February 20, 1989 e.v. key entry by Rusty Sporer and Bill Heidrick
Has been proof read but needs further proof reading
(c) O.T.O.
O.T.O.
JAF Box 7666
New York, NY 10116
USA
(718) 965-9551 ---- messages only.
Note: In various footnotes to the text, Crowley makes correspondences to
Enochian letters and Astrological symbols. An ambiguity exists in regard
to the letter "T". The Germer/Thelema Publishing Edition of 1952 e.v.
makes extensive use of symbols for Astrological concepts, and it is not
possible to clearly differentiate the signs for Leo and Caput Draconis in
all instances, since the handwritten symbols for these two correspondences
are usually indistinguishable in the Germer edition. Enochian corresponds
directly to English letters, while the astrological correspondences come
from correspondences to Hebrew letters. There are two letters in Hebrew
which are loosely rendered "T" in English/Enochian; Tet = Leo and Taw =
Caput Draconis/Saturn. Crowley uses both Leo and Caput Draconis for the
Enochian "T" in his notes. Where Leo or Caput Draconis is made clear by
the context of the note, the rendering has been duplicated here. Where
this is ambiguous, T is assumed to be matched to Leo in this text.
F.I.Regardie, in his edition, usually renders the Enochian "T" as Caput
Draconis, a practice reversed in this present version. A concise edition
should therefore be made only after careful examination of the notations
for every instance of the use of the Enochian "T", with citation of
uncertainty in regard to Leo or Caput Draconis where Crowley's intention is
unclear.
---- WEH = Bill Heidrick (William E. Heidrick, TG OTO)
LIBER XXX AERUM
Vel Saecvli
Svb Figvra
CCCCXVIII
Being of the Angels of the 30 Aethyrs
THE VISION AND THE VOICE
With COMMENTARY by THE MASTER THERION
THELEMA PUBLISHING COMPANY
October 12 1952
A{.'.} A{.'.} Publication in Class A B
Imprimatur:
D.D.S. 7x = 4{square x} Praemonstrator
O.S.V. 6x = 5{square x} Imperatior
N.S.F. 5x = 6{square x} Cancellarius
I N T R O D U C T I O N
_The Vision and the Voice_ of the Angels of the thirty Aethyrs,
reprinted from the _Equinox,_ Volume 1, Supplement to No. 5, but here
represented for the first time with an elaborate commentary by the MASTER THERION, is
unique in that it attempts to describe in a perfectly sane and scientific manner spiritual
experiences, and the investigations of the more subtle planes.
The first attempts to obtain these visions were made in 1900, in
Mexico, where FRATER PERDURABO had journeyed in his efforts to obtain a perfect
understanding of the mystic traditions and methods of attainment of every race and clime.
The first two Aires were investigated on November 14 and 17, 1900. _The Vision and the
Voice_ was mysterious and terrific in character. But what he saw was not altogether beyond
his previous experiences; what he heard was as unintelligible to him as William Blake to a
7th Day Adventist. He was encouraged by the evident importance of these results, but found
that he was absolutely unable to proceed with the 28th Aethyr. It became evident, some 9
years later, that what stopped his further exploration of the Aethyrs in 1900 was simply
that his Grade did not entitle him to go further than the 29th. In fact only a Master of
the Temple, 8x = 3{square x}, can penetrate beyond a certain point, and further, as
sections of the Comment point out, even a Master of the Temple cannot pierce through the
veils surrounding the outer of these Aires.
The Seer had not thought of continuing this work for nearly 9 years.
It is not at all clear how the idea came to him in 1909, during a walk
through the Desert with Frater O.V., (Victor Neuburg) a Probationer of the
A{.'.} A{.'.}, but at Aumale a Hand suddenly smote its lightning into his
heart, and he knew that now, that very day, he must take up _The Vision and
the Voice_ from the point where he had laid it down in 1900. Parallel to
this, it is also possible that he had in his ruck sack one of his earliest
Magical Note Books, where he had copied with infinite patience the 19 Calls or Keys
obtained by Sir Edward Kelly from certain Angels and written down by Queen Elizabeth's
astrologer, Dr. John Dee.
The facts that stamp these Keys or Calls are these. Over 100 squares
filled with letters were obtained by these two Magicians, in a manner which no one yet has
quite understood. Dee would have one or more of these tables (as a rule 49 by 49) --- some
full, others lettered only on
alternate squares --- before him on a writing table. Kelly would sit at
what they called the Holy Table, and gaze into a "Shewstone" in which he
would see an Angel, who would point with a wand to letters on one of these
charts in succession. Kelly would report, for example, "He points to
column 6, rank 31", and so on, apparently not mentioning the letter, which
Dee found and wrote down from the "Table" before him. When the Angel had
finished, the message was rewritten backwards. It had been dictated
backwards
- page 1 -
as being too dangerous to communicate forwards --- each word being in its
nature so powerful that its direct communication would have evoked forces
which were not wanted at that time.
These Keys being re-written backwards, there then appeared
conjurations in a language which they called "Enochian", or "Angelic".
It
is not a jargon; it has a grammar and a syntax of its own. It is far more
sonorous, stately and impressive than even Greek or Sanskrit and the
English translations, though in places difficult to understand, contain
passages of a sustained sublimity that Shakespeare, Milton and the Bible do
not surpass.
"Can the Wings of the Wind understand your voices of Wonder? O Ye!
The Second of the First! whom the burning flames have framed in the
depths of my Jaws! Whom I have prepared as cups for a wedding, or
as flowers in their beauty for the chamber of Righteousness!
Stronger are your feet than the barren stone! and mightier are your
voices than the manifold winds! For you are become a building such
as is not, save in the mind of the All-Powerful."
(Second Key)
There are nineteen of these Keys: the first two conjuring the element
called Spirit; the next sixteen invoke the Four Elements; each sub-divided
into four; the nineteenth, by changing two names, may be used to invoke any
one of what are called the thirty "Aethyrs" or "Aires".
The genuineness of these Keys, altogether apart from any critical
observation, is guaranteed by the fact that anyone with the smallest
capacity for Magick finds that they _work_. The Seer had used these Keys a
great deal, --- always with excellent effect. It was in Mexico that the
idea occurred to him to discover for himself what these Aethyrs really
were, by invoking them in turn by means of the nineteenth key, and, by
skrying in the Spirit Vision, judge their nature by what he saw and heard.
It was then in Aumale, that he prepared to commence once more the
investigations of these Aethyrs, and accordingly bought a number of
notebooks. After dinner, on the 23rd of November, 1909, he invoked the
28th Aethyr by means of this 19th Key. When it was compared with those of
the 29th and 30th Aethyrs, --- lo and behold, there were exhibited the same
peculiarities of subject and style. This is true also of the 27th, and so
on to the 24th; yet there is a continuous advance towards coherence both in
each Aethyr itself, and as regards its neighbour. The subject shows
solemnity and sublimity, as well as the tendency to fit in with those
conceptions of the Cosmos, those mystic Laws of Nature, and those ideas of
transcendental Truth which had already been foreshadowed in _The Book of the Law_ (Vernal
Equinox, 1904), and the more exalted of the trances which the Seer had experienced prior
to this date.
The Method of obtaining _The Vision and the Voice_ was as follows.
- page 2 -
The Seer had with him a great golden topaz (set in a Calvary Cross of six
squares, made of wood, and painted vermillion) which was engraved with a Greek Cross of
five squares charged with the Rose of 49 petals. He held
this, as a rule, in his hand. After choosing a spot where he was not
likely to be disturbed he would take this stone and recite the Enochian
Call, and after satisfying himself that the forces invoked were actually
present, made the topaz play a part not unlike that of the looking glass in
the case of Alice. (He had long learned not to trouble himself to travel
to any particular place in his Body of Light. He realized that Space was
not a thing in itself, but merely a convenient category [one of many such]
by reference to which we can distinguish objects from each other.) He
would then describe what he saw and repeat what he heard, and Frater O.V., the Scribe,
would write down his words, and incidentally observe any phenomena which struck him as
peculiar. (For instance, He would at times pass into a deep trance so that many minutes
might pass between two
successive sentences, as the text to the later Aethyrs shows.)
They walked steadily through the Desert, invoking the Aethyrs, one by
one, at convenient times and places, or when the Spirit moved them. As a
rule, one Aethyr was obtained every day. Bou-Sada was reached on November 30th; on
December 8th they started again through the desert for Biskra which they reached on
December 16th, completing the work on the 19th. By the time Bou-Sada was reached, and they
had arrived at the 20th Aethyr, the Seer began to understand that these visions were, so
to speak,
cosmopolitan. They brought all systems of Magical doctrine into harmonious relation. The
symbolism of Asiatic cults; the ideas of the Qabalah, both Jewish and Greek; the Arcana of
the Gnostics; the Pagan Pantheon, from Mithras to Mars; the Mysteries of Ancient Khem; the
Rites of Eleusis; the Scandinavian Sagas; Celtic and Druidical ritual; Mexican and
Polynesian traditions; the Mysticism of Molinos no less than that of Islam,--- all these
fell into their proper places without the slightest tendency to quarrel. The whole of the
past Aeon, in short, appeared in detailed
perspective, and each element therefore surrendered its sovereignty to
Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child, the Lord of the Aeon announced in
_The Book of the Law_
Love is the law, love under will.
Frater E{.'.}N{.'.}L{.'.}
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The titles of the Thirty AEthyrs whose dominion extendeth in ever
widening circles without and beyond the Watch Towers of
the Universe
(The first is Outermost)
1 LIL 16 LEA
2 ARN 17 TAN
3 ZOM 18 ZEN
4 PAZ 19 POP
5 LIT 20 KHR
6 MAZ 21 ASP
7 DEO 22 LIN
8 ZID 23 TOR
9 ZIP 24 NIA
10 ZAX 25 VTI
11 ICH 26 DES
12 LOE 27 ZAA
13 ZIM 28 BAG
14 UTA 29 RII
15 OXO 30 TEX
THE CALL OR KEY OF THE THIRTY AETHYRS
MADARIATZA das perifa LIL{SUP:1}cahisa micaolazoda saanire caosago od fifisa
balzodizodarasa Iaida. Nonua gohulime: Micama adoianu MADA faoda beliorebe, soba ooaona
cahisa luciftias peripesol, das aberaasasa nonuafe netaaibe caosaji od tilabe adapehaheta
damepelozoda, tooata nonuafe jimicalazodoma larasada tofejilo marebe yareryo
IDOIGO{SUP:2}; od torezodulape yaodafe gohola, Caosaga, tabaoreda saanir od caharisateosa
yorepoila tiobela busadire, tilabe noalanu paida oresaba, od dodaremeni zodayolana.
Elazodape tilaba paremeji peripesatza, od ta qurelesata booapisa. Ianibame oucaho
sayomepe, od caharisateosa ajitoltorenu, mireca qo tiobela lela. Tonu paomebeda dizodalamo
asa pianu, od caharisateosa aji-la-tore-torenu paracahe a sayomepe. Coredazodizoda
dodapala od fifalazoda, lasa manada, od faregita bamesa omaoasa.
Conisabera od auauotza tonuji oresa; catabela noasami tabejesa
leuitahemonuji. Vanucahi omepetilabe oresa! Bagile? Moooabe OL
coredazodizoda. El capimao itzomatzipe, od cacocasabe gosaa. Bajilenu pii tianuta a
babalanuda, od faoregita teloca uo uime.
Madariiatza, torezodu!!! Oadariatza orocaha aboaperi! Tabaori
periazoda aretabasa! Adarepanu coresata dobitza! Yolacame periazodi
arecoazodiore, od quasabe qotinuji! Ripire paaotzata sagacore!
---------------------
1. Or other Aire as may be willed.
2. This name may be appropriately varied with the Aire.
- page 4 -
Umela od peredazodare cacareji Aoiveae coremepeta! Torezodu! Zodacare od Zodameranu,
asapeta sibesi butamona das surezodasa Tia balatanu. Odo
cicale Qaa, od Ozodazodama pelapeli IADANAMADA!
THE CALL OR KEY OF THE THIRTY AETHYRS
O Ye Heavens which dwell in the first Aire{SUP:1}, ye are mighty in the
parts of the Earth, and execute therein the Judgment of the Highest! Unto
you it is said: Behold the Face of your God, the beginning of Comfort,
whose eyes are the brightness of the Heavens, which provided you for the
Government of the Earth, and her unspeakable variety, furnishing you with
the power of understanding to dispose of all things according to the
Foresight of Him that Sitteth on the Holy Throne{SUP:2}, and rose up in the
Beginning, saying: The Earth, let her be governed by her parts, and let
there be Division in her, that the glory of her may be always ecstasy and
imitation of orgasm. Her course, let it run with the Heavens; and as an
handmaid let her serve them. One season, let it confound another, and let
there be no creature upon or within her the same. All her members, let
them differ in their qualities, and let there be no one Creature equal with
another. The reasonable Creatures of the Earth, and Men, let them vex and
weed out one another; and their dwelling-places, let them forget their
Names. The work of man and his pomp, let them be defaced. His building,
let it be a Cave for the Beast of the Field! Confound her understanding
with darkness! For why? It repenteth me concerning the Virgin and the
Man. One while let her be known, and another while a stranger: because
she is the bed of an Harlot, and the dwelling-place of him that is fallen.
O ye Heavens arise! The lower heavens beneath you, let them serve you!
Govern those that govern! Cast down such as fall. Bring forth with those
that increase, and destroy the rotten. No place let it remain in one
number. Add an diminish until the stars be numbered. Arise! Move! and
appear before the Covenant of His mouth, which He hath sworn unto us in His Justice. Open
the Mysteries of your Creation, and make us partakers of THE UNDEFILED KNOWLEDGE.
---------------------
1. Or other Aire as may be willed.
2. This name may be appropriately varied with the Aire.
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This page is intentionally blank
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A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE CONTENTS OF THE CALLS OF THE
THIRTY AIRES OR AETHYRS
_Aethyr_
30. "Exordium of the Equinox of the Gods."
29. "The Disruption of the Aeon of Osiris."
28. "The Vision of the Dawn of the Aeon of Horus (Atu XVII)"
27. "The Vision of the Initiation of Hecate (Atu XIV)
The Redemption of the Woman of Witchcraft by Love."
26. "The Slave-Gods superseded (The Vision of Atu XX, the Stl)
The Vision of the Stl of Revealing, abolishing the
Aeon of the Slave-Gods."
25. "The Path of Teth (Atu XI. The Fire-Kerub in the Initiation).
The Vision of the Fruit of the Great Work of the Beast -
666. The Lion."
24. "The Rose. (The Woman of Atu XIV. Minister of Babalon;
The Water-Kerub in the Initiation.) The First Kiss
Of the Lady of Initiation."
23. "The Kerubim of Earth and Air (Minor officers in the
Initiation to 8x = 3{square x}.) The Vision of the Interplay
And Identity of Earth and Air."
22. "The 49-fold Table (First appearance of the Crowned and
Conquering Child to the Exempt Adept as in the Pastos)
The Vision of the Rose, the Heart of BABALON and of
The Birth of the Universe."
21. "Kether. (TheHierophant prepares the Candidate). The
Vision of the Ineluctable Destiny."
20. "The Path of Kaph (Atu X). The Hiereus prepares the
Candidate). The Vision of the Wheel of Fortune. The
Three Energies of the Universe."
19. "The Path of Gimel (The Hegemone between the Pillars.
Preliminary: The Vision of the Unguided Universe.)"
18. "Tiphereth. (The King's Chamber. The Vision of the holy
Guardian Angel.) The Instruction concerning the
Obtaining of the Vision and the Voice of the Thirty
Aethyrs. The Preparation of the Candidate."
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_Aethyr_
17. "The Path of Lamed. (The combination Gimel, Lamed, Samech.
The Vision of the Justice or Balance of the Universe."
16. "Keter. (Path of Pe.) The Overthrow of the Salve-Gods by
The Beast 666."
15. "The Vision of the rose of 49 petals, and of the Holy
12-fold Table. Examination of the Candidate for M.T."
14. "The Vision of the City of the Pyramids. The Reception
Of the Master of the Temple."
13. "The Garden of Nemo. The Work of the Magister Templi."
12. "The Path of Cheth. The Bearer of the Sangraal. The Black
Brothers."
11. "Yesod. The Frontier of the Abyss."
10. "The Abyss. Choronzon, his Nature."
9. "Malkuth. (The Pure Virgin.) The reward of the Magister
Templi."
8. "The Holy Guardian Angel. His instruction."
7. "The Path of Daleth. The Black Brothers."
6. "The Vision of the Urn. The Magus 9x = 2{square x}. The Three
Schools of Magick."
5. "The Vision of the Middle Pillar. (Arrow). The Mystery
Of Atheism."
4. "The Marriage of Yod and He. (The common Tibetan Symbol.)
The Seer identifies himself with it."
3. "The Magus of the Tarot. (Atu 1). Mayan, the Maker of
Illusion. The Seer in Illusion (Lilith)."
2. "The Marriage of the Seer with BABALON. (Atu VI)."
1. "The Vision of The Crowned and Conquering Child, the Lord
Of the Aeon."
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THE VISION AND THE VOICE
The Cry of the Thirtieth or Inmost Aire or Aethyr,
Which is Called TEX{SUP:1}
I AM in a vast crystal cube in the form of the Great God Harpocrates. This
cube is surrounded by a sphere{SUP:2}. About me are four archangels in
black robes, their wings and armour lined out in white.
In the North{SUP:3}is a book on whose back and front are A.M.B.Z.
{SUP:4} in Enochian characters. ({ENO:z}{ENO:b}{ENO:m}{ENO:a})
Within it is written:
I AM, the surrounding of the four.
Lift up your heads, O Houses of Eternity: for my Father goeth forth to
judge the World. One Light, let it become a thousand, and one sword ten
thousand, that no man hide him from my Father's eye in the Day of Judgment
of my God. Let the Gods hide themselves: let the Angels be troubled and
flee away: for the Eye of My Father is open, and the Book of the Aeons is
fallen.
Arise! Arise! Arise! Let the Light of the Sight of Time be
extinguished: let the Darkness cover all things: for my Father goeth forth
to seek a spouse to replace her who is fallen and defiled.
Seal the book with the seals of the Stars Concealed: for the Rivers
have rushed together and the Name {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau} {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}is broken in a
thousand pieces (against the Cubic Stone).
Tremble ye, O Pillars of the Universe{SUP:5}, for Eternity is in
travail of a Terrible Child; she shall bring forth an universe of Darkness,
whence shall leap forth a spark that shall put his father to flight.
The Obelisks are broken; the stars have rushed together: the Light hath
plunged into the Abyss: the Heavens are mixed with Hell.
My Father shall not hear their Noise: His ears are closed: His eyes
are covered with the clouds of Night.
--------------------
1. {Leo}{Virgo}{Spirit}
2. cf. AL, II, 7
3. North: Destruction = the Old Formula is abrogated.
4. {Taurus}{Aquarius}{Aries}{Leo}. The Forthsaying of the New Aeon.
5. cf. AL, III, 71. Also LIL.
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The End! the End! the End: For the Eye of Shiva He hath opened: the
Universe is naked before Him: for the Aeon of Saturn leaneth toward the
Bosom of Death{SUP:1}.
[Figure: This is an isosceles triangle with height about 7 times the
base. It extends with base on a true vertical from the left. A line
extends vertically upward from the apex, equal to the length of the base.
A trefoliate of three isosceles triangles of base slightly smaller than the
first triangle and sides equal to the first triangle is created at the
upper tip of the line. The tree component triangles of the terfolate meet
the upper tip of the line with their apices --- one vertically and two to
right and left.]{SUP:2}
The Angel of the East{SUP:3} hath a book of red written in letters of
Blue A.B.F.M.A.{SUP:4} in Enochian ({ENO:a} {ENO:m} {ENO:f} {ENO:b}{ENO:a}). The Book
grows before my eyes and filleth the Whole Heaven.
Within: "It is Written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God."
I see above the Book a multitude of white-robed Ones from whom droppeth
a great rain of Blood{SUP:5}; but above them is a Golden Sun, having an
eye, whence a great Light{SUP:6}.
I turned me to the South{SUP:7}: and read therein:
Seal up the Book! Speak not that which thou seest and reveal it unto
none: for the ear is not framed that shall hear it: nor the tongue that can
speak it!
O Lord God, blessed, blessed, blessed be Thou for ever!
Thy Shadow is as great Light.
Thy Name is as the Breath of Love across all Worlds.
[Figure: This is a swastika or fylfot cross. It is widdershins, with
each bend going to the right when viewed down one arm from the center. All elements are
either vertical or horizontal, none diagonal.]{SUP:8}
-------------------
1. {Saturn} = 400 Death = 50 400 + 50 = 450 {GRK:Nu}{GRK:Upsilon} etc.
2. Represents the formula of Drawing all to a point: whence blooms
erect a Triple Triad.
3. East. Adepts: cleansed of their Blood, and brought to Light. =
There is a way to light through giving up one's Blood. (See 12th
Aethyr)
4. {Taurus}{Aries}{Cauda Draconis}{Aquarius}{Taurus} = Opening of New Aeon.
5. Symbolism of the Cup of Babalon.
6. This refers to Kether --- Horus.
7. South. Silence. Marriage in Binah. = This leads to the Rapture
of the Ineffable Union. Closing of Old Aeon.
8. The Swastika has 17 squares out of 25, The Pentagram, or Human
square. It is also {HEB:Aleph} = Harpocrates, Bacchus Diphues,
Parzival, etc., the Pure Fool, the Wanderer, who weds the King's
Daughter.
- page 10 -
(A vast Svastika is shewn unto me behind the Angel with the Book.)
Rend your garments, O ye clouds! Uncover yourselves! for the Love of
My Son!
Who are they that trouble thee?
Who are they that slew thee?
O Light! Come thou, who art joined with me to bruise the Dragon's
head{SUP:1}. We, who are wedded, and the Earth perceiveth it not!
O that Our Bed were seen of Men, that they might rejoice in My
Fertility: that My Sister might partake of My Great Light.
O Light of God, when wilt thou find the heart of man --- write not! I
would not that men know the Sorrow of my Heart, Amen!
I turned me to the West{SUP:2}, and the Archangel bore a flaming Book,
on which was written AN{SUP:3} in Enochian ({ENO:n}{ENO:a}). Within was drawn a fiery
scorpion, yet cold withal{SUP:4}.
Until the Book of the East be opened!
Until the hour sound!
Until the Voice vibrate!
Until it pierce my Depth;
Look not on High!
Look not Beneath!
For thou wilt find a life which is as Death: or a Death which should
be infinite.
For Thou art submitted to the Four: Five thou shalt find, but Seven is
lone and far{SUP:5}.
--------------------
1. Means the Stooping Dragon (see 4x = 7{square x} ritual): but also the
phrase = break the Maidenhead of Draco (Nuit).
2. West. Fate (Refusing Initiation.) = The alternative is despair --- of
loneliness.
3. {Taurus}{Scorpio} AN (Hebrew) means Pain: NA = Failure. These = 51 = 3x17.
Note the Three Vibrations as spoiling the ideas of 17 (IAC). The Doom
of the Old Aeon.
4. {Scorpio} = {HEB:Nun} = Fish = Jesus.
5. Tetragrammaton --- the blind forces of the Elements --- bind the
Uninitiate. He may attain to the Pentagram --- Jeheshua ---the Man
Master of those Elements. But he cannot reach Seven --- Babalon. (See
Sigil of A{.'.} A{.'.} 77 +_ 7 + 7 _ + 77 = 156 Babalon)
7
For she is "lone and far", i.e., beyond the Abyss.
- page 11 -
O Lord God, let Thy Spirit hither unto me!
For I am lost in the night of infinite pain: no hope: no God: no
resurrection: no end: I fall: I fear.
O Saviour of the World, bruise Thou my Head with Thy foot to save the
world, that once again I touch Him whom I slew, that in my death I feel the
radiance and the heat of the moving of Thy Robes!
Let us alone! What have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth?
Go! Go!
If I keep silence --- Or if I speak each word is anguish without hope.
And I heard the Aethyr cry aloud "Return! Return! Return! For the
work is ended; and the Book is shut; and let the glory be to God the
Blessed for ever in the Aeons, Amen." Thus far is the voice of TEX and no
more.
The Cry of the Twenty and Ninth Aire or Aethyr,
Which is Called RII{SUP:1}
The sky appears covered with stars of gold; the background is of green.
But the impression is also of darkness.
An immense eagle-angel is before me. His wings seem to hide all the
Heaven{SUP:2}.
He cried aloud saying: The Voice of the Lord upon the Waters: the
Terror of God upon Mankind. The voice of the Lord maketh the Skies to
tremble: the Stars are troubled: the Aires fall. The First Voice Speaketh
and saith: Cursed, cursed be the Earth, for her iniquity is great. Oh
Lord! Let Thy Mercy be lost in the great Deep! Open thine eyes of Flame
and Light, O God, upon the wicked! Lighten thine Eyes! The Clamour of Thy Voice, let it
smite down the Mountains!
Let us not see it! Cover we our eyes, lest we see the End of Man.
--------------------
1. {Pisces}{Sagittarius}{Sagittarius} = {HEB:Qof}{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Samekh}
= 220. 220 is the number of verses of _The Book of the Law_:
And this book brings about the disruption described in this Aethyr.
2. In the East. He thus represents the immediate future: and this is
dark, Bewildering, and terrifying.
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Close we our ears, lest we hear the cry of Woman.
Let none speak of it: let none write it: I, I am troubled, my eyes are
moist with dews of terror: surely the Bitterness of Death is past.
And I turned me to the South and lo! a great lion{SUP:1} as wounded
and perplexed.
He cried: I have conquered! Let the Sons of Earth keep silence; for my
Name is become as That of Death!
When will men learn the Mysteries of Creation?
How much more those of the Dissolution (and the Pang of Fire)?
I turned me to the West and there was a great Bull{SUP:2}; White with
horns of White and Black and Gold. His mouth was scarlet and his eyes as
Sapphire stones. With a great sword he shore the skies asunder, and amid
the silver flashes of the steel grew lightnings and deep clouds of Indigo.
He spake: It is finished! My mother hath unveiled herself!
My sister hath violated herself! The life of things hath disclosed its
Mystery.
The work of the Moon is done! Motion is ended for ever!
Clipped are the eagle's wings: but my Shoulders have not lost their
strength.
I heard a Great Voice from above crying: Thou liest! For the Volatile
hath indeed fixed itself; but it hath arisen above thy sight. The World is
desert: but the Abodes of the House of my Father are peopled; and His
Throne is crusted over with white Brilliant Stars, a lustre of bright gems.
In the North is a Man upon a Great Horse, having a Scourge and
Balances{SUP:3} in his hand (or a long spear glitters at his back or in his
hand). He is clothed in black velvet and his face is stern and terrible.
--------------------
1. {Leo}. This is the Beast 666 as yet unprepared for his Work. But
already (1900 e.v.) He was dreaded by his fellow Magicians. South:
proper place of {Sun} in his strength.
2. The Bull is Osiris or Jesus: he complains of the terrible things that
are Happening, especially the Freedom (which he thinks shamelessness)
or Woman. He does not understand the New Aeon, or that he is about to
be destroyed. He is in the West, i.e. going into Oblivion. Cr. West
in he 30th Aethyr.
3. The severest aspect of Justice. Libra.
- page 13 -
He spake saying: I have judged! It is the end: the gate of the
beginning. Look in the Beneath and thou shalt see a new world!
I looked and saw a great abyss and a dark funnel of whirling waters or
fixed airs, wherein were cities and monsters and trees and atoms and
mountains and little flames (being souls) and all the material of an
universe.
And all are sucked down one by one, as necessity hath ordained. For
below is a glittering jewelled globe of gold and azure, set in a World of
Stars{SUP:1}.
And there came a Voice from the Abyss, saying: "Thou seest the Current
of Destiny! Canst thou change one atom in its path? I am Destiny. Dost
thou think to control me? for who can move my course?"
And there falleth a thunderbolt therein: a catastrophe of explosion:
and all is shattered. And I saw above me a Vast Arm reach down, dark and
terrible, and a voice cried: I AM ETERNITY.
And a great mingled cry arose: "No! no! no! All is changed; all is
confounded; naught is ordered: the white is stained with blood: the black
is kissed of the Christ! Return! Return! It is a new chaos that thou
findest here: chaos for thee: for us it is the skeleton of a New Truth!"
I said: Tell me this truth: for I have conjured ye by the Mighty Names
of God, the which ye cannot but obey.
The voice said:
Light is consumed as a child in the Womb of its Mother to develop
itself anew. But pain and sorrow infinite, and darkness are invoked. For
this child riseth up within his Mother and doth crucify himself within her
bosom. He extendeth his arms in the arms of his Mother and the Light
becometh fivefold{SUP:2}.
Lux in Luce,
Christus in Cruce;
--------------------
1. Nuit.
2. The LVX Cross hidden in the Svastika is probably the Arcanum here
connoted. This Cross on Mars square adds to 65 Adonai, Shone, Gloried,
ha-Yekal HS = keep silence. Svastika itself adds to 231 = 0 + 1 + 2 +
... + 21, the 21 Keys. The cubical Svastika regarded as composed of
this LVX Cross and the arms has a total of 78 Faces
---
Tarot and Mezla.
- page 14-
Deo Duce
Sempiterno{SUP:1}.
And be the glory for ever and ever unto the Most High God, Amen!
Then I returned within my body, giving glory unto the Lord of Light and
of the Darkness. In Saecula Saeculorum. Amen!
(On composing myself to sleep, I was shewn an extremely brilliant
{HEB:Dalet}{SUP:2} in the Character of the Passing of the River, in an egg of white light.
And I take this as the best of Omens. The letter was
extremely vivid and indeed apparently physical. Almost a Dhyana.)
November 17, 1900, Die.
A NOTE{SUP:3}
Concerning the thirty Aethyrs:
The Visions of the 29th and 30th Aethyrs were given to me in Mexico in
August{SUP:4}, 1900, and I am now (23.11.9) trying to get the rest. It is
to be remarked that the last three aethyrs have ten angels attributed to
them{SUP:5}, and they therefore represent the ten Sephiroth. Yet these ten
form but one, a Malkuth-pendant to the next three, and so on, each set
being, as it were, absorbed in the higher. The last set consists,
therefore, of the first three aethyrs with the remaining twenty-seven as
their Malkuth. And the letters of the first three aethyrs are the key-
sigils of the most exalted interpretation of the Sephiroth.
I is therefore Kether;
L, Chokmah and Binah;
--------------------
1. This is but the beginning of a sort of hymn. It was never written
down, the Seer being unable to hear it properly. These four lines are
in fact probably incorrect, certainly incomplete. There were four more
lines which he failed to hear --- from fear of getting hem wrong.
2. Daleth = the Gateway.
3. This note, written before invoking the 28th Aire, represents a crude
and imperfect view. It is retained so as to show how very inadequate
was the Understanding of the Seer; therefore the immense superiority of
the communicating Intelligences and Their separate individual
Consciousness.
4. Query: November ? See above.
5. See _Equinox_ I, VII, pp. 242-3.
- page 15 -
A, Chesed;
N, Geburah;
R, Tiphereth;
Z, Netzach;
N, Hod;
O, Jesod.
The geomantic correspondences of the Enochian alphabet form a sublime
commentary.
Note that the total angels of the aethyrs are 91, the numeration of
Amen.
The Cry of the 28th Aethyr, Which is Called BAG{SUP:1}
There cometh an Angel into the stone with opalescent{SUP:2} shining
garments like a wheel{SUP:3} of fire on every side of him, and in his hand
is a long flail of scarlet lightning{SUP:4}; his face is black{SUP:5}, and
his eyes white without any pupil or iris{SUP:6}. The face is very terrible
indeed to look upon. Now in front of him is a wheel{SUP:7}, with many
spokes, and many tyres; it is like a fence{SUP:8} in front of him.
And he cries: O man, who art thou that wouldst penetrate the
Mystery{SUP:9}? for it is hidden unto the End of Time{SUP:10}.
And I answer him: Time{SUP:11} is not, save in the darkness of Her womb
by whom evil came.
And now the wheel breaks away, and I see him as he is. His garment is
black beneath the opal veils, but it is lined with white, and he has the
shining belly of a fish, and enormous wings of black and white feathers,
and innumerable little legs and claws like a
--------------------
1. {Aries}{Taurus}{Cancer} = {HEB:Heh} + {HEB:Vau} + {HEB:Chet} = 19.
{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Chet} = Eve = to manifest, to shew forth.
2. Opal = rainbow = {Sagittarius}
3. XIX = The Wheel of the Sun, symbolic of universally radiating energy;
and 19 is the glyph of the circle.
4. 19 = Angel L.T.D. Of {Sagittarius}
5. 19 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Dalet} was black.
6. References to Binah.
7. See above, note 3.
8. {HEB:Chet} = Fence.
9. And 10. Binah = Eve. 19 is the Great Glyph of the Feminine.
11. {HEB:Taw} Time = {Saturn} = Binah.
- page 16 -
centipede, and a long tail like a scorpion. The breasts are human, but
they are all scored with blood; and he cries: O thou who hast broken down
the veil, knowest thou not that who cometh where I am must be scarred by
many sorrows{SUP:1}?
And I answer him: Sorrow{SUP:2} is not, save in the darkness of the
womb of Her by whom came evil.
I pierce the Mystery{SUP:2} of his breast{SUP:2}, and therein is a
jewel{SUP:2}. It is a sapphire as great as an ostrich egg{SUP:2}, and
thereon is graven this sigil:
[Figure: This is in the form of two "U" shapes, very elongated in the
risers. The one to the right is lower than the first, and its left riser
extends 2/3's of the way up inside the center of the one to the left. The
left "U" turns back down to the far left, ending 1/5th the way down in a
tiny circle. The right bends abruptly horizontally left across the other
and also ends there in a tiny circle.]
But there is also much writing on the stone, very minute characters
carved. I cannot read them. He points with his flail to the sapphire,
which is now outside him and bigger than himself{SUP:3}; and he cries:
Hail! warden of the Gates of Eternity who knowest not{SUP:4} thy right
hand from thy left{SUP:5}; for in the aeon of my Father is a god with
clasped hands wherein he holdeth the universe, crushing{SUP:6} it into the
dust that ye call stars.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right eye{SUP:5} from thy left; for
in the aeon of my Father there is but one light.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right nostril{SUP:5} from thy left;
for in the aeon of my Father there is neither life nor death.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right ear{SUP:5} from thy left; for
in the aeon of my Father there is neither sound nor silence.
Whoso hath power to break open this sapphire stone shall find therein
four elephants having tusks of mother-of-pearl, and upon whose backs are
castles, those castles which ye call the watch-towers
--------------------
1. i.e. must attain to 8x = 3{square x}
2. All are references to Binah.
3. Binah absorbs all.
4. Binah destroys knowledge.
5. Hands: {Mercury}: for Hand is Iod, Virgo. Also the two hands are the
Twin Serpents. Eyes {Sun} & {Moon} The Positive and Negative.
Executive currents of the Logos. Nostrils {Mars} & {Venus} The mouth
attributed the Mercury in the usual system, cannot be used in this
phrase; for the Ears {Jupiter} & {Saturn} Mouth is One, not Two, being
the Logos itself. And the Lodgos is essentially an Unity, although
manifested through Vibration. It is therefore not destroyed with the
other objects of Knowledge, though its dual modes of expression, the
hands, are no longer known apart.
6. See _Liber AL_, III, v. 72.
- page 17 -
of the Universe{SUP:1}.
Let me dwell in peace within the breast of the Angel that is warden of
the aethyr. Let not the shame of my Mother be unveiled. Let not her be
put to shame that lieth among the lilies that are beyond the stars.
O man, that must ever be opening, when wilt thou learn to seal up the
mysteries of the creation? to fold thyself over thyself as a rose in the
embrace of night? But thou must play the wanton to the sun, and the wind
must tear thy petals from thee, and the bee must rob thee of thy honey, and
thou must fall into the dusk of things. Amen and Amen.
Verily the light is hidden, therefore he who hideth himself is like
unto the light; but thou openest thyself; thou art like unto the darkness
that bindeth the belly of the great goddess{SUP:2}.
OLAHO VIRUDEN MAHORELA ZODIREDA! ON PIREDA EXENTASER; ARBA PIRE GAH
GAHA GAHAL GAHALANA VO ABRA NA GAHA VELUCORSAPAX{SUP:3}.
And the voice of the aeon cried: Return, return, return! the time
sickeneth, and the space gapeth, and the voice of him that is, was and
shall be crowned rattles in the throat of the mighty dragon of eld{SUP:4}.
Thou canst not pass by me, except thou have the mystery of the word of the
abyss.
Now the angel putteth back the sapphire stone into his breast; and I
spake unto him and said, I will fight with thee and overcome thee, except
thou expound unto me the word of the abyss.
Now he makes as if to fight with me. (It is very horrible, all the
tentacles moving and the flail flashing, and the fierce eyeless face,
strained and swollen.) And with the Magic sword I pierce through his
armour to his breast. He fell back, saying: Each of these my scars was
thus made, for I am the warden of the aethyr. And he would have said more;
but I cut him short, saying: expound the word of the Abyss. And he
said{SUP:5}: Discipline is sorrowful and ploughing is laborious and age is
weariness.
Thou shalt be vexed by dispersion{SUP:6}.
--------------------
1. The Elements are hidden in Binah.
2. In the light of the cry ofLOE, this passage seems to mean precisely the
opposite of its apparent meaning. The whole cry, from "Let me dwell
..." is an Invocation of Binah. It is a foreshadowing of the Mysteries
of the Crossing of the Abyss.
3. The translation of this is in my private copy (white and gold binding).
Possibly also in the Cefalu set which was copied from that (?) by
Estai. (?).
4. Binah or Nuit = Draco, the Dragon.
5. See the 14th and 13th Aethyr.
6. See the 10th Aethyr. These statements are prophetic.
- page 18 -
But now, if the sun arise{SUP:1}, fold thou thine arms{SUP:1}; then
shall God smite thee into a pillar of salt{SUP:2}.
Look not so deeply into words and letters; for this Mystery hath been
hidden by the Alchemists. Compose the sevenfold into a fourfold
regimen{SUP:3}; and when thou hast understood thou mayest make
symbols{SUP:4}; but by playing child's games with symbols thou shalt never
understand{SUP:5}. Thou hast the signs; thou hast the words; but there are
many things that are not in my power, who am but the warden of the 28th
Aethyr.
Now my name thou shalt obtain in this wise. Of the three angels of the
Aethyr, thou shalt write the names from right to left and from left to
right and from right to left, and these are the holy letters:
The first 1, the fifth 2, the sixth 3, the eleventh 4, the seventh 5,
the twelfth 6, the seventeenth 7.
Thus hast thou my name{SUP:6} who am above these three, but the angels
of the 30th Aethyr are indeed four, and they have none above them;
wherefore dispersion and disorder{SUP:7}.
Now cometh from every side at once a voice, terribly great, crying:
Close the veil; the great blasphemy hath been uttered; the face of my
Mother{SUP:8} is scarred by the nails of the devil. Shut the book, destroy
the breaker of the seal!
And I answered: Had he not been destroyed he had not come hither, for I
am not save in the darkness in the womb of Her{SUP:9} by whom came evil
into the world.
And this darkness swallows everything up{SUP:10}, and the angel is
--------------------
1. Tiphereth; and the sign of Osiris risen in 5x = 6{square x}.
2. Prophetic of the 8x = 3{square x} attainment; the pillar is phallic,
and salt is {Salt}, of Binah, the Great Sea. Cf. _Lib. LXV_, Cap. V,
vv. 5, 23, 25.
3. The completed system which is made by the 7x = 4{square x}.
4. The 8x = 3{square x} may devise a new Qabalah.
5. One cannot become 8x = 3{square x} by intellectual manipulations.
6. This would appear to be:
PXINBAL <---?FCCISNI --->C = LIXIPSP = {Cancer}{Sagittarius}{Spirit} {Sagittarius}
{Leo}{Gemini}{Leo}={HEB:Chet}{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Taw} {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Tet} {HEB:Zain}
{HEB:Tet} = 553 =
RAPOLXD <---Y{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Dalet}
{HEB:Gemel}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Ta w} = Draco Magnus, the Mighty Dragon. This
is the symbol of Nuit or Binah. The whole symbolism of this Angel is therefore exactly
confirmed through a Qabalistic equation of which the Seer had no idea at the time. N.B. He
is above the dispersion and disorder just as Binah is above the Abyss of Choronzon.
7. The four elements unharmonized break up into Choronzon.
8. Further reference to Binah.
9. Binah.
10. Typical gesture of Binah.
- page 19 -
gone from the stone{SUP:1}; and there is no light therein, save only the
light of the Rose and of the Cross{SUP:2}.
Aumale, Algeria.
November 23, 1909, between 8 and 9 p.m.
The Cry of the 27th Aethyr, Which is Called ZAA{SUP:3}
There is an angel with rainbow wings, and his dress is green{SUP:4}
with silver, a green veil over silver{SUP:5} armour. Flames of many-
coloured fire dart from him in all directions. It is a woman of some thirty
years old, and she has the moon for a crest, and the moon is blazoned on her
heart, and her sandals are curved silver, like the moon.
And she cries: Lonely am I and cold in the wilderness of the
stars{SUP:7}. For I am the queen of all them that dwell in Heaven, and the
queen of all them that are pure upon earth, and the queen of all the
sorcerers of hell{SUP:8}.
I am the daughter of Nuit, the lady of the stars. And I am the Bride
of them that are vowed unto loneliness{SUP:9}. And I am the mother of the
Dog Cerberus{SUP:10}. One person am I, and three gods{SUP:11}.
And thou who hast blasphemed me shalt suffer knowing me. For I am cold
as thou art cold, and burn with thy fire{SUP:12}. Oh, when shall the war
of the Aires and the elements be accomplished{SUP:13}?
--------------------
1. The general attribution of this Aethyr is to Atu XVII.
2. Binah being gone, the seer descends to his normal place in Tiphereth.
3. ZAA = {Leo}{Taurus}{Taurus} = {HEB:Tet}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Vau} = 21. A mystery of Atu XVIII,
"The Moon". {Pisces} in which {Venus} is
exalted.
4. Possibly the traditional green of the huntress.
5. Colour of {Moon}.
6. The green of Venus is perhaps the natural veil of Luna, her external
show.
7. For {Moon} is virgin, and the path of {HEB:Gemel} crosses the
wilderness of the Abyss.
8. Diana Trivia is thus described. She is the Virgin Goddess of Pure
Love; and the Lady of Heaven. She is the Virgin Goddess of Pure Love;
and she is Hecate, the waning Moon, presiding over Witchcraft. (See
Macbeth, etc.)
9. {Virgo} = IX = The Hermit (opposite {Pisces} in the Zodiac).
10. The Jackals of Atu XVIII.
11. {Moon} = {HEB:Gemel} = 3. Cerberus has three heads.
12. For the {Moon} is the Sensorium; she reflects man's spiritual state in
terms of sensuous experiences.
13. i.e. the coefficients of the Circle and the Square be commensurable.
"When" means "Through what mode of resolution?" --- "On what
plane?"
- page 20 -
Radiant are these falchions of my brothers, invisibly about me, but the
might of the aethyrs beneath my feet beareth me down. And they avail not
to sever the Kamailow{SUP:1}. There is one in green armour, with green
eyes, whose sword is of vegetable fire{SUP:2}. They shall avail me. My
son is he{SUP:3}, ---and how shall I bear him that have not known man?
All this time intolerable rays are shooting forth to beat me back or
destroy me; but I am encased in an egg of blue-violet, and my form is the
form of a man with the head of a golden hawk{SUP:4}. While I have been
observing this, the goddess has kept up a continuous wail, like the baying
of a thousand hounds{SUP:5}; and now her voice is deep and guttural and
hoarse, and she breathes very rapidly words that I cannot hear. I can hear
some of them now.
UNTU LA LA ULULA UMUNA TOFA LAMA LE LI NA AHR IMA TAHARA ELULA ETFOMA
UNUNA ARPETI ULU ULU ULU MARABAN ULULU MAHATA ULU ULU LAMASTANA{SUP:6}.
And then her voice rises to a shriek, and there is a cauldron{SUP:7}
boiling in front of her; and the flames under the cauldron are like unto
zinc flames{SUP:8}, and in the cauldron is the Rose, the Rose of 49
petals{SUP:9}, seething in it. Over the cauldron she has arched her
rainbow wings; and her face is bent over the cauldron, and she is blowing
opalescent silvery rings on to the Rose; and each ring as it touches the
water bursts into flame, and the Rose takes new colours{SUP:10}.
And now she lifts her head, and raises her hands to heaven,
--------------------
1. {GRK:Kappa}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:mu}{GRK:eta}{GRK:lambda} {GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma}, a camel,
i.e. {HEB:Gemel} Jimmel. {GRK:Kappa}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:mu}{GRK:alpha} {GRK:iota}
{GRK:lambda}{GRK:omicron} {GRK:sigma}, a rope. And Jimmel is likened to a rope, a
threefold ({HEB:Gemel} = 3) cord linking Kether and Tiphereth.
2. The Angel of {HEB:Dalet} = {Venus} who is green, and {HEB:Dalet}
"avails" {HEB:Gemel}, crossing it on the Tree by joining Chokmah and
Binah. That is, the Love of these Supernals balances the Isolation of
the Virgin Moon.
3. {Moon} in 20x {Pisces} at nativity of 666.
