November 13, 1988 e.v. key entry by Bill Heidrick T.G. O.T.O. (c) O.T.O. NOT PROOFED! Intended to be printed with 3G10X.PRN substitutions for special characters and alphabets. ---- This is a XYWrite file ************************************************************************* ®RM60¯®FD66¯®BT0¯®PL66,66,66¯®PT2¯®MDBR¯ ®PG¯----------------work notes-------------- When available fix Coptic on page -70- ®PG¯ M A G I C K IN THEORY AND PRACTICE by The Master Therion Aleister Crowley (Based on the Castle Books edition of New York) (c) Ordo Templi Orientis JAF BOX 7666 New York, NY 10116 USA (Key entry by Bill Heidrick, T.G. of O.T.O.) ®PG¯ HYMN TO PAN ®PT2¯ ®MD129¯e'ric erwti periarxhv d aneptoman ®MDBR¯ ®MD129¯iw iw pan pan ®MDBR¯ ®MD129¯w pan pan aliplagxte, xullaniav xionoxtupoi ®MDBR¯ ®MD129¯petraiav apo deiradov 'anhj, w ®MDBR¯ ®MD129¯jewn xoropoi anac ®MDBR¯ SOPH. AJ. ®LM10¯ Thrill with lissome lust of the light, O man! My man! Come careering out of the night Of Pan! Io Pan! From Sicily and from Arcady! Roaming as Bacchus, with fauns and pards And nymphs and satyrs for thy guards, On a milk-white ass, come over the sea To me, to me, Come with Apollo in bridal dress (Shepherdess and pythoness) Come with Artemis, silken shod, And wash thy white thigh, beautiful God, In the moon of the woods, on the marble mount, The dimpled dawn of the amber fount! Dip the purple of passionate prayer In the crimson shrine, the scarlet snare, The soul that startles in eyes of blue - v - ®PG¯ To watch thy wantonness weeping through The tangled grove, the gnarled bole Of the living tree that is spirit and soul And body and brain --- come over the sea, (Io Pan! Io Pan!) Devil or god, to me, to me, My man! my man! Come with trumpets sounding shrill Over the hill! Come with drums flow muttering From the spring! Come with flute and come with pipe! Am I not ripe? I, who wait and writhe and wrestle With air that hath no boughs to nestle My body, weary of empty clasp, Strong as a lion and sharp as an asp --- Come, O come! I am numb With the lonely lust of devildom. Thrust the sword through the galling fetter, All-devourer, all-begetter; Give me the sign of the Open Eye, And the token erect of thorny thigh, And the word of madness and mystery, O Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan Pan! Pan, I am a man: Do as thou wilt, as a great god can, O Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! I am awake in the grip of the snake. The eagle slashes with beak and claw; The gods withdraw: The great beasts come, Io Pan! I am borne To death on the horn Of the Unicorn. I am Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! -vi- ®PG¯ I am thy mate, I am thy man, Goat of thy flock, I am gold, I am god, Flesh to thy bone, flower to thy rod. With hoofs of steel I race on the rocks Through solstice stubborn to equinox. And I rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend Everlasting, world without end, Mannikin, maiden, Maenad, man, In the might of Pan. Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan! ------------- -vii- ®LM0¯®PG¯ (This page is reserved for the signs of the grades --- illustrations) ®PG¯ INTRODUCTION ®PT2¯ "®MD129¯Esseai ajanatov jeov, ambrotov, oux eti jnhtov®MDBR¯ Pythagoras. "Magic is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge of Natural Ph ilosophy, advanced in its works and wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult virtue of things; so that true Agents being applied to proper Patients, strange and admirable effects will thereby be produced. Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an effect, the which to the vulgar shall seem to b e a miracle." ®PT5¯The Goetia of the Lemegeton of King Solomon.®PT2¯ "Wherever sympathetic magic occurs in its pure unadulterated form, it is assu med that in nature one event follows another necessarily and invariably without t he intervention of any spiritual or personal agency. ®MDBO¯Thus its fundamental conception is identical with that of modern scienc e; underlying the whole system is a faith, implicit but real and firm, in the ord er and uniformity of nature.®MDBR¯ The magician does not doubt that the same cau ses will always produce the same effects, that the performance of the proper cere mony accompanied by the appropriate spell, will inevitably be attended by the des ired results, unless, indeed, his incantations should chance to be thwarted and f oiled by the more potent charms of another sorcerer. He supplicates no higher po wer: he sues the favour of no fickle and wayward being: he abases himself before no awful deity. Yet his power, great as he believes it to be, is by no means arb itrary and unlimited. He can wield it only so long as he strictly conforms to th e rules of his art, or to what may be called the laws of nature as conceived by -ix- ®PG¯ him. To neglect these rules, to break these laws in the smallest particular is to incur failure, and may even expose the unskilful practitioner himself to the u tmost peril. If he claims a sovereignty over nature, it is a constitutional sove reignty rigorously limited in its scope and exercised in exact conformity with an cient usage. ®MDBO¯Thus the analogy between the magical and the scientific conce ptions of the world is close. In both of them the succession of events is perfec tly regular and certain, being determined by immutable laws, the operation of whi ch can be foreseen and calculated precisely;®MDBR¯ the elements of caprice, of ch ance, and of accident are banished from the course of nature. Both of them open up a seemingly boundless vista of possibilities to him who knows the causes of th ings and can touch the secret springs that set in motion the vast and intricate m echanism of the world. Hence the strong attraction which magic ad science alike have exercised on the human mind; hence the powerful stimulus that both have give n to the pursuit of knowledge. They lure the weary enquirer, the footsore seeker , on through the wilderness of disappointment in the present by their endless pro mises of the future: they take him up to he top of an exceeding high mountain and shew him, beyond the dark clouds and rolling mists at his feet, a vision of the celestial city, far off, it may be, but radiant with unearthly splendour, bathed in the light of dreams." Dr. J. G. FRAZER, ®PT5¯"The Golden Bough".®PT2¯ "So far, therefore, ®MDBO¯as the public profession of magic has been one of t he roads by which men have passed to supreme power, it has contributed to emancip ate mankind from the thraldom of tradition and to elevate them into a larger, fre er life, with a broader outlook on the world. This is no small service rendered to humanity.®MDBR¯ And when we remember further that in another direction magic has paved the way for science, we are forced to admit that if the black art has d one much evil, it has also been the source of much good; that if it is the child of error, ®MDBO¯it has yet been the mother of freedom and truth.®MDBR¯" Ibid. -x- ®PG¯ "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." St. Paul. "Also the mantras and spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of the wand an d the work of the sword; these he shall learn and teach." "He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals." ®PT2¯ "The word of the Law is ®MD129¯Jelhma®MDBR¯." ®MDBO¯LIBER AL®MDBR¯ vel xxxi: ®MDBO¯The Book of the Law.®MDBR ¯ ------------- This book is for ®MDBO¯ALL:®MDBR¯ for every man, woman, and child. My former work has been misunderstood, and its scope limited, by my use of te chnical terms. It has attracted only too many dilettanti and eccentrics, weaklin gs seeking in "Magic" an escape from reality. I myself was first consciously dra wn to the subject in this way. And it has repelled only too many scientific and practical minds, such as I most designed to influence. But ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ is for ®MDBO¯ALL.®MDBR¯ I have written this book to help the Banker, the Pugilist, the Biologist, the Poet, the Navvy, the Grocer, the Factory Girl, the Mathematician, the Stenograph er, the Golfer, the Wife, the Consul --- and all the rest --- to fulfil themselve s perfectly, each in his or her own proper function. Let me explain in a few words how it came about that I blazoned the word ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ upon the Banner that I have borne before me all my life. Before I touched my teens, I was already aware that I was THE BEAST whose number is 666. I did not understand in the least -xi- ®PG¯ what that implied; it was a passionately ecstatic sense of identity. In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself consciously to the Great Work , understanding thereby the Work of becoming a Spiritual Being, free from the con straints, accidents, and deceptions of material existence. I found myself at a loss for a name to designate my work, just as H. P. Blava tsky some years earlier. "Theosophy", "Spiritualism", "Occultism", "Mysticism", all involved undesirable connotations. I chose therefore the name. ®MDBO¯"MAGICK"®MDBR¯ as essentially the most sublime, and actually the most discredited, of all the a vailable terms. I swore to rehabilitate ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ to identify it with my own career; and to compel mankind to respect, love, and t rust that which they scorned, hated and feared. I have kept my Word. But the time is now come for me to carry my banner into the thick of the pres s of human life. I must make ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ the essential factor in the life of ®MDBO¯ALL.®MDBR¯ In presenting this book to the world, I must then explain and justify my posi tion by formulating a definition of ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ and setting forth its main principles in such a way that ®MDBO¯ALL®MDBR¯ may understand instantly that their souls, their lives, in every relation with e very other human being and every circumstance, depend upon ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ and the right comprehension and right application thereof. I. ®PT5¯DEFINITION.®PT2¯ ®MDBO¯MAGICK is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.®MDBR¯ -xii- ®PG¯ (Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my k nowledge. I therefore take "magical weapons", pen, ink, and paper; I write "inca ntations" --- these sentences --- in the "magical language" i.e. that which is un derstood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spirits", such as printe rs, publishers, booksellers, and so forth, and constrain them to convey my messag e to those people. The composition and distribution of this book is thus an act of ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ by which I cause changes to take place in conformity with my Will®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯) II. ®PT5¯POSTULATE.®PT2¯ ®MDBO¯ANY required Change may be effected by the application of the proper ki ng and degree of force in the proper manner through the proper medium to the prop er object.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: I wish to prepare an ounce of Chloride of Gold. I must take t he right kind of acid, nitro-hydrochloric and no other, in sufficient quantity an d of adequate strength, and place it, in a vessel which will not break, leak, or corrode, in such a manner as will not produce undesirable results, with the neces sary quantity of Gold: and so forth. Every Change has its own conditions. In the present state of our knowledge and power some changes are not possible in practice; we cannot cause eclipses, for instance, or transform lead into tin, or create men from mushrooms. But it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature; and the conditions a re covered by the above postulate.) III. ®PT5¯THEOREMS.®PT2¯ ®MDBO¯(1) Every intentional act is a Magical Act.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯®MDSU¯®MDBR¯ (Illustration: See "Definition" above.) ____________________ ®PT3¯1. By "Intentional" I mean "willed". But even unintentional acts so-seeming are not truly so. Thus, breathing is an act of the Will-to-Live, 1. In one sense Magick may be defined as the name given to Science by the vulgar.®PT2¯ -xiii- ®PG¯ ®MDBO¯(2) Every successful act has conformed to the postulate. (3) Every failure proves that one or more requirements of the postulate have not been fulfilled.®MDBR¯ (Illustrations: There may be failure to understand the case; as when a doctor makes a wrong diagnosis, and his treatment injures his patient. There may be fa ilure to apply the right kind of force, as when a rustic tries to blow out an ele ctric light. There may be failure to apply the right degree of force, as when a wrestler has his hold broken. There may be failure to apply the force in the rig ht manner, as when one presents a cheque at the wrong window of the Bank. There may be failure to employ the correct medium, as when Leonardo da Vinci found his masterpiece fade away. The force may be applied to an unsuitable object, as when one tries to crack a stone, thinking it a nut.( ®MDBO¯(4) The first requisite for causing any change is through qualitative a nd quantitative understanding of the conditions.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: The most common cause of failure in life is ignorance of one's own True Will, or of the means by which tofulfil that Will. A man may fancy him self a painter, and waste his life trying to become one; or he may be really a pa inter, and jet fail to understand and to measure the difficulties peculiar to tha t career.) ®MDBO¯(5) The second requisite of causing any change is the practical ability to set in right motion the necessary forces.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: A banker may have a perfect grasp of a given situation, yet la ck the quality of decision, or the assets, necessary to take advantage of it.) ®MDBO¯(6) "Every man and every woman is a star."®MDBR¯ That is to say, every human being is intrinsically an independent individual with his won proper chara cter and proper motion. ®MDBO¯(7) Every man and every woman has a course, depending partly on the sel f, and partly on the environment which is natural and necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from his own course, either through not understanding himself, or through external opposition, comes into conflict with the order of the Universe, and suffd of investigating his actual nature . For example, a woman may make herself miserable for life by thinking that she prefers love to social consideration, or ®PT5¯vice versa®PT2¯. One woman may sta y with an unsympathetic husband when she would really be happy in an attic with a lover, while another may fool herself into a romantic elopement when her only tr ue pleasures are those of presiding at fashionable functions. Again, a boy's ins tinct may tell him to go to sea, while his parents insists on his becoming a doct or. In such a case, he will be both unsuccessful and unhappy in medicine.) ®MDBO¯(8) A Man whose conscious will is at odds with his True Will is wasting his strength. He cannot hope to influence his environment efficiently.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: When Civil War rages in a nation, it is in no condition to und ertake the invasion of other countries. A man with cancer employs his nourishmen t alike to his own use and to that of the enemy which is part of himself. he soo n fails to resist the pressure of his environment. In practical life, a man who is doing what his conscience tells him to be wrong will do it very clumsily. At first!) ®MDBO¯(9) A man who is doing this True Will has the inertia of the Universe t o assist him.®MDBR¯ (Ilustration: The first principle of success in evolution is that the individ ual should be true to his own nature, and at the same time adapt himself to his e nvironment.) ®MDBO¯(10) Nature is a continuous phenomenon, though we do not know in all ca ses how things are connected.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: Human consciousness depends on the properties of protoplasm, t he existence of which depends on innumerable physical conditions peculiar to this planet; and this planet is determined by the mechanical balance of the whole uni verse of matter. We may then say that our consciousness is causally connected wi th the remotest galaxies; yet we do not know even how it arises from --- or with --- the molecular changes in the brain.) ®MDBO¯(11) Science enables us to take advantage of the continuity of Nature by the empirical application of certain®MDBR¯ -xv- ®PG¯ ®MDBO¯principles whose interplay involves different orders of idea connected wit h each other in a way beyond our present comprehension.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: We are able to light cities by rule-of-thumb methods. We do n ot know what consciousness is, or how it is connected with muscular action; what electricity is or how it is connected with the machines that generate it; and our methods depend on calculations involving mathematical ideas which have no corres pondence in the Universe as we know it.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯) ®MDBO¯(12) Man is ignorant of the nature of his own being and powers. Even h is idea of his limitations is based on experience of the past, and every step in his progress extends his empire. There is therefore no reason to assign theoreti cal limits®MDSU¯2®MDBO¯ to what he may be, or to what he may do.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: A generation ago it was supposed theoretically impossible that man should ever know the chemical composition of the fixed stars. It is known t hat our senses are adapted to receive only an infinitesimal fraction of the possi ble rates of vibration. Modern instruments have enabled us to detect some of the se suprasensibles by indirect methods, and even to use their peculiar qualities i n the service of man, as in the case of the rays of Hertz and Roÿ08"ntgen. As Ty ndall said, man might at any moment learn to perceive and utilise vibrations of a ll conceivable and inconceivable kinds. The question of Magick is a question of discovering and employing hitherto unknown forces in nature. We know that thy ex ist, and we cannot doubt the possibility of mental or physical instruments capabl e of bringing us into relation with them.) ®MDBO¯(13) Every man is more or less aware that his individuality comprises several orders of existence, even when he maintains that his subtler principles a re merely symptomatic of the changes in his gross vehicle. A similar order may b e assumed to extend throughout nature.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: One does not confuse the pain of toothache with ___________ ®PT3¯ 1. For instance, "irrational", "unreal", and "infinite" expressions. 2. i.e., except --- possibly --- in the case of logically absurd questions, such as the Schoolmen discussed in connection with "God".®PT2¯ -xvi- ®PG¯ the decay which causes it. Inanimate objects are sensitive to certain physical forces, such as electrical and thermal conductivity; but neither in us nor in the m --- so far as we know --- is there any direct conscious perception of these for ces. Imperceptible influences are therefore associated with all material phenome na; and there is no reason why we should not work upon matter through those subtl e energies as we do through their material bases. In fact, we use magnetic force to move iron, and solar radiation to reproduce images.) ®MDBO¯(14) Man is capable of being, and using, anything which he perceives, f or everything that he perceives is in a certain sense a part of his being. He ma y thus subjugate the whole Universe of which he is conscious to his individual Wi ll.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: Man has used the idea of God to dictate his personal conduct, to obtain poser over his fellow, to excuse his crimes, and for innumerable other purposes, including that of realizing himself as God. He has used the irrational and unreal conceptions of mathematics to help him in the construction of mechani cal devices. He has used his moral force to influence the actions even of wild a nimals. He has employed poetic genius for political purposes.) ®MDBO¯(15) Every force in the Universe is capable of being transformed into a ny other kind of force by using suitable means. There is thus an inexhaustible s upply of any particular kind of force that we may need.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: Heat may be transformed into light and power by using it to dr ive dynamos. The vibrations of the air may be used to kill men by so ordering th em in speech as to inflame war-like passions. The hallucinations connected with the mysterious energies of sex result in the perpetuation of the species.) ®MDBO¯(16) The application of any given force affects all the orders of being which exist in the object to which it is applied, whichever of those orders is d irectly affected.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: If I strike a man with a dagger, his consciousness, not his bo dy only, is affected by my act; although the dagger, as such, has no direct relat ion therewith. Similarly, the power of -xvii- ®PG¯ my thought may so work on the mind of another person as to produce far-reaching physical changes in him, or in others through him.) ®MDBO¯ (17) A man may learn to use any force so as to serve any purpose, by ta king advantage of the above theorems.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: A man may use a razor to make himself vigilant over his speech , but using it to cut himself whenever he unguardedly utters a chosen word. He m ay serve the same purpose by resolving that every incident of his life shall remi nd him of a particular thing, making every impression the starting point of a con nected series of thought ending in that thing. He might also devote his whole en ergies to some one particular object, by resolving to do nothing at variance ther ewith, and to make every act turn to the advantage of that object.) ®MDBO¯ (18) He may attract to himself any force of the Universe by making hims elf a fit receptacle for it, establishing a connection with it, and arranging con ditions so that its nature compels it to flow toward him.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: If I want pure water to drink, I dig a well in a place where t here is underground water; I prevent it from leaking away; and I arrange to take advantage of water's accordance with the laws of Hydrostatics to fill it.) ®MDBO¯ (19) Man's sense of himself as separate from, and oppose to, the Univer se is a bar to his conducting its currents. It insulates him.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: A popular leader is most successful when he forgets himself, a nd remembers only The Cause". Self-seeking engenders jealousies and schism. Whe n the organs of the body assert their presence otherwise than by silent satisfact ion, it is a sign that they are diseased. The single exception is the organ of r eproduction. Yet even in this case its self-assertion bears witness to its dissa tisfaction with itself, since it cannot fulfil its function until completed by it s counterpart in another organism. ®MDBO¯(20) Man can only attract and employ the forces for which he is really fitted.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. A -xviii- ®PG¯ true man of science learns from every phenomenon. But Nature is dumb to the hyp ocrite; for in her there is nothing false.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯) ®MDBO¯(21) There is no limit to the extent of the relations of any man with t he Universe in essence; for as soon as man makes himself one with any idea the me ans of measurement cease to exist. But his power to utilize that force is limite d by his mental power and capacity, and by he circumstances of his human environm ent.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: When a man falls in love, the whole world becomes, to him, not hing but love boundless and immanent; but his mystical state is not contagious; h is fellow-men are either amused or annoyed. He can only extend to others the eff ect which his love has had upon himself by means of his mental and physical quali ties. Thus, Catullus, Dante and Swinburn made their love a mighty mover of manki nd by virtue of their power to put their thoughts on the subject in musical and e loquent language. Again, Cleopatra and other people in authority moulded the for tunes of many other people by allowing love to influence their political actions. The Magician, however well he succeed in making contact with the secret sources of energy in nature, can only use them to the extent permitted by his intellectu al and moral qualities. Mohammed's intercourse with Gabriel was only effective b ecause of his statesmanship, soldiership, and the sublimity of his command of Ara bic. Hertz's discovery of the rays which we now use for wireless telegraphy was sterile until reflected through the minds and wills of the people who could take his truth, and transmit it to the world of action by means of mechanical and econ omic instruments. ®MDBO¯(22) every individual is essentially sufficient to himself. But he is unsatisfactory to himself until he has established himself in his right relation with the Universe.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: A microscope, however perfect, is useless in the ___________®PT3¯ 1. It is no objection that the hypocrite is himself part of Nature. He is an "endothermic" product, divided against himself, with a tendency to break up. He will see his own qualities everywhere, and thus obtain a radical misconception of phenomena. Most religions of the past have failed by expecting Nature to conform with their ideals of proper conduct.®PT2¯ -xix- ®PG¯ hands of savages. A poet, however sublime, must impose himself upon his generat ion if he is to enjoy (and even to understand) himself, as theoretically should b e the case.) ®MDBO¯(23) Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and one's condition s. It is the Art of applying that understanding in action.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: A golf club is intended to move a special ball in a special wa y in special circumstances. A Niblick should rarely be used on the tee, or a Bra ssie under the bank of a bunker. But also, the use of any club demands skill and experience.) ®MDBO¯(24) Every man has an indefeasible right to be what he is.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: To insist that any one else shall comply with one's own standa rds is to outrage, not only him, but oneself, since both parties are equally born of necessity.) ®MDBO¯(25) Every man must do Magick each time that he acts or even things, si nce a thought is an internal act whose influence ultimately affects action, thoug ht it may not do so at the time.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: The least gesture causes a change in a man's own body and in t he air around him; it disturbs the balance of the entire Universe, and its effect s continue eternally throughout all space. Every thought, however swiftly suppre ssed, has its effect on the mind. It stands as one of the causes of every subseq uent thought, and tends to influence every subsequent action. A golfer may lose a few yards on his drive, a few more with his second and third, he may lie on the green six bare inches too far from the hole; but the net result of these triflin g mishaps is the difference of a whole stroke, and so probably between halving an d losing the hole.) ®MDBO¯(26) Every man has a right, the right of self-preservation, to fulfil h imself to the utmost.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ (Illustration: A function imperfectly preformed injures, not _________________®PT3¯ 1. Men of "criminal nature" are simply at issue with their true Wills. The murderer has the Will-to-live; and his will to murder is a false will at variance with his true Will, since he risks death at the hands of society by obeying his criminal impulse.®PT2¯ -xx- ®PG¯ only itself, but everything associated with it. If the heart is afraid to beat for fear of disturbing the liver, the liver is starved for blood, and avenges its elf on the heart of upsetting digestion, which disorders respiration, on which ca rdiac welfare depends.) ®MDBO¯(27) Every man should make Magick the keynote of his life. He should l earn its laws and live by them.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: The Banker should discover the real meaning of his existence, the real motive which led him to choose that profession. He should understand ba nking as a necessary factor in the economic existence of mankind, instead of as m erely a business whose objects are independent of the general welfare. He should learn to distinguish false values from real, and to act not on accidental fluctu ations but on considerations of essential importance. Such a banker will prove h imself superior to others; because he will not be an individual limited by transi tory things, but a force of Nature, as impersonal, impartial and eternal as gravi tation, as patient and irresistible as the tides. His system will not be subject to panic, any more than the law of Inverse Squares is disturbed by Elections. H e will not be anxious about his affairs because they will not be his; and for tha t reason he will be able to direct them with the calm, clear-headed confidence of an onlooker, with intelligence unclouded by self-interest and power unimpaired b y passion.) ®MDBO¯(28) Every man has a right to fulfil his own will without being afraid that it may interfere with that of others; for if he is in his proper place, it i s the fault of others if they interfere with him.®MDBR¯ (Illustration: If a man like Napoleon were actually appointed by destiny to c ontrol Europe, he should not be blamed for exercising his rights. To oppose him would be an error. Any one so doing would have made a mistake as to his own dest iny, except in so far as it might be necessary for him to learn to lessons of def eat. The sun moves in space without interference. The order of Nature provides an orbit for each star. A clash proves that one or the other has strayedto do likewise. The more firmly and surely men move, and the more such action is accepted as the standard of morality, the less will conflict and c onfusion hamper humanity.) -------------- I hope that the above principles will demonstrate to ®MDBO¯ALL®MDBR¯ that their welfare, their very existence, is bound up in ®MDBO¯MAGICK.®MDBR¯ I trust that they will understand, not only the reasonableness, but the necessit y of the fundamental truth which I was the means of giving to mankind: ®MDBO¯"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."®MDBR¯ I trust that they will assert themselves as individually absolute, that they wil l grasp the fact that it is their right to assert themselves, and to accomplish t he task for which their nature fits them. Yea, more, that this is their duty, an d that not only to themselves but to others, a duty founded upon universal necess ity, and not to be shirked on account of any casual circumstances of the moment w hich may seem to put such conduct in the light of inconvenience or even of cruelt y. I hope that the principles outlined above will help them to understand this b ook, and prevent them from being deterred from its study by the more or less tech nical language in which it is written. The essence of ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ is simple enough in all conscience. It is not otherwise with the art of governm ent. The Aim is simply prosperity; but the theory is tangled, and the practice b eset with briars. In the same way ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ is merely to be and to do. I should add: "to suffer". For Magick is the verb; and it is part of the Training to use the passive voice. This is, however, a mat ter of Initiation rather than of Magick in -xxii- ®PG¯ its ordinary sense. It is not fault if being is baffling, and doing desperate! Yet, once the above principles are firmly fixed in the mind, it is easy enoug h to sum up the situation very shortly. One must find out for oneself, and make sure beyond doubt, ®PT5¯who®PT2¯ one is, ®PT5¯what®PT2¯ one is, ®PT5¯why®PT2¯ one is. This done, one may put the will which is implicit in the "Why" into words, or rather into One Word. Being thus conscious of the proper course to pursue, th e next thing is to understand the conditions necessary to following it out. Afte r that, one must eliminate from oneself every element alien or hostile to success , and develop those parts of oneself which are specially needed to control the af oresaid conditions. Let us make an analogy. A nation must become aware of its own character befo re it can be said to exist. From that knowledge it must divide its destiny. It must then consider the political conditions of the world; how other countries may help it or hinder it. It must then destroy it itself any elements discordant wi th its destiny. Lastly, it must develop in itself those qualities which will ena ble it to combat successfully the external conditions which threaten to oppose is purpose. We have had a recent example in the case of the young German Empire, w hich, knowing itself and its will, disciplined and trained itself so that it conq uered the neighbours which had oppressed it for so many centuries. But after 186 6 and 1870, 1914! It mistook itself for superhuman, it willed a thing impossible , it failed to eliminate its own internal jealousies, it failed to understand the conditions of victory, it did not train itself to hold the sea, and thus, having violated every principle of ®MDBO¯MAGICK,®MDBR¯ it was pulled down ad broken into pieces by provincialism and democracy, so that neither individual excellence nor civic virtue has yet availed to raise it again to that majestic unity which made so bold a bid for the mastery of the race of m an. The sincere student will discover, behind the symbolic technicalities of his book, a practical method of making himself a ______________ ®PT3¯1. At least, it allowed England to discover its intentions, and so to combine the world against it.