220A3-2.ASC 20. There is here a perception of the profound law which opposes thought to action. We act, when we act aright, upon the instructive wisdom inherited from the ages. Our ancestors survived because they were able to adapt themselves to their environment; their rival failed to breed, and so `good' qualities are transmitted, while `bad' are sterile. Thus the race-thought, subconscious, tells a man that he must have a son, cost what it may. Rome was founded on the rape of the Sabine women. Would a reasoner have advocated that rape? Was it `justice' or `mercy' or `morality' or `Christianity'. There is much on the ethics of this point in Chapter II of this Book. Thomas Henry Huxley in his essay `Ethics and Evolution' pointed out the antithesis between these two ideas; and concluded that Evolution was bound to beat Ethics in the long run. He was apparently unable to see, or unwilling to admit, that his argument proved Ethics (as understood by Victorians) to be false. The Ethics of Liber Legis are those of Evolution itself. We are only fools if we interfere. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, biologically as well as in every other way. Let us take an example. I am an antivaccinationist in a sense which every other antivaccinationist would repudiate. I admit that vaccination protects from small-pox. The weak would die; the strong might have pitted faces; but the race would become immune to the disease in a few generations. On somewhat similar lines, I would advocate, with Samuel Butler, the destruction of all machinery. (I admit the practical difficulties of defining the limits of legitimate devices. The issue is this: how are we to develop human skill? The printing press is admirable in the hands of an Aldus, a Charles T. Jacobi, or even a William Morris. But the cheap mechanical printing of luetic rubbish on rotten pulp with worn types in inferior ink has destroyed the eyesight, putrefied the mind, and deluded the passions, of the multitude). For machines are dodges for avoiding Hard Work; and Hard Work is the salvation of the race. In the Time-Machine, H.G. Wells draws an admirable picture of a dichotomized humanity, one branch etiolated and inane, the other brutalized and automatic. Machines have already nearly completed the destruction of individual craftmanship. a man is no longer a worker, but a machine-feeder. The product is standardized; the result mediocrity. Nobody can obtain What He Will; he must be content with what knavery puts on the market. Instead of every man and every woman being a star, we have an amorphous pullulation of Vermin. 21. Verses 21 - 31 seem to refer to the rites of public worship of Ra-Hoor-Khuit. The word `Set' is curious -- is there here a reference to Set the God? With regard to the Old Comment, I did indeed find an image of the kind implied. But there seems no special importance in this. I am inclined to see some deeper significance in this passage. There has elsewhere been reference to the words `not', `one', `Thou knowest'. The word `easy' is moreover suggestive of some mystery; it is used in the same doubtfully intelligible sense in verse 40. 22. There are to be no regular temples of Nuith 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 Aeon, 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 of 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'. They are of course totally ignorant of magical phenomena, and could hardly explain even such terms as `Augoeides'; and they are seriously to blame for not stating more openly that this True Will is not to be daunted or suppressed; but within their limits they have done excellent work. 23. Meal: ordinary wheaten flour. Leavings: the `beewing' of port should be good. Oil of Abramelin: take eight parts of oil of cinnamon, four of oil of myrrh, two of oil of galangal, seven of olive oil. 24. A: menstrual blood. B: possibly `dragon's blood'. These two kinds of `blood' are not to be confused. The student should be able to discover the sense of this passage by recollecting the Qabalistic statement that `The blood is the life', consulting Book 4 Part III, and applying the knowledge which reposes in the Sanctuary of the Gnosis of the Ninth Degree of O.T.O. The `child' is `BABALON and THE BEAST conjoined, the SEcret Saviour', that is, the 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. The process of softening and smoothing down is thus in this case that of vitalizing the Eagle. 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. 25. These Beetles, which appeared with amazing suddeness in countless numbers at Boleskine during the summer of 1904 E.V. were distinguished by a long siggle `horn'; the species was new to the naturalists in London to whom specimens were sent for classification. 