EDITOR'S NOTE
About the Manuscript
The technical title of the book is Liber AL vel Legis, sub figura CCXX, as delivered by XCIII=418 to DCLXVI, although this title never occurs in the Book itself, which refers to itself as "the Book of the Law" and "the threefold Book of Law" (chapters 1:35, 3:75).
The full technical title of the manuscript is: "AL (Liber Legis), The Book of the Law, sub figura XXXI, as delivered by 93 – עיוז – ΑΙϜΑΣΣ – 418 to תריון – ΤΟ ΜΕΓΑ ΘΗΡΙΟΝ 666".
CCXX is 220 in Roman figures, representing The Tree of Life (10 numbers times 22 paths), and is the number of verses of the Book in typescript. XCIII is 93, the enumeration of both "The word of the law" Thelema and Aiwass. DCLXVI is 666, the number of Crowley as the "Great Beast" both as Adept and Magus. This is a way of saying that the book was delivered by Aiwass (whose number is both 93 and 418) to Crowley, who is The Beast 666.
The facsimile manuscript of the Book is not, however, numbered 220, but XXXI (31) as the first chapter's verses are unnumbered in the original manuscript: that is, no verse numbers were dictated to Crowley for chapter one. Both editions were titled by Crowley AL, pronounced "El", value 31, so therefore Liber 31 is the manuscript of The Book of the Law called AL (not be confused with Liber 31 by C. S. Jones (Frater Achad), which is an exegesis of some of the qabalistic symbolism of the Book), whereas Liber 220 is the edited (strictly according to the editing instructions dictated as part of the text of the Book itself), printed form of the text: see The Equinox of The Gods for a full account by Crowley of the reception and publishing of the Book according to these internal instructions.
The original title of the book was Liber L vel Legis. Crowley retitled it Liber AL vel Legis in 1921, when he also gave the handwritten manuscript its own title, Liber XXXI.1
The original manuscript of The Book of the Law was sent on Crowley's death to Karl Germer, the executor of his will and head of the A∴A∴. On Germer's death no trace of it could be found in his papers. There matters rested until 1984, when Tom Whitmore, the new owner of a house in Berkeley, California, began searching through the junk left in the basement by the previous owner. Among the used mattresses, lumber, and outdated high school textbooks were two boxes of assorted papers and newspaper clippings dealing with Germer's affairs, the charter of the O.T.O. and an envelope containing the manuscript of The Book of the Law. Whitmore donated the papers to the O.T.O. How they found their way to a Berkeley basement remains a complete mystery.2
About the Title Page
This is a transcript of the original handwritten cover of Liber AL:
Liber
L.
vel
Legis,
given from the mouth of Aiwass to the ear of
The Beast
on April 8, 9, & 10, 1904.
( which came into my possession in July 1906 )
{encircled}: ie I meant I could be its master from that date... on c. Oct '09
[This MS {manuscript} is a highly interesting example of genuine automatic writing. Though I am in no way responsible for any of these comments - except the translations of the stele inscription - I publish them among my works because their intelligent study may be interesting and helpful ]. A.C.
The upper left portion of of the title page for Liber L contains an insignia crown and Arabic writing, and next to this appears an inverted summation, seemingly of gematria: 40 + 400 + 10 + 60 + 80 + 400 + 3 + 9 + 4 + 20 = 1026 ; scrawls of body-positions for '9', 'N' ("=N"), and "Buddha pu(?) = o", also seem to be additions, upper right.]
The text was originally titled 'Liber L' because this is how Rose Crowley initially interpreted the sound when she heard it.
As later confirmed by Gematria, the title was altered to Liber AL. ( al = 31, aleph=1 + lamed=30 )
It is not often mentioned that the dictation of parts of the manuscript was due the clair-audience of Therion's wife (Rose Edith Kelly Crowley) aka "Ouarda the Seer". Although accounts of the Book's reception vary, it seems that Rose was also able to hear the voice of Aiwass. [See the Commentary on chapter III v. 72 (Page 64) on the force of Coph Nia, a term that appears in the original m.s. in Rose's hand, since apparently A.C. was initially unable to hear it.]
Also note that,
Rose Kelly (maiden name) RK, resh = 200+kaph = 20 = 220
CCXX = 220
Liber AL vel Legis = Liber CCXX
Rose Edith Kelly = R.E.K. transliterated in hebrew = R.H.K.
(With thanks to Elsie Gray Parker)
"Now who, it may be asked, was Aiwass?