®PT2¯ -xxiii- ®PG¯ Magician. The processes described will enable him to discriminate between what he actually is, and what he has fondly imagined himself to be®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯. He m ust behold his soul in all its awful nakedness, he must not fear to look on that appalling actuality. He must discard the gaudy garments with which his shame has screened him; he must accept the fact that nothing can make him anything but wha t he is. He may lie to himself, drug himself, hide himself; but he is always the re. Magick will teach him that his mind is playing him traitor. It is as if a m an were told that tailors' fashion-plates were the canon of human beauty, so that he tried to make himself formless and featureless like them, and shuddered with horror at the idea of Holbein making a portrait of him. Magick will show him the beauty and majesty of the self which he has tried to suppress and disguise. Having discovered his identity, he will soon perceive his purpose. Another p rocess will show him how to make that purpose pure and powerful. He may then lea rn how to estimate his environment, learn how to make allies, how to make himself prevail against all powers whose error has caused them to wander across his path . In the course of this Training, he will learn to explore the Hidden Mysteries of Nature, and to develop new senses and faculties in himself, whereby he may co mmunicate with, and control, Beings and Forces pertaining to orders of existence which ______________________®PT3¯ 2. Professor Sigmund Freud and his school have, in recent years, discovered a part of this body of Truth, which has been taught for many centuries in the Sanctuaries of Initiation. But failure to grasp the fullness of Truth, especially that implied in my Sixth Theorem (above) and its corollaries, has led him and his followers into the error of admitting that the avowedly suicidal "Censor" is the proper arbiter of conduct. Official psycho-analysis is therefore committed to upholding a fraud, although the foundation of the science was the observation of the disastrous effects on the individual of being false to his Unconscious Self, whose "writing on the wall" in dream language is the record of the sum of the essential tendencies of the true nature of the individual. The result has been that psycho-analysts have misinterpreted life, and announced the absurdity that every human being is essentially an anti-social, criminal, and insane animal. It is evident that the errors of the Unconscious of which the psycho-analysts complain are neither more nor less than the"original sin" of the theologians whom they despise so heartily.®PT2¯ -xxiv- ®PG¯ have been hitherto inaccessible to profane research, and available only to that unscientific and empirical ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ (of tradition) which I came to destroy in order that I might fulfil. I send this book into the world that every man and woman may take hold of lif e in the proper manner. It does not matter of one's present house of flesh be th e hut of a shepherd; by virtue of my ®MDBO¯MAGICK®MDBR¯ he shall be such a shepherd as David was. If it be the studio of a sculptor, he shall so chisel from himself the marble that masks his idea that he shall be no less a master than Rodin. Witness mine hand: ®PT2¯ ®MD129¯TO MEGA JHRION®MDBR¯ (®MDFR¯nVYRT®MDBR¯): The Beast 666; MAGUS 9® MDFR¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 2®MDFR¯®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDB R¯ who is The Word of the Aeon THELEMA; whose name is called V.V.V.V.V.®MDFR¯ ®MD BR¯8®MDFR¯®MDFR¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 3®MDFR¯®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯ ®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ in the City of the Pyramids; OU MH 7®MDFR¯®MDFR¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 4®M DFR¯®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯; ®MDFR¯®MDFL¯JGASEROA U FUNOS LO®MDBR¯ 6®MDFR¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 5®MDFR¯®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯; and ... ... ®MDFL¯®MDBR¯5®MDFR¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 6®MDFR¯®MDF L¯)®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ in the Mountain of Abiegnus: but FRATER PERDURABO in the Outer Order of the A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯ :®MDBR¯ and in the World of men upon the Earth, Aleister Crowley of Trinity Colle ge, Cambridge. ----------- -xxv- ®PG¯ ®PG¯ CONTENTS ------- (his portion of the Book should be studied in connection with its Parts I. an d II.) 0 The Magical Theory of the Universe. I The Principles of Ritual. II The Formulae of the Elemental Weapons. III The Formula of Tetragrammaton. IV The Formula of Alhim: also that of Alim. V The Formula of I. A. O. VI The Formula of the Neophyte. VII The Formula of the Holy Graal, of Abrahadabra, and of Certain Other Words; with some remarks on the Magical Memory. VIII Of Equilibrium: and of the General and Particular Method of Preparation of the Furniture of the Temple and the Instruments of Art. IX Of Silence and Secrecy: and of the Barbarous names of Evocation. X Of the Gestures. XI Of Our Lady B®PT3¯ABALON®PT2¯ and of The Beast whereon she rideth: also concerning Transformations. XII Of the Bloody Sacrifice and Matters Cognate. XIII Of the Banishings, and of the Purifications. XIV Of the Consecrations: with an Account of the Nature and Nurture of the Magical Link. XVI (1) Of the Oath. XV Of the Invocation. XVI (2) Of the Charge to the Spirit: with some Account of the constrains and Curses occasionally necessary. XVII Of the License to Depart. XVIII Of Clairvoyance: and of the Body of Light, its Powers and its Development. Also concerning Divinations. XIX Of Dramatic Rituals. XX Of the Eucharist: and of the Art of Alchemy. XXI Of Black Magick: of the Main Types of the Operations of Magick Art: and of the Powers of the Sphinx. -xxvii- ®PG¯ ®PG¯ CHAPTER 0 ®PT2¯T®PT3¯HE ®PT2¯M®PT3¯AGICAL ®PT2¯T®PT3¯HEORY OF THE ®PT2¯U®PT3¯NI VERSE®PT2¯ ®MDBO¯There are three main theories of the Universe; Dualism, Monism and Nihi lism.®MDBR¯ It is impossible to enter into a discussion of their relative merits in a popular manual of this sort. They may be studied in Erdmann's ®PT5¯History of Philosophy®PT2¯ and similar treatises. ®MDBO¯All are reconciled and unified in the theory which we shall now set for th.®MDBR¯ The basis of this Harmony is given in Crowley's ®PT5¯Berashith®PT2¯ --- to which reference should be made. ®MDBO¯Infinite space is called the goddess NUIT, while the infinitely small a nd atomic yet omnipresent point is called HADIT.®MDSU¯1®MDBO¯ These are unmanife st. One conjunction of these infinites is called RA-HOOR-KHUIT,®MDSU¯2®MDBO¯ a u nity which includes and heads all things.®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ (There is also a particul ar Nature of Him, in certain conditions, such as have obtained since the Spring o f 1904, e.v.) This profoundly mystical conception --------------- ®PT3¯1. I present this theory in a very simple form. I cannot even explain (for instance) that an idea may not refer to Being at all, but to Going. ®PT6¯The Book of the Law®PT3¯ demands special study and initiated apprehension. 2. More correctly, HERU-RA-HA, to include HOOR-PAAR- KRAAT. 3. The basis of this theology is given in ®PT6¯Liber CCXX, AL vel Legis®PT3¯ which forms Part IV of this ®PT6¯Book 4®PT3¯. Hence I can only outline the matt er in a very crude way; it would require a separate treatise to discuss even the true meaning of the terms employed, and to show how ®PT6¯The Book of the Law®PT3¯ anticipates the recent discoveries of Frege, Cantor, Poincareÿ08', Russ ell, Whitehead, Einstein and others.®PT2¯ -1- ®PG¯ is based upon actual spiritual experience, but the trained reason®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ c an reach a reflection of this idea by the method of logical contradiction which e nds in reason transcending itself. The reader should consult ®PT5¯The Soldier an d the Hunchback®PT2¯ in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, I, and ®PT5¯Konx Om Pax®PT2¯. ®PT5¯Unity®PT2¯ transcends ®PT5¯consciousness®PT2¯. It is above all division . The Father of thought --- the Word --- is called Chaos --- the dyad. The numb er Three, the Mother, is called Babalon. In connection with this the reader shou ld study "The Temple of Solomon the King" in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, V, and ®PT5¯Lib er 418®PT2¯. This first triad is essentially unity, in a manner transcending reason. The comprehension of this Trinity is a matter of spiritual experience. ®MDBO¯All tru e gods are attributed to this Trinity.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ An immeasurable abyss divides it from all manifestations of Reason or the low er qualities of man. In the ultimate analysis of Reason, we find all reason iden tified with this abyss. Yet this abyss is the crown of the mind. Purely intelle ctual faculties all obtain here. This abyss has no number, for in it all is conf usion. Below this abyss we find the moral qualities of Man, of which there are six. The highest is symbolised by the number Four. Its nature is fatherly®MDSU¯3®MDB R¯; Mercy and Authority are the attributes of its dignity. The number Five is balanced against it. The attributes of Five are Energy an d Justice. Four and Five are again combined and harmonized in the number Six, wh ose nature is beauty and harmony, mortality and immortality. In the number Seven the feminine nature is again predominant, _______________ ®PT3¯1. All advance in understanding demands the acquisition of a new point-of-view. Modern conceptions of Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics are sheer paradox to the "plain man" who thinks of Matter as something that one can knock up against. 2. Considerations of the Christian Trinity are of a nature suited only to Initiated of the IXø Of O.T.O., as they enclose the final secret of all practical Magick. 3. Each conception is, however, balanced in itself. Four is also Daleth, the letter of Venus; so that the mother-idea is included. Again, the Sephira of 4 is Chesed, referred to Water. 4 is ruled by Jupiter, Lord of the Lightning (Fire) yet ruler of Air. Each Sephira is complete in its way.®PT2 ¯ -2- ®PG¯ but it is the masculine type of female, the Amazon, who is balanced in the numbe r Eight by the feminine type of male. In the number Nine we reach the last of the purely mental qualities. It iden tifies change with stability. Pendant to this sixfold system is the number Ten®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ which includes the whole of Matter as we know it by the senses. It is impossible here to explain thoroughly the complete conception; for it c annot be too clearly understood that this is a ®PT5¯classification®PT2¯ of the Un iverse, that there is nothing which is not comprehended therein. The Article on the Qabalah in Vol. I, No. V of the ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ is the b est which has been written on the subject. It should be deeply studied, in conne ction with the Qabalistic Dieÿ08' = 3, Vau = 4 to 9, Heÿ08' final = 10. The Number Two represents Yod, the Divine or Archetypal World, and the Number One is only attained by the destruction of the God and the Magician in Samadhi. The world of Angels is under the numbers Four to Nine, and that of spirits under the --------------- ®PT3¯1. The balance of the Sephiroth: Kether (1) "Kether is in Malkuth, and Malkuth is in Kether, but after another manner." Chokmah (2) is Yod of Tetragrammaton, and therefore also Unity. Binah (3) is Heÿ08' of Tetragrammaton, and therefore "The Emperor." Chesed (4) is Daleth, Venus the female. Geburah (5) is the Sephira of Mars, the Male. Tipheereth (6) is the Hexagram, harmonizing, and mediating between Kether and Malkuth. Also it reflects Kether. "That which is above, is like that which is below, and that which is below, is like that which is above." Netzach (7) and Hod (8) balanced as in text. Jesod (9) see text. Malkuth (10) contains all the numbers.®PT2¯ -3- ®PG¯ number Ten.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ All these numbers are of course parts of the magician himself considered as the microcosm. ®MDBO¯The microcosm is an exact image of th e Macrocosm; the Great Work is the raising of the whole man in perfect balance to the power of Infinity.®MDBR¯ The reader will remark that all criticism directed against the Magical Hierar chy is futile. One cannot call it incorrect --- the only line to take might be that it was inconvenient. In the same way one cannot say that the Roman alphabet is better or worse than the Greek, since all require d sounds can be more or less satisfactorily represented by either; yet both these alphabets were found so little satisfactory when it came to an attempt at phonet ic printing of Oriental languages, that the alphabet had to be expanded by the us e of italics and other diacritical marks. In the same way our magical alphabet o f the Sephiroth and the Paths (thirty-two letters as it were) has been expanded i nto the four worlds corresponding to the four letters of the name ®MDFR¯HVHY®MDBR ¯; and each Sephira is supposed to contain a Tree of Life of its own. Thus we ob tain four hundred Sephiroth instead of he original ten, and the Paths being capab le of similar multiplications, or rather of subdivision, the number is still furt her extended. Of course this process might be indefinitely continued without des troying the original system. ®MDBO¯The Apologia for this System is that our purest concep-®MDBR¯ ----------------- ®PT3¯®MDBR¯1. It is not possible to give a full account of the twenty-two "path s" in this condensed sketch. They should be studied in view of all their attributes in ®PT6¯®MDBR¯777®PT3¯®MDBR¯, but more especially that in which they are attributed to the planets, elements and signs, as also to the Tarot Trumps, while their position on the Tree itself and their position as links between the particular Sephiroth which they join is the final key to their understanding. It will be noticed that each chapter of this book is attributed to one of them. This was not intentional. The book was originally but a collection of haphazard dialogues between Fra. P. and Soror A.; but on arranging the MSS, they fell naturally and of necessity into this division. Conversely, my knowledge of the Schema pointed out to me numerous gaps in my original exposition; thanks to this, I have been able to make it a complete and systematic treatise. That is, when my laziness had been jogged by the criticisms and suggestions of various colleagues to whom I had submitted the early drafts.®PT2¯ -4- ®PG¯ ®MDBO¯tions are symbolized in Mathematics. "God is the Great Arithmetician." " God is the Grand Geometer." It is best therefore to prepare to apprehend Him by formulating our minds according to these measures.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ to return, each letter of this alphabet may have its special magical sigil. The student must not expect to be given a cut-and-dried definition of what exactl y is meant by any of all this. On the contrary, he must work backwards, putting the whole of his mental and moral outfit into these pigeon-holes. You would not expect to be able to buy a filing cabinet with the names of all your past, presen t and future correspondents ready indexed: your cabinet has a system of letters a nd numbers meaningless in themselves, but ready to take on a meaning to you, as y ou fill up the files. As your business increased, each letter and number would r eceive fresh accessions of meaning for you; and by adopting this orderly arrangem ent you would be able to have a much more comprehensive grasp of your affairs tha n would otherwise be the case. ®MDBO¯By the use of this system the magician is a ble ultimately to unify the whole of his knowledge --- to transmute, even on the Intellectual Plane, the Many into the One.®MDBR¯ The Reader can now understand that the sketch given above of the magical Hier archy is hardly even an outline of the real theory of the Universe. This theory may indeed be studied in the article already referred to in No. V of the ®PT5¯Equ inox®PT2¯, and, more deeply in ®PT5¯The Book of the Law®PT2¯ and the Commentaries thereon: but the true understanding depends entirely upon the work of the Magici an himself. Without magical experience it will be meaningless. In this there is nothing peculiar. It is so with all scientific knowledge. A blind man might cram up astronomy for the purpose of passing examinations, but his knowledge would be -------------------®PT3¯ 1. By "God" I here mean the Ideal Identity of a man's inmost nature. "something ourselves (I erase Arnold's imbecile and guilty 'not') that makes for righteousness;" righteousness being rightly defined as internal coherence. (Internal Coherence implies that which is written "Detegitur Yod.")®PT2¯ - 5- ®PG¯ almost entirely unrelated to his experience, and it would certainly not give him sight. A similar phenomenon is observed when a gentleman who has taken an "hono rs degree" in modern languages at Cambridge arrives in Paris, and is unable to or der his dinner. To exclaim against the Master Therion is to act like a person wh o, observing this, should attack both the professors of French and the inhabitant s of Paris, and perhaps go on to deny the existence of France. Let us say, once again, that the magical language is nothing but a convenient system of classification to enable the magician to docket his experiences as he obtains them. Yet this is true also, that, once the language is mastered, one can divine th e unknown by study of the known, just as one's knowledge of Latin and Greek enabl es one to understand some unfamiliar English word derived from those sources. Al so, there is the similar case of the Periodic Law in Chemistry, which enables Sci ence to prophesy, and so in the end to discover, the existence of certain previou sly unsuspected elements in nature. ®MDBO¯All discussions upon philosophy are ne cessarily sterile, since truth is beyond language. They are, however, useful if carried far enough --- if carried to the point when it become apparent that all a rguments are arguments in a circle.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ But discussions of the details of purely imaginary qualities are frivolous and may be deadly. For the great dan ger of this magical theory is that the student may mistake the alphabet for the t hings which the words represent. An excellent man of great intelligence, a learned Qabalist, once amazed the M aster Therion by stating that the Tree of Life was the framework of the Universe. It was as if some one had seriously maintained that a cat was a creature constr ucted by placing he letters C. A. T. in that order. It is no wonder that Magick has excited the ridicule of the unintelligent, since even its -----------------®PT3¯ 1. See ®PT6¯The soldier and the Hunchback®PT3¯, ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, I. The apparatus of human reason is simply one particular system of coordinating impressions; its structure is determined by the course of the evolution of the species. It is no more absolute than the evolution of the species. It is no more absolute than the mechanism of our muscles is a complete type wherewith all other systems of transmitting Force must conform.®PT2¯ -6- ®PG¯ educated students can be guilty of so gross a violation of the first principles of common sense.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ A synopsis of the grades of the A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ as illustrative of the Magical Hierarchy in Man is given in Appendix 2 ®PT5¯One Star in Sight®PT2¯. This should be read before proceeding with the chapter. The sub ject is very difficult. To deal with it in full is entirely beyond the limits of this small treatise. ®PT5¯FURTHER CONCERNING THE MAGICAL UNIVERSE®PT2¯ All these letters of the magical alphabet --- referred to above --- are like so many names on a map. Man himself is a complete microcosm. Few other beings h ave this balanced perfection. Of course every sun, every planet, may have beings similarly constituted.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ But when we speak of dealing with the plane ts in Magick, -----------------®PT3¯ 1. Long since writing the above, an even gosser imbecility has been perpetrated. One who ought to have known better tried to improve the Tree of Life by turning the Serpent of Wisdom upside down! Yet he could not even make his scheme symmetrical: his little remaining good sense revolted at the supreme atrocities. Yet he succeeded in reducing the whole Magical Alphabet to nonsense, and shewing that he had never understood its real meaning. The absurdity of any such disturbance of the arrangement of the Paths is evident to any sober student from such examples as the following. Binah, the Supernal Understanding, is connected with Tiphereth, the Human Consciousness, by Zain, Gemini, the Oracles of the Gods, or the Intuition. That is, the attribution represents a psychological fact: to replace it by The Devil is either humour or plain idiocy. Again, the card "Fortitude", Leo, balances Majesty and Mercy with Strength and Severity: what sense is there in putting "Death", the Scorpion, in its stead? There are twenty other mistakes in the new wonderful illuminated-from-on-high attribution; the student can therefore be sure of twenty more laughs if he cares to study it. 2. Equally, of course, we have no means of knowing what we really are. We are limited to symbols. And it is certain that all our sense- tells us very about solidity, weight, composition, electrical character, thermal conductivity, etc., etc. It says nothing at all about the very existence of such vitally important ideas as Heat, Hardness, and so on. The impression which the mind combines from the sense can never claim to be accurate or complete. We have indeed learnt that nothing is in itself what it seems to be to us.®PT2¯ -7- ®PG¯ the reference is usually not to the actual planets, but to parts of the earth wh ich are of the nature attributed to these planets. Thus, when we say that Nakhie l is the "Intelligence" of the Sun, we do not mean that he lives in the Sun, but only that he has a certain rank and character; and although we can invoke him, we do not necessarily mean that he exists in the same sense of the word in which ou r butcher exists. When we "conjure Nakhiel to visible appearance," it may be that our process r esembles creation --- or, rather imagination --- more nearly than it does calling -forth. The aura of a man is called the "magical mirror of the universe"; and, s o far as any one can tell, nothing exists outside of this mirror. It is at least covenient to represent the whole as if it were subjective. It leads to less con fusion. And, as a man is a perfect microcosm,®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ it is perfectly easy tore-model one's conception at any moment. ®MDBO¯Now there is a traditional correspondence, which modern experiment has shown to be fairly reliable. There is a certain natural connexion between certai n letters, words, numbers gestures, shapes, perfumes and so on, so that any idea or (as we might call it) "spirit", may be composed or called forth by the use of those things which are harmonious with it, and express particular parts of its na ture.®MDBR¯ These correspondences have been elaborately mapped in the Book ®PT5¯ 777®PT2¯ in a very convenient and compendious form. It will be necessary for the student to make a careful study of this book in connexion with some actual ritua ls of Magick, for example, ------------------®PT3¯ 1. He is this only by definition. The universe may contain an infinite variety of worlds inaccessible to human apprehension. Yet, for this very reason, they do not exist for the purposes of the argument. Man has, how- ever, some instruments of knowledge;we may, therefore, define the Macro- cosm as the totality of things possible to his perception. As evolution deve- lops those instruments, the Macrocosm and the Microcosm extend; but they always maintain their mutual relation. Neither can ®MDBO¯possess®MDBR¯ any mean ing except in terms of the other. Our "discoveries" are exactly as much of ourselves as they are of Nature. America and Electricity did, in a sense, exist before we were aware of them; but they are even now no more than incomplete ideas, expressed in symbolic terms of a series of relations between two sets of inscrutable phenomena.®PT2¯ ®PG¯ that of the evocation of Taphtatharath printed in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, III, page s 170-190, where he will see exactly why these things are to be used. ®MDBO¯Of c ourse, as the student advances in knowledge by experience he will find a progress ive subtlety in the magical universe corresponding to his own; for let it be said yet again! not only is his aura a magical mirror of the universe, but the univer se is a magical mirror of his aura.®MDBR¯ In this chapter we are only able to give a very thin outline of magical theor y --- faint pencilling by weak and wavering fingers --- for this subject may almo st be said to be co-extensive with one's whole knowledge. The knowledge of exoteric science is comically limited by the fact that we ha ve no access, except in the most indirect way, to any other celestial body than o ur own. In the last few years, the semi-educated have got an idea that they know a great deal about the universe, and the principal ground for their fine opinion of themselves is usually the telephone or the airship. It is pitiful to read th e bombastic twaddle about progress, which journalists and others, who wish to pre vent men from thinking, put our for consumption. ®MDBO¯We know infinitesimally l itte of the material universe. Our detailed knowledge is so contemptibly minute, that it is hardly worth reference, save that our shame may spur us to increased endeavour. Such knowledge®MDSU¯1®MDBO¯ as we have got is of a very general and a bstruse, of a philosophical and almost magical character. This consists principa lly of the conceptions of pure mathematics. It is, therefore, almost legitimate to say that pure mathematics is our link with the rest of the universe and with " God".®MDBR¯ Now the conceptions of Magick are themselves profoundly mathematical. The wh ole basis of our theory is the Qabalah, which corresponds to mathematics and geom etry. The method of operation in Magick is based on this, in very m. Knowledge is, moreover, an impossible conception. All propositions come ultimately back to "A is A".®PT2¯ -9- ®PG¯ few simple and comprehensive propositions stated in very general terms. I might expend a life-time in exploring the details of one plane, just as an explorer might give his life to one corner of Africa, or a chemist to one subgrou p of compounds. Each such detailed piece of work may be very valuable, but it do es not as a rule throw light on the main principles of the universe. Its truth i s the truth of one angle. It might even lead to error, if some inferior person w ere to generalize from too few facts. Imagine an inhabitant of Mars who wished to philosophise about the earth, and had nothing to go by but the diary of some man at the North Pole! But the work of every explorer, on whatever branch of the Tree of Life the caterpillar he is a fter may happen to be crawling, is immensely helped by a grasp of general princip les. Every magician, therefore, should study the Hold Qabalah. Once he has mast ered the main principles, he will find his work grow easy. ®PT5¯®MDBO¯Solvitur ambulando®MDBR¯®PT2¯®MDBO¯ which does not mean: "Call the Ambulance!"®MDBR¯ -------------- -10- ®PG¯ CHAPTER I THE PRINCIPLES OF RITUAL. ®MDBO¯There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation ofthe Holy Guardian Angel;®MDSU¯1®MDBO¯ or, i n the language ofMysticism, Union with God.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ All other magical Rituals are particular cases of this general principle, and the only excuse for doing them is that it sometimes occurs that one particular p ortion of the microcosm is so weak that its imperfection of impurity would vitiat e the Macrocosm of which it is the image, Eidolon, or Reflexion. For example, Go d is above sex; and therefore neither man nor woman as such can be said fully to understand, much less to represent, God. It is therefore incumbent on the male m agician to cultivate those female virtues in which he is deficient, and this task he must of course accomplish without in any way impairing his virility. It will then be lawful for a magician to invoke Isis, and identify himself with her; if he fail to do this, his apprehension of the Universe when he attains Samadhi will lack the conception of maternity. The result will be a metaphysical and --- by corollary --- ethical limitation in the Religion which he founds. Judaism and Is lam are striking example of this failure. To take another example, the ascetic life which devotion to ------------------®PT3¯ 1. See the ®PT6¯Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage®PT3¯; and ®PT6¯Liber 418®PT3¯, 8th Aethyr, ®PT6¯Liber Samekh®PT3¯; see Appendix 3. 2. The difference between these operations is more of theoretical than of practical importance.®PT2¯ -11- ®PG¯ magick so often involves argues a poverty of nature, a narrowness, a lack of gen erosity. Nature is infinitely prodigal --- not one in a million seeds ever comes to fruition. Whoso fails to recognise this, let him invoke Jupiter.®MDSU¯1®MDBR ¯ The danger of ceremonial magick --- the sublest and deepest danger --- is thi s: that the magician will naturally tend to invoke that partial being which most strongly appeals to him, so that his natural excess in that direction will be sti ll further exaggerated. ®MDBO¯Let him, before beginning his Work, endeavour to m ap out his own being, and arrange his invocations in such a way as to redress the balance.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ This, of course, should have been done in a preliminary f ashion during the preparation of the weapons and furniture of the Temple. To consider in a more particular manner this question of the Nature of Ritual , we may suppose that he finds himself lacking in that perception of the value of Life and Death, alike of individuals and of races, which is characteristic of Na ture. He has perhaps a tendency to perceive the "first noble truth" uttered by B uddha, that Everything is sorrow. Nature, it seems, is a tragedy. He has perhap s even experienced the great trance called Sorrow. He should then consider wheth er there is not some Deity who expresses this Cycle, and yet whose nature is joy. He will find what he requires in Dionysus. ®MDBO¯There are three main methods of invoking any Deity. The ®MDBR¯®PT5¯®MDBO¯First Method®MDBR¯®PT2¯®MDBO¯ consists of devotion to th at Deity,®MDBR¯ and, being mainly mystical in character, need not be dealt with i n this place, especially as a perfect instruction exists in ®PT5¯Liber 175®PT2¯ ( ®PT5¯See®PT2¯ Appendix). The ®PT5¯®MDBO¯Second method®MDBR¯®PT2¯®MDBO¯is the straight forward ceremoni al invocation.®MDBR¯ It is the method which was usually employed in the Middle A ges. Its advantage is in directness, its disadvantage its -------------------®PT3¯ 1. There are much deeper considerations in which it appears that "Everything that is, is right". They are set forth elsewhere; we can only summarise them here by saying that the survival of the fittest is their upshot. 2. The ideal method of doing this is given in ®PT6¯Liber 913®PT3¯ (®PT6¯Equinox ®PT3¯ VII). See also ®PT6¯Liber CXI Aleph®PT3¯.