) These experiments, however, were not made.

III.27. Also these shall breed lust & power of lust in you at the eating thereof.

(26-29.) These experiments, however, were not made.

III.28. Also ye shall be strong in war.

(26-29.) These experiments, however, were not made.

III.29. Moreover, be they long kept, it is better; for they swell with my force. All before me.

(26-29.) These experiments, however, were not made.

III.30. My altar is of open brass work: burn thereon in silver or gold!

Not yet accomplished (Sun in 20 Degree Virgo, An V.)

III.31. There cometh a rich man from the West who shall pour his gold upon thee.

Not yet accomplished (Sun in 20 Degree Virgo, An V.)

III.32. From gold forge steel!

III.33. Be ready to fly or to smite!

(32-33.) Certainly, when the time comes.

III.34. But your holy place shall be untouched throughout the centuries: though with fire and sword it be burnt down & shattered, yet an invisible house there standeth, and shall stand until the fall of the Great Equinox; when Hrumachis shall arise and the double-wanded one assume my throne and place. Another prophet shall arise, and bring fresh fever from the skies; another woman shall awake the lust & worship of the Snake; another soul of God and beast shall mingle in the globèd priest; another sacrifice shall stain the tomb; another king shall reign; and blessing no longer be poured To the Hawk-headed mystical Lord!

This prophecy, relating to centuries to come, does not concern the present writer at the moment.

Yet he must expound it.

The Hierarchy of the Egyptians gives us this genealogy: Isis, Osiris, Horus.

Now the “pagan” period is that of Isis; a pastoral, natural period of simple magic. Next with Buddha, Christ, and others there came in the Equinox of Osiris; when sorrow and death are the principal objects of man's thought, and his magical formula is that of sacrifice.

Now, with Mohammed perhaps as its forerunner, comes in the Equinox of Horus, the young child who rises strong and conquering (with his twin Harpocrates) to avenge Osiris, and bring on the age of strength and splendour.

His formula is not yet fully understood.

Following him will arise the Equinox of Ma, the Goddess of Justice, it may be a hundred or ten thousand years from now; for the Computation of Time is not here as There.

III.35. The half of the word of Heru-ra-ha, called Hoor-pa-kraat and Ra-Hoor-Khut.

Note Heru-ra-ha = 418.

III.36. Then said the prophet unto the God:

III.37. I adore thee in the song —

I am the Lord of Thebes, and I
The inspired forth-speaker of Mentu;
For me unveils the veilèd sky,
The self-slain Ankh-af-na-khonsu
Whose words are truth. I invoke, I greet
Thy presence, O Ra-Hoor-Khuit!

Unity uttermost showed!
I adore the might of Thy breath,
Supreme and terrible God,
Who makest the gods and death
To tremble before Thee: —
I, I adore thee!

Appear on the throne of Ra!
Open the ways of the Khu!
Lighten the ways of the Ka!
The ways of the Khabs run through
To stir me or still me!
Aum! let it fill me!

III.38. So that thy light is in me; & its red flame is as a sword in my hand to push thy order. There is a secret door that I shall make to establish thy way in all the quarters, (these are the adorations, as thou hast written), as it is said:

The light is mine; its rays consume
Me: I have made a secret door
Into the House of Ra and Tum,
Of Khephra and of Ahathoor.
I am thy Theban, O Mentu,
The prophet Ankh-af-na-khonsu!

By Bes-na-Maut my breast I beat;
By wise Ta-Nech I weave my spell.
Show thy star-splendour, O Nuit!
Bid me within thine House to dwell,
O wingèd snake of light, Hadit!
Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!

(36-38.) Mostly translations from the Stele.

III.39. All this and a book to say how thou didst come hither and a reproduction of this ink and paper for ever—for in it is the word secret & not only in the English—and thy comment upon this the Book of the Law shall be printed beautifully in red ink and black upon beautiful paper made by hand; and to each man and woman that thou meetest, were it but to dine or to drink at them, it is the Law to give. Then they shall chance to abide in this bliss or no; it is no odds. Do this quickly!

This is being done; but quickly? No. I have slaved at the riddles in this book for nigh on seven years; and all is not yet clear (Sun in Virgo 20 Degree, An. V.). Nor yet (Sun in Libra, An VII.).

III.40. But the work of the comment? That is easy; and Hadit burning in thy heart shall make swift and secure thy pen.

I do not think it easy. Though the pen has been swift enough, once it was taken in hand. May it be that Hadit hath indeed made it secure!

[I am still (Autumn 1911 - An VII., Sun in Libra), entirely dissatisfied.]

III.41. Establish at thy Kaaba a clerk-house: all must be done well and with business way.

This shall be done as soon as possible.

III.42. The ordeals thou shalt oversee thyself, save only the blind ones. Refuse none, but thou shalt know & destroy the traitors. I am Ra-Hoor-Khuit; and I am powerful to protect my servant. Success is thy proof: argue not; convert not; talk not over much! Them that seek to entrap thee, to overthrow thee, them attack without pity or quarter; & destroy them utterly. Swift as a trodden serpent turn and strike! Be thou yet deadlier than he! Drag down their souls to awful torment: laugh at their fear: spit upon them!

This shall be attended to.

III.43. Let the Scarlet Woman beware! If pity and compassion and tenderness visit her heart; if she leave my work to toy with old sweetnesses; then shall my vengeance be known. I will slay me her child: I will alienate her heart: I will cast her out from men: as a shrinking and despised harlot shall she crawl through dusk wet streets, and die cold and an-hungered.