It is the name given by W. [Ouarda, Rose Edith Kelly Crowley] to P. [Perderabo, Aleister Crowley] as that of her Informant."3
Some thelemic researcher noted that this particular 'Title Page' is the 'Title Page' of the folder which was to be used for the Appendix that would have been in the Third Volume of "The Collected Works" and not the 'Title Page' of the original MSS. This page in particular has been frequently misinterpreted as the title page even in as authoritative a location as "Magick: Liber ABA". The original 'Title Page' of Liber AL is at the University of Texas in Austin. The wording which is transcribed is the same as the introductory remarks for the Appendix.
To make it clear: In the last volume of Crowley "The Collected Works" was going to be an Appendix. This was to include Liber AL (or as it was then called "Liber L") and a few other documents. It made it all they way into the galley proof stage. The image above is of the folder that contains the galley proofs of the Appendix that would have been in Volume 3 of the "The Collected Works". It was wrongfully stated as being the cover sheet to the original MSS of Liber AL in "Magick: Liber ABA" on page xi of the editors introduction.4
Changes to the manuscript
The final version of Liber Legis includes text that did not appear in the original writing, including many small changes to spelling. In several cases, stanzas from the Stele of Revealing were inserted within the text.
For example, Chapter 1, Page 2 (vv. 10 - 15), Line 9 was written as "V.1. of Spell called the Song" and was replaced with:
Above, the gemmèd azure is
The naked splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
The wingèd globe, the starry blue,
Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!
On Page 6 (v. 27) of Chapter 1, the following is in the original manuscript:
And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the unfragmentary non-atomic fact of my universality. along with a note: Write this in whiter words But go forth on.
This was later changed to:
And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body. (AL I:26)5
Again in chapter 1, on Page 19 (vv. 60 - 61), Crowley writes, (Lost 1 phrase) The shape of my star is—.
Later, it was Rose who filled in the lost phrase:
The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the circle is Red. (AL I:60)
Chapter 2 has very few changes or corrections.
Chapter 3 has a few spelling changes, and includes large chunks inserted from Crowley's paraphrase of The Stele of Revealing.
The phrase "Force of Coph Nia"6, which is found in Chapter 3, on Page 64 (vv. 68 - 72) (verse 72), was filled in by Rose Kelly because that place in the manuscript had been left incomplete as not having been properly heard by Crowley during the supposed dictation.7
Israel Regardie proposed that Coph Nia could have been intended to represent Ain Soph, the Kabbalistic phrase for "Infinity", and that Rose might not have known that Hebrew letters are written from right to left or their meaning.8
Footnotes:
[1] Hymenaeus Beta in Crowley, Aleister, Magick: Liber ABA, p. 753, n. 3
[2] John Michael Greer. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. St Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2003, pp. 70-71.
[3] Equinox no.1 volume 7 p.384
[4] See: Galleys of the Collected Works (1907). It is possible to download the Liber L Galleys (Appendix of the Collected Works) from Lasthal.com. In keeping with the title, this free download is of a highly significant piece by Aleister Crowley, often spoken of but rarely seen. The PDF file comprises the September 1907 galley proofs of an intended Appendix to the Collected Works, prepared but subsequently discarded by Aleister Crowley. The Appendix was going to reproduce Liber L (The Book Of The Law) together with supporting material. It is a curious document that raises as many questions as it answers! The document is reproduced here with full permission of the copyright holder.
[5] In his Commentaries, Crowley writes: "This phrase was totally beyond the comprehension of the scribe, and he said mentally — with characteristic self-conceit — 'People will never be able to understand this.' Aiwass then replied, 'Write this in whiter words. But go forth on.' He was willing that the phrase should be replaced by an equivalent, but did not wish the dictation to be interrupted by a discussion at the moment. It was therefore altered (a little later) to 'the omnipresence of my body.' It is extremely interesting to note that in the light of the cosmic theory explained in the notes to verse 3 and 4, the original phrase of Aiwass was exquisitely and exactly appropriate to his meaning."
[6] "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." [Liber AL III.72]
"COPH NIA" [interpretation by Frater A.S & Frater D.M.T]
Coph -> Chet+Peh+Heh => 93 HADIT / Will (Who does)
Nia -> Nun+Yod+Aleph => 61 NUIT (Nothing)
93+61 = 154 = 2x7x11 => The Force
With The Wand:
154+2 (Beth & The Magus of power of the Tarot or The Caduceus)
=
156 BABALON, The Mount of Abiegnus, The Holy Mountain of Initiation
It's Nature:
Chet - Cancer
Peh - Mars
Heh - Aquarius
Nun - Scorpio
Yod - Virgo
Aleph - Air
Beth - Mercury
[7] Crowley, Aleister (1996). The Law is for All. Thelema Media. ISBN 0-9726583-8-6.
[8] Regardie, Israel (1982). "Chapter 15. The Book of the Law". The Eye in the Triangle: an Interpretation of Aleister Crowley. New Falcon Publications. pp. 473–494.