26. See Liber 418, First Aethyr, final paragraphs. 27. The word `lust' is not necessarily to be taken in the sense familiar to Puritans. It means robustness, `merriment' as of old understood: the Germans have retained the proper force of the term in `lustig'. But even the English retain `lusty'. The Puritan is undoubtedly a marvel. He has even succeeded in attaching a foul connotation to a colourless word like `certain' -- `In a section of the city with a certain reputation women of a certain class suffering from certain diseases are charged with performing certain acts' is a common enough item in the newspapers. It allows the fullest play to the dirtiest imaginations -- which appears to be the aim of the societies for the Suppression of Vice, and their like. 29. It is not altogether clear whether the beetles or the Cakes are referred to in this strange passage. The proper way to discover the truth of this is to experiment. 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 ends as well as those of policy. 30. There is now such an altar as described; and the due rites are performed daily thereupon.(An XVI, In ). 31. I do not know whether this is to be taken in a practical sense. The obvious meaning of `from the West' is an Egyptian document would be `from the House of the Dead'. Alternatively, there may be a reference to the name of the person in question. I feel convinced that some event will occur to fit the passage with unmistakeable accuracy. (I write this in AN XVII in .) 33. It suggests self, that the foregoing verses may have been already fulfilled in some manner which my feeble understanding of the chapter has failed hitherto to identify. 34. 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. Note the close connexion between Leo and Libra in the Tarot, the numbers VIII and XI of their Trumps being interchanged with XI and VIII. THere is no such violent antithesis as that between Osiris and Horus; Strength will prepare the Reign of Justice. We should begin already, as I deem, to regard this Justice as the Ideal whose Way we should make ready, by virtue of our Force and Fire. Taking the `holy Place' to be Boleskine House, it has already been subjected to a sort of destruction. It was presented by me to the O.T.O. and sold in order to obtain funds for the publication of The Equinox Volume III. But the proceeds of the sale were mostly stolen by the then Grand Treasurer General of the Order, one George MacNie Cowie, who became obsessed by the vulgarest form of hate against the Germans, despite my warnings, with reference to verse 59 of this chapter. He became insane, and behaved with the blackest treachery, this theft being but a small portion of his infamies. The incident was necessary to my own initiation. Hrumachis is the Dawning Sun; he therefore symbolizes any new course of events. The `double-wanded one' is `Thmaist of dual form as Thmais and Thmait', from whom the Greeks derived their Themis, goddess of Justice. The student may refer to The Equinox Vol. I., No2, pages 244-261. Thmaist is the Hegemon, who bears a mitre-headed sceptre, like that of Joshua in the Royal Arch Degree of Freemasonry. He is the third officer in rank in the Neophyte Ritual of the G. D. , following Horus as Horus follows Osiris. He can then assume the `throne and place' of the Ruler of the Temple when the `Equinox of Horus' comes to an end. The rimed section of this verse is singularly impressive and sublime. We may observe that the details of the ritual of changing officers are the same on every occasion. We may therefore deduce that the description applies to this `Equinox of the Gods' itself. How have the conditions been fulfilled? The introduction to Book 4, Part IV tells us. We may briefly remind the reader of the principal events, arranging them in the form of a rubric, and placing against each the corresponding magical acts of the Equinox previous to ours, as they are symbolized in the legends of Osiris, Dionysus, Jesus, Attis, Adonis, and others. TABLE FOLLOWS. It may be presumptuous to predict any details concerning the next Aeon after this. 35. Heru-ra-ha combines the ideas of Horus (cf. also `the great angel Hru' who is set over the Book of Tahuti; see Liber LXXVIII) with those of Ra and Spirit. For is the Atziluthic or archetypal spelling of He, the Holy Ghost. And Ha=6, the number of the Sun. He is also Nuith, H being Her letter. 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 always to be followed immediately by the Sign of Silence': such is the imperative injunction to the Neophyte. In Book 4 the necessity for this is explained fully. 