4. i.e. I assume the god-form of Horus, Sol in the Womb of the Night-sky
blue of Binah, who is the Mother of all Stars and thus is potent
against Hecate.
5. The hounds that follow Hecate. The jackals of Atu XVIII. Quote A.C.
"Ode to Hecate".
6. The Lunar language. "Ye hounds! Ho! Ho! Tally-ho! sent the poison
of the path --- Here! There! Bark! Sweep around! There goes the
quarry down the glade of mossy rock. The foremost has caught him.
Tally ho! Tally ho! Tally ho! pull him down! Tally-ho boys! Wind
the mort! Tally ho! Tally ho! The hunt is ended." ULU = "Hail" plus
"come" = very nearly "Ahoy!"
7. The witches' cauldron.
8. Ultra violet of {Pisces}.
9. {Venus} in {Pisces}.
10. All this paragraph refers to Atu XIV Sagittarius, for she is now in her
huntress form. Hence the Alchemical and rainbow symbolism.
- page 21 -
and cries: O Mother{SUP:1}, wilt thou never have compassion on the children of earth? Was
it not enough that the Rose should be red with the blood of thine heart{SUP:2}, and that
its petals should be by 7 and by 7?
She is weeping, weeping{SUP:3}. And the tears grow and fill the whole
stone with moons{SUP:4}. I can see nothing and hear nothing for the tears,
though she keeps on praying. "Take of these pearls{SUP:5}, treasure them
in thine heart. Is not the Kingdom of the Abyss accurst?" She points
downward to the cauldron; and now in it there is the head of a most cruel
dragon{SUP:6}, black and corrupted. I watch, and watch; and nothing
happens.
And now the dragon rises out of the cauldron, very long and slim (like
Japanese Dragons, but infinitely more terrible), and he blots out the whole
sphere of the stone{SUP:7}.
Then suddenly all is gone, and there is nothing in the stone save
brilliant white light and flecks like sparks of golden fire; and there is a
ringing, as if bells were being used for anvils. And there is a perfume
which I cannot describe; it is like nothing that one can describe, but the
suggestion is like lignum aloes{SUP:8}. And now all these things are there
at once in the same place and time{SUP:9}.
Now a veil of olive and silver{SUP:10} is drawn over the stone, only I
hear the voice of the angel{SUP:11} receding, very sweet and faint and
sorrowful, saying: Far off and lonely in the secret stone is the unknown,
and interpenetrated is the knowledge with the will and the understanding.
I am alone. I am lost, because I am all and in all; and my veil is woven
of the green earth and
--------------------
1. She appeals to Binah, the highest form of Luna.
2. This is the use to which BABALON puts the Blood of the Masters of the
Temple (see 12th Aethyr) to vivify the rose of Universal Creation, i.e.
The Attainment of the Master of the Temple fills the World with Life
and Beauty. Hecate does not understand this, or else she regards it as
hostile to her own Formula.
3. {Water} of {Pisces}.
4. She can produce nothing but images of herself.
5. Pearls, the M.T.'s secreted by Binah round the specks of dust which
they have become.
6. A veil or mask of Khephra (in Atu XVIII).
7. All Hecate can see of the Great Work of 8x = 3{square x} is the Black
Brotherhood; i.e., the failure of that Work.
8. Sagittarius (Atu XIV) again. The phenomena are the experiences of the
attained Master of the Temple.
9. The attainment has destroyed the conditions of physical manifestation.
10. Olive --- Water in Malkuth (Queen Scale) also Water (Emperor Scale).
Silver is Luna in Queen Scale.
11. Hecate now aspires to Binah, accepts the Formula of Love (kisses),
surrenders her nature ("Fall back" etc.) and so finds the Word.
- page 22 -
the web of stars. I love; and I am denied, for I have denied myself. Give
me those hands, put them against my heart. Is it not cold? Sink, sink,
the abyss of time remains. It is not possible that one should come to ZAA.
Give me thy face. Let me kiss it with my cold kisses. Ah! Ah! Ah! Fall
back from me. The word, the word of the aeon is MAKHASHANAH{SUP:1}. And these words
shalt thou say backwards: ARARNAY OBOLO MAHARNA TUTULU NOM LAHARA EN NEDIEZO LO SAD FONUSA
SOBANA ARANA BINUF LA LA LA ARPAZNA UOHULU{SUP:2}. when thou wilt call my burden unto
appearance, for I who am the Virgin goddess am the pregnant goddess, and I have cast down
my burden even unto the borders of the universe{SUP:3}. They that blaspheme me are stoned,
and my veil{SUP:4} is fallen about me even unto the end of time{SUP:5}.
Now there arises a great raging of thousands and thousands of mighty
warriors flashing through the aethyr so thickly that nothing is to be seen
but their swords, which are like blue-gray plumes. And the noise is
confused, thousands of battle-cries harmonizing
--------------------
1. {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Aleph} {HEB:Koph}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB : Mem} =
418. A word of 8 letters is necessary to perform the Great work on one whose Formula is 3:
8x = 3{square x}. The Seer "knew" that this Word was _not_ the correct Word,
which is Abrahadabra = 418. But on writing it down in Hebrew, as above, he saw that it was
the correct word after all. Observe that this proves the Angel to have been an
Intelligence not of the Seer's conscious mind. Had he given the Word which the Seer knew,
it might have been derived from his
subconscious Self. Furthermore, this Word contains more than the mere
418 because of its 8 letters suiting the special Formula required by
this particular Angel, whereas the other Word is a general Formula,
being of 11 letters, all Magick being referred to 11. so far as
ABRAHADABRA is specialized, it refers to the Work of 5x = 6{square x}, there being 5
alephs and 6 other letters. In the Latin script also
Makhashanah does have 11 letters. Again, the operation of the Cauldron
(above) is described by the 5 consonants of this Word.
{HEB:Mem} = {Water} (Water)
{HEB:Koph} = Wheel (Rose)
{HEB:Shin} = Fire {Dee}
{HEB:Nun} = {Scorpio}
{HEB:Heh} = Binah
2. Translation: "Hither, O Holy one/ whose burden pulls at thy spine/
Ho! Ho! Ho! The two-headed God (Janus) ploughs thy back/ sows
habitations upon thy back/ thou many-phallused queen/ of princely
loves/ which are all sodomies/ so that the holy ones laugh and shake
with laughter/ while the lords of mischief/ spend upon thee/ TUTULU
(this word cannot be translated. See _Liber VII_). down bounces from
thy back/ the merry mad foetus-faces/ an emission/ Gather ye sun-roses,
sun-roses gather ye from the split backside of the Virgin (Earth).
3. The Word of the Master has gone forth into every part of the world.
Therefore it is always possible to call Him forth to one's assistance
by the proper use of the above Formula.
4. and 5. Symbols of Binah.
- page 23 -
to a roar, like the roar of a monstrous river in flood. And all the stone
is dull, dull gray. The life is gone from it{SUP:1}.
There is no more to see.
Sidi Aissa, Algeria.
November 24, 1909, 8-9 p.m.
The Cry of the 26th Aethyr, Which is Called DES{SUP:2}
There is a very bright pentagram: and now the stone is gone, and the
whole heaven is black, and the blackness is the blackness of a mighty
angel{SUP:3}. And though he is black (his face and his wings and his robe
and his armour are all black), yet is he so bright that I cannot look upon
him. And he cries: O ye spears and vials of poison and sharp swords and
whirling thunderbolts that are about the corners of the earth{SUP:4},
girded with wrath and justice, know ye that His name is Righteousness in
Beauty{SUP:5}? Burnt out are your eyes, for that ye have seen me in my
majesty. And broken are
--------------------
1. Many of these Visions end in some way unconnected with the substance of the Aethyr. One
must not look for coherence in such places. They are
merely episodes on the return journey, useful to break the shock.
analogy: one might see a cab accident while returning to one's house
from the theatre. This spectacle need have no connection with either
the play or one's home life.
2. DES = <{Virgo}{Gemini} = {HEB:Zain}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Dalet} = 31 + 10 + 7 = 48 =
{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Koph}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Koph} = Kokab, the sphere of {Mercury}. This Aethyr
describes the supersession of the Aeon of Jehovah and Jesus. The Stele of Revealing, which
led to _The Book of the Law_, whose key number is 31. {HEB:Dalet} = D = < = 31. I =
{HEB:Yod} = {Virgo} = Nuit and the Point, Hadit. S = {HEB:Zain} =
{Gemini} = the twins, Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Hoor-Paar-Kraat combined in
Heru-Ra-Ha, the Lord of the Aeon. Also {Virgo} & {Gemini} are the
Houses of {Mercury}, the Logos. Thus the name of the Aethyr actually
means: The Sacred Secret Keyletter of _The Book of the Law_ of
Thelema, appearing through the Operation of Mercury as well as gibing a
complete symbolical description of the Stele itself. The Arcanum is of
Atu XX = {HEB:Shin} = < + {Dee} = "The Last Judgment" or "The
Angel".
The old form of XX shows the Resurrection Formula of the Old Aeon: the
new form shews the Stele of Revealing = 718.
3. The Pentagram indicates that the subject of the Vision is to be the
Destiny of Man. The blackness, which is bright, is Solar. The context
shows that Binah is not here implied.
4. All symbols of division and destruction, also extending only to the
Blind Four Elements.
5. Righteousness = Jupiter --- Jehovah --- Beauty = Osiris --- Jesus.
These are the qualities they claimed; Their failure is that they never
even had the idea of the Supernals beyond the Abyss.
- page 24 -
the drum-heads of your ears{SUP:1}, because my name is as two mountains of fornication,
the breasts of a strange woman{SUP:2}; and my Father is not in them.
Lo! the pools of fire and torment mingled with sulphur! Many are
their colours, and their colour is as molten gold, when all is said. Is
not He one, one and alone, in whom the brightness of your countenance is as
1,728 petals of fire{SUP:3}.
Also he spake the curse, folding his wings across and crying: Is not
the son the enemy of his father? And hath not the daughter stolen the
warmth of the bed of her mother{SUP:4}? therefore is the great curse
irrevocable. Therefore there is neither wisdom nor understanding nor
knowledge in this house, that hangeth upon the edge of hell{SUP:5}. Thou
art not 4 but 2, O thou blasphemy spoken against 1{SUP:6}.
Therefore whoso worshippeth thee is accursed. He shall be brayed in a
mortar and the powder thereof cast to the winds, that the birds of the air
may eat thereof and die; and he shall be dissolved in strong acid and the
elixir poured into the sea, that the fishes of the sea may breathe thereof
and die. And he shall be mingled with dung and spread upon the earth, so
that the herbs of the earth may feed thereof and die; and he shall be burnt
utterly with fire, and the ashes thereof shall calcine the children of
flame, that even in hell may be found an overflowing lamentation.
And now on the breast of the Angel is a golden egg between the
blackness of the wings, and that egg{SUP:7} grows and grows all over the
aethyr. And it breaks, and within there is a golden eagle.
And he cries: Woe! woe! woe! Yea, woe unto the world! For there is
no sin, and there is no salvation{SUP:8}. My plumes are like waves of gold
upon the sea. My eyes are brighter than the sun. My tongue is swifter than
the lightning.
Yet am I hemmed in by the armies of night, singing, singing
--------------------
1. Hearing pertains to Spirit, as sight to fire. These gods have deprived
man of his highest faculties.
2. See the 10th Key.
3. The Zodiac brought down to the material plane. 12{SUP:3}
4. The Oedipus complex. Christianity.
5. The Cult of Jehovah cannot even reach to Dath.
6. i.e. Jehovah is not even the true Chesed, but the evil Dyad, (as
opposed to the true Dyad of Chokmah, which interprets Keter in terms of
Vibration, the Logos.)
7. The promise of breaking the tyranny of Jehovah, who was the evil 4 in
the Aeon of the true 4, Isis, by the Solar (golden) Jesus. He appears
as an eagle, the bird of Jupiter. so that despite the glittering hope,
it was only the old Aeon all over again.
8. He knows this truth, which destroys the whole idea of his formula.
Nobody will bother about him, it they are not sinners, and need no
saviour.
- page 25 -
phrases unto Him that is smitten by the thunderbolt of the abyss. Is not
the sky clear behind the sun? These clouds that burn thee up, these rays
that scorch the brains of men with blindness; these are heralds before my
face of the dissolution and the night.
Ye are all blinded by my glory; and though ye treasure in your heart
the sacred word that is the last lever of the key to the little door beyond
the abyss, yet ye gloss and comment thereupon; for the light itself is but
illusion. Truth itself is but illusion. Yea, these be the great illusions
beyond life and space and time.
Let thy lips blister with my words! Are they not meteors in thy
brain? Back, back from the face of the accursed one, who am I; back into
the night of my father, into the silence; for all that ye deem right is
left, forward is backward, upward is downward{SUP:1}.
I am the great god adored of the holy ones. Yet am I the accursed
one, child of the elements and not their father{SUP:2}.
O my mother! wilt thou not have pity upon me? Wilt thou not shield
me? For I am naked, I am manifest, I am profane. O my father! wilt not
thou withdraw me? I am extended, I am double, I am profane.
Woe, woe unto me! These are they that hear not prayer. It is I that
have heard all prayer alway, and there is none to answer _me_. Woe unto
me! Woe unto me! Accursed am I unto the aeons!
All this time this brilliant eagle-headed god has been attacked,
seemingly, by invisible people{SUP:3}, for he is wounded now and again,
here and there; little streams of fresh blood come out over the feathers of
his breast. And the smoke of the blood is gradually filling the Aethyr
with a crimson veil. There is a scroll over the top, saying: _Ecclesia
abhorret a sanguine_{SUP:4}; and there is another scroll below it in a
language of which I do not know the sounds. The meaning is, Not as they
have understood{SUP:5}.
--------------------
1. Observe the loud words, the confusion of the thought, throughout this
excited passage.
2. He knows that he is not an image of the Simple, Sublime, Self, but an
ill-concocted mess of Blind Forces.
3. Jesus has been destroyed by myriads of minute facts; the observations
of Nature which have broken down the theories on which his existence
depended. His blood is spilt, and veils Truth; whereas the Blood of
the Master of the Temple is gathered in the Cup of BABALON, and floods
the world with Life and Beauty. (See 27th Aire, footnote 3, page 19).
4. The Christian, incapable of the formula of the Master of the Temple,
abhors the shedding of blood. He fears to lose his vile life.
5. i.e. The meaning of the Latin is that given above, not the traditional
ecclesiastical interpretation. Cf. also, AL 1, vv. 45048.
-page 26 -
The blood is thicker and darker now, and it is becoming clotted and
black, so that everything is blotted out; because it coagulates,
coagulates. And then at the top there steals a dawn of pure night- blue
{SUP:1}, --- Oh, the stars, the stars in it deeply set! --- and drives the
blood down; so that all round the top of the oval gradually dawns the
figure of our Lady Nuit, and beneath her is the flaming winged disk, and
below the altar of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, even as it is upon the Stele of
Revealing{SUP:2}. But below is the supine figure of Seb, into whom is
concentrated all that clotted blood{SUP:3}.
And there comes a voice: It is the dawn of the aeon. The aeons of
cursing are passed away. Force and fire, strength and sight, these are for
the servants of the Star and the Snake.
And now I seem to be lying in the desert, exhausted{SUP:4}.
The Desert, near Sidi Aissa.
November 25, 1909. 1:10 - 2 p.m.
The Cry of he 25th Aethyr, Which is Called VTI{SUP:5}
There is nothing in the stone but the pale gold of the Rosy Cross.
Now there comes an Angel with bright wings, that is the Angel of the
25th Aire. And all the aire is a dark olive about him, like an alexandrite
{SUP:6} stone. He bears a pitcher{SUP:7} or amphora{SUP:8.} And
--------------------
1. Not only symbolic, but actually visible even to the physical eyes, when
Nuit is manifested. Also when Ra-Hoor-Khuit is invoked, or Aiwass.
2. See the various special accounts of the Stele. The New Atu XX - 718.
3. Earth has absorbed all the ruin wrought by Jesus, to rebuild life
through putrefaction, by her regular formula --- as opposed to the
Higher Magick.
4. This vision, being so close to the physical plane, required no
intermediate stations on the way back. The exhaustion was due to the
same cause. Communion with high spiritual forces renews the vitality
of the Seer.
5. VTI = {Capricorn}{Leo}{Sagittarius} = Caput Draconis, the head of the
Lion-Serpent, the Beast 666. His father is {Capricorn} Set or Pan; his
mother, the woman clothed with the Sun as in Atu XIV. See 27th Aethyr.
He is the burden of the Moon, sanctified by 418. Atu XI (a partial
form) with Atu XX (XI + XX = XXXI) gives the Key of the New Aeon.
6. The stone of Gemini, the twins, composing Heru-Ra-Ha, his Lord. Also
the house of {Mercury}; that is, his form is Oracular.
7. The angel is an avatar of BABALON.
8. {GRK:alpha}{GRK:mu}{GRK:phi}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:rho}{GRK:eta} = 719.
This Angel is a veil for 156, the Woman who closes the mouth of the
lion in the old Atu XI, and is the Scarlet Woman who rides upon
him in the new form.
- page 27 -
now there comes another Angel upon a white horse{SUP:1}, and yet again
another Angel upon a black bull{SUP:2}. And now there comes a lion{SUP:3} and swallows the
two latter angels up. The first angel goes to the lion and closes his mouth{SUP:4}. And
behind them are arrayed a great company of Angels with silver spears, like a forest. And
the Angel says: Blow, all ye trumpets, for I will loose my hands from the mouth of the
lion, and his roaring shall enkindle the worlds{SUP:5}.
Then the trumpets blow, and the wind rises and whistles terribly. It
is a blue wind with silver specks; and it blows through the whole Aethyr.
But through it one perceives the lion, which has become as a raging
flame{SUP:6}.
And he roareth in an unknown tongue. But this is the interpretation
thereof: Let the stars be burnt up in the fire of my nostrils{SUP:7}! Let
all the gods and the archangels and the angels and the spirits that are on
the earth, and above the earth, and below the earth, that are in all the
heavens and in all the hells, let them be as motes dancing in the beam of
mine eye{SUP:8}!
I am he that swalloweth up death{SUP:9} and victory{SUP:10}. I have
slain the crowned goat{SUP:11}, and drunk up the great sea{SUP:12}. Like
the ash of dried leaves the worlds are blown before me. Thou hast passed
by me, and thou hast not known me. Woe unto thee, that I have not devoured
thee altogether!
On my head is the crown, 419 rays{SUP:13} far-darting. And my body is
the body of the Snake{SUP:14}, and my soul is the soul of the Crowned
Child{SUP:15}. Though an Angel in white robes leadeth me{SUP:16},
--------------------
1. The sorrow of Death.
2. This represents Jehovah and Jesus. The Pain of Toil. (Sin is
Restriction).
3. Symbol of the Beast, 666.
4. See Atu XI. Babalon and the Beast conjoined.
5. BABALON prepared 666 (in a certain very secret manner) to utter the
word {GRK:Theta}{GRK:epsilon}{GRK:lambda}{GRK:eta}{GRK:mu}{GRK:alpha}.
6. i.e. 666 is now inspired.
7. Nostrils = {Mars} and {Venus}. Energy and passion, also Breath of the
Word.
8. Eye = Creative Light, i.e. of the Word.
9. Scorpio.
10. Netzach.
11. Capricornus.
12. Hod (the mercurial water): in all the Sephiroth below Tiphereth, out
of balance, and the paths leading from them/
13. Leo = {Leo} = {HEB:Tet} = {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Tet} = 419. t =
{Leo}. {HEB:Tet} = snake by meaning. {Leo} = Horus.
14. The magical image of the 1st Decan of Leo, rising at the birth of 666,
is a lion-headed serpent.
15. Horus, the Lord of 666.
16. The Avatar of Binah, in the opening of this Aethyr.
- page 28 -
who shall ride upon me but the Woman of Abominations{SUP:1}? Who is the Beast{SUP:2}? Am
not I one more than he{SUP:3}? In his hand is a sword that is a book{SUP:4}. In his hand
is a spear that is a cup of
fornication{SUP:5}. Upon his mouth is set the great and terrible
seal{SUP:6}. And he hath the secret of V{SUP:7}. His ten horns spring
from five points{SUP:8}, and his eight heads{SUP:9} are as the charioteer
of the West{SUP:10}. Thus doth the fire of the sun temper the spear of
Mars{SUP:11}, and thus shall he be worshipped, as the warrior lord of the
sun{SUP:12}. Yet in him is the woman that devoureth with her water all the
fire of God{SUP:13}.
Alas! my lord, thou art joined with him that knoweth not these
things{SUP:14}.
When shall the day come that men shall flock to this my gate, and fall
into my furious throat, a whirlpool of fire? This is hell unquenchable,
and all they shall be utterly consumed therein. Therefore is that asbestos
unconsumable made pure{SUP:15}.
Each of my teeth{SUP:16} is a letter of the reverberating name. My
tongue is a pillar of fire{SUP:17}, and from the glands of my mouth arise
four pillars of water{SUP:18}.TAOTZEM{SUP:19} is the name by which
--------------------
1. BABALON. See Atu XI.
2 and 3. 419-418=1. Or 667-666=1. 667 = {GRK:eta}{GRK:kappa}
{GRK:omicron} {GRK:kappa} {GRK:kappa}{GRK:iota}{GRK:sigma}{GRK:eta}
{GRK:gamma}{GRK:upsilon}{GRK:nu}{GRK:eta}, the Scarlet Woman. (WEH note: This is the
correct Greek 667 entry from _Liber MCCLXIV_).
4. _Liber AL_, his weapon.
5. This allusion must remain secret.
6. This seal is that of BBABALON. The Seal of the A{.'.} A{.'.} See the
_Book of Lies_, {GRK:Kappa}{GRK:epsilon}{GRK:phi}. {GRK:Mu}{GRK:theta}
(Cap. 49).
7. His motto as a Master of the Temple is this V.V.V.V.V. (Vi Veri
Vniversum Vivus Vici).
8. V.V.V.V.V. Has 10 horns that spring from 5 points.
9. See the _Book of Lies_, Cap. {GRK:Mu}{GRK:theta}, 49. But there is One
Eighth Head too Sacredly terrible to mention.
10. Refers to Atu VII. {HEB:Chet} = The Chariot = 8. the Bearer of the
Sangraal.
11. The Mystery 5x = 6{square x} and 6x = 5{square x}, Heru-Ra-Ha is the
Martial aspect of Sol.
12. See AL, Cap. III, v. 74.
13. Again a secret allusion. (WEH note: Join O.T.O. and attain to the
mystery).
14. The Seer was not yet a full initiate, and was hampered by A.C.
15. This paragraph prophesies the purging of the worldly Fire in the Aeon
of Horus. "Hell" is the pure Inmost Self of Man, that suffereth not
extinction, but consumeth all the experiences of Life, coming thereby
to know its own Perfection.
16. 32 teeth; hence the Name is {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}
{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Aleph} = 32. Macroprosophus interfused with
Microprosophus.
17. The tongue is the instrument of the Logos and so a Phallic or creative
organ. Chokmah the logos, is the Root of Fire, and the Masculine
Energy.
18. These are the "Four Rivers of Eden". It is the fourfold understanding
of the Logos. These reflect Him so perfectly that they reproduce His
Form.
19. {HEB:Mem}{HEB:Tzaddi}{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Taw} = 600. A "great number" of
Sol, normally 6. 600 = Kosmos. The blasphemy is in taking the
material for the Spiritual Sun.
- page 29 -
I am blasphemed. My name thou shalt not know, lest thou pronounce it and
pass by.
And now the Angel comes forward again and closes his mouth.
All this time heavy blows have been raining upon me from invisible
angels, so that I am weighed down as with a burden greater than the
world{SUP:1}. I am altogether crushed. Great millstones are hurled out of
heaven upon me{SUP:2}. I am trying to crawl to the lion{SUP:3}, and the
ground is covered with sharp knives. I cut myself at every inch{SUP:4}.
And the voice comes: Why art thou there who art here{SUP:5}? Hast
thou not the sign of the number{SUP:6}, and the seal of the name{SUP:7},
and the ring of the eye{SUP:8}? Thou wilt not{SUP:9}.
And I answered and said: I am a creature of earth, and ye would have
me swim.
And the voice said: Thy fear is known; thine ignorance is known; thy
weakness is known; but thou art nothing in this matter. Shall the grain
which is cast into the earth by the hand of the sower debate within itself,
saying, am I oats or barley? Bondslave of the curse, we give nothing, we
take all. Be thou content. That which thou art, thou art. Be
content{SUP:10}.
And now the lion passeth over through the Aethyr with the crowned
beast upon his back, and the tail of the lion goes on instead of stopping,
and on each hair of the tail is something or other --- sometimes a little
house, sometimes a planet, at other times a town. Then there is a great
plain with soldiers fighting upon it, and an enormously high mountain
carved into a thousand temples, and more houses and fields and trees, and
great cities with wonderful buildings in them, statues and columns and
public buildings generally. This goes on and on and on and on and on and
on and on all on the hairs of this lion's tail{SUP:11}.
And then there is the tuft of his tail, which is like a comet, but the
head is a new universe, and each hair streaming away from it is a Milky
Way.
--------------------
1. "The Sin of the whole world". See the Mediterranean Manifesto.
2-4. Prophetic of the pains, the initiation to 9x = 2{square x},
undergone by 666 in order to become himself.
5. i.e. "Why art Thou not consciously identical with 666?"
6. The Qabalistic Proofs (of the truth of Aiwass) given by the virtues of
93.
7. 666.
8. The ring of V.V.V.V.V., mentioned in LXV, v. 16.
9. My resistance to the Great Work.
10. The Angel promises the Seer that he shall be 666 in all truth, and
counsels him to await His Hour in perfect confidence.
11. Prophetic of the results of the Great Work delivered by 666.
And then there is a pale stern figure, enormous, enormous, bigger than
all that universe is, in silver armour, with a sword and a pair of
balances{SUP:1}. That is only vague. All has gone into stone-gray, blank.
There is nothing.
Ain el Hajel.
November 25, 1909. 8:40-9:40 p.m.
(There were two voices in all this Cry, one behind the other --- or,
one was the speech, and the other the meaning. And the voice that was the
speech was simply a roaring, one tremendous noise, like a mixture of
thunder and water-falls and wild beasts and bands and artillery. And yet
it was articulate, though I cannot tell you what a single word was. But
the meaning of the voice --- the second voice --- was quite silent, and put
the ideas directly into the brain of the Seer, as if by touch. It is not
certain whether the millstones and the sword-strokes that rained upon him
were not these very sounds and ideas.)
The Cry of the 24th Aethyr, Which is Called NIA{SUP:2}
An angel comes forward into the stone like a warrior clad in chain-
armour. Upon his head are plumes of gray{SUP:3}, spread out like the fan
of a peacock{SUP:4}. About his feet a great army of scorpions and dogs,
lions, elephants, and many other wild beasts. He stretches forth his arms
to heaven and cries; In the crackling of the lightning, in the rolling of
the thunder, in the clashing of the swords and the hurling of the
arrows{SUP:5}: be thy name exalted!
Streams of fire come out of the heavens, a pale brilliant
--------------------
1. This refers to the Aeon which is to follow this of Horus. See _Liber
AL_, Cap. III, v. 34. Its Lord is "the double-wanded one" "Thmaist ---
Justice."
2. NIA = {Scorpio}{Sagittarius}{Taurus} = 116. She is Atu XIV --- "The
Woman clothed with the Sun", see 27th Aire, between {Scorpio}, Love as
the instrument of change by Putrefaction, and {Taurus}, the heavenly
Isis. But cf. also AL III, v. 72 -- Coph Nia. This completes the
Mystery of Atu XI by the Vision of 156, also in a partial form.
The Beast and the Scarlet Woman at attributed to {Leo} and Water
{Scorpio}. They are the two-in-one Chief Officers, of the Temple of
the New Aeon of Heru-Ra-Ha. (Note: The Eagle Kerub in the 23rd Aire is
Aquarius {Aquarius}. Scorpio is the Woman-Serpent. This is important;
for the old attribution is of the Eagle to {Scorpio})
3. The Ajna-Chakra --- Chokmah.
4. Sacred to Juno.
5. Arrows of {Sagittarius} the rainbow which follows this storm.
- page 31 -
blue{SUP:1}, like plumes. And they gather themselves and settle upon his
lips. His lips are redder than roses, and the blue plumes gather
themselves into a blue rose{SUP:2}, and from beneath the petals of the rose
come brightly coloured humming-birds{SUP:3}, and dew falls from the rose- honey-coloured
dew{SUP:4}. I stand in the shower of it.
And a voice proceeds from the rose: Come away! Our chariot is drawn
by doves{SUP:5}. Of mother-of-pearl and ivory is our chariot{SUP:6} and
the reins thereof are the heart-strings of men. Every moment that we fly
shall cover an aeon. And every place on which we rest shall be a young
universe rejoicing in its strength; the meadows thereof shall be covered
with flowers. There shall we rest but a night, and in the morning we shall
flee away, comforted.
Now, to myself, I have imagined the chariot of which the voice spake,
and I looked to see who was with me in the chariot. It was an Angel of
golden hair and golden skin, whose eyes were bluer than the sea, whose
mouth was redder than the fire, whose breath was ambrosial air. Finer than
a spider's web were her robes. And they were of the seven colours{SUP:7}.
All this I saw; and then the hidden voice went on low and sweet: Come
away! The price of the journey is little, though its name be death. Thou
shalt die to all that thou fearest and hopest and hatest and lovest and
thinkest and art. Yea! thou shalt die, even as thou must die. For all
that thou hast, thou hast not; all that thou art, thou art not{SUP:8}!
NENNI OFEKUFA ANANAEL LAIADA I MAELPEREJI NONUKA AFAFA ADAREPEHETA PEREGI ALADI NIISA
NIISA LAPE OL ZODIR IDOIAN{SUP:9}.
And I said: ODO KIKALE QAA. Why art thou hidden from me, whom I hear?
And the voice answered and said unto me: Hearing is of the
--------------------
1. Blue of Sagittarius (Atu XIV).
2. Woman in {Sagittarius}.
3. Sacred to Venus.
4. Distilled from Cauldron in Atu XIV. The Elixir. In this Aire is a
Mystery of the IXx of the O.T.O.
5. Sacred to {Venus}. This woman combines {Jupiter} (Juno) and {Venus};
but she is more than all this, the Quintessence of Scorpio, the Lady
of the Cup.
6. Chariot = Atu VII = {Cancer} cardinal sign of {Water}. Mother of Pearl
is sacred to {Water}; cups symbolize Pleasure, especially sexual
pleasure. Ivory comes from the tusks of the Elephant: teeth pertain
to {HEB:Shin}, the fire of the Spirit. Ivory is thus a symbol of the
hard gleaming militant delight of sexual energy, which bears Love in
her Chariot through Heaven.
7. All typical of {Venus}.
8. Prophetic of the 8x = 3{square x} Initiation. Love is the motive power
which makes the Adeptus Exemptus take the plunge into the Abyss.
9. Enochian.
- page 32 -
spirit alone{SUP:1}. Thou art a partaker of the five-fold mystery{SUP:2}.
Thou must roll up the ten divine ones like a scroll, and fashion therefrom
a star{SUP:3}. Yet must thou blot out the star in the heart of
Hadit{SUP:4}.
For the blood of my heart is like a warm bath of myrrh and ambergris;
bathe thyself therein. The blood of my heart is all gathered upon my lips
if I kiss thee, burns in my fingertips if I caress thee, burns in my womb
when thou art caught up into my bed. Mighty are the stars; mighty is the
sun; mighty is the moon; mighty is the voice of the ever-living one, and
the echoes of his whisper are the thunders of the dissolution of the
worlds. But my silence is mightier than they. Close up the worlds like
unto a weary house; close up the book of the recorder, and let the veil
swallow up the shrine, for I am arisen, O my fair one, and there is no more
need of all these things.
If once I put thee apart from me, it was the joy of play. Is not the
ebb and flowing of the tide a music of the sea? Come, let us mount unto
Nuit our mother and be lost! Let being be emptied in the infinite abyss!
For by me only shalt thou mount; thou hast none other wings than
mine{SUP:5}.
All this while the Rose has been shooting out blue flames, coruscating
like snakes through the whole Aire. And the snakes have taken shapes of
sentences. One of them is: _Sub umbra alarum tuarum Adonai quies et
felicitas_{SUP:6}. And another: _Summum bonum, vera sapientia, magnanima vita, sub noctis
nocte sunt_{SUP:7}. And another is: _Vera medicina est vinum mortis_{SUP:8}. And another
is: _Libertas__evangelii per jugum legis ob gloriam dei intactam ad vacuum nequaquam
tendit_{SUP:9}.
And another is: _Sub aqu lex terrarum_{SUP:10}. And another is: _Mens
edax rerum, cor__umbra rerum; intelligentia via summa_{SUP:11}. And
another is: _Summa via lucis: per Hephaestum_
--------------------
1. The traditional attribution.
2. i.e. of the Pentagram.
3. The ten Sephiroth form the Flaming Sword. The idea is to make a
perfect Man. (the Pentagram) by folding up his 10 consecutive
qualities into a single symmetrical symbol.
4. This star must itself be blotted out in the Point-of View, the
Quintessence of Individuality.
5. The totality of experiences has amounted to Perfection. There is then
no more need of a manifested Universe. See AL. I, v. 29, for the
Object of Division.
6. Refers to 5x = 6{square x} initiation.
7. Refers to the Night of Pan (see later Aires) and so to 8x = 3{square x}
which with 5x = 6{square x} make the two initiated steps.
8. Cf. the general doctrine about Death. AL II, vs. 72-74, et al.
9. Combines the four sentences in this order {Aquarius}{Taurus}{Leo}
{Scorpio} on the circular altar in the vault of Christian Rosencreutz.
The meaning is: Liberty, Law, Light fill the Universe.
10. S.A.L.T.
11. M.E.R.C.U.R.I.U.S. Meaning: the mind destroys the external (by
abstracting its reality: see any good Yoga treatise). The heart is
their shadow (i.e. Reality only appears as impressions). Binah (8x =
3{square x}) is the Highest Way.
- page 33 -
_undas regas_{SUP:1}. And another is: _Vir introit tumulum regis, invenit
oleum lucis_{SUP:2}.
And all round the whole of these things are the letters TARO; but the
light is so dreadful that I cannot read the words. I am going to try
again. All these serpents are collected together very thickly at the edges
of the wheel, because there are an innumerable number of sentences. One
is: _tres annos regimen oraculi_{SUP:3}. And another is: _terribilis ardet
rex_ {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed} {HEB:Ayin}{SUP:4}.
And another is: _Ter amb_ (amp?) (can't see it) _Rosam oleo_ (?){SUP:5}.
And another is: _Tribus annulis regna olisbon_{SUP:6}. And the marvel is
that with those four letters you can get a complete set of rules for doing
everything, both for white magic and black.
And now I see the heart of the rose again. I see the face of him that
is the heart of the rose, and in the glory of that face I am ended. My
eyes are fixed upon his eyes; my being is sucked up through my eyes into
those eyes. And I see through those eyes, and lo! the universe, like
whirling sparks of gold, blown like a tempest. I seem to swell out again
into him. My consciousness fills the whole Aethyr. I hear the cry NIA,
ringing again and again from within me. It sounds like infinite music, and
behind the sound is the meaning of the Aethyr. Again there are no words.
All this time the whirling sparks of gold go on, and they are like
blue sky, with a lot of rather thin white clouds in it, outside. And now I
see mountains round, far blue mountains, purple mountains. And in the
midst is a little green dell of moss, which is all sparkling with dew that
drips from the rose. And I am lying on that moss with my face upwards,
drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking of the dew.
I cannot describe to you the joy and the exhaustion of everything that
was, and the energy of everything that is, for it is only a corpse that is
lying on the moss. I am the soul of the Aethyr{SUP:7}.
--------------------
1. S.U.L.P.H.U.R. An alchemical injunction; a reference to AL, Cap. 2, v.
57.
2. V.I.T.R.I.O.L. Reference to IXx O.T.O.
3. Refers to time required to assimilate the Initiation of 8x=3{squarex}
For three years is 156 weeks; and 156 = BABALON.
4. Elyon: the exalted one, nVLI (?). 156, a name of BABALON, (see the
Urn) with with the Phallic Yod in the midst.
5. Meaning: the Rose must be thrice anointed (?) with oil. (That is, with
the oil.)
6. Refers to the Tree of Life; to be ruled by the three reciprocating
Paths, {HEB:Dalet}, {HEB:Tet}, {HEB:Peh}; that is, by the supernal
love, by the Formula of Babalon and the Beast conjoined, and by that
Formula at which is hinted in Liber AL. 1,2,3,4. all T.A.R.O.
7. This passage describes an Initiation, the first of this series. It is
the exhaustion of the lower Self of the Seer in his first union with
BABALON.
- page 34 -
Now it reverberates like the swords of archangels, clashing upon the
armour of the damned; and there seem to be the blacksmiths of heaven
beating the steel of the worlds upon the anvils of hell, to make a roof to
the Aethyr{SUP:1}.
For if the great work were accomplished and all the Aethyrs were
caught up into one, then would the vision fail; then would the voice be
still.
Now all is gone from the stone.
Ain el Hajel.
November 26, 1909. 2-3:25 p.m.
The Cry of the 23rd Aethyr, Which is Called TOR{SUP:2}.
In the brightness of the stone are three lights, brighter than all,
which revolve ceaselessly{SUP:3}. And now there is a spider's web of
silver{SUP:4} covering the whole of the stone. Behind the spider's web is
a star of twelve rays{SUP:5}; and behind that again, a black bull,
furiously pawing up the ground. The flames from his mouth increase and
whirl, and he cries: Behold the mystery of toil, O thou who art taken in
the toils of mystery{SUP:6}. For I who trample the earth thereby make
whirlpools in the air; be comforted, therefore, for though I be black, in
the roof of my mouth is the sign of the Beetle{SUP:7}. Bent are the backs
of my brethren, yet shall they gore the lion with their horns. Have I not
the wings of the eagle, and the face of the man?
And now he is turned into one of those winged Assyrian bull-men.
--------------------
1. This roof seems to be the Path of {HEB:Peh} (Mars, blacksmiths, steel,
etc., the first ring that binds the {GRK:omicron}{GRK:lambda}
{GRK:iota}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:beta}{GRK:omicron}{GRK : sigma}). The union with his Mate
first occurs In Yesod, of which {HEB:Peh} may be called the roof. Later we shall find the
other marriages of {HEB:Tet} and {HEB:Dalet}.
2. TOR = {Leo}{Libra}{Pisces}.
3. The Three Gunas, Sattvas, Rajas, Tamas. This is an Introit to the
Aethyr. As we proceed, we find more and more obstacles to entering.
4. More introit; veils to the true Vision.
5. Tamas, Kerub of Earth. He and the Eagle of Air make up the 4 Officers
of the New Temple.
6. A warning to the Seer not to allow himself to ignore or despise the
plain facts of life. Mysteries --- nay, even The Mysteries themselves!
are apt to seduce the Aspirant. He becomes exalt (as the cold
rational French, observing these errors, call him) instead of exalted.
7. The tradition of the Bull Apis. The Beetle is the Midnight Sun, the
hidden hope of Earth.
- page 35 -
And he sayeth: The spade of the husbandman is the sceptre of the
king{SUP:1}. All the heavens beneath me, they serve me. They are my
fields and my gardens and my orchards and my pastures.
Glory be unto thee, who didst set thy feet in the North{SUP:2}; whose
forehead is pierced with the sharp points of the diamonds in thy crown
{SUP:3}; whose heart is pierced with the spear of thine own fecundity
{SUP:4}.
Thou art an egg of blackness, and a worm of poison. But thou hast
formulated thy father, and made fertile thy mother.
Thou art the basilisk whose gaze turns men to stone, and the
cockatrice at the breast of an harlot that giveth death for milk. Thou art
the asp that has stolen into the cradle of the babe. Glory unto thee, who
art twined about the world as the vine that clingeth to the bare body of a
bacchanal{SUP:5}.
Also, though I be planted so firmly upon the earth, yet is my blood
wine and my breath fire of madness. With these wings, though they be but
little, I lift myself above the crown of the yod{SUP:6}, and being without
fins I yet swim in the inviolate fountain{SUP:7}.
I disport myself in the ruins of Eden, even as Leviathan in the false
sea{SUP:8}, being whole as the rose at the crown of the cross. Come ye
unto me, my children, and be glad. At the end of labour is the power of
labour{SUP:10}. And in my stability is concentrated eternal change
{SUP:11}.
For the whirlings of the universe are but the course of the blood in
my heart. And the unspeakable variety thereof is but my divers hairs, and
plumes, and gems in my tall crown. The change which ye lament is the life
of my rejoicing, and the sorrow that blackeneth your hearts is the myriad
deaths by which I am renewed.
--------------------
1. The King rules by virtue of the labour of his people. Even {Taurus}
Earth is necessary as the support of Heaven. Nuit is upheld by Shu,
who stands on Seb. Neglect to understand this causes many "pure
Mystics" to fall lamentably. They "go off their base" in the
significant slang of common-sense folk.
2. The Bull is stationed in the North.
3. The Bull is sacred to Osiris. This refers to the Crown of Thorns.
4. Again a reference to the Formula of Osiris. The Spear (Sacred Lance,
Phallus) pierces the heart of the Dying God.
5. These two paragraphs declare the identity of the Bull with his Zodiacal
opposite, Scorpio.
6. The Crown of Yod (as a path on the Tree) is Chesed. It leads thither
from Tiphereth. The path of the Bull leads from Chokmah down to
Chesed.
7. Refers to the Symbol of the woman and the Bull. See 16th Aire.
8. See Knorr von Rosenroth on theQlipoth.
9. "The Rose of Earth" surmounts the Cross of Fire in the symbol {Venus}.
10. Toil creates kinetic energy.
11. See 11th Aire.
- page 36 -
And the instability which maketh ye to fear, is the little waverings of
balance by which I am assured{SUP:1}.
And now the veil of silver tissue-stuff closes over him, and above
that, a purple veil, and above that, a golden veil, so that now the whole
stone is like a thick mat of woven gold wires; and there come forth, one
from each side of the stone, two women, and grasp each other by both hands, and kiss, and
melt into one another; and melt away{SUP:2}. And now the veils open again, the gold parts,
and the purple parts, and the silver
parts, and there is a crowned eagle, also like the Assyrian eagles.
And he cries: All my strength and stability are turned to the use of
flight{SUP:3}. For though my wings are of fine gold, yet my heart is the
heart of a scorpion{SUP:4}.
Glory unto thee, who being born in a stable didst make thee mirth of
the filth thereof, who didst suck in iniquity from the breast of thy mother
the harlot; who didst flood with iniquity the bodies of thy concubines.
Thou didst lie in the filth of the streets with the dogs; thou wast
tumbled and shameless and wanton in a place where four roads meet. There
wast thou defiled, and there wast thou slain, and there wast thou left to
rot. The charred stake was thrust through thy bowels, and thy parts were
cut off and thrust into thy mouth for derision{SUP:5}.
All my unity is dissolved; I live in the tips of my feathers{SUP:6}.
That which I think to be myself is but infinite number{SUP:7}. Glory unto
the Rose and the Cross, for the Cross is extended unto the uttermost end
beyond space and time and being and knowledge and delight! Glory unto the
Rose that is the minute point of its center! Even as we say; glory unto
the Rose that is Nuit the circumference of all, and glory unto the Cross
that is the heart of the Rose{SUP:8}!
--------------------
1. All this paragraph explains this doctrine of Stability = Change.
(Yesod, Support of the Tree, is also {Air} & {Moon}).
2. These are intended to show symbolically that the Bull is the same as
the Eagle.
3. This transformation into Air shows the identity (in ultimate
philosophy) of the two forces of change which constitute the Lesser
Mysteries of the Sword and the Disk.
4. Refers to the Scorpion in the Symbol of the Bull of Mithras.
5. These two paragraphs refer to the Formula of the Dying God, its
perversion and profanation at the hands of those who abused it.
6. Air has a peripheral consciousness.
7. The True Unity does not exist in any particular number, but in
{HEB:Aleph}x as a whole.
8. The Rose and Cross are not merely symbols of definite types of energy,
female and male. They are extended in the correlative symbols of
Infinity: Nuit and Hadit.
- page 37 -
Therefore do I cry aloud, and my scream is the treble as the bellowing
of the bull is the bass{SUP:1}. Peace in the highest and peace in the
lowest and peace in the midst thereof! Peace in the eight quarters, peace
in the ten points of the Pentagram! Peace in the twelve rays of the seal
of Solomon, and peace in the four and thirty whirlings of the hammer of
Thor{SUP:2}! Behold! I blaze upon thee. (The eagle is gone; it is only a
flaming Rosy Cross of white brilliance.) I catch thee up into rapture.
FALUTLI, FALUTLI{SUP:3}!
... O it dies, it dies.
Bou Sada.
November 28, 1909. 9:30-10:15 A.M.
The Cry of the 22nd Aethyr, Which is Called LIN{SUP:4}
There comes first into the stone the mysterious table of forty-nine
squares{SUP:5}. It is surrounded by an innumerable company of
--------------------
1. Air and Earth are harmonious vibrations, complementary.
2. The vibrations of Tetragrammaton, Jeheshua, the Hexagram, and the
Swastika are Swastika re duplicated, being complete in each of the two
Series, Air and Earth, the lower forms of Masculine and Feminine.