®PT2¯ -12- ®PG¯ crudity. The "Goetia" gives clear instruction in this method, and so do many ot her rituals, white and black. We shall presently devote some space to a clear ex position of this Art. In the case of Bacchus, however, we may roughly outline the procedure. We fi nd that the symbolism of Tiphareth expresses the nature of Bacchus. It is then n ecessary to construct a Ritual of Tiphareth. Let us open the Book ®PT5¯777®PT2¯; we shall find in line 6 of each column the various parts of our required apparat us. Having each column the various parts of our required apparatus. Having orde red everything duly, we shall exalt the mind of repeated prayers or conjurations to the highest conception of the God, until, in one sense or another of the word, He appears to us and floods our consciousness with the light of His divinity. The ®PT5¯®MDBO¯Third Method is the Dramatic®MDBR¯,®PT2¯ perhaps the most attr active of all; certainly it is so to the artist's temperament, for it appeals to his imagination through his aesthetic sense. Its disadvantage lies principally in the difficulty of its performance by a s ingle person. But it has the sanction of the highest antiquity, and is probably the most useful for the foundation of a religion. It is the method of Catholic C hristianity, and consists in the dramatization of the legend of the God. The Bac chae of Euripides is a magnificent example of such a Ritual; so also, through in a less degree, is the Mass. We may also mention many of the degrees in Freemason ry, particularly the third. The 5®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 6®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯ Ritual published in No. III of the ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ is another example. In the case of Bacchus, one commemorates firstly his birth of a mortal mother who has yielded her treasure-house to the Father of All, of the jealousy and rag e excited by this incarnation, and of the heavenly protection afforded to the inf ant. Next should be commemorated the journeying westward upon an ass. Now comes the great scene of the drama: the gentle, exquisite youth with his following (ch iefly composed of women) seems to threaten the established order of things, and t hat Established Order takes steps to put an end to the upstart. We find Dionysus confronting the angry Kind, not with defiance, but with meekness; yet with a sub tle confidence, and underlying laughter. his forehead is wreathed with vine tend rils. He is an effeminate figure with those broad leaves clustered upon his brow ? But those leaves hide -13- ®PG¯ horns. King Pentheus, representative or respectability,®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ is destroy ed by his pride. He goes out into the mountains to attack the women who have fol lowed Bacchus, the youth whom he has mocked, scourged, and put in chains, yet who has only smiled; and by those women, in their divine madness, he is torn to piec es. It has already seemed impertinent to say so much when Walter Pater has told t he story with such sympathy and insight. We will not further transgress by dwell ing upon the identity of this legend with the course of Nature, its madness, its prodigality, its intoxication, its joy, and above all its sublime persistence thr ough the cycles of Life and Death. The pagan reader must labour to understand th is in Pater's "Greek Studies", and the Christian reader will recognise it, incide nt for incident, in the story of Christ. This legend is but the dramatization of Spring. The magician who wishes to invoke Bacchus by this method must therefore arran ge a ceremony in which he takes the part of Bacchus, undergoes all His trials, an d emerges triumphant from beyond death. He must, however, be warned against mist aking the symbolism. In this case, for example, the doctrine of individual immor tality has been dragged in, to the destruction of truth. It is not that utterly worthless part of man, his individual consciousness as John Smith, which defies d eath --- that consciousness which dies and is reborn in every thought. That whic h persists (if anything persist) is his real John Smithiness, a quality of which he was probably never conscious in his life.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ Even that does not persist unchanged. It is always growing. The Cross is a barren stick, and the petals of the Rose fall and decay; but in the union of the Cross and the Rose is a constant -----------------®PT3¯ 1. There is a much deeper interpretation in which Pentheus is himself "The Dying God". See my "Good Hunting!" and Dr. J.G.Frazer's ®PT6¯Golden Bough®PT3¯. 2. See ®PT6¯The Book of Lies®PT3¯, ®PT6¯Liber 333®PT3¯, for several sermons to this effect. Caps.®PT2¯ ®MD129¯A®MDBR¯, ®MD129¯D®MDBR¯, ®MD129¯H®MDBR¯, ®MD129¯IE®MD BR¯, ®MD129¯IS®MDBR¯, ®MD129¯IH®MDBR¯, ®MD129¯KA®MDBR¯, ®MD129¯KH®MDBR¯,®PT3¯ in particular. The rein- carnation of the Khu or magical Self is another matter entirely, too abstruse to discuss in this elementary manual.®PT2¯ -14- ®PG¯ succession of new lives.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ Without this union, and without this deat h of the individual, the cycle would be broken. A chapter will be consecrated to removing the practical difficulties of this method of Invocation. It will doubtless have been noted by the acumen of the rea der that in the great essentials these three methods are one. In each case the m agician identifies himself with the Deity invoked. To ®PT5¯invoke®PT2¯ is to ®PT 5¯call in®PT2¯, just as to ®PT5¯evoke®PT2¯ is to ®PT6¯call forth®PT2¯. This is t he essential difference between the two branches of Magick. In invocation, the m acrocosm floods the consciousness. In evocation, the magician, having become the macrocosm, creates a microcosm. You ®PT5¯in®PT2¯voke a God into the Circle. Yo u ®PT6¯e®PT2¯voke a Spirit into the Triangle. In the first method identity with the God is attained by love and by surrender, by giving up or suppressing all irr elevant (and illusionary) parts of yourself. It is the weeding of a garden. In the second method identity is attained by paying special attention to the desired part of yourself: positive, as the first method is negative. It is the p otting-out and watering of a particular flower in the garden, and the exposure of it to the sun. In the third, identity is attained by sympathy. It is very difficult for the ordinary man to lose himself completely in the subject of a play or of a novel; but for those who can do so, this method is unquestionably the best. Observe: each element in this cycle is of equal value. It is wrong to say tr iumphantly "Mors janua vitae", unless you add, with equal triumph, "Vita janua mo rtis". To one who understands this chain of the Aeons from the point of view ali ke of the sorrowing Isis and of the triumphant Osiris, not forgetting their link in the destroyer Apophis, there remains no secret veiled in Nature. he cries tha t name of God which throughout History has been echoed by one religion to another , the infinite swelling paean I.A.O.!®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ ----------®PT3¯ 1. See ®PT6¯The Book of Lies®PT3¯, ®PT6¯Liber 333®PT3¯, for several sermons to this effect. The whole theory of Death must be sought in ®PT6¯Liber CXI Aleph®PT3¯. 2. This name, I.A.O. is qabalistically identical with that of THE BEAST and with His number 666, so that he who invokes the former invokes also the latter. Also with AIWAZ and the Number 93. See Chapter V.®PT2¯ -15- ®PG¯ CHAPTER II THE FORMULAE OF THE ELEMENTAL WEAPONS. Before discussing magical formulae in detail, one may observe that most ritua ls are composite, and contain many formulae which must be harmonized into one. The first formula is that of the Wand. In the sphere of the principle which the magician wishes to invoke, he rises from point to point in a perpendicular li ne, and then descends; or else, beginning at the top, he comes directly down, ®PT 5¯invoking®PT2¯ first the god of that sphere by ®PT5¯devout supplication®PT2¯®MDS U¯1®MDBR¯ that He may deign to send the appropriate Archangel. He then ®PT5¯bese eches®PT2¯ the Archangel to send the Angel of Angels of that sphere to his aid; h e ®PT5¯conjures®PT2¯ this Angel or Angels to send the intelligence in question, a nd this intelligence he will ®PT6¯conjure with authority®PT2¯ to compel the obedi ence of the spirit and his manifestation. To this spirit he ®PT6¯issues commands ®PT2¯. It will be seen that this is a formula rather of evocation than of invocation , and for the latter the procedure, though apparently the same, should be conceiv ed of in a different manner, which brings it under another formula, that of Tetra grammaton. The essence of the force invoked is one, but the "God" represents the germ or beginning of the force, the "Archangel" its development; and so on, unti l, with the "Spirit", we have the completion and perfection of that force. -----------®PT3¯ 1. Beware, O brother, lest thou bend the knee! ®PT6¯Liber CCXXX®PT3¯ teaches the proper attitude. See also ®PT6¯Liber CCCLXX®PT3¯. Infra, furthermore, there is special instruction: Chapter XV and elsewhere.®PT2¯ -16- ®PG¯ The formula of the Cup is not so well suited for Evocations, and the magical Hierarchy is not involved in the same way; for the Cup being passive rather than active, it is not fitting for the magician to use it in respect of anything but t he Highest. In practical working it consequently means little but prayer, and th at prayer the "prayer of silence".®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ The formula of the dagger is again unsuitable for either purpose, since the n ature of the dagger is to criticise, to destroy, to disperse; and all true magica l ceremonies tend to concentration. The dagger will therefore appear principally in the banishings, preliminary to the ceremony proper. The formula of the pantacle is again of no particular use; for the pantacle i s inert. In fine, the formula of the wand is the only one with which we need mor e particularly concern ourselves.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ Now in order to invoke any being, it is said by Hermes TThe second method involves a little more subtlety, inasmuch as the magician e ndeavours to harmonize himself with the nature of the god, and to a certain exten t exalts himself, in the course of the ceremony; but the third method is the only one worthy of our consideration. This consists of a ®MDBO¯real identification of the magician and the god.®MDB R¯ Note that ®MDBO¯to do this in perfection involves the attainment of a species of Samadhi: and this fact alone suffices to link irrefragably magick with mystic ism.®MDBR¯ Let us describe the magical method of identification. The symbolic form of t he god is first studied with as much care as an artist would bestow upon his mode l, so that a perfectly clear and ---------------- ®PT3¯1. Considerations which might lead to a contrary conclusion are un- suited to this treatise. See ®PT6¯Liber LXXXI®PT3¯. 2. Later, these remarks are amplified, and to some extent modified.®PT2¯ -17- ®PG¯ unshakeable mental picture of the god is presented to the mind. Similarly, the attributes of the god are enshrined in speech, and such speeches are committed pe rfectly to memory. The invocation will then begin with a prayer to the god, comm emorating his physical attributes, always with profound understanding of their re al meaning. In the ®PT5¯second part®PT2¯ of the invocation, the voice of the god is heard, and His characteristic utterance is recited. In the ®PT5¯third portion®PT2¯ of the invocation the magician asserts the ide ntity of himself with the god. In the ®PT5¯fourth portion®PT2¯ the god is again invoked, but as if by Himself, as if it were the utterance of the will of the god that He should manifest in the magician. At the conclusion of this, the origina l object of the invocation is stated. Thus, in the invocation of Thoth which is to be found in the rite of Mercury (®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, VI) and in ®PT5¯Liber LXIV®PT2¯, the first part begins with the words "Majesty of Goodhead, wisdomcrowned TAHUTI, Thee, Thee I invoke. Oh T hou of the Ibis head, Thee, Thee I invoke"; and so on. At the conclusion of this a mental image of the God, infinitely vast and infinitely splendid, should be pe rceived, in just the same sense as a man might see the Sun. The second part begins with the words: "Behold! I am yesterday, today, and the brother of tomorrow." The magician should imagine that he is hearing this voice, and at the same ti me that he is echoing it, that it is true also of himself. This thought should s o exalt him that he is able at its conclusion to utter the sublime words which op en the third part: "Behold! he is in me, and I am in him." At this moment, he lo ses consciousness of his mortal being; he is that mental image which he previousl y but saw. This consciousness is only complete as he goes on: "Mine is the radia nce wherein Ptah floateth over his firmament. I travel upon high. I tread upon the firmament of Nu. I raise a flashing flame with the lightnings of mine eye: e ver rushing on in the splendour of the daily glorified Ra --- giving my life to t he treaders of Earth!" This thought gives the relation of God and Man from the d ivine point of view. The magician is only recalled to himself at the conclusion of the -18- ®PG¯ third part; in which occur, almost as if by accident, the words: "Therefore do a ll things obey my word." Yet in the fourth part, which begins: "Therefore do tho u come forth unto me", it is not really the magician who is addressing the God; i t is the God who hears the far-off utterance of the magician. If this invocation has been correctly performed, the words of the fourth part will sound distant an d strange. It is surprising that a dummy (so the magus now appears to Himself) s hould be able to speak! The Egyptian Gods are so complete in their nature, so perfectly spiritual and yet so perfectly material, that this one invocation is sufficient. The God beth inks him that the spirit of Mercury should now appear to the magician; and it is so. This Egyptian formula is therefore to be preferred to the Hierarchical formu la of the Hebrews with its tedious prayers, conjurations, and curses. It will be noted, however, that in this invocation of Thoth which we have sum marized, there is another formula contained, the Reverberating or Reciprocating f ormula, which may be called the formula of Horus and Harpocrates. The magician a ddresses the God with an active projection of his will, and then becomes passive while the God addresses the Universe. In the fourth part he remains silent, list ening, to the prayer which arises therefrom. The formula of his invocation of Thoth may also be classed under Tetragrammat on. The first part is fire, the eager prayer of the magician, the second water, in which the magician listens to, or catches the reflection of, the god. The thi rd part is air, the marriage of fire and water; the god and the man have become o ne; while the fourth part corresponds to earth, the condensation or materializati on of those three higher principles. With regard to the Hebrew formulae, it is doubtful whether most magicians who use them have ever properly grasped the principles underlying the method of iden tity. No passage which implies it occurs to mind, and the extant rituals certain ly give no hint of such a conception, or of any but the most personal and materia l views of the nature of things. They seem to have thought that there was an Arc hangel named Ratziel in exactly the same sense as there was a statesman named Ric helieu, an individual being living in a definite place. He had possible certain powers of a somewhat metaphysical order --- he might be -19- ®PG¯ in two places at once,®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ for example, thought even the possibility of so simple a feat (in the case of spirits) seems to be denied by certain passages in extant conjurations which tell the spirit that if he happens to be in chains in a particular place in Hell, or if some other magician is conjuring him so that the cannot come, then let him send a spirit of similar nature, or otherwise avoi d the difficultly. But of course so vulgar a conception would not occur to the s tudent of the Qabalah. It is just possible that the magi wrote their conjuratio ns on this crude hypothesis in order to avoid the clouding of the mind by doubt a nd metaphysical speculation. He who became the Master Therion was once confronted by this very difficulty. Being determined to instruct mankind, He sought a simple statement of his objec t. His will was sufficiently informed by common sense to decide him to teach man ®PT5¯The Next Step®PT2¯, the thing which was immediately above him. He might ha ve called this "God", or "The Higher Self", or "The Augoeides", or "Adi-Buddha", or 61 other things --- but He had discovered that these were all one, yet that ea ch one represented some theory of the Universe which would ultimately be shattere d by criticism --- for He had already passed through the realm of Reason, and kne w that every statement contained an absurdity. He therefore said: "Let me declar e this Work under this title: 'The obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel'", because the theory implied in these words is so paten tly absurd that only simpletons would waste much time in analysing it. It would be accepted as a convention, and no one would incur the grave danger of building a philosophical system upon it. With this understanding, we may rehabilitate the Hebrew system of invocations . ®MDBO¯The mind is the great enemy; so, by invoking enthusiastically a person w hom we know not to exist, we are rebuking that mind.®MDBR¯ Yet we should not ref rain altogether from philosophising in the light of the Holy Qabalah. We should accept the Magical Hierarchy as a more or less convenient classification of the f acts of the Universe as they are ----------------®PT3¯ 1. He could do this provided that he can travel with a speed exceeding that of Light, as he does. See A.S. Eddington "Space, Time, and Gra- vitation". Also: what means "at once"?®PT2¯ -20- ®PG¯ known to us; and as our knowledge and understanding of those facts increase, so should ewe endeavour to adjust our idea of what we mean by any symbol. At the same time let us reflect that ®MDBO¯there is a certain definite consen sus of experience as to the correlation of the various beings of the hierarchy wi th the observed facts of Magick.®MDBR¯ In the simple matter of astral vision, fo r example, one striking case may be quoted. Without telling him what it was, the Master Therion once recited as an invoca tion Sappho's "Ode to Venus" before a Probationer of the A®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFL¯:® MDBR¯ who was ignorant of Greek, the language of the Ode. The disciple then went on an "astral journey," and everything seen by him was without exception harmoni ous with Venus. This was true down to the smallest detail. He even obtained all the four colour-scales of Venus with absolute correctness. Considering that he saw something like on hundred symbols in all, the odds against coincidence are in calculably great. Such an experience (and the records of the A®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MD FL¯:®MDBR¯ contain dozens of similar cases) affords proof as absolute as any proo f can be in this would of Illusion that the correspondences in ®PT5¯Liber 777®PT2 ¯ really represent facts in Nature. It suggests itself that this "straightforward" system of magick was perhaps n ever really employed at all. One might maintain that the invocations which have come down to us are but the ruins of the Temple of Magick. The exorcisms might h ave been committed to writing fore the purpose of memorising them, while it was f orbidden to make any record of the really important parts of the ceremony. Such details of Ritual as we possess are meagre and unconvincing, and though much succ ess has been attained in the quite conventional exoteric way both by Frater Perdu rabo and by many of his colleagues, yet ceremonies of this character have always remained tedious and difficult. It has seemed as if the success were obtained al most in spite of the ceremony. In any case, they are the more mysterious parts o f the Ritual which have evoked the divine force. Such conjurations as those of t he "Goetia" leave one cold, although, notably in the second conjuration, there is a crude attempt to use that formula of Commemoration of which we spoke in the pr eceding Chapter. -21- ®PG¯ CHAPTER III THE FORMULA OF TETRAGRAMMATON.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ This formula is of most universal aspect, as all things are necessarily compr ehended in it; but its use in a magical ceremony is little understood. The climax of the formula is in one sense before even the formulation of the Yod. For the Yod is the most divine aspect of the Force --- the remaining letter s are but a solidification of the same thing. It must be understood that we are here speaking of that formula in which ®PT5¯Yod®PT2¯ is the god invoked, ®PT5¯Heÿ 08'®PT2¯ the Archangel, and so on. In order to understand the ceremony under thi s formula, we must take a more extended view of the functions of the four weapons than we have hitherto done. The formation of the ®PT5¯Yod®PT2¯ is the formulation of the first creative f orce, of that father who is called "self-begotten", and unto whom it is said: "Th ou has formulated thy Father, and made fertile thy Mother". The adding of the ®P T5¯Heÿ08'®PT2¯ to the ®PT5¯Yod®PT2¯ is the marriage of that Father to the great c o-equal Mother, who is a reflection of Nuit as He is of Hadit. Their union bring s forth the son ®PT5¯Vau®PT2¯ who is the heir. Finally the daughter ®PT5¯Heÿ08'® PT2¯ is produced. She is both the twin sister and the daughter of ®PT5¯Vau®PT2¯. ®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ His mission is to redeem her by making here his bride; the result of this is to set her upon the throne of her mother, and it is only she whose youthful embra ce can reawaken the eld of the ----------------®PT3¯ 1. ®PT2¯®MDFR¯HVHY®MDFR¯®MDBR¯®PT3¯; Yod, Heÿ08', Vau, Heÿ08', the Ineffable Na me (Jehovah) of the Hebrews. The four letters refer respectively to the four "elements", Fire, Water, Air, Earth, in the order named. 2. There is a further mystery herein, far deeper, for initiates®PT2¯ -22- ®PG¯ All-Father. In this complex family relationship®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ is symbolised the whole course of the Universe. It will be seen that (after all) the Climax is at the end. It is the second half of the formula which symbolises the Great Work wh ich we are pledged to accomplish. The first step of this is the attainment of th e Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, which constitutes the Ad ept of the Inner Order. The re-entry of these twin spouses into the womb of the mother is that initia tion described in ®PT5¯Liber 418®PT2¯, which gives admission to the Inmost Order of the A®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ Of the last step we cannot speak. It will now be recognised that to devise a practical magical ceremony to corr espond to Tetragrammaton in this exalted sense might be difficult if not impossib le. In such a ceremony the Rituals of purification alone might occupy many incar nations. It will be necessary, therefore, to revert to the simpler view of Tetragramma ton, remembering only that the ®PT5¯Heÿ08'®PT2¯ final is the Throne of the Spirit , of the Shin of Pentagrammaton. ®MDBO¯The Yod will represent a swift and violent creative energy; following t his will be a calmer and more reflective but even more powerful flow of will, the irresistible force of a mighty river. This state of mind will be followed by an expansion of the consciousness; it will penetrate all space, and this will final ly undergo a crystallization resplendent with interior light.®MDBR¯ Such modific ations of the original Will may be observed in the course of the invocations when they are properly performed. The peculiar dangers of each are obvious --- that of the first is a flash in the pan --- a misfire; that of the second, a falling into dreaminess or reverie; that of the third, loss of concentration. A mistake in any of these points will prevent, or injure the proper formation of, the fourth. In the expression which will be used in Chapter XV: "Enflame thyself", etc., only the first stage is specified; but if that is properly done the other stages will follow as if by necessity. So far is it written concerning the formula of T etragrammaton. ---------------®PT3¯ 1. The formula of Tetragrammaton, as ordinarily understood, ending with the appearance of the daughter, is indeed a degradation.®PT2¯ -23- ®PG¯ CHAPTER IV. THE FORMULA OF ALHIM, AND THAT OF ALIM. ®PT5¯ALHIM®PT2¯, ®MDFR¯mYHLA®MDBR¯, (Elohim) is the exoteric word for Gods.®MD SU¯1®MDBR¯ It is the masculine plural of a feminine noun, but its nature is prin cipally femine.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ It is a perfect hieroglyph of the number 5. This s hould be studied in "A Note on Genesis" (®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, II). The Elements are all represented, as in Tetragrammaton, but there is no devel opment from one into the others. They are, as it were, thrown together --- untam ed, only sympathising by virtue of their wild and stormy but elastically resistle ss energy. The Central letter is ®PT5¯Heÿ08'®PT2¯ --- the leatural letter of Fire. It s juxtaposition with ®PT5¯Heÿ08'®PT2¯ sanctifies that fire to the ®PT5¯Yod®PT2¯ o f Tetragrammaton. Similarly we find ®PT5¯Lamed®PT2¯ for Earth, where we should e xpect Tau --- in order to emphisize the influence of Venus, who rules Libra. ®PT5¯ALHIM®PT2¯, therefore, represents rather the formula of Consecration tha n that of a complete ceremony. It is the breath of benediction, yet so potent th at it can give life to clay and light to darkness. In consecrating a weapon, ®PT5¯Aleph®PT2¯ is the whirling force of the thunde rbolt, the lightning which flameth out of the East even ----------------®PT3¯ 1. "Gods" are the Forces of Nature; their "Names" are the Laws of Nature. Thus They are eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent and so on; and thus their "Wills" are immutable and absolute. 2. It represents Sakti,or Teh; femininity always means form, mani- festation. The masculine Siva, or Tao, is always a concealed force.®PT2¯ -24- ®PG¯ into the West. This is the gift of the wielding of the thunderbolt of Zeus or I ndra, the god of Air. ®PT5¯Lamed®PT2¯ is the Ox-goad, the driving force; and it is also the Balance, representing the truth and love of the Magician. It is the loving care which he bestows upon perfecting his instruments, and the equilibrati on of that fierce force which initiates the ceremony.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ ®PT5¯Yod®PT2¯ is the creative energy -- the procreative power: and yet ®PT5¯Y od®PT2¯ is the solitude and silence of the hermitage into which the Magician has shut himself. ®PT5¯Mem®PT2¯ is the letter of water, and it is the Mem final, who se long flat lines suggest the Sea at Peace ®MDFR¯m®MDBR¯ÿ08®MDFR¯m®MDBR¯; not th e ordinary (initial and medial) Mem whose hieroglyph is a wave ®MDFR¯M®MDBR¯ÿ08®M DFR¯M®MDBR¯.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ And then, in the Centre of all, broods Spirit, which c ombines the mildness of the Lamb with the horns of the Ram, and is the letter of Bacchus or "Christ".®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ After the magician has created his instrument, and balanced it truly, and fil led it with the lightnings of his Will, then is the weapon laid away to rest; and ®MDBO¯in this Silence, a true Consecration comes.®MDBR¯ THE FORMULA OF ALIM It is extremely interesting to contrast with the above the formula of the ele mental Gods deprived of the creative spirit. One -------------®PT3¯ 1. The letters Aleph and Lamed are infinitely important in this Aeon of Horus; they are indeed the Key of ®PT6¯The Book of the Law®PT3¯. No more can be said in this place than that Aleph is Harpocrates, Bacchus Diphues, the Holy Ghost, the "Pure Fool" or Innocent Babe who is also the Wandering Singer who impregnates the King's Daughter who Himself as Her Child; Lamed is the King's Daughter, satisfied by Him, holding His "Sword and Balances" in her lap. These weapons are the Judge, armed with power to execute His Will, and Two Witnesses "in whom shall every Truth be established" in accordance with whose testimony he gives judgment. 2. In the symbolism above outlined, Yod is the Mercurial "Virgin Word", the Spermatozoon concealing its light under a cloke; and Mem is the amniotic fluid, the flood wherein is the Life-bearing Ark. See A. Crowley "The Ship", ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, X. 3. The letter Heÿ08' is the formula of Nuith, which makes possible the process described in the previous notes. But it is not permissible here to explain fully the exact matter or manner of this adjustment. I have preferred the exoteric attributions, which are sufficiently informative for the beginner.®PT2¯ -25- ®PG¯ might suppose that as ALIM,®MDFR¯ ®MDFR¯mYLA®MDBR¯, is the masculine plural of t he masculine noun AL, ®MDFR¯LA®MDBR¯, its formula would be more virile than that of ALHIM, ®MDFR¯mYHLA®MDBR¯, which is the masculine plural of the feminine noun A LH, ®MDFR¯HLA®MDBR¯. A moment's investigation is sufficient to dissipate the ill usion. The word masculine has no meaning except in relation to some feminine cor relative. The word ALIM may in fact be considered as neuter. By a rather absurd conven tion, neuter objects are treated as feminine on account of their superficial rese mblance in passivity and inertness with the unfertilized female. But the female produces life by the intervention of the male, while the neuter does so only when impregnated by Spirit. Thus we find the feminine AMA, ®MDFR¯AMA®MDBR¯, becoming AIMA®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯, ®MDFR¯AMYA®MDBR¯, through the operation of the phallic Yod, w hile ALIM, the congress of dead elements, only fructifies by the brooding of Spir it. This being so, how can we describe ALIM as containing a Magical Formula? Inq uiry discloses the fact that this formula is of a very special kind. The word adds up to 81, which is a number of the moon. It is thus the formul a of witchcraft, which is under Hecate.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ It is only the romantic med iaeval perversion of science that represents young women as partaking in witchcra ft, which is, properly speaking, restricted to the use of such women as are no lo nger women in the Magical sense of the word, because thy are no longer capable of corresponding to the formula of the male, and are therefore neuter rather than f eminine. It is for this reason that their method has always been referred to the moon, in that sense of the term in which she appears, not as the feminine correl ative of the sun, but as the burnt-out, dead, airless satellite of earth. No true Magical operation can be performed by the formula of ALIM. ®MDBO¯All the works of witchcraft are illusory; and their apparent effects depend on the i dea that it is possible to alter things by the mere rearrangement of them.®MDBR¯ One --------------®PT3¯ 1. AMA is 42, the number of sterility; AIMA, 52, that of fertility, of BN, ®PT2¯®MDFR¯NB®MDBR¯®PT3¯, the SON. 2. See A. Crowley "Orpheus" for the Invocation of this Goddess.®PT2¯ -26- ®PG¯ must not rely upon the false analogy of the Xylenes to rebut this argument. It is quite true that geometrical isomers act in different manners towards the subst ance to which they are brought into relation. And it is of course necessary some times to rearrange the elements of a molecule before that molecule can form eithe r the masculine or the feminine element in a true Magical combination with some o ther molecule. It is therefore occasionally inevitable for a Magician to reorganize the stru cture of certain elements before proceeding to his operation proper. Although su ch work is technically witchcraft, it must not be regarded as undesirable on that ground, for all operations which do not transmute matter fall strictly speaking under this heading. The real objection to this formula is not inherent in its own nature. Witchc raft consists in treating it as the exclusive preoccupation of Magick, and especi ally in denying to the Holy Spirit his right to indwell His Temple.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ -------------®PT3¯ 1. The initiate of the XI®PT2¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯®PT3¯ of O.T.O. will remark that the re is a totally different formula of ALIM, complementary with that here discussed. 81 may be regarded as a number of Yesod rather than of Luna. The actual meaning of the word may be taken as indicating the formula. Aleph may be referred to Harpocrates, with allusion to the well-known poem of Catullus. Lamed may imply the exaltation of Saturn, and suggest the Three of Swords in a particular manner. Yod will then recall Hermes, and Mem the Hanged Man. We have thus a Tetragrammaton which contains no feminine component. The initial Force is here the Holy Spirit and its vehicle or weapon the "Sword and Balances". Justice is then done upon the Mercurial "Virgin", with the result that the Man is "Hanged" or extended, and is slain in this manner. Such an operation makes creation impossible --- as in the former case; but here there is no question of re-arrangement; the creative force is employed deliberately for destruction, and is entirely absorbed in its own sphere (or cylinder, on Einstein's equations) of action. This Work is to be regarded as "Holiness to the Lord". The Hebrews, in fact, conferred the title of Qadosh (holy) upon its adepts. Its effect is to consecrate the Magicians who perform it in a very special way. We may take note also of the correspond- ence of Nine with Teth, XI, Leo, and the Serpent. The great merits of this formula are that it avoids contact with the inferior planes, that it is self-sufficient, that it involves no responsibilities, and that it leaves its masters not only stronger in themselves, but wholly free to fulfil their essential Natures. Its abuse is an abomination.®PT2¯ -27- ®PG¯ CHAPTER V The Formula of I.A.O. his formula is the principal and most characteristic formula of Osiris, of th e Redemption of Mankind. ®PT5¯I®PT2¯ is Isis, Nature, ruined by ®PT5¯A®PT2¯, Apo phis the Destroyer, and restored to life by the Redeemer Osiris.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ Th e same idea is expressed by the Rosicrucian formula of the Trinity: ®PT5¯Ex Deo nascimur. In Jesu Morimur Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus.®PT2¯ This is also identical with the Word Lux, L.V.X., which is formed by the arms of a cross. It is this formula which is implied in those ancient and modern mon uments in which the phallus is worshipped as the Saviour of the World. The doctrine of resurrection as vulgarly understood is false and absurd. It is not even "Scriptural". St. Paul does not identify the glorified body which ri ses with the mortal body which dies. On the contrary, he repeatedly insists on t he distinction. The same is true of a magical ceremony. The magician who is destroyed by abs orption in the Godhead is really destroyed. The ----------------®PT3¯ 1. There is a quite different formula in which I is the father, O the Mother, A the child --- and yet another, in which I.A.O. are all fathers of different kinds balanced by H.H.H., 3 Mothers, to complete the Universe. In a third, the true formula of the Beast 666, I and O are the opposites which form the field for the operation of A. But this is a higher matter unsuited for this elementary handbook. See, however, ®PT6¯Liber Samekh®PT3¯, Point II, Section J.®PT2¯ -28- ®PG¯ miserable mortal automaton remains in the Circle. It is of no more consequence to Him that the dust of the floor.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ But before entering into the details of ®PT5¯I.A.O.®PT5¯®PT2¯ as a magick for mula it should be remarked that it is essentially the formula of Yoga or meditati on; in fact, of elementary mysticism in all its branches. ®MDBO¯In beginning a meditation practice, there is always®MDSU¯2®MDBO¯ a quie t pleasure,®MDBR¯ a gentle natural growth; one takes a lively interest in the wor k it seems easy; one is quite pleased to have started. This stage represents Isi s. Sooner or later ®MDBO¯it is succeeded by depression®MDBR¯ --- the Dark Night of the Soul, an infinite weariness and detestation of the work. The simplest and easiest acts become almost impossible to perform. Such impotence fills the mind with apprehension and despair. The intensity of this loathing can hardly be und erstood by any person who has not experienced it. This is the period of Apophis. It is followed by the arising not of Isis, but of Osiris. ®MDBO¯The ancient condition is not restored, but a new and superior condition is created®MDBR¯, a c ondition only rendered possible by the process of death. The Alchemists themselves taught this same truth. The first matter of the wo rk was base and primitive, though "natural". After passing through various stage s the "black dragon" appeared; but from this arose the pure and perfect gold. Even in the legend of Prometheus we find an identical formula concealed; and a similar remark applies to those of Jesus Christ, and of many other mythical god -men worshipped in different countries.®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ A magical ceremony constructed on this formula is thus in close essential har mony with the natural mystic process. We find it the ---------------®PT3¯ 1. It is, for all that, His instrument, acquired by Him as an astrono- mer buys a telescope. See ®PT6¯Liber Aleph®PT3¯, for a full explanation of the objects attained by the stratagem of incarnation; also Part IV of this ®PT6¯Book 4®PT3¯. 2. If not, one is not working properly. 3. See J.G.Frazer, ®PT6¯The Golden Bough®PT3¯: J.M.Robertson ®PT6¯Pagan Christs®PT3¯; A. Crowley ®PT6¯Jesus®PT3¯, etc., etc.®PT2¯ -29- ®PG¯ basis of many important initiations, notably the Third Degree in Masonry, and th e 5®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 6®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯ ceremony of the G®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ D®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ d escribed in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, III. A ceremonial self-initiation may be constr ucted with advantage on this formula. The essence of it consists in robing yours elf as a king, then stripping and slaying yourself, and rising from that death to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯. There i s an etymological identity between Tetragrammaton and ®PT5¯®MDBO¯I A O®MDBR¯®PT2¯ , but the magical formulae are entirely different, as the descriptions here given have schewn. Professor William James, in his ®PT5¯Varieties of Religious Experience®PT2¯, has well classified religion as the "once-born" and the "twice-born"; but the rel igion now proclaimed in ®PT5¯Liber Legis®PT2¯ harmonizes these by transcending th em. There is no attempt to get rid of death by denying it, as among the once-bor n; nor to accept death as the gate of a new life, as among the twice-born. With the A®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ A®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ life and death are equally incidents in a caree r, very much like day and night in the history of a planet. But, to pursue the s imile, we regard this planet from afar. ®MDBO¯A Brother of A®MDBR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBO¯ A®MDBR¯®MDFL¯:®MDBO¯ looks at ®MDBR¯(what another person would call) "®MDBO¯himse lf®MDBR¯",®MDBO¯ as one --- or, rather, some --- among a group of phenomena. He is that "nothing" whose consciousness is in one sense the universe considered as a single phenomenon in time and space, and in another sense is the negation of th at consciousness.®MDBR¯ The body and mind of the man are only important (if at a ll) as the telescope of the astronomer to him. If the telescope were destroyed i t would make no appreciable difference to the Universe which that telescope revea ls. It will now be understood that this formula of I A O is a formula of Tipharet h. The magician who employs it is conscious of himself as a man liable to sufferi ng, and anxious to transcend that state by becoming one with god. It will appear to him as the Supreme Ritual, as the final step; but, as has already been ---------------®PT3¯ 1. This formula, although now superseded by that of HORUS, the Crowned and Conquering Child, remains valid for those who have not yet assimilated the point of view of the Law of Thelema. But see Appendix, ®PT6¯Liber SAMEKH®PT3¯. Compare also ®PT6¯The Book of the Spirit of the Living Gods,®PT3¯ were there is a ritual given ®PT6¯in extenso®PT3¯ on sligh tly different lines: ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, III, pages 269-272.®PT2¯ ®PG¯ pointed out, it is but a preliminary. For the normal man today, however, it rep resents considerable attainment; and there is a much earlier formula whose invest igation will occupy Chapter VI. THE MASTER THERION, in the Seventeenth year of the Aeon, h has expanded I A O by treating the O as an Ayin, and then adding Vau as prefix and affix. The full word is then ®MDFR¯Vÿ08VIÿ08IAÿ08AYÿ08YVÿ08V®MDBR¯ whose number is 93. We may analyse this new Word in detail and demonstrate that it is a proper hieroglyph of the Ritual of Self-Initiation in this Aeon of Horus . For the correspondence in the following note, see ®PT5¯Liber 777®PT2¯. The pr incipal points are these: -31- ®PG¯®PT3¯ _______________________________________________________________________________ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Atu ³No.³ Hebrew ³ No. ³Correspondence³ Other ³of ³ ³ of ³ ³ (Tarot Trump) ³Atu³ letters ³letter³ in Nature ³ Correspondences ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ --------------³---³-------------³------³--------------³------------------------ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ The Hiero- ³ V ³Vau (a nail) ³ 6 ³Taurus (An ³The Sun. The son in Te- phant. (Osi-³ ³ English V, ³ ³ earthy sign ³ tragrammaton. (See Cap. ris throned ³ ³ W, or vo- ³ ³ ruled by ³ III). The Pentagram & crowned, ³ ³ wel between³ ³ Venus; the ³ which shows Spirit with Wand. ³ ³ O and U- ³ ³ Moon exalt- ³ master & reconciler of ³ ³ ma'ajab and³ ³ ed therein. ³ the Four Elements. ³ ³ ma'aruf. ³ ³ but male.) ³ Four Wor- ³ ³ ³ ³ Liberty,i.e.³The Hexagram which un- shippers;the³ ³ ³ ³ free will. ³ God and Man. The cons- four ele- ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ sciousness or Ruach. ments. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³Parzival as the Child in ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ his widowed mother's ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ care: Horus, son of ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Isis and the slain ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Osiris. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³Parzival as King & ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Priest in Montsalvat ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ performing the mir- ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ acle of redemption; ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Horus crowned and ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ conquering, taking the ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ place of his father. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³Christ-Bacchus in Hea- ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ven-Olympus saving the ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ world. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ The Hermit ³IX ³Yod (a hand) ³ 10 ³Virgo (an ³The root of the Alphabet (Hermes ³ ³ English I ³ ³ earthy sign ³ The Spermatozoon. The with Lamp, ³ ³ or Y. ³ ³ ruled by ³ youth setting out on Wings, ³ ³ ³ ³ Mercury ³ his adventures after Wand, ³ ³ ³ ³ exalted ³ receiving the Wand. Cloak, and ³ ³ ³ ³ therein; ³ Parzival in the desert Serpent). ³ ³ ³ ³ sexually ³ Christ taking refuge ³ ³ ³ ³ ambivalent) ³ in Egypt, and on ³ ³ ³ ³ Light, i.e. ³ the Mount tempted by ³ ³ ³ ³ of Wisdom, ³ the Devil. The uncon- ³ ³ ³ ³ the Inmost. ³ scious Will, or Word. ®PT2¯ -32- ®PG¯ ®PT3¯ _______________________________________________________________________________ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Atu ³No.³ Hebrew ³ No. ³Correspondence³ Other ³of ³ ³ of ³ ³ (Tarot Trump) ³Atu³ letters ³letter³ in Nature ³ Correspondences ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ --------------³---³-------------³------³--------------³------------------------ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ The Fool ³ O ³Aleph (an ox)³ 1 ³Air (The con- ³The free breath. The (The Babe ³ ³ English A, ³ ³ dition of ³ Svastika. The Holy in the Egg ³ ³ more or ³ ³ all Life, ³ Ghost. The Virgin's on the Lo- ³ ³ less ³ ³ the impar- ³ Womb. Parzial as "der tus, Bacchus³ ³ ³ ³ tial vehicle³ reine Thor" who knows Diphues, ³ ³ ³ ³ Sexually ³ nothing. Horus. etc. ³ ³ ³ ³ undevelop- ³ Christ-Bacchus as the ³ ³ ³ ³ ed). Life; ³ innocent babe, pursued ³ ³ ³ ³ i.e. the ³ by Herod-Heÿ08'reÿ08'. ³ ³ ³ ³ organ of ³ Hercules strangling ³ ³ ³ ³ possible ³ the serpents. The ³ ³ ³ ³ expression. ³ Unconscious Self not ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ yet determined in any ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ direction. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ The Devil ³XV ³Ayin (an ³ 70 ³Capricornus ³Parzival in Black Armour, (Baphomet ³ ³ eye) En- ³ ³ (an earthy ³ ready to return to throned & ³ ³ glish A, or³ ³ sign ruled ³ Montsalvat as Redeemer- adored by ³ ³ O more or ³ ³ by Saturn; ³ King: Horus come to Male & Fe- ³ ³ less: the ³ ³ Mars exalt- ³ full growth. Christ- male. See ³ ³ bleat of a ³ ³ ed therein. ³ Bacchus with Calvary- Eliphas ³ ³ goat, A'a. ³ ³ Sexually ³ Cross Kithairon --- Levi's de- ³ ³ ³ ³ male) ³ Thyrsus. sign.) ³ ³ ³ ³ love: i.e. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ the instinct³ ³ ³ ³ ³ to satisfy ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Godhead by ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ uniting it ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ with the ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Universe. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ®PT2¯ ®MD129¯IAF®MDBR¯ varies in significance with successive Aeons. -33- ®PG¯ ®PT5¯Aeon of Isis.®PT2¯ Matriarchal Age. The Great Work conceived as a stra ightforward simple affair. We hand the theory reflected in the customs of Matriarchy. Parthenogenesis i s supposed to be true. The Virgin (Yod---Virgo) contains in herself the Principl e of Growth --- the epicene Hermetic seed. It becomes the Babe in the Egg (A --- Harpocrates) by virtue of the Spirit (A = Air, impregnating the Mother---Vulture ) and this becomes the Sun or Son (®MD129¯F®MDBR¯ = the letter of Tiphareth, 6, e ven when spelt as Omega, in Coptic. See ®PT5¯777®PT2¯). ®PT5¯Aeon of Osiris.®PT2¯ Patriarchal age. Two sexes. I conceived as the F ather---Wand. (Yod in Tetragrammaton). A the Babe is pursued by the Dragon, who casts a flood from his mouth to swallow it. See ®PT5¯Rev.®PT2¯ VII. The Dragon is also the Mother --- the "Evil Mother" of Freud. It is Harpocrates, threatene d by the crocodile in the Nile. We find the symbolism of the Ark, the Coffin of Osiris, etc. The Lotus is the Yoni; the Water the Amniotic Fluid. In order to l ive his own life, the childe must leave the Mother, and overcome the temptation t o return to her for refuge. Kundry, Armida, Jocasta, Circe, etc., are symbols of this force which tempts the Hero. He may take her as his servant®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ w hen he has mastered her, so as to heal his father (Amfortas), avenge him (Osiris) , or pacify him (Jehovah). But in order to grow to manhood, he must cease to dep end on her, earning the Lance (Parzival), claiming his arms (Achilles), or making his club (Hercules)®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯, and wander in the waterless wilderness like Kr ishna, Jesus, Oedipus, ®MD129¯x. t. l.®MDBR¯ --- until the hour when, as the "Kin g's Son" or knight-errant, he must win the Princess, and set himself upon a stran ge throne. Almost all the legends of heroes imply this formula in strikingly sim ilar symbols. ®MD129¯F®MDBR¯. Vau the Sun --- son. He is supposed to be mortal; but how is this shewn? It seems an absolute perversion of truth: the sacred sym bols have no hint of it. This lie is the essence of the Great Sorcery. Osirian religion is a Freudian phantasy fashioned of man's dread of death and ignorance o f nature. The partheno- ------------------®PT3¯ 1. Her sole speech in the last Act is "Dienen: Dienen". 2. Note that all these three remain for a time as neuters among woman, prevented from living the male life.®PT2¯ -34- ®PG¯ genesis-deas persists, but is now the formula for incarnating demi-gods, or divi ng kings; these must be slain and raised from the dead in one way or another.®MDS U¯1®MDBR¯ ®PT5¯ Aeon of Horus.®PT2¯ Two sexes in one person. ®MD129¯FIAOF®MDBR¯: 93, the full formula, recognizing the Sun as the Son (Star) , as the pre-existent manifested Unit from which all springs and to which all ret urns. The Great Work is to make the initial ®MD129¯FF®MDBR¯ of Assiah (The world of material illusion) into the final ®MD129¯FIF®MDBR¯ of Atziluth,®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ the world of pure reality. Spelling the Name in full, ®MD129¯FF®MDBR¯ + ®MD129¯IFD®MDBR¯ + ®MD129¯ALR®MDBR¯ + ®MD129¯OIN®MDBR¯ + ®MD129¯FI®MDBR¯ = 309 = ®MDFR¯tS®MDBR¯ = XX + XI = 31 the s ecret Key of the Law. ®MD129¯F®MDBR¯ is the manifested Star. ®MD129¯I®MDBR¯ is the secret Life .............. Serpent --- Light ............. Lamp --- Love .............. Wand --- Liberty ........... Wings --- Silence ........... Cloak These symbols are all shewn in the Atu "The Hermit". They are the powers of the Yod, whose extension is the Vau. Yod is the Hand wherewith man does his Will. It is also The Virgin; his essence is inviolate. ®MD129¯A®MDBR¯ is the Babe "who has formulated his Father, and made fertile his Mother" --- Harpocrates, etc., as before; but he develops to ®MD129¯O®MDBR¯ The exalted "Devil" (also the ®PT5¯other®PT2¯ secret Eye) by the formula of the Initiation of Horus elsewhere described in detail. This "Devil: is called Satan or Shaitan, and rgarded with horror by people who are ignorant of his formula, and, imagining themselves to be evil, acc use Nature herself of their own phantasmal crime. Satan is Saturn, Set, Abrasax, Adad, Adonis, Attis, Adam, Adonai, etc. The most serious charge against him is that he is the Sun in the South. The Ancient Initiates, ------------®PT3¯ 1. All these ideas may be explained by reference to anthropology. But this is not their condemnation, but their justification; for the customs and legends of mankind reflect the true nature of the species. 2. For these spellings see ®PT6¯777®PT2¯. -35- ®PG¯ dwelling as they did in lands whose blood was the water of the Nile or the Euphr ates, connected the South with life-withering heat, and cursed that quarter where the solar darts were deadliest. Even in the legend of Hiram, it is at high noon that he is stricken down and slain. Capricornus is moreover the sign which the sun enterers when he reaches his extreme Southern declination at the Winter Solst ice, the season of he death of vegetation, for the folk of the Northern hemispher e. This gave them a second cause for cursing the south. A third; the tyranny of hot, dry, poisonous winds; the menace of deserts or oceans dreadful because myst erious and impassable; these also were connected in their minds with the South. But to us, aware of astronomical facts, this antagonism to the South is a silly s uperstition which the accidents of their local conditions suggested to our animis tic ancestors. We see no enmity between Right and Left, Up and Down, and similar pairs of opposites. These antitheses are real only as a statement of relation; they are to conventions of an arbitrary device for representing our ideas in a pl uralistic symbolism based on duality. "Good" must be defined in terms of human i deals and instincts. "East" has no meaning except with reference to the earth's internal affairs; as an absolute direction in space it changes a degree every fou r minutes. "Up" is the same for no two men, unless one chance to be in the line joining the other with the centre ofthe earth. "Hard" is the private opinion of our muscles. "True" is an utterly unintelligible epithet which has proved refrac tory to the analysis of our ablest philosophers. We have therefore no scruple in restoring the "devil-worship" of such ideas a s those which the laws of sound, and the phenomena of speech and hearing, compel us to connect with the group of "Gods" whose names are based upon Sht,®MDFR¯tS®MD BR¯, or D, ®MDFR¯D®MDBR¯, vocalized by the free breath A, ®MDFR¯A®MDBR¯. For the se Names imply the qualities of courage, frankness, energy, pride, power and triu mph; they are the words which express the creative and paternal will. Thus "the Devil" is Capricornus, the Goat who leaps upon the loftiest mountai ns, the Godhead which, if it become manifest in man, makes him Aegipan, the All. The Sun enters this sign when he turns to renew the year in the North. He is also the vowel O, proper to roar, to boom, and Open Eye of the exalted Sun, before whom all shadows flee away: als o that Secret Eye which makes an image of its God, the Light, and gives it power to utter oracles, enlightening the mind. Thus, he is Man made God, exalted, eager; he has come consciously to his full stature, and so is ready to set out on his journey to redeem the world. But he may not appear in this true form; the Vision of Pan would drive men mad with fear . He must conceal Himself in his original guise. He therefore becomes apparently the man that he was at the beginning; he live s the life of a man; indeed, he is wholly man. But his initiation has made him m aster of the Event by giving him the understanding that whatever happens to him i s the execution of this true will. Thus the last stage of his initiation is expr essed in our formula as the final: ®MD129¯F®MDBR¯ --- The series of transformations has not affected his identity; but it has explained him to himself. Similarly, Copper is still Copper after Cu + O = CuO: +H®MDSD¯2®MDBR¯SO®MDSD¯4®MDBR¯=CuS®MDSD¯4®MDBR¯O(H®MDSD¯2®MDBR¯O):+K®M DSD¯2®MDBR¯S=CuS(K®MDSD¯2®MDBR¯SO®MDSD¯4®MDBR¯): + blowpipe and reducing agent = Cu(S). It is the same copper, but we have learnt some of its properties. We observe especially that it is indestructible, inviolably itself throughout all its adven tures, and in all its disguises. We see moreover that it can only make use of it s powers, fulfill the possibilities of its nature, and satisfy its equations, by thus combining with its counterparts. Its existence as a separate substance is e vidence of its subjection to stress; and this is felt as the ache of an incompreh ensible yearning until it realises that every experience is a relief, an expressi on of itself; and that it cannot be injured by aught that may befall it. In the Aeon of Osiris it was indeed realised that Man must die in order to live. But no w in the Aeon of Horus we know that every event is a death; subject and object sl ay each other in "Love under will"; each such death is itself life, the means by which one realises oneself in a series of episodes. The second main point is the completion of the A babe Bacchus by the O Pan (P arzival wins the Lance, etc.). -37- ®PG¯ The first process is to find the I in the V --- initiation, purification, fin ding the Secret Root of oneself, the epicene Virgin who is 10 (Malkuth) but spelt in full 20 (Jupiter). This Yod in the ®PT5¯Virgin®PT2¯ expands to the Babe in the Egg by formulatin g the Secret Wisdom of Truth of Hermes in the Silence of the Fool. He acquires t he Eye-Wand, beholding the acting and being adored. The Inverted Pentagram --- B aphomet --- the Hermaphrodite fully grown --- begets himself on himself as V agai n. Not that there are now two sexes in one person throughout, so that each indiv idual is self-procreative sexually, whereas Isis knew only one sex, and Osiris th ought the two sexes opposed. Also the formula is now Love in all cases; and the end is the beginning, on a higher plane. The I is formed from the V by removing its tail, the A by balancing 4 Yods, t he O by making an inverted triangle of Yods, which suggests the formula of Nuit - -- Hadit --- Ra-Hoor-Khuit. A is the elements whirling as a Svastika --- the cre ative Energy in equilibrated action.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ -------------- ------------- 1. WEH Note: This forms a Vesica: ®MDFR¯V®MDBR¯ ®MDFR¯Y®MDBR¯ ®MDFR¯A®MDBR¯ ®MDFR¯Y®MDBR¯ ®MDFR¯Y®MDBR¯ ÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ ÚÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÙ ®MDFR¯Y®MDBR¯ ®MDFR¯Y®MDBR¯ ³ ³ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄ ®MDFR¯I®MDBR¯ ®MDFR¯Y®MDBR¯ ®MDFR¯Y®MDBR¯ ®MDFR¯Y®MDBR¯ ®PG¯ CHAPTER VI THE FORMULA OF THE NEOPHYTE®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯. This formula has for its "first matter" the ordinary man entirely ignorant of everything and incapable of anything. He is therefore represented as blindfolde d and bound. His only aid is his aspiration, represented by the officer who is t o lead him into the Temple. Before entering, he must be purified and consecrated . Once within the Temple, he is required to bind himself by an oath. His aspira tion is now formulated as Will. He makes the mystic circumambulation of the Temp le for the reasons to be described in the Chapter on "Gesture". After further pu rification and consecration, he is allowed for one moment to see the Lord of the West, and gains courage®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ to persist., For the third time he is purif ied and consecrated, and he sees the Lord of the East, who holds the balance, kee ping him in a straight line. In the West he gains energy. In the East he is pre vented from dissipating the same. so fortified, he may be received into the Orde r as a neophyte by the three principal officers, thus uniting the Cross with the Triangle. He may than be placed between the pillars of the Temple, to receive th e fourth and final consecration. In this position the secrets of the grade are c ommunicated to him, and the last of his fetters is removed. All this is sealed b y the sacrament of the Four Elements. It will be seen that the ®MDBO¯effect of this whole ceremony is to endow a th ing inert and impotent with balanced motion in a given direction.®MDBR¯ Numerous example of this formula re given ---------------®PT3¯ 1. See the Neophyte Ceremony, ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ I,II. 2. Fear is the source of all false perception. Even Freud had a glimpse of this fact.®PT2¯ -39- ®PG¯ in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯I, Nos. II and III. It is the formula of the Neophyte Cerem ony of G®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ D®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ It should be employed in the consecration o f the actual weapons used by the magician, and may also be used as the first form ula of initiation. In the book called ®PT5¯Z 2®PT2¯®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ (®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, III) are given full details of this formula, which cannot be too carefully studied and pra ctised. It is unfortunately, the most complex of all of them. But this is the f ault of the first matter of the work, which is so muddled that many operations ar e required to unify it. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Those sections dealing with divination and alchemy are the most grotesque rubbish in the latter case, and in the former obscure and unpractical.®PT2¯ ------------ -40- ®PG¯ CHAPTER VII THE FORMULA OF THE HOLY GRAAL: OF ABRAHADABRA: ®PT5¯and of certain other Words.®PT2¯ Also: THE MAGICAL MEMORY. The Hieroglyph shewn in the Seventh Key of the Tarot (described in the 12th A ethyr, ®PT5¯Liber 418®PT2¯, ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, V) is the Charioteer of OUR LADY BABALON, whose Cup or Graal he hears. Now this is an important formula. It is the First of the Formulae, in a sens e, for it is the formula of Renunciation.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ It is also the Last! This Cup is said to be full of the Blood of the Saints; that is, ®MDBO¯every "saint" or magician must give the last drop of his life's blood to that cup.®MDBR ¯ It is the original price paid for magick power. And ®MDBO¯if by magick power we mean the true power,®MDBR¯ the assimilation of all force with the Ultimate Lig ht, the true Bridal of the Rosy Cross, ®MDBO¯then is that blood the offering of V irginity, the sole sacrifice well-pleasing to the Master,®MDBR¯ the sacrifice who se only reward is the pain of child-bezaring unto him. But "to sell one's soul to the devil", to ®MDBO¯renounce no matter what for a n equivalent in personal gain®MDSU¯2®MDBO¯, is black magic.®MDBR¯ You are no lon ger a noble giver of your all, but a mean huckster. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. There is no moral implication here. But to choose A implies to refuse not-A: at least, that is so, below the Abyss. 2. ®PT6¯Supposed®PT3¯ personal gain. There is really no person to gain; so the whole transaction is a swindle on both sides.®PT2¯ -41- ®PG¯ This formula is, however, a little different in symbolism, since it is a Woma n whose Cup must be filled. It is rather the sacrifice of the Man, who transfers life to his descendants. For a woman does not carry in herself the principle of new life, except temporarily, when it is given her. But here the formula implies much more even that this. For it is his whole l ife that the Magus offers to OUR LADY. The Cross is both Death and Generation, a nd it is on the Cross that the Rose blooms. The full significance of these symbo ls is so lofty that it is hardly fitted for an elementary treatise of this type. One must be an Exempt Adept, and have become ready to pass on, before one can se e the symbols even from the lower plane. Only a Master of the Temple can fully u nderstand them. (However, the reader may study ®PT5¯Liber CLVI®PT2¯, in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, VI, the 12th and 2nd Aethyrs in ®PT5¯Liber 418®PT2¯ in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, V, an d the Symbolism of the V®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ and VI®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ in O.T.O.) Of the preservation of his blood which OUR LADY offers to the ANCIENT ONE, CH AOS®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ the All-Father, to revive him, and of how his divine Essence fil ls the Daughter (the soul of Man) and places her upon the Throne of the Mother, f ulfilling the Economy of the Universe, and thus ultimately rewarding the Magician (the Son) ten thousandfold, it would be still more improper to speak in this pla ce. So holy a mystery is the Arcanum of the Masters of the Temple, that it is he re hinted at in order to blind the presumptuous who may, unworthy, seek to lift t he veil, and at the same time to lighten the darkness of such as may be requiring only one ray of the Sun in order to spring into life and light. II ABRAHADABRA is a word to be studied in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I,V., "The Temple of Solomon the King". It represents the Great Work complete, and it is therefore a n archetype of all lesser magical operations. It is in a way too perfect to be a pplied in ----------------®PT3¯ 1. CHAOS is a general name for the totality of the Units of Existence; it is thus a name feminine in form. Each unit of CHAOS is itself All- Father.®PT2¯ -42- ®PG¯ advance to any of them. But an example of such an operation may be studied in ® PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, VII, "The Temple of Solomon the King", where an invocation of Horus on this formula is given in full. Note the ®PT3¯reverberation®PT2¯ of the ideas one against another. The formula of Horus has not yet been so fully worke d out in details as to justify a treatise upon its exoteric theory and practice; but one may say that it is, to the formula of Osiris, what the turbine is to the reciprocating engine. III There are many other sacred words which enshrine formulae of great efficacity in particular operations. For example, V.I.T.R.I.O.L. gives a certain Regimen of the Planets useful in Alchemical work. Ararita is a formula of the macrocosm potent in certain very lo fty Operations of the Magick of the Inmost Light. (See ®PT3¯Liber 813®PT2¯.) The formula of ®PT3¯Thelema®PT2¯ may be summarized thus: ®MD129¯J®MDBR¯ "Baba lon and the Beast conjoined" --- ®MD129¯e®MDBR¯ unto Nuith (®PT3¯CCXX®PT2¯, I, 51 ) --- ®MD129¯l®MDBR¯ The Work accomplished in Justice --- ®MD129¯h®MDBR¯ The Holy Graal --- ®MD129¯m®MDBR¯ The Water therein --- ®MD129¯a®MDBR¯ The Babe in the Eg g (Harpocrates on the Lotus.) That of ®MD129¯Agaph®MDBR¯ is as follows: Dionysus (Capital ®MD129¯A®MDBR¯) --- The Virgin Earth ®MD129¯g®MDBR¯ --- The Babe in the Egg (small ®MD129¯a®MDBR¯ --- the image of the Father) --- The Massa cre of the Innocents, ®MD129¯p®MDBR¯ (winepress) --- The Draught of Ecstasy, ®MD1 29¯h®MDBR¯. The student will find it well worth his while to seek out these ideas in deta il, and develop the technique of their application. There is also the Gnostic Name of the Seven Vowels, which gives a musical for mula most puissant in evocations of the Soul of Nature. There is moreover ABRAXA S; there is XNOUBIS; there is MEITHRAS; and indeed it may briefly be stated that ®MDBO¯every true name of God gives the formula of the invocation of that God.®MDS U¯1®MDBR¯ It would therefore be impossible, even were it desirable, to analyse a ll such names. The general method of doing so has been ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Members of the IV®PT2¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯®PT2¯ of the O.T.O. are well aware of a M agick Word whose analysis contains all truth, human and Divine, a word indeed potent for any group which dares to use it. -43- ®PG¯ given, and the magician must himself work out his own formula for particular cas es.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ IV. It should also be remarked that every grade has its peculiar magical formula. Thus, the formula of Abrahadabra concerns us, as men, principally because each of us represents the pentagram or microcosm; and our equilibration must therefore be with the hexagram or macrocosm. In other words, 5®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 6®MDFL¯)®MD BR¯ is the formula of the Solar operation; but then 6®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 5®MDFL¯)®MDB R¯ is the formula of the Martial operation, and this reversal of the figures impl ies a very different Work. In the former instance the problem was to dissolve th e microcosm in the macrocosm; but this other problem is to separate a particular force from the macrocosm, just as a savage might hew out a flint axe from the dep osits in a chalk cliff. similarly, an operation of Jupiter will be of the nature of the equilibration of him with Venus. Its graphic formula will be 7®MDFL¯=®MD BR¯ = 4®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯, and there will be a word in which the character of this ope ration is described, just as Abrahadabra describes the Operation of the Great Wor k. It may be stated without unfairness, as a rough general principle, that the f arther from original equality are the two sides of the equation, the more difficu lt is the operation to perform. Thus, to take the case of the personal operation symbolized by the grades, it is harder to become a Neophyte, 1®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 10®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯, than to pass f rom that grade to Zelator, 2®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯ = 9®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯. Initiation is, therefore, progressively easier, in a certain sense, after the first step is taken. Nut (especially after the passing of Tiphareth) the distan ce between grade and grade increases as it were by a geometrical progression with an enormously high factor, which itself progresses.