ANOTHER SECRET INSTRUCTION OF THE IX° O.T.O.
BAPHOMET X° O.T.O.
CAPITULUM PRIMUM
1. The homunculus is a living being in form resembling man, and possessing those qualities of man which distinguish him from beasts, namely intellect and power of speech, but neither begotten and born after the manner of human generation, nor inhabited by a human soul.2
2. Thus, supposing that the re-incarnating Ego enters the foetus at the third month of gestation,3 it would not serve to remove such foetus from the mother, and cause it to live; for it is already human. But a foetus of two months might become homunculus.
3. A human being can only become homunculus if obsessed by a demon to such an extent that the human soul is irrevocably expelled to the same degree as in death, and freed utterly so that it seeks a new tenement, and is cut off absolutely from the old. But even this, rare as it must be except in lunacy, involves an extension of the natural meaning of the term homunculus.4
4. In the third chapter we discuss Our method of producing that which, if not a true homunculus, at least serves all proper purposes thereunto pertinent.
CAPITULUM SECUNDUM
1. The classical method of making the homunculus is to take the fertilized ova of a woman and to reproduce as closely as may be, without the uterus, the normal conditions of gestation therein.5
2. For: in the case of ectopic6 gestation, it is clearly possible for the ovum to develop for a considerable period; and a child of 4 1/2 months weighting nine ounces, has been known to live for over an hour after delivery. These conditions encourage us. Life is indefinitely adaptable, and life originally appeared in a planet bacteriologically sterilized by temperatures of many thousands of degrees Centigrade. There is therefore every reason to hope tha, starting as we do with the proper First Matter, we may be able to devise conditions of its growth in a `culture', just as we have done in the case of the simpler organisms.7 As it is written, `With God all things are possible'; and is not our Motto `Deus est Homo'?
3. The White Tincture of the Alchemists was in this connection a replica of the Liqor Amnii,8 and their Red Tincture a substitute for Blood.
4. Certain truly magical aids to the physiological experiments indicated above have always been held worthy. The Adept must, however, be left to devise these, as in so small a treatise we have no place for a subject so starry vast as this.9
CAPITULUM TERTIUM
1. We assume that Our Brethren have well studied Our Epistle De Arte Magica Secundum Ritum Gradus Nonae O.T.O. k.t.l.
2. Before introducing our own method of making the homunculus, let us refer to (A) the theory of Incarnation and (B) the method of Evocation invented by us in An VI Sol in Aries (April 1910 E.V.)
A
For about three months the foetus is empty of any soul. It then attracts an Ego of such a nature as (a) its own Karma i.e. naturae and tendency, and (b) the Karma of the Ego, combine to make viable. If a suitable combination is not found, the result is either miscarriage, still-birth or the birth of an idiot.10
In the last case the foetus has been obsessed by some dumb non-human spirit, or by some human spirit of exceptional Karma. By Karma We mean always nature and tendency, and no more, although we use these words in a large sense to include all causes moral as well as physical. But We include not any conceptions of `Justice' and the like in these.
If this be accepted, then clearly it is possible that a magician might find means (a) to bar the gate against any Human Ego, and (b) to cause the Incarnation of some non-human being, such as an elemental or planetary spirit, of a nature fitted to some desired end.11 Thus one eloquent, from an incarnation of Tiriel, or one bold in war, from the indwelling of Graphiel.
And these will be his chief difficulties (a) that Man (even when discarnate) is so spiritually powerful, that to bar him from his urgent need is a task of colossal awe;12 and (b) it is necessary to choose a spirit suitable to the foetus. Thus if the babe that is to be were by reason of physical heredity sluggish, melancholy and weak, it would be but nugatory to invoke into it a spirit of Nakhiel or Raphael or Haniel or Anael.13
B
The human soul is all but inexpugnable; yet We have succeeded in the temporary expulsion of a weak and wandering soul, and its replacement. For example, We once supplanted the soul of a Caliban-creature,14 a certain deformed and filthy abortion without moral character, named Victor Neuburg,15 by a soul of Isis, by a soul of Mars and by a soul of Jupiter in turn, so that this quasi-human shape, not being a poet, did yet write verses goodly and great in praise of Isis; and not being a prophet, did yet foretell most accurately the wars which even now devastate the earth; and not being generous or wealthy did yet for a season support many dependants on his bounty.16
And this we did with no elaboration of thought, no Persian apparatus, no weariness or trouble at all.
Now then do We mark down the Means devised by Us Baphomet for the making of the homunculus.
I.
Take a suitable woman willing to aid thee in this Work.17 Explain to her fully the precautions to be taken and the manner of life necessary. Let her horoscope be, if possible, suited to the nature of the homunculus proposed; as, to have an incarnate Spirit of Benevolence let Jupiter be rising in Pisces with good aspects of Sol, Venus and Luna; and with no notable contrary dispositions; or so far as may be possible.
II.
Take now a man suitable; if convenient, thyself or some other Brother Initiate of the Gnosis; and so far as may be, let his horoscope also harmonize with the nature of the work.
III.
Let the man and woman copulate continuously (but especially at times astrologically favourable to thy working) and that in a ceremonial manner in a prepared temple, whose particular arrangement and decoration is also suitable to thy work. And let them will ardently and constantly the success of thy work denying all other desires. Thus proceed until impregnation results.
IV.
Now let the woman be withdrawn and carried away to a place prepared.
And this place should be a great desert; for in such do rarely wander any human souls seeking incarnation.
Futher let a great circle be drawn and consecrated to the sphere of the work; and let banishing formulae of the Sephiroth, and especially of Kether,18 be done often, even unto five or seven times on every day. Outside which great circle let the woman never go. Let the mind of the woman be strengthened to resist all impression, except of the spirit desired. Let the incense of this spirit be burnt continually; let his colours, and his only be displayed; and let his shapes, and his only, appear so far as may be in all things.
Further let him be most earnestly and continually invoked in a temple duly dedicated, the woman being placed in a great triangle, while thou from the circle dost perform daily the proper form of Evocation to Material Appearnace. And let this be done twice every day, once while she is awake and once while she is asleep.
V.
And let the quickening be a feast of the Reception of the Spirit. Henceforth ye may omit the Banishings.19
VI.
And during the rest of the Pregnancy let there be the Charge to the Spirit (so that the whole period of all this work is as it were an expansion in terms of life of the Art-formula of Evocation) in this manner.
Let the woman be constantly educated by words and by books and by pictures of a nature consonant, so that all causes may work together for the defence and sustenance of the Spirit, and for its true development.20
VII.
And let the delivery of the woman be retarded or advanced so far as possible to secure a rising sign proper to such a child.21
Notes:
[1] Liber D gives the following information of 367 π: אישון {He: A.I.Sh.V.N.} = Black [scil. of eye-pupil]: middle; homunculus. [a Hebrew-English dictionary only gave pupil and bull's eye. The expression AIShVN LILH means "dead of night". No reference to homunculo or golem] also פּאיכורן {He: P.A.I.K.V.R.N.} = Day Demon of 3rd Deacon of Gemini. See Gershem Scholem's Kabbalah for traditional Jewish tales relating to the Golem.
[2] An important, if not polemic doctrine is contained here: there are such things as souls, separate from physical bodies. And, there are souls which are typical of humans and those which are of other entities of both higher and lower natures than humans.
[3] This secret is contained in the I° initiation. Second Point: "O thou! Lady of the East! I hereby invoke upon this Candidate the Powers of Birth. May he be brought safely from Darkness into Light. AUMN! Send the Candidate on his travels with the Moon. (3 circles around the Well [womb] with the heart beat of the mother symbolized by the tom-tom.) This is the Pathway to the Knowledge of Thyself. Be true toward thyself. (3 more circles) This is the Pathway to the Perfection of Thyself. Conquer thyself. (3 more circles) This is the Pathway to the Truth. Seek Beauty. In Beauty is eternal Truth revealed." The candidate has completed the nine months and is then immersed in the well. The incarnation takes place after the first pause after 3 circles.
[4] This process was a great fear of H. P. Lovecraft's, most notably in his tale "The Thing on the Doorstep.”