3. See _Liber VII_, Cap. V, v. 30. It is the cry of the consummated
rapture of the Dissolution of any symbol by virtue of Love. FAL is
Aleph (AFL, thick darkness; PLA, the Hidden Wonder, a title of Kether.)
The whole symbolism of Aleph, 111, must be studied thoroughly. It is
especially the equations: One = Zero; and Three = One. Aleph is
Iacchus, Lord of Ecstasy; Harpocrates, Lord of Silence: Zeus
Arrhenotheleus; Bacchus Diphues, Baphomet, etc. Lord of the Two-in-One
Love; Parsifal, The Pure Fool, the Wandering Spirit of God, who
impregnates the King's Daughter. UT is the title of the Holy Guardian
Angel in the Upanishads. C.q.v. also the poem of "UT" in "The Winged
Beetle". LI is the Hebrew for "to me". See AL I, v. 51, 53, 61, 62,
63. (L is Atu VIII = {HEB:Lamed} = the Satisfied Woman; I is
{HEB:Yod}, Atu IX, the Hermit). See AL II, v. 24 --- The Hidden Virtue
which satisfies Her. {GRK:Phi}{GRK:Alpha}{GRK:Lambda}
{GRK:Upsilon}{GRK:Tau}{GRK:Lambda}{GRK: I ota} = 1271 = 2542/2. 2542 =
{GRK:Theta}{GRK:epsilon}{GRK:lambda} {GRK:eta}{GRK:mu}{GRK:alpha} spelt in full.
4. LIN = {Cancer}{Sagittarius}{Scorpio} {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Samekh}
{HEB:Chet} is Chassan, ruler of Air; also, Strength. 118 = 2 x 59.
59 = Brethren (referred especially to Lilith and Samael). LIN declares
therefore the Twins concealed in Heru-Ra-Ha. 118 is also "to change,
pass, renew" and "to ferment"; indicating the Formula of Horus; His
first Formula is that of BABALON, for He is as yet within Her womb.
But see note on 10th Aire, regarding PARAOAN.
5. See _The Equinox_, I, VII, page 231. This table contains the names of
the Angels of the Seven Planetary Spheres: Shabathiel, Tzedquiel,
Madimiel, Shemashiel, Negahal, Kokabiel, and Levaniel. This seven-fold
arrangement is of the Sigil of A{.'.} A{.'.} Babalon. See _Book of
Lies_, Cap. 49. And she is the Mother of Heru-Ra-Ha.
- page 38 -
angels; these angels are of all kinds, --- some brilliant and flashing as
gods, down to elemental creatures. The light comes and goes on the tablet;
and now it is steady, and I perceive that each letter of the tablet is
composed of forty-nine other letters, in a language which looks like that
of Honorius; but when I would read, the letter that I look at becomes
indistinct at once.
And now there comes an Angel, to hide the tablet with his mighty wing.
This Angel has all the colours mingled in his dress; his head is proud and
beautiful; his headdress is of silver and red and blue and gold and black,
like cascades of water, and in his left hand he has a pan-pipe of the seven
holy metals, upon which he plays{SUP:1}. I cannot tell you how wonderful
the music is, but it is so wonderful that one only lives in one's ears; one
cannot see anything any more.
Now he stops playing and moves with his finger in the air. His finger
leaves a trail of fire of every colour, so that the whole Aire is become
like a web of mingled lights. But through it all drops dew{SUP:2}.
(I can't describe these things at all. Dew doesn't represent what I
mean in the least. For instance, these drops of dew are enormous globes,
shining like the full moon, only perfectly transparent, as well as
perfectly luminous.)
And now he shows the tablet again, and he says: As there are 49
letters in the tablet, so are there 49 kinds of cosmos in every thought of
God. And there are 49 interpretations of every cosmos, and each
interpretation is manifested in 49 ways. Thus also are the calls
49{SUP:3}, but to each call there are 49 visions. And each vision is
composed of 49 elements, except in the 10th Aethyr, that is accursed, and
that hath 42{SUP:4}.
All this while the dewdrops have turned into cascades of gold finer
than the eyelashes of a little child{SUP:5}. And though the extent of the
Aethyr is so enormous, one perceives each hair separately, as well as the
whole thing at once{SUP:6}. And now there is a
--------------------
1. This "Angel" is in fact PAN. See the 9th Aire "unto All hath she born
him."
2. This "dew" is the Supernal Lion-Serpent in his Menstruum of liquid
Pearl.
3. 42 is the number of the Demiurge (see Genesis I), of the Assessors of
the Dead (see any book on Egyptian religion), of the Sterile Mother
{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Aleph}, of Terror and Destruction
{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Bet}, of loss ({HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Bet}), of the
verb "to cease" ({HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Chet}), and of {HEB:Dalet}
{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Tzaddi-final}, the Earth of Malkuth. It is
connected with the 10th Aethyr. See _Equnox_ I, VII, pages 229-243,
for the whole symbolism.
4. See_Equnox_ I, VIII, pp. 99-128.
5. The Solar Child develops from the "Dew".
6. These violations of Normal Logic are stigmatic of most of the higher
types of Spiritual Experience. There must be no muddle; that is the
usual mistake made by most Mystics. Confused thought is the evil and
averse image of the One Clear Light.
- page 39 -
mighty concourse of angels rushing toward me from every side, and they melt upon the
surface of the egg in which I am standing in the form of the god Kneph{SUP:1}, so that the
surface of the egg is all one dazzling blaze of liquid light.
Now I move up against the tablet, --- I cannot tell you with what
rapture. And all the names of God, that are not known even to the
angels{SUP:2}, clothe me about.
All the seven senses are transmuted into one sense, and that sense is
dissolved in itself ...{SUP:3} (Here occurs Samadhi.) ... Let me speak, O
God; let me declare it ... all. It is useless; my heart faints, my breath
stops. There is no link between me and P . . .{SUP:4} I withdraw myself.
I see the table again.
(He was behind the table for a very long time{SUP:5}. O.V.)
And all the table burns with intolerable light; there has been no such
light in any of the Aethyrs until now. And now the table draws me back
into itself; I am no more.
My arms were out in the form of a cross, and that Cross was extended,
blazing with light into infinity. I myself am the minutest point in it.
This is _the birth of form_{SUP:6}.
I am encircled by an immense sphere of many-coloured bands; it seems
it is the sphere of the Sephiroth projected in the three dimensions. This
is _the birth of death_{SUP:7}.
Now in the centre within me is a glowing sun. That is _the birth of
hell_{SUP:8}.
Now all that is swept away, washed away by the table. It is the
virtue of the table to sweep everything away. It is the letter
--------------------
1. The winged Egg, the omniform Zero (0x) from which all positive
manifestation comes.
2. This experience is perfectly clear and definite, to the peculiar type
of higher consciousness which is aware of it.
3. These are those of the Table itself, read across or down, instead of
diagonally, as is done to obtain the names given in note 5, p. 32. See
also LXXXIV (page 231).
4. Perdurabo, the Motto (in the Outer Order) of the Seer. Even below the
True Consciousness with the material and intellectual basis of him.
5. i.e. The Seer was in Samadhi; the Table had been a Veil of the
Infinite.
6. Form is the conception of the Self in extension.
7. Death is the conception of the Self extended, not into the positive
balanced cross, but into the negative circle (or sphere) of Nuit.
8. For Hell, see _Liber Aleph_. Hell, is the Secret Centre of the Self.
One perceives one's Star as one's True Self.
- page 40 -
I in this Aethyr that gives this vision, and L is its purity, and N is its
energy{SUP:1}. Now everything is confused, for I invoked the Mind, that is
disruption{SUP:2}. Every Adept who beholds this vision is corrupted by
mind. Yet it is by virtue of mind that he endures it, and passes on, if so
be that he pass on. Yet there is nothing higher than this, for it is
perfectly balanced in itself. I cannot read a word of the holy Table, for
the letters of the Table are all wrong. They are only the shadows of
shadows. And whoso beholdeth this Table with this rapture, is light. The
true word for light hath seven letters. They are the same as ARARITA,
transmuted{SUP:3}.
There is a voice in this Aethyr, but it cannot be spoken. The only
way one can represent it is as a ceaseless thundering of the word Amen. It
is not a repetition of Amen, because there is no time. It is one Amen
continuous{SUP:4}.
Shall mine eye fade before thy glory? I am the eye. That is why the
eye is seventy{SUP:5}. You can never understand why, except in this
vision{SUP:6}.
And now the table recedes from me. Far, far it goes, streaming with
light. And there are two black angels bending over me, covering me with
their wings, shutting me up into the darkness; and I am lying in the Pastos
of our Father Christian Rosenkreutz, beneath the Table in the Vault of
seven sides. And I hear these words:
The voice of the Crowned Child, the Speech of the Babe that is hidden
in the egg of blue{SUP:7}. (Before me is the flaming Rosy Cross.) I have
opened mine eye, and the universe is dissolved
--------------------
1. {ENO:j} = {Sagittarius}. The Rainbow is connected with the Sevenfold
projection. {ENO:l} = {Moon} decreasing in {Cancer}. Luna, when
active, always purifies. It is the passive Moon that may be "evil";
i.e. when she reflects not the Sun, her Lord, but divers spectres of
the Night. {ENO:n} = {Mars} in {Scorpio}, the type of energy which
informs Vision. {Mars} in {Taurus} would cause action.
2. The Seer had begun to analyze the conceptions presented to him by the
Vision. Instantly the internal coherence of its Unity was destroyed.
The next two phrases show that this is a difficulty peculiar to this
Vision.
3. {HEB:Resh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau} {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Yod} the
essence of the Yod girt by Sun's tending inwardly upon it.
{HEB:Resh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Resh}
(?) = 412 = {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Bet} = {HEB:Bet} = {Mercury}. For
ultimately Kether and Sol are not Light. Light is a duplex vibration,
energized by Them and is, _therefore_, of their Messenger, Mercury.
(Alostrael's notebook has a different version from Yorke's
"...energized by Them and is {.'.} of their Messenger Mercury."
--- Copyist's note.)
4. AUMGN (See explanation in _Book 4_, Part III).
5. {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Ayin} = an Eye = {HEB:Ayin} = 70.
6. The general idea is perhaps this: 70 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Heh}
Hush! and {HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed}, NIght, and {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Samekh} The
Secret. The Glory is so great that it cannot be manifested by any positive means.
7. Heru-Ra-Ha.
- page 41 -
before me, for force is mine upper eye-lid and matter is my lower eye-
lid{SUP:1}. I gaze into the seven spaces, and there is naught{SUP:2}.
The rest of it comes without words; and then again:
I have gone forth to war, and I have slain him that sat upon the sea,
crowned with the winds{SUP:3}. I put forth my power and he was broken. I
withdrew my power and he was ground into fine dust.
Rejoice with me, O ye Sons of the Morning; stand with me upon the
Throne of Lotus{SUP:4}; gather yourselves up unto me, and we shall play
together in the fields of light. I have passed into the Kingdom of the
West after my Father{SUP:6}.
Behold! where are now the darkness and the terror and the
lamentation? For ye are born into the new Aeon; ye shall not suffer
death{SUP:7}. Bind up your girdles of gold! Wreathe yourselves with
garlands of my unfading flowers! In the nights we will dance together, and
in the morning we will go forth to war; for, as my Father liveth that was
dead, so do I live and shall never die{SUP:8}.
And now the table comes rushing back. It covers the whole stone, but
this time it pushes me before it, and a terrible voice cries: Begone! Thou
hast profaned the mystery; thou hast eaten of the shew-bread; thou hast
spilt the consecrated wine{SUP:9}! Begone! For the Voice is accomplished.
Begone! For that which was open is
--------------------
1. These ideas are complementary; when they combine they produce positive manifestation,
which covers up the Glance of the Eye of Shiva, which annihilates all external existence.
2. The Seven spaces are the "Palaces" which contain the Sephiroth.
3. This is the foe of Horus, the Dweller of Nile. The winds which crown
him are not the pure powers of Air of Libra, but the cloudy (mixed)
forces of Aquarius, opposite in the Zodiac to Leo, the sign of Horus.
4. The Energy of Horus destroys indeed, but must be withdrawn to complete
the work, for His rays, if left in their object, would keep it
vitalized. The coherence of the broken matter must be withdrawn.
5. Harpocrates stands or sits upon the Lotus, his fortress against the
malice of the Water-demon.
6. Osiris has been chased into Amennti by Horus, who follows him thither,
that his reign may be established even in the realms of "Death". In
the New Aeon, Death is become Life Triumphant, not through
Resurrection, but in its own Essence.
7. See last note. The Thelemite does not "suffer death". He is eternal
and perceives Himself the Universe, by virtue of the _categories_ of
Life and Death, which are not real but subjective forms of his artistic
presentation.
8. Osiris, tricked into the belief in death, had to overcome it by Magick,
the Formula IAO.
9. The Seer has erred, it seems, by translating the Doctrine into
intelligible symbols. for this is likely to cause a new "Fall" into
the barren kingdoms of Ratiocination.
- page 42 -
shut. And thou shalt not avail to open it, saving by virtue of him whose
name is one, whose spirit is one, whose individuum is one, and whose
permutation is one{SUP:1}; whose light is one, whose life is one, whose
love is one. For though thou art joined to the inmost mystery of the
heaven, thou must accomplish the sevenfold task of the earth, even as thou
sawest the Angels from the greatest unto the least. And of all this shalt
thou take back with thee but a little part, for the sense shall be
darkened, and the shrine re-veiled. Yet know this for thy reproof, and for
the stirring up of discontent in them whose swords are of lath{SUP:2}, that
in every word of this vision is concealed the key of many mysteries, even
of being, and of knowledge, and of bliss{SUP:3}; of will, of courage,
of wisdom, and of silence{SUP:4}, and of that which, being all these, is
greater than all these. Begone! For the night of life is fallen upon
thee. And the veil of light hideth that which is.
With that, I suddenly see the world as it is, and I am very sorrowful.
Bou-Sada.
November 28, 1909. 4-6 p.m.
(_Note_. --- You do not come back in any way dazed; it is like going
from one room into another. Regained normal consciousness completely and immediately.)
--------------------
1. ARARITA (--- a name of God, which is a Notariqon of the sentence:
"One is His beginning; One is his Individuality; His Permutation One.")
The use of this Name and Formula is to equate and identify every idea
with its opposite; thus being released from the obsession of thinking
any one of them as "true" (and therefore binding); one can withdraw
oneself from the whole sphere of the Ruach. See _Liber 813, vel
Ararita._ Contrast each verse of Cap. I with the corresponding verse
of Cap. II for the first of these methods. Thus in Cap. III (stil
verse by verse correspondence) the Quintessence of the ideas is
extracted; and in Cap. IV they are withdrawn each one into the one
beyond it. In Cap. V they have disappeared into the Method itself. In
Cap. VI they reappear in the Form appointed by the Will of the Adept.
Lastly, in Cap. VII they are dissolved, one into the next until all
finally disappear in the Fire Qadosh, the Quintessence of Reality.
2. Those whose analytical methods are incapable of destroying Illusion.
This insistence on the Virtue of the Vision is intended to encourage
them to make greater efforts.
3. Sat-Chit-Ananda.
4. The Sphinx.
- page 43 -
The Cry of the 21st Aethyr, Which is Called ASP{SUP:1}.
A mighty wind rolls through all the Aethyr; there is a sense of
absolute emptiness; no colour, no form, no substance. Only now and then
there seem as it were, the shadows of great angels, swept along. No sound;
there is something very remorseless about the wind, passionless, that is
very terrible. In a way, it is nerve-shaking. It seems as if something
kept on trying to open behind the wind, and just as it is about to open,
the effort is exhausted. The wind is not cold or hot; there is no sense of
any kind connected with it. One does not even feel it, for one is standing
in front of it.
Now, the thing opens behind, just for a second, and I catch a glimpse
of an avenue of pillars, and at the end a throne, supported by sphinxes.
All this is black marble{SUP:2}.
Now I seem to have gone through the wind, and to be standing before
the throne; but he that sitteth thereon is invisible. Yet it is from him
that all this desolation proceeds{SUP:3}.
He is trying to make me understand by putting tastes in my mouth, very
rapidly one after the other. Salt, honey, sugar{SUP:4},
--------------------
1. ASP = {Taurus}{Virgo}{Leo} = {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Tet} = 25 =
{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod} = Jehevid, God of Geburah of Briah =
{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Chet} The Beast. The aire shows the supplanting of that
by this. (A's MS. has "Mythus (?)" for "by this".) Taurus is Osiris.
Virgo the Virgin (the lonely one).
These are the Dying God symbols, which Leo --- the Lion, Atu XI, The
Beast --- replaces.
2. This setting symbolizes the Way of Time in the Temple of Inscrutable
Destiny.
3. This Deity is Necessity or Fate. This whole Aire is of a metaphysic
more difficult to understand than any of the earlier. The student must
have finally shut out of his mind not only the crude ideas of Good and
Evil, but the most fundamental logical conceptions, such as that of
being obliged to think of a state of mind, or an individual, as being
true to itself. This God is at the same time an Abomination and a
supreme Overlord. One may indeed say that the student ought to be in a
state not far from Samadhi before meditating the meaning of the Aire.
4. Salt Water or Earth, probably ............................ M
Honey Bees: feminine symbol. Binah. Probably ............. E
(This E is not a real vowel. It enables consonants
to join with the minimum of disturbance. This is
exactly the role of the feminine passive element.)
Sugar Venus ............................................... D
Assafoetida Saturn --- Capricornus = {HEB:Ayin} .......... {Taurus}
Bitumen Fiery --- Water = {HEB:Nun-final} ................... N
Honey ..................................................... E
Unknown Possibly Kether .................................... St
Garlic Saturnian element of Venus .......................... L
(footnote continues on next page)
- page 44 -
assafoetida, bitumen, honey again, some taste that I don't know at all;
garlic, something very bitter like nux vomica, another taste, still more
bitter; lemon, cloves, rose-leaves, honey again; the juice of some plant,
like a dandelion, I think; honey again, salt, a taste something like
phosphorus, honey, laurel, a very unpleasant taste which I don't know,
coffee, then a burning taste, then a sour taste that I don't know. All
these tastes issue from his eyes; he _signals_them.
I can see his eyes now. They are very round, with perfectly black
pupils, perfectly white iris, and the cornea pale blue. The sense of
desolation is so acute that I keep on trying to get away from the
vision{SUP:1}.
I told him that I could not understand his taste-language, so instead
he set up a humming very much like a big electric plant with dynamos going.
Now the atmosphere is deep night-blue; and by the power of that
atmosphere, the pillars kindle to a dull glowing crimson, and the throne is
a dull, ruddy gold{SUP:2}. And now, through the humming, come very clear, bell-like notes,
and farther still a muttering, like that of a gathering
storm.
And now I hear the meaning of the muttering: I am he who was
--------------------
(footnote # 4 from page 44 continues)
Nux vomica Tonic. Geburah.
Still more bitter.
Lemon Mercury
Cloves Venus --- earthy. Taurus ........................ U or V
Rose Leaves Venus. Mercury ..................................... I
Honey ..................................................... E
Dandelion Solar. Tiphereth ................................... O
Honey ..................................................... E
Salt ..................................................... M
Phosphorus Sol. Leo or Geburah ................................Th
Honey ..................................................... E
Laurel Apollo .............................................. R
Very unpleasant --- ? --- the insipidness of Mercury ................ I
Coffee Stimulant --- wakeful. Erectile ............. {Taurus}
Burning Scorpio ............................................. N
Sour End of oxidation --- acid --- Sagittarius ........... S
Translation: "The Earth is sick of love; with disease and death is she
sick ... the natural lust, fierce as it is, is not enough; virgins,
boys woman (make men) sick, weak of semen and sick. The earth shall be
cured of her sickness by true Art-of-Sun, and thine own pleasures, and
thou ..., shall abolish the world's woe, and bring on the Age of
Righteousness.
1. Black, white, and pale blue, there is no _warmth_ in Destiny. It is
intolerable to see the mere mechanism of life.
2. Now comes the warm Night-Blue of Nuit and of Ra-Hoor-Khuit. The
pillars assume the crimson of Binah, and the throne, the gold of
Tiphereth. Thus is it as if Ra-Hoor-Khuit were alive in the midst of
the Womb of His Mother.
- page 45 -
before the beginning, and in my desolation I cried aloud, saying, let me
behold my countenance in the concave of the abyss{SUP:1}. And I beheld,
and lo! in the darkness of the abyss my countenance was black, and empty,
and distorted{SUP:2}, that was (once) invisible and pure.
Then I closed mine eye, that I might not behold it, and for this was
it fixed. Now it is written that one glance of mine eye shall destroy
it{SUP:3}. And mine eye I dare not open, because of the foulness of the
vision. Therefore do I gaze with these two eyes throughout the
aeon{SUP:4}. Is there not one of all my adepts that shall come unto me,
and cut off mine eyelids, that I may behold and destroy{SUP:5}?
Now I take a dagger, and, searching out his third eye, seek to cut off
the eye-lids, but they are of adamant. And the edge of the dagger{SUP:6}
is turned.
And tears{SUP:7} drop from his eyes, and there is a mournful voice:
So it hath been ever: so must it ever be! Though thou hast the strength of
five bulls, thou shalt not avail in this{SUP:8}.
And I said to him: Who shall avail? And he answered me: I know
not{SUP:9}. But the dagger of penance{SUP:10} thou shalt temper seven
times, afflicting the seven courses of thy soul. And thou shalt sharpen
its edge seven times by the seven ordeals.
--------------------
1. cf. the account of the beginning in the Upanishads.
2. See Eliphaz Levi's drawing of the two Countenances.
3. The Shivaite Dogma.
4. cf. the Qabalah. The Most Holy Ancient One has One Eye: Microprosophus two.
5. Shiva again. For the eyelids, see above, the 22nd Aire, the speech of
the Babe Horus.
6. This minor elemental weapon is evidently useless against fundamental
ideas like force and matter, of which it is itself but a trivial complex.
7. Binah, mother of Sorrow, the tears from the Great Sea, Her symbol.
The first issue of Understanding is the trance of Sorrow.
8. The Bull = {Taurus} = {HEB:Vau} = V. The Motto of the Seer as in the
Grade of Binah 8x = 3{square x}, is V.V.V.V.V., the five Bulls. He had
already chosen this motto, through he had refused to accept the Grade
when offered to him three years before by the Chiefs. We now approach
those Aethyrs in which his full Initiation to that Grade was
accomplished.
9. I = {HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Aleph} = 61. Know = No ={HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Lamed} = 31. Not =
{HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph} = 61.
Also I know not --- I know that which is Not. Such are the roots of
the Equation of Ambiguity, used often by Higher Intelligences
(especially in _The Book of the Law_, q.v.) to prove their identity as
Individuals separate from the Seer, and superior to him.
10. This rebukes the Seer for having tried to use the elemental Dagger.
Perhaps the four sevens in the injunction refer to Netzach, Victory.
For Netzach = 7; and 28 = {GRK:Sigma}1-7 as well as 4x7, 28 is a
"perfect" number; its factors add up to itself.
- page 46 -
(One keeps on looking round to try to find something else because of
the terror of it. But nothing changes{SUP:1} at all. Nothing but the
empty throne, and the eyes, and the avenue of pillars!)
And I said to him: O thou that art the first countenance before
time{SUP:2}; thou of whom it is written that "He, God, is one; He is the
eternal one, without equal, son or companion. Nothing shall stand before
His face{SUP:3}"; all we have heard of thine infinite glory and holiness,
of thy beauty and majesty, and behold! there is nothing but this
abomination of desolation.
He speaks; I cannot hear a word; something about _The Book of the
Law_. The answer is written in _The Book of the Law_, or something of that sort{SUP:4}.
This is a long speech; all that I can hear is: From me pour down the
fires of life and increase continually upon the earth. From me flow down
the rivers of water and oil and wine. From me cometh forth the wind that
beareth the seed of trees and flowers and fruits and all herbs upon its
bosom. From me cometh forth the earth in her unspeakable variety. Yea!
all cometh from me, naught cometh to me. Therefore am I lonely and
horrible upon this unprofitable throne. Only those who accept nothing from
me can bring anything to me.
(He goes on speaking again: I cannot hear a word. I may have got
about a twentieth of what he said.) And I say to him: It was written that
his name is Silence, but thou speakest continually.
And he answers: Nay, the muttering that thou hearest is not my voice.
It is the voice of the ape{SUP:5}.
(When I say that he answers, it means that it is the same voice. The
being on the throne has not uttered a word.) I say: O thou ape that
speakest for Him whose name is Silence, how shall I know that thou speakest truly His
thought? And the muttering continues: Nor speaketh He nor thinketh, so that which I say is
true, because I lie in speaking His
thoughts{SUP:6}.
--------------------
1. That is the extreme horror: for Change is Life, the issue of love.
2. {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Peh}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Aleph}
{HEB:Koph-final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Resh}{HEB:Aleph} The Great Countenance (which beheld not
Countenance).
3. The Chapter of the Unity, in the Qu'ran.
4. This may refer to the Formula 0 = 2.
5. Kether, of course, does not speak. His Nature is made apparent by
Thoth, the Logos, the Creative Word. But this Word must evidently be
false, since He is Silence. Thoth, however, is himself accompanied by
the Cynocephalos, the dog-headed Ape, who imitates and caricatures all
His actions, and misinterprets His speech.
6. The idea is that Truth may be stated by denying a falsehood. This
lands us in the quagmires of "Zigzagginess", the paradox of
Epaminoneas, et hoc genus omne. One great point of the Initiated
Doctrine is that the Ruach (the Mechanism of Thought) is in its
essential nature self-contradictory. From now on, the Angels of the
Aethyrs begin to speak in the language of Neshamah; they use the logic
which pertains above the Abyss. The student will, accordingly, find
statements which must be reversed and reversed again and again; both
are true and false at once; neither is true or false --- and so on.
- page 47 -
He goes on, nothing stops him; and the muttering comes so fast that I
cannot hear him at all.
Now the muttering has ceased, or is overwhelmed by the bells, and the
bells in their turn are overwhelmed by the whirring, and now the whirring
is overwhelmed by the silence. And the blue light is gone, and the throne
and the pillars are returned to blackness, and the eyes of him that sitteth
upon the throne are no more visible.
I seek to go up close to the throne, and I am pushed back, because I
cannot give the sign. I have given all the signs I know and am entitled
to{SUP:1}, and I have tried to give the sign that I know and am not
entitled to{SUP:2}, but have not the necessary appurtenance; and even if I
had, it would be useless; for there are two more signs necessary{SUP:3}.
I find that I was wrong in suggesting{SUP:4} that a Master of the
Temple had a right to enter the temple of a Magus or an Ipsissimus. On the
contrary, the rule that holds below, holds also above. The higher you go,
the greater is the distance from one grade to another{SUP:5}.
I am being slowly pushed backwards down the avenue, out into the wind.
And this time I am caught up by the wind and whirled away down it like a
dead leaf.
And a great Angel sweeps through the wind, and catches hold of me, and
bears me up against it; and he sets me down on the hither side of the wind,
and he whispers in my ear: Go thou forth into the world, O thrice and four
times blessed who hast gazed upon the horror of the loneliness of The
First{SUP:6}. No man shall look upon his face and live. And thou hast
seen his eyes, and understood his heart, for the voice of the ape is the
pulse of his heart and the labouring of his breast. Go, therefore, and
rejoice, for thou art the prophet of the Aeon arising, wherein He is
not{SUP:7}.
--------------------
1. The sign of the Grades up to 7x = 4{square x}.
2. the sign of 8x = 3{square x}.
3. The signs of 9x = 2{square x} and 10x = 1{square x}; necessary because
this Vision pertains to Kether.
4. See the "Wake World" in _Konx Om Pax_.
5. See _One Star in Sight_.
6. Observe the point-of-view, so totally opposite to any ever previously
set forth, about the psychology of Kether.
7. In the Ontology of the New Aeon, whose prime theorem is 0 = 2, Kether
exists only as the Child of any Marriage of one particular Hadit with
one particular aspect of Nuit. There are thus as many Kethers as there
are positive possibilities. More, Kether is not in any case a sole
Unity, for each Marriage produces a Twin, {HEB:Heh} + {HEB:Yod} =
{HEB:Heh} + {HEB:Vau}. There is a positive "Third Being", a Kether;
and there is an Ecstasy, or dissolution into Nothing, by the same
Event. One is the Magical, the other the Mystical, Result of an Act of
Love under Will.
- page 48 -
Give thou praise unto thy lady Nuit, and unto her lord Hadit, that are for
thee and thy bride, and the winners of the ordeal X{SUP:1}.
And with that we are come to the wall of the Aethyr, and there is a
little narrow gate, and he pushes me through it, and I am suddenly in the
desert.
The Desert, near Bou Sada{SUP:2}.
November 29, 1909. 1:30 - 2:50 p.m.
The Cry of the 20th Aethyr, Which is Called KHR{SUP:3}
The dew that was upon the face of the stone is gone, and it is become
like a pool of clear golden water. And now the light is come into the Rosy
Cross. Yet all that I see is the night, with the stars therein, as they
appear through a telescope{SUP:4}. And there cometh a peacock{SUP:5} into the stone,
filling the whole Aire. It is like the vision called the
Universal Peacock, or, rather, like a representation of that vision. And
now there are countless clouds of white angels{SUP:6} filling the Aire as
the peacock dissolves.
Now behind the angels are archangels with trumpets. These cause all
things to appear at once, so that there is a tremendous confusion of
images. And now I perceive that all these things are but veils of the
wheel, for they all gather themselves{SUP:7} into a
--------------------
1. See _Liber AL_ III, v. 22.
2. this night I took the shew-stone to my breast to sleep, and immediately
a Dhyana arose of the sun, seen more clearly afterwards as the Star.
Exceeding was its brilliance.
3. KHR = {Dee}{Air}{Gemini} = {HEB:Shin}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau} = 308. (N.B. by Temurah,
R.H.K. = Ra-Hoor-Khuit). 308 = 28 x 11. 28 = {HEB:Chet}{HEB:Koph} = {Cancer}{Jupiter}
(Jupiter is exalted in Cancer) means Power. And 29 is the "mystic number" of
Netzach, Victory, the Sephira that hangs from the Sphere of Jupiter, by the path of
Jupiter, Atu X, the Wheel of Fortune. This Atu is the main subject of the vision in
this Aethyr. In this Aethyr the Solar Body (Ruach --- the human
consciousness) of the Seer was prepared for the Great Initiation which
follows, as in the 27th Aire his Lunar Body (Nephesch --- automatic
Consciousness) was purified.
4. These preliminary visions are veils.
5. The bird sacred to Juno, the feminine counterpart of Jupiter, whose
Energy is about to appear.
6. The Chasmalim, "The brilliant ones", are the Chior of Angels which
pertain to Jupiter.
7. This unification is necessary to all true comprehension.
- page 49 -
wheel{SUP:1} that spins with incredible velocity. It hath many colours,
but all thrilled with white light, so that they are transparent and
luminous. This one wheel is forty-nine wheels, set at different angles, so
that they compose a sphere; each wheel has forty-nine spokes, and has
forty-nine {SUP:2} concentric tyres at equal distances from the centre.
And wherever the rays from any two wheels meet, there is a blinding flash
of glory. It must be understood that though so much detail is visible in
the wheel, yet at the same time the impression is of a single, simple
object.
It seems that this wheel is being spun by a hand{SUP:3}. Though the
wheel fills the whole Aire, yet the hand is much bigger than the wheel.
And though this vision is so great and splendid, yet there is no
seriousness with it, or solemnity. It seems that the hand is spinning the
wheel merely for pleasure, it would be better to say amusement.
A voice comes: For he is a jocund and a ruddy god, and his laughter is
the vibration of all that exists, and the earthquakes of the soul.
One is conscious of the whirring of the wheel thrilling one, like an
electric discharge passing through one.
Now I see the figures on the wheel, which have been interpreted as the
sworded Sphinx, Hermanubis and Typhon{SUP:4}. And that is wrong. The rim of the wheel is a
vivid emerald snake; in the centre of the wheel is a
scarlet heart; and, impossible to explain as it is, the scarlet of the
heart and the green of the snake are yet more vivid than the blinding white
brilliance of the wheel{SUP:5}.
--------------------
1. The Wheel of Fortune (so called); Atu X is the Wheel of the Samsara
whose spokes are the Three Gunas, the three fundamental Modes of
Energy, Sattvas, Rajas, and Tamas. See also _Book of Lies_, Cap. 78.
2. The symbolism of the Table (see 22nd Aire) still retains its
prominence. 7 is the number of the Inferiors, of the Feminine
Perfection. 3 x 49 = 147 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod} +
{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Aleph} + {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Lamed}
{HEB:Gemel}{HEB:Aleph} + {HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Aleph} = the
Four Names of god used in the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. Thus
there is here the symbolism of the Fourfold Regimen (Tetragrammaton)
implied in 3 x 7 x 7.
3. Hand = {HEB:Yod} = {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod} = 20 = K = 4. But also the first is
itself K. There is, however, an esoteric doctrine in
this phrase. {HEB:Yod} is the spermatozoon, the source of all
Spiritual Energy, the Minute Point, Hadit, the foundation of the
Alphabet, (Hebrew). But also K = {HEB:Peh-final}{HEB:Koph} = 100 = 10 x 10 = {HEB:Yod} x
{HEB:Yod}; and K and P are the initials of Ketis and
{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:lambda}{GRK:lambda} {GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} whose union
releases {HEB:Yod}. Thus the Universe is shown as being set in motion by Love under Will.
See _Book of Lies_, Cap. 43.
4. See the usual drawing of Atu X by minor initiates.
5. The symbolism here assumes the form of _Liber LXV_. It is simpler and
therefore more difficult than the sevenfold. The counter charges
become more frequent; the Seer is being led up to the state in which
opposites are not only equal, but identical.
- page 50 -
The figures on the wheel are darker than the wheel itself; in fact,
they are stains upon the purity of the wheel, and for that reason, and
because of the whirling of the wheel, I cannot see them. But at the top
seems to be the Lamb and Flag, such as one sees on some Christian medals,
and one of the lower things is a wolf, and the other a raven. The Lamb and
Flag symbol is much brighter than the other two. It keeps on growing
brighter, until now it is brighter than the wheel itself, and occupies more
space than it did.
It speaks: I am the greatest of the deceivers, for my purity and
innocence shall seduce the pure and innocent, who but for me should come to the centre of
the wheel{SUP:1}. The wolf betrayeth only the greedy and the treacherous; the raven
betrayeth only the melancholy and the dishonest
{SUP:2}. But I am he of whom it is written: He shall deceive the very
elect.
For in the beginning the Father of all called forth lying spirits that
they might sift the creatures of the earth in three sieves, according to
the three impure souls. And he chose the wolf for the lust of the flesh,
and the raven for the lust of the mind; but me did he choose above all to
simulate the pure prompting of the soul{SUP:3}. Them that are fallen a
prey to the wolf and the raven I have not scathed; but them that have
rejected me, I have given over to the wrath of the raven and the
wolf{SUP:4}. And the jaws of the one have torn them, and the beak of the
other has devoured the corpse. Therefore is my flag white, because
I have left nothing upon the earth alive. I have feasted myself on the
blood of the saints, but I am not suspected of men to be their enemy, for
my fleece is white and warm, and my teeth are not the teeth of one that
teareth flesh; and mine eyes are mild, and they know me not the chief of
the lying spirits that the Father of all sent forth from before his face in
the beginning{SUP:5}.
--------------------
1. All unbalanced symbols are necessarily evil. They distract the
attention from the true object of Vision, and so destroy Concentration.
2. Note that no hostile force is hurtful. The enemy is always oneself.
3. The attacks are against Nephesch, Ruach, and Neshama respectively.
4. When the aspiration (Neshama), the natural protection against all lower
forces, is sullied, befooled, or weakened, the wretch becomes an easy
prey to grosser forms of temptation. We see in fact only too often
that a man of the utmost probity and intellectual integrity, who errs
in some strictly spiritual matter, lose every trace of rationality, and
throw off all moral restraint, becoming the helpless victim of
ludicrous and hideous temptations which had never threatened him before
in his whole life. His nature is so radically corrupted that his
friends believe him to have become insane. But his fall is quite
logical, as a tumbling steeple may crush the perfectly sound structures
beneath it.
5. It is the superficial appeal of the idea of "Jesus" to the sentimental
type of aspiration (the vilest parody of Neschamah is this pollution by
the least virile elements of Nephesh) that has made possible the
corruption implied in the doctrines of Sin and Vicarious Atonement.
From this error have sprung the putrefaction of the reasoning
faculties, and the suppression of all clear thinking, and the
abominations of greed, persecution and the rest.
- page 51 -
(His attribution is salt; the wolf mercury, and the raven
sulphur{SUP:1}.)
Now the lamb grows small again, there is again nothing but the wheel,
and the hand that whirleth it.
And I said: "By the word of power, double in the voice of the Master;
by the word that is seven, and one in seven; and by the great and terrible
word 210{SUP:2}, I beseech thee, O my Lord, to grant me the vision of thy
glory." And all the rays of the wheel stream out at me, and I am blasted
and blinded with the light. I am caught up into the wheel. I am one with
the wheel. I am greater than the wheel{SUP:3}. In the midst of a myriad
lightnings I stand, and I behold his face. (I am thrown violently back on
to the earth every second, so that I cannot quite concentrate.)
All one gets is a liquid flame of pale gold. But its radiant force
keeps hurling me back.
And I say: By the word and the will, by the penance and the prayer,
let me behold thy face. (I cannot explain this, there is confusion of
personalities.) I who speak to you, see what I tell you; but I, who see
him, cannot communicate it to me, who speak to you{SUP:4}.
If one could gaze upon the sun at noon, that might be like the
substance of him. But the light is without heat. It is the vision of
Ut{SUP:5} in the Upanishads. And from this vision have come all the
legends of Bacchus and Krishna and Adonis{SUP:6}. For the impression
--------------------
1. {Salt} for Neschamah; {Mercury} for Ruach; {Sulphur} for Nephesch.
2. N.O.X. = {HEB:Tzaddi}{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Nun} = 210. {Earth} represents the reduction of the
Dyad to Unity by Love under Will, and thence to 0 by dissolution in Nuit. It is here used
by the Seer to destroy all
positive symbols, for the true Wheel (apart from ornaments) is the
circle, Nuit Herself.
3. Note the above-the-Abyss-consciousness. Cf. "I who am all, and made it
all, abide its separate Lord." (Bhagavad Gita)
4. This personality-paradox is characteristic of visions of similar
exaltation. It constitutes an essential difficulty of expression
superadded to that natural to the description of things seen and heard,
which are yet not subject to the ordinary Laws of perception.
5. See previous note on Falutli.
6. These are Solar, not Jupiterian deities. The Jupiter of the Wheel is
that Invisible Energy, whom one can only divine from his Hand, his
means of Expression. He is Amoun, the Concealed One, whose plumes are
Truth, and whose Phallus is the Middle Pillar, the Shivalingam. We
hind accordingly that these Solar Deities, who spring from the
manifested Jupiter (as it at first sight appears) are soon recognized
in their deeper nature.
- page 52 -
is of a youth dancing and making music. But you must understand that he is
not doing that, for he is still{SUP:1}. Even the hand that turns the wheel
is not his hand, but only a hand energized by him.
And now it is the dance of Shiva. I lie beneath his feet, his saint,
his victim{SUP:2}. My form is the form of the God Phtah{SUP:3}, in my
essence, but the form of the god Seb in my form{SUP:4}. And this is the
reason of existence, that in this dance which is delight, there must needs
be both the god and the adept. Also the earth herself is a saint; and the
sun and the moon dance upon her, torturing her with delight.
This vision is not perfect. I am only in the outer court of the
vision, because I have undertaken it in the service of the Holy One, and
must retain sense and speech{SUP:5}. No recorded vision is perfect, of
high visions, for the seer must keep either his physical organs or his
memory in working order. And neither is capable. There is no bridge. One
can only be conscious of one thing at a time, and as the consciousness
moves nearer to the vision, it loses control of the physical and mental.
Even so, the body and the mind must be very perfect before anything can be
done, or the energy of the vision may send the body into spasms and the
mind into insanity. This is why the first visions give Ananda, which is a
shock. When the adept is attuned to Samadhi, there is but cloudless
peace{SUP:6}.
This vision is particularly difficult to get into, because he is
I{SUP:7}. And therefore the human ego is being constantly excited, so that
one comes back so often. An acentric meditation practice like
mahasatipatthana ought to be done before invocations of the Holy Guardian
Angel, so that the ego may be very ready to yield itself utterly to the
Beloved.
And now the breeze is blowing about us, like the sighs of love.
--------------------
1. Change = Stability. 2x = 9{square x}. See the 11th Aethyr. Again
this series of paradoxes (implied in the equations 0x = 0{square x}, 1x
= 10{squarex}, etc.) is of the essence of the Aire.
2. See any true Image of Shiva, who dances upon the Yogi, whom he has
destroyed in the Union of Love.
3. Phtah, the still and silent Creative Energy.
4. That is, the form of the Seer is now the Earth itself, the Malkuth at
the other end of the scale from, yet identical with, His Kether.
5. See note 5, page 44. Any vision as exalted as this must obviously be
indicible. The plastic form of the expression, the definite character
of the shapes, colours, and numbers employed, is far better
mnemonically than the vaguely beatific outbursts customary in the
records usually offered by Mystics.
6. The psychology of the previous note explained at length.
7. In previous visions the Angel of the Aethyr has always been peculiar to
his Aire. Even in ZAA, where the Angel is Luna, and the Vision
represents the lustration of the Lunar Body (the Automatic
Consciousness) of the Seer, He was not so wholly involved. For his
normal consciousness was above that which the Aethyr affected.
- page 53 -
unsatisfied --- or satisfied. His lips move{SUP:1}. I cannot say the
words at first.
And afterwords: "Shalt thou not bring the children of men to the sight
of my glory{SUP:2}? 'Only thy silence and thy speech that worship me
avail.' 'For as I am the last, so am I the next, and as the next shalt thou
reveal me to the multitude{SUP:3}.' Fear not for aught; turn not aside for
aught, eremite of Nuit, apostle of Hadit, warrior of Ra Hoor Khu! The
leaven taketh, and the bread shall be sweet; the ferment worketh, and the
wine shall be sweet. My sacraments are vigorous food and divine madness.
Come unto me, O ye children of men; come unto me, in whom I am, in whom ye
are, were ye only alive with the life that abideth in Light."
All this time I have been fading away. I sink. The veil of night
comes down a dull blue-gray with one pentagram in the midst of it, watery
and dull. And I am to abide there for a while before I come back to the
earth{SUP:4}. (But shut me the window up, hide me from the sun. Oh, shut
the window!){SUP:5}
Now, the pentagram is faded; black crosses fill the Aethyr gradually
growing and interlacing, until there is a network.
It is all dark now. I am lying exhausted{SUP:6}, with the sharp edge
of the shew-stone cutting into my forehead.
Bou-Sada.
November 30, 1909. 9:15 - 10:50 a.m.
--------------------
1. It seems that the seer recognized in this Aethyr, the Knowledge and
Conversation of His Holy Guardian Angel.
2. In the Crossing of the Abyss by the Seer ("The Temple Of Solomon the
King", _Equinox_ I, No. Viii, pp. 9-13) during his Burma-China journey,
he accomplished the meditation called Sammasati. He became aware of
his True Will, of the purpose for which he had undertaken Incarnation.
And this was expressed thus: to aid Mankind to take the Next Step.
And at the time he understood this as meaning: to lead them to aspire
to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
3. _Liber LXV_ describes this attainment in the fullest detail. The first
quotation is from _Liber VII_, Cap. VI, verse 35. The second is from
_Liber LXV_, Chapter III, v. 62. (The persons are transposed --- "I"
to "Thou", etc.)
4. The splendour of the Vision would have made too rapid a return a shock
intolerable to human weakness.
5. It was done. --- O.V.
6. The Seer had not previously experienced so intense a Communion and had contributed his
physical energy to maintain it. This was, of course,
an error.
- page 54 -
(Insert page plate)
[Rough representation only. See original for proper depiction]
IMMMMMMMMMMMQMMMMMMMMMMMQMMMMMMMMMMMQMMMMMMMMMMMQMMMMMMMMMMM;
: 3 3 + 3 3 :
: 3 3 + | + 3 3 :
: The 3 Alphabet 3 | | | 3 of 3 Daggers :
: 3 3 | | 3 3 :
: 3 3A | 3 3 :
GDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDD6
: 3 + 3 ------+ 3 X 3 | | :
: ------+ 3 | 3 +------ 3 / X 3 | | | :
: 3 | 3 ------+ 3 / / X 3 | | | :
: ------+ 3 | 3 3 / / 3 + | + :
:B 3C 3D 3E / 3F + :
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: + + + 3 | 3 3 X + X 3 + :
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: | | | 3 /|\ 3 +-- | 3 \ / 3 | :
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HMMMMMMMMMMMOMMMMMMMMMMMOMMMMMMMMMMMOMMMMMMMMMMMOMMMMMMMMMMM<
The Cry of the 19th Aethyr, Which is Called POP{SUP:1}
At first there is a black web over the face of the stone. A ray of
light pierces it from behind and above. Then cometh a black cross{SUP:2},
reaching across the whole stone; then a golden cross, not so large. And
there is a writing in an arch that spans the cross, in an alphabet in which
the letters are all formed of little daggers{SUP:3}, cross-hilted,
differently arranged. And the writing is: Worship in the body the things
of the body; worship in the mind the things of the mind; worship in the
spirit the things of the spirit{SUP:4}.