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The Holy Qabalah (see ®PT6¯Liber D®PT3¯ in ®PT5¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, VIII, Supple ment, and ®PT5¯Liber 777®PT3¯) affords the means of analysis and application required. See also ®PT5¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, V, "The Temple of Solomon The King". 2. A suggestion has recently been made that the Hierarchy of the Grades should be "destroyed, and replaced by" --- a ring system of 13 grades all equal. There is, of course, one sense in which every grade is a Thing-in-Itself. But the Hierarchy is only a convenient method®PT2¯ -44- ®PG¯ It is evidently impossible to give details of all these formulae. Before beg inning any operation soever the magician must make a through Qabalistic study of it so as toation of the princip les on which the Practicus may construct his own Sacred Words. This word has been uttered by the MASTER THERION himself, as a means of decla ring his own personal work as the Beast, the Logos of the Aeon. To understand it , we must make a preliminary consideration of the word which it replaces and from which it was developed: the word AUM. The word AUM is the sacred Hindu mantra which was the supreme hieroglyph of T ruth, a compendium of the Sacred Knowledge. Many volumes have been written with regard to it; but, for our present purpose, it will be necessary only to explain how it came to serve for the representation of the principal philosophical tenets of the Rishis. ----------------®PT3¯ (Note continued from page 44) of classifying observed facts. One is reminded of the Democracy, who, on being informed by the Minister of the Interior that the scarcity of provisions was due to the Law of Supply and Demand, passed a unanimous resolution calling for the immediate repeal of that iniquitous measure! Every person, whatever his grade in the Order, has also a "natural" grade appropriate to his intrinsic virtue. he may expect to be "cast out" into that grade when he becomes 8®PT2¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯®PT3¯ = 3®PT2¯®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯®P T3¯. Thus one man, throughout his career, may be essentially of the type of Netzach; another, of Hod. In the same way Rembrandt and Raphael retained their respective points of view in all stages of their art. The practical consideration is that some aspirants may find it unusually difficult to attain certain grades; or, worse, allow their inherent predispositions to influence them to neglect anti- pathetic, and indulge sympathetic, types of work. They may thus become more unbalanced than ever, with disastrous results. Success in one's favourite pursuit is a temptress; whose yields to her wiles limits his own growth. True, every Will is partial; but, even so, it can only fulfill itself by symmetrical expansion. It must be adjusted to the Universe, or fail of perfection.®PT2¯ -45- ®PG¯ Firstly, it represents the complete course of sound. It is pronounced by for cing the breath from the back of the throat with the mouth wide open, through the buccal cavity with the lips so shaped as to modify the sound from A to O (or U), to the closed lips, when it becomes M. Symbolically, this announces the course of Nature as proceeding from free and formless creation through controlled and fo rmed preservation to the silence of destruction. The three sounds are harmonized into one; and thus the word represents the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; and the operations in the Universe of their triune energy. It is thus the formula of a Manvantara, or period of manifested existence, which alternates wit h a Pralaya, during which creation is latent. Analysed Qabalistically, the word is found to possess similar properties. A is the negative, and also the unity which concentrates it into a positive form. A is the Holy Spirit who begets God in flesh upon the Virgin, according to the fo rmula familiar to students of ®PT5¯The Golden Bough®PT2¯. A is also the "babe in the Egg" thus produced. The quality of A is thus bisexual. It is the original being --- Zeus Arrhenothelus, Bacchus Diphues, or Baphomet. U or V is the manifested son himself. Its number is 6. It refers therefore, to the dual nature of the Logos as divine and human; the interlacing of the upri ght and averse triangles in the hexagram. It is the first number of the Sun, who se last number®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ is 66, "the number of a man". The letter M exhibits the termination of this process. It is the Hanged Man of the Tarot; the formation of the individual from the absolute is closed by his death. We see accordingly how AUM is, on either system, the expression of a dogma wh ich implies catastrophe in nature. It is cognate with the formula of the Slain Go d. The "resurrection" and "ascension" are not implied in it. They are later inv entions without basis in necessity; they may be described indeed as Freudian phan tasms conjured up by the fear of facing reality. To ®PT3¯ 1. The Sun being 6, a square 6x6 contains 36 squares. We arrange the numbers from 1 to 36 in this square, so that each line, file, and diagonal adds to the same number. This number is 111; the total of all is 666.®PT2¯ -46- ®PG¯ the Hindu, indeed, they are still less respectable. in his view, existence is e ssentially objectionable®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯; and his principle concern is to invoke Shi va®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ to destroy the illusion whose thrall is the curse of the Manvanta ra. ®MDBO¯The cardinal revelation of the Great Aeon of Horus is that this formula SUM does not represent the facts of nature.®MDBR¯ The point of view is based up on misapprehension of the character of existence. It soon became obvious to The Master Therion that AUM was an inadequate and misleading hieroglyph. It stated o nly part of the truth, and it implied a fundamental falsehood. he consequently d etermined to modify the word in such a manner as to fit it to represent the Arcan a unveiled by the Aeon of which He had attained to be the Logos. The essential task was to emphasize the fact that nature is not catastrophic, but proceeds by means of undulations. It might be suggested that Manvantara and Pralaya are in reality complementary curves; but the Hindu doctrine insists stro ngly on denying continuity to the successive phases. It was nevertheless importa nt to avoid disturbing the Trinitarian arrangement of the word, as would be done by the addition of other letters. It was equally desirable to make it clear that the letter M represents an operation which does not actually occur in nature exc ept as the withdrawal of phenomena into the absolute; which process, even when so understood, is not a true destruction, but, on the contrary, the emancipation of anything from the modifications which it had mistaken for itself. It occurred t o him that the true nature of Silence was to permit the uninterrupted vibration o f the undulatory energy, free from the false conceptions attached to it by the Ah amkara or Ego-making facility, whose assumption that conscious individuality cons titutes existence let it to consider its own apparently catastrophic character as pertaining to the order of nature. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Thelemites agree that manifested existence implies Imperfection. But they understand why Perfection devises this disguise. The Theory is developed fully in ®PT6¯Liber Aleph®PT3¯, and in Part IV of this ®PT6¯Book 4® PT3¯. See also Cap V Paragraph on ®PT2¯®MD129¯F®MDBR¯®PT3¯ final of ®PT2¯®MD129¯FIAOF®MDBR ¯®PT3¯. 2. The Vaishnava theory, superficially opposed to this, turns out on analysis to be practically identical.®PT2¯ -47- ®PG¯ The undulatory formula of putrefaction is represented in the Qabalah by the l etter N, which refers to Scorpio, whose triune nature combines the Eagle, Snake a nd Scorpion. These hieroglyphs themselves indicate the spiritual formulae of inc arnation. He was also anxious to use the letter G, another triune formula expres sive of the aspects of the moon, which further declares the nature of human exist ence in the following manner. The moon is in itself a dark orb. but an appearanc e of light is communicated to it by the sun; and it is exactly in this way that s uccessive incarnations create the appearance, just as the individual star, which every man is, remains itself, irrespective of whether earth perceives it or not. Now it so happens that the root GN signifies both knowledge and generation co mbined in a single idea, in an absolute form independent of personality. The G i s a silent letter, as in our word Gnosis; and the sound GN is nasal, suggesting t herefore the breath of life as opposed to that of speech. Impelled by these cons iderations, the Master Therion proposed to replace the Ma of AUM by a compound le tter MGN, symbolizing thereby the subtle transformation of the apparent silence a nd death which terminates the manifested life of Vau by a continuous vibration of an impersonal energy of the nature of generation and knowledge, the Virgin Moon and the Serpent furthermore operating to include in the idea a commemoration of t he legend so grossly deformed in the Hebrew legend of the Garden of Eden, and its even more malignantly debased falsification in that bitterly sectarian broadside , the Apocalypse. ®MDBO¯Sound work invariable vindicates itself by furnishing confirmatory coro llaries not contemplated by the Qabalist.®MDBR¯ In the present instance, the Mas ter Therion was delighted to remark that his compound letter MGN, constructed on theoretical principles with the idea of incorporating the new knowledge of the Ae on, had the value of 93 (®MDFR¯®MDFR¯M®MDBR¯ = 40, ®MDFR¯G®MDBR¯ = 3, ®MDFR¯N®MDB R¯ = 50). 93 is the number of the word of the Law --- Thelema --- Will, and of Ag apeÿ08' --- Love, which indicates the nature of Will. It is furthermore the numb er of the Word which overcomes death, as members of the degree of M®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ M®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ of the O.T.O. are well aware, and it is also that of the complete formula of existence as expressed in the -48- ®PG¯ True Word of the Neophyte, where existence is taken to import that phase of the whole which is the finite resolution of the Qabalistic Zero. Finally, the total numeration of the Word AUMGN is 100, which, as initiates o f the Sanctuary of the Gnosis of the O.T.O. are taught, expresses the unity under the form of complete manifestation by the symbolism of pure number, being Kether by Aiq Bkr®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯; also Malkuth multiplied by itself®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯, and thu s established in the phenomenal universe. But moreover, this number 100 mysterio usly indicates the Magical formula of the Universe as a reverberatory engine for the extension of Nothingness through the device of equilibrated opposites.®MDSU¯3 ®MDBR¯ It is moreover the value of the letter Qoph, which means "the back of the hea d", the cerebellum, where the creative or reproductive force is primarily situate d. Qoph in the Tarot is "the Moon", a card suggesting illusion, yet shewing coun terpartal forces operating in darkness, and the Winged Beetle or Midnight Sun in his Bark travelling through the Nadir. Its Yetziratic attribution is Pisces, sym bolic of the positive and negative currents of fluidic energy, the male Ichthus o r "Pesce" and the female Vesica, seeking respectively the anode and kathode. The number 100 is therefore a synthetic glyph of the subtle energies employed in cre ating the Illusion, or Reflection of Reality, which we call manifested existence. The above are the principal considerations in the matter of AUMGN. They shou ld suffice to illustrate to the student the methods employed in the construction of the hieroglyphics of Magick, and to arm him with a mantra of terrific power by virtue whereof he may apprehend the Universe, and control in himself its Karmic consequences. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. A method of exegesis in which 1 = 10 = 100, 2 = 20 = 200, etc. 2. 10®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ = 100. 3. ®PT2¯®MDFR¯pK®MDBR¯®PT3¯ = 100 (20 + 80). ®PT2¯®MDFR¯K®MDBR¯ = ®MD129¯x®MDBR ¯ = ®MD129¯Kteiv®MDBR¯: ®MDFR¯p®MDBR¯ = ®MD129¯'®MDBR¯ =®MD129¯"allov®MDBR¯®PT3¯; (by Notariqon).®PT2¯ -49- ®PG¯ VI THE MAGICAL MEMORY. I There is no more important task than the exploration of one's previous incarn ations®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯. As Zoroaster says: "Explore the river of the soul; whence a nd in what order thou has come." One cannot do one's True Will intelligently unl ess one knows what it is. ®PT5¯Liber Thisarb®PT2¯, ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, VII, giv e instructions for determining this by calculating the resultant of the forces wh ich have made one what one is. But this practice is confined to one's present in carnation. If one were to wake up in a boat on a strange river, it would be rash to conc lude that the direction of the one reach visible was that of the whole stream. I t would help very much if one remembered the bearings of previous reaches travers ed before one's nap. It would further relieve one's anxiety when one became awar e that a Uniform and constant force was the single determinant of all the finding s of the stream: gravitation. We could rejoice "that even the weariest river win ds somewhere safe to sea." ®PT5¯Liber Thisarb®PT2¯ describes a method of obtaining the Magical Memory by learning to remember backwards. But the careful ----------------®PT3¯ 1. It has been objected to reincarnation that the population of this planet has been increasing rapidly. Were do the new souls come from? It is not necessary to invent theories about other planets; it is enough to say that the earth is passing through a period when human units are being built up from the elements with increased frequency. The evidence for this theory springs to the eye: in what other age was there such puerility, such lack of race-experience, such reliance upon incoherent formulas? (Contrast the infantile emotionalism and credulity of the average "well-educated" Anglo-Saxon with the shrewd common sense of the normal illiterate peasant.) A large proportion of mankind today is composed of "souls" who are living the human life for the first time. Note especially the incredible spread of congenital homosexuality and other sexual deficiencies in many forms. These are the people who have not understood, accepted, and used even the Formula of Osiris. Kin to them are the "once-born" of William James, who are incapable of philosophy, magick, or even religion, but seek instinctively a refuge from the horror of contemplating Nature, which they do not comprehend, in soothing-syrup affirmations such as those of Christian Science, Spiritualism, and all the sham "occult" creeds, as well as the emasculated forms of so-called Christianity.®PT2¯ -50- ®PG¯ practice of Dharana is perhaps more generally useful. As one prevents the more accessible thoughts from arising, we strike deeper strata --- memories of childho od reawaken. Still deeper lies a class of thoughts whose origin puzzles us. Som e of these apparently belong to former incarnations. By cultivating these depart ments of one's mind we can develop them; we become expert; we form an organized c oherence of these originally disconnected elements; the faculty grows with astoni shing rapidity, once the knack of the business is mastered. It is much easier (for obvious reasons) to acquire the Magical Memory when on e has been sworn for many lives to reincarnate immediately. The great obstacle i s the phenomenon called Freudian forgetfulness; that is to say, that, though an u npleasant event may be recorded faithfully enough by the mechanism of the brain, we fail to recall it, or recall it wrong, because it is painful. "The Psychopath ology of Everyday Life" analyses and illustrates this phenomenon in detail. Now, the King of Terrors being Death, it is hard indeed to look it in the face. Mank ind has created a host of phantastic masks; people talk of "going to heaven", "pa ssing over", and so on; banners flaunted from pasteboard towers of baseless theor ies. One instinctively flinches from remembering one's last, as one does from im agining one's next, death.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ The point of e beginner if he happens to have some inte llectual grounds for identifying himself with some definite person in the immedia te past. A brief account of Aleister Crowley's good fortune in the matter should be instructive. It will be seen that the points of contact vary greatly in char acter. 1. The date of Eliphas Levi's death was about six months previous to that of Aleister Crowley's birth. The reincarnating ego is supposed to take possession o f the foetus at about this stage of development. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. This later is a very valuable practice to perform. See ®PT6¯Liber HHH®PT3¯; also read up the Buddhist meditations of the Ten Impurities.®PT2¯ -51- ®PG¯ 2. Eliphas Levi had a striking personal resemblance to Aleister Crowley's fat her. This of course merely suggests a certain degree of suitability from a physi cal point of view. 3. Aleister Crowley wrote a play called ®PT5¯The Fatal Force®PT2¯ at a time w hen he had not read any of Eliphas Levi's works. The motive of this play is a Ma gical Operation of a very peculiar kind. The formula which Aleister Crowley supp osed to be his original idea is mentioned by Levi. We have not been able to trac e it anywhere else with such exact correspondence in every detail. 4. Aleister Crowley found a certain quarter of Paris incomprehensibly familia r and attractive to him. This was not the ordinary phenomenon of the ®PT5¯deÿ08' jaÿ08' vu®PT2¯, it was chiefly a sense of being at home again. He discovered lon g after that Levi had lived in the neeighbourhood for many years. 5. There are many curious similarities between the events of Eliphas Levi's l ife and that of Aleister Crowley. The intention of the parents that their son sh ould have a religious career; the inability to make use of very remarkable talent s in any regular way; the inexplicable ostracism which afflicted him, and whose a uthors seemed somehow to be ashamed of themselves; the events relative to marriag e®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯: all these offer surprisingly close parallels. 6. The characters of the two men present subtle identities in many points. B oth seem to be constantly trying to reconcile insuperable antagonisms. Both find it hard to destroy the delusion that men's fixed beliefs and customs may be radi cally altered by a few friendly explanations. Both show a curious fondness for o ut-the-way learning, preferring recondite sources of knowledge they adopt eccentr ic appearances. Both inspire what can only be called panic fear in absolute stra ngers, who can give no reason whatever for a repulsion which sometimes almost amo unts to ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Levi, on her deliberately abandoning him, withdrew his protection from his wife; she lost her beauty and intelligence, and became the prey of an aged and hideous pithecoid. Aleister Crowley's wife insisted upon doing her own will, as she defined it; this compelled him to stand aside. What happened to Mme. Constant happened to her, although in a more violent and disastrous form.®PT2¯ -52- ®PG¯ temporary insanity. The ruling passion in each case is that of helping humanity . Both show quixotic disregard of their personal prosperity, and even comfort, y et both display love of luxury and splendour. Both have the pride of Satan. 7. When Aleister Crowley became Frater ®MD129¯OU MH®MDBR¯ and had to write hi s thesis for the grade of Adeptus Exemptus, he had already collected his ideas wh en Levi's ®PT5¯Clef des Grands Mysteÿ08'res®PT2¯ fell into his hands. It was rem arkable that he, having admired Levi for many years, and even begun to suspect th e identity, had not troubled (although an extravagant buyer of books) to get this particular work. He found, to his astonishment, that almost everything that he had himself intended to say was there written. The result of this was that he ab andoned writing his original work, and instead translated the masterpiece in ques tion. 8 The style of the two men is strikingly similar in numerous subtle and deep- seated ways. The general point of view is almost identical. The quality of the irony is the same. Both take a perverse pleasure in playing practical jokes on t he reader. In one point, above all, the identity is absolute --- there is no thi rd name in literature which can be put in the same class. The point is this: In a single sentence is combined sublimity and enthusiasm with sneering bitterness, scepticism, grossness and scorn. It is evidently the supreme enjoyment to strike a chord composed of as many conflicting elements as possible. The pleasure seem s to be derived from gratifying the sense of power, the power to compel every pos sible element of thought to contribute to the spasm. If he theory of reincarnation were generally accepted, the above consideratio ns would make out a strong case. FRATER PERDURABO was quite convinced in one par t of his mind of this identity, long before he got any actual memories as such.®M DSU¯1®MDBR¯ II Unless one has a groundwork of this sort to start with, one must get back to one's life as best one can by the methods above indicated. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Long since writing the above, the publication of the biography of Eliphas Levi by M. Paul Chacornat has confirmed the hypothesis in innumerable striking ways.®PT2¯ -53- ®PG¯ It may be of some assistance to give a few characteristics of genuine Magical Me mory; to mention a few sources of error, and to lay down critical rules for the v erification of one's results. The first great danger arises from vanity. One should always beware of "reme mbering" that one was Cleopatra or Shakespeare. Again, superficial resemblances are usually misleading. One of the great tests of the genuineness of any recollection is that one rem embers the really important things in one's life, not those which mankind commonl y classes as such. For instance, Aleister Crowley does not remember any of the d ecisive events in the life of Eliphas Levi. He recalls intimate trivialities of childhood. He has a vivid recollection of certain spiritual crises; in particula r, one which was fought out as he paced up and down a lonely stretch of road in a flat and desolate district. He remembers ridiculous incidents, such as often ha ppen at suppers when the conversation takes a turn such that its gaiety somehow s trikes to the soul, and one receives a supreme revelation which is yet perfectly inarticulate. he has forgotten his marriage and its tragic results®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯, although the plagiarism which Fate has been shameless enough to perpetrate in th is present life, would naturally, one might think, reopen the wound. There is a sense which assures us intuitively when we are running of a scent breast high. There is an ®PT5¯oddness®PT2¯ about the memory which is somehow ann oying. It gives a feeling of shame and guiltiness. There is a tendency to blush . One feels like a schoolboy caught red-handed in the act of writing poetry. Th ere is the same sort of feeling as one has when one finds a faded photograph or a lock of hair twenty years old among the rubbish in some forgotten cabinet. This feeling is independent of the question whether the thing remembered was in itsel f a source of pleasure or of pain. Can it be that we resent the idea of our "pre vious condition of servitude"/ We want to forget the past, however good reason w e may have to be proud of it. It is well known that many men are embarrassed in the presence of a monkey. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. It is perhaps significant that although the name of the woman has been familiar to him since 1898, he has never been able to commit it to memory.®PT2¯ -54- ®PG¯ When the "loss of face" does not occur, distrust the accuracy of the item whi ch you recall, The only reliable recollections which -present themselves with se renity are invariably connected with what men call disasters. Instead of the feel ing of being caught in the slips, one has that of being missed at the wicket. On e has the sly satisfaction of having done an outrageously foolish thing and got o ff scot free. When one sees life in perspective, it is an immense relief to disc over that things like bankruptcy, wedlock, and the gallows made no particular dif ference. The were only accidents such as might happen to anybody; they had no re al bearing on the point at issue. One consequently remembers having one's ears c ropped as a lucky escape, while the causal jest of a drunken skeinsmate in an all -night cafeÿ08' stings one with the shame of the parvenu to whom a polite strange r has unsuspectingly mentioned "Mine Uncle". The testimony of intuitions is, however, strictly subjective, and shrieks for collateral security. It would be a great error to ask too much. In consequence of the peculiar character of the recollections which are under the microscope, a nything in the shape of gross confirmation almost presumes perjury. A pathologis t would arouse suspicion if he said that his bacilli had arranged themselves on t he slide so as to spell Staphylococcus. We distrust an arrangement of flowers wh ich tells us that "Life is worth living in Detroit, Michigan". Suppose that Alei ster Crowley remembers that he was Sir Edward Kelly. It does not follow that he will be able to give us details of Cracow in the time of James I or England. Mat erial events are the words of an arbitrary language; the symbols of a cipher prev iously agreed on. What happened to Kelly in Cracow may have meant something to h im, but there is no reason to presume that it has any meaning for his successor. There is an obvious line of criticism about any recollection. It must not cl ash with ascertained facts. For example ___ one cannot have two lives which over lap, unless there is reason to suppose that the earlier died spiritually before h is body ceased to breathe. This might happen in certain cases, such as insanity. It is not conclusive against a previous incarnation that the present should b e inferior to the past. One's life may represent the full possibilities of a cer tain partial Karma. One may have -55 ®PG¯ devoted one's incarnation to discharging the liabilities of one part of one's pr evious character. For instance, one might devote a lifetime to settling the bill run up by Napoleon for causing unnecessary suffering, with the object of startin g afresh, clear of debt, in a life devoted to reaping the reward of the Corsican' s invaluable services to the race. The Master Therion, in fact, remembers several incarnations of almost uncompe nsated wretchedness, anguish and humiliation, voluntarily undertaken so that he might resume his work unhampered by spiritual creditors. These are the stigmata. Memory is hall-marked by its correspondence with the facts actually observed in the present. This correspondence may be of two kinds . It is rare (and its is unimportant for the reasons staged above) that one's me mory should be confirmed by what may be called, contemptuously, external evidence . It was indeed a reliable contribution to psychology to remark that an evil and adulterous generation sought for a sign. (Even so, the permanent value of the observation is to trace the genealogy of the Pharisee --- from Caiaphas to the modern Christian.) Signs mislead, from "Painless Dentistry" upwards. The fact that anything is intelligible proves that it is addressed to the wrong quarter, because the very e xistence of language presupposes impotence to communicate directly. When Walter Raleigh flung his cloak upon the muddy road, he merely expressed, in a cipher con trived by a combination of circumstances, his otherwise inexpressible wish to get on good terms with Queen Elizabeth. The significance of his action was determin ed by the concourse of circumstances. Teh reality can have no reason for reprodu cing itself exclusively in that especial form. It can have no reason for remembe ring that so extravagant a ritual happened to be necessary to worship. Therefore , however well a man might remember his incarnation as Julius Caesar, there is no t necessity for his representing his power to set all upon the hazard of a die by imagining the Rubicon. Any spiritual state can be symbolized by an infinite var iety of actions in an infinite variety of circumstances. One should recollect on ly those events which happen to -56- ®PG¯ be immediately linked with one's peculiar tendencies to imagine one thing rather than another.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ Genuine recollections almost invariably explain oneself to oneself. Suppose, for example, that you feel an instinctive aversion to some particular hind of wi ne. Try as you will, you can find no reason for your idiosyncrasy. Suppose, the n, that when you explore some previous incarnation, you remember that you died by a poison administered in a wine of that character, your aversion is explained b y the proverb, "A burnt child dreads the fire." It may be objected that in such a case your libido has created a phantasm of itself in the manner which Freud has explained. The criticism is just, but its value is reduced if it should happen that you were not aware of its existence until your Magical Memory attracted your attention to it. In fact, the essence of the test consists in this: that your m emory notifies you of something which is the logical conclusion of the premisses postulated by the past. As an example, we may cite certain memories of the Master Therion. He follow ed a train of thought which led him to remember his life as a Roman named Marius de Aquila. It would be straining probability to resume a connection between (®MD 129¯a®MDBR¯) this hieroglyphically recorded mode of self-analysis and (®MD129¯b®M DBR¯) ordinary introspection conducted on principles intelligible to himself. he remembers directly various people and various events connected with this incarna tion; and they are in themselves to all appearance actual. There is no particula r reason why they, rather than any others, should have entered his sphere. In th e act of remembering them, they are absolute. He can find no reason for correlat ing them with anything in the present. But a subsequent examination of the recor d shows that the logical result of the Work of Marius de Aquila did not occur to that romantic reprobate; in point of fact, he died before anything could happen. Can we suppose that any cause can be caulked of effect? The Universe is unanimo us in rebuttal. It then the exact effects which might be expected to result from these causes are manifested in the career ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The exception is when some whimsical circumstance ties a knot in the corner of one's mnemonic handkerchief.®PT2¯ -57- ®PG¯ of the Master Therion, it is assuredly the easiest and most reasonable explanati on to assume an identity between the two men. Nobody is shocked to observe that the ambition of Napoleon has diminished the average stature of Frenchmen. We kno w that somehow or other every force must find its fulfilment; and those people wh o have grasped the fact that external events are merely symptoms of external idea s, cannot find any difficulty in attributing the correspondences of the one to th e identities of the other. Far be it from any apologist for Magick to insist upon the objective validity of these concatenations! It would be cla, or whether there ever was such a person, or whether the Universe itself is anything more than a nightmare created by his own imprudence in the matter of rum and water. His memory of Marius de Aquila, of t he adventures of that person in Rome and the Black Forest, matters nothing , eith er to him or to anybody else. What matters is this: True or false, he has found a symbolic form which has enabled him to govern himself to the best advantage. " Quantum nobis prodest hec fabula Christi!" The "falsity" of Aesop's Fables does not diminish their value to mankind. The above reduction of the Magical Memory to a device for externalizing one's interior wisdom need not be regarded as sceptical, save only in the last resort. No scientific hypothesis can adduce stronger evidence of its validity than the confirmation of its predictions by experimental evidence. The objective can alwa ys be expressed in subjective symbols if necessary. The controversy is ultimatel y unmeaning. However we interpret the evidence, its relative truth depends in it s internal coherence. We may therefore say that any magical recollection is genu ine if it gives the explanation of our external or internal conditions. Anything which throws light upon the Universe, anything which reveals us to ourselves, sh ould be welcome in this world of riddles. As our record extends into the past, the evidence of its truth is cumulative. Every incarnation that we remember must increase. -58- ®PG¯ our comprehension of ourselves as we are. Each accession of knowledge must indi cate with unmistakable accuracy the solution of some enigma which is propounded b y the Sphynx of our own unknown birth-city, Thebes. The complicated situation in which we find ourselves is composed of elements; and no element of it came out o f nothing. Newton's First Law applies to every plane of thought. The theory of evolution is omniform. There is a reason for one's predisposition to gout, or th e shape of one's ear, in the past. The symbolism may change; the facts do not. In one form or another, everything that exists is derived from some previous mani festation. Have it, if you will, that the memories of other incarnations are dre ams; but dreams are determined by reality just as much as the events of the day. The truth is to be apprehended by the correct translation of the symbolic langua ge. The last section of the Oath of the Master of the Temple is: "I swear to int erpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with my soul." The Magica l Memory is (in the last analysis) one manner, and, as experience testifies, one of the most important manners, of performing this vow. ------------- -59- ®PG¯ CHAPTER VIII OF EQUILIBRIUM, AND OF THE GENERAL AND PARTICULAR METHOD OF PREPARATION OF THE FURNITURE OF THE TEMPLE AND OF THE INSTRUMENTS OF ART. I "Before there was equilibrium, countenance beheld not countenance."