III.44. But let her raise herself in pride! Let her follow me in my way! Let her work the work of wickedness! Let her kill her heart! Let her be loud and adulterous! Let her be covered with jewels, and rich garments, and let her be shameless before all men!

III.45. Then will I lift her to pinnacles of power: then will I breed from her a child mightier than all the kings of the earth. I will fill her with joy: with my force shall she see & strike at the worship of Nu: she shall achieve Hadit.

(43-45.) The two latter verses have become useless, so far as regards the person first indicated to fill the office of “Scarlet Woman.” In her case the prophecy of v. 43 has been most terribly fulfilled, to the letter; except the last paragraph. Perhaps before the publication of this comment the final catastrophe will have occurred (Sun in 20 Degree Virgo, An V.). It or an even more terrible equivalent is now in progress (Sun in Libra, An VII.).

[“P.S.” — I sealed up the MSS. of this comment and posted it to the printer on my way to the Golf Club at Hoylake. On my arrival at the Club, I found a letter awaiting me which stated that the catastrophe had occurred.]

Let the next upon whom the cloak may fall beware!

III.46. I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before me, & are abased. I will bring you to victory & joy: I will be at your arms in battle & ye shall delight to slay. Success is your proof; courage is your armour; go on, go on, in my strength; & ye shall turn not back for any!

I do not understand the first paragraph.

III.47. This book shall be translated into all tongues: but always with the original in the writing of the Beast; for in the chance shape of the letters and their position to one another: in these are mysteries that no Beast shall divine. Let him not seek to try: but one cometh after him, whence I say not, who shall discover the Key of it all. Then this line drawn is a key: then this circle squared in its failure is a key also. And Abrahadabra. It shall be his child & that strangely. Let him not seek after this; for thereby alone can he fall from it.

These mysteries are inscrutable to me, as stated in the text. Later (Sun in Capricorn, An V.) I note that the letters of the Book are the letters of the Book of Enoch; and are stars, or totems of stars. (See 15th Aire in Liber 418.) So that he that shall divine it shall be a Magus, 9° = 2□.

III.48. Now this mystery of the letters is done, and I want to go on to the holier place.

III.49. I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all gods of men.

III.50. Curse them! Curse them! Curse them!

III.51. With my Hawk’s head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross.

III.52. I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed & blind him.

III.53. With my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and the Buddhist, Mongol and Din.

III.54. Bahlasti! Ompehda! I spit on your crapulous creeds.

III.55. Let Mary inviolate be torn upon wheels: for her sake let all chaste women be utterly despised among you!

III.56. Also for beauty’s sake and love’s!

III.57. Despise also all cowards; professional soldiers who dare not fight, but play; all fools despise!

III.58. But the keen and the proud, the royal and the lofty; ye are brothers!

III.59. As brothers fight ye!

III.60. There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.

III.61. There is an end of the word of the God enthroned in Ra’s seat, lightening the girders of the soul.

III.62. To Me do ye reverence! to me come ye through tribulation of ordeal, which is bliss.

(48-62.) Appears to be a plain instruction in theology and ethics. I do not understand “Din.” Bahlasti = 358, and Ompehda perhaps 210.

III.63. The fool readeth this Book of the Law, and its comment; & he understandeth it not.

A fact.

III.64. Let him come through the first ordeal, & it will be to him as silver.

III.65. Through the second, gold.

III.66. Through the third, stones of precious water.

III.67. Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of the intimate fire.

(64-67.) This too shall be proven to him who will and can.

III.68. Yet to all it shall seem beautiful. Its enemies who say not so, are mere liars.

A fact.

III.69. There is success.

I take this as a promise that the Law shall duly be established.

III.70. I am the Hawk-Headed Lord of Silence & of Strength; my nemyss shrouds the night-blue sky.

III.71. Hail! ye twin warriors about the pillars of the world! for your time is nigh at hand.

III.72. I am the Lord of the Double Wand of Power; the wand of the Force of Coph Nia — but my left hand is empty, for I have crushed an Universe; & nought remains.

(70-72.) A final pronouncement of His attributes. I do not know the exact meaning of v. 71. [Later, Sun in Libra, An VII. Yes: I do.]

Coph Nia. I cannot trace this anywhere; but KOPhNIA adds to 231. Nia is Ain backwards; Coph suggests Qoph. All very unsatisfactory.

III.73. Paste the sheets from right to left and from top to bottom: then behold!

Done. See illustration. (See Comment on III. 47.)

III.74. There is a splendour in my name hidden and glorious, as the sun of midnight is ever the son.

Perhaps refers to the addition of the name to 418. But Khephra is the “Sun” at midnight in the North. Now in the North is Taurus, the Bull, Apis the Redeemer, the “Son.”

III.75. The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra.

The ending of the words is the ending of the Work — Abrahadabra The Book is written, as we see; and concealed — from our weak understanding.

Aum-Ha, עם [HB: AUM] = 111, הא [HB:HA] = 6, 111 x 6 = 666, the Seal of the Beast. Note well that עם {Ayin-Mem} [HB: AUM] with a ם {Mem} final adds to 671, Throa, the Gate, Adonai spelt in full, etc. etc. Using the Keys of Aum Ha, we get XII. + XV. + 0, and IV. + 0, their sum, 31 = לא [HB:LA], Not.

The Book of the Law is Written 
and Concealed. 
Aum. Ha.

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