(This holy alphabet must be written by sinners, that is, by those who
are impure.){SUP:5}
"Impure" means those whose every thought is followed by another
thought, or who confuse the higher with the lower, the substance with the
shadow. Every Aethyr is truth, though it be but a shadow, for the shadow
of a man is not the shadow of an ape{SUP:6}.
(_Note_. --- All this has come to me without voice, without vision,
without thought.)
--------------------
1. POP = {Leo}{Libra}{Leo} = {HEB:Tet}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Tet}. This Aire introduces the
Hegemone, or leader of the Candidate through the
Ceremony of Initiation. She is the Holy Guardian Angel, in the form of
Isis-Urania, the Instructress. {ENO:p} is {Sun} in his Northern
declination, the form of Horus in his strength of Summer. He
appears in his dual form, as it were the pillars between which the
Hegemone, who bears a mitreheaded wand, symbolical of the Balances, is
seated. (See the Neophyte Ceremony ---_Equinox_, I, II, pp. 244-261.)
She is the reconciler between all opposites. (See the Ceremony of the
Equinox --- given in Equ. I, VII, pp. 372-5). Her function is to
equilibrate all symbols in the sphere of the Candidate; this is the one
supremely important formula of Instruction. This Aethyr contains
accordingly the knowledge (somewhat fragmentary at first sight)
necessary to the Aspirant to the Grade of Magister Templi. 48 is
{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Chet}, a woman; also strength, an army.
{HEB:Chet} the Bearer of the Graal; and the seed of life; {HEB:Lamed}
the Balances, i.e. She bears the Seed of Life in the Holy Cup ion
balance. 48 is {HEB:Mem-final}{HEB:Heh} Ham; see the sudden Revelation at the end of the
Vision.
2. The Hebemone wears a Black Cross. See also 16th Aire, last paragraph.
3. The idea is that every idea, however apparently atomic, is to be
analyzed.
4. Worship all things; for all things are alike necessary to the Being of
the All. But keep separate the planes. Failure to do this is the most
frequent Cause of error.
5. For purity means full simplification --- and the keeping of each idea
in its Own true perfection, separate from all others.
6. Worship each thing in itself for its own sake, not inventing ideas.
(The shew-stone is pressed upon my forehead and causes intense pain;
as I go on from Aethyr to Aethyr, it seems more difficult to open the
Aethyr.
The golden cross has become a little narrow door, and an old man like
the Hermit{SUP:1} of the Taro has opened it and come out. I ask him for
admission: and he shakes his head kindly, and says: It is not given to
flesh and blood to unveil the mysteries of the Aethyr, for therein are the
chariots of fire{SUP:2}. and the tumult of the horsemen; whoso entereth
here may never look on life again with equal eyes. I insist.
The little gate is guarded by a great green dragon. And now the whole
wall is suddenly fallen away; there is a blaze of the chariots and the
horsemen; a furious battle is raging. One hears nothing but the clash of
steel and the neighing of the chargers and the shrieks of the wounded. A
thousand fall at every encounter and are trampled under foot. Yet the
Aethyr is always full; there are infinite reserves.
No; that is all wrong, for this is not a battle between two forces,
but a mle in which each warrior fights for himself against all the
others. I cannot see one who has even one ally. And the least fortunate,
who fall soonest, are those in the chariots. For as soon as they are
engaged in fighting, their own charioteers stab them in the back{SUP:3}.
And in the midst of the battlefield there is a great tree, like a
chinar-tree{SUP:4}. Yet it bears fruits. And now all the warriors are
dead, and they are the ripe fruits that are fallen -- the ground is covered
with them.
There is a laugh in my right ear: "This is the tree of life{SUP:5}."
And now there is a mighty god, Sebek{SUP:6}, with the head of a
crocodile. His head is gray, like river mud, and his jaws fill the whole
Aire. And he crunches up the whole tree and the ground
--------------------
1. See Note 1. This is the Sphere of Kokab ({Mercury}). Hence the Man of
Atu IX.
2. The Chariot (Atu VII) of the Bearer of the Sangraal. (See Note 1).
{HEB:Chet} depends from Binah, the sphere of the Hegemone.
3. This seems to be a Vision of the Ideas which the Alphabet of Daggers is
to analyze. The confusion suggests the influence of Choronzon. It is
a warning of what the Aspirant must expect if he once lose his grip on
Binah.
4. One of the noblest trees of Hindustan.
5. The Tree of Life bears fruit of innumerable ideas. They are all self-
destroying and valueless unless organized by Understanding.
6. The Saturnian Destroyer --- as opposed to Shiva. Time swallows up all
ideas, all experiences, Life itself. That is a statement of the
condition which the Exempt Adept aspires to transcend by becoming a
Magister Templi.
- page 56 -
and everything.
Now then at last cometh forth the Angel of the Aethyr, who is like the
Angel of the fourteenth key of Rota{SUP:1}, with beautiful blue wings, blue
robes, the sun in her girdle like a brooch, and the two crescents of the
moon shapen into sandals for her feet. Her hair is of flowing gold, each
sparkle as a star. In her hands are the torch of Penelope and the cup of
Circe{SUP:2}.
She comes and kisses me on the mouth{SUP:3}, and says: Blessed art
thou who hast beheld Sebek my Lord in his glory. Many are the champions of life, but all
are unhorsed by the lance of death. Many are the children of
the light, but their eyes shall all be put out by the Mother Darkness.
Many are the servants of love, but love (that is not quenched by aught but
love) shall be put out, as the child taketh the wick of a taper between his
thumb and finger, by the god that sitteth alone{SUP:4}.
And on her mouth, like a chrysanthemum of radiant light, is a kiss,
and on it is the monogram I.H.S. The letters I.H.S. mean In Homini Salus
and Instar Hominis Summus, and Imago Hominis deuS. And there are many,
many other meanings, but they all imply this one thing; that nothing is of
any importance but man; there is no hope or help but in man{SUP:5}.
And she says: Sweet are my kisses, O wayfarer that wanderest from star
to star. Sweet are my kisses, O householder that weariest within four
walls. Thou art pent within thy brain, and my shaft pierceth it, and thou
art free. Thine imagination eateth up the universe as the dragon that
eateth up the moon. And in my shaft is it concentrated and bound up. See
how all around thee gather my warriors, strong knights in goodly armour
ready for war. Look upon my crown; it is above the stars. Behold the glow
and the blush thereof! Upon thy cheek is the breeze that stirs those
plumes of truth. For though I am the Angel of the fourteenth key, I am
also the Angel of the eighth key{SUP:6}. And from the love of these two
have I come, who am the warden of Pop and the servant of them that
dwell therein. Though all crowns fall, mine shall not fall; for my plumes
reach up unto the Knees of Him that sitteth upon the holy throne, and
liveth and reigneth for ever and
--------------------
1. She is the Angel of Binah, though in this form. For Atu XIV is
Sagittarius, the house of the Huntress.
2. She keeps Love alight by patient Fidelity --- the Holy Guardian Angel
awaits eternally the address of Her Charge. And she is also the Arch-
harlot, always ready to seduce and to intoxicate him who lusts after
Her.
3. Relations with the Seer have been established long ago.
4. The Destruction of the Universe by the Devourer of all Things is the
necessary beginning of the Initiation to the Grade of Magister Templi.
5. Man is the Candidate; he partakes of the Truth of all the Gods
initiating.
6. See note 2, page 55.
- page 57 -
ever as the balance of righteousness and truth. I am the Angel of the
moon. I am the veiled one that sitteth between the pillars veiled with a
shining veil, and on my lap is the open Book of the mysteries of the
ineffable light{SUP:1}. I am the aspiration unto the higher; I am the love
of the unknown. I am the blind ache within the heart of man. I am the
minister of the sacrament of pain. I swing the censer of worship, and I
sprinkle the waters of purification. I am the daughter of the house of the
invisible. I am the Priestess of the Silver Star{SUP:2}.
And she catches me up to her as a mother catches her babe, and holds
me up in her left arm, and sets my lips to her breast{SUP:3}. And upon her
breast is written: _Rosa Mundi est Lilium Coeli_{SUP:4}.
And I look down upon the open Book of the mysteries, and it is open at
the page on which is the Holy Table with the twelve squares in the midst.
It radiates a blaze of light, too dazzling to make out the characters, and
a voice says: _Non haec piscis omnium_{SUP:5}.
(To interpret that, we must think of '{GRK:Iota}{GRK:chi}{GRK:theta}
{GRK:upsilon}'{GRK:sigma}, which does not conceal _Iesous Christos Theon Uios Soter_ as
traditionally asserted, but is a mystery of the letter Nun and the letter Qoph, as may be
seen by adding it up{SUP:6}.)
('{GRK:Iota}{GRK:chi}{GRK:theta}{GRK:upsilon}'{GRK:sigma} is only connected with
Christianity because it was a hieroglyph of syphilis, which the Romans supposed to have
been brought from Syria; and it seems to have been confounded with leprosy, which also
they thought was caused by fish-eating.)
(One important meaning of '{GRK:Iota}{GRK:chi}{GRK:theta}
{GRK:upsilon}'{GRK:sigma}: it is formed of the initials of five Egyptian
deities and also of five Greek deities: in
--------------------
1. See note 1, page 55. She is Isis-Urania, in Atu II. As Atu XIV she
leads directly upwards to Tiphereth ({HEB:Vau}), as Atu VII directly
upwards to Binah ({HEB:Heh}), and as Atu II, directly upwards to Kether
(the top point of {HEB:Yod}).
2. The full title of Atu II. Note "Silver Star" as title of the Third
Order. Hence she must appear as Hegemone to lead the Candidate to the
first grade of that Order --- Magister Templi.
3. The Babe of the Abyss is taken to its Mother's breast. (There is a
reference here to the technique of the grade.)
4. i.e.. Malkut is Binah.
5. '{GRK:Iota}{GRK:chi}{GRK:theta}{GRK:upsilon}'{GRK:sigma} = 1219
={HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Resh}
{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Resh}{HEB:Zain}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}. The Former (rock-maker) of that which was
in the Beginning. It refers to {HEB:Nun} and {HEB:Qof}: to {HEB:Nun} because the Fish is
"Life in the Water", i.e. the Primal Water of Thales: to {HEB:Qof} because Atu
XVIII shews that Life appearing in the Waters of Midnight, Kephra in the Pool of Great
Dark
Sea. This is the Glyph of Birth natural to Binah. There is presumably
a further mystery --- numerical --- still not found.
- page 58 -
both cases a magic formula of tremendous power is concealed{SUP:1}.
As to the Holy Table itself, I cannot see it for the blaze of light;
but I am given to understand that it appears in another Aethyr, of which it
forms practically the whole content. And I am bidden to study the Holy
Table very intently so as to be able to concentrate on it when it appears.
I have grown greater, so that I am as great as the Angel. And we are
standing, as if crucified, face to face, our hands and lips and breasts and
knees and feet together, and her eyes pierce into my eyes like whirling
shafts of steel, so that I fall backwards headlong through the Aethyr
{SUP:2} ---and there is a sudden and tremendous shout, absolutely stunning, cold and
brutal: Osiris was a black god{SUP:3}! And the Aethyr claps its hands, greater than the
peal of a thousand mighty thunders.
I am back.
Bou-Sada.
November 30, 1909 10-11:45 p.m.
--------------------
1. _Egyptian_: _Greek_:
Isis --- The Mother -- Binah I.
Cneph --- The Winged Egg --- Binah Ch.
Thoth --- The Moon God (measurer Themis --- the satisfied woman
of time) {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}
Uramoth --- The Water Goddess Uranus --- Heaven, sphere above
(The Great Sea) the Abyss.
Sebek --- The Devourer (Time) Selene --- The Moon
All these deities represent divers forms and functions of the Idea of
Binah. How to combine them in order to obtain Magical Formulae must be
studied in the light of _Book 4_, Part III.
2. The Seer cannot make Union with his Guide. She is the feminine form of
his Holy Guardian Angel; but the impulse to unite is only valid when it
comes from above. In the 20th Aire this was the case; and so the
Marriage was accomplished.
3. This, to the Seer at that time, was a Revelation of the most appalling
terror. The doctrine of the Third Order had not been promulgated. He
expected to unite with the Great Mother in a Mode similar to that
experienced in attaining to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy
Guardian Angel. But the attainment of the Grade of Magister Templi
involves the Annihilation of the aspirant. "Osiris was a black god";
i.e. of the nature of Binah--- BLACK. The love of Binah is that of the
Queen Scorpion, who devours her mate. This revelation therefore, was
much as if a romantic lover of the Richard Feveral type, were suddenly
made fully aware that the Maiden of his Dreams intended to conclude
their First Night of Love by a Breakfast, of which he was to form the
staple dish! The Doctrine implied is that one must not be the child,
but the Mother.
- page 59 -
The Cry of the 18th Aethyr, Which is Called ZEN{SUP:1}
A Voice comes before any vision: Accursed are they who enter herein
if they have nails, for they shall be pierced therewith; or if they have
thorns, for they shall be crowned withal; or if they have whips, for with
whips they shall be scourged: or if they bear wine, for their wine shall be
turned to bitterness; or if they have a spear, for with a spear shall they
be pierced unto the heart. And the nails are desires, of which there are
three; the desire of light, the desire of life, the desire of love{SUP:2}.
(And the thorns are thoughts, and the whips are regrets, and the wine
is ease, or perhaps unsteadiness, especially in ecstasy, and the spear is
attachment.)
And now there dawns the scene of the Crucifixion; but the Crucified
One is an enormous bat, and for the two thieves are two little children.
It is night, and the night is full of hideous things and howlings{SUP:3}.
And an angel cometh forth, and saith: Be wary, for if thou change so
much as the style of a letter, the holy word is blasphemed{SUP:4}. But
enter into the mountain of the Caverns, for that this (how much more then
that Calvary which mocks it, as his ape mocks Thoth?) is but the empty
shell of the mystery of ZEN. Verily, I say unto thee, many are the adepts
that have looked upon the back parts of my father, and cried, "our eyes
fail before the glory of thy countenance{SUP:5}."
And with that he gives the sign of the rending of the veil, and tears
down the vision. And behold! whirling columns of fiery light, seventy-
two{SUP:6}. Upon them is supported a mountain of pure crystal. The
mountain is a cone, the angle of the apex being sixty degrees{SUP:7}. And
within the crystal is a pyramid of ruby{SUP:8}, like
--------------------
1. ZEN = {Leo} {Virgo} {Scorpio} = {HEB:Tet}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun} = 69.
69 = {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Aleph}, a manger, stable, enclosure. This Aethyr
describes the Place of the Preliminary Ceremony of the Initiation of the Master of the
Temple. The Candidate is
fortified for the Ordeal of Intimate Communion with his Holy Guardian
Angel, who comes upon him unaware, and prepares him interiorly below
any normal sphere of consciousness.
2. The Exempt Adept must be freed from all attachment.
3. The aspirant is reminded by this vision of the horror which is always
ready to take the place of a True Magical Operation. Coruptio optimi
pessima.
4. This warning is given directly.
5. It is repeated in detail.
6. The number of the letters of Shemhamphorash, the "Divided Name",
i.e., Tetragrammaton in detail. Also, 72 = {HEB:Bet}{HEB:Ayin}, the
"Secret Nature" of Atziluth, the Archetypal World of Pure Reality.
7. The cone is a figure of Iacchus, Lord of the Highest Ecstasy.
It is the Phallus. Its mathematical implications are many and
important. In particular, its relations with the Great Pyramid
of Cheops yield remarkable correspondences.
8. {GRK:pi}{GRK:upsilon}{GRK:rho}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:mu} {GRK:iota}{GRK:sigma}=831
- page 60 -
unto the Great Pyramid of Gizeh.
I am entered in by the little door thereof, and I am come into the
chamber of the king, which is fashioned like unto the vault of the adepts,
or rather it is fitting to say that the vault of the adepts is a vile
imitation of it. For there are four sides to the chamber, which with the
roof and the floor and the chamber itself makes seven{SUP:1}. So also is
the pastos seven{SUP:2}, for that which is within is like unto that which
is without. And there is no furniture, and there are no symbols.
Light streams from every side upon the pastos. This light is that
blue of Horus which we know, but being refined it is brilliance. For the
light of Horus only appears blue because of the imperfection of our
eyes{SUP:3}. But though the light pours from the pastos, yet the pastos
remains perfectly dark, so that it is invisible. It hath no form: only, at
a certain point in the chamber, the light is beaten back{SUP:4}.
I lie prostate upon the ground before this mystery. Its splendour is
impossible to describe. I can only say that its splendour is so great that
my heart stops with the terror and the wonder and the rapture of it{SUP:5}.
I am almost mad. A million insane images
--------------------
1. Similarly, the Hexagram is attributed to the Seven Planets; for
the Centre contains {Sun}.
2. Compare this whole geometrical symbolism with that given in the
Ritual of Adeptus Minor.
3. Compare, in external nature, the appearance of the blue sky.
4. This very strange phenomenon is perhaps quite inadequately described.
It is a general condition of most Spiritual Experience that the
familiar laws of Nature do not obtain in their accustomed forms. It is
only when Experience enables one to observe them with detachment that
they are seen to be as uniform, simple and exact as those of normal
physics.
5. Compare with this unlighted, light-radiating Pastos, the Boundless
Cube in the Vision of Pure Love:
"In the morning I woke early, before 7, in an absolutely
renewed physical condition. I had the clean fresh feeling
of a healthy boyhood, and was alert and active as a kitten ---
post talem mortem! Mentally, I woke into _Pure Love_. This
was symbolized as a cube{SUP:x} of blue-white light like a diamond
of the best quality. It was lucid, translucent, self-luminous,
and yet not radiating forth. I suppose because
there was nothing else in the Cosmos."
x. I say "a cube", yet its most salient property was that
it was without boundaries. Experience of similar trances
is necessary for the understanding of this statement,
which is a perfectly proper expression of a a perfectly
observed fact, despite its intellectual self-contradiction.
This withdrawal from sense of the Pastos, which is the Inmost and
most sacred Self of the Aspirant, is the surrender of "all that
he has and all that he is" on entering the Abyss.
- page 61 -
chase each other through my brain...{SUP:1} A voice comes: (it is my own
voice -- I did not know it). "When thou shalt know me, O thou empty God,
my little flame shall utterly expire in thy great N.O.X.{SUP:2}" There is
no answer{SUP:3}. ... (20 minutes. O.V.) ...
And now, after so long a while, the Angel{SUP:4} lifts me and
--------------------
1. There is a fleeting Image of the Horror of the Abyss, as a
mountaineer, leaping a Bergschrund, obtains a momentary glimpse
of the Terrors beneath his airy Path. Cf. 10th Aire for these
images of madness.
2. This quotation is from _Liber VII_ I, v. 40. (This Book describes
in detail the whole Attainment of the Grade of Magister Templi.
It had been given to the Seer, years previously; but he had
not understood it, even with his Neshamah, as a coherent entity.
Nor does he even yet (An XXI, {Sun} in {Cancer}) understand it with his
Rauch. Incidentally the full meaning of this Book 418, as a connected
account of his Initiation, is only now becoming clear to him in the
process of writing this Commentary upon it. For N.O.X., see Note
above, 20th Aire. Observe that although the Exempt Adept, or the Babe
of the Abyss, is completely baffled by the circumstances, and in no
wise understands the situation, his Chiah, the Magician in him, acts
with sublime confidence and correctness.
3. The quotation, accepting annihilation, instantly destroys the myriad of
insane images which hastened to occupy the vacuum created by the leap
of the Exempt Adept into the Abyss. Had he faltered, he would have
become --- against his will --- a "Black Brother". But this being
involuntary, he would not have attempted to maintain his coherence, as
the Black Brothers do. He would therefore, have been destroyed at
once; that is, to outward appearance he would have become a demented
babbler. Spiritists present this phenomenon, on a much lower plane,
and in a diluted form; though, with them as with the average
Theosophist, there is usually a certain degree of obsession by pet
phantoms --- a "Chinese Guide," or "Koot Hoomi," or what not ---
to lend a species of semi-organized structure to the legions of
disconnected ideas that throng their disintegrated gray matter.
4. (No Angel has been mentioned. The Seer was lost to being.) In
this preliminary --- and so to say, symbolic --- crossing of the
Abyss, His Holy Guardian Angel comes to the rescue of the Aspirant.
Contrast the unspeakable Terror of the actual Crossing,
when that Angel Himself abandons the Seer (see 11th Aire, the
last paragraph.) Exactly how the Angel dealt with the Seer in
this 20 minutes of earthly time is impossible to say; for he
has no memory soever --- nor had he even at the time --- of what
took place. We may, however, deduce from the fact that the
Communion took place in a sphere beyond even Neschamah. It may
well have been a Quintessence of Union sufficiently intimate to
have identified the Seer with his Angel so perfectly as to have
given him the right to make the passage fully, in every sense;
and to have ensured his safety on the way. For the Angel cometh
forth from above the Abyss, and dwelleth of right in the Bosom
of the Great Mother. But the Angel deals not with the little
pile of dust in the City of the Pyramids, (see 14th Aethyr) but
with the Star that is cast forth to give light to the Earth.
- 62 -
takes me from the room{SUP:1}, and sets me in a little chamber{SUP:2} where is another
Angel like a fair youth in shining garments, who makes me
partake of the sacraments; bread, that is labour; and fire, that is wit;
and a rose, that is sin; and wine, that is death{SUP:3}. And all about us
is a great company of angels in many-coloured robes, rose and spring-green, and sky-blue,
and pale gold, and silver, and lilac, solemnly chanting without words. It is music
wonderful beyond all that can be thought.
And now we go out of the chamber; on the right is a pylon, and the
right figure is Isis, and the left figure Nephthys, and they are folding
their wings over, and supporting Ra{SUP:4}.
--------------------
1. This pyramid, where is the Pastos, is the Chamber of Annihilation.
The Pastos contains the Essence of the Aspirant, and is
in a Chamber containing the Essence of the Universe. This is
all ready to be burnt up in the Energy of Aspiration to the
Creative Annihilation, the Ruby Pyramid of Phallus. Finally,
this Pyramid is within a Cone, a figure combining the straight
line and the circle (Rose and Cross in their purest form) representing
the new Universe into which the Old is to be transmuted. It is
established, like all types of Universe, upon the Four Elements
(divided into 72) which are the conditions of manifested Existence.
(The elements are not only "material"; they include categories like
"Time", "Space" and "Causality".)
2. This is the Birth-Chamber, where the Magister Templi awakes
from the Oblivion of the Abyss.
3. These sacraments furnish him with the material of his new Life. Bread
({Spirit}) is labour, the nourishment of his being. Fire is the
perception of clear understanding (Neschamah). The Rose ({Air}) is
Sin, the restriction which prevents him from being dissolved in pure
light (Kether) for his Oath as a Master of the Temple is to deny
himself the enjoyment of that privilege, for the sake of the Love that
he bears to Mankind; wherefore is that Sin fragrant with the sent of
love. Finally, Wine ({Water}) is Death, the Ecstasy of transmuting all
things into Joy by the Sacrament of Creative Love.
4. Isis, Nature, and Nephthys, Perfection, preside over the Arising of
the New Star. The Magister Templi is a little pyramid of dust in the
City of the Pyramids (see 14th Aire) awaiting the Fire that shall burn
him up to a white Ash (see 6th Aire). But the original combination of
Sankharas (tendencies --- the elements of the Character of the Man) is
void of the Ego. Ahamkara (the ego-making faculty) has been
assimilated. The Sankharas are, however, still linked by the Karma of
the Adept; for they had to be most strongly knit by him that he might
be able to concentrate their whole Energies upon the Great Work of
abandoning in a single gesture "all that he has and all that he is".
They accordingly hold together: His Will has been accomplished, and he
is free from them; but they depend upon the Elements which compose that
true Will, which, _since he has_ _succeeded_, can only be that Sublime
Passion for Mankind, to help it to "Conquer Space, and lastly climb the
walls of Time, and by the Golden Path the great have trod, Reach up to
God." A phenomenon of this nature thus appears "as a morning star, or
as an evening star, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in
the shadow of death". This is then the man himself, save that his
separate individuality is no longer present; it is replaced by this
single passion to rescue mankind.
- 63 -
I wanted to go back to the King's Chamber{SUP:1}. The Angel pushed me
away, saying: "Thou shalt see these visions from afar off, but thou shalt
not partake of them save in the manner prescribed. For if thou change so
much as the style of a letter, the holy word is blasphemed.{SUP:2}"
And this is the manner prescribed:
Let there be a room furnished as for the ritual of passing through
Tuat{SUP:3}. And let the aspirant be clad in the robes of, and let him
bear the insignia of his grade. And at the least he shall be a
neophyte{SUP:4}.
Three days and three nights shall he have been in the tomb, vigilant
and fasting, for he shall sleep no longer than three hours at any one time,
and he shall drink pure water, and eat little sweet cakes consecrated unto
the moon, and fruits, and the eggs of the duck, or of the goose, or of the
plover. And he shall be shut in, so that no man may break in upon his
meditation. But in the last twelve hours he shall neither eat nor sleep.
Then shall he break his fast, eating rich food, and drinking sweet
wines, and wines that foam{SUP:5}; and he shall banish the elements and the planets and
the signs and the sephiroth{SUP:6}; and then
--------------------
1. The Seer's first impulse was to proceed with the Work on which
he had been engaged when the Dissolution of his Being took place.
2. As stated in a previous Aire, these higher visions are not to be
obtained by the methods applicable to less exalted spheres.
3. See the Book of the Dead, as adopted for modern use by the
Authorities of the G{.'.} D{.'.}
4. He must be a neophyte to have access to the Ritual of Passing
Through the Tuat.
5. See _Liber AL_, I. v. 51. The general idea is to create true
appetite in a body purified by fasting and a mind clarified by
meditation, so as to make certain of being perfectly intoxicated.
It should be needless to say that this state of mind, like all
others, should be absolutely willed, criticized and controlled.
6. The Aethyrs pertain to an order of nature, _sui generis_. Though
they possess many correspondences with the 32 Paths of Wisdom,
all of these must be impartially banished; otherwise the Vacuum
would be disturbed by an unequilibrated symbol sympathetic with
the Aire to be invoked, which would flood the circle, and prevent
the Aethyr arising in its perfect plenitude.
-64-
shall he take the holy table that he hath made for his altar; and he shall
take the call of the Aethyr of which he will partake, which he hath written
in the angelic character, or in the character of the holy alphabet that is
revealed in Pop, upon a fair sheet of virgin vellum; and therewith shall
he conjure the Aethyr, chanting the call. And in the lamp that is hung
above the altar shall he burn the call that he hath written{SUP:1}.
Then shall he kneel{SUP:2} before the holy table, and it shall be
given him to partake of the mystery of the Aethyr.
And concerning the ink with which he shall write; for the first Aethyr
let it be gold, for the second scarlet, for the third violet, for the
fourth emerald, for the fifth silver, for the sixth sapphire, for the
seventh orange, for the eighth indigo, for the ninth gray, for the tenth
black, for the eleventh maroon, for the twelfth russet, for the thirteenth
green-gray, for the fourteenth amber, for the fifteenth olive, for the
sixteenth pale blue, for the seventeenth crimson, for the eighteenth bright
yellow, for the nineteenth crimson adorned with silver, for the twentieth
mauve, for the twenty-first pale green, for the twenty-second rose-madder,
for the twenty-third violet cobalt, for the twenty-fourth beetle-brown,
blue-brown colour, for the twenty-fifth a cold dark gray, for the twenty-
sixth white flecked with red, blue, and yellow; the edges of the letters
shall be green, for the twenty-seventh angry clouds of ruddy brown, for the
twenty-eighth indigo, for the twenty-ninth bluish-green, for the thirtieth
mixed colours{SUP:3}.
--------------------
1. This injunction has several obvious Magical advantages. The symbolic
gesture is to consume the matter of the Operation in the Spirit
thereof.
2. This is by no means a gesture of supplication, the vile attitude of the
unmanly devotee of the Slave-Gods. It has as specific and positive
practical purpose, which should be easy for the Neophyte to divine if
his Zelator have well and wisely so instructed him.
3. I. Gold for Horus. II. Scarlet for Babalon.
III. Violet for {Mercury} House of IV. Emerald for {Venus} Love of
Juggler. Virgin.
V. Silver for Star A{.'.} A{.'.} VI. Sapphire for Chokmah.
VII. Orange for (?) VIII. Indigo for (?)
IX. Grey for Binah, fertilized. X. Black for the Abyss.
XI. Maroon, for Yesod the XII. Russet for the Concealed
threshold. Blood in the Cup.
XIII. Green-gray for Garden of Nemo XIV. Amber for Atu VII,
XV. Olive for Salome, {Water} of XVI. Pale Blue for (?)
Malkuth.
XVII. Crimson for {Pisces}. XVIII. Bright yellow for Holy
Guardian Angel and Hegemone.
XIX. Crimson-silver for XX. Mauve for Atu X.
Binah and {Moon}.
XXI. Pale green for (?) XXII. Rose madder for Rose of 49.
XXIII. Violet Cobalt for XXIV. Beetle Brown, for {Scorpio}
{Aquarius} Eagle. Love.
XXV. Cold dark gray for {Capricorn} XXVI. White flecked with red, blue
& yellow (edges green) for
Osiris.
XXVII. Angry Clouds, red brown XXVIII. Indigo for Night sky of
brown for smoke of cauldron. Binah.
XXIX. Blue green for {Scorpio} XXX. Miscellaneous colours for
Change. original confusion of dying
Aeon.
- 65 -
This shall be the form to be used by him who would partake of the
mystery of any Aethyr. And let him not change so much as the style of a
letter, lest the holy word be blasphemed.
And let him beware, after he hath been permitted to partake of this
mystery, that he await the completion of the 91st hour of his retirement,
before he open the door of the place of his retirement; lest he contaminate
his glory with uncleanness, and lest they that behold him be smitten by his
glory unto death{SUP:1}.
For this is a holy mystery, and he that did first attain to reveal the
alphabet thereof{SUP:2}, perceived not one ten-thousandth part of the
fringe that is upon its vesture.
Come away! for the clouds are gathered together, and the Aire heaveth
like the womb of a woman in travail. Come away! lest he loose the
lightnings from his hand, and unleash his hounds of thunder. Come away!
For the voice of the Aethyr is accomplished. Come away! For the seal of
His loving-kindness is made sure. And let there be praise and blessing
unspeakable unto him that sitteth upon the Holy Throne, for he casteth down
mercies as a spendthrift that scattereth gold. And he hath shut up
judgment and hidden it away as a miser that hoardeth coins of little
worth{SUP:3}.
All this while the Angel hath been pushing me backwards, and now he is
turned into a golden cross with a rose at its heart, and that is the red
cross wherein is set the golden shewstone.
Bou-Sada.
December 1, 1909. 2:30 - 4:10 p.m.
--------------------
1. This injunction is to be taken very seriously. I have known
uninitiates made ill by the shock of seeing Adepts of too high
"residual charge"; worse, thrown off their moral balance.
2. Presumably Sir Edward Kelly. There is certainly no hint of the
sublimity and profundity of such visions as the present series
in the working of that adept.
3. This peroration suggests that early working by its style. It
has little definite thought contained in it; the sublimity of
the language ill conceals its vagueness. Nevertheless, it is
a fitting conclusion to the mystery of this Aire. The ritual,
and its lyrical outburst, were doubtless necessary to let the
seer down gently from the colossal exaltation of the central
event of the Aethyr.
- 66 -
The Cry of the 17th Aethyr, Which is Called TAN{SUP:1}
Into the stone there first cometh the head of a dragon, and then the
Angel Madimi{SUP:2}. She is not the mere elemental that one would suppose from the account
of Casaubon. I enquire why her form is different.
She says: Since all things are God, in all things thou seest just so
much of God as thy capacity affordeth thee{SUP:3}. But behold! Thou must
pierce deeply into this Aethyr before true images appear{SUP:4}. For TAN
is that which transformeth judgment into justice{SUP:5}. BAL is the
sword, and TAN the balances{SUP:6}.
A pair of balances appears in the stone, and on the bar of the
balance is written: Motion about a point is iniquity{SUP:7}.
And behind the balances is a plume, luminous, azure{SUP:8}. And
somehow connected with the plume, but I cannot divine how, are these
words: Breath is iniquity{SUP:9}. (That is, any wind must stir the
feather of truth.)
And behind the plume is a shining filament of quartz, suspended
vertically from the abyss to the abyss{SUP:10}. And in the midst is a
--------------------
1. TAN = {Leo}{Taurus}{Scorpio} = {HEB:Gemel}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Nun} = 59.
This number is a prime, representing the Yoni demanding "justice".
This Aethyr instructs the candidate in the formula of justice, of
Equilibrium.
2. See Casaubon's edition of the Sixth book of Dr. Dee's "Conversations
with some Spirits."
3. A profound truth of universal application. The master-key to any
man's character is his appreciation of the universe. To one, Pan
means terror and madness, to another, the All-God.
4. This is more and more the case as we progress.
5. Judgment --- the unmitigated feminine, the severity of sterility.
Justice --- she is satisfied by the sword (phallus) and balances
(testes) as shown in Atu XIII. The symbolism of the letter
Lamed must be very thoroughly studied. It represents the flux
of the universe in extension. Contrast this positive equilibrium
with the negative, Aleph. The two together form AL (the
title of _The Book of the Law_ ) which expresses the universe in
its phases, 0 and 2.
6. The Enochian word for Justice used at the end of the Call of
the 30 Aethyrs is BALATANU, (the 2nd A and the U merely
support their constonants L and N). Bal is Hebrew for Lord, i.e. the
phallus. See previous note.
7. It disturbs the simplicity, introducing a new dimension.
8. The blue feather is Maat, the Goddess of Truth.
9. Breath implies duality, vibration. It thus disturbs peace and
silence.
10. The middle pillar of the Tree of Life. Quartz, perhaps as auriferous.
- 67 -
winged disk{SUP:1} of some extremely delicate, translucent substance, on
which is written in the "dagger" alphabet: Torsion is iniquity{SUP:2}.
(This means, that the Rashith Ha-Gilgalim is the first appearance of
evil.{SUP:3})
And now an Angel appears, like as he were carven in black diamonds.
And he cries: Woe unto the Second, whom all nations of men call the
First{SUP:4}. Woe unto the First, whom all grades of Adepts call the
First{SUP:5}. Woe unto me, for I, even as they, have worshipped him. But
she is whose paps are the galaxies{SUP:6}, and he that never shall be
known{SUP:7}, in them is no motion. For the infinite Without filleth all
and moveth not{SUP:8}, and the infinite Within goeth indeed{SUP:9}; but
it is no odds, else were the space-marks confounded{SUP:10}.
And now the Angel is but a shining speck of blackness in the midst of
a tremendous sphere of liquid and vibrating light, at first gold, then
becoming green, and lastly pure blue{SUP:11}. And I see that the green of
Libra is made up of the yellow of air and the blue of water, swords and
cups, judgment and mercy{SUP:12}. And this word TAN meaneth
mercy{SUP:13}. And the feather of Maat is blue because
--------------------
1. The winged disk = Hadit, i.e. any point which one chooses to
consider as being the centre from which to contemplate the universe.
2. To twist one's point of view is to obtain a false idea.
3. The "Beginning of Whirling Motions" introduces duality.
4. The Demiurgos, Microprosopus, the Black Reflected Countenance, the
Creator. He must be distinguished from the Logos. The difference
is that the Demiurge creates on his own account; he is not like the
Logos, the transmitter of Energy of Kether, and its formulation in a
Word.
5. Macroposopus himself. For in the ontology of the New Aeon, he is no
longer the unique and supreme Point-of-View, to which every ego is
subsidiary and must conform.
6. Nuit (See _Liber LXV_, V, v. 65.)
7. Hadit (See _AL_, II, v. 4)
8. Space cannot more, being an idea invented to explain motion.
9. See _Al_, II, v. 7)
10. i.e. it does not matter what mode we choose to represent these
ideas for if it did, we should be unable to measure phenomena at all.
11. The outburst is realized as Love (Venus = green). The
green light that comes through thin lamin of gold. And this
is absorbed in the true blue of Nuit --- its goal.
12. Severity and Mercy (Geburah and Chesed) are joined by the
reciprocating path of Leo. This is Atu IX {WEH Note: SIC. Should be
Atu XI} countercharged with Atu VIII (Libra). Thus Leo, the strength
of the Sun, life itself, is one with Libra, justice; for the letter
Lamed signifies the Universe in extension.
13. TAN is given in above as meaning the Balances. Thus, as shown in
the previous note, the truth of Justice is Mercy. Hence, to aim
at Mercy, which is an idea without measure, and therefore
incommensurable with Truth, is to invoke Justice. The injunction is:
Be strictly just, and you will find that you have accomplished the
true Work of Love.
- 68 -
the truth of justice is mercy{SUP:1}. And a voice cometh, as it were the
music of the ripples of the surface of the sphere: Truth is delight
{SUP:2}. (This means that the Truth of the universe is delight.)
Another voice cometh; it is the voice of a mighty Angel, all in
silver; the scales of his armour and the plumes of his wings are like
mother-of-pearl in a framework of silver{SUP:3}. And he sayeth: Justice
is the equity that ye have made for yourselves between truth and
falsehood. But in Truth there is nothing of this, for there is only
Truth. Your falsehood is but a little falser than your truth{SUP:4}. Yet
by your truth shall ye come to Truth. Your truth is your troth with
Adonai the Beloved one{SUP:5}. And the Chymical Marriage of the
Alchemists beginneth with a Weighing, and he that is not found wanting
hath within him one spark of fire, so dense and so intense that it cannot
be moved, through all the winds of heaven should clamour against it, and
all the waters of the abyss surge against it, and all the multitude of the
earths heap themselves upon it to smother it. Nay, it shall not be
moved{SUP:6}.
And this is the fire of which it is written: "Hear thou the voice of
fire!" And the voice of fire is in the second chapter of _The Book of the
Law_{SUP:7}, that is revealed unto him that is a score and half a score
and three that are scores, and six, by Aiwass, that is his guardian, the
mighty Angel that extendeth from the first unto the last, and maketh known
the mysteries that are beyond. And the method and the form of invocation
whereby a man shall attain to the knowledge and conversation of his Holy
Guardian Angel shall be given unto thee in the proper place{SUP:8}, and
seeing that the word is deadlier
--------------------
1. See previous note. The blue is again that of Nuit. Justice is
only complete when the disturbance of positive existence is annulled
by absorption into the Body of Our Lady of the Stars.
2. See _AL_, II, v.9. "Remember all ye that existence is pure joy;" et
al.
3. This silver is the queen scale of Luna, the reflection in positive
material nature of the personified idea of Nuit. The angel
appears in the path of Gimel uniting Tiphareth with Kether. He
is Atu II. See infra.
4. Human justice is a compromise intended to meet an admittedly
false situation. Cf. Lao-tse: Benevolence and righteousness
only appear when all naturalness is gone.
5. Hence the justice of making the Attainment of the Knowledge and
Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is the next step. The
original evil is the separation from Him; so the only approximation
to truth is one's oath to Him.
6. This spark is Hadit; (hence the reference to _Lib. AL_, II) he
cannot be moved because he is already in motion at the limit of
velocity.
7. The Oracle of Zoroaster says: "And when, after all the phantoms
are vanished shall appear that holy and formless fire, that fire
which darts and flashes throughout the depths of the universe ---
hear thou the voice of the fire!" And this is the utterance of
Hadit, the deepest expression of one's inmost point of view.
8. See 8th Aire.
- 69 -
than lightning, do thou meditate straitly thereupon, solitary, in a place
where is no living thing visible, but only the light of the sun. And thy
head shall be bare{SUP:1}. Thus mayest thou become fitted to receive
this, the holiest of the Mysteries. And it is the holiest of the
Mysteries because it is the Next Step. And those Mysteries which lie
beyond, though they be holier, are not holy unto thee, but only remote.
(The sense of this passage seems to be, that the holiness of a thing
implies its personal relation with one, just as one cannot blaspheme an
unknown god, because one does not know what to say to annoy him.
And this explains the perfect inefficiency of those who try to insult the
saints; the most violent attacks are very often merely clumsy
compliments.)
Now the Angel is spread completely over the globe, a dewy film of
silver upon that luminous blue.
And a great voice cries: Behold the Queen of Heaven, how she hath
woven her robes from the loom of justice{SUP:2}. For as that straight
path of the Arrow cleaving the Rainbow became righteousness in her that
sitteth in the hall of double truth{SUP:3}, so at last is she exalted unto
the throne of the High Priestess, the Priestess of the Silver Star,
wherein also is thine Angel made manifest{SUP:4}. And this is the mystery
of the camel that is ten days in the desert, and is not athirst, because
he hath within him that water which is the dew distilled from the the
night of Nuit{SUP:5}. Triple is the cord of silver, that it may be not
loosed; and three score and half a score and three is the number of the
name of my name{SUP:6}, for that the ineffable wisdom, that also is of the
sphere of the stars, informeth me{SUP:7}. Thus am I crowned with the
triangle that is about the eye, and therefore is my number three{SUP:8}.
And in me there is no
--------------------
1. This I performed in a sort of cave upon the ridge of a great
mountain in the Desert near Bou-Sada at 12-3 p.m. on Dec. 2.
2. This blue and silver of Luna, the "queen of heaven" (in King
and Queen scales) are said to be derived from the justice in
her true nature. This justice refers to her point on the Tree;
the troth with Adonai.
3. The arrow = Sagittarius = blue. Its ruler = Jupiter = blue
(Queen scale) = Righteousness. The plumes of Maat, are blue.
4. Here we are asked to note a certain correspondence of ascending
vibration. {HEB:Samekh} = {Sagittarius}, {HEB:Lamed} = {Libra},
{HEB:Gemel} = {Moon}. {GRK:Lambda}{GRK:Gamma}{GRK:Sigma} are the consonants of Logos. We
shall see later an important doctrine drawn
from this special association of these three letters. The Holy Guardian Angel appears as
{HEB:Gemel} because of its position on the Tree.
5. {HEB:Gemel} means camel. The ten days are the 7x10 years of normal
life. Man can go through that desert, nourished by the Knowledge and
Conversation of the H.G.A.
6. 73 = {HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Gemel}, a camel. Triple, for
{HEB:Gemel} = 3. The cord of silver; the lunar path descending from
Kether.
7. Wisdom = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Koph}{HEB:Chet} = 73. Mazloth, the
sphere of the Stars, pertains to Chokmah.
8 The Eye --- {HEB:Ayin} = 70. 3 + 70 = 73. 73 is is here explained as
the Eye in the Triangle. So Aiwass is the Eye in the Star of Hermes,
the messenger, whose formula is 418 = {HEB:Chet}.
- 70 -
imperfection, because through me descendeth the influence of TARO{SUP:1}.
And that is also the number of Aiwass the mighty Angel, the Minister of
Silence.
And even as the shew-stone burneth thy forehead with its intolerable
flame, so he who hath known me, though but from afar, is marked out and
chosen among men, and he shall never turn back or turn aside, for he hath
made the link that is not to be broken, nay, not by the malice of the Four
Great Princes of evil of the world, nor by Chorozon, that mighty Devil,
nor by the wrath of God, nor by the affliction and feebleness of the soul.
Yet with this assurance be not thou content; for though thou hast the
wings of the Eagle, they are vain, except they be joined to the shoulders
of the Bull. Now, therefore, I send forth a shaft of my light, even as a
ladder let down from the heaven upon the earth, and by this black cross of
Themis that I hold before thine eyes, do I swear unto thee that the path
shall be open henceforth for evermore.
There is a clash of a myriad silver cymbals, and silence. And then
three times a note is struck upon a bell, which sounds like my holy
Tibetan bell, that is made of electrum magicum{SUP:2}.
I am happily returned unto the earth.
Bou-Sada.
December 2, 1909. 12:15 - 2 a.m.
The Cry of the 16th Aethyr, Which is Called LEA{SUP:3}
There are faint and flickering images in a misty landscape, all very
transient. But the general impression is of moonrise at midnight, and a
crowned virgin riding upon a bull{SUP:4}.
And they come up into the surface of the stone. And she is singing a
chant of praise: Glory unto him that hath taken upon himself the image of
toil. For by his labour is my labour accomplished.
--------------------
1. TARO has 78 symbols and 78 ={HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Lamed} {HEB:Zain}{HEB:Mem}, the influence
that descends from the Most Holy Ancient One, Kether, and therefore referred to
{HEB:Gemel}. The equation 78 = Aiwass; at this time, the Seer thought that Aiwass was
spelled
{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph} = 78 {WEH Note: TS has
"418"}, Whereas, as he found later, {HEB:Zain}{HEB:Vau}
{HEB:Yod} {HEB:Ayin} = 93 and {GRK:Alpha}{GRK:iota}{GRK:digamma}
{GRK:alpha}{GRK:sigma}{GRK:sigma} = 418. But 78 is actually the
number of Aiwass in another way.
2. Electrum magicum is an alloy of the seven sacred metals, each
being added at a moment chosen for its astrological advantages.
3. LEA = {Libra}{Virgo}{Taurus}. The waning moon, the virgin, the bull;
exactly as in the second sentence; {HEB:Chet}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Vau} = 24.
4. See previous note.
- 71 -
For I, being a woman, lust ever to mate myself with some beast. And this
is the salvation of the world, that always I am deceived by some god, and
that my child is the guardian of the labyrinth that hath two-and-seventy
paths{SUP:1}.