®MDSU¯1®MD BR¯ So sayeth the holiest of the Books of the ancient Qabalah. (®PT5¯Siphra Tze niutha®PT2¯ 1. 2.) One countenance here spoken of is the Macrocosm, the other th e Microcosm.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ As said above, the object of any magick ceremony is to unite the Macrocosm an d the Microcosm. It is as in optics; the angles of incidence and reflection are equal. ®MDBO¯ You must get your Macrocosm and Microcosm exactly balanced, vertically and horizo ntally, or the images will not coincide.®MDBR¯ This equilibrium is affirmed by the magician in arranging the Temple. Nothing must be lop-sided. If you have anything in the North, you must put something eq ual and opposite to it in the South. ®MDBO¯The importance of this is so great, a nd the truth of it so obvious, that no one with the most mediocre capacity.®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The full significance of this aphorism is an Arcanum of the grade of Ipsissimus. It may, however, be partially apprehended by study of ®PT6¯Liber Aleph®PT3¯, and ®PT6¯The Book of the Law and the Commentaries thereon ®PT3¯. It explains Existence. 2. This is the case because we happen ourselves to be Microcosms whose Law is "love under will". But it is also Magick for an unit which has attained Perfection (in absolute nothingness, 0®PT2¯®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯®PT3¯ ), to become "divided for love's sake, for the chance of union".®PT2¯ -60- ®PG¯ ®MDBO¯for magick can tolerate any unbalanced object of a moment. His instinct i nstantly revolts.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯. For this reason the weapons, altar, circle, and magus are all carefully proportioned one with another. It will not do to have a cup like a thimble and a wand like a weaver's beam.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ Again, the arrangement of the weapons of the altar must be such that they ®PT 5¯look®PT2¯ balanced. Nor should the magician have any unbalanced ornament. If he have the wand in his right hand, let him have the Ring®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ on his lef t, or let him take the Ankh, or the Bell, or the Cup. And however little he move to the right, let him balance it by an equivalent movement to the left; or if fo rwards, backwards; and ®MDBO¯let him correct each idea by implying the contradict ory contained therein.®MDBR¯ If he invoke Severity, let him recount that Severit y is the instrument of Mercy;®MDSU¯4®MDBR¯ if Stability, let him show the basis o f that Stability to be constant change, just as the stability of a molecule is se cured by the momentum of the swift atoms contained in it.®MDSU¯5®MDBR¯ In this way let every idea go forth as a triangle on the base of two opposite s, making an apex transcending their contradiction in a higher harmony. ®MDBO¯ It is not sage to use any thought in Magick, unless that thought has be en thus equilibrated and destroyed.®MDBR¯ Thus again with the instruments themselves; the Wand must be ready to change into a Serpent, the Pantacle into the whirling Svastika or Disk of Jove, as if to fulfil the functions of the Sword. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. This is because the essence of his being a Magician is his intuitive apprehension of the fundamental principles of the Universe. His instinct is a subconscious assertion of the structural identity of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm. Equilibrium is the condition of manifested existence. 2. See ®PT6¯Bagh-i-Muattar®PT3¯, V, par. 2 3. The Ring has not been described in Part II of this book, for reasons which may be or may not be apparent to the reader. It is the symbol of Nuit, the totality of the possible ways in which he may repre- sent himself and fulfill himself. 4. For example, as when Firmness with one's self or another is the truest kindness; or when amputation saves life. 5. See ®PT6¯Liber 418®PT3¯, 11th Aethyr.®PT2¯ -61- ®PG¯ The Cross is both the death of the "Saviour"®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ and the Phallic symbol of Resurrection. Will itself must be ready to culminate in the surrender of tha t Will:®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ the aspiration's arrow that is shot against the Holy Dove mu st transmute itself into the wondering Virgin that receives in her womb the quick ening of that same Spirit of God. ®MDBO¯Any idea that is thus in itself positive and negative, active and passi ve, male and female, is fit to exist above the Abyss; any idea not so equilibrate d is below the Abyss, contains in itself an unmitigated duality or falsehood, and is to that extent gliphotic®MDSU¯3®MDBO¯ and dangerous.®MDBR¯ Even an idea like "truth" is unsafe unless it is realized that all Truth is in one sense falsehood . For all Truth is relative; and if it be supposed absolute, will mislead.®MDSU¯ 4®MDBR¯ ®MDBR¯®PT5¯The Book of Lies falsely so called®PT22¯ (®PT5¯Liber 333®PT2¯ ) is worthy of close and careful study in this respect. The reader should also c onsult ®PT5¯Konx Om Pax®PT2¯, "Introduction", and ®PT5¯Thien Tao®PT2¯ in the same volume. All this is to be expressed in the words of the ritual itself, and symbolised in every act performed. II It is said in the ancient books of Magick that everything used by the Magicia n must be "virgin". That is: it must never have been used by any other person or for any other purpose. The ----------------®PT3¯ 1. It is the extension in matter of the Individual Self, the Indivisible Point determined by reference to the Four Quarters. This is the formula which enables it to express its Secret Self; its dew falling upon the Rose is developed into an Eidolon of Itself, in due season. 2. See ®PT6¯Liber LXV®PT3¯ and ®PT6¯Liber VII®PT3¯. 3. See The Qabalah for the use of this word, and study the doctrine concerning the Kings of Edom. 4. See Poincareÿ08' for the mathematical proof of this thesis. But Spiritual Experience goes yet deeper, and destroys the Canon of the Law of Contradiction. There is an immense amount of work by the Master Therion on this subject; it pertains especially to His grade of 9®PT2¯®MDFL¯=®MD BR¯®PT3¯ = 2®PT2¯®MDFL¯)®MDBR¯®PT3¯. Such profundities are unsuited to the Student, and may unsettle him seriously. It will be best for him to consider (provisionally) Truth in the sense in which it is taken by Physical Science.®PT2¯ -62- ®PG¯ greatest importance was attached by the Adepts of old to this, and it made the t ask of the Magician no easy one. he wanted a wand; and in order to cut and trim it he needed a knife. It was not sufficient merely to buy a new knife; he felt t hat he had to make it himself. In order to make the knife, he would require a hu ndred other things, the acquisition of each of which might require a hundred more ; and so on. This shows the impossibility of disentangling one's self from one's environment. ®MDBO¯Even in Magick we cannot get on without the help of others.® MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ There was, however, a further object in this recommendation. The more troubl e and difficulty your weapon costs, the more useful you will find it. "If you wa nt a thing well done, do it yourself." It would be quite useless to take this bo ok to a department store, and instruct them to furnish you a Temple according to specification. It is really worth the while of the Student who requires a sword to go and dig out iron ore from the earth, to smelt it himself with charcoal that he has himself prepared, to forge the weapon with his own hand: and even to take the trouble of synthesizing the oil of virtiol with which it is engraved. He wi ll have learnt a lot of useful things in his attempt to make a really virgin swor d; the will understand how one thing depends upon another; he will begin to appre ciate the meaning of the words "the harmony of the Universe", so often used so st upidly and superficially by the ordinary apologist for Nature, and he will also p erceive the true operation of the law of Karma.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ Another notable injunction of the ancient Magick was that whatever appertaine d to the Work should be ®PT5¯single®PT2¯. The Wand was to be cut with a single s troke of the knife. There must be no ----------------®PT3¯ 1. It is, and the fact is still more important, utterly fatal and demora- lizing to acquire the habit of reliance on others. The Magician must know every detail of his work, and be able and willing to roll up his shirt- sleeves and do it, no matter how trivial or menial it may seem. Abra- melin (it is true) forbids the Aspirant to perform any tasks of an humilia- ting type; but he will never be able to command perfect service unless he has experience of such necessary work, mastered during his early training. 2. In this sense especially: any one thing involves, and is involved in, others apparently altogether alien.®PT2¯ -63- ®PG¯ boggling and hacking at things, no clumsiness and no hesitation. If you strike a blow at all, strike with your strength! "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it will all thy might!" ®MDBO¯If you are going to take up Magick, make no compr omise.®MDBR¯ You cannot make revolutions with rose-water, or wrestle in a silk h at. You will find very soon that you must either lose the hat or stop wrestling. Most people do both. They take up the magical path without sufficient reflecti on, without that determination of adamant which made the author of this book excl aim, as he took the first oath, "PERDURABO" --- "I will endure unto the end!"®MDS U¯1®MDBR¯ They start on it at a great pace, and then find that their boots are c overed with mud. Instead of persisting, they go back to Piccadilly. Such person s have only themselves to thank if the very street-boys mock at them. Another recommendation was this: ®MDBO¯buy whatever may be necessary without haggling!®MDBR¯ ®MDBO¯You must not try to strike a proportion between the values of incommens urable things.®MDSU¯2®MDBO¯ The least of the Magical Instruments is worth infini tely more than all that you possess®MDBR¯, or if you like, than all that you stup idly suppose yourself to possess. Break this rule, and the usual Nemesis of the half-hearted awaits you. Not only do you get inferior instruments, but you lose in some other way what you thought you were so clever to have saved. Remember An anias!®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ On the other hand, if you purchase without haggling you will find that along with your purchase the vendor has thrown in ----------------®PT3¯ 1. "For enduring unto the End, at the End was Naught to endure." ®PT6¯Liber 333®PT3¯, Cap ®PT2¯®MD129¯Z®MDBR¯®PT3¯. 2. However closely the square of any fraction approximates to 2, no fraction equals the square root of 2. Square root of 2 is note in the series; it is a different kind of number altogether. 3. Observe well that there is never any real equivalence or measurable relation between any two things, for each is impregnably Itself. The exchange of property is not a mathematically accurate equation. The Want is merely a conventional expression of the Will, just as a word is of a thought. It can never be anything else; thus, through the process of making it, whether it involves time, money, or labour, is a spiritual and moral synthesis, it is not measurable in terms of its elements.®PT2¯ -64- ®PG¯ the purse of Fortunatus. No matter in what extremity you may seem to be, at the last moment your difficulties will be solved. ®MDBO¯For there is no power eithe r of the firmament of of the ether, or of the earth or under the earth, on dry la nd or in the water, of whirling air or of rushing fire, or any spell or scourge o f God which is not obedient to the necessity of the Magician!®MDBR¯ That which h e has, he has not; but that which he is, he is; and that which he will be, he wil l be. And neither God nor Man, nor all the malice of Choronzon, can either check him, or cause him to waver for one instant upon the Path. This command and this promise have been given by all the Magi without exception. And where this comma nd has been obeyed, this promise has been most certainly fulfilled. III In all actions the same formulae are applicable. ®MDBO¯To invoke a god, i.e. to raise yourself to that godhead, the process is threefold, ®MDBR¯PURIFICATION, CONSECRATION and INITIATION. Therefore every magical weapon, and even the furniture of the Temple, must be passed through this threefold regimen. The details only vary on inessential poi nts. E.G. to prepare the magician, he purifies himself by maintairefi ning the metal --- it must be chemically pure. to sum up this whole matter in a phrase, every article employed is treated as if it were a candidate for initiation; but in those parts of the ritual in which the candidate is blindfolded, we wrap the weapon in a black cloth®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯. The oath which he takes is replaced by a "charge" in similar terms. The details of the preparation of each weapon should be thought out carefully by the magicia n. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. See ®PT6¯The Book of the Law and the Commentaries thereon®PT3¯ for the true definition of this virtue. 2. This refers to the "formula of the Neophyte". There are alternatives.®PT2¯ -65- ®PG¯ ®MDBO¯Further, the attitude of the magician to his weapons should be that of the God to the suppliant who invokes Him. It should be the love of the father fo r his child, the tenderness and care of the bridegroom for his bride, and that pe culiar feeling which the creator of every work of art feels for his masterpiece.® MDBR¯ Where this is clearly understood, the magician will find no difficulty in obs erving the proper ritual, not only in the actual ceremonial consecration of each weapon, but in the actual preparation, a process which should adumbrate this cere mony; e.g., the magician will cut the want from the tree, will strip if of leaves and twigs, will remove the bark. He will trim the ends nearly, and smooth down the knots: --- this is the banishing. He will then rub it with the consecrated oil until it becomes smooth and glis tening and golden. He will then wrap it in silk of the appropriate colour: --- t his is the Consecration. He will than take it, and imagine that it is that hollow tube in which Promet heus brought down fire from heaven, formulating to himself the passing of the Hol y Influence through it. In this and other ways he will perform the inidiation; a nd, this being accomplished, he will repeat the whole process in an elaborate cer emony.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ To take an entirely different case, that of the Circle; the magician will syn thesize the Vermilion required from Mercury an Sulphur which he has himself subli mated. This pure ----------------®PT3¯ 1. I have omitted to say that the whole subject of Magick is an example of Mythopoeia in that particular form called Disease of Lan- guage. Thoth, God of Magick, was merely a man who invented writing, as his monuments declare clearly enough. "Grammarye", Magick, is only the Greek "Gramma". So also the old name of a Magical Ritual, "Grimoire", is merely a Grammar. It appeared marvellous to the vulgar that men should be able to communicate at a distance, and they began to attribute other powers, merely invented, to the people who were able to write. The Wand is then nothing but the pen; the Cup, the Inkpot; the Dagger, the knife for sharpening the pen; and the disk (Pantacle) is either the papyrus roll itself; or the weight which kept it in position, or the sandbox for soaking up the ink. And, of course, the ®PT6¯Papyrus of Ani®PT3¯ is only the Latin for toilet-paper.®PT2¯ -66- ®PG¯ vermilion he will himself mix with the consecrated oil, and as he uses this pain t he will think intently and with devotion of the symbols which he draws. This c ircle may then be initiated by a circumambulation, during which the magician invo kes the names of God that are on it. Any person without sufficient ingenuity to devise proper methods of preparati on for the other articles required is unlikely to make much of a magician; and we shall only waste space if we deal in detail with the preparation of each instrum ent. There is a definite instruction in ®PT5¯Liber A vel Armorum®PT2¯, in the ®PT5 ¯Equinox®PT2¯, Volume I, Number IV, as to the Lamp and the Four Elemental Weapons . ------------- -67- ®PG¯ CHAPTER IX OF SILENCE AND SECRECY: AND OF THE BARBAROUS NAMES OF EVOCATION. It is found by experience (confirming the statement of Zoroaster) that the mo st potent conjurations are those in an ancient and perhaps forgotten language, or even those couched in a corrupt and possible always meaningless jargon. Of thes e there are several main types. The "preliminary invocation" in the ®PT5¯Goetia® PT2¯ consists principally of corruptions of Greek and Egyptian names. For exampl e, we find "Osorronnophris" for "Asor Un-Nefer".®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ The conjurations g iven by Dr. Dee (vide ®PT5¯quinox®PT2¯ I, VIII) are in a language called Angelic, or Enochian. Its source has hitherto baffled research, but it is a language and not a jargon, for it possesses a structure of its own, and there are traces of g rammar and syntax. However this may be, it ®PT5¯works®PT2¯. Even the beginner finds that "thing s happen" when he uses it: and this is an advantage --- or disadvantage! ---- sha red by no other type of language,. The rest need skill. This needs Prudence! The Egyptian Invocations are much purer, but their meaning has not been suffi ciently studied by persons magically competent. We possess a number of Invocation s in Greek of every degree of excellence; in Latin but few, and those of inferior quality. It will be noticed that in every case the conjurations are very sonoro us, ----------------®PT3¯ 1. See appendix 4, "Liber Samekh"; this is an edition of this Invoca- tion, with an elaborate Rubric, translation, sholia, and instruction.®PT2¯ -68- ®PG¯ and there is a certain magical voice in which they should be recited. This speci al voice was a natural gift of the Master Therion; but it can be easily taught -- - to the right people. Various considerations impelled Him to attempt conjurations in the English la nguage. There already existed one example, the charm of the witches in Macbeth; although this was perhaps not meant seriously, its effect is indubitable.®MDSU¯1® MDBR¯ He has found iambic tetrameters enriched with many rimes both internal an ext ernal very useful. "The Wizard Way" (®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I,I) gives a good idea of the sort of thing. So does the Evocation of Bartzabel in ®PT5¯Equinox I,IX. Th ere are many extant invocations throughout his works, in many kinds of metre, of may kings of being, and for many kinds of purposes. (See Appendix). Other methods of incantation are on record as efficacious. For instance Frat er IO.A., when a child, was told that he could invoke the devil by repeating the "Lord's Prayer" backwards. He went into the garden and did so. The Devil appear ed, and almost scared him out of his life. It is therefore not quite certain in what the efficacy of conjurations really lies. The peculiar mental excitement required may even be aroused by the percep tion of the absurdity of the process, and the persistence in it, as when once FRA TER PERDURABO (at the end of His magical resources) recited "From Greenland's Icy Mountains", and obtained His result.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ It may be conceded in any case that ®MDBO¯the long strings of formidable word s which roar and moan through so many conjurations have a real effect in exalting the consciousness of the magician to the proper pitch®MDBR¯ --- that they should do so is no more extraordinary than music of any kind should do so. Magicians have not confined themselves to the use of the human voice. The Pa n-pipe with its seven stops, corresponding to the seven planets, the bull-roarer, the tom-tom, and even the violin, have all been used, as well as many others, of which the ----------------®PT3¯ 1. A true poet cannot help revealing himself and the truth of things in his art, whether he be aware of what he is writing, or no. 1. See "Eleusis", A. Crowley, ®PT6¯Collected Works®PT3¯, Vol. III Epilogue.®PT2 ¯ -69- ®PG¯ most important is the bell®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯, though this is used not so much for act ual conjuration as to mark stages in the ceremony. Of all these the tom-tom will be found to be the most generally useful. While on the subject of barbarous n ames of evocation we should not omit the utterance of certain supreme words which enshrine (®MD129¯a®MDBR¯) the complete formula of the God invoked, or (®MD129¯b® MDBR¯) the whole ceremony. Examples of the former kind are Tetragrammaton, ®MDBO¯I.A.O.,®MDBR¯ and Abrah adabra. An example of the latter kind is the great word StiBeTTChePhMeFSHiSS, which i s a line drawn on the Tree of Life (Coptic attributions) in a certain manner.®MDS U¯2®MDBR¯ ®MDBO¯With all such words it is of the utmost importance that they should nev er be spoken until the supreme moment, and even then they should burst from the m agician almost despite himself --- so great should be his reluctance®MDSU¯3®MDBO¯ to utter them. In fact, they should be the utterance of the God in him at the f irst onset of the divine possession.®MDBR¯ So uttered, they cannot fail of effec t, for they have become the effect. Every wise magician will have constructed (according to the principles of the Holy Qabalah) many such words, and he should have quintessentialised them all in one Word, which last Word, once he has formed it, he should never utter consciously even in thought, until perhaps with it he gives up the ghost. ®MDBO¯Such a Word should in fact be so potent that man canno t hear it and live.®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. See Part II. It should be said that in experience no bell save His own Tibetan bell of Electrum Magicum has ever sounded satisfactory to the Master Therion. Most bells jar and repel. 2.. It represents the descent of a certain Influence. See the Evocation ofTaphtatharath, ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, III. The attributions are given in ®PT6¯7 77®PT3¯. This Word expresses the current Kether - Beth - Binah - Cheth - Geburach - Mem - Hod - Shin - Malkuth, the descent from 1 to 10 via the Pillar of Severity. 3. This reluctance if Freudian, due to the power of these words to awaken the suppressed subconscious libido.®PT2¯ -70- ®PG¯ Such a word was in deed the lost Tetragrammaton®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯. It is said tha t at the utterance of this name the Universe crashes into dis- solution. ®MDBO¯L et the Magician earnestly seek this Lost Word, for its pronunciation is synonymou s with the accomplishment of the Great Work.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ In this matter of the efficacity of words there are again two formulae exact ly opposite in nature. A word may become potent and terrible by virtue of consta nt repetition. It is in this way that most religions gain strength. ®MDBO¯At fi rst the statement "So and so is God" excites no interest. Continue, and you meet scorn and scepticism: possibly persecution. continue, and the controversy has s o far died out that no one troubles to contradict your assertion.®MDBR¯ No superstition is so dangerous and so lively as an exploded superstition. T he newspapers of to-day (written and edited almost exclusively by men without a s park of either religion or morality) dare not hint that any one disbelieves in th e ostensibly prevailing cult; they deplore Atheism --- all but universal in pract ice and implicit in the theory of practically all intelligent people --- as if it were the eccentricity of a few negligible or objectionable persons. This is the ordinary story of advertisement; the sham has exactly the same chance as the real . Persistence is the only quality required for success. The opposite formula is that of secrecy. An idea is perpetuated because it m ust never be mentioned. A freemason never forgets the secret words entrusted to him, thought these words mean absolutely nothing to him, in the vast majority of cases; the only reason for this is that he has been forbidden to mention them, al though they have been published again and again, and are as accessible to the pro fane as to the initiate. In such a work of practical Magick as the preaching of a new ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The Master Therion has received this Word; it is communicated by Him to the proper postulants, at the proper tine and place, in the proper circumstances. 2. Each man has a different Great Work, just as no two points on the circumference of a circle are connected with the centre by the same radius. The Word will be correspondingly unique.®PT2¯ -71- ®PG¯ Law, these methods may be advantageously combined; on the one hand infinite fran kness and readiness to communicate all secrets; on the other the sublime and terr ible knowledge that all real secrets are incommunicable.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ It is, according to tradition, a certain advantage in conjurations to employ more than one language. In all probability the reason of this is than any change spurs the flagging attention. A man engaged in intense mental labour will frequ ently stop and walk up and down the room --- one may suppose for this cause --- b ut it is a sign of weakness that this should be necessary. For the beginner in M agick, however, it is permissible®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ to employ any device to secure the result. Conjurations should be recited, not read:®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ and the entire ceremon y should be so perfectly performed that one is hardly conscious of any effort of memory. ®MDBO¯The ceremony should be constructed with such logical fatality that a mistake is impossible.®MDSU¯4®MDBR¯ The conscious ego of the Magician is to b e destroyed to be absorbed in that of the God whom he invokes, and the process sh ould not interfere with the automation who is performing the ceremony. But this ego of which it is here spoken is the true ultimate ego. The automa ton should possess will, energy, intelligence, reason, and resource. This automa ton should be the perfect man far more ----------------®PT3¯ 1. If this were not the case, individuality would not be inviolable. No man can communicate even the simplest thought to any other man in any full and accurate sense. For that thought is sown in a different soil, and cannot produce an identical effect. I cannot put a spot of red upon two pictures without altering each in diverse ways. It might have little effect on a sunset by Turner, but much on a nocturne by Whistler. The identity of the two spots as spots would thus be fallacious. 2. this is not to say that it is advisable. O how shameful is human weakness! But it does encourage one --- it is useless to deny it --- to be knocked down by a Demon of whose existence one was not really quite sure. 3. Even this is for the weaker brethern. The really great Magus speaks and acts impromptu and extempore. 4. First-rate poetry is easily memorized because the ideas and the musical values correspond to man's mental and sensory structure.®PT2¯ -72- ®PG¯ than any other man can be. It is only the divine self within the man, a self as far above the possession of will or any other qualities whatsoever as the heaven s are high above the earth, that should reabsorb itself into that illimitable rad iance of which it is a spark.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ The great difficulty for the single Magician is so to perfect himself that th ese multifarious duties of the Ritual are adequately performed. At first he will find that the exaltation destroys memory and paralyses muscle. This is an essen tial difficulty of the magical process, and can only be overcome by practice and experience.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ In order to aidnd the chance of a conflict of will or a misu nderstanding in the circle itself. On one occasion FRATER PERDURABO was disobeye d by an assistant, and had it not been for His promptitude in using the physical compulsion of the sword, it is probable that the circle would have been broken. As it was, the affair fortunately terminated in nothing more serious than the des truction of the culprit. However, there is no doubt that an assemblage of persons who really are in ha rmony can much more easily produce an effect than a magician working by himself. The psychology of "Revival meetings" will be familiar to almost every one, and t hough such ----------------®PT3¯ 1. This is said of the partial or lesser Works of Magick. This is an elementary treatise; one cannot discuss higher Works as for example those of "The Hermit of Aesopus Island". 2. See ®PT6¯The Book of Lies®PT3¯; there are several chapters on this subject. But Right exaltation should produce spontaneously the proper mental and physical reactions. As soon as the development is secured, there will be automatic reflex "justesse", exactly as in normal affairs mind and body respond with free unconscious rightness to the Will. 3. The organic development of Magick in the world due to the creative Will of the Master Therion makes it with every year that passes easier to find scientifically trained co-workers.®PT2¯ -73- ®PG¯ meetings®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ are the foulest and most degraded rituals of black magic, the laws of Magick are not thereby suspended. ®MDBO¯The laws of Magick are the l aws of Nature.®MDBR¯ A singular and world-famous example of this is of sufficiently recent date to be fresh in the memory of many people now living. At a nigger camp meeting in t he "United" States of America, devotees were worked up to such a pitch of excitem ent that the whole assembly developed a furious form of hysteria. The comparativ ely intelligible cries of "Glory" and "Hallelujah" no longer expressed the situat ion. Somebody screamed out "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!", and this was taken up by the whole meeting and yelled continuously, until reaction set in. The affair got int o the papers, and some particularly bright disciple of John Stuart Mill, logician and economist, thought that these words, having set one set of fools crazy, migh t do the same to all the other fools in the world. He accordingly wrote a song, and produced the desired result. This is the most notorious example of recent ti mes of the power exerted by a barbarous name of evocation. A few words may be useful to reconcile the general notion of Causality with t hat of Magick. How can we be sure that a person waving a stick and howling there by produces thunderstorms? In no other way than that familiar to Science; we not e that whenever we put a lighted match to dry gunpowder, an unintelligibly arbitr ary phenomenon, that of sound, is observed; and so forth. We need not dwell upon this point; but it seems worth while to answer one of the objections to the possibility of Magick, choosing one which is at first sight of an obviously "fatal" character. It is convenient to quote verbatim from the Diary®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ of a distinguished Magician and philosopher. "I have noticed that the effect of a Magical Work has followed ----------------®PT3¯ 1. See, for an account of properly-conduceted congregational seremo- nial, ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, IX. "Energized Enthusiasm", and ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ II I, L. Liber XV, Ecclesiae Gnosticae Catholicae Cannon Missae. The "Revival meetings" here in question were deliberate exploitations of religious hysteria. 2. In a later entry we read that the diarist has found a similar train of argument in "Space, Time, and Gravitation", page 51. He was much encourage by the confirmation of his thesis in so independent a system of thought.