36. This passage now following appears to be a dramatic presentation of the scene shown in the Stele. The interpretation is to be that Ankh-f-n-Khonsu recorded for my benefit the details of the Magical Formula of Ra Hoor Khuit. To link together the centuries in this manner is nothing strange to the accomplished Magician; but in view of the true character of Time as it appears to the Adept in Mysticism, the riddle vanishes altogether. 37. Stanza 3 suggests the Rosicrucian Benediction: May thy Mind be open unto the Higher! May thy Heart be the Centre of Light! May thy Body be the Temple of the Rosy Cross! 38. See the translation of the Stele in the Introduction to Book 4 Part IV. Note the Four Quarters or Four Solar Stations Enumerated in lines 3 and 4 of the first Stanza, and compare the ritual given in Liber Samekh. (Book 4 Part III, Appendix). 39. This account is published with this comment itself. The present volume is thus the obedience to this command. `At them' may mean `at their house', that is, one must give when one recognizes any one as a potential king by accepting his hospitality. An alternative meaning is `in their honour'. 40. I am less annoyed with myself than when I wrote the `Old Comment', but not wholly content. How is one to write a comment? For whom? One has more than the difficulties of the lexicographer. Each new Postulant presents new problems; the degrees and kinds of their ignorance are no less numerous than they. I am always finding myself, sailing along joyously for several months in the belief that my teaching is helping somebody, suddenly awakened to the fact that I have made noway whatever, owing to the object of my solicitude having omitted to learn that Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, or something of the sort, which I had assumed to be a matter of universal Knowledge. 41. It is being done now. 42. `Ordeals': refer to the Comment on Chapter I, verses 32 seq. `Traitors': see Liber 418: 1st Aethyer. I quote: -- Mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty; yea, thrice and four times mighty art thou. He that riseth up against thee shall be thrown down, though thou raise not so much as thy little finger against him. and he that speaketh evil against thee shall be put to shame, though thy lips utter not the littlest syllable against him. and he that thinketh evil concerning thee shall be confounded in his thought, although in thy mind arise not the least thought of him. And they shall be brought into subjection unto thee, and serve thee, though thou willest it not. And it shall be unto them a grace and a sacrament, and ye shall all sit down together at the supernal banquet, and ye shall feast upon the honey of the gods, and be drunk upon the dew of immortality -- FOR I AM HORUS, THE CROWNED AND CONQUERING CHILD, WHOM THOU KNEWEST NOT! 43. 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. ( in 20 , An V.) It or an even more terrible equivalent is now in progress. ( in , 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! 45. It is impossible to discuss such passages as these until time has funished the perspective. The accounts of certain magical experiments in this line will be found in `The Urn.' This `child' is not necessarily to be identified with him who `shall discover the key of it all.' 46. Forty is Mem, Water, the Hanged Man; and Eighty is Pe, Mars, the blasted Tower. These Trumps refer respectively to the `Destruction of the World by Water' and `by Fire.' The meaning of these phrases is to be studied in my Rituals of Magick, such as Book 4, Parts II & III. Its general purport is that He is master of both types of Force. I am inclined to opine that there is a simpler and deeper sense in the text than I have so far disclosed. `at your arms' is a curious turn of phrase. There may be some cryptographic implication, or there may not; at least, there is this, that the use of such un- English expressions makes a clear-cut distinction between AIWAZ and the Scribe. In the inspired Books, such as Liber LXV, VII, DCCXIII and others, written by The Beast 666 directly, not from dictation, no such awkward expressions are to be found. The style shows a well-marked difference. No Number I am now (An XIV in ) a Magus 9 = 2 ; and I agree with the former comment. He need only be a Magister Templi 8 = 3 , whose world is Understanding. `one cometh after him:' `one,' i.e. Achad. See Appendix for this and other points of this most `evidential' verse. `the Key of it all:' all, i.e. AL 3 the Key! See MS for allusion to the `line drawn' and the `circle squared in its failure.' The attribution (in the Old Comment) of the letters to those of the Book of Enoch is unsupported. 