Now she is gone.
And now there are Angels, walking up and down in the stone. They are
the Angels of the Holy Sevenfold Table. It seems that they are waiting
for the Angel of the Aethyr to come forth.
Now at last he appears in the gloom. He is a mighty King{SUP:2},
with crown and orb and sceptre, and his robes are of purple and gold. And
he casts down the orb and sceptre to the earth, and he tears off his
crown, and throws it on the ground, and tramples it. And he tears out his
hair, that is of ruddy gold tinged with silver, and he plucks at his
beard, and cries with as terrible voice: Woe unto me that am cast down
from my place by the might of the new Aeon. For the ten palaces are
broken, and the ten kings are carried away into bondage, and they are set
to fight as the gladiators in the circus of him that hath laid his hand
upon eleven{SUP:3}. For the ancient tower is shattered by the
Lord of the Flame and the Lightning. And they that walk upon their hands
shall build the holy place{SUP:4}. Blessed are they who have turned the
Eye of Hoor unto the zenith, for they shall be filled with the vigour of
the goat{SUP:5}.
All that was ordered and stable is shaken. The Aeon of Wonders is
come. Like locusts shall they gather themselves together, the servants of
the Star and of the Snake{SUP:6}, and they shall eat up everything that is
upon the earth. For why? Because the Lord of
--------------------
1. This reference is to Pasiphae and the Minotaur. All mythologies
contain this mystery of the woman and the beast as the heart of
the cult. Notably certain tribes on the Terai at this day send
their women annually into the jungle and any half-monkeys that
result are worshipped in their temples. Atu XI exhibits this
mystery, and it is the subject of constant reference in the
higher Aires.
2. This is the Jehovah-god of the Aeon of Osiris, on whose existence
(as an offended and vengeful deity) the whole theory of Atonement
depends.
3. For 10 is the stable number of the established system, which
regards 11 the number of Magick (by the equation 0 = 2 = 11,
11 being the active form of 2) as "Evil". Hence the Beast took
11 as his formula and thereby destroyed the 10.
4. See Atu XVI. The figures cast out of the Tower are in the form
of the letter {HEB:Ayin}; they "walk upon their hands". They pertain
to {Capricorn}; --- Set or Had, i.e. the Holy Place is to be built
from within, from the "core of every star", not from above, as in the
shattered tower of Theism.
5. {Capricorn} is the goat. The eye of Hoor turned to the zenith refers
to a mystery of magick, practical and puissant, which the student
must be left to solve for himself.
6. See _AL_ II, 21.
- 72 -
Righteousness delighteth in them.
The prophets shall prophesy monstrous things, and the wizards shall
perform monstrous things. The sorceress shall be desired of all men, and
the enchanter shall rule the earth.
Blessing unto the name of the Beast, for he hath let loose a mighty
flood of fire from his manhood, and from his womanhood hath he let loose a
mighty flood of water. Every thought of his mind is as a tempest that
uprooteth the great trees of the earth, and shaketh the mountains thereof.
And the throne of his spirit is a mighty throne of madness and
desolation{SUP:1}, so that they that look upon it shall cry: Behold the
abomination{SUP:2}!
Of a single ruby shall that throne be built, and it shall be set upon
a high mountain{SUP:3}, and men shall see it afar off. Then will I gather
together my chariots and my horsemen and my ships of war. By sea and land
shall my armies and my navies encompass it, and I will encamp round about
it, and besiege it, and by the flame thereof shall I be utterly devoured.
Many lying spirits have I sent into the world that my Aeon might be
established, and they shall be all overthrown.
Great is the Beast that cometh forth like a lion, the servant of the
Star and of the Snake. He is the Eternal one; He is the Almighty one.
Blessed are they upon whom he shall look with favour, for nothing shall
stand before his face{SUP:4}. Accursed are they upon whom he shall look
with derision, for nothing shall stand before his face.
And every mystery that hath not been revealed from the foundation of
the world he shall reveal unto his chosen. And they shall have power over
every spirit of the Ether; and of the earth and under the earth; on dry
land and in the water; of whirling air and of rushing fire. And they
shall have power over all the inhabitants of the earth, and every scourge
of God shall be subdued beneath their feet. The angels shall come unto
them and walk with them, and the great gods of heaven shall be their
guests.
But I must sit apart, with dust upon my head, discrowned and
desolate. I must lurk in forbidden corners of the earth. I must plot
secretly in the by-ways of great cities, in the fog, and in marshes of the
rivers of pestilence. And all my cunning shall not serve me. And all my
undertakings shall be brought to naught. And all the ministers of the
Beast shall catch me and tear out my tongue with pincers of red-hot iron,
and they shall brand my forehead with the word of derision, and they shall
shave my head, and pluck out my beard, and make a show of me.
--------------------
1. See _Liber VII_, Cap. III, v. 20. He has manifested the insanity
of the Ruach; that is his "throne"; i.e. the basis of his
philosophical position.
2. See _Liber VII_, Cap. III, v. 21.
3. See _Liber VII_, Cap. III, vv. 22, 23.
4. Adaptions of the Qu'ran are to be found in this passage.
-73-
And the spirit of prophecy shall come upon me despite me ever and
anon, as even now upon my heart and upon my throat; and upon my tongue
seared with strong acid are the words: _Vim patior_{SUP:1}. For so must I
give glory to him that hath supplanted me, that hath cast me down into the
dust. I have hated him, and with hate my bones are rotten. I would have
spat upon him, and my spittle hath befouled my beard. I have taken up the
sword against him, and I am fallen upon it, and mine entrails are about my
feet.
Who shall strive with his might? Hath he not the sword and the spear
of the Warrior Lord of the Sun? Who shall contend with him? Who shall
lift himself up against him? For the latchet of his sandal is more than
the helmet of the Most High. Who shall reach up to him in supplication,
save those that he shall set upon his shoulders? Would God that my tongue
were torn out by the roots, and my throat cut across, and my heart torn
out and given to the vultures, before I say this that I must say: Blessing
and Worship to the Prophet of the Lovely Star{SUP:2}!
And now he is fallen quite to the ground, in a heap, and dust is upon
his head; and the throne upon which he sat is shattered into many pieces.
And dimly dawning in this unutterable gloom, far, far above, is the
face that is the face of a man and of a woman, and upon the brow is a
circle, and upon the breast is a circle, and in the palm of the right hand
is a circle{SUP:3}. Gigantic is his stature, and he hath the Uraeus
crown, and the leopard's skin, and the flaming orange apron of a god. And
invisibly about him is Nuit, and in his heart is Hadit, and between his
feet is the great god Ra Hoor Khuit. And in his right hand is a flaming
wand, and in his left a book{SUP:4}. Yet is he silent; and that which is
understood between him and me shall not be revealed in this place. And
the mystery shall be revealed to whosoever shall say, with ecstasy of
worship in his heart, with a clear mind, and a passionate body: It is the
voice of a god, and not of a man{SUP:5}.
And now all that glory hath withdrawn itself; and the old King lies
prostate, abject.
And the virgin that rode upon the bull cometh forth, led by all those
Angels of the Holy Sevenfold Table, and they are dancing round her with
garlands and sheaves of flowers, loose robes and hair dancing in the wind.
And she smiles upon me with infinite
--------------------
1. "I suffer constraint."
2. See _AL_, II, v. 79.
3. "Circle" --- a blind for "the Mark of the Beast" --- {Sun} ---
which
at that time it was necessary to keep secret.
4. This is a vision of the Angel of the Beast himself, as identified
with the Stele of Revealing. This book in the hand of Aiwass is _The
Book of the Law_.
5. The recognition of the authorship of _Liber AL_ as praeter-human,
with ecstatic joy, etc. is the key to the portal of the New Aeon.
-74-
brilliance, so that the whole Aethyr flushes warm, and she{SUP:1} says
with a subtle sub-meaning, pointing downwards: By this, that{SUP:2}.
And I took her hand and kissed it, and I say to her: Am I not nearly
purged of the iniquity of my forefathers{SUP:3}?
With that she bends down, and kisses me on the mouth, and says: "Yet
a little, and on thy left arm shalt thou carry a man-child{SUP:4}, and
give him to drink of the milk of thy breasts. But I go dancing.{SUP:5}"
And I wave my hand, and the Aethyr is empty and dark, and I bow
myself before it in the sign that I, and only I, may know. And I sink
through waves of blackness, poised on an eagle, down, down, down.
And I give the sign that only I may know.
And now there is nothing in the stone but the black cross of
Themis{SUP:6}, and on it these words: Memento: Sequor. (These words
probably mean that the Equinox of Horus is to be followed by that of
Themis.)
Bou-Sada.
December 2, 1909. 4:50 - 6:5 p.m.
The Cry of the 15th Aethyr, Which is Called OXO{SUP:7}
There appears immediately in the Aethyr a tremendous column of
scarlet fire, whirling forth, rebounding, crying aloud. And about it are
four columns of green and blue and gold and silver, each inscribed with
writings in the character of the dagger. And the column of fire is
dancing among the pillars. Now it seems that the
------------
1. This is Babalon, the true mistress of the Beast; of Her all
mistresses on lower planes are but avatars.
2. This phrase need not be analyzed; it is the promise to give
herself to the Beast.
3. The Seer was even at this time still struggling in himself with
the complexes due to his heredity and early training.
4. Therion, the Logos of the Aeon.
5. This means that the Seer will soon be "Isis Rejoicing"; i.e. a
Master of the Temple.
6. See the Neophyte Ritual of the G{.'.} D{.'.}, _Equinox_ Vol. I, No. 2
and _AL_, III, v. 34.
7. OXO = {Libra}{Spirit}{Libra}. The Rose of Earth on the Place of
Judgment; this is the scene of the Aire. {HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Taw}
{HEB:Lamed} = 460 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}
{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Qof} "Holy unto the Lord", and refers to
the consecration (after examination) of the Exempt Adept. It is his final preparation for
undergoing in consciousness the full ceremony of
passing to the grade of Magister Templi.
- 75 -
fire is but the skirt of the dancer, and the dancer is a mighty god. The
vision is overpowering.
As the dancer whirls, she chants in a strange, slow voice, quickening
as she goes: Lo! I gather up every spirit that is pure, and weave him into
my vesture of flame. I lick up the lives of men, and their souls sparkle
from mine eyes. I am the mighty sorceress, the lust of the spirit. And
by my dancing I gather for my mother Nuit the heads of all them that are
baptized in the waters of life. I am the lust of the spirit that eateth
up the soul of man. I have prepared a feast for the adepts, and they that
partake thereof shall see God{SUP:1}.
Now it is clear what she has woven in her dance; it is the Crimson
Rose of 49 Petals, and the Pillars are the Cross with which it is
conjoined. And between the pillars shoot out rays of pure green fire; and
now all the pillars are golden. She ceases to dance, and dwindles,
gathering herself into the centre of the Rose.
Now it is seen that the Rose is a vast ampitheatre, with seven tiers, each
tier divided into seven partitions. And they that sit in the Amphitheatre
are the seven grades of the Order of the Rosy Cross. This Amphitheatre is
built of rose-coloured marble, and of its size I can say only that the sun
might be used as a ball to be thrown by the players in the arena. But in
the arena there is a little altar of emerald{SUP:2}, and its top has the
heads of the Four Beasts, in turquoise and rock-crystal{SUP:3}. And the
floor of the arena is ridged like a grating of lapis lazuli{SUP:4}. And
it is full of pure quicksilver{SUP:5}.
Above the altar is a veiled Figure, whose name is Pan. Those in the
outer tier adore him as a Man; and in the next tier they adore him as a
Goat; and in the next tier they adore him as a Ram; and in the next tier
they adore him as a Crab; and in the next tier they adore him as an Ibis;
and in the next tier they adore him as a Golden Hawk; and in the next tier
they adore him not{SUP:6}.
--------------------
1. This is a form of Babalon. There is a reference to the story
of Salome in the lesser mysteries of the dagger and disk in the
cult of "the God, John". "John" is "ON" --- Oannes, Nu,
Noah,
Jonah, etc., the Sun entering the watery sign of Cancer (the
sign of the whale, ark, etc.) at the summer solstice.
2. The colour of {Venus}, love. This is the basis of the act of worship.
3. Sacred to the sphere of the stars, and to Malkuth, the sphere
of Earth, respectively.
4. The body of Nuith, the star-strewn Blue.
5. The Universal Mercury, instrument of the constant Change and
Flux which constitutes life.
6. That is, in the lowest grade of the Second Order 5x = 6{square x},
"God" is worshipped under the form of a man (Tiphareth). In 6x = 5
{squarex}, he seems as a goat (Mendes Kahn). In 7x = 4{square x}, a
ram (Amoun). In 8x = 3{square x}, a crab (connected with the star
sponge vision). In 9x = 2{square x}, an ibis (Thoth). In 10x = 1
{square x} a golden hawk (Ra Hoor Khuit). Above this (Kether), He is
the Negative only.
- 76 -
And now the light streameth out from the altar, splashed out by the
feet of him that is above it. It is the Holy Twelve-fold Table of
OIT{SUP:1}.
The voice of him that is above the altar is silence, but the echo
thereof cometh back from the walls of the circus, and is speech. And this
is the speech: Three and four are the days of a quarter of the moon, and on
the seventh day is the sabbath, but thrice four is the Sabbath of the
Adepts whereof the form is revealed in the Aethyr ZID; that is the eighth
of the Aires{SUP:2}. And the mysteries of the Table shall not be wholly
revealed, nor shall they be revealed herein. But thou shalt gather of the
sweat of thy brow a pool of clear water wherein this shall be revealed.
And of the oil that thou burnest in the midnight shall be gathered together
thirteen rivers of blessing; and of the oil and the water I will prepare a
wine to intoxicate the young men and the maidens{SUP:3}.
And now the Table is become the universe; every star is a letter of
the Book of Enoch. And the Book of Enoch is drawn therefrom by an
inscrutable Mystery, that is known only to the Angels and the Holy
Sevenfold Table{SUP:4}. While I have been gazing upon this table, an Adept has come forth,
one from each tier, except the inmost Tier.
And the first{SUP:5} drove a dagger into my heart, and tasted the
blood, and said: {GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}
{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} , {GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}
{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} , {GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}
{GRK:alpha} {GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} ,
{GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho} {GRK:omicron} {GRK:sigma} ,
{GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta} {GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron} {GRK:sigma} ,
{GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho} {GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma}{SUP:6}.
And the second{SUP:6} Adept has been testing the muscles of my right
arm and shoulder, and he says: fortis, fortis, fortis, fortis, fortis
{SUP:7}.
----------------
1. This table is:
ZDDDBDDDBDDD? ZDDDDDDDDBDDDDDDDDDDDDDBDDDDDDDDDDD?
3 O 3 I 3 T 3 3 Libra 3 Sagittarius 3 Leo 3
CDDDEDDDEDDD4 CDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDD4
3 R 3 L 3 U 3 3 Pisces 3 Cancer 3 Capricorn 3
CDDDEDDDEDDD4 CDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDD4
3 L 3 R 3 L 3 3 Cancer 3 Pisces 3 Cancer 3
CDDDEDDDEDDD4 CDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDDDDDDD4
3 O 3 O 3 E 3 3 Libra 3 Libra 3 Virgo 3
@DDDADDDADDDY @DDDDDDDDADDDDDDDDDDDDDADDDDDDDDDDDY
2. The Seven are the inferiors, unless the reference be to Babalon,
as in the table of 49 squares. Twelve refers to HUA = 12
and the Zodiac The interweaving of multiplication is to the
juxtaposition of addition as is chemical combination to mechanical
mixture.
3. Cf. the Zohar for 13 rivers of Holy Oil that flow down the
Beard of Macroprosopus. (These are the first 13 letters.)
4. See 22nd Aire for a fuller indication of this mystery, and infra.
5. 5x = 6{square x}.
6. This Adept guards Tiphareth and tests the heart (which pertains
thereto) for its purity. ({GRK:chi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:theta}
{GRK:alpha}{GRK:rho}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:sigma} = pure) six times;
6 being the number of Tiphareth.
7. 6x = 5{square x}.
8. Similarly the right arm (of Geburah) five times. Fortis means strong.
- 77 -
And the third{SUP:1} Adept examines the skin and tastes the sweat of
my left arm, and says: TAN, TAN, TAN, TAN.{SUP:2}
And the fourth{SUP:3} Adept examines my neck, and seems to approve,
though he says nothing{SUP:4}; and he hath opened the right half of my
brain, and he makes some examination, and says: "Samajh, samajh, samajh.
{SUP:5}"
And the fifth Adept examines the left half of my brain, and then holds
up his hand in protest, and says "PLA . . .{SUP:6}" (I cannot get the
sentence, but the meaning is: In the thick darkness the seed awaiteth
spring.)
And now am I again rapt in contemplation of that universe of letters
which are stars.
The words ORLO, ILRO, TULE are three most secret names of God. They
are Magick names, each having an interpretation of the same kind as the
interpretation of I.N.R.I., and the name OIT, RLU, LRL, OOE are other names of God, that
contain magical formulae, the first to invoke fire; the
second, water; the third, air; and the fourth, earth{SUP:7}.
And if the Table be read diagonally, every letter, and every
combination of letters, is the name of a devil. And from these are drawn
the formulae of evil magick{SUP:8}. But the holy letter I above the triad
LLL dominateth the Table, and preserveth the peace of the universe{SUP:9}.
And in the seven talismans about the central Table are contained the
Mysteries of drawing forth the letters. And the letters of the
circumference declare in glory of Nuit, that beginneth from Aries{SUP:10}.
--------------------
1. 7x = 4{square x}.
2. Similarly the left arm (of Chesed) four times, for the virtue
of Chesed, Mercy. (See 17th Aire).
3. 8x = 3{square x}. {WEH Note: Crowley's TS only has: 8 = 3}
4. The neck is of Daath which is not a Sephirah, and so has no
number or corresponding symbol.
5. This part of the brain is of Binah (3). Samajh means understanding.
That is, he admitted the right of the seer to the grade
of Magister Templi.
6. The seer was not worthy of the grade of Magus. Note that each
adept uses a different language.
7. All these practical mysteries must be worked out by the student
himself. Any formula given by the annotator would probably be
"dead" in the hands of another man.
8. See previous note.
9. The easiest explanation of this is to suppose that the letters
are not attributed as usual (i.e. I to {Sagittarius}, L to {Cancer}),
but taken for their English shape: I the Middle Pillar, L the
Square --- but this is far from satisfactory.
10. Note that the corner letters in this table are all B
-78-
All this while the Adepts must have been chanting as it were an
oratorio for seven instruments. And this oratorio hath one dominant theme
of rapture. Yet it applieth to every detail of the universe as well as to
the whole. And herein is Choronzon brought utterly to ruin, that all his
work is against his will, not only in the whole, but in every part thereof,
even as a fly that walketh upon a beryl-stone.
And the tablet blazeth ever brighter till it filleth the whole Aire.
And behold! there is is one God therein, and the letters of the stars in
his crown, Orion, and the Pleiades, and Aldebaran, and Alpha Centauri, and Cor Leonis, and
Cor Scorpionis, and Spica, and the pole-star, and Hercules, and Regulus, and Aquila, and
the Ram's Eye.
And upon a map of the stars shalt thou draw the sigil of that name;
and because also some of the letters are alike, thou shalt know that the
stars also have tribes and nations{SUP:1}. The letter of a star is but the
totem thereof. And the letter representeth not the whole nature of the
star, but each star must be known by itself in the wisdom of him that hath
the Cynocephalus in leash{SUP:2}.
And this pertaineth unto the grade of a Magus --- and that is beyond
thine. (All this is communicated not by voice, or by writing; and there is
no form in the stone, but only the brilliance of the Table. And now I am
withdrawn from all that, but the Rosy Cross of 49 petals is set upright
upon the summit of a pyramid, and all is dark, because of the exceeding
light behind.)
And there cometh a voice: The fly cried unto the ox, "Beware!
Strengthen thyself. Set thy feet firmly upon the earth, for it is my
purpose to alight between thy shoulders, and I would not harm thee." So
also are they who wish well unto the Masters of the Pyramid.
And the bee said unto the flower: "Give me of thine honey," and the
flower gave richly thereof; but the bee, though he wit it not, carried the
seed of the flower into many fields of sun. So also are they that take
unto themselves the Masters of the Pyramid for servants.
Now the exceeding light that was behind the Pyramid, and the Rosy
Cross that is set thereon, hath fulfilled the whole Aire. The black
Pyramid is like the back of a black diamond. Also the Rosy Cross is
loosened, and the petals of the Rose are the mingled hues of sunset and of
dawn; and the Cross is the Golden light of noon, and in the heart of the
Rose there is the secret light that men
--------------------
1. i.e. there are different systems of physical motion for certain groups.
2. i.e. Thoth. The attribution of the fixed stars to the Enochian
alphabet has not been worked out. It pertains to the grade of
Magus, and would have no interest or meaning for those of lower grades.
-79-
call midnight.
And a voice: "Glory to God and thanksgiving to God, and there is no
God but God. And He is exalted; He is great; and in the Sevenfold Table is
His Name writ openly, and in the Twelvefold Table is His Name concealed."
And the Pyramid casts a shadow of itself into the sky, and the shadow
spreads over the whole stone. And an angel clad in blue and scarlet, with
golden wings and plumes of purple fire, comes forth and scatters disks of
green and gold, filing all the Aire. And they become swiftly-whirling
wheels, singing together.
And the voice of the angel cries: Gather up thy garments about
thee{SUP:1}, O thou that hast entered the circle of the Sabbath; for in thy
grave-clothes shouldest thou behold the resurrection.
The flesh hangeth upon thee like his rags upon a beggar that is a
pilgrim to the shrine of the Exalted One. Nevertheless, bear them bravely,
and rejoice in the beauty thereof, for the company of the pilgrims is a
glad company, and they have no care, and with song and dance and wine and fair women do
they make merry. And every hostel is their place, and every maid their queen.
Gather up thy garments about thee, I say, for the voice of the Aethyr,
that is the voice of the Aeon, is ended, and thou art absorbed into the
lesser night, and caught in the web of the light of thy mother in the word
ARBADAHARBA{SUP:2}.
And now the five and the six are divorced{SUP:3}, and I am come again
within my body.
Bou-Sada.
December 3, 1909. 9:15 to 11:10 a.m.
The Cry of the 14th Aethyr, Which is Called UTI{SUP:4}
There come into the stone a white goat, a green dragon, and a tawny
bull{SUP:5}. But they pass away immediately. There is a veil of such
darkness before the Aethyr that it seems impossible to pierce it. But
there is a voice saying: Behold, the Great One of
--------------------
1. Since the examination in the amphitheatre I have been a naked
spirit without garments or anything; by garments he means the body.
2. ABRAHADABRA spelt backwards, to reverse its formula, that of
uniting the five with the six. See next paragraph.
3. Because of saying ABRAHADABRA = 418, backwards.
4. UTI = {Capricorn}{Caput Draconis}{Sagittarius} = {HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Gemel}
{HEB:Samekh} = 133 ={HEB:Chet}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Mem-
final}{HEB:Yod} = The Salt Sea, i.e. Binah.
5. The bull was probably seen in mistake for a stag. Then U = {HEB:Ayin}
= the goat. T = {Caput Draconis} (Caput Dranconis) = the Dragon. I =
{Sagittarius}, the stag.
- 80 -
the Night of Time{SUP:1} stirreth, and with his tail he churneth up the
slime, and of the foam thereof shall he make stars. And in the battle of
the Python{SUP:2} and the Sphinx shall the glory be to the Sphinx, but the
victory to the Python.
Now the veil of darkness is formed of a very great number of
exceedingly fine black veils, and one tears them off one at a time. And
the voice says, There is no light or knowledge or beauty or stability
{SUP:3} in the Kingdom of the Grave, whither thou goest. And the worm is
crowned. All that thou wast hath he eaten up, and all that thou art is his
pasture until to-morrow. And all that thou shalt be is nothing. Thou who
wouldst enter the domain of the Great One of the Night of Time, this burden
must thou take up. Deepen not a superficies{SUP:4}.
But I go on tearing down the veil that I may behold the vision of UTI,
and hear the voice thererof. And there is a voice: He hath drawn the black
bean. And another voice answers it: Not otherwise could he plant the Rose.
And the first voice: He hath drunk of the waters of death. The answer: Not
otherwise could he water the Rose. And the first voice: He hath burnt
himself at the Fires of life. And the answer: Not otherwise could he sun
the Rose. And the first voice is so faint that I cannot hear it. But the
answer is: Not otherwise could he pluck the Rose{SUP:5}.
And still I go on, struggling with the blackness. Now there is an
earthquake. The veil is torn into thousands of pieces that go flying away
in a whirling wind. And there is an all-glorious Angel before me, standing
in the sign of Apophis and Typhon{SUP:6}. On his Forehead is a star, but
all about him is darkness, and the crying of beasts. And there are lamps
moving in the darkness.
And the Angel says: Depart! For thou must invoke me only in the
darkness. Therein will I appear, and reveal unto thee the Mystery of UTI.
For the Mystery thereof is great and terrible. And it shall not be spoken
in sight of the sun.
Therefore I withdraw myself. (Thus far the vision upon Da'leh
----------------
1. This is Saturn. He is conceived as a dragon, Theli. He is
referred to Binah.
2. The Sphinx is one of the four elements referred to the path of
Tau = Saturn. The Python is the great snake that surrounds
and devours the Universe. This is his victory; glory is a
function of the manifested existence of the Sphinx.
3. On the Middle Pillar: Kether, Dath, Tiphereth, Yesod. Thus
the spine of existence itself is destroyed in this initiation.
4. An injunction of Zoroaster. It is useless to seek the soul of
things beneath their surface; for their surface is their soul!
5. To accomplish the Great Work in Tiphereth, one must be an initiate
of Binah, its mother.
6. He is about to destroy.
- 81 -
Addin, a mountain in the desert near Bou-Sada.{SUP:1})
December 3, 2:50-3:15 p.m.
_The Angel re-appears_.
The blackness gathers about, so thick, so clinging, so penetrating, so
oppressive, that all the other darkness that I have ever conceived would be
like bright light beside it{SUP:2}.
His voice comes in a whisper: O thou that art master of the fifty
gates of Understanding, is not my mother a black woman? O thou that art
master of the Pentagram, is not the egg of spirit a black egg{SUP:3}? Here
abideth terror, and the blind ache of the Soul, and lo! even I, who am the
sole light, a spark shut up, stand in the sign of Apophis and Typhon.
I am the snake that devoureth the spirit of man with the lust of
light. I am the sightless storm in the night that wrappeth the world about
with desolation. Chaos is my name, and thick darkness. Know thou that the
darkness of the earth is ruddy, and the darkness of the air is grey, but
the darkness of the soul is utter blackness.
The egg of the spirit is a basilisk egg, and the gates of the
understanding are fifty, that is the sign of the Scorpion{SUP:4}. The
pillars about the neophyte are crowned with flame, and the vault of the
Adepts is lighted by the Rose. And in the abyss is the eye of the
hawk{SUP:5}. But upon the great sea shall the Master of the Temple find
neither star nor moon.
And I was about to answer him: "The light is within me." But before I
could frame the words, he answered me with the great word that is the Key
of the Abyss{SUP:6}. And he said: Thou hast entered the night; dost thou
yet lust for day? Sorrow is my name, and
--------------------
1. There was also an instruction to build a Temple of stone with
altar and circle. There was a public sacrifice offered to the
God Pan by the Rite of XI degree O.T.O. See _Equinox_ I, No. X,
pp. 114-115.
2. This is the absolute negation of light, which is Binah. For
she absorbs it perfectly.
3. Akasa, the Tatva (element) of Spirit is a black egg, symbolically.
It is the darkness in which all things are conceived.
4. The fifty gates of Binah have been variously explained. They
do not appear to be of any great importance; it is only their
number which is significant. The reference is to {HEB:Nun} = 50 =
{Scorpio} Atu XIII -- Death. {WEH Note: The Fifty Gates of
Understanding are very well known in Orthodox Hebrew Qabalah. They
consist of taking the influence of each of the lower seven Sephiroth
upon each other --- 7x7=49. When one is perfectly harmonized in this
practice, the fiftieth gate, Binah or Understanding, opens. Crowley
repeatedly describes his efforts at such a harmonizing, but is ignorant
of the significance of this reference to the Fifty Gates in the Cry.}
5. Reference to previous ceremonies of initiation.
6. N.O.X. = = 210.
-82-
affliction. I am girt about with tribulation. Here still hangs the
Crucified One, and here the Mother weeps over the children that she hath
not borne. Sterility is my name, and desolation. Intolerable is thine
ache, and incurable thy wound. I said, Let the darkness cover me; and
behold, I am compassed about with the blackness that hath no name. O thou,
who hast cast down the light into the earth, so must thou do for ever. And
the light of the sun shall not shine upon thee, and the moon shall not lend
thee of her lustre, and the stars shall be hidden, because thou art passed
beyond these things, beyond the need of these things, beyond the desire of
these things.
What I thought were shapes of rocks, rather felt than seen, now appear
to be veiled Masters, sitting absolutely still and silent. Nor can any one
be distinguished from the others.
And the Angel sayeth: Behold where thine Angel hath led thee! Thou
didst ask fame, power and pleasure, health and wealth and love, and
strength, and length of days. Thou didst hold life with eight tentacles,
like an octopus. Thou didst seek the four powers and the seven delights
and the twelve emancipations and the two and twenty Privileges and the nine and forty
Manifestations, and lo! thou art become as one of These. Bowed are their backs, whereon
resteth the universe. Veiled are their faces,
that have beheld the glory Ineffable.
These adepts seem like Pyramids --- their hoods and robes are like
Pyramids.
And the Angel sayeth: Verily is the Pyramid a Temple of Initiation.
Verily also is it a tomb{SUP:1}. Thinkest thou that there is life within
the Masters of the Temple, that sit hooded, encamped upon the Sea? Verily,
there is no life in them.
Their sandals were the pure light, and they have taken them from their
feet and cast them down through the abyss, for this Aethyr is holy ground.
Herein no forms appear, and the vision of God face to face, that is
transmuted in the Athanor called dissolution, or hammered into one forge of
meditation, is in this place but a blasphemy and a mockery.
And the Beatific Vision is no more, and the glory of the Most High is
no more. There is no more knowledge. There is no more bliss. There is no
more power. There is no more beauty. For this is the Palace of
Understanding: for thou art one with the Primeval things.
Drink in the myrrh of my speech, that is bruised with the gall of the
roc, and dissolved in the ink of the cuttle-fish, and perfumed with the
deadly nightshade.
--------------------
1. It is also a phallus, which dies itself to communicate life to others.
- 83 -
This is thy wine, who wast drunk upon the wine of Iacchus. And for
bread shalt thou eat salt, O thou on the corn of Ceres that didst wax fat!
For as pure being is pure nothing, so is pure wisdom pure ---{SUP:1}, and
so is pure understanding silence, and stillness, and darkness. The eye is
called seventy, and the triple Aleph whereby thou perceivest it, divideth
into the number of the terrible word that is the Key of the Abyss{SUP:2}.
I am Hermes, that am sent from the Father to expound all things
discreetly in these the last words that thou shalt hear before thou take
thy seat among these, whose eyes are sealed up, and whose ears are stopped, and whose
mouths are clenched, who are folded in upon themselves, the liquor of whose bodies is
dried up, so that nothing remains but a little pyramid of dust.
And that bright light of comfort, and that piercing sword of truth,
and all that power and beauty that they have made of themselves, is cast
from them, as it is written, "I saw Satan like lightning fall from Heaven."
And as a flaming sword is it dropt through the abyss, where the four beasts
keep watch and ward. And it appeareth in the heaven of Jupiter{SUP:3} as a morning star,
or as an evening star{SUP:4}. And the light thereof shineth
even unto the earth, and bringeth hope and help to them that dwell in the
darkness of thought, and drink of the poison of life. Fifty are the
gates{SUP:5} of understanding, and one hundred and six{SUP:6} are the
seasons thereof. And the name of every season{SUP:7} is Death.
During all this speech, the figure of the Angel has dwindled and
flickered, and now it is gone out.
And I come back in the body, rushing like a flame in a great wind.
And the shew-stone has become warm, and in it is its own light.
Bou-Saada.
December 3, 1909 9:50-11:15 p.m.
--------------------
1. I suppose that only a Magus could have heard this word. It
seems to be "Inertia" or some equivalent. It is the reverse of
the three Binah qualities to balance them: speech, and motion,
and light.
2. 70 v 333 = .210. The process of reducing the dyad to zero,
which at once becomes again the dyad, is recurrent; the cycle
of existence and non-existence.
3. Different M. T.'s may be cast out into different spheres.
{WEH Note: In the Germer edition, this note is #7, and out of sequence.
The notes have been resequenced in this version, for improved scansion}
4. The Sankharas --- the constituent elements --- of the man that has
become a Master of the Temple, are reconstituted below the Abyss,
so that they can function as an Exempt Adept. But their permanent
function is in that grade to which their "centre of gravity"
(so to speak) tends.
5. 50 = {Scorpio} = {HEB:Nun}.
6. {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Nun} = 106.
7. These seasons (in the case of the seer) to be proved lunar months.
- 84 -
The Cry of the 13th Aethyr, Which is Called ZIM{SUP:1}
Into the Stone there cometh an image of shining waters, glistening in
the sun. Unfathomable is their beauty, for they are limpid, and the floor
And an Angel cometh forth, of pure pale gold, walking upon the water.
Above his head is a rainbow, and the water foams beneath his feet. And he
saith: Before his face am I come that hath the thirty-three thunders of
increase in his hand. From the golden water shalt thou gather corn{SUP:2}.
All the Aire behind him is gold, but it opens as it were a veil.
There are two terrible black giants, wrestling in mortal hatred. And there
is a little bird upon a bush, and the bird flaps its wings. Thereat the
strength of the giants snaps, and they fall in heaps to the earth, as
though all their bones were suddenly broken{SUP:3}.
And now waves of light roll through the Aethyr, as if they were
playing. Therefore suddenly I am in a garden{SUP:4}, upon a terrace of a
great castle, that is upon a rocky mountain. In the garden are fountains
and many flowers. There are girls also in the garden, tall, slim, delicate
and pale. And now I see that the flowers are the girls, for they change
from one to another; so varied, and lucent, and harmonious is all this
garden, that it seems like a great opal{SUP:5}.
A voice comes: This water which thou seest is called the water of
death{SUP:6}. But NEMO hath filled therefrom our springs.
And I said: Who is NEMO?
And the voice answered: A dolphin's tooth, and a ram's horns, and the
hand of a man that is hanged, and the phallus of a goat{SUP:7}. (By this I
understand that nun is explained by shin, and he' by resh, and mem by yod,
and ayin by tau{SUP:8}. NEMO is therefore called
--------------------
1. ZIM = {Leo}{Sagittarius}{Aquarius}. See, in the Aire, the solar
symbolism of the opening, the transmutation of the middle, and the
Saturnian ending.
2. This pure pale gold is the symbol of the dawning life, arisen
after passing through the night of the 14th Aire.
3. This is a parable of the illusion of matter, whose vast horror
is destroyed by the moving of the wings of initiation.
4. Rather like the Alhambra.
5. There is here a memory picture of the Alhambra; or something like it.
6. The Great Sea of Binah - darkness.
7. {HEB:Nun} = Nun, the fish (dolphin): E = {Aries}, the ram; M = Atu XII
= the Hanged Man; O = {Capricorn}, the goat.
8. 910 = {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Resh} Beginning. These attributions explain the
nature of NEMO, the Master of the Temple.
- 85 -
165 = 11 x 15; and is in himself 910 = 91 Amen x 10; and 13 x 70 = The
One Eye, _Achad Ayin_.)
And now there cometh an Angel into the garden, but he hath not any of
the attributes of the former Angels, for he is like a young man, dressed in
white linen robes.
And he saith: No man hath beheld the face of my Father. Therefore he
that hath beheld it is called NEMO. And know thou that every man that is
called NEMO hath a garden that he tendeth{SUP:1}. And every garden that is and flourisheth
hath been prepared from the desert by NEMO, watered with the waters that were called
death.
And I say unto him: To what end is the garden prepared?
And he saith: First for the beauty and delight thereof; and next
because it is written, "And Tetragrammaton Elohim planted a garden eastward in
Eden." And lastly, because though every flower bringeth forth a maiden, yet is there
one flower that shall bring forth a man-child. And his name shall be called NEMO, when he
beholdeth the face of my Father. And he that tendeth the garden seeketh not to single out
the flower that shall be NEMO.
He doeth naught but tend the garden.
And I said: Pleasant indeed is the garden{SUP:2}, and light is the
toil of tending it, and great is the reward.
And he said: Bethink thee that NEMO hath beheld the face of my Father.
In Him is only Peace.
And I said: Are all gardens like unto this garden?
And he waved his hand, and in the Aire across the valley appeared an
island of coral, rosy, with green palms and fruit-trees, in the midst of
the bluest of the seas{SUP:3}.
And he waved his hand again, and there appeared a valley shut in by
mighty snow mountains, and in it were pleasant streams of water, rushing
through, and broad rivers, and lakes covered with lilies{SUP:4}.
And he waved his hand again, and there was a vision, as it were of an
oasis in the desert{SUP:5}.
And again he waved his hand, and there was a dim country with grey
rocks, and heather, and gorse, and bracken{SUP:6}.
And he waved his hand yet again, and there was a park, and a
--------------------
1. Every Magister Templi has a Work to do for the world.
{WEH Note: This boy in a white robe who stands before the face of the
Father is called Mettatron in traditional Qabalah. Qabalah also calls
Binah "Gan Eden", or "the Garden of Eden" and Chokmah "Gan",
or "the
Garden".}
2. All this is to instruct the Magister Templi in his duties.
3. Kashmir.
4. The Sahara.
5. The Highlands of Scotland.
- 86 -
small house therein, surrounded by yews{SUP:1}. This time the house opens, and I see in it
an old man, sitting by a table. He is blind. Yet he
writeth in a great book, constantly. I see what he is writing: "The words
of the Book are as the leaves of the flowers in the garden. Many indeed of
these my songs shall go forth as maidens, but there is one among them,
which one I know not, that shall be a man-child, whose name shall be NEMO, when he hath
beheld the face of the Father, and become blind."
(All this vision is most extraordinarily pleasant and peaceful,
entirely without strength or ecstasy, or any positive quality, but equally
free from the opposites of any of those qualities.) And the young man
seems to read my thought, which is, that I should love to stay in this
garden and do nothing for ever; for he sayeth to me: Come with me, and
behold how NEMO tendeth his garden{SUP:2}.
So we enter the earth, and there is a veiled figure, in absolute
darkness. Yet it is perfectly possible to see in it, so that the minutest
details do not escape us. And upon the root of one flower he pours acid so
that that root writhes as if in torture. And another he cuts, and the
shriek is like the shriek of a mandrake, torn up by the roots. And another
he chars with fire, and yet another he anoints with oil.
And I said: Heavy is the labour, but great indeed is the reward.
And the young man answered me: He shall not see the reward, he tendeth
the garden{SUP:3}.
And I said: What shall come unto him?
And he said: This thou canst not know, nor is it revealed by the
letters that are the totems of the stars, but only by the stars.
And he says to me, quite disconnectedly: The man of earth is the
adherent. The lover giveth his life unto the work among men. The hermit
goeth solitary, and giveth only of his light unto men{SUP:4}.
And I ask him: Why does he tell me that?
And he says: I tell thee not. Thou tellest thyself, for thou hast
pondered thereupon for many days, and hast not found light. And now that
thou art called NEMO, the answer to every riddle that thou hast not found
shall spring up in thy mind, unsought. Who can tell upon what day a flower
shall bloom{SUP:6}?
--------------------
1. A certain secret house of the Great White Brotherhood. Yews,
and certain other trees, as Persian Nuts, are used to indicate
to passing initiates that they have there a resting place.
2. Now follow further instructions to the Master of the Temple, how
he is to do his work.
3. Otherwise: "Art for art's sake".
4. See _AL_ I, 40. These are the three true grades of the Great Order.
5. This certainly happened.
- 87 -
And thou shalt give thy wisdom unto the world, and that shall be thy
garden. And concerning time and death, thou hast naught to do with these
things. For though a precious stone be hidden in the sand of the desert,
it shall not heed for the wind of the desert, although it be but sand. For
the worker of works hath worked thereupon; and because it is clear, it is
invisible; and because it is hard, it moveth not.
All these words are heard by everyone that is called NEMO. And with
that doth he apply himself to understanding. And he must understand the
virtue of the waters of death, and he must understand the virtue of the sun
and the wind, and of the worm that turneth the earth, and the stars that
roof in the garden. And he must understand the separate nature and
property of every flower, or how shall he tend his garden?
And I said to him: Concerning the Vision and the Voice, I would know
if these things be of essence of the Aethyr, or of the essence of the
seer{SUP:1}.
And he answers: It is of the essence of him that is called NEMO,
combined with essence of the Aethyr, for from the 1st Aethyr to the 15th
Aethyr, there is no vision and no voice, save for him that is called NEMO.
And he that seeketh the vision and the voice therein is led away by dog-
faced demons that show no sign of truth, seducing from the Sacred
Mysteries, unless his name be NEMO.
And hadst thou not been fitted, thou too hadst been led away, for
before the gate of the 15th Aethyr, is this written: He shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. And again it is written:
The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. And again it is written that God
tempteth man. But thou hadst the word and the sign, and thou hadst
authority from thy superior{SUP:2}, and licence{SUP:3}. And thou hast done well in that
thou didst not dare, and in that thou dost dare{SUP:4}. For
daring is not presumption.
And he said moreover: Thou dost well to keep silence, for I perceive
how many questions arise in thy mind; yet already thou knowest that the
answering, as the asking, must be vain. For NEMO hath all in himself. He
hath come where there is no light or knowledge, only when he needeth them
no more.
And then we bow silently, giving a certain sign, called the Sign of
Isis Rejoicing{SUP:5}. And then he remaineth to ward the
--------------------
1. The seer enquires into the objectivity of the vision. These
doubts arose in his mind because of the memory pictures in the
earlier paragraphs.
2. D.D.S.
3. Conferred December 1906 e.v.
4. O.M. refused for three years to take the grade of 8x = 3{square x}
after it was offered him. He thought it almost presumptuous, taking
it now.
5. Giving suck to babe held in left arm.
- 88 -
Aethyr, while I return unto the bank of sand that is the bed of the river
near the desert.
The River-bed near Bou-Sada.
December 4, 1909. 2:10-3:45 p.m.
The Cry of the 12th Aethyr, Which is Called LOE{SUP:1}
There appear in the stone two pillars of flame, and in the midst is a
chariot of white fire.
This seems to be the chariot of the Seventh Key of Tarot. But it is
drawn by four sphinxes, diverse, like the four sphinxes upon the door of
the vault of the adepts, counterchanged in their component parts.
The chariot itself is the lunar crescent, waning. The canopy is
supported by eight pillars of amber. These pillars are upright, and yet
the canopy which they support is the whole vault of the night.
The charioteer is a man in golden armour, studded with sapphires, but
over his shoulders is a white robe, and over that a red robe. Upon his
golden helmet he beareth for his crest a crab. His hands are clasped upon
a cup{SUP:2}, from which radiates a ruddy glow, constantly increasing, so
that everything is blotted out by its glory, and the whole Aire is filled
with it.
And there is a marvelous perfume in the Aire, like unto the perfume of
Ra Hoor Khuit, but sublimated, as if the quintessence of that perfume alone
were burnt. For it hath the richness and voluptuousness and humanity of
blood, and the strength and freshness of meal, and the sweetness of honey,
and the purity of olive-oil, and the holiness of that oil which is made of
myrrh, and cinnamon, and galangal{SUP:3}.
The charioteer speaks in a low, solemn voice, awe-inspiring, like a
large and very distant bell: Let him look upon the cup whose blood is
mingled therein, for the wine of the cup is the blood of the saints. Glory
unto the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, that rideth
upon the Beast{SUP:4}, for she hath spilt their blood in every corner of
the earth and lo! she hath mingled it in the cup of her whoredom.
--------------------
1. LOE = {Cancer}{Libra}{Virgo}. These are all aspects of Babalon.
2. The true Sangreal, of which the Christian legend is a perversion.
3. See _AL_ III, 23 - 25. The recipe for the oil is given in the
_Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage_.
4. As in Atu XI.
- 89 -
With the breath of her kisses hath she fermented it, and it hath
become the wine of the Sacrament, the wine of the Sabbath; and in the Holy
Assembly hath she poured it out for her worshippers, and they had become
drunken thereon, so that face to face they beheld my Father. Thus are they
made worthy to become partakers of the Mystery of this holy vessel, for the
blood is the life. So sitteth she from age to age, and the righteous are
never weary of her kisses, and by her murders and fornications she seduceth
the world. Therein is manifested the glory of my Father, who is truth.
(This wine is such that its virtue radiateth through the cup, and I
reel under the intoxication of it. And every thought is destroyed by it.
It abideth alone, and its name is Compassion. I understand by
"Compassion," the sacrament of suffering, partaken by the true worshippers
of the Highest. And it is an ecstasy in which there is no trace of pain.
Its passivity (=passion) is like the giving-up of the self to the beloved.)
The voice continues: This is the Mystery of Babylon, the Mother of
abominations, and this is the mystery of her adulteries, for she hath
yielded up herself to everything that liveth, and hath become a partaker in
its mystery. And because she hath made herself the servant of each,
therefore is she become the mistress of all. Not as yet canst thou
comprehend her glory.
Beautiful art thou, O Babylon, and desirable, for thou hast given
thyself to everything that liveth, and thy weakness hath subdued their
strength{SUP:1}. For in that union thou didst _understand_. Therefore art
thou called Understanding, O Babylon, Lady of the Night!
This is that which is written, "O my God, in one last rapture let me
attain to the union with the many.{SUP:2}" For she is Love, and her love
is one, and she hath divided the one love into infinite loves, and each
love is one, and equal to The One, and therefore is she passed "from the
assembly and the law and the enlightenment unto the anarchy of solitude and
darkness. For ever thus must she veil the brilliance of Her Self.{SUP:3}"
O Babylon, Babylon, thou mighty Mother, that ridest upon the crown
d
beast, let me be drunken upon the wine of thy fornications; let thy kisses
wanton me unto death, that even I, thy cup-bearer, may _understand_.
Now, through the ruddy glow of the cup, I may perceive far above, and
infinitely great, the vision of Babylon. And the Beast whereon she rideth
is the Lord of the City of the Pyramids, that I beheld in the fourteenth
Aethyr.
--------------------
1. Cf. _Tao Teh King_. Also _The Book of Lies_, Cap. 4.
2. See _Liber VII_, Cap. VII, v. 41.
3. See _Liber VII_, Cap. VII, vv 43 - 44.
- 90 -
Now that is gone in the glow of the cup, and the Angel saith: Not as yet
mayest thou understand the mystery of the Beast, for it pertaineth not unto
the mystery of this Aire, and few that are new-born unto Understanding are
capable thereof{SUP:1}.
The cup glows ever brighter and fierier. All my sense is unsteady,
being smitten with ecstasy.
And the Angel sayeth: Blessed are the saints, that their blood is
mingled in the cup, and can never be separate any more. For Babylon the
Beautiful, the Mother of abominations, hath sworn by her holy cteis,
whereof every point is a pang, that she will not rest from her adulteries
until the blood of everything that liveth is gathered therein, and the wine
thereof laid up and matured and consecrated, and worthy to gladden the
heart of my Father. For my Father is weary with the stress of eld, and
cometh not to her bed. Yet shall this perfect wine be the quintessence,
and the elixir, and by the draught thereof shall he renew his youth; and so
shall it be eternally, as age by age the worlds do dissolve and change, and
the universe unfoldeth itself as a Rose, and shutteth itself up as the
Cross that is bent into the cube.
And this is the comedy of Pan, that is played at night in the thick
forest. And this is the mystery of Dionysus Zagreus, that is celebrated
upon the holy mountain of Kithairon. And this is the secret of the
brothers of the Rosy Cross; and this is the heart of the ritual that is
accomplished in the Vault of the Adepts that is hidden in the Mountain of
the Caverns, even the Holy Mountain Abiegnus{SUP:2}.
And this is the meaning of the Supper of the Passover, the spilling of
the blood of the Lamb being a ritual of the Dark Brothers, for they have
sealed up the Pylon with blood, lest the Angel of Death should enter
therein. Thus do they shut themselves off from the company of the saints.
Thus do they keep themselves from compassion and from understanding.
Accurs
d are they, for they shut up their blood in their heart{SUP:3}.
They keep themselves from the kisses of my Mother Babylon, and in
their lonely fortresses they pray to the false moon. And they bind
themselves together with an oath, and with a great curse. And of their
malice they conspire together, and they have power, and mastery, and in
their cauldrons do they brew the harsh wine of delusion, mingled with the
poison of their selfishness.
--------------------
1. It is given in "The Urn". See also the Sixth Aire, wherein the
seer, becoming a Magus, is himself identified with the Beast, 666.
2. All these mysteries are taught in the O.T.O.
3. Here is the first account of the Black Brothers of the Left
Hand Path. Each a Exempt Adept must choose between the Crossing
of the Abyss to become a Master of the Temple, and the building
of a false tower of egoism therein.
Thus they make war upon the Holy One, sending forth their delusion
upon men, and upon everything that liveth. So that their false compassion
is called compassion, and their false understanding is called
understanding, for this is their most potent spell.
Yet of their own poison do they perish, and in their lonely fortresses
shall they be eaten up by Time that hath cheated them to serve him, and by
the mighty devil Choronzon, their master, whose name is the Second
Death{SUP:1}, for the blood that they have sprinkled on their Pylon, that
is a bar against the Angel Death, is the key by which he entereth
in{SUP:2}.
The Angel sayeth: And this is the word of double power in the voice of
the Master, wherein the Five interpenetrateth the Six{SUP:3}. This is its
secret interpretation that may not be understood, save only of _them that
understand_. And for this is the Key of the Pylon of Power, because there
is no power that may endure, save only the power that descendeth in this my
chariot from Babylon, the city of Fifty Gates, the Gate of the God On
[{HEB:Nun- final}{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Bet} {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Bet}]{SUP:4} .
Moreover is On the Key of the Vault that is 120. So also do the Majesty and the Beauty
derive from the Supernal Wisdom.
But this is a mystery utterly beyond thine understanding. For Wisdom
is the Man, and Understanding the Woman, and not until thou hast perfectly
understood canst thou begin to be wise. But I reveal unto thee a mystery
of the Aethyrs, that not only are they bound up with the Sephiroth, but
also with the Paths. Now, the plane of the Aethyrs interpenetrateth and
surroundeth the universe wherein the Sephiroth are established, and
therefore is the order of the Aethyrs not the order of the Tree of Life.
And only in a few places do they coincide. But the knowledge of the
Aethyrs is deeper than the knowledge of the Sephiroth, for that in the
Aethyrs is the knowledge of the Aeons, and of {GRK:Theta} {GRK:epsilon}{GRK:lambda}
{GRK:eta}{GRK:mu}{GRK:alpha}. And to each shall it be given according to his capacity. (He
has been saying certain secret things to the unconscious mind of the seer, of a personal
nature.)
Now a voice comes from without: And lo! I saw you to the end.
And a great bell begins to toll. And there come six little
--------------------
1. Note that the death or love of the saints is really increased
life. The formula of 156 is constant copulation or Samadhi on
everything.
2. (I think the trouble with these people was, that they wanted
to substitute the blood of someone else for their own blood,
because they wanted to keep their personalities.)
3. ABRAHADABRA.
4. Bab = gate. Al = God. On = ON. O = 70. N = 50. ON = 120.
Note that Her Name does not appear properly spelt until the
10th Aire is done. The Seer had no idea how to spell the name
till he was told by the Angel.
- 92 -
children out of the floor of the chariot, and in their hands is a veil so
fine and transparent that it is hardly visible. Yet, when they put it over
the Cup, the Angel bowing his head reverently, the light of the Cup goes
out entirely. And as the light of the Cup vanishes, it is like a swift
sunset in the whole Aire, for it was from the light of that Cup alone that
it was lighted.
And now the light is all gone out of the stone, and I am very cold.
Bou-Sada.
December 4 - 5, 1909. 11:30 p.m. - 1:20 a.m.
The Cry of the 11th Aethyr, Which is Called IKH{SUP:1}
There appears in the stone immediately the Kamea{SUP:2} of the Moon.
And it is rolled up; and behind it there appeareth a great Host of Angels.
Their backs are turned towards me, but I can see how tremendous are their
arms, which are swords and spears. They have wings upon their helmets and
their heels: they are clad in complete armour, and the least of their
swords is like the breaking forth of a tremendous storm of lightning. The
least of their spears is like a great water-spout. On their shields are
the eyes of Tetragrammaton, winged with flame, --- white, red, black,
yellow and blue. On their flanks are vast squadrons of elephants, and
behind them is their meteor-artillery. They that sit upon the elephants
are armed with the thunderbolt of Zeus.
Now in all that host there is no motion. Yet they are not resting
upon their arms, but tense and vigilant. And between them and me is the
God Shu, whom before I did not see, because his force filleth the whole
Aethyr{SUP:3}. And indeed he is not visible in his form. Nor does he come
to the seer through any of the senses; he is understood, rather than
expressed.
I perceive that all this army is defended by fortresses, nine mighty
towers{SUP:4} of iron upon the frontier of the Aethyr. Each
--------------------
1. IKH = {Sagittarius}{Dee}{Air} = {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Shin}{HEB:Aleph}, the
Supernal Triad, the Hexagon and Malkuth, the arrangement of the Tree of
Life. Also 361 Adonai ha-Aretz. For it is the formulation of the
Sephiroth which is a barrier of organic structure against the confusion
of matter.
2. Kamea --- "magic square" containing the letters corresponding to
the numbers (in this case from 1 to 81) --- so arranged that each
line, vertical or horizontal, shall add to the same total.
3. Shu is in Jesod, as the supporter of the Tree of Life, and he
is Zeus, the Lord of Air. But also Zeus is the orderer of all
things.
4. Jesod = 9
- 93 -
tower is filled with warriors in silver armour{SUP:1}. It is impossible to
describe the feeling of tension; they are like oarsmen waiting for the gun.
I perceive that an Angel is standing on either side of me; nay, I am
in the midst of a company of armed angels, and their captain is standing in
front of me. He too is clad in silver armour; and about him, closely
wrapped to his body, is a whirling wind{SUP:2}, so swift that any blow
struck against him would be broken.
And he speaketh unto me these words:
Behold, a mighty guard against the terror of things, the fastness of
the Most High, the legions of eternal vigilance; these are they that keep
watch and ward day and night throughout the aeons. Set in them is all
force of the Mighty One, yet there stirreth not one plume of the wings of
their helmets.
Behold, the foundation of the Holy City, the towers and the bastions
thereof! Behold the armies of light that are set against the outermost
Abyss, against the horror of emptiness, and the malice of Choronzon.
Behold how worshipful is the wisdom of the Master, that he hath set his
stability in the all-wandering Air and in the changeful Moon{SUP:3}. In
the purple flashes of lightning hath He written the word Eternity, and in
the wings of the swallow hath He appointed rest.
By three and by three and by three hath He made firm the foundation
against the earthquake that is three. For in the number nine is the
changefulness of the numbers brought to naught. For with whatsoever number thou wilt cover
it, it appeareth unchanged{SUP:4}.
These things are spoken unto him that understandeth, that is a
breastplate unto the elephants, or a corselet unto the angels, or a scale
upon the towers of iron; yet is this mighty host set only for a defense,
and whoso passeth beyond their lines hath no help in them.
Yet must he that understandeth go forth unto the outermost Abyss, and
there must he speak with him that is set above the four-fold terror, the
Princes of Evil, even with Choronzon, the mighty devil that inhabiteth the
outermost Abyss. And none may speak with him, or understand him, but the
servants of Babylon, that understand, and they that are without
understanding, his servants.
Behold! it entereth not into the heart, nor into the mind of man to
conceive this matter; for the sickness of the body is death, and the
sickness of the heart is despair, and the sickness of the
--------------------
1. Silver for the moon of Jesod.
2. Jesod is Air.
3. Both {Air} and {Moon} are in Jesod, Stability.
4. e.g 9 x 7 = 63. 6 plus 3 = 9. 9 x 127 = 1143. 1 plus 1 plus
4 plus 3 = 9.
- 94 -
mind is madness. But in the outermost Abyss is sickness of the aspiration,
and sickness of the will, and sickness of the essence of all, and there is
neither word nor thought wherein the image of its image is reflected.
And whoso passeth into the outermost Abyss, except he be of them that
understand, holdeth out his hands, and boweth his neck, unto the chains of
Choronzon. And as a devil he walketh about the earth, immortal, and be
blasteth the flowers of the earth, and he corrupteth the fresh air, and he
maketh poisonous the water; and the fire that is the friend of man, and the
pledge of his aspiration, seeing that it mounteth ever upward as a pyramid,
and seeing that man stole it in a hollow tube from Heaven, even that fire
he turneth unto ruin, and madness, and fever, and destruction. And thou,
that art an heap of dry dust in the city of the pyramids, must understand
these things.
And now a thing happens, which is unfortunately sheer nonsense; for
the Aethyr that is the foundation of the universe was attacked by the
Outermost Abyss, and the only way that I can express it is by saying that
the universe was shaken. But the universe was _not_ shaken. And that is
the exact truth; so that the rational mind which is interpreting these
spiritual things is offended; but, being trained to obey, it setteth down
that which it doth not understand. For the rational mind indeed reasoneth,
but never attaineth unto Understanding; but the Seer is of them that
understand.
And the Angel saith:
Behold, He hath established His mercy and His might, and unto His
might is added victory, and unto his Mercy is added splendour{SUP:1}. And all these things
hath He ordered in beauty, and He hath set them firmly
upon the Eternal Rock, and therefrom He hath suspended His kingdom as one pearl{SUP:2}
that is set in a jewel of threescore pearls and twelve{SUP:3}.
And He hath garnished it with the Four Holy Living Creatures for Guardians, and He hath
graven therein the seal of righteousness{SUP:4}, and He hath burnished it with the fire of
His Angel, and the blush of His loveliness informeth it, and with delight and with wit
hath He made it merry at the heart, and the core thereof is the Secret of His being, and
therein is His name Generation. And this His stability had the number 80, for that the
price thereof is War{SUP:5}.
Beware, therefore, O thou who art appointed to understand the secret
of the Outermost Abyss, for in every Abyss thou must assume
--------------------
1. "For they cross with the currents reflected."
2. Malkuth.
3. The 72 pearls are the quinaries of the Zodiac. They appear in
the XXIst Atu. See Liber CCXXXI (_Equinox_ I, vii), v. 21.
4. Full title of Jesod is Tzedeq Jesod Olahm, "The Righteous is
the Foundation of the World."
5. I.S.V.D., Jesod = 80, the number of p, the letter of Mars.
- 95 -
the mask and form of the Angel thereof. Hadst thou a name, thou wert
irrevocably lost. Search, therefore, if there be yet one drop of blood
that is not gathered into the cup of Babylon the Beautiful, for in that
little pile of dust, if there could be one drop of blood, it should be
utterly corrupt; it should breed scorpions and vipers, and the cat of
slime{SUP:1}.
And I said unto the Angel:
Is there not one appointed as a warden?
And he said:
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani.
Such an ecstasy of anguish racks me that I cannot give it voice, yet I
know it is but as the anguish of Gethsemane. And that is the last word of
the Aethyr. The outposts are passed, and before the seer extends the
outermost Abyss.
I am returned.
Bou-Sada.
December 5, 1909. 10:10-11:35 p.m.
In nomine BABALON
Amen.
Restriction unto Choronzon{SUP:2}.
The Tenth Aethyr{SUP:3} is Called ZAX{SUP:4}.
This Aethyr being accurs
d, and the seer forewarned, he taketh these
precautions for the scribe.
--------------------
1. This is the danger which threatens all aspirants to the Grade of
Magister Templi. Woe to those who accept it lightly, or without
the fullest preparation. {WEH Note: a "cat of slime" is a slug or
shell-less snail.}
2. Choronzon is described by Sir Edward Kelly as "that mighty devil",
as the first and deadliest of all the powers of evil. Rightly so, for
although he is not a person, he is the metaphysical contrary of the
whole Process of Magick.
3. The three Governors of this Aethyr, Lexarp, Comanan, and Tabiton,
are drawn from the "little Black Tablet" of Spirit, which united
the four watchtowers of the elements. (See _Equinox_ I, No. VII,
Plate III; facing p. 234). The one extra letter, L, is the eighth
of the reversed letters beneath the bars of the Calvary Crosses
in the watch-towers to form trilateral names which designate
malignant forces. These letters are thus impurities introduced
into the perfection of the Elementary Schema. (That they should
be attributed to the element of spirit, which harmonizes and
{footnotes continue on page 97}
- 96 -
First let the scribe be seated in the centre of the circle in the
desert sand, and let the circle be fortified by the Holy Names of God ---
Tetragrammaton and Shaddai El Chai and Ararita.
And let the Demon be invoked within a triangle, wherein is inscribed
the name of Choronzon, and about it let him write ANAPHAXETON ---
ANAPHANETON -- PRIMEUMATON, and in the angles MI-CA-EL{SUP:1}: and at each angle the Seer
shall slay a pigeon{SUP:2}, and having done this, let him retire to a secret place, where
is neither sight nor hearing, and sit within his black robe, secretly invoking the
Aethyr{SUP:3}. And let the Scribe perform the Banishing Rituals of the Pentagram and
Hexagram{SUP:4}, and let him call upon the Holy Names of God, and say the Exorcism of
Honorius{SUP:5}, and let him beseech protection and help of the Most High.
And let him be furnished with the Magick Dagger{SUP:6}, and let him
strike fearlessly at anything that may seek to break through
--------------------
{footnotes continued from page 96}
sanctifies the four, is a sublime mystery. The arcanum is declared
--- as far as may be --- in this book 418 itself). The other
7 letters form the name PARAOAN, which is the central governor
of the 22nd Aire; but here is a correspondence with I, the center
letter of LIN; this Aire discloses the glory of the Table 7 x 7,
which is pure spirit, the rose which is the heart of Babalon.
4. ZAX = {Caput Draconis}{Taurus}{Spirit}. Z is the Sun in His southern
declination, i.e. at his weakest effect on an hemisphere. Follows the
Bull, the type of the "Dying Gods", and the element of Earth. This
letter X occurs only in this, the 15th and 30th Aires. In the 15th,
water is the prima materia which is treated by being placed between the
pillars of judgement. In the 30th, it represents the reduction to mere
matter of the false structure of the Aeon of the false formula. Here X
is the basis, without constructive possibilities, of the universe; thus
the whole formula represents the weakening of the energy of the Sun,
and the falling into incoherent elements of all that is organized.
--------------------
{footnotes begin for page 97}
1. For this arrangement see the Geotia of Lemegeton of Solomon the King.
2. Concerning the bloody sacrifice, see _Book 4_, part 3, cap. 12.
For the pigeons see the text.
3. The greatest precautions were taken at the time, and have since
been yet further fortified, to keep silence concerning the rite
of evocation. The Major Adept is warned most seriously against
attempting to emulate this operation, which is (in any case)
improper for him to perform. To call forth Choronzon, unless
one be wholly above the Abyss, is to ensure the most appalling
and immediate catastrophe.
4. These are given in the _Equinox_ Vol. I, No. 2.
5. Given in the French translation by Eliphaz Levi: and in the English
by Aleister Crowley in "The Winged Beetle." ("The Magician" is
the title of that poem, see p. 228.)
6. See _Book 4_, part 2, caps. 4 and 8.
- 97 -
the circle, were it the appearance of the Seer himself. And if the Demon
pass out of the triangle, let him threaten him with the Dagger, and command
him to return. And let him beware lest he himself lean beyond the circle.
And since he reverenceth the Person of the Seer as his Teacher, let the
Seer bind him with a great Oath to do this.
Now, then, the Seer being entered within the triangle, let him take
the Victims and cut their throats, pouring the blood within the Triangle,
and being most heedful that not one drop fall without the Triangle; or else
Choronzon should be able to manifest in the universe.
And when the sand hath sucked up the blood of the victims, let him
recite the Call of the Aethyr apart secretly as aforesaid. Then will the
Vision be revealed, and the Voice heard.
_The Oath_
I, Omnia Vincam, a Probationer of A{.'.} A{.'.}, hereby solemnly
promise upon my magical honour, and swear by Adonai the angel that guardeth me, that I
will defend this magic circle of Art with thoughts and words and deeds. I promise to
threaten with the Dagger and command back into the triangle the spirit incontinent, if he
should strive to escape from it; and to strike with a Dagger at anything that may seek to
enter this Circle,
were it in appearance the body of the Seer himself. And I will be
exceeding wary, armed against force and cunning; and I will preserve with
my life the inviolability of this Circle, Amen.
And I summon mine Holy Guardian Angel to witness this mine oath, the
which if I break, may I perish, forsaken of Him. Amen and Amen.
The Cry of the 10th Aethyr, Which is Called ZAX
There is no being in the outermost Abyss, but constant forms come
forth from the nothingness of it{SUP:1}.
Then the Devil of the Aethyr, that mighty devil Choronzon, crieth
aloud, Zazaz{SUP:2}, Zazas, Nasatanada Zasas.
I am the Master of Form{SUP:3}, and from me all forms proceed.
--------------------
1. It is very difficult to give a good metaphysical interpretation
of this statement. But to one who is given this perception,
the words will appear to be the natural and inevitable expression
of the facts.
2. These words are from some vision of old time: by them Adam was
said to have opened the gates of Hell. These are the traditional
words which open the Abyss.
3. This (and many following assertions) must not be taken as true.
Choronzon is in no sense the master of anything. It is the
personification of a moral idea in a much more far-fetched way
than that in which we say "Venus is the Lady of Love". For one
can imagine Venus as a living individual being, while Choronzon
is essentially not any sort of person.
- 98 -
I am I. I have shut myself up from the spendthrifts, my gold is safe
in my treasure-chamber, and I have made every living thing my concubine,
and none shall touch them, save only I. And yet I am scorched, even while
I shiver in the wind. He hateth me and tormenteth me. He would have
stolen me from myself, but I shut myself up and mock at him, even while he
plagueth me. From me come leprosy and pox and plague and cancer and
cholera and the falling sickness. Ah! I will reach up to the knees of the
Most High, and tear his phallus with my teeth, and I will bray his
testicles in a mortar, and make poison thereof, to slay the sons of men
{SUP:1}.
(Here the Spirit stimulated the voice of Frater P., which also
appeared to come from his station and not from the triangle.)
I don't think I can get any more; I think that's all there is.
(The Frater was seated in a secret place covered completely by a black
robe{SUP:2}, in the position called the "Thunderbolt". He did not move or
speak during the ceremony.)
Next the Scribe was hallucinated, believing that before him was a
beautiful courtesan whom previously he had loved in Paris. Now, she wooed
him with soft words and glances, but he knew these things for delusions of
the devil, and he would not leave the circle.
The demon then laughed wildly and loud.
(Upon the Scribe threatening him, the Demon proceeded, after a short
delay.)
They have called me the God of laughter, and I laugh when I will slay.
And they have thought that I could not smile, but I smile upon whom I would
seduce. O inviolable one, that canst not not be tempted{SUP:3}. If thou
canst command me by the power of the Most
--------------------
1. Various elements had been bound up into a "bundle" by the energy
of the Call, and thus constituted a momentary unity capable of
sensation and of expression. The obsessing idea of any such being,
conscious that it is not a true organism, and threatened with
immediate dissolution, which in its rudimentary psychology it
is bound to dread, is of necessity, fear; and fear breeds pain,
malice, and envy. Above all there is an insane hatred for the
supposed creator because the supposed blessing of creation has
been withheld from the "bundle".
2. That of modesty, none less.
3. Here the assumed character of this courtesan who was a marvelous
mistress of irony as of fascination, intrudes upon that of the
demon proper.
- 99 -
High, know that I did indeed tempt thee, and it repenteth me. I bow myself
humbly before the great and terrible names whereby thou hast conjured and
constrained me. But thy name is mercy, and I cry aloud for pardon. Let me
come and put my head beneath thy feet, that I may serve thee. For if thou
commandest me to obedience in the Holy names, I cannot swerve therefrom,
for their first whispering is greater than the noise of all my temptests.
Bid me therefore come unto thee upon my hands and knees that I may adore
thee, and partake of thy forgiveness. Is not thy mercy infinite?
(Here Choronzon attempts to seduce the Scribe by appealing to his
pride.
But the Scribe refused to be tempted, and commanded the demon to
continue with the Aethyr.
There was again a short delay.)
Choronzon hath no form, because he is the maker of all form; and so
rapidly he changeth from one to the other as he may best think fit to
seduce those whom he hateth, the servants of the Most High.
Thus taketh he the form of a beautiful woman, or of a wise and holy
man, or of a serpent that writheth upon the earth ready to sting{SUP:1}.
And, because he is himself, therefore he is no self; the terror of
darkness, and the blindness of night, and the deafness of the adder, and
the tastelessness of stale and stagnant water, and the black fire of
hatred, and the udders of the Cat of slime; not one thing, but many things.
Yet, with all that, his torment is eternal. The sun burns him as he
writhes naked upon the sands of hell, and the wind cuts him bitterly to the
bone, a harsh dry wind, so that he is sore athirst. Give unto me, I pray
thee, one drop of water from the pure springs of Paradise, that I may
quench my thirst.
(The Scribe refused.)
Sprinkle water upon my head. I can hardly go on{SUP:2}.
(This last was spoken from the triangle in the natural voice of the
Frater, which Choronzon again simulated. But he did not succeed in taking
the Frater's form --- which was absurd!
The Scribe resisted the appeal to his pity, and conjured the demon to
proceed by the names of the Most High. Choronzon attempted also to seduce the faithfulness
of the Scribe. A long colloquy ensued. The Scribe cursed him by the Holy Names of God, and
the power of the Pentagram.{SUP:2})
--------------------
1. He actually assumed these forms at the time.
2. In this Aethyr are certain silences maintained.
- 100 -
I feed upon the names of the Most High. I churn them in my jaws, and
I void them from my fundament. I fear not the power of the Pentagram, for
I am the Master of the Triangle. My name is three hundred and thirty and
three, and that is thrice one{SUP:1}. Be vigilant, therefore, for I warn
thee that I am about to deceive thee. I shall say words that thou wilt
take to be the cry of the Aethyr, and thou wilt write them down, thinking
them to be great secrets of Magick power, and they will be only my jesting
with thee.
(Here the Scribe invoked the Angels, and the Holy Guardian Angel of
the Frater P. . . . The demon replied:)
I know the name of the Angel of thee and thy brother P. . . ., and all
thy dealings with him are but a cloak for thy filthy sorceries.
(Here the Scribe averred that he knew more than the demon, and so
feared him not, and ordered the demon to proceed.)
Thou canst tell me naught that I know not, for in me is all Knowledge:
Knowledge is my name. Is not the head of the great Serpent arisen into
Knowledge{SUP:2}?
(Here the Scribe again commanded Choronzon to continue with the call.)
Know thou that there is no Cry in the tenth Aethyr like unto the other
Cries, for Choronzon is Dispersion, and cannot fix his mind upon any one
thing for any length of time. Thou canst master him in argument, O
talkative one; thou wast commanded, wast thou not, to talk to Choronzon?
He sought not to enter the circle, or to leave the triangle, yet thou didst
prate of all these things.
(Here the Scribe threatened the demon with anger and pain and hell.
The demon replied:)
Thinkest thou, O fool, that there is any anger and any pain that I am
not, or any hell but this my spirit?
Images, images, images, all without control, all without
--------------------
1. {HEB:Nun- final}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Zain}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Vau} {HEB:Resh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Chet} =
333 = 3 x 111, and 111 = {HEB:Peh- final}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Aleph} = {HEB:Aleph} = 1. 333
alsois {GRK:alpha}{GRK:kappa}{GRK:rho}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:sigma} {GRK:iota}{GRK:alpha},
impotence, lack of control; and {GRK:alpha}
{GRK:kappa}{GRK:omicron}{GRK:lambda}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:sigma} {GRK:io ta}{GRK:alpha},
dispersion. The seer had no idea of these correspondences: nor had Dr. Dee and Sir Edward
Kelly, from whom we have the name.
2. Dath. The doctrine of the "Fall" and the "Stooping Dragon"
must be studied carefully. _Equinox_ Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 3, have
much information, with diagrams, in the "Temple of Solomon the
King". See also _Liber 777_. This question of the Abyss must
be thoroughly understood. The entire system of initiation of
the A{.'.} A{.'.} depend on these theorems. (See "One Star in Sight".
- 101 -
reason. The malice of Choronzon is not the malice of a being; it is the
quality of malice, because he that boasteth himself "I am I", hath in truth
no self, and these are they that are fallen under my power, the slaves of
the Blind One that boasted himself to be the Enlightened One. For there is
no centre, nay, nothing but Dispersion.
Woe, woe, woe, threefold to him that is led away by talk, O talkative
One.
O thou that hast written two-and-thirty books of Wisdom, and art more
stupid than an owl, by thine own talk is thy vigilance wearied, and by my
talk art thou befooled and tricked, O thou that sayest that thou shalt
endure. Knowest thou how nigh thou art to destruction? For thou that art
the Scribe hast not the understanding{SUP:1} that alone availeth against
Choronzon. And wert thou not protected by the Holy Names of God and the
circle, I would rush upon thee and tear thee. For when I made myself like
unto a beautiful woman, if thou hadst come to me, I would have rotted thy
body with the pox, and thy liver with cancer, and I would have torn off thy
testicles with my teeth. And if I had seduced thy pride, and thou hadst
bidden me to come into the circle, I would have trampled thee under foot,
and for a thousand years shouldst thou have been but one of the tape-worms
that is in me. And if I had seduced thy pity, and thou hadst poured one
drop of water without the circle, then would I have blasted thee with
flame. But I was not able to prevail against thee.
How beautiful are the shadows of the ripples of the sand!
Would God that I were dead.
For know that I am proud and revengeful and lascivious, and I prate
even as thou. For even as I walked among the Sons of God, I heard it said
that P. . . . could both will and know, and might learn at length to dare,
but that to keep silence he should never learn. O thou that art so ready
to speak, so slow to watch, thou art delivered over unto my power for this.
And now one word was necessary unto me, and I could not speak it. I behold the beauty of
the earth in her desolation, and greater far is mine, who
sought to be my naked self. Knowest thou that in my soul is utmost fear?
And such is my force and my cunning, that a hundred times have I been ready to leap, and
for fear have missed. And a thousand times am I baulked by them of the City of the
Pyramids, that set snares for my feet. More
knowledge have I than the Most High, but my will is broken, and my
fierceness is marred by fear, and I must speak, speak, speak, millions of
mad voices in my brain.
--------------------
1. Originally, for "understanding" was written "power". Choronzon
was always using some word that did not represent his thought,
because there is no proper link between his thought and speech.
Note that he never seems able to distinguish between the Frater
and the Scribe, and addresses first one, then the other, in the
same sentence.
- 102 -
With a heart of furious fancies,
Whereof I am Commander,
With a burning spear
And a horse of Air
To the wilderness I
wander.
(The idea was to keep the Scribe busy writing, so as to spring upon
him. For, while the Scribe talked, Choronzon had thrown sand into the
circle, and filled it up. But Choronzon could not think fast and
continuously, and so resorted to the device of quotation.
The Scribe had written two or three words of "Tom o'Bedlam," when
Choronzon sprang within the circle (that part of the circumference of which
that was nearest to him he had been filling up with sand all this time),
and leaped upon the Scribe, throwing him to the earth. The conflict took
place within the circle. The Scribe called upon Tetragrammaton, and
succeeded in compelling Choronzon to return into his triangle. By dint of
anger and of threatening him with the Magick Staff did he accomplish this.
He then repaired the circle. The discomfited demon now continued:)
All is dispersion. These are the qualities of things.
The tenth Aethyr is the world of adjectives, and there is no substance
therein.
(Now returneth the beautiful woman who had before tempted the Scribe.
She prevailed not.)
I am afraid of sunset, for Tum is more terrible than Ra, and Khephra
the Beetle is greater than the Lion Mau.
I am a-cold.
(Here Choronzon wanted to leave the triangle to obtain wherewith to
cover his nakedness. The Scribe refused the request, threatening the
demon. After a while the latter continued:)
I am commanded, why I know not, by him that speaketh. Were it thou,
thou little fool, I would tear thee limb from limb. I would bite off thine
ears and nose before I began with thee. I would take thy guts for fiddle-
strings at the Black Sabbath.
Thou didst make a great fight there in the circle; thou art a goodly
warrior!
(Then did the demon laugh loudly. The Scribe said: Thou canst not
harm one hair of my head.)
I will pull out every hair of thy head, every hair of thy body, every
hair of thy soul, one by one.
(Then said the Scribe: Thou hast no power.)
- 103 -
Yea, verily I have power over thee, for thou hast taken the Oath, and
art bound unto the White Brothers, and therefore have I the power to
torture thee so long as thou shalt be.
(Then said the Scribe unto him: Thou liest.)
Ask of thy brother P. . . ., and he shall tell thee if I lie!
(This the Scribe refused to do, saying that it was no concern of the
demon's.)
I have prevailed against the Kingdom of the Father, and befouled his
beard; and I have prevailed against the Kingdom of the Son, and torn off
his Phallus; but against the Kingdom of the Holy Ghost shall I strive and
not prevail. The three slain doves are my threefold blasphemy against him;
but their blood shall make fertile the sand{SUP:1}, and I writhe in
blackness and horror of hate, and prevail not.
(Then the demon tried to make the Scribe laugh at Magick, and to think
that it was all rubbish, that he might deny the names of God that he had
invoked to protect him; which, if he had doubted but for an instant, he had
leapt upon him, and gnawed through his spine at the neck.
Choronzon succeed not in his design.)
In this Aethyr is neither beginning nor end, for it is all hotch-
potch, because it is of the wicked on earth and the damned in hell. And so
long as it be hotch-potch, it mattereth little what may be written by the
sea-green incorruptible Scribe.
The horror of it will be given in another place and time, and through
another Seer, and that Seer shall be slain as a result of his revealing.
But the present Seer, who is not P. . . ., seeth not the horror, because he
is shut up, and hath no name.
(Now was there some further parleying betwixt the demon and the
Scribe, concerning the departure and the writing of the word, the Scribe
not knowing if it were meet that the demon should depart.
Then the Seer took the Holy Ring, and wrote the name BABALON, that is
victory over Choronzon, and he was no more manifest.)
(This cry was obtained on Dec. 6, 1909, between 2 and 4:15 p.m., in a
lonely valley of fine sand, in the desert near Bou-Sada. The Aethyr was
edited and revised on the following day.)
After the conclusion of the Ceremony, a great fire was kindled to
purify the place, and the Circle and Triangle were destroyed.
--------------------
1. This actually happened. On returning to Bou-Sada on another
journey this spot had begun to show signs of vegetation.
- 104 -
NOTE BY SCRIBE
Almost from the beginning of the ceremony was the Scribe overshadowed,
and he spoke as it were in spite of himself, remembering afterwards
scarcely a word of his speeches, some of which were long and seemingly
eloquent.
All the time he had a sense of being protected from Choronzon, and
this sense of security prevented his knowing fear.
Several times did the Scribe threaten to put a curse upon the demon;
but ever, before he uttered the words of the curse, did the demon obey him.
For himself, he knoweth not the words of the curse.
Also is it meet to record in this place that the Scribe several times
whistled in a Magical manner, which never before had he attempted, and the
demon was apparently much discomforted thereat.
Now knoweth the Scribe that he was wrong in holding much converse with
the demon; for Choronzon, in the confusion and chaos of his thought, is
much terrified by silence. And by silence can he be brought to obey.
For cunningly doth he talk of many things, going from subject to
subject, and thus he misleadeth the wary into argument with him. And
though Choronzon be easily beaten in argument, yet, by disturbing the
attention of him who would command him, doth he gain the victory.
For Choronzon feareth of all things concentration and silence: he
therefore who would command him should will in silence: thus is he brought
to obey.
This the Scribe knoweth; for that since the obtaining of the Accursed
Tenth Aethyr, he hath held converse with Choronzon. And unexpectedly did he obtain the
information he sought after having long refused to answer the
demon's speeches.
Choronzon is dispersion; and such is his fear of concentration that he
will obey rather than be subjected to it, or even behold it in another.
The account of the further dealings of Choronzon with the Scribe will
be found in the Record of Omnia Vincam.
- 105 -
The Cry of the 9th Aethyr, Which is Called ZIP{SUP:1}
(The terrible Curse that is the Call of the Thirty Aethyrs sounds like
a song of ecstasy and triumph; every phrase in it has a secret meaning of
blessing.)
The Shew-stone is of soft lucent white, on which the Rose-Cross shows
a brilliant yet colourless well of light.
And now the veil of the stone is rent with as clap of thunder, and I
am walking upon a razor-edge of light suspended over the Abyss, and before me and above me
are ranged the terrible armies of the Most High, like unto those in the 11th Aethyr, but
there is one that cometh forth to meet me upon the ridge, holding out his arms to me and
saying:
(v. I.) Who is this that cometh forth from the Abyss from the place of
rent garments, the habitation of him that is only a name? Who is this
that walketh upon a ray of the bright, evening star?
_Refrain_. Glory unto him that is concealed, and glory unto her
that beareth the cup, and glory unto the one that is the child and the
father of their love. Glory unto the star, and glory unto the snake,
and glory unto the swordsman of the sun. And worship and blessing
throughout the Aeon unto the name of the Beast, four-square, mystic,
wonderful!
(v. II.) Who is this that travelleth between the hosts, that is poised
upon the edge of the Aethyr by the wings of Maut? Who is this that
seeketh the House of the Virgin? _Refrain_
(v. III.) This is he that hath given up his name. This is he whose blood
hath been gathered into the cup of BABALON{SUP:2}.This is he that
sitteth, a little pile of dry dust, in the city of the Pyramids.
_Refrain_
(v. IV.) Until the light of the Father of all kindle that death.
--------------------
1. ZIP = {Leo}{Sagittarius}{Leo} = {HEB:Tet}{HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Tet} = 78,
the influence from the Most High. It is the Virgin Artemis in the
midst of the House of the Sun, in his Northern and Southern
declinations both. For her girdle is the Girdle of the World. She is
the Woman clothed with the Sun in Atu XIV.
2. BABALON = 156 = 12 x 13, which is the formula of the four watchtowers of the universe.
These watchtowers are composed of truncated pyramids, each one concealing a sphinx. They
contain the symbols
of the energies of the four elements. We may thus say that as
each watchtower contains 12 x 13 pyramids, Babalon is indicated
as Shakti. For the elements are the manifested powers of the
All-Father. Again we may consider the watchtowers as the "City
of the Pyramids" though in a sense less exalted than that usually
implied in these visions.
- 106 -
Until the breath touch that dry dust. Until the Ibis be revealed unto
the Crab, and the sixfold Star become the radiant Triangle{SUP:1}.
_Refrain_
(v. V.) Blessed is not I, not thou, not he, Blessed without name or number
who hath taken the azure of night, and crystallized it into a pure
sapphire-stone, who hath taken the gold of the sun, and beaten it into
an infinite ring, and hath set the sapphire therein, and put it upon
his finger. _Refrain_
(v. VI.) Open wide your gates, O City of God, for I bring No-one with me.
Sink your swords and your spears in salutation, for the Mother and the
Babe are my companions. Let the banquet be prepared in the palace of
the King's daughter. Let the lights be kindled; Are not we the
children of the light? _Refrain_
(v. VII.) For this is the key-stone of the palace of the King's daughter.
This is the Stone of the Philosophers. This is the Stone that is
hidden in the walls of the ramparts. Peace, Peace, Peace unto Him
that is throned therein! _Refrain_
Now then we are passed within the lines of the army, and we are come
unto a palace of which every stone is a separate jewel, and is set with
millions of moons.
And this palace is nothing but the body of a woman, proud and delicate,
and beyond imagination fair. She is like a child of twelve years old. She
has very deep eye-lids, and long lashes. Her eyes are closed, or nearly
closed. It is impossible to say anything about her. She is naked; her
whole body is covered with fine gold hairs, that are the electric flames
that are the spears of mighty and terrible Angels who breast-plates are the
scales of her skin. And the hair of her head, that flows down to her feet,
is the very light of God himself. Of all the glories beheld by the seer in
the Aethyrs, there is not one which is worthy to be compared with her
littlest finger-nail. For although he may not partake of the Aethyr,
without the ceremonial preparations, even the beholding of this Aethyr from
afar is like the partaking of all the former Aethyrs.
The Seer is lost in wonder, which is peace.
And the ring of the horizon above her is a company of glorious
Archangels with joined hands, that stand and sing: This is the daughter of
BABALON the Beautiful, that she hath borne unto the Father of All. And
unto all hath she borne her.
This is the Daughter of the King. This is the Virgin of Eternity.
This is she that the Holy One hath wrested from the Giant
--------------------
1. Cf. 15th Aire. Note this triangle for 2. It seems very important
to note that d(1 + 2) = 3, and so on.
- 107 -
Time, and the prize of them that have overcome Space. This is she that is
set upon the Throne of Understanding. Holy, Holy, Holy is her name, not
to be spoken among men. For Kor they have called her, and Malkuth, and
Betulah, and Persephone.
And the poets have feigned songs about her, and the prophets have
spoken vain things, and the young men have dreamed vain dreams; but this is she, that
immaculate, the name of whose name may not be spoken. Thought cannot pierce the glory that
defendeth her, for thought is smitten dead before her presence. Memory is blank, and in
the most ancient books of Magick are neither words to conjure her, nor adorations to
praise her.
Will bends like a reed in the temptests that sweep the borders of her
kingdom, and imagination cannot figure so much as one petal of the lilies
whereon she standeth in the lake of crystal, in the sea of glass.
This is she that hath bedecked her hair with seven stars, the seven
breaths of God that move and thrill its excellence. And she hath tired her
hair with seven combs, whereupon are written the seven secret names of God that are not
known even of the Angels, or of the Archangels, or of the
Leader of the armies of the Lord.
Holy, Holy, Holy art thou, and blessed be Thy name for ever, unto whom
the Aeons are but the pulsings of thy blood.
I am blind and deaf. My sight and hearing are exhausted.
I know only by the sense of touch. And there is a trembling from
within me.
Images keep arising like clouds, or veils, exquisite Chinese ivories,
and porcelains, and many other things of great and delicate beauty; for
such things are informed by Her spirit, for they are cast off from her into
the world of the Qliphoth, or shells of the dead, that is earth. For every
world is the shell or excrement of the world above it.
I cannot bear the Vision.
A voice comes, I know not whence: Blessed art thou, who hast seen, and
yet hast not believed. For therefore is it given unto thee to taste, and
smell, and feel, and hear, and know by the inner sense, and by the inmost
sense, so that sevenfold is thy rapture.
(My brain is so exhausted that fatigue-images appear, by pure physical
reflex action; they are not astral things at all.
And now I have conquered the fatigue by will. And by placing the shew-
stone upon my forehead, it sends cool electric thrills through my brain, so
as to refresh it, and make it capable of more rapture.
And now again I behold Her.)
- 108 -
And the Angel cometh forth, and behind him whirls a black swastika,
made of fine filaments of light that has been "interfered" with, and he
taketh me aside into a little chamber in one of the nine towers. This
chamber is furnished with maps of many mystical cities. There is a table,
and a strange lamp, that gives light by jetting four columns of vortex
rings of luminous smoke{SUP:1}. And he points to the map of the Aethyrs,
that are arranged as a flaming Sword, so that the thirty Aethyrs go into
the ten Sephiroth{SUP:2}. And the first nine are infinitely holy. And he
says, It is written in _The Book of the Law_, "If thou drink, drink by the
eight and ninety rules of art:" And this shall signify unto thee that thou
must undergo great discipline; else the Vision were lost or perverted. For
these mysteries pertain not unto thy grade. Therefore must thou invoke the
Highest before thou unveil the shrines thereof.
And this shall be thy rule: A thousand and one times shalt thou affirm
the unity{SUP:3}, and bow thyself a thousand and one times. And thou shalt
recite thrice the call of the Aethyr. And all day and all night, awake or
asleep, shall thy heart be turned as a lotus-flower unto the light. And
thy body shall be the temple of the Rosy Cross. Thus shall thy mind be
open unto the higher; and then shalt thou be able to conquer the
exhaustion, and it may be find the words -- for who shall look upon His
face and live?
Yea, thou tremblest, but from within; because of the holy spirit that
is descended into thy heart, and shaketh thee as an aspen in the wind.
They also tremble that are without, and they are shaken from without by
the earthquakes of his judgement. They have set their affections upon the
earth, and they have stamped with their feet upon the earth, and cried: It
moveth not.
Therefore hath earth opened with strong motion, like the sea, and
swallowed them. Yea, she hath opened her womb to them that lusted after
her, and she hath closed herself upon them. There lie they in torment,
until by her quaking the earth is shattered like brittle glass, and
dissolved like salt in the waters of his mercy, so that they are cast upon
the air to be blown about therein, like seeds that shall take root in the
earth; yet turn they their affections upward to the sun.
--------------------
1. This sort of chamber is to be found in many of the Secret Houses
of the Brotherhood. Here are arranged the destinies of this Planet.
2. This map may not be given to uninitiates.
3. The chapter is this: Qol: Hua Allahu achad; Allahu assamad; lam
yalid wa lam yulad; wa lam yakin lahu kufwan achad. Between
each recitation, the Seer halted and bowed. This practice was
performed during the day's march, the 1001 recitals being divived
into 13 sections (a further affirmation of the unity, for 13 =
AChD = 1) with short rests.
- 109 -
But thou, be thou eager and vigilant, performing punctually the rule.
Is it not written, "Change not so much as the style of a letter"?
Depart therefore, for the Vision of the Voice of the ninth Aethyr that
is called ZIP is passed.
Then I threw back myself into my body by my will
Bou-Sada.
December 7th, 1909. 9:30-11:10 p.m.
The Cry of the 8th Aethyr, Which is Called ZID{SUP:1}
There appears in the stone a tiny spark of light. It grows a little,
and seems almost to go out, and grows again, and it is blown about the
Aethyr, and by the wind that blows it is it fanned, and now it gathers
strength, and darts like a snake or a sword, and now it steadies itself,
and is like a Pyramid of light that filleth the whole Aethyr.
And in the Pyramid is one like unto an Angel, yet at the same time he
_is_ the Pyramid, and he hath no form because he is of the substance of
light, and he taketh not form upon him, for though by him is form visible,
he maketh it visible only to destroy it.