®PT2¯ -74- ®PG¯ it so closely that it must have been started before the time of the Work. E.g. I work to-night to make X in Paris write to me. I get the letter the next mornin g, so that it must have been written before the Work. Does this deny that the Wo rk caused the effect? "If I strike a billiard-ball and it moves, both my will and its motion are du e to causes long antecedent to the act. I may consider both my Work and its reac tion as twin effects of the eternal Universe. The moved arm and ball are parts o f a state of the Cosmos which resulted necessarily from its momentarily previous state, and so, back for ever. "Thus, my Magical Work is only one of the cause-effects necessarily concomita nt with the case-effects which set the ball in motion. I may therefore regard th e act of striking as a cause-effect of my original Will to move the ball, though necessarily previous to its motion. But the case of magical Work is not quite an alogous. For my nature is such that I am compelled to perform Magick in order to make my will to prevail; so that the cause of my doing the Work is also the caus e of the ball's motion, and there is no reason why one should precede the other. (CF. Lewis Carroll, where the Red Queen screams before she pricks her finger.) "Let me illustrate the theory by an actual example. "I write from Italy to a man in France and another in Australia on the same d ay, telling them to join me. both arrive then days later; the first in answer to my letter, which he received, the second on "his own initiative", as it would se em. But I summoned him because I wanted him; and I wanted him because he was my representative; and his intelligence made him resolve to join me because it judge d rightly that the situation (so far as he knew it) was such as to make me desire his presence. "The same cause, therefore, which made me write to him made him come to me; a nd though it would be improper to say that the writing of the letter was the dire ct cause of his arrival, it is evident that if I had not written I should have be en different from what I actually am, and therefore my relations with him would h ave been otherwise than they are. In this sense, therefore, the letter and the j ourney are causally connected. "One cannot go farther, and say that in this case I ought to write the letter even if he had arrived before I did so; for it -75- ®PG¯ is part of the whole set of circumstance that I do not use a crowbar on an open door. "The conclusion is that one should do one's Will 'without lust of result'. I f one is working in accordance with the laws of one's own nature, one is doing 'r ight'; and no such work can be criticised as 'useless', even in cases of the char acter here discussed. So long as one's Will prevails, there is no cause for comp laint. "To abandon one's Magick would shew lack of sefl-confidence in one's powers, and doubt as to one's inmost faith in Self and in Nature.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ Of course one changes one's methods as experience indicates; but there is no need to chang e them on any such ground as the above. "Further, the argument here set forth disposes of the need to explain the ®PT 5¯modus operandi®PT2¯ of Magick. A successful operation does not involve any the ory soever, not even that of the existence of causality itself. The whole set of phenomena may be conceived as single. "For instance, if I see a star (as it was years ago) I need not assume causal relations as existing between it, the earth, and myself. The connexion exists; I can predicate nothing beyond that. I cannot postulate purpose, or even determi ne the manner in which the event comes to be. Similarly, when I do Magick, it is in vain to inquire why I so act, or why the desired result does or does not foll ow. Nor can I know how the previous and subsequent conditions are connected. At most I can describe the consciousness which I interpret as a picture of the fact s, and make empirical generalizations of the superficial aspects of the case. "Thus, I have my own personal impressions of the act of telephoning; but I ca nnot be aware of what consciousness, electricity, mechanics, sound, etc., actuall y are in themselves. And although I can appeal to experience to lay down 'laws' as to what ----------------®PT3¯ 1. i.e. on the ground that one cannot understand how Magick can produce the desired effects. For if one possesses the inclination to do Magick, it is evidence of a tendency in one's Nature. Nobody under- stands fully how the mind moves the muscles; but we know that lack of confidence on this point means paralysis. "If the sun and Moon should doubt, They'd immediately go out", as Blake said. Also, as I said myself. "Who hath the How is careless of the Why".®PT2¯ -76- ®PG¯ conditions accompany the act, I can never be suer that they have always been, or ever will again be, identical. (In fact, it is certain that an event can never occur twice in precisely the same circumstances.)®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ "Further, my 'laws; must always take nearly all the more important elements o f knowledge for granted. I cannot say --- finally --- how an electric current is generated. I cannot be sure that some totally unsuspected force is not at work in some entirely arbitrary way. For example, it was formerly supposed that Hydro gen and Chlorine would unite when an electric spark was passed through the mixtur e; now we 'know' that the presence of a minute quantity of aqueous vapour (or som e tertium quid) is essential to the reaction. We formulated before the days of R oss the 'laws' of malarial fever, without reference to the mosquito; we might dis cover one day that the germ is only active when certain events are transpiring in some nebula®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯, or when so apparently inert a substance as Argon is pr esent in the air in certain proportions. "We may therefore admit quite cheerfully that Magick is as mysterious as math ematics, as empirical as poetry, as uncertain as golf, and as dependent on the pe rsonal equation as Love. "That is no reason why we should not study, practice and enjoy it; for it is a Science in exactly the same sense as biology; it is no less an Art that Sculptu re; and it is a Sport as much as Mountaineering. "Indeed, there seems to be no undue presumption in urging that no Science pos sesses equal possibilities of deep and important Knowledge;®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ that no Art offers such opportunities to the ambi- ----------------®PT3¯ 1. If it do so, how could we call it duplex? 2. The history of the Earth is included in the period of some such relation; so that we cannot possibly be sure that we may deny: "Malarial fever is a function of the present precession of the Equinoxes". 3. Magick is less liable to lead to error than any other Science, because its terms are interchangeable, by definition, so that it is based on relativity from the start. We run no risk of asserting absolute propo- sitions. Furthermore we make our measurements in terms of the object measured, thus avoiding the absurdity of defining metaphysical ideas by mutable standards, (Cf. Eddington "Space, Time, and Gravitation". Prologue.) of being forced to attribute the qualities of human conscious- ness to inanimate things (Poincareÿ08', "La mesure du temps"), and of asserting that we know anything of the universe in itself, thought the nature of our senses and our minds necessarily determines our observations, so that the limit of our knowledge is subjective, just as a thermometer can record nothing but its own reaction to one particular type of Energy. Magick recognizes frankly (1) that truth is relative, subjective, and apparent; (2) that Truth implies Omniscience, which is unattainable by mind, being transfinite; just as if one tried to make an exact map of England in England, that map must contain a map of the map, and so on, ad infinitum; (3) that logical contradiction is inherent in reason, (Russell, ®PT6¯Introduction to the Mathematical Philosophy®PT3¯, p. 136; Crowley , "Eleusis", and elsewhere); (4) that a Continuum requires a continuum to be commensurable with it: (5) that Empiricism is ineluctable, and therefore that adjustment is the only possible method of action; and (6) that error may be avoided by opposing no resistance to change, and registering observed phenomena in their own language.®PT2¯ -77- ®PG¯ tion of the Soul to express its Truth, in Ecstasy, through Beauty; and that no Sport rivals its fascinations of danger and delight, so excites, exe rcises, and tests its devotees to the uttermost, or so rewards them by well-being , pride, and the passionate pleasures of personal triumph. "Magick takes every thought and act for its apparatus; it has the Universe fo r its Library and its Laboratory; all Nature is its Subject; and its Game, free f rom close seasons and protective restrictions, always abounds in infinite variety , being all that exists.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The elasticity of Magick makes it equal to all possible kinds of environment, and therefore biologically perfect. "Do what thou wilt..." implies self-adjustment, so that failure cannot occur. One's true Will is necessarily fitted to the whole Universe with the utmost exactitude, because each term in the equation a+b+c=0 must be equal and opposite to the sum of all the other terms. No individual can ever be aught than himself, or do aught else than his Will, which is his necessary relation with his environment, dynamically considered. all error is no more than an illusion proper to him to dissipate the mirage, and it is a general law that the method of accomplishing this operation is to realize, and to acquiesce in, the order of the Universe, and to refrain from attempting the impossible task of overcoming the inertia of the forces which oppose, and therefore are identical with, one's self. Error in thought is therefore failure to understand, and in action to perform, one's own true Will.®PT2¯ -78- ®PG¯ CHAPTER X OF THE GESTURES This chapter may be divided into the following parts: 1. Attitudes. 2. Circumambulations (and similar movements). 3. Changes of position (This depends upon the theory of the construction of the circle). 4. The Knocks of Knells. I Attitudes are of two Kinds: natural and artificial. Of the first kind, prost ration is the obvious example. It comes natural to man (poor creature!) to throw himself to the ground in the presence of the object of his adoration.®MDSU¯1®MDB R¯ Intermediate between this and the purely artificial form of gesture comes a c lass which depends on acquired habit. Thus it is natural to an European officer to offer his sword in token of surrender. A Tibetan would, however, squat, put o ut his tongue, and place his hand behind his right ear. Purely artificial gestures comprehend in their class the majority of definite ly magick signs, though some of these simulate a natural action --- e.g. the sign of the Rending of the Veil. But the sign of Auramoth (see ®PT5¯Equinox®PT2¯ I, II, Illustration "The Signs of the Grades") merely imitates a hieroglyph which ha s only a remote connection with any fact in nature. All signs must of course be studied with infinite patience, and practised until the connection ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The Magician must eschew prostration, or even the "bending of the knee is supplication", as infamous and ignominious, an abdication of his sovereignty.®PT2¯ umambulation.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ This has a very definite result, but one which is very difficult to describe. An anal ogy is the dynamo. ®MDBO¯Circumambulation properly performed in combination with the Sign of Horus®MDBR¯ (or "The Enterer") ®MDBO¯on passing the East is one of t he best methods of arousing the macrocosmic force in the Circle.®MDBR¯ It should never be omitted unless there be some special reason against it. A particular tread seems appropriate to it. This tread should be light and s tealthy, almost furtive, and yet very purposeful. It is the pace of the tiger wh o stalks the deer. The number of circumambulations should of course correspond to the nature of the ceremony. Another important movement is the spiral, of which there are two principal fo rms, one inward, one outward. They can be performed in either direction; and, li ke the circumambulation, if performed deosil®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ they invoke --- if widd ershins®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ they banish®MDSU¯4®MDBR¯. ®MDBO¯In the spiral the tread is light and tripping, almost approximating to a dance:®MDBR¯ while performing it th e magician will usually turn on his own axis, either in the same direction as ----------------®PT3¯ 1. In Part II of this ®PT6¯Book 4®PT3¯ it was assumed that the Magician went barefoot. This would imply his intention to make intimate contact with his Circle. But he may wear sandals, for the Ankh is a sandal-strap; it is born by the Egyptian Gods to signify their power of Going, that is their eternal energy. By shape the Ankh (or Crux Ansata) suggests the formula by which this going is effected in actual practice. 2. i.e. In the same direction as the hands of a watch move. 3. i.e. In the opposite direction. 4. Such, at least, is the traditional interpretation. But there is a deeper design which may be expressed through the direction of rotation. Certain forces of the most formidable character may be invoked by circumambulation Widdershins when it is executed with intent toward them, and the initiated technique. Of such forces Typhon is the tupe, and the war of the Titans against the Olympians the legend. (Teitan, Titan, has in Greek the numerical value of 666.) ---Addenda by WEH: Crowley is using the spelling ®PT2¯®MD129¯Teitan®MDBR¯®PT3¯ in place of the more usual ®PT2¯®MD129¯Titan®MDBR¯®PT3¯ or ®PT2¯®MD129¯Taitan®MDBR¯®PT3¯ to obtain 666 in place of 661 or 662.®PT2¯ -80- ®PG¯ the spiral, or in the opposite direction. Each combination involves a different symbolism. There is also the dance proper; it has many different forms, each God having his special dance. One of the easiest and most effective dances is the ordinary waltz-step combined with the tree signs of L.V.X. It is much easier to attain ec stasy in this way than is generally supposed. The essence of the process consist s in the struggle of the Will against giddiness; but this struggle must be prolon ged and severe, and upon the degree of this the quality and intensity of ecstasy attained may depend. With practice, giddiness is altogether conquered; exhaustion then takes its p lace and the enemy of Will. ®MDBO¯It is through the mutual destruction of these antagonisms in the mental and moral being of the magician that Samadhi is begotte n.®MDBR¯ III Good examples of the use of change of position are given in the manuscripts ® PT5¯Z.1®PT2¯ and ®PT5¯Z.3®PT2¯;®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ explanatory of the Neophyte Ritual o f the G®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯ D®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯, where the candidate is taken to various stat ions in the Temple, each station having a symbolic meaning of its own; but in pur e invocation a better example is given in ®PT5¯Liber 831®PT2¯®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯. In the construction of a ceremony an important thing to decide is whether you will or will not make such movements. For every Circle has its natural symbolis m, and even if no use is to be made of these facts, one must be careful not to le t anything be inharmonious with the natural attributions.®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ For the s ensitive aura of the magician might be disturbed, and the value of the ceremony c ompletely destroyed, by the embarrassment caused by the discovery of some such er ror, just as if a pre-occupied T-totaller found that he had strayed into a Temple of the Demon Rum! It is therefore impossible to neglect the theory of the Circl e. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, II, pp. 244-260 2. ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ I, VII, pp. 93 sqq. 3. The practical necessities of the work are likely to require certain movements. One should either exclude this symbolism altogether, or else think out everything beforehand, and make it significant. Do not let some actions be symbolic and others haphazard.®PT2¯ -81- ®PG¯ To take a simple example, suppose that, in an Evocation of Bartzabel, the plan et Mars, whose sphere is Geburah (Severity) were situated (actually, in the heave ns opposite to the Square of Chesed (Mercy) of the Tau in the Circle, and the tri angle placed accordingly. It would be improper for the Magus to stand on that Sq uare unless using this formula, "I, from Chesed, rule Geburah through the Path of the Lion"; while --- taking an extreme case --- to stand on the square of Hod (w hich is naturally dominated by Geburah) would be a madness which only a formula o f the very highest Magick could counteract. Certain positions, however, such as Tiphareth®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯, are so sympatheti c to the Magus himself that he may use them without reference to the nature of th e spirit, or of the operation; unless he requires an exceptionally precise spirit free of all extraneous elements, or one whose nature is difficulty compatible wi th Tiphareth. To how how these positions may be sued in conjunction with the spirals, suppo se that you are invoking Hathor, Goddess of Love, to descend upon the Altar. Sta nding on the square of Netzach you will make you invocation to Her, and then danc e an inward spiral deosil ending at the foot of the altar, where you sink on you knees with your arms raised above the altar as if inviting Her embrace.®MDSU¯2®MD BR¯ To conclude, one may add that natural artistic ability, of you possess it, fo rms an excellent guide. ®MDBO¯All Art is Magick®MDBR¯. Isadora Duncan has this gift of gesture in a very high degree. Let the reade r study her dancing; if possible rather in private than in public, and learn the superb "unconsciousness" --- which is magical consciousness --- with which she su its the action to the melody.®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ ®MDBO¯there is no more potent means than Art of calling forth true Gods to vi sible appearance.®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Tiphareth is hardly "dominated" even by Kether. It is the son rather than the servant. 2. But NOT "in supplication". 3. This passage was written in 1911 e.v. "Wake Duncan with thy Knocking? I would thou couldst!"®PT2¯ -82- ®PG¯ IV. The knocks or knells are all of the same character. They may be described co llectively --- the difference between them consists only in this, that the instru ment with which they are made seals them with its own special properties. It is of no great importance (even so) whether they are made by clapping the hands or s tamping the feet, by strokes of one of the weapons, or by the theoretically appro priate instrument, the bell. It may nevertheless be admitted that they become mo re important in the ceremony if the Magician considers it worth while to take up® MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ an instrument whose single purpose is to produce them. Let it first be laid down that a knock asserts a connection between the Magic ian and the object which he strikes. Thus the use of the bell, or of the hands, means that the Magician wishes to impress the atmosphere of the whole circle with what has been or is about to be done. He wishes to formulate his will in sound, and radiate it in every direction; moreover, to influence that which lives by br eath in the sense of his purpose, and to summon it to bear witness to his Word. The hands are used as symbols of his executive power, the bell to represent his c onsciousness exalted into music. To strike with the wand is to utter the fiat of creation; the cup vibrates with his delight in receiving spiritual wine. A blow with the dagger is like the signal for battle. The disk is used to express the throwing down of the price of one's purchase. To stamp with the foot is to decla re one's mastery of the matter in hand. Similarly, any other form of giving knoc ks has its own virtue. From the above examples the intelligent student will have perceived the method of interpreting each individual case that may come in quest ion. As above said, the object struck is the object impressed. Thus, a blow upon the altar affirms that he has complied with the laws of his operation. To strike the lamp is to summon the Light divine. Thus for the rest. It must also be observed that many combinations of ideas are made possible by this convention. To strike the wand within the cup is to apply the creative wil l to its proper complement, and so ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Any action not purely rhythmical is a disturbance.®PT2¯ -83- ®PG¯ perform the Great Work by the formula of Regeneration. To strike with the hand on the dagger declares that one demands the use of the dagger as a tool to extend one's executive power. The reader will recall how Siegfried smote Nothung, the sword of Need, upon the lance of Wotan. By the action Wagner, who was instructe d how to apply magical formulae by one of the heads of our Order, intended his he arers to understand that the reign of authority and paternal power had come to an end; that the new master of the world was intellect. The general object of a knock or a knell is to mark a stage in the ceremony. Sasaki Shigetz tells us in his essay on Shinto that the Japanese are accustomed to clap their hands four times "to drive away evil spirits". He explains that wh at really happens is that the sudden and sharp impact of the sound throws the min d into an alert activity which enables it to break loose from the obsession of it s previous mood. It is aroused to apply itself aggressively to the ideals which had oppressed it. There is therefore a perfectly rational interpretation of the psychological power of the knock. In a Magical ceremony the knock is employed for much the same purpose. The M agician uses it like the chorus in a Greek play. It helps him to make a clean cu t, to turn his attention from one part of his work to the next. So much for the general character of the knock or knell. Even this limited p oint of view offers great opportunities to the resourceful Magician. But further possibilities lie to our hand. It is not usually desirable to attempt to convey anything except emphasis, and possibly mood, by varying the force of the blow. It is obvious, moreover, that there is a natural correspondence between the hard loud knock of imperious command on the one hand, and the soft slurred knock of sy mpathetic comprehension on the other. It is easy to distinguish between the bang of the outraged creditor at the front, and the hushed tap of the lover at the be droom, door. Magical theory cannot here add instruction to instinct. But a knock need not be single; the possible combinations are evidently infin ite. We need only discuss the general principles of determining what number of s trokes will be proper in any case, -84- ®PG¯ and how we may interrupt any series so as to express our idea by means of struct ure. The general rule is that a single knock has no special significance as such, because unity is omniform. It represents Kether, which is the source of all thin gs equally without partaking of any quality by which we discriminate one thing fr om another. continuing on these lines, the number of knocks will refer to the Se phira or other idea Qabalistically cognate with that number. Thus, 7 knocks will intimate Venus, 11 the Great Work, 17 the Trinity of Fathers, and 19 the Feminin e Principle in its most general sense. Analyzing the matter a little further, we remark firstly that a battery of to o many knocks is confusing, as well as liable to overweight the other parts of th e ritual. In practice, 11 is about the limit. It is usually not difficult to ar range to cover all necessary ground with that number. Secondly, each is so extensive in scope, and includes aspects so diverse from a practical standpoint that our danger lies in vagueness. A knock should be wel l defined; its meaning should be precise. The very nature of knocks suggests sma rtness and accuracy. We must therefore devise some means of making the sequence significant of the special sense which may be appropriate. Our only resource is in the use of intervals. It is evidently impossible to attain great variety in the smaller numbers. B ut this fact illustrates the excellence of our system. There is only one way of striking 2 knocks, and this fact agrees with the nature of Chokmah; there is only one way of creating. We can express only ourselves, although we do so in duplex form. But there are three ways of striking 3 knocks, and these 3 ways correspon d to the threefold manner in which Binah can receive the creative idea. There ar e three possible types of triangle. We may understand an idea either as an unity tripartite, as an unity dividing itself into a duality, or as a duality harmoniz ed into an unity. Any of these methods may be indicated by 3 equal knocks; 1 fol lowed. after a pause, by 2; and 2 followed, after a pause, by I. As the nature of the number becomes more complex, the possible varieties incr ease rapidly. There are numerous ways of striking 6, each of which is suited to the nature of the several -85- ®PG¯ aspects of Tiphareth. We may leave the determination of these points to the ing enuity of the student. The most generally useful and adaptable battery is composed of 11 strokes. T he principal reasons for this are as follows: ®PT5¯Firstly®PT2¯, 11 is the number of Magick in itself. It is therefore suitable to all types of operation. ®PT5¯ Secondly®PT2¯, it is the sacred number par excellence of the new Aeon. As it is written in ®PT5¯The Book of the Law®PT2¯: "...11, as all their numbers who are of us." ®PT5¯Thirdly®PT2¯, it is the number of the letters of the word ABRAHADABRA , which is the word of the Aeon. The structure of this word is such that it expr esses the great Work, in every one of its aspects. ®PT5¯Lastly®PT2¯, it is possi ble thereby to express all possible spheres of operation, whatever their nature. This is effected by making an equation between the number of the Sephira and the difference between that number and 11. For example, 2®MDFL¯=®MDBR¯=9®MDFL¯)®MDB R¯ is the formula of the grade of initiation corresponding to Yesod. Yesod repre sents the instability of air, the sterility of the moon; but these qualities are balanced in it by the stability implied in its position as the Foundation, and by its function of generation. This complex is further equilibrated by identifying it with the number 2 of Chokmah, which possesses the airy quality, being the Wor d, and the lunar quality, being the reflection of the sun of Kether as Yesod is t he sun of Tiphareth. It is the wisdom which is the foundation by being creation. This suppose that the Magician contemplates an operation f or the purpose of helping his mind to resist the tendency to wander. This will b e a work of Yesod. But he must emphasize the stability of that Sephira as agains t the Airy quality which it possesses. His first action will be to put the 9 und er the protection of the 2; the battery at this point will be 1-9-1. But this 9 as it stands is suggestive of the changefulness of the moon. It may occur to him to divide this into 4 and 5, 4 being the number of fixity, law, and authoritativ e power; and 5 that of courage, energy, and triumph of the spirit -86- ®PG¯ over the elements. He will reflect, moreover, that 4 is symbolic of the stabili ty of matter, while 5 expresses the same idea with regard to motion. At this sta ge the battery will appear as 1-2-5-2-1. After due consideration he will probabl y conclude that to split up the central 5 would tend to destroy the simplicity of his formula, and decide to use it as it stands. Teh possible alternative would be to make a single knock the centre of his batters as if he appealed to the ulti mate immutability of Kether, invoking that unity by placing a fourfold knock on e ither side of it. In this case, his battery would be 1-4-1-4-1. He will natural ly have been careful to preserve the balance of each part of the battery against the corresponding part. This would be particularly necessary in an operation suc h as we have chosen for our example. ----------- -87- ®PG¯ CHAPTER XI OF OUR LADY BABALON AND OF THE BEAST WHEREON SHE RIDETH. ALSO CONCERNING TRANSFORMATIONS. I The contents of this section, inasmuch as they concern OUR LADY, are too impo rtant and too sacred to be printed. They are only communicated by the Master The rion to chosen pupils in private instruction. II the essential magical work, apart from any particular operation, is the prope r formation of the Magical Being or Body of Light. This process will be discusse d at some length in Chapter XVIII. We will here assume that the magician has succeeded in developing his Body of Light until it is able to go anywhere and do anything. There will, however, be a certain limitation to his work, because he has formed his magical body from the fine matter of his own element. Therefore, although he may be able to penetrate the utmost recesses of the heavens, or conduct vigorous combats with the most un pronounceable demons of the pit, it may be impossible for him to do as much as kn ock a vase from a mantelpiece. His magical body is composed of matter too tenuou s to affect directly the gross matter of which illusions such as tables and chair s are made.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The one really easy "physical" operation which the Body of Light can perform is "Congressus subtilis". The emanations of the "Body of Desire" of the material being whom one visits are, if the visit be agreeable, so potent that one spontaneously gains substance in the embrace. There are many cases on record of Children having been born as the result of such unions. See the work of De Sinistrari on Incubi and Succubi for a discussion of analogous phenomena.®PT2¯ -89- ®PG¯ There has been a good deal of discussion in the past within the Colleges of t he Holy Ghost, as to whether it would be quite legitimate to seek to transcend th is limitation. One need not presume to pass judgment. One can leave the decisio n to the will of each magician. ®PT5¯The Book of the Dead®PT2¯ contains many chapters intended to enable the magical entity of a man who is dead, and so deprived (according to the theory of death then current) of the material vehicle for executing his will, to take on th e form of certain animals, such as a golden hawk or a crocodile, and in such form to go about the earth "taking his pleasure among the living."®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ As a general rule, material was supplied out of which he could construct the party of the second part aforesaid, hereinafter referred to as the hawk. We need no, however, consider this question of death. It may often be conven ient for the living to go about the world in some such incognito. ®MDBO¯Now, the n, conceive of this magical body as creative force, seeking manifestation: as a G od, seeking incarnation.®MDBR¯ There are two ways by which this aim may be effected. ®MDBO¯The first method is to build up an appropriate body from its elements.®MDBR¯ This is, generally speaking, a very hard thing to do, because the physical constitution of any mater ial being with much power is, or at least should be, the outcome of ages of evolu tion. However, there is a lawful method of producing an homunculus which is taug ht in a certain secret organization, perhaps known to some of those who may read this, which could very readily be adapted to some such purpose as we are now disc ussing. ®MDBO¯The second method sounds very easy and amusing. You take some organism already existing, which happens to be suitable to your purpose. You drive out t he magical being®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. See ®PT6¯The Book of Lies®PT3¯ Cap. 44, and ®PT6¯the Collected Works of Aleister Crowley®PT3¯, Vol. III, pp. 209-210, where occur paraphrased translations of certain classical Egyptian rituals.®PT2¯ -89- ®PG¯ ®MDBO¯which inhabits it, and take possession.®MDBR¯ To do this by force is neit her easy nor justifiable, because the magical being of the other was incarnated i n accordance with its Will. And "... thou hast no right but to do thy will." On e should hardly strain this sentence to make one's own will include the will to u pset somebody else's will!®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ Moreover, it is extremely difficult thus to expatriate another magical being; for though, unless it is a complete microco sm like a human being, it cannot be called a star, it is a little bit of a star, and part of the body of Nuit. But there is no call for all this frightfulness. There is no need to knock t he girl down, unless she refuses to do what you want, and she will always comply if you say a few nice things to her.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ ®MDBO¯You can always use the bo dy inhabited by an elemental, such as an eagle, hare, wolf, or any convenient ani mal, by making a very simple compact. You take over the responsibility for the a nimal, thus building it up into your own magical hierarchy. This represents a tr emendous gain to the animal.®MDSU¯3®MDBO¯ It completely fulfils its ambition by an alliance of this extremely intimate sort with a Star.®MDBR¯ The magician, on the other hand, is able to transform and retransform himself in a thousand ways b y accepting a retinue of such adherents. In this way the projection of the "astr al" or Body of Light may be made absolutely tangible and practical. ®MDBO¯At the same time, the magician must realise that in undertaking the Karma of any elemen tal, he is assuming a very serious responsibility. The bond which unites him wit h that elemental is love; and, though it is only a small part of the outfit of a magician, it is the whole of the outfit of the elemental®MDBR¯. He will, therefo re, suffer intensely in case of any error or misfortune occurring to his protegeÿ 08'e. This feeling is rather peculiar. It is quite instinctive with the best me n. They ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Yet it might happen that the Will of the other being was to invite the Magician to indwell its instrument. 2. Especially on the subject of the Wand or the Disk. 3. This is the magical aspect of eating animal food, and its justification, or rather the reconciliation of the apparent contradiction between the carnivorous and humanitarian elements in the nature of ®PT6¯Homo Sapiens®PT3 ¯.®PT2¯ -90- ®PG¯ hear of the destruction of a city of a few thousand inhabitants with entire call ousness, but then they hear of a dog having hurt its paw, they feel Weltschmertz acutely. It is not necessary to say much more than this concerning transformations. T hose to whom the subject naturally appeals will readily understand the importance of what has been said. Those who are otherwise inclined may reflect that a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse. ------- -91- ®PG¯ CHAPTER XII OF THE BLOODY SACRIFICE: AND MATTERS COGNATE. It is necessary for us to consider carefully the problems connected with the bloody sacrifice, for this question is indeed traditionally important in Magick. Nigh all ancient Magick revolves around this matter. In particular all the Osir ian religions --- the rites of the Dying God --- refer to this. The slaying of O siris and Adonis; the mutilation of Attis; the cults of Mexico and Peru; the stor y of Hercules or Melcarth; the legends of Dionysus and of Mithra, are all connect ed with this one idea. In the Hebrew religion we find the same thing inculcated. The first ethical lesson in the Bible is that the only sacrifice pleasing to th e Lord is the sacrifice of blood; Abel, who made this, finding favour with the Lo rd, while Cain, who offered cabbages, was rather naturally considered a cheap spo rt. The idea recurs again and again. We have the sacrifice of the Passover, fol lowing on the story of Abraham's being commanded to sacrifice his firstborn son, with the idea of the substitution of animal for human life. The annual ceremony of the two goats carries out this in perpetuity. And we see again the domination of this idea in the romance of Esther, where Haman and Mordecai are the two goat s or gods; and ultimately in the presentation of the rite of Purim in Palestine, where Jesus and Barabbas happened to be the Goats in that particular year of whic h we hear so much, without agreement on the date. This subject must be studied in the ®PT5¯Golden Bough®PT2¯, where it is most learnedly set forth by Dr. J. G. Frazer. Enough has now been said to show that the bloody sacrifice has from time imme morial been the most considered part of Magick. -92- ®PG¯ The ethics of the thing appear to have concerned no one; nor, to tell the truth, need they do so. As St. Paul says, "Without shedding of blood there is no remis sion"; and who are we to argue with St. Paul? But, after all that, it is open to any one to have any opinion that he likes upon the subject, or any other subject , thank God! At the same time, it is most necessary to study the business, whate ver we may be going to do about it; for our ethics themselves will naturally depe nd upon our theory of the universe. If we were quite certain, for example, that e verybody went to heaven when he died, there could be no serious objection to murd er or suicide, as it is generally conceded --- by those who know neither --- that earth is not such a pleasant place as heaven. However, there is a mystery concealed in this theory of the bloody sacrifice which is of great importance to the student, and we therefore make no further apo logy, We should not have made even this apology for an apology, had it not been for the solicitude of a pious young friend of great austerity of character who in sisted that the part of this chapter which now follows --- the part which was ori ginally written --- might cause us to be misunderstood. This must not be. ®MDBO¯The blood is the life.®MDBR¯ This simple statement is explained by the Hindus by saying that the blood is the principal vehicle of vital Prana.®MDSU¯1® MDBR¯ There is some ground for the belief that there is a definite substance®MDS U¯2®MDBR¯, not isolated as yet, whose presence makes all ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Prana or force" is often used as a generic term for all kinds of subtle energy. The prana of the body is only one of its "vayus". Vayu means air or spirit. The idea is that all bodily forces are manifesta- tions of of the finer forces of the more real body, this real body being a subtle and invisible thing. 2. This substance need not be conceived as "material" in the crude sense of Victorian science; we now know that such phenomena as the rays and emanations of radioactive substances occupy an intermediate position. For instance, mass is not, as once supposed, necessarily impermeable to mass, and matter itself can be only interpreted in terms of motion. So, as to "prana", one might hypothesize a phenomenon in the ether analogous to isomerism. We already know of bodies chemically identical whose molecular structure makes one active, another inactive, to certain reagents. Metals can be "tired" or even "killed" as to some of their properties, without discoverable chemical change. One can "kill" steel, and "raise it from the dead"; and flies drowned in icewater can be resuscitated. That it should be impossible to create high organic life is scientifically unthinkable, and the Master Therion believes it to be a matter of few years indeed before this is done in the laboratory. Already we restore the apparently drowned. Why not those dead from such causes as syncope? If we understood the ultimate physics and chemistry of the brief moment of death we would get hold of the force in some say, supply the missing element, reverse the electrical conditions or what not. already we prevent certain kinds of death by supplying wants, as in the case of Thyroid.®PT2¯ -93- ®PG¯ the difference between live and dead matter. We pass by with deserved contempt the pseudo-scientific experiments of American charlatans who claim to have establ ished that weight is lost at the moment of death, and the unsupported statements of alleged clairvoyants that they have seen the soul issuing like a vapour from t he mouth of persons ®PT5¯in articulo mortis®PT2¯; but his experiences as an explo rer have convinced the Master Therion that meat loses a notable portion of its nu tritive value within a very few minutes after the death of the animal, and that t his loss proceeds with ever-diminishing rapidity as time goes on. It is further generally conceded that live food, such as oysters, is the most rapidly assimilab le and most concentrated for of energy.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ Laboratory experiments in f ood-values seem to be almost worthless, for reasons which we cannot here enter in to; the general testimony of mankind appears a safer guide. It would be unwise to condemn as irrational the practice of those savages who tear the heart and liver from an adversary, and devour them while yet warm. In any case ®MDBO¯it was the theory of®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Once can become actually drunk on oysters, by chewing them completely. Rigor seems to be a symptom of the loss of what I may call the Alpha-energy and makes a sharp break in the curve. The Beta and other energies dissipate more slowly. Physiologists should make it their first duty to measure these phenomena; for their study is evidently a direct line of research into the nature of Life. The analogy between the living and complex molecules of the Uranium group of inorganic and the Protoplasm group of organic elements is extremely suggestive. The faculties of growth, action, self-recuperation, etc., must be ascribed to similar properties in both cases; and as we have detected, measuredantity according to the size and health of the animal, and in quality a ccording to its mental and moral character.®MDBR¯ At the death of the animal thi s energy is liberated suddenly. The animal should therefore be killed®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ within the Circle, or the Triangle, as the case may be, so that its energy cannot escape. An animal shoul d be selected whose nature accords with that of the ceremony --- thus, by sacrifi cing a female lamb one would not obtain any appreciate quantity of the fierce ene rgy useful to a Magician who was invoking Mars. In such a case a ram®MDSU¯2®MDBR ¯ would be more suitable. And this ram should be virgin --- the whole potential of its original total energy should not have been diminished in any way.®MDSU¯3®M DBR¯ For the highest spiritual working one must accordingly choose that victim w hich contains the greatest and purest force. A male child of perfect innocence a nd high intelligence®MDSU¯4®MDBR¯ is the most satisfactory and suitable victim. ----------------®PT3¯ 1. It is a mistake to suppose that the victim is injured. On the contrary, this is the most blessed and merciful of all deaths, for the elemental spirit is directly built up into Godhead --- the exact goal of its efforts through countless incarnations. On the other hand, the practice of torturing animals to death in order to obtain the elemental as a slave is indefensible, utterly black magic of the very worst kind, involving as it does a metaphysical basis of dualism. There is, however, no objection to dualism or black magic when they are properly understood. See the account of the Master Therion's Great Magical Retirement by Lake Pasquaney, where he "crucified a toad in the Basilisk abode". 2. A wolf would be still better in the case of Mars. See ®PT6¯777®PT3¯ for the correspondences between various animals and the "32 Paths" of Nature. 3. There is also the question of its magical freedom. Sexual intercourse crates a link between its exponents, and therefore a responsibility. 4. It appears from the Magical Records of Frater Perdurabo that He made this particular sacrifice on an average about 150 times every year between 1912 e.v. and 1928 e.v. Contrast J.K.Huyman's ®PT6¯Laÿ08'-Bas®PT3¯ , where a perverted form of Magic of an analogous order is described. "It is the sacrifice of oneself spiritually. And the intelligence and innocence of that male child are the perfect understanding of the Magician, his one aim, without lust of result. And male he must be, because what he sacrifices is not the material blood, but his creative power." This initiated interpretation of the texts was sent spontaneously by Soror I. W. E., for the sake of the younger Brethern. -----addenda by W.E.H.: When Crowley speaks of sacrificing a male child, his diaries and other writings indicate that he thereby obfuscates the actual practice. Crowley did this by diversion of the act of sexual intercourse and other sexual actions. He considered contraception as human sacrifice. There is no indication in any of his writings that he ever performed infanticide. In fact, Crowley was even against abortion.®PT2¯ -95- ®PG¯ For evocations it would be more convenient to place the blood of the victim i n the Triangle --- the idea being that the spirit might obtain from the blood thi s subtle but physical substance which was the quintessence of its life in such a manner as to enable it to take on a visible and tangible shape.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ ®MDBO¯Those magicians who abject to the use of blood have endeavored to repla ce it with incense.®MDBR¯ For such a purpose the incense of Abramelin may be bur nt in large quantities. Dittany of Crete is also a valuable medium. Both these incenses are very catholic in their nature, and suitable for almost any materiali zation. ®MDBO¯But the bloody sacrifice, though more dangerous, is more efficacious;®M DBR¯ and for nearly all purposes human sacrifice is the best. The truly great Ma gician will be able to use his own blood, or possibly that of a disciple, and tha t without sacrificing the physical life irrevocably.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ An example of this sacrifice is given in Chapter 44 of Liber 333. This Mass may be recommended generally for daily practice. One last word on this subject. ®MDBO¯There is a Magical operation of maximum importance: the Initiation of a New Aeon. When it becomes necessary to utter a Word, the whole Planet must be bathed in blood. Before man is ready to accept th e Law of Thelema, the Great War must be fought. This Bloody Sacrifice is the cri tical point of the World-®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. See ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯ (I, V. Supplement: Tenth Aethyr) for an Account of an Operation where this was done. Magical phenomena of the creative order are conceived and germinate in a peculiar thick velvet darkness, crimson, purple, or deep blue, approximating black: as if it were said, In the body of Our Lady of the Stars. See ®PT6¯777®PT3¯ for the correspondences of the various forces of Nature wit h drugs, perfumes, etc. 2. Such details, however, may safely be left to the good sense of the Student. Experience here as elsewhere is the best teacher. In the Sacrifice during Invocation, however, it may be said without fear of contradiction that the death of the victim should coincide with the supreme invocation. ------addenda by W.E.H.: A sworn testimony by Crowley declares that he held actual human sacrifice to physical death to be the most efficacious, but that he never did such a thing. On the matter concerning death of the victim in invocation, Crowley elsewhere enlarges that this is the ephemeral death of the Ego.®PT2¯ -96- ®PG¯ ®MDBO¯Ceremony of the Proclamation of Horus, the Crowned and conquering Child, a s Lord of the Aeon.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ This whole matter is prophesied in ®PT5¯The Book of the Law®PT2¯ itself; let the student take note, and enter the ranks of the Host of the Sun. II ®MDBO¯There is another sacrifice with regard to which the Adepts have always maintained the most profound secrecy. It is the supreme mystery of practical Mag ick. Its name is the Formula of the Rosy Cross.®MDBR¯ In this case the victim i s always --- in a certain sense --- the Magician himself, and the sacrifice must coincide with the utterance of the most sublime and secret name of the God whom h e wishes to invoke. Properly performed, it never fails of its effect. But it is difficult for th e beginner to do it satisfactorily, because it is a great effort for the mind to remain concentrated upon the purpose of the ceremony. The overcoming of this dif ficulty lends most powerful aid to the Magician. ®MDBO¯It is unwise for him to attempt it until he has received regular initia tion in the true®MDSU¯2®MDBO¯ Order of the Rosy Cross,®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Note: This paragraph was written in the summer of 1911 e.v., just three years before its fulfilment. 2. It is here desirable to warn the reader against the numerous false orders which have impudently assumed the name of Rosicrucian. The Masonic Societas Rosicruciana is honest and harmless; and makes no false pretences; if its members happen as a rule to be pompous busy-bodies, enlarging the borders of their phylacteries, and scrupulous about cleansing the outside of the cup and the platter; if the masks of the Officers in their Mysteries suggest the Owl, the Cat, the Parrot, and the Cuckoo, while the Robe of their Chief Magus is a Lion's Skin, that is their affair. But those orders run by persons ®PT6¯claiming®PT3¯ to represent the True Ancient Fraternit y are common swindles. The representatives of the late S. L. Mathers (Count McGregor) are the phosphorescence of the rotten wood of a branch which was lopped off the tree at the end of the 19th century. Those of Papus (Dr. Encausse), Stanislas de Guaita and Peÿ08'lan, merit respect as serious, but lack full knowledge and authority. The "Ordo Rosae Crucis" is a mass of ignorance and falsehood, but this may be a deliberate device for masking itself. The test of any Order is its attitude towards the Law of Thelema. The True Order presents the True Symbols, but avoids attaching the True Name thereto; it is only when the Postulant has taken irrevocable Oaths and been received formally, that he discovers what Fraternity he has joined. If he have taken false symbols for true, and find himself magically pledged to a gang of rascals, so much the worse for him!®PT2¯ -97- ®PG¯ and he must have taken the vows with the fullest comprehension and experience of their meaning. It is also extremely desirable that he should have attained an a bsolute degree of moral emancipation®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯, and that purity of spirit whic h results from a perfect understanding both of the differences and harmonies of t he planes upon the Tree of Life. Fir this reason FRATER PERDURABO has never dared to use this formula in a ful ly ceremonial manner, save once only, on an occasion of tremendous import, when, indeed, it was not He that made the offering, but ONE in Him. For he perceived a grave defect in his moral character which he has been able to overcome on the in tellectual plane, but not hitherto upon higher planes. Before the conclusion of writing this book he will have done so.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ The practical details of the Bloody Sacrifice may be studied in various ethno logical manuals, but the general conclusions are summed up in Frazer's ®PT5¯Golde n Bough®PT2¯, which is strongly recommended to the reader. Actual ceremonial details likewise may be left to experiment. The method of killing is practically uniform. The animal should be stabbed to the heart, or it s throat severed, in either case by the knife. All other methods of killing are less efficacious; even in the case of Crucifixion death is given by stabbing.®MDS U¯3®MDBR¯ One may remark that warm-blooded animals only are used as victims: with two p rincipal exceptions. The first is the serpent, which is only used in a very spec ial Ritual;®MDSU¯4®MDBR¯ the second the magical beetles of ®PT5¯Liber Legis®PT2¯. (See Part IV.) ----------------®PT3¯ 1. This results from he full acceptance of the Law of THELEMA, persistently put into practice. 2. P.S. With the happiest results. P. 3. Yet one might devise methods of execution appropriate to the Weapons: Stabbing or clubbing for the Lance or Wand, Drowning or poisoning for the Cup, Beheading for the Sword, Crushing for the Disk, Burning for the Lamp, and so forth. 4. The Serpent is not really killed; it is seethed in an appropriate vessel; and it issues in due season refreshed and modified, but still essentially itself. The idea is the transmission of life and wisdom form a vehicle which has fulfilled its formula to one capable of further extension. The development of a wild fruit by repeated plantings in suitable soil is an analogous operation. ---- addenda by W.E.H.: The serpent is the phallus. The vessel and the seething are likewise sub rosa.®PT2¯ -98- ®PG¯ One word of warning is perhaps necessary for the beginner. The victim must b e in perfect health --- or its energy may be as it were poisoned. It must also n ot be too large:®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ the amount of energy disengages is almost unimagina bly great, and out of all anticipate proportion to the strength of the animal. c onsequently, the Magician may easily be overwhelmed and obsessed by the force whi ch he has let loose; it will then probably manifest itself in its lowest and most objectionable form. ®MDBO¯The most intense spirituality of purpose®MDSU¯2®MDBO¯ is absolutely essential to safety.®MDBR¯ In evocations the danger is not so great, as the Circle forms a protection; b ut the circle in such a case must be protected, not only by the names of God and the Invocations used at the same time, but by a long habit of successful defence. ®MDSU¯3®MDBR¯ If you are easily disturbed or alarmed, or if you have not yet ove rcome the tendency of the mind to wander, it is not advisable for your to perform ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The sacrifice (e.g.) of a bull is sufficient for a large number of people; hence it is commonly made in public ceremonies, and in some initiations, e.g. that of a King, who needs force for his whole kingdom. Or again, in the Consecration of a Temple. See Lord Dunsany, "The Blessing of Pan" --- a noble and most notable prophecy of Life's fair future. 2. This is a matter of concentration, with no ethical implication. The danger is that one may get something which one does not want. This is "bad" by definition. Nothing is in itself good or evil. The shields of the Sabines which crushed Tarpeia were not murderous to them, but the contrary. Her criticism of them was simply that they were what she did not want in her Operation. 3. The habitual use of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (say, thrice daily) for months and years and constant assumption of the God-form of Harpocrates (See ®PT6¯Equinox®PT3¯, I, II and ®PT6¯Liber 333®PT3¯, c ap. XXV for both of these) should make the ®PT6¯real circle®PT3¯, i.e. the Aura of the M agus, impregnable. This Aura should be clean-cut, resilient, radiant, iridescent, brilliant, glittering. "A Soap-bubble of razor-steel, streaming with light from within" is my first attempt ad description; and is not bad, despite its incongruities: P. "FRATER PERDURABO, on the one occasion on which I was able to see Him as He really appears, was brighter than the Sun at noon. I fell instantly to the floor in swoon which lasted several hours, during which I was initiated." Soror A®PT2¯®MDFL¯:®MDBR¯®PT3¯. Cf. Rev. I, 12-17.®PT2¯ -99- ®PG¯ the ®PT5¯Bloody Sacrifice®PT2¯.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ Yet it should not be forgotten tha t this, and that other art at which we have dared darkly to hint, are the supreme formulae of Practical Magick. You are also likely to get into trouble over this chapter unless you truly co mprehend its meaning.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. The whole idea of the word Sacrifice, as commonly understood, rests upon an error and superstition, and is unscientific, besides being metaphysically false. The Law of Thelema has totally changed the Point of View as to this matter. Unless you have thoroughly assimilated the Formula of Horus, it is absolutely unsafe to meddle with this type of Magick. Let the young Magician reflect upon the Conservation of Matter and of Energy. 2. There is a traditional saying that whenever an Adept seems to have made a straightforward, comprehensible statement, there is it most certain that He means something entirely different. The Truth is nevertheless clearly set forth in His Words: it is His simplicity that baffles the unworthy. I have chosen the expressions in this Chapter in such a way that it is likely to mislead those magicians who allow selfish interests to cloud their intelligence, but to gibe useful hints to such as are bound by the proper Oaths to devote their powers to legitimate ends. "...thou hast no right but to do thy will." "It is a lie, this folly against self." The radical error of all uninitiates is that they define "self" as irreconciliably opposed to "not-self." Each element of oneself is, on the contrary, sterile and without meaning, until it fulfils itself, by "love under will", in its counterpart in the Macrocosm. To separate oneself from others is to destroy oneself; the way to realize and to extend oneselr; it "destroys" or rather changes both in order to fulfil both in the result of he operation --- a grown man. It is in fact impossible to preserve anything as it is by positive action upon it. Its integrity demands inaction; and inaction, resistance to change, is stagnation, death and dissolution due to the internal putrefaction of the starved elements.®PT2¯ --------- -100- ®PG¯ CHAPTER XIII OF THE BANISHINGS: AND OF THE PURIFICATIONS. Cleanliness is next of Godliness, and had better come first. Purity means si ngleness. God is one. The wand is not a wand if it has something sticking to it which is not an essential part of itself. If you wish to invoke Venus, you do n ot succeed if there are traces of Saturn mixed up with it. That is a mere logical commonplace: in magick one must go much farther than t his. One finds one's analogy in electricity. If insulation is imperfect, the wh ole current goes back to earth. It is useless to plead that in all those miles o f wire there is only one-hundredth of an inch unprotected. It is no good buildin g a ship if the water can enter, through however small a hole. ®MDBO¯That first task of the Magician in every ceremony is therefore to rend er his Circle absolutely impregnable.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ If one littlest thought intru de upon the mind of the Mystic, his concentration is absolutely destroyed; and hi s consciousness remains on exactly the same level as the Stockbroker's. Even the smallest baby is incompatible with the virginity of its mother. If you leave ev en a single spirit within the circle, the effect of the conjuration will be entir ely absorbed by it.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. See, however, the Essay on Truth in ®PT6¯Konx om Pax®PT3¯. The Circle ( in one aspect) asserts Duality, and emphasizes Division. 2. While one remains exposed to the action of all sorts of forces they more or less counterbalance each other, so that the general equilibrium, produced by evolution, is on the whole maintained. But if we suppress all but one, its action becomes irresistible. Thus, the pressure of the atmosphere would crush us if we "banished" that of our bodies; and we should crumble to dust if we rebelled successfully against cohesion. A man who is normally an "allround good sort" often becomes intolerable when he gets rid of his collection of vices; he is swept into monomania by the spiritual pride which had been previously restrained by countervailing passions. Again, there is a worse draught when an ill-fitting door is closed than when it stands open. It is not as necessary to protect his mother and his cattle from Don Juan as it was from the Hermits of the Thebaid.®PT2¯ -101- ®PG¯ The Magician must therefore take the utmost care in the matter of purificatio n, ®PT5¯firstly®PT2¯, of himself, ®PT5¯secondly®PT2¯, of his instruments, ®PT5¯th irdly®PT2¯, of the place of working. Ancient Magicians recommended a preliminary purification of from three days to many months. During this period of training they took the utmost pains with diet. They avoided animal food, lest the element al spirit of the animal should get into their atmosphere. They practised sexual abstinence, lest they should be influenced in any way by the spirit of the wife. Even in regard to the excrements of the body they were equally careful; in trimm ing the hair and nails, they ceremonially destroyed®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ the severed port ion. They fasted, so that the body itself might destroy anything extraneous to t he bare necessity of its existence. They purified the mind by special prayers an d conservations. They avoided the contamination of social intercourse, especiall y the conjugal kind; and their servitors were disciples specially chosen and cons ecrated for the work. ®MDBO¯In modern times our superior understanding of the essentials of this pr ocess enables us to dispense to some extent with its external rigours;®MDBR¯ but the internal purification must be even more carefully performed. We may eat meat , provided that in doing so we affirm that we eat it in order to strengthen us fo r the special purpose of our proposed invocation.®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. Such destruction should be by burning or other means which produces a complete chemical change. In so doing care should be taken to bless and liberate the native elemental of the thing burnt. This maxim is of universal application. 2. In an Abbey of Thelema we way "Will" before a meal. The formula is as follows. "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." "What is thy Will?" "It is my will to eat and drink" "To what end?" "That my body may be fortified thereby." "To what end?" "That I may accomplish the Great Work." "Love is the law, love under will." "Fall to!" This may be adapted as a monologue. One may also add the inquiry "What is the Great Work?" and answer appropriately, when it seems useful to specify the nature of the Operation in progress at the time. The point is to seize every occasion of bringing every available force to bear upon the objective of the assault. It does not matter what the force is (by any standard of judgment) so long as it plays its proper part in securing the success of the general purpose. Thus, even laziness may be used to increase our indifference to interfering impulses, or envy to counteract carelessness. See ®PT6¯Liber CLXXV, Equinox®PT3 ¯ I, VII, p. 37. This is especially true, since the forces are destroyed by the process. That is, one destroys a complex which in itself is "evil" and puts its elements to the one right use.®PT2¯ -102- ®PG¯ By thus avoiding those actions which might excite the comment of our neighbou rs we avoid the graver dangers of falling into spiritual pride. We have understood the saying: "To the pure all things are pure", and we have learnt how to act up to it. We can analyse the mind far more acutely than could the ancients, and we can therefore distinguish the real and right feeling from i ts imitations. A man may eat meat from self-indulgence, or in order to avoid the dangers of asceticism. ®MDBO¯We must constantly examine ourselves, and assure o urselves that every action is really subservient to the One Purpose.®MDBR¯ It is ceremonially desirable to seal and affirm this mental purity by Ritual, and accordingly the first operation in any actual ceremony is bathing and robing , with appropriate words. The bath signifies the removal of all things extraneou s to antagonistic to the one thought. The putting on of the robe is the positive side of the same operation. It is the assumption of the fame of mind suitable t o that one thought. A similar operation takes place in the preparation of every instrument, as ha s been seen in the Chapter devoted to that subject. In the preparation of the pl ace of working, the same considerations apply. We first remove from that place a ll objects; and we then put into it those objects, and only those -103- ®PG¯ objects, which are necessary. During many days we occupy ourselves in this proc ess of cleansing and consecration; and this again is confirmed in the actual cere mony. The cleansed and consecrated Magician takes his cleansed and consecrated inst ruments into that cleansed and consecrated place, and there proceeds to repeat th at double ceremony in the ceremony itself, which has these same two main parts. ®MDBO¯The first part of every ceremony is the banishing; the second , the invokin g.®MDBR¯ The same formula is repeated even in the ceremony of banishing itself, for in the banishing ritual of the pentagram we not only command the demons to de part, but invoke the Archangels and their hosts to act as guardians of the Circle during our pre-occupation with the ceremony proper. In more elaborate ceremonies it is usual to banish everything by name. Each element, each planet, and each sign, perhaps even the Sephiroth themselves; all a re removed, including the very one which we wished to invoke, for that forces as existing in Nature is always impure. But this process, being long and wearisome, is not altogether advisable in actual working. It is usually sufficient to perf orm a general banishing, and to rely upon the aid of the guardians invoked. Let the banishing therefore be short, but in no wise slurred --- for it is useful as it tends to produce the proper attitude of mind for the invocations. "The Banish ing Ritual of the Pentagram" (as now rewritten, ®PT5¯Liber 333®PT2¯, Cap. XXV) is the best to use.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ Only the four elements are specifically mentioned , but these four elements contain the planets and the signs®MDSU¯2®MDBR¯ --- the four elements are Tetragrammaton; and Tetragrammaton is the Universe. This speci al precaution is, however, necessary: ®MDBO¯make exceedingly sure that the cerem ony of banishing is effective!®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. See also the Ritual called "The Mark of the Beast" given in an Appendix. But this is pantomorphous. 2. The signs and the planets, of course, contain, the elements. It is important to remember this fact, as it helps one toe grasp what all these terms really mean. None of the "Thirty-two Paths" is a simple idea; each one is a combination, differentiated from the others by its structure and proportions. The chemical elements are similarly constituted, as the critics of Magick have at last been compelled to admit.®PT2¯ -104- ®PG¯ Be alert and on your guard! Watch before you pray! The feeling of success in b anishing, once acquired, is unmistakable. At the conclusion, it is usually well to pause for a few moments, and to make sure once more that every thing necessary to the ceremony is in its right place. The Magician may then proceed to the final consecration of the furniture of the Temple.®MDSU¯1®MDBR¯ ----------------®PT3¯ 1. That is, of the special arrangement of that furniture. Each object should have been separately consecrated beforehand. The ritual here in question should summarize the situation, and devote the particular arrangement to its purpose by invoking the appropriate forces. Let it be well remembered that each object is bound by the Oaths of its original consecration as such. Thus, if a pantacle has been made sacred to Venus, it cannot be used in an operation of mars; the Energy of the Exorcist would be taken up in overcoming the opposition of the "Karma" or inertia therein inherent.®PT2¯ --------- -105- ®PG¯