[5] At the time of writing, it is apparent that the only method for accomplishing this would be through the use of the ova ejected in menstruation. Certainly Mr. Crowley did not have access to the sophisticated tools necessary to extract an embryo from the womb.
[6] A medical term for "out of place."
[7] Although test tube babies are a reality today, there has not yet been a case of a human being raised totally in vitro. Yet, this is less a fault of science than a drawback of Judeo-Christian ethics, which sees the embryo as the sacred vehicle of a God-given soul. Galileo never faced such a tough inquisition as the one which prevents real scientific investigation into the mysteries of life. Certainly many of these experimental foetuses would die in the name of science, but the knowledge and power to be gained from the operation would vastly outweigh the moral drawbacks. If, however, Crowley is correct in saying that the foetus is not human until three months of gestation, then there should be no moral pangs whatsoever. The only laboratories for this operation can be in the enclaves of the very rich, who can afford to equip their facilities with the latest machines, scientists and physicians, not to mention "alchemists". Assuming that the operation is possible, we may have the answer to the problem of undesirable manual labor. A homunculus, fitted with the soul of an inferior "elemental" would be especially suited to menial work. Perhaps the field of cloning represents the new direction of alchemy. Whatever is the case, the equipment for the 21st Century alchemist is drastically more complex and expensive than that of Paracelsus. Only a mindless idiot would hold forth the processes of the ancients as superior to these works. Fear of the future has stopped the vitality of Christianity. Let us as Thelemites move forward where they have halted.
[8] Amniotic fluid.
[9] The reader is instructed to study Moonchild very closely, for it is a literary and technical expose of the ideas presented throughout this document. It is indispensable reading.
[10] Nobody is quite certain which of these three is an accurate description of Dan Quayle or if he may be an example of some, hitherto undisclosed accident of alchemy or toxic waste.
[11] This is the theme of Moonchild, and it represents another magical process of which Lovecraft was exceptionally terrified. In his works, humans mate with frog-like demigods, or the formless beast Yog-Sothoth. Anyway, the practices presented in De Nuptiis Secretis Deorum cum Hominibus probably have a two-fold purpose: (a) to prepare the magician for the marriage with the Holy Guardian Angel, and (b) to educate the magician in the nature of these beings so that this operation might be successfully carried out. Recall that the elementals are of a lower nature and suited to the Adept, while the planetary spirits are more difficult and suited to the Magister Templi. The serious student should examine Liber LXV and Liber VII with this idea in mind.
[12] There is no god but man. Every man and every woman is a star.
[13] There is also an implication that such beings as these would indeed be willing to take up abode in human bodies. This bespeaks a central doctrine of Dark Gnosticism (term coined by myself), that this imperfect earth is a delight for those fatigued by perfection. The human soul is already perfect--we seek incarnation as an adventure
[14] Caliban -- metathysis of cannibal. The deformed, animal-like slave of Prosero in Shakespeare's Tempest.
[15] At the writing, Crowley and Neuberg were still active partners, so it would seem that Neuburg was at least an unwitting victim of his master's humor. He participated in many of Crowley's workings, including the Paris Working and the Rites of Eleusis.
[16]
As can be seen, the rite described in Grimorium Sanctissimum, practiced for the Paris Working, and detailed throughout Agape is in reality what Crowley intends by the operation of the Homunculo. The semen of the magician is used as a vehicle of magical possession. By ejaculating the magically charged semen into the seer, the result is a species of possession as the seer becomes a "homunculus" in that his/her own soul is dislodged temporarily for the purpose of an oracle.
[17]
It may also be a man. In any case, a woman will have to devise a rather complex method of fathering a homunculus upon a man or even another woman. Complex? yes, impossible? no.
[18]
This is probably to prevent the incarnation of a God (human).
[19]
These might actually evacuate the incarnated spirit.
[20] Even given the ontological non-existence of spirits, the operation carried to these extremes will certainly program the parents in their reception and attitude towards the child. There may even be some pre-natal imprinting.
[21] Being that there are twelve signs of the zodiac which rotate once every twenty-four hours, each rising sign will pass after approximately two hours. It is interesting that no instructions are offered for what to do with the child once born.