And he saith: The light is come to the darkness, and the darkness is
made light. Then is light married with light, and the child of their love
is that other darkness, wherein they abide that have lost name and form.
Therefore did I kindle him that had not understanding, and in _The Book of
the Law_ did I write the secrets of truth that are like unto a star and a
snake and a sword{SUP:2}.
And unto him that understandeth at last do I deliver the secrets of
truth in such wise that the least of the little children of the light may
run to the knees of the mother and be brought to understand.
And thus shall he do who will attain unto the mystery of the knowledge
and conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel:
First, let him prepare a chamber, of which the walls and the roof shall
be white, and the floor shall be covered with a carpet of black squares and
white, and the border thereof shall be blue and gold.
--------------------
1. ZID = {Leo}{Aquarius}<. These symbols refer to the attainment of the
Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
2. {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph} then did "kindle" in
order to bring us to the N.O.X. of Pan.
- 110 -
And if it be in a town, the room shall have no window, and if it be in
the country, then it is better if the window be in the roof. Or, if it be
possible, let this invocation be performed in a temple prepared for the
ritual of passing through the Tuat.
From the roof he shall hang a lamp, wherein is a red glass, to burn
olive oil. And this lamp shall he cleanse and make ready after the prayer
of sunset, and beneath the lamp shall be an altar, foursquare, & the height
shall be thrice half of the breadth or double the breadth.
And upon the altar shall be a censor, hemispherical, supported upon
three legs, of silver, and within it an hemisphere of copper, and upon the
top a grating of gilded silver, and thereupon shall he burn incense made of
four parts of olibanum and two parts of stacte, and one part of lignum
aloes, or of cedar, or of sandal. And this is enough.
And he shall also keep ready in a flask of crystal within the altar,
holy anointing oil made of myrrh and cinnamon and galangal.
And even if he be of higher rank than a Probationer, he shall yet wear
the robe of the Probationer, for the star of flame showeth forth Ra Hoor
Khuit openly upon the breast, and secretly the blue triangle that
descendeth is Nuit, and the red triangle that ascendeth is Hadit. And I am
the golden Tau in the midst of their marriage. Also, if he choose, he may
instead wear a close-fitting robe of shot silk, purple and green, and upon
it a cloak without sleeves, of bright blue, covered with golden sequins,
and scarlet within.
And he shall make himself a wand of almond wood or of hazel cut by his
own hands at dawn at the Equinox, or at the Solstice, or on the day of
Corpus Christi, or on one of the feast-days that are appointed in _The Book
of the Law_.
And he shall engrave with his own hand upon the plate of gold the Holy
Sevenfold Table, or the Holy Twelvefold Table, or some particular device.
And it shall be foursquare within a circle, and the circle shall be winged,
and he shall attach it about his forehead by a ribbon of blue silk.
Moreover, he shall wear a fillet of laurel or rose or ivy or rue, and
every day, after the prayer of sunrise, he shall burn it in the fire of the
censor.
Now he shall pray thrice daily, about sunset, and at midnight, and at
sunrise. And if he be able, he shall pray also four times between sunrise
and sunset.
The prayer shall last for the space of an hour, at the least, and he
shall seek ever to extend it, and to inflame himself in praying. Thus
shall he invoke his Holy Guardian Angel for eleven weeks, and in any case
he shall pray seven times daily during the last week of the eleven weeks.
- 111 -
And during all this time he shall have composed an invocation suitable,
with such wisdom and understanding as may be given him from the Crown, and this shall he
write in letters of gold upon the top of the altar.
For the top of the altar shall be of white wood, well polished, and in
the centre thereof he shall have placed a triangle of oak-wood, painted
with scarlet, and upon this triangle the three legs of the censor shall
stand.
Moreover, he shall copy his invocation upon a sheet of pure white
vellum, with Indian ink, and he shall illuminate it according to his fancy
and imagination, that shall be informed by beauty.
And on the first day of the twelfth week he shall enter the chamber at
sunrise, and he shall make his prayer, having first burnt the conjuration
that he had made upon the vellum in the fire of the lamp.
Then, at his prayer, shall the chamber be filled with light
insufferable for splendour, and a perfume intolerable for sweetness. And
his Holy Guardian Angel shall appear unto him, yea, his Holy Guardian Angel shall appear
unto him, so that he shall be wrapt away into the Mystery of Holiness.
All that day shall he remain in the enjoyment of the knowledge and
conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
And for three days after he shall remain from sunrise unto sunset in
the temple, and he shall obey the counsel that his Angel shall have given
unto him, and he shall suffer those things that are appointed.
And for ten days thereafter shall he withdraw himself as shall have
been taught unto him from the fullness of that communion, for he must
harmonize the world that is within with the world that is without.
And at the end of the ninety-one days he shall return into the world,
and there shall he perform that work to which the Angel shall have
appointed him.
And more than this it is not necessary to say{SUP:1}, for his Angel
shall have entreated him kindly, and showed him in what manner he may be
most perfectly involved. And unto him that hath this Master there is
nothing else that he needeth, so long as he continue in the knowledge and
conversation of the Angel, so that he shall come at last into the City of
the Pyramids.
Lo! two and twenty are the paths of the Tree, but one is the Serpent
of Wisdom; ten are the ineffable emanations, but one is the Flaming Sword.
--------------------
1. There is therefore no commentary to this passage.
- 112 -
Behold! There is an end to life and death, an end to the thrusting
forth and the withdrawing of the breath. Yea, the House of the Father is a
mighty tomb, and in it he hath buried everything whereof ye know.
All this while there hath been no vision, but only a voice, very slow
and clear and deliberate. But now the vision returns, and the voice says:
Thou shalt be called Danae, that art stunned and slain beneath the weight
of the glory of the vision that as yet thou seest not. For thou shalt
suffer many things, until thou art mightier than all the Kings of the
earth, and all the Angels of the Heavens, and all the gods that are beyond
the Heavens. Then shalt thou meet me in equal conflict, and thou shalt see
me as I am. And I will overcome thee and slay thee with the red rain of my
lightnings.
I am lying underneath this pyramid of light. It seems as if I had the
whole weight of it upon me, crushing me with bliss. And yet I know that I
am like the prophet that said: I shall see Him, but not nigh.
And the Angel sayeth: So shall it be until they that wake are asleep,
and she that sleepeth be arisen from her sleep{SUP:1}. For thou art
transparent unto the vision and the voice. And therefore in thee they
manifest not. But they shall be manifest unto them unto whom thou dost
deliver them, according unto to the word which I spake unto thee in the
Victorious City{SUP:2}.
For I am not only appointed to guard thee, but we are of the blood
royal, the guardians of the Treasure-house of Wisdom. Therefore am I
called the Minister of Ra Hoor Khuit{SUP:3}: and yet he is but the Viceroy
of the unknown King. For my name is called Aiwass, that is eight and
seventy{SUP:4}. And I am the influence of the Concealed One, and the wheel that hath eight
and seventy parts, yet in all is equivalent to the Gate
that is the name of my Lord when it is spelt fully. And that Gate is the
Path that joineth the Wisdom with the Understanding{SUP:5}.
Thus hast thou erred indeed, perceiving me in the path that leadeth
from the Crown unto the Beauty{SUP:6}. For that path bridgeth the abyss,
and I am of the supernals. Nor I, nor Thou, nor He can bridge the abyss.
It is the Priestess of the Silver Star, and the
--------------------
1. This prophecy is still (An. XXI, {Sun} in {Leo}) obscure.
2. i.e. in _The Book of the Law_.
3. Note that the Holy Guardian Angel of the Seer claims to be Aiwass,
the author of _The Book of the Law_.
4. This conceals a mystery. I have been fooled myself with my
AIVAS {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod} {HEB:Aleph} = 78.
{ENO:n} or 8 plus 70 = {HEB:Chet} and {HEB:Ayin}. {HEB:Chet} = 418, the formula of the New
Aeon; and {HEB:Ayin} or {Capricorn} is Set or Hadit, the Eye: and He is that Hadit who is
manifested as 418.
5. i.e. In Daleth.
6. i.e. In Gimel.
- 113 -
Oracles of the gods, and the Lord of the Hosts of the Mighty{SUP:1}. For
they are the servants of Babalon, and of the Beast, and of those others of
whom it is not yet spoken. And, being servants, they have no name, but we
are of the blood royal, and serve not, and therefore are we less than they.
Yet, as a man may be both a mighty warrior and a just judge, so may we
also perform this service if we have aspired and attained thereto. And
yet, with all that, they remain _themselves_, who have eaten of the
pomegranate in Hell{SUP:2}. But thou, that art new-born to understanding,
this mystery is too great for thee; and of the further mystery I will not
speak one word.
Yet for this cause am I come unto thee as the Angel of the Aethyr,
striking with my hammer upon thy bell, so that thou mightest understand the
mysteries of the Aethyr, and of the vision and the voice thereof.
For behold! he that understandeth seeth not and heareth not in truth,
because of his understanding that letteth him{SUP:3}. But this shall be
unto thee for a sign, that I will surely come unto thee unawares and appear
unto thee. And it is no odds, (_i.e_., that at this hour I appear not as I
am), for so terrible is the glory of the vision, and so wonderful is the
splendour of the voice, that when thou seest it and hearest it in truth,
for many hours shalt thou be bereft of sense. And thou shalt lie between
heaven and earth in a void place, entranced, and the end thereof shall be
silence, even as it was, not once nor twice, when I have met with thee, as
it were, upon the road to Damascus{SUP:4}.
And thou shalt not seek to better this my instruction; but thou shalt
interpret it, and make it easy{SUP:5}, for them that seek understanding.
And thou shalt give all that thou hast unto them that have need unto this
end{SUP:6}.
And because I am with thee, and in thee, and of thee, thou shalt lack
nothing. But who lack me, lack all. And I swear unto thee by Him that
sitteth upon the Holy Throne, and liveth and reigneth for ever and ever,
that I will be faithful unto this my promise, as thou art faithful unto
this thine obligation.
--------------------
1. The paths Gimel, Zayin and H bridge the Abyss. Nothing is said
of the path Vau, which also does this. The omission is probably
inadvertent.
2. See a later note. So the Master Therion is of the root Aleister
Crowley, instead of being a Magus de novo.
3. All interpretation is, in essence, false, as transplanting one
thing from one plane to another.
4. It is not fitting to comment on the fulfillment of this prophecy.
5. This is being done through the established ways of the Great
White Brotherhood.
6. This has always been done.
- 114 -
Now another voice sounds in the Aethyr, saying: And there was darkness
over all the earth unto the ninth hour.
And with that the Angel is withdrawn, and the pyramid of light seems
very far off.
And now I am fallen unto the earth, exceeding weary. Yet my skin
trembles with the impact of the light, and all my body shakes. And there
is a peace deeper than sleep upon my mind. It is the body and the mind
that are weary, and I would that they were dead, save that I must bend them
to my work.
And now I am in the tent, under the stars.
The Desert between Bou-Sada and Biskra.
December 8, 1909. 7:10-9:10 p.m.
The Cry of the 7th Aethyr, Which is Called DEO{SUP:1}
The stone is divided, the left half dark, the right half light, and at
the bottom thereof is a certain blackness, of three divergent columns. And
it seems as if the black and white halves are the halves of a door, and in
the door is a little key-hole, in the shape of the Astrological symbol of
Venus. And from the key-hole issue flames, blue and green and violet, but
without any touch of yellow or red in them. It seems as if there were a
wind beyond the door, that is blowing the flame out.
And a voice comes: "Who is he that hath the key to the gate of the
evening star?"
And now an Angel cometh and seeketh to open the door by trying many
keys. And they are none of any avail. And the same voice saith: "The five
and the six are balanced in the word Abrahadabra, and therein is the
mystery disclosed. But the key unto this gate is the balance of the seven
and the four; and of this thou hast not even the first letter. Now there
is a word of four letters that containeth in itself all the mystery of the
Tetragrammaton{SUP:2}, and there is a word of seven letters which it
concealeth{SUP:3}, and that again concealeth the holy word that is the key
of the abyss{SUP:4}. And this thou shalt find, revolving it in thy mind.
--------------------
1. DEO = <{Virgo}{Libra}. These symbols pertain to Babalon.
2. TARO: it conceals all the mysteries of Tetragrammaton through
the cards which declare him.
3. This may be Babalon, for Malkuth concealeth Binah. Also 156 = 2 x 78.
4. This word is N.O.X. = , Babalon conceals this word because
She is the Lady of the City of the Pyramids beneath the Night
of Pan. These words are probably BABALON, ChAOS, TARO.
- 115 -
Hide therefore thine eyes. And I will set my key in the lock, and
open it. Yet still let thine eyes be hidden, for thou canst not bear the
glory that is within.
So, therefore, I covered mine eyes with my hands. Yet through my
hands could I perceive a little of those bowers of azure flame.
And a voice said: It is kindled into fire that was the blue breast of
ocean; because this is the bar of heaven, and the feet of the Most High are
set thereon.
Now I behold more fully: Each tongue of flame, each leaf of flame,
each flower of flame, is one of the great love-stories of the world, with
all its retinue of _mise-en-sc
ne_. And now there is a most marvelous rose
formed from the flame, and a perpetual rain of lilies and passion-flowers
and violets. And there is gathered out of it all, yet identical with it,
the form of a woman like the woman in the Apocalypse, but her beauty and
her radiance are such that one cannot look thereon, save with sidelong
glances. I enter immediately into trance. It seems that it is she of whom
it is written, "The fool hath said in his heart 'there is no God.'" But
the words are not Ain Elohim, but La (=nay!) and Elohim contracted from 86 to 14, because
La is 31, which x 14 is 434, Daleth, Lamed, Tau. This fool is the fool of the Path of
Aleph, and sayeth, which is Chokmah, in his
heart, which is Tiphereth, that she existeth, in order first that the
Wisdom may be joined with the Understanding; and he affirmeth her
in Tiphereth that she may be fertile.
It is impossible to describe how this vision changeth from glory unto
glory, for at each glance the vision is changed. And this is because she
transmitteth the Word to the Understanding, and therefore hath she many
forms, and each goddess of love is but a letter of the alphabet of love.
Now, there is a mystery in the word Logos, that containeth the three
letters whose analogy hath been shown in the lower heavens, Samech, and
Lamed, and Gimel, that are 93, which is thrice 31, and in them are set the
two eyes of Horus{SUP:1}. (Ayin means an eye.) For, if it were not so,
the arrow could not pierce the rainbow, and there could be no poise in the
balance, and the Great Book should never be unsealed. But this is she that
poureth the Water of Life upon her head, whence it floweth to fructify the
earth{SUP:2}. But now the whole Aethyr is the most brilliant peacock blue.
It _is_ the Universal Peacock that I behold.
And there is a voice: Is not this bird the bird of Juno, that is an
hundred, and thirty, and six{SUP:3}? And therefore is she the mate of
Jupiter{SUP:4}.
--------------------
1. i.e. the two letters O.O = {Capricorn}, the Eye.
2. Refers to ATU XVII, "The Star", which shows this figure.
3. {HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Nun}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Yod} = 136.
4. The fourth of the mystic numbers of Jupiter is 136.
- 116 -
And now the peacock's head is again changed into a woman's head
sparkling and coruscating with its own light of gems.
But I look upwards, seeing that she is called the footstool of the
Holy One, even as Binah is called His throne. And the whole Aethyr is full
of the most wonderful bands of light, --- a thousand different curves and
whorls, even as it was before, when I spake mysteries of the Holy Qabalah,
and so could not describe it.
Oh, I see vast plains beneath her feet, enormous deserts studded with
great rocks; and I see little lonely souls, running helplessly about,
minute black creatures like men{SUP:1}. And they keep up a very curious
howling, that I can compare to nothing that I have ever heard; yet it is
strangely human.
And the voice says: These are they that grasped love and clung
thereto, praying ever at the knees of the great goddess. These are they
that have shut themselves up in fortresses of Love.
Each plume of the peacock is full of eyes, that are at the same time 4
x 7. And for this is the number 28 reflected down into Netzach; and that
28 is Kaph Cheth (Kach), power. For she is Sakti, the eternal energy of
the Concealed One. And it is her eternal energy that hath made this
eternal change. And this explaineth the call of the Aethyrs, the curse
that was pronounced in the beginning being but the creation of Sakti. And
this mystery is reflected in the legend of the Creation, where Adam
represents the Concealed One, for Adam is Temurah of MAD, the Enochian word for God, and
Eve, whom he created for love, is tempted by the snake,
Nechesh, who is Messiah her child. And the snake is the magical power,
which hath destroyed the primordial equilibrium.
And the garden is the supernal Eden, where is Ayin, 70, the Eye of the
Concealed One, and the creative Lingam; and Daleth, love; and Nun the
serpent2. And therefore this constitution was implicitly in the nature of
Eden (cf. _Liber__ __L_., I., 29, 30), so that the call of the Aethyrs
could not have been any other call than that which it is.
But they that are without understanding have interpreted all this
askew, because of the Mystery of the Abyss, for there is no Path from Binah
unto Chesed; and therefore the course of the Flaming Sword was no more a
current, but a spark. And when the Stooping Dragon raised his head unto
Dath in the course of that spark, there was, as it were, an explosion, and
his head was blasted. And the ashes thereof were dispersed throughout the
whole of the 10th Aethyr. And for this, all knowledge is piecemeal, and it
is of no value unless it be co-ordinated by Understanding.
And now the form of the Aethyr is the form of a mighty Eagle of ruddy
brass. And the plumes are set alight, and are whirled
--------------------
1. Again the Black Brothers.
2. Eden = {HEB:Nun-final}{HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Ayin} = 124.
- 117 -
round and round until the whole heaven is blackness with these flying
sparks therein.
Now it is all branching streams of golden fire tipped with scarlet at
the edges{SUP:1}.
And now She cometh forth again, riding upon a dolphin. Now again I
see those wandering souls, that have sought restricted love, and have not
understood that "the word of sin is restriction."
It is very curious; they seem to be looking for one another or for
something, all the time, constantly hurrying about. But they knock up
against one another and yet will not see one another, or cannot see one
another, because they are so shut up in their cloaks.
And a voice sounds: It is most terrible for the one that hath shut
himself up and made himself fast against the universe. For they that sit
encamped upon the sea in the city of the Pyramids are indeed shut up. But
they have given their blood, even to the last drop, to fill the cup of
BABALON.
These that thou seest are indeed the Black Brothers, for it is
written: "He shall laugh at their calamity and mock them when their fear
cometh." And therefore hath he exalted them unto the plane of love.
And yet again it is written: He desireth not the death of a sinner,
but rather that he should turn from his wickedness. Now, if one of these
were to cast off his cloak he should behold the brilliance of the lady of
the Aethyr; but they will not.
And yet again there is another cause wherefore He hath permitted them
to enter thus far within the frontiers of Eden, so that His thought should
never swerve from compassion. But do thou behold the brilliance of Love,
that casteth forth seven stars upon thine head from her right hand, and
crowneth thee with a crown of seven roses. Behold! She is seated upon the
throne of turquoise and lapis lazuli, and she is like a flawless emerald,
and upon the pillars that support the canopy of her throne are sculptured
the Ram, and the Sparrow, and the Cat, and a strange fish{SUP:2}. Behold!
How she shineth! Behold! How her glances have kindled all these fires
that have blown about the heavens! Yet remember that in every one there
goeth forth for a witness the justice of the Most High. Is not Libra the
House of Venus? And there goeth forth a sickle that shall reap every
flower. Is not Saturn exalted in Libra? Daleth, Lamed, Tau{SUP:3}.
And therefore was he a fool who uttered her name in his heart,
--------------------
1. These visions seem defects of concentration; or rather, necessary
rest for the over-strained seer.
2. All sacred to Her, in virtue of certain of Her qualities.
3. Daleth, {HEB:Dalet}, is spelt {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Dalet}.
- 118 -
for the root of evil is the root of breath, and the speech in the silence
was a lie.
Thus is it seen from below by them that understand not. But from
above he rejoiceth, for the joy of dissolution is ten thousand, and the
pang of birth but a little{SUP:1}.
And now thou shalt go forth from the Aethyr, for the voice of the
Aethyr is hidden and concealed from thee because thou hadst not the key of
the door thereof, and thine eyes were not able to bear the splendour of the
vision. But thou shalt meditate upon the mysteries thereof, and upon the
lady of the Aethyr; and it may be by the wisdom of the Most High that the
true voice of the Aethyr, that is continual song, may be heard of thee.
Return therefore instantly unto the earth, and sleep not for a while;
but withdraw thyself from this matter. And it shall be enough.
Thus then was I obedient unto the voice, and returned into my body.
W'ain-T-Aissha, Algeria.
December 9, 1909. 8:10-10 p.m.
The Cry of the 6th Aethyr, Which is Called MAZ{SUP:2}
There cometh into the stone the great Angel whose name is Av{SUP:3},
and in him there are symbols which strive for mastery, --- Sulphur and the
Pentagram, and they are harmonized by the Swastika{SUP:4}. These symbols are found both in
the name of Av{SUP:5} and in the name of the Aethyr.
Thus he is neither Horus nor Osiris. He is called the radiance of Thoth;
and this Aethyr is very hard to understand, for the images form and
dissolve more rapidly than lightning. These images are the illusions made
by the Ape of Thoth. And this I understand, that I am not worthy to
receive the mysteries of this Aethyr. And all this which I have seen
(being all the
--------------------
1. See _AL_ I, 30.
2. MAZ ={Aquarius}{Taurus}{Leo} = 105 = to change. Also 105 = d1-14.
3. See Dr. John Dee and Sir Edward Kelly.
4. {Sulphur} is the active Fiery Nature, and the the Microcosm of the
Elements. But Atu IV, The Emperor, refers to {HEB:Heh} = 5, and he
forms {Sulphur}, the sign for Sulphur, by the position of his arms and
legs. Then harmonizes these, being the fiery thunderbolt, the
electric whirling; and also the balance of the elements (its 4 arms) in
a Microcosm.
5. A = {HEB:Aleph} the Swastika; V = {HEB:Vau} = Atu V, the Pentagram;
E = {Aries} and Atu IV, {Sulphur}.
- 119 -
thoughts that I have ever thought) is, as it were, a guardian of the
Aethyr{SUP:1}.
I seem quite helpless. I am trying all sorts of magical methods of
piercing the veil: and the more I strive, the farther away I seem to get
from success. But a voice comes now: Must not understanding lie open unto
wisdom as the pyramids lie open to the stars?
Accordingly, I wait in a certain magical posture which it is not
fitting to disclose, and above me appears the starry heaven{SUP:2} of
night, and one star greater than all the other stars. It is a star of
eight rays. I recognize it as the star in the seventeenth key of the
Tarot, as the Star of Mercury. And the light of it cometh from the path of
Aleph. And the letter Cheth is also involved in the interpretation of this
star, and the paths of he' and vau are the separations which this Star
unites{SUP:3}. And in the heart of the star is an exceeding splendour, ---
a god standing upon the moon, brilliant beyond imagining{SUP:4}. It is
like unto the vision of the Universal Mercury. But this is the Fixed
Mercury, and he' and vau are the perfected sulphur and salt. But now
I come into the centre of the maze, and whirling dust of stars and great
forgotten gods. It is the whirling Svastika which throws off all these
things, for the Svastika is in aleph by the shape and number{SUP:5}, and in
beth by the position of the arms of the Magician{SUP:6}, and in gimel
{SUP:7} because of the sign of the Mourning of Isis, and thus is the Crown
defended by these three thunderbolts. Is not thrice seventeen fifty-one,
that is, failure and pain?
Now I am shut out again by this black Svastika with a corona of fire
about it.
And a voice cries: Cursed be he that shall uncover the nakedness of
the Most High, for he is drunken upon the wine that is the blood of the
adepts. And BABALON hath lulled him to sleep upon her breast, and she hath fled away, and
left him naked, and she hath called her children together, saying: Come up with me, and
--------------------
1. {Aquarius} = the Man, the Pentagram; A, the Swastika; {Leo} the House
of {Sulphur}.
2. Masloth = the sphere of Chokmah = {Mercury}. {HEB:Vau} and {HEB:Heh}
lead from Chesed and Tiphareth to Chokmah.
3. Atu XVII has the letter {HEB:Heh} in the new Thelemic attribution.
The Star is {Mercury} (Chokmah), for He is the light of Binah, the
naked woman of the Atu. (Her arms make the Swastika; it is the
sign of the Mourning of Isis. Aleph is the Path through which
the light of Kether comes to Chokmah. Cheth is said in the Zohar
to interpret H; and Cheth is the Path which conveys the Cup
of Binah to the Inferiors. {Mercury} Unites H and Vau, for they are
{Sulphur} and {Salt} (V = the Kerub of {Spirit}).
4. Tahuti is sometimes so shewn.
5. The has 17 squares. 17 = IAO, the Triune Kether.
6. In Atu I.
7. 3. For {HEB:Gemel} is {Moon}, Isis.
- 120 -
let us make a mock of the nakedness of the Most High.
And the first of the adepts covered His shame with a cloth, walking
backwards; and was white. And the second of the adepts covered His shame with a cloth,
walking sideways and was yellow. And the third of the adepts made a mock of His nakedness,
walking forwards; and was black. And these are three great schools of the Magi, who are
also the three Magi that journeyed unto Bethlehem; and because thou hast not wisdom, thou
shalt not know which school prevaileth, or if the three schools be not one{SUP:1}.
For the Black Brothers lift not up their heads thus far into the Holy
Chokmah, for they were all drowned in the great flood, which is Binah,
before the true vine could be planted upon the holy hill of Zion.
Now again I stand in the centre, and all things whirl by with
incessant fury. And the thought of the god entereth my mind, and I cry
aloud: Behold, the volatile is become fixed; and in the heart of eternal
motion is eternal rest. So is the Peace beneath the sea that rageth with
her storms; so is the changeful moon, the dead planet that revolveth no
more. So the far-seeing, the far-darting hawk is poised passionless in the
blue; so also the ibis that is long of limb meditateth solitary in the sign
of Sulphur. Behold, I stand ever before the Eternal One in the sign of the
Enterer{SUP:2}. And by virtue of my speech is he wrapped about in silence, and he is
wrapped in mystery by me, who am the Unveiler of the Mysteries.
And although I be truth, yet do they call me rightly the God of Lies, for
speech is two-fold, and truth is one{SUP:3}. Yet I stand at the centre of
the spider's web, whereof the golden filaments reach to infinity{SUP:4}.
But thou that art with me in the spirit-vision art not with me by
right of Attainment, and thou canst not stay in this place to behold how I
run and return, and who are the flies that are caught in my web. For I am
the inmost guardian that is immediately before the shrine.
None shall pass by me except he slay me{SUP:5}, and this is his curse,
that, having slain me, he must take my office and become the maker of
Illusions, the great deceiver, the setter of snares{SUP:6}; he who baffleth
even them that have understanding. For I stand on every path, and turn
them aside from the truth by my words, and by my magick arts.
--------------------
1. 4. This doctrine of the Three Schools is of extreme interest.
Roughly, it may be said that the White is the Pure Mystic, whose
attitude to God is one of reverence. The Yellow School conceals
the Mysteries indeed, but examines them as it goes. The Black
School is that of pure Skepticism.
2. Of Horus; or, of Projection of Energy.
3. See _Liber Magi_.
4. i.e. He is also Solar. For the identification of Sol with Mercury
(in some aspects) see "The Paris Working."
5. The crucifixion of a toad in AN XII.
6. See _Liber Magi_.
- 121 -
And this is the horror{SUP:1} that was shown by the lake that was nigh unto the City of
the Seven Hills{SUP:2}, and this is the Mystery of the great
prophets that have come unto mankind. Moses, and Buddha, and Lao Tan, and Krishna, and
Jesus{SUP:3}, and Osiris, and Mohammed; for all these attained unto the grade of Magus,
and therefore were they bound with the curse of Thoth. But, being guardians of the truth,
they have taught nothing but
falsehood, except unto such as understood; for the truth may not pass the
Gate of the Abyss{SUP:4}.
But the reflection of the truth hath been shown in the lower
Sephiroth. And its balance is in Beauty, and therefore have they who
sought only beauty come nearest to the truth. For the beauty receiveth
directly three rays from the supernals, and the others no more than
one{SUP:5}. So, therefore, they that have sought after majesty and power
and victory and learning and happiness and gold, have been discomfited.
And these sayings are the lights of wisdom that thou mayst know thy Master,
for he is a Magus. And because thou didst eat of the Pomegranate in hell,
for half the year art thou concealed, and half the year revealed{SUP:6}.
Now I perceive the Temple that is the heart of this Aethyr{SUP:7}; it
is an Urn suspended in the air, without support, above the centre of a
well. And the well hath eight pillars, and a canopy above it, and without
there is a circle of marble paving-stones, and without them a great outer
circle of pillars. And beyond there is the forest of the stars. But the
Urn is the wonderful thing in all this; it is made of fixed Mercury; and
within it are the ashes of the Book Tarot{SUP:8}, which hath been utterly
consumed{SUP:9}.
--------------------
1. See "The King of the Wood", a story by Aleister Crowley of a
Priest of Nemi.
2. The Lake of Nemi. See J. G. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_.
3. This name is cunningly slipped in by the Art of the God, for
"Jesus" is but the figure-head used by the priests for their
"Great Sorcery".
4. See again _Liber Magi_ for this disheartening doctrine.
5. See the Tree of Life.
6. It has been curiously true, that the Seer since this time has
usually been concealed in A Great Magical Retirement for about
half of every year. This doctrine of the eating of the pomegranate
refers to the fact that he refused to adopt one of the routine
methods of success in Magick. He, being the Beast, 666, felt
that he must keep his hold on Tiphereth by maintaining the Formula
of the Rosy Cross.
7. This is like the Temple of Vesta at Rome in some way.
8. This perhaps is also the karma of the new Magus. Somewhere it
says that a white ash is prepared from the dust of NEMO by Hermes,
the Invisible. For Urn see Azbogah {Mercury} = {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Koph} =
a pot, 24. But it may be 86 = {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Koph} q.v.
9. The Master of the Temple who is chosen to proceed to the Grade
of Magus has his little Pyramid of Dust consumed to ashes, and
these are preserved in this Urn.
- 122 -
And this is that mystery which is spoken of in the Acts of the
Apostles; that Jupiter and Mercury (Kether and Chokmah) visited (that is,
inspired), Ephesus, the City of Diana{SUP:1}, Binah --- was not Diana a
black stone? -- and they burnt their books of magick.
Now it seems that the centre of infinite space is that Urn, and Hadit
is the fire that hath burnt up the book Tarot. For in the book Tarot was
preserved all of the wisdom (for the Tarot was called the Book of Thoth),
of the Aeon that is passed. And in the Book of Enoch was first given the
wisdom of the New Aeon. And it was hidden for three hundred years, because it was wrested
untimely from the Tree of Life by the hand of a desperate magician{SUP:2}. For it was the
Master{SUP:3} of that Magician who overthrew the power of the Christian church; but the
pupil rebelled against the master, for he foresaw that the New (i.e., the Protestant)
would be worse than the Old. But he understood not the purpose of his Master, and that
was, to prepare the way for the overthrowing of the Aeon{SUP:4}.
There is a writing upon the Urn of which I can but read the (two)
words: Stabat Crux juxta Lucem. Stabat Lux juxta Crucem.
And there is writing in Greek above that. The word "nox" written in
Greek, and a circle with a cross in the centre of it, a St. Andrew's
cross{SUP:5}.
Then above that is a sigil(?), hidden by a hand{SUP:6}.
And a voice proceedeth from the Urn: From the ashes of the Tarot who
shall make the phoenix-wand? Not even he who by his understanding hath
made the lotus-wand to grow in the Great Sea. Get thee back, for thou art
not an Atheist, and though thou have violated thy mother, thou hast not
slain thy father{SUP:7}. Get thee back from the Urn; thy ashes are not
hidden here{SUP:8}.
Then again arose the God Thoth, in the sign of the Enterer, and he
drove the seer from before his face. And he fell through the starry night
unto the little village in the desert.
Benishrur, Algeria.
December 10, 1909. 7:40-9:40 p.m.
--------------------
1. Vesta = {Virgo}.
2. Sir Edward Kelly. The reference is to the famous passage which
Dee maintained to be given by demons. It taught that there was
no sin, etc.
3. Martin Luther.
4. Martin Luther's magical act of cohabitation with a nun was the
key to this doctrine.
5. = {GRK:Nu}{GRK:Omicron}{GRK:Chi} = N.O.X.
6. All this required a Magus to see properly.
7. This again means that the Magus 9x = 2{square x} must burn up all his
karma.
8. This fact is now maintained openly. As to Atheists
see _Liber LXV_, V. 34 - 40. Also 5th Aire; the Magister Templi
is already being subtly prepared to attain to be a Magus.
- 123 -
The Cry of the 5th Aethyr, Which is Called LIT{SUP:1}
There is a shining pylon, above which is set the sigil of the eye,
within the shining triangle. Light streams through the pylon from before
the face of Isis-Hathor, for she weareth the lunar crown of cows' horns,
with the disk in the centre; at her breast she beareth the child
Horus{SUP:2}.
And there is a voice: thou knowest not how the Seven was united with
the Four; much less then canst thou understand the marriage of the Eight
and the Three. Yet there is a word wherein these are made one{SUP:3}, and therein is
contained the Mystery that thou seekest, concerning the rending asunder of the veil of my
Mother.
Now there is an avenue of pylons (not one alone), steep after steep,
carved from the solid rock of the mountain; and that rock is a substance
harder than diamond, and brighter than light, and heavier than lead. In
each pylon is seated a god. There seems an endless series of these pylons.
And all the gods of all the nations of the earth are shown, for there are
many avenues, all leading to the top of the mountain.
Now I come to the top of the mountain, and the last pylon opens into a
circular hall, with other pylons leading out of it, each of which is the
last pylon of a great avenue; there seem to be nine such pylons. And in
the centre is a shrine, a circular table, supported by marble figures of
men and women, alternate white and black; they face inwards, and their
buttocks are almost worn away by the kisses of those who have come to
worship that supreme God, who is the single end of all these diverse
religions. But the shrine itself is higher than a man may reach.
But the Angel that was with me lifted me, and I saw that the edge of
the altar, as I must call it, was surrounded by holy men. Each has in his
right hand a weapon --- one a sword, one a spear, one a thunderbolt, and so
on, but each with his left hand gives the sign of silence. I wish to see
what is within their ring. One of them bends forward so that I may whisper
the pass-word. The Angel prompts me to whisper: "There is no god." So
they let me pass, and though there was indeed nothing visible therein, yet
there was a very strange atmosphere, which I could not understand.
Suspended in the air there is a silver star, and on the
--------------------
1. LIT = {Cancer}{Sagittarius}{Caput Draconis}. Luna is the mother of the
Beginning: Caput Draconis, the Angel of the Aethyr: {Sagittarius} is
the arrow of the main vision.
2. Compare certain mysteries in _Liber AL_ with the above.
3. BAPHOMET, in which three vowels are equilibrated with five consonants.
He is also BABALON after a certain mystery, and Zeus Arrhenoteleus.
Hence the allusion at the end of this sentence.
- 124 -
forehead of each of the guardians there is a silver star{SUP:1}. It is a
pentagram, --- because, says the Angel, three and five are eight; three and
eight are eleven. (There is another numerical reason that I cannot hear.)
And as I entered their ring, they bade me stand in their circle, and a
weapon was given unto me. And the pass-word that I had given seems to have been whispered
round from one to the other, for each one nods gravely as if in solemn acquiescence, until
the last one whispers the same words in my ears. But they have a different sense. I had
taken them to be a denial of
the existence of God, but the man who says them to me evidently means
nothing of the sort: What he does mean I cannot tell at all. He slightly
emphasized the word "there"{SUP:2}.
And now all is suddenly blotted out{SUP:3}, and instead appears the
Angel of the Aethyr. He is all in black, burnished black scales, just
edged with gold. He has vast wings, with terrible claws on the ends, and
he has a fierce face, like a dragon's, and dreadful eyes that pierce one
through an through.
And he says: O thou that art so dull of understanding, when wilt thou
begin to annihilate thyself in the mysteries of the Aethyrs? For all that
thou thinkest is but thy thought; and as there is no god in the ultimate
shrine, so there is no I in thine own Cosmos.
They that have said this are of them that understood. And all men
have misinterpreted it, even as thou didst misinterpret it. He says some
more: I cannot catch it properly, but it seems to be to the effect that the
true God is equally in all the shrines, and the true I in all the parts of
the body and the soul. He speaks with such a terrible roaring that it is
impossible to hear the words; one catches a a phrase here and there, or a
glimpse of the idea. With every word he belches forth smoke, so that the
whole Aethyr becomes full of it.
And now I hear the Angel: Every particle of matter that forms the
smoke of my breath is a religion that hath flourished among the inhabitants
of the worlds. Thus are they all whirled forth in my breath.
Now he is giving a demonstration of this Operation. And he says: Know
thou that all the religions of all the worlds end herein, but they are only
the smoke of my breath, and I am only the head of the Great Dragon that
eateth up the Universe; without whom the Fifth Aethyr would be perfect,
even as the first. Yet
--------------------
1. The Star of the A{.'.} A{.'.}.
2. Possibly the meaning is: In the Shrine seek not for God. For
He is everywhere. But in such a place as this all possible meanings
are equally true.
3. This reception among the atheists is a necessary prelude to the
vision of the Aethyr itself.
- 125 -
unless he pass by me, can no man come unto the perfections.
And the rule is ended that hath bound thee, and this shall be thy
rule: that thou shalt purify thyself, and anoint thyself with perfume; and
thou shalt be in the sunlight, the day being free from clouds. And thou
shalt make the Call of the Aethyr in silence.
Now, then, behold how the head of the dragon is but the tail of the
Aethyr! Many are they that have fought their way from mansion to mansion
of the Everlasting House, and beholding me at last have returned,
declaring, "Fearful is the aspect of the Mighty and Terrible One." Happy
are they that have known me for whom I am. And glory unto him that hath
made a gallery of my throat for his arrow of truth, and the moon for his
purity{SUP:1}.
The moon waneth. The moon waneth. The moon waneth. For in that
arrow is the Light of Truth that overmastereth the light of the sun,
whereby she shines. The arrow is fledged with the plumes{SUP:2} of Maat,
that are the plumes of Amoun, and the shaft is the phallus of Amoun, the
Concealed One. And the barb{SUP:3} thereof is the star that thou sawest in
the place where was No God.
And of them that guarded the star, there was not found one worthy to
wield the Arrow. And of them that worshipped there was not found one
worthy to behold the Arrow. Yet the star that thou sawest was but the barb
of the Arrow, and thou hadst not the wit to grasp the shaft, or the purity
to divine the plumes. Now therefore is he blessed that is born under the
sign of the Arrow{SUP:4}, and blessed is he that hath the sigil of the head
of the crowned lion and the body of the Snake and the Arrow therewith
{SUP:5}.
Yet do thou distinguish between the upward and the downward Arrows,
for the upward arrow is straitened in its flight, and it is shot by a firm
hand, for Jesod is Jod Tetragrammaton{SUP:6}, and Jod is a hand, but the
downward arrow is shot by the topmost point of the Jod; and that Jod is the
Hermit{SUP:7}, and it is the minute point that is not extended, that is
nigh unto the heart of Hadit{SUP:8}.
And now it is commanded thee that thou withdraw thyself from the
Vision, and on the morrow, at the appointed hour, shall it be given thee
further, as thou goest upon thy way, meditating this
--------------------
1. {Moon}, {Sagittarius} and {Caput Draconis} (Caput Draconis, in the name of the Aethyr.)
2. Lamed = Justice.
3. Aleph = the Pentagram.
4. Query: refers to Sir Edward Kelly, the true Adeptus Major, who
founded this whole work of the Watchtowers and the Aethyrs.
5. This seems to refer partly to the Seer himself, but partly to
Cagliostro, who was one of the incarnations of him who is now the Seer.
6. See the _Zohar_. Yesod is the Phallus of the Most High.
7. Yod = {Virgo}.
8. See _AL_ II, 6 etc. the whole passage is a mystery of the path
of {Sagittarius}.
- 126 -
mystery. And thou shalt summon the Scribe, and that which shall be
written, shall be written.
Therefore I withdraw myself, as I am commanded.
The Desert Between Benshrur and Tolga.
December 12, 1909, 7 - 8:12 p.m.
Now then art thou approached unto an august Arcanum; verily thou art
come unto the ancient Marvel, the winged light, the Fountains of Fire, the
Mystery of the Wedge. But it is not I that can reveal it, for I have never
been permitted to behold it, who am but the watcher upon the threshold of
the Aethyr{SUP:1}. My message is spoken, and my mission is accomplished.
And I withdraw myself, covering my face with my wings, before the presence of the Angel of
the Aethyr.
So the Angel departed with bowed head, folding his wings across.
And there is a little child in a mist of blue light; he hath golden
hair, a mass of curls, and deep blue eyes. Yea, he is all golden, with a
living, vivid gold. And in each hand he hath a snake; in the right hand a
red, in the left a blue. And he hath red sandals, but no other
garment{SUP:2}.
And he sayeth: is not life a long initiation unto sorrow? And is not
Isis the Lady of Sorrow? And she is my mother. Nature is her name, and
she hath a twin sister Nephthys, whose name is Perfection. And Isis must
be known of all, but of how few is Nephthys known! Because she is dark,
therefore is she feared.
But thou who hast adored her without fear, who hast made thy life an
initiation into her Mystery, thou that hast neither mother nor father, nor
sister nor brother, nor wife nor child, who hast made thyself lonely as the
hermit crab that is in the waters of the Great Sea, behold! when the
sistrons are shaken, and the trumpets blare forth the glory of Isis, at the
end thereof there is silence, and thou shalt commune with Nephthys.
And having known these, there are the wings of Maut the
Vulture{SUP:3}. Thou mayest draw to an head the bow of thy magical will;
thou mayest loose the shaft and pierce her to the heart. I am Eros{SUP:4}.
Take then the bow and the quiver from my shoulders and slay me; for unless
thou slay me, thou shalt not unveil the Mystery
--------------------
1. He is spoken of in the earlier part as if he were himself the
Angel of the Aethyr; this is the error of the Seer.
2. i.e. He is a God.
3. The Mother Goddess behind even such lofty ideas as Isis and Nephthys.
4. This is then the Child of Atu VI, pertaining to {Gemini}. {Gemini} is
opposite to {Sagittarius} in the Zodiac; their symbols are therefore
complementary.
- 127 -
of the Aethyr.
Therefore I did as he commanded; in the quiver were two arrows, one
white, one black. I cannot force myself to fit an arrow to the bow.
And there came a voice: It must needs be.
And I said: No man can do this thing.
And the voice answered, as it were an echo: _Nemo hoc facere potest_.
Then came understanding to me, and I took forth the Arrows. The white
arrow had no barb, but the black arrow was barbed like a forest of fish-
hooks; it was bound round with brass, and it had been dipped in deadly
poison. Then I fitted the white arrow to the string, and I shot it against
the heart of Eros, and though I shot with all my force, it fell harmlessly
from his side. But at that moment the black arrow was thrust through mine
own heart. I am filled with fearful agony.
And the child smiles, and says: Although thy shaft hath pierced me
not, although the envenomed barb hath struck thee through, yet I am slain,
and thou livest and triumphest, for I am thou and thou art I.
With that he disappears, and the Aethyr splits with a roar as of ten
thousand thunders. And behold, The Arrow! The plumes of Maat are its
crown, set about the disk. It is the Ateph crown of Thoth, and there is
the shaft of burning light, and beneath there is a silver wedge.
I shudder and tremble at the vision, for all about it are whorls and
torrents of tempestuous fire. The stars of heaven are caught in the ashes
of the flame. And they are all dark. That which was a blazing sun is like
a speck of ash. And in the midst the Arrow burns!
I see that the crown of the Arrow is the Father of all Light, and the
shaft of the Arrow is the Father of all Life, and the barb of the Arrow is
the Father of all Love. For that silver wedge is like a lotus flower, and
the Eye within the Ateph Crown crieth: I watch. And the Shaft crieth: I
work. And the Barb crieth: I wait. And the Voice of the Aethyr echoeth:
It beams. It burns. It blooms{SUP:1}.
And now there cometh a strange thought; this Arrow is the source of
all motion; it is infinite motion, yet it moveth not, so that there _is_ no
motion. And therefore there is no matter. This Arrow is the glance of the
Eye of Shiva. But because it moveth not, the universe is not destroyed.
The universe is put forth and
--------------------
1. These are the words of a certain grade of A{.'.} A{.'.}
- 128 -
swallowed up in the quivering of the plumes of Maat, that are the plumes of
the Arrow; but those plumes quiver not{SUP:1}.
And a voice comes: That which is above is _not_ like that which is
below.
And another voice answers it: That which is below is _not_ like that
which is above.
And a third voice answers these two: What is above and what is below?
For there is the division that divideth not, and the multiplication that
multiplieth not. And the One is the many{SUP:2}. Behold, this Mystery is
beyond understanding, for the winged globe is the crown, and the shaft is
the wisdom, and the barb is the understanding. And the Arrow is one, and
thou art lost in the Mystery, who art but as a babe that is carried in the
womb of its mother, that art not yet ready for the light.
And the vision overcometh me. My sense is stunned; my sight is
blasted; my hearing is dulled.