49. The evident interpretation of this is to take the word to be `Do what thou wilt,' which is a secret word, because its meaning for every man is his own inmost secret. And it is the most profound blasphemy possible against all `gods of men,' because it makes every man his own God. We may then take it that this Solar-Phallic Ra Ha is Each Man Himself. As each independent cell in our bodies is to us, so is each of us to Heru-Ra-Ha. Each man`s `child'-consciousness is a Star in the Cosmos of the Sun, as the Sun is a Star in the Cosmos of Nuith. 51. We are to consider carefully the particular attach of Heru Ra Ha against each of these `gods' or prophets; for though they be, or represent, the Magi of the past, the curse of their Grade must consume them. Thus it is the eyes of `Jesus' -- his point of view -- that must be destroyed; and this point of view is wrong because of his Magical Gesture of self-sacrifice. One must not for a moment suppose that this verse supports the historicity of `Jesus.' `Jesus' is not, and never was, a man; but he was a `god,' just as a bundle of old rags and a kerosene tin on a bush may be a `god.' There is a man-made idea, built of ignorance, fear, and meanness, for the most part, which we call `Jesus,' and which has been tricked out from time to time with various gauds from Paganism, and Judaism. The subject of `Jesus' is, most unfortunately, too extensive for a note; it is treated fully in my book 888. 52. Mohammed's point of view is wrong too; but he needs no such sharp correction as `Jesus.' It is his face -- his outward semblance -- that is to be covered with His wings. The tenets of Islam, correctly interpreted, are not far from our Way of Life and Light and Love and Liberty. This applies especially to the secret tenets. The external creed is mere nonsense suited to the intelligence of the peoples among whom it was promulgated; but even so, Islam is Magnificent in practice. Its code is that of a man of courage and honour and self-respect; contrasting admirably with the cringing cowardice of the damnation-dodging Christians with their unmanly and dishonest acceptance of vicarious sacrifice, and their currish conception of themselves as `born in sin,' `miserable sinners' with `no health in us.' 53. `The Indian.' The religion of Hindustan, metaphysically and mystically comprehensive enough to assure itself the possession of much truth, is in practice almost as superstitious and false as christianity, a faith of slaves, liars and dastards. The same remarks apply roughly to Buddhism. `Mongol:' presumably the reference is to Confucianism, whose metaphysical and ethical flawlessness has not saved its adherents from losing those ruder virtues which are proper to a Fighting Animal, and thus yielding at last a civilization coeval with history itself to the barbarous tribes of Europe. `Din' -- `severity' or `judgment' may refer to the Jewish Law, rather than to the Faith (ad `din') of Islam. Assuming this, the six religions whose flesh must be torn out cover the whole globe outside Islam and Christianity. Why assault their flesh rather than their eyes, as in the other cases? Because the metaphysics, or point of view, is correct -- I take Judaism as Qabalistic -- but the practice imperfect. 54. See Appendix. By sound Bahlasti suggests `hurling' or `blasting;' Ompegda is not too phantastically onomatopoeitic for `an explosion.' 55. The name Mary is connected with Mars, Mors, etc., from the Sanskrit MR to slay;and with Mare, the Sea, whose water opposes the Fire of Horus. I here quote a passage from Liber XCVII which deals with this fully. `Let me strictly meditate this hate of the mother. M R is the Sanskrit root = `Kill,' hence Mara, Mors, Maria, and I suppose Meer, Mere, Mer -- in short, lots of words meaning death or sea. Note Mordred as the traitor villain in Morte d'Arthur. In Liber Legis we have `Mary' who is to be `torn upon wheels' apparently because she is `inviolate.' Liber 418 has some explanation of this: `because she hath shut herself up', I seem to remember is the phrase. It appears (I don't remember the Sanskrit as if a dental T or D were inserted phallically to give us Madar, Mater, Mother, (? meter = measure.) Does the accent in mere conceal a lost dental? I suppose Jung or Freud has this all worked out in detail. I have thought this before, long ago, but can't get a satisfactory Qabalah. 240 is a doubling of the Pentagram, of course, and is a sixfold of 40, the number of repressive `sealed-up' law. By our R.O.T.A., M R is the Sea swallowing the Sun, and the insertion of a Tau would help this in a certain formula of `He lives in the Sun.' But that would only boost the Mother, which won't do, for she is the Tomb, the Eater of Flesh, and there's no getting away from it. But apparently she is all right just so far as she is open, to enter or leave at one's pleasure, the Gateway of Eternal Life.