And a voice cometh: Thou didst seek the remedy of sorrow; therefore
all sorrow is thy portion. This is that which is written: "God hath laid
upon him the iniquity of us all." For as thy blood is mingled in the cup
of BABALON, so is thine heart the universal heart. Yet is it bound about
with the Green Serpent, the Serpent of Delight{SUP:3}.
It is shown me that this heart is the heart that rejoiceth, and the
serpent is the serpent of Death{SUP:3} for herein all the symbols are
interchangeable, for each one containeth in itself{SUP:4} its own opposite.
And this is the great Mystery of the Supernals that are beyond the Abyss.
For below the Abyss, contradiction is division; but above the Abyss,
contradiction is Unity. And there could be nothing true except by virtue
of the contradiction that is contained in itself.
Thou canst not believe how marvelous is this vision of the Arrow. And
it could never be shut out, except the Lords of Vision troubled the waters
of the pool, the mind of the Seer. But they send forth a wind that is a
cloud of Angels, and they beat the water with their feet, and little waves
splash up--- they are memories. For the seer hath no head; it is expanded
into the universe, a vast and silent sea, crowned with the stars of
night{SUP:5}.
--------------------
1. Cf. 11th Aire.
2. An essential mystery of Thelema. Let it be studied well!
3. Cf. _Liber LXV._
4. This is the most important of all the doctrines that concern
the Supernals, for the student of the Mysteries. It explains
the necessity of his arming himself with a new kind of logic.
5. His Kether is dissolved in Ain Soph.
- 129 -
Yet in the very midst thereof is the arrow{SUP:1}. Little images of things
that were, are the foam upon the waves. And there is a contest between the
Vision and the memories. I prayed unto the Lords of Vision, saying: O my
Lords, take not away this wonder from my sight.
And they said: It must needs be. Rejoice therefore if thou hast been
permitted to behold, even for a moment, this Arrow, the austere, the
august. But the vision is accomplished, and we have sent forth a great
wind against thee. For thou canst not penetrate by force, who hast
refused it; nor by authority, for thou hast trampled it under foot.
Thou art bereft of all but understanding, O thou that art no more than
a little pile of dust!
And the images rise up against me and constrain me, so that the Aethyr
is shut against me. Only the things of the mind and of the body are open
unto me. The shew-stone is dull, for that which I see therein is but a
memory.
Tolga, Algeria
December 13, 1909. 8:15-10:10 p.m.
The Cry of the 4th Aethyr, Which is Called PAZ{SUP:2}
The Stone is translucent and luminous, and no images enter therein.
A voice says: Behold the brilliance of the Lord, whose feet are set
upon him that pardoneth transgression. Behold the six-fold Star that
flameth in the Vault, the seal of the marriage of the great White King and
his black slave{SUP:3}.
So I looked into the Stone, and beheld the six-fold Star: the whole
Aethyr is as tawny clouds, like the flame of a furnace. And there is a
mighty host of Angels, blue and golden, that throng it, and they cry: Holy,
Holy, Holy art thou, that art not shaken in the earthquakes, and in the
thunders! The end of things is come upon us; the day of be-with-us is at
hand! For he hath created the universe, and overthrown it, that he might
take his pleasure thereupon.
And now, in the midst of the Aethyr, I beheld that god.
--------------------
1. The arrow persists for it is the direction of Energy, the Will
that createth all Becoming.
2. PAZ = {Leo}{Taurus}{Caput Draconis}. This {Taurus} = 7 = Atu V, The Hierophant. He is
Microprosopus, the Demiurge, appearing in the House of the Sun. Cf. the 9th Aire, where
His Bride is similarly placed.
3. This is common Alchemical symbolism; it occurs also in Tibetan
mythology. The meaning is always the same; that here stated.
- 130 -
He hath a thousand arms, and in each hand is a weapon of terrible
strength. His face is more terrible than the storm, and from his eyes flash
lightnings of intolerable brilliance. From his mouth run seas of blood.
Upon his head is a crown of every deadly thing. Upon his forehead is the
upright tau, and on either side of it are the signs of blasphemy. And
about him clingeth a young girl, like unto the king's daughter that
appeareth in the ninth Aethyr. But she is become rosy by reason of his
force, and her purity hath tinged his black with blue.
They are clasped in a furious embrace, so that she is torn asunder by
the terror of the god; yet so tightly clingeth she about him, that he is
strangled. She hath forced back his head, and his throat is livid with the
pressure of her fingers. Their joint cry is an intolerable anguish, yet it
is the cry of their rapture, so that every pain, and every curse, and every
bereavement, and every death of everything in the whole universe, is but
one little gust of wind in that tempest-scream of ecstasy{SUP:1}.
The voice thereof is not articulate. It is in vain to seek
comparison. It is absolutely continuous, without breaks or beats. If
there seem to be vibration therein, it is because of the imperfection of
the ears of the seer.
And there cometh an interior voice, which sayeth to the seer that he
hath trained his eyes well and can see much; and he hath trained his ears a
little, and can hear a little; but his other senses hath he trained
scarcely at all, and therefore the Aethyrs are almost silent to him on
those planes. By the senses are meant the spiritual correlations of the
senses, not the physical senses. But this matters little, because the
Seer, so far as he is a seer, is the expression of the spirit of
humanity{SUP:2}. What is true of him is true of humanity, so that even if
he had been able to receive the full Aethyrs, he could not have
communicated them.
And an Angel speaks: Behold, this vision is utterly beyond thine
understanding. Yet shalt thou endeavour to unite thyself with the dreadful
marriage-bed.
So I am torn asunder, nerve from nerve and vein from vein, and more
intimately --- cell from cell, molecule from molecule, and atom from atom,
and at the same time all crushed together. Write down that the tearing
asunder _is_ a crushing together{SUP:3}. All the double phenomena are only two ways of
looking at a single phenomenon; and the single phenomenon is Peace. There is no sense in
my words or in my thoughts. "Faces half- formed arose." This is the meaning of
that passage; they are attempts to interpret Chaos, but Chaos is Peace. Cosmos is the War
of the Rose and the
--------------------
1. This all refers to "Love under will," the Law by which the universe
proceeds.
2. He is 666, the Angel of Tiphereth, the Middle Kingdom of the
Sephiroth, Mankind.
3. Again the logic of the Supernals.
- 131 -
Cross{SUP:1}. That was "a half-formed face" that I said then. All images
are useless.
Blackness, blackness intolerable, before the beginning of the light.
This is the first verse of Genesis. Holy art thou, Chaos, Chaos, Eternity,
all contradictions in terms!
Oh, blue! blue! blue! whose reflection in the Abyss is called the
Great One of the Night of Time; between ye vibrateth the Lord of the Forces
of Matter.
O Nox, Nox qui celas infamiam infandi nefandi, Deo solo sit laus qui
dedit signum non scribendum. Laus virgini cuius stuprum tradit salutem.
O Night, that givest suck from thy paps to sorcery, and theft, and
rape, and gluttony, and murder, and tyranny, and to the nameless Horror,
cover us, cover us, cover us from the Rod of Destiny; for Cosmos must
come, and the balance be set up where there was no need of balance, because there was no
injustice, but only truth. But when the balances are equal, scale matched with scale, then
will Chaos{SUP:2} return.
Yea, as in a looking-glass, so in thy mind, that is backed with the
false metal of lying, is every symbol read averse. Lo! everything wherein
thou hast trusted must confound thee, and that thou didst flee from was thy
saviour. So therefore didst thou shriek in the Black Sabbath when thou
didst kiss the hairy buttocks of the goat, when the gnarled god tore thee
asunder, when the icy cataract of death swept thee away{SUP:3}.
Shriek, therefore, shriek aloud; mingle the roar of the gored lion and
the moan of the torn bull, and the cry of the man that is torn by the claws
of the Eagle, and the scream of the Eagle that is strangled by the hands of
the Man. Mingle all these in the death-shriek of the Sphinx, for the blind
man hath profaned her mystery. Who is this, Oedipus, Tiresias, Erinyes?
Who is this, that is blind and a seer, a fool above wisdom? Whom do the
hounds of heaven follow, and the crocodiles of hell await{SUP:4}? Aleph,
vau, yod, ayin, resh, tau, is his name{SUP:5}.
--------------------
1. It is "Love under will", which unites them.
2. Chaos is the Great Father, in one particular aspect.
3. See _Liber CCCLXX_ and elsewhere.
4. Refers to Atu 0.
5. This path joins the Sephiroth 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, o
9, and 10. It adds to 687 = 3 x 229. 229 is \{HEB:Aleph}
a possible spelling of Aiwass (in Hebrew) o
in full. |{HEB:Vau}
o
/{HEB:Yod}
o
{HEB:Ayin} /
o
{HEB:Resh}\
o
|{HEB:Taw}
o
- 132 -
Beneath his feet is the kingdom, and upon his head the crown. He is
spirit and matter; he is peace and power; in him is Chaos and Night and
Pan, and upon BABALON his concubine, that hath made him drunk upon the
blood of the saints that she hath gathered in her golden cup, hath he
begotten the virgin that now he doth deflower. And this is that which is
written: Malkuth shall be uplifted and set upon the throne of Binah{SUP:1}.
And this is the stone of the philosophers that is set as a seal upon the
tomb of Tetragrammaton, and the elixir of life that is distilled from the
blood of the saints, and the red powder that is the grinding-up of the
bones of Choronzon.
Terrible and wonderful is the Mystery thereof, O thou Titan that hast
climbed into the bed of Juno! Surely thou art bound unto, and broken upon,
the wheel{SUP:2}; yet hast thou uncovered the nakedness of the Holy One,
and the Queen of Heaven is in travail of child, and his name shall be
called Vir, and Vis, and Virus, and Virtus, and Viridis, in one name that
is all these, and above all these{SUP:3}.
Desolate, desolate is the Aethyr, for thou must return unto the
habitations of the Owl and the Bat, unto the Scorpions of the sand, and the
blanched eyeless beetles that have neither wing nor horn. Return, blot out
the vision, wipe from thy mind the memory thereof; stifle the fire with
green wood; consume the Sacrament; cover the Altar; veil the Shrine; shut
up the Temple and spread booths in the market place; until the appointed
time come when the Holly One shall declare unto thee the Mystery of the
Third Aethyr.
Yet be thou wake and ware, for the great Angel Hua is about thee, and
overshadoweth thee, and at any moment he may come upon thee unawares. The voice of PAZ is
ended.
Biskra, Algeria.
December 16, 1909. 9 - 10:30 a.m.
--------------------
1. This mystery of the Daughter awakening the eld of the all-Father
and thus perpetuating Tetragrammaton is of great importance.
2. Refers to Ixion, who embraced Juno in the form of a cloud.
3. Vi, Veri, Universum Vivus Vici, the motto of the Seer as Magister
Templi.
- 133 -
The Cry of the 3rd Aethyr{SUP:1}, Which is Called ZON{SUP:2}
There is an angry light in the stone; now it is become clear.
In the centre is that minute point of light which is the true Sun, and
in the circumference is the Emerald Snake. And joining them are the rays
which are the plumes of Maat, and because the distance is infinite,
therefore are they parallel from the circumference, although they diverge
from the centre.
In all this is no voice and no motion.
And yet it seems that the great Snake feedeth upon the plumes of Truth
as upon itself, so that it contracteth{SUP:3}. But ever so little as it
contracteth, without it gloweth the golden rim, which is that minute point
in the centre.
And all this is the sigil of the Aethyr, gold and azure and green.
Yet also these are the Severities.
It is only in the first three Aethyrs that we find the pure essence,
for all the other Aethyrs are but as Malkuth to complete these three
triads, as hath before been said. And this being the second reflection,
therefore is it the palace of two hundred and eighty judgments{SUP:4}.
For all these paths{SUP:5} are in the course of the Flaming Sword from
the side of Severity. And the other two paths are Zayin, which is a sword;
and Shin, which is a tooth. These are then the five severities which are
280.
All this is communicated to the Seer interiorly.
"And the eye of His benignancy is closed. Let it not be opened upon
the Aethyr, lest the severities be mitigated, and the house fall.{SUP:6}"
Shall not the house fall, and the Dragon sink? Verily
--------------------
1. The last three Aethyrs are so tremendously sublime that comment
is only too likely to mar the effect upon the reader. They must
be read as masterpieces of Art, and their full magical import
apprehended as such. This remark, indeed applies to the whole
series, though not so formidably. The proper way is first to
study the book in detail, so as to assimilate perfectly its
intellectual content, and then to read it (so to say) ceremonially.
2. ZON. {Leo}{Libra}{Scorpio} The Sun, the Balance, and the Snake. See
text of Aire.
3. Cf. the doctrine of the Snake Ananta.
4. The letters of Judgment, those that have a final form, {HEB:Mem}
{HEB:Koph}{HEB:Nun} {HEB:Peh}{HEB:Tzaddi}, all add to 280.
5. {HEB:Resh}, {HEB:Lamed} and {HEB:Nun} ({Sun}, {Libra} and {Scorpio}), the Sun, the
Balance or plumes of Maat, and the Snake. Added they make 280.
6. Note this. If the Seer had seen this vision truly, he should
have become a Magus right then. The vision following was really
a Guard to the Aethyr.
- 134 -
all things have been swallowed up in destruction; and Chaos hath opened his jaws and
crushed the Universe as a Bacchanal crusheth a grape between her teeth. Shall not
destruction swallow up destruction, and annihilation
confound annihilation? Twenty and two are the mansions{SUP:1} of the House of my Father,
but there cometh an ox{SUP:2} that shall set his forehead against the House, and it shall
fall. For all these things are the toys of the Magician{SUP:3} and the Maker of Illusions,
that barreth the
Understanding from the Crown.
O thou that hast beheld the City of the Pyramids, how shouldst thou
behold the House of the Juggler{SUP:4}? For he is wisdom, and by wisdom hath he made the
Worlds, and from that wisdom issue judgements 70 by 4, that are the 4 eyes of the
double-headed one; that are the 4 devils, Satan, Lucifer, Leviathan, Belial, that are the
great princes of the evil of the
world{SUP:5}.
And Satan is worshipped by men under the name of Jesus; and Lucifer is
worshipped by men under the name of Brahma; and Leviathan is worshipped by men under the
name of Allah; and Belial is worshipped by men under the name of Buddha.
(This is the meaning of the passage in _Liber Legis_, Chap. III.)
Moreover, there is Mary, a blasphemy against BABALON, for she hath
shut herself up{SUP:7}; and therefore is she the Queen of all those wicked
devils that walk upon the earth, those that thou sawest even as little
black specks that stained the Heaven of Urania. And all these are the
excrement of Choronzon.
And for this is BABALON under the power of the Magician, that she hath
submitted herself unto the work; and she guardeth the Abyss{SUP:8}. And in her is a
perfect purity of that which is above; yet she is sent as the
Redeemer to them that are below. For there is no other way into the
Supernal Mystery but through her, and the Beast on which she rideth; and
the Magician is set beyond her to deceive the brothers of blackness, lest
they should make unto themselves a crown{SUP:9}; for if there were two
crowns, then should
--------------------
1. Beth, an house.
2. The letter Aleph.
3. The path of {Mercury}, Beth, which joins and separates Kether and
Binah.
4. Atu I.
5. See the _Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage_.
6. 666's later annotation to this: "My own silly note."
7. She seeks to resist Change, which is Life, she refuses the Formula,
"love under will." Yet {GRK:Mu}{GRK:Alpha}{GRK:Rho}{GRK:Iota}
{GRK:Epsilon} (Greek) = 156.
8. She is Binah, ruled by the path of Beth.
9. Meaning, to construct a true Tree, of which Dath should be the
summit. This is in fact the great error of the rationalists
--- both in science, like Bchner, and in religion, like Buddha.
Knowledge is not, and cannot be, the crown of Consciousness,
if only because the Logic beyond the Abyss convicts it of essential
self contradiction. Dath, as seen by the Magister Templi, is
so far from being the opposite of Ignorance that it is actually
a demonstration that the Intellect is incapable of Truth.
- 135 -
Ygdrasil, that ancient tree, be cast out into the Abyss, uprooted and cast
down into the Outermost Abyss, and the Arcanum which is in the Adytum
should be profaned; and the Ark should be touched, and the Lodge spied upon by them that
are not masters, and the bread of the Sacrament should be the dung of Choronzon; and the
wine of the Sacrament should be the water of Choronzon; and the incense should be
dispersion; and the fire upon the
Altar should be hate. But lift up thyself; stand, play the man, for
behold! there shall be revealed unto thee the Great Terror, the thing of
awe that hath no name.
And this is the mystery that I declare unto thee: that from the Crown
itself spring the three great delusions; Aleph is madness, and Beth is
falsehood, and Gimel is glamour{SUP:1}. And these three be greater than
all, for they are beyond the words that I speak unto thee; how much more
therefore are they beyond the words that thou transmittest unto men.
Behold! the Veil of the Aethyr sundereth, and is torn, like a sail by
the breath of the tempest, and thou shalt see him as from afar off. This
is that which is written, "Confound her understanding with darkness," for
thou canst not speak this thing{SUP:2}.
It is the figure of the Magus of the Taro{SUP:3}; and in his right arm
the torch of the flames blazing upwards; in his left the cup of poison, a
cataract into Hell. And upon his head the evil talisman, blasphemy and
blasphemy and blasphemy, in the form of a circle. That is the greatest
blasphemy of all{SUP:4}. On his feet hath he the scythes and swords and
sickles; daggers; knives; every sharp
--------------------
1. Aleph is incapacity to apprehend --- the absence of any steady
truth. ({HEB:Aleph} = {Air}, the volatile). Beth is the assertion of
false relations, even in the illusion of the dyad. ({HEB:Bet} =
{Mercury}) And Gimel is the clouding of aspiration by the marsh miasma
of desire ({HEB:Gemel} = {Moon}). Such are the evil and averse
counterparts of the three highest faculties of the Soul: Aleph, the
inspiration of the soul in ecstasy; Beth, the virtue of Truthfulness
without care of other issues; and Gimel, the direct link of the human
with the divine Consciousness.
2. The Seer was being warned all the time that he was seeing only
a Guard.
3. Atu I. This is Mayan, the Great Magician, he who has created
the Dyad ({HEB:Bet} = 2) and thus made possible the conception of
Opposition, and hence of "Evil". He is to be distinguished from
Chokma, the creative Mercury who transmits the Essence of Kether as a
Logos, that Kether may become intelligible to Himself through
Binah. This lower Mercury asserts the Dyad as Reality, and denies
alike Kether and the Ain. Hence its issue is in Materialism.
4. i.e., that the circle should be profaned. The evil circle is
of three concentric rings. The circle demands the square (or
Cross) to fulfill it.
- 136 -
thing{SUP:1}, --- a millionfold, and all in one. And before him is the
Table that is a Table of wickedness, and 42-fold Table. This Table is
connected with the 42 Assessors of the Dead, for they are the Accursers,
whom the soul must baffle; and with the 42-fold name of God, for this is
the Mystery of Iniquity, that there was ever a beginning at all{SUP:2}.
And this Magus casteth forth, by the might of his four weapons, veil after
veil; a thousand shining colours, ripping and tearing the Aethyr, so that
it is like jagged saws, or like broken teeth in the face of a young girl,
or like disruption, or madness. There is a horrible grinding sound,
maddening. This is the mill in which the Universal Substance, which is
ether, was ground down into matter.
The Seer prayeth that a cloud may come between him and the sun, so
that he may shut out the terror of the vision. And he is afire; he is
terribly athirst; and no help can come to him, for the shew-stone blazeth
ever with the fury and the torment and the blackness, and the stench of
human flesh. The bowels of little children are torn out and thrust into
his mouth, and a poison is dropped into his eyes. And Lilith{SUP:3}, a
black monkey crawling with
--------------------
1. Curiously, for his retirement in New Hampshire (An XII) the Seer
bought an axe, knife, and a saw for his magical weapons. He
had completely forgotten this passage. P.S. ({Sun} in {Leo}, {Moon} in
{Cancer}) (An XII) I have just realized (after some days woodcarving)
that the use of a knife is to fashion shapeless things into Beauty.
This is then the task of a Magus which, in my then Grade, I could
not see. Now, O Lord, let me behold the true Vision of the Magus
as he is.
2. 42 = 2 x 21. 21 = {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Aleph}, God-name of Kether; thus 42
asserts the Dyad as against the Monad, and denies Love. 42 =
{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Aleph}, the Mother unfertilized, the Virgin-on-principle -- the
feminine equivalent of the Black Brothers.
3. {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Lamed} = 480 = {HEB:Taw}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Ayin}
= Malkuth, of the 42-fold name in Yetzirah.
Also 480 ={HEB:Taw}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Dalet}, Dath, in the
Plural. Lilith is etymologically "The Woman of Night"; but is
diversely described by different authorities. To one she is, "from the
head to the navel, a woman --- from the navel to the feet of her, a
man". To another, "lovely shape that concealeth a black monkey, even
as a figure that draweth with her hands small images of men down into
hell" (_Liber Ararita_ II, 10). She is also the "first wife of Adam"
i.e. the succubus who visits in their sleep those boys and men
who have not previously purified themselves by Right Coitus.
The whole world of demons was in fact created (according to Rabbinical
tradition) by the nocturnal pollutions of Adam. This is a true
parable. For every sexual act produces its natural effect on
all planes. All forms of spiritual experience may be obtained
in this manner, according to the Magical Knowledge and Skill of the
Operator. And there is always a Child begotten on some plane or other,
as the conditions of the experiment decide.
(Note. --- A.C. added the following here in his copy of _Eqx_. I,
No. 5. "Doris Gomez who came just before Jeanne Foster. It's
a perfect description of her normal nature. Add Laura Brown
for the sake of completeness. What about Alostrael?")
- 137 -
filth, running with open sores, an eye torn out, eaten of worms, her teeth
rotten, her nose eaten away, her mouth a putrid mass of green slime, her
dugs dropping and cancerous, clings to him, kisses him.
(Kill me! kill me!){SUP:1}
There is a mocking voice: Thou art become immortal. Thou wouldst look
upon the face of the Magician and thou hast not beheld him because of his
Magick veils.
(Don't torture me!)
Thus are all they fallen into the power of Lilith, who have dared to
look upon his face.
The shew-stone is all black and corrupt. O filth! filth! filth!
And this is her great blasphemy: that she hath taken the name of the
First Aethyr{SUP:2}, and bound it on her brow, and added thereunto the
shameless yod and the tau for the sign of the Cross.
She it is that squatteth upon the Crucifix, for the nastiness of her
pleasure. So that they that worship Christ suck up her filth upon their
tongues, and therefore their breaths stink{SUP:3}.
I was saved from that Horror by a black shining Triangle, with apex
upwards{SUP:4}, that came upon the face of the sun.
And now the shew-stone is all clear and beautiful again.
The pure pale gold of a fair maiden's hair, and the green of
--------------------
1. The Seer was physically overwhelmed by the horror of this experience.
It may seem surprising that such phenomena should occur above the
Abyss. But this Lilith is a positive form created by the Magus;
whereas, Choronzon is the breaking-up of all coherence. Here also is a
mystery of mysteries. Lilith is truly Babalon, as imagined by this
energy of Mayan.
2. LIL.
3. For the Christian, obsessed by Mayan, sees Love in this obscene
form. It is all a matter of the point-of-view.
4. This is the Sigil of Binah in one of Her forms. It instantly destroys
the illusion of Lilith, who now appears in her true shape as an avatar;
a corporeal imagine of BABALON, recalling the maiden of the 9th Aethyr.
(Note. --- in A.C.'s _Eqx_. here to the para. beginning "I have seen
some picture" he notes in the margin "Hilarion, Jeanne Robert
Foster". --- To the para. beginning "then the disk of the sun", he
notes "Alice Ethel Coomaraswamy. She has Libra rising and Sol in
Scorpio and she is mad about green." --- To the para. beginning "There
is another girl", he notes "Helen Westley? --- or Myriam Deroxe.")
- 138 -
her girdle, and the deep soft blue of her eyes.
_Note_. --- In this the gold is Kether, the blue is Chokmah, the green
is Binah.
Thus she appeareth in the Aethyr, adorned with flowers and gems. It
seems that she hath incarnated herself upon earth, and that she will appear
manifest in a certain office in the Temple.
I have seen some picture like her face; I cannot think what picture.
It is a piquant face, with smiling eyes and lips; the ears are small and
pink, the complexion is fair, but not transparent; not as fair as one would
expect from the hair and eyes. It is rather an impudent face, rather
small, very pretty; the nose very slightly less than straight, well-
proportioned, rather large nostrils. Full of vitality, the whole thing.
Now very tall, rather slim and graceful; a good dancer.
There is another girl behind her, with sparkling eyes, mischievous, a
smile showing beautiful white teeth; an ideal Spanish girl, but fair. Very
vivacious. Only her head is visible, and now it is veiled by a black sun,
casting forth dull rays of black and gold.
Then the disk of the sun is a pair of balances, held steady; and
twined about the central pole of the balance is the little green poisonous
snake, with a long forked tongue rapidly darting{SUP:1}.
And the Angel that hath spoken with me before, saith to me: The eye of
His benignancy is opened; therefore veileth he thine eyes from the vision.
Manfully hast thou endured; yet, hast thou been man, thou hadst not
endured; and hadst thou been wholly that which thou art, thou shouldst have
been caught up in the full vision that is unspeakable for Horror. And thou
shouldst have beheld the face of the Magician that thou hast not been able
to behold, --- of him from whom issue forth the severities that are upon
Malkuth, and his name is Misericordia Dei.
And because he is the dyad, thou mayest yet understand in two ways.
Of first way, the Mercy of God is that Mercy which Jehovah showed to the
Amalekites{SUP:2}; and the second way is utterly beyond thine
understanding, for it is the upright, and thou knowest nothing but the
averse, --- until Wisdom shall inform thine Understanding, and upon the
base of the Ultimate triangle arise the smooth point{SUP:3}.
Veil therefore thine eyes, for that thou canst not master the Aethyr,
unless thy Mystery match Its Mystery. Seal up thy mouth
--------------------
1. It would be improper in this place to comment upon these prophecies.
The student may seek enlightenment in "The Urn".
2. An XII. Now I understand. It's the fashioning I missed. All
my life I have been cutting to destroy. Now I'll cut to create.
3. All this passage is typical of the supernal Logic.
- 139 -
also, for thou canst not master the voice of the Aethyr, save only by
Silence.
And thou shalt give the sign of the Mother, for BABALON is thy
fortress against the iniquity of the Abyss, for the iniquity of that which
bindeth her unto the Crown{SUP:1}, and barreth her from the Crown; for not until thou art
made one with CHAOS{SUP:2} canst thou begin that last, that most terrible projection, the
three-fold Regimen which alone constitutes
the Great Work.
For Choronzon is as it were the shell or excrement of these three
paths, and therefore is his head raised unto Dath, and therefore have the
Black Brotherhood declared him to be the child of Wisdom and Understanding, who is but the
bastard of the Svastika. And this is that which is written in the Holy Qabalah, concerning
the Whirlpool and Leviathan, and the Great Stone{SUP:3}.
Thus long have I talked with thee in bidding thee depart, that the
memory of the Aethyr might be dulled; for hadst thou come back suddenly
into thy mortal frame, thou hadst fallen into madness or death. For the
vision is not such that any may endure it.
But now thy sense is dull, and the shew-stone but a stone. Therefore
awake, and give secretly and apart the sign of the Mother, and call four
times upon the name of CHAOS{SUP:4}, that is the four-fold word that is
equal to her seven-fold word. And then shalt thou purify thyself, and
return into the World.
So I did that which was commanded me, and returned.
Biskra.
December 17, 1909. 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
The Cry of the 2nd Aethyr, Which is Called ARN{SUP:5}
In the first place, there is again the woman riding on the bull, which
is the reflection of BABALON, that rideth on The Beast. And also there is
an Assyrian legend of a woman with a fish, and also there is a legend of
Eve and the Serpent, for Cain was the
--------------------
1. The path of Beth.
2. The mystery of CHAOS is beyond the comprehension of any but Masters
of the Temple. One can only hint that this is at once the Formula
of the Feminine Trinity and of the All-Father.
3. The student is advised to study these matters in the original
documents.
4. {HEB:Samekh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Ayin}{HEB:Koph} = 156.
5. ARN = {Taurus}{Pisces}{Scorpio}. See the allusions to Bull, Fish and
Serpent in the first paragraph. But {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Qof}{HEB:Nun} = 156 = BABALON, also here
mentioned; and the whole Aethyr is devoted to HER.
- 140 -
the child of Eve and the Serpent, and not of Eve and Adam; and therefore
when he had slain his brother, who was the first murderer, having
sacrificed living things to his demon, had Cain the mark upon his brow,
which is the mark of the Beast spoken of in the Apocalypse, and is the sign
of initiation{SUP:1}.
The shedding of blood is necessary, for God did not hear the children
of Eve until blood was shed{SUP:2}. And that is external religion; but
Cain spake not with God, nor had the mark of initiation upon his brow, so
that he was shunned by all men, until he had shed blood. And this blood
was the blood of his brother. This is a mystery of the sixth key of the
Taro, which ought not to be called The Lovers, but The Brothers{SUP:3}.
In the middle of the card stands Cain; in his right hand is the Hammer
of Thor with which he hath slain his brother, and it is all wet with his
blood. And his left hand he holdeth open as a sign of innocence. And on
his right hand is his mother Eve, around whom the serpent is entwined with
his hood spread behind her head; and on his left hand is a figure somewhat
like the Hindoo Kali, but much more seductive. Yet I know it to be Lilith.
And above him is the Great Sigil of the Arrow, downward, but it is struck
through the heart of the child. This Child is also Abel{SUP:4}. And the
meaning of this part of the card is obscure, but that is the correct
drawing of the Taro card; and that is the correct magical fable from which
the Hebrew scribes, who were not complete Initiates, stole their legend of
the Fall and the subsequent events. They joined different fables together
to try and make a connected story, and they sophisticted them to suit their
sociall and political conditions.
--------------------
1. This is the "Third Eye", the "Eye of Shiva", the Pineal Gland,
supposed by some anatomists to be a rudimentary eye.
2. The "Bloody Sacrifice" is commonly regarded as "Black Magic".
But this depends upon the Formula used by the Magician. All
taking of life could be reprehensible even though necessary were
it not for the Formula of Evolution. One should assume into
one's own Being, ceremonially, the whole Karma of the creature
slain; thus building it up into a higher organic structure, and
thus helping it to fulfill its True Will of Aspiration to a higher
Form of Life. This is, of course, a gross and material method
of working, but it is the only method available in such cases.
The animal is in any case doomed to death, and the most fortunate,
the most directly profitable to it, is this immediate translation
of its Prana (in an actual ceremony) or the basis of its Prana
(in simple consumption at the table) into a living organism of
superior type. It is important not to allow this Prana to escape.
3. There is another, even more important, attribution of this card.
The Bowman is the father ({HEB:Yod} of {HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}
{HEB:Yod}) and the Man, the Son ({HEB:Vau}). The Women are Isis and
Nephthys ({HEB:Heh} and {HEB:Heh} final); and the whole symbolizes a
Formula of the Highest Magick, too obscure and too elaborate to treat
in this elementary document.
4. This child is really Seth, Set, Sol, Hadit. Abel's blood was
the seed of this Seth. Remember that Abel = Baal.
- 141-
All this while no image hath come unto the Stone, and no voice hath
been heard.
I cannot get any idea of the source of what I have been saying. All I
can say is, that there is a sort of dew, like mist, upon the Stone, and yet
it has become hot to the touch{SUP:1}.
All I get is that the Apocalypse was the recension of a dozen or so
totally disconnected allegories, that were pieced together, and ruthlessly
planed down to make them into a connected account; and that recension was
re-written and edited in the interests of Christianity, because people were
complaining that Christianity could show no true spiritual knowledge, or
any food for the best minds: nothing but miracles, which only deceived the
most ignorant, and Theology, which only suited pedants.
So a man got hold of this recension, and turned it Christian, and
imitated the style of John.{SUP:2} And this explains why the end of the
world does not happen every few years, as advertised{SUP:3}.
There is nothing whatever in the Stone but a White Rose. And a voice
comes: there shall be no more red roses, for she hath crushed all the blood
of all things into her cup.
It seemed at one time as if the rose was in the breast of a beautiful
woman, high-bosomed, tall, stately, yet who danced like a snake. But there
was no subsistence in this vision{SUP:4}.
And now I see the white Rose, as if it were in the beak of a swan, in
the picture by Michael Angelo in Venice. And that legend too is the legend
of BABALON.
But all this is before the veil of the Aethyr. Now will I go
--------------------
1. "Miracles" of this order constantly occur in the course of operations
of Magick. They are by-products.
2. There is no question in my mind that this explanation is correct
from the viewpoint of profane scholarship. "Angels" who offer
absurd theories about material affairs are false elementals who
amuse themselves at the expense of the naivet of the would-be-
Magician.
3. In any case forecasts of the future cannot be made from Qabalistic
data, which have nothing to do with terrestrial measures of time;
e.g. to say that King Brahmadatta reigned 120,000 years in Benares,
only means that he reigned in a manner congruous with the ideas
symbolized by 120 and, on a very grand scale, as indicated by
the multiplication by 1000.
4. The allusion may be to one of those who occupied for a time the
post of "Scarlet Woman". See _Book 4_, part 4, for a list of
these women. (Note. --- A.C. pencilled in the margin of his
_Eqx._ here "Myriam Deroxe?" Opposite the next paragraph re.
the white Rose he annotated "Leila Waddell?"
- 142 -
and make certain preparations{SUP:1}, and I will return and repeat the call
of the Aethyr yet again.
Biskra.
December 18, 1909. 9:20 - 10:5 a.m.
It is not a question of being unable to get into the Aethyr, and
trying to struggle through; but one is not anywhere near it{SUP:2}.
A voice comes: When thy dust shall strew the earth whereon She
walketh, then mayest thou bear the impress of Her foot. And thou thinkest
to behold Her face!
The Stone is become of the most brilliant whiteness, and yet, in that
whiteness, all the other colours are implicit{SUP:3}. The colour of
anything is but its dullness, its obstructiveness. So is it with these
visions. All that they _are_ is falsity. Every idea merely marks where
the mind of the Seer was too stupid to receive the light, and therefore
reflected it. Therefore, as the pure light is colourless, so is the pure
soul black{SUP:4}.
And this is the Mystery of the incest of CHAOS with his
daughter{SUP:5}.
--------------------
1. In fact, the Seer was the prey of an intolerable uneasiness akin
to fear. He was intuitively aware of the terrific nature of
the Aethyr, and felt oppressed by the responsibility of seeing
and hearing accurately in a manner of such dread importance.
He felt even before penetrating the Aire, that he was already
near the limit of his powers.
2. It was not that the Call of the Aethyr had been ill performed,
or that its virtue and efficacy were impaired. It was that the
Seer being attached to his human instrument, that instrument
automatically strove with all its might to escape the impact
of so tremendous and so dire an energy which would infallibly
be transmitted (to a certain small extent) through the Seer to
it. In the same way, in a much lesser manner, there is a limit
to the degree of pain a man can inflict on himself, as experiments
with the Boulometer (the instrument invented by the Seer to measure
this virtue) have shewn. (Note --- it was a self-adjustable
thumb screw. --- Note by Yorke)
3. This means more than the obvious. "The colours of the spectrum
compose pure White Light." The Seer could see these colours
directly, at the same time as the White. Another case of hypperabyssic
logic.
4. This doctrine is most profound and important. It throws light
upon the mystery of evil, and upon the nature of Maya in general.
5. Chaos is here the Yod of Tetragrammaton, his daughter the final
H. This passage is to be studied closely in connection with
the previous passages and notes with regard to the formula of
{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod};indeed one should preform samyama
upon this whole matter.
- 143 -
There is nothing whatever visible.
But I asked of the Angel that is at my side if the ceremony hath been
duly performed. And he says: Yes, the Aethyr is present. It is thou that
canst not perceive it, even as I cannot perceive it, because it is so
entirely beyond thy conception that there is nothing in thy mind on to
which it can cast a symbol, even as the emptiness of space is not heated by
the fire of the sun. And so pure is the light that it preventeth the
formation of images, and therefore have men called it darkness. For with
any lesser light, the mind responds, and makes for itself divers
palaces{SUP:1}. It is that which is written: "In my Father's house
there are many mansions"; and if the house be destroyed, how much more the mansions
that are therein! For this is the victory of BABALON over the
Magician that ensorcelled{SUP:2} her. For as the Mother she is 3 by 52,
and as the harlot she is 6 by 26; but she is also 12 by 13, and that is the
pure unity{SUP:3}. Moreover she is 4 by 39, that is, victory over the
power of the 4, and in 2 by 78 hath she destroyed the great Sorcerer
{SUP:4}. Thus is she the synthesis of 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, which being
added are 10, therefore could she set her daughter upon her own throne, and
defile her own bed with her virginity{SUP:5}.
And I ask the Angel if there is any way by which I can make myself
worthy to behold the Mysteries of this Aethyr.
And he saith: It is not in my knowledge. Yet do thou make
--------------------
1. Note well this thesis. Anything which is not Pure Nothing is
ipso facto unbalanced, and therefore imperfect --- indeed illusory.
2. The path of Beth. Contrast this way of illusion forcibly with
the obsession of Microprosopus by Dath. (There are also the
difficulties of the Son with the glamour of the path of Gimel
and of the Father with the path of Aleph. See 3rd Aire concerning
the Three Ways of Delusion that guard the Crown.)
3. 52 = {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Mem}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Aleph}, the fertile mother = 3 =Binah. 26 =
{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}; also {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Koph} = Kabad, the
husband of the impure Lilith, and 1 plus 6 plus 9 plus 10, the Sephiroth of the Middle
Pillar, the Phallus.
6 = 1 plus 2 plus 3, the Mystic number of Binah; also {Sun} who shines
on all alike: {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Gemel} to collect, {HEB:Bet}{HEB:Dalet} a bear
(Venus in Furs), and {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Heh} a window,
the illicit way of ingress into a house.
12 = {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Heh} the title of Kether, the Unity; 13
={HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Chet}{HEB:Aleph} = Unity.
4. 39 ={HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Chet}{HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Heh} {HEB:Vau}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Yod}
"Tetragrammaton is One", although He is composed of 4 letters, hence the triumph
over the power of 4, limitation. But thisexplanation is not as clear, satisfactory and
convincing with that singular feeling of ecstatic illumination which one rightly demands
of the Qabalistic demonstration. There should be some further gematria of
39 not yet discovered. 2 is Beth, Atu I, Mayan the Great Scorceror.
78 = Mezla ({HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Zain}{HEB:Mem}) the Influence from Kether, and the
number of the Tarot Cards. I.e., she destroys
him by his own energies. {WEH Note: In traditional Qabalah Mezla is
not the Influence from Kether, but the omnipresence of Limitless Light
of Ain.}
5. Because she includes her daughter (10) in her own formula, she
can use the daughter for Her own purposes.
- 144 -
once more in silence the Call of the Aethyr, and wait patiently upon the
favour of the Angel, for He is a mighty Angel, and never yet have I heard
the whisper of his wing.
This is the translation of the Call of the Aethyr{SUP:1}.
O ye heavens which dwell in the first Aire, and are mighty in the
parts of the earth, and execute therein the judgment of the highest, to you
it is said: Behold the face of your God, the beginning of comfort, whose
eyes are the brightness of the heavens which provided you for the
government of the earth, and her unspeakable variety, furnishing you with a
power of understanding, that ye might dispose all things according to the
foresight of Him that sitteth on the Holy Throne, and rose up in the
beginning, saying, The earth, let her be governed by her parts (this is the
prostitution of BABALON to Pan), and let there be division in her (the
formation of the Many from the One), that her glory may be always ecstasy
and the irritation of orgasm. Her course let it round with the heavens
(that is, let her way be always harmonious with heaven), and as an handmaid let her serve
them (that is, the Virgin of Eternity climbing into the bed of CHAOS). One season let it
confound another (that is, let there be
unwearying variety of predicates){SUP:2}, and let there be no creature upon or within her
the same (that is, let there be an unwearying variety of
subjects){SUP:3}. All her members let them differ in their qualities, and
let there be no one creature{SUP:4} equal with another (for if there were
any duplication or omission, there would be no perfection in the whole).
The reasonable creatures of the earth and men, let them vex and weed out
one another (this is, the destruction of reason by internecine conflicts in
the course of redemption). And their dwelling places, let them forget
their names. (This is, the arising of Nemo.) The work of man and his pomp,
let them be defaced. (That is, in the Great Work man must lose his
personality.) His building, let it be a cave for the Beast of the Field.
("His building" means the Vault of the Adepts, and the "Cave" is the
Cave of the Mountain of Abiegnus,
--------------------
1. This reversal of the evident exoteric meaning of the Call is
stupendous. This book, 418, is full of similar interpretations
"by the rule of contraries". But this rule must be applied with
skill and discretion, if error is to be avoided. It is a lamentable
fact that a worthy Zelator of A.{SUP:.}. A.{SUP:.}., one Frater Achad,
having been taught (patiently enough) by the Seer to use this formula,
was lured by his vanity to suppose that he had discovered it himself,
and proceeded to apply it indiscriminately. He tried to stand the
Serpent of Wisdom on its head, and argued that as he was a 1x =
10{square x} of the Order, he must equally be a 10x = 1{square x}.
As _The Book of Lies_ says, "I wrenched DOG backwards to find God; now God
barks!" He would have been better advised to reverse his adored
ONE and taken a dose of ENO! (ENO, an English purgative. T.)
2. The infinity of Nuit.
3. The infinity of Hadit.
4. i.e. an "Event, the fundamental unit of Manifested Existence.
- 145 -
and the "Beast" is he upon whom BABALON rideth, and the "Field" is the
supernal Eden.) Confound her understanding with darkness. (This sentence
is explained by what has been said concerning Binah.) For why, it
rejoiceth me concerning the Virgin and the Man{SUP:1}. (Kelly did not
understand this Call at all, and he would not believe this sentence was
written so, for it seemed to contradict the rest of the Call, so he altered
it.) One while let her be known and another while a stranger, (that is,
the Mystery of the Holy One being at the same time identical with
everything and apart from it), because she is the bed of an harlot, and the
dwelling of him that is fallen. (That is that Mystery which was revealed
in the last Aethyr; the universe being, as it were, a garden wherein
the Holy Ones may take their pleasure.) O ye heavens, arise; the lower
heavens beneath you, let them serve you. (This is a command for the whole
of things to join in universal rapture.) Govern those that govern; cast
down such as fall; bring forth those that increase; and destroy the rotten.
(This means that everything shall take its own pleasure in its own
way.{SUP:2}) No place let it remain in one number. ("No place" is the
infinite Ain . . . "Let remain in one number"; that is, let it be
concentrated in Kether.) Add and diminish until the stars be numbered.
(It is a mystery of the Logos being formulated by the Qabalah, because the
stars, are all letters of the Holy Alphabet, as it was said in a former
Aethyr.) Arise! Move! and Appear! before the covenant of his mouth
which he hath shewn unto us in his Justice. ("The Covenant" is the letter
Aleph; "His mouth", pe'; "His Justice", lamed; and these add up again
to
Aleph, so that it is in the letter Aleph, which is zero, thus symbolizing
the circles of the Aethyrs, that he calleth them forth. But men thought
that Aleph was the initial ARR, cursing, when it was really the initial of
AChD, unity, and AHBH, love. So that it was the most horrible and wicked
blasphemy of the blackest of all the black brothers to begin Barashith with
a beth, with the letter of the Magician. Yet, by this simple device, hath
he created the whole illusion of sorrow.{SUP:3}) Open the mysteries of
your creation, and make us partakers of the undefiled knowledge. (The word here is
"IADNAMAD" is not the ordinary word for knowledge. It is a word of eight
letters, which is the secret name of God, summarized in the letter cheth; for which see
the Aethyr which
--------------------
1. In Kelly's original: "It repenteth Me that I have made Man."
Kelly was in constant trouble with his education as an orthodox
Christian; also Dee forced him to reject the True Messengers,
whose discourse implied antinomian Pantheism.
2. One general application of the Law of Thelema. It is a stupid
error to try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; it hurts
both parties to the transaction. The basic blunder is to set
up an arbitrary ideal standard of "what ought to be". The "evil
beginnings" on all planes have a proper and a useful function.
A strong healthy man cannot be made by putting him in irons and
protecting him artificially from all the "dangers of life."
3. The passage is criticism of an obscure doctrine of the Qabalah.
There is however a real mystery behind the rhetoric.
{WEH Note: The doctrine in Qabalah is that the Aleph remained in the
mouth of the Creator, and Beth was the first letter to manifest. This
comes partly from Aleph being the first letter and partly from Aleph
being unpronouncable without another letter. Aleph is a pure aspirant.
Beth in Hebrew signifies "in" as in "in the beginning". What does all
This bear on Crowley's use of "Hadit" from the Stele, in place of the
more common "BaHadit", Egyptian for entrance into the Winged Disk of
the Sun?}
- 146 -
correspondeth to that letter, the twelfth Aethyr.{SUP:1})
Now from time to time I have looked into the Stone, but never is there
any image therein, or any hint thereof; but now there are three arrows,
arranged thus:
[Figure here: Three arrows intersecting in the common centers of the three
shafts. Two are diagonal, forming an "X" with points to top and fledging
to bottom. The third is vertical, bisecting the "X" with point below and
fledging to the top.]
This is the letter Aleph in the Alphabet of Arrows.
(I want to say that while I was doing the translation of the Call of
the Aethyrs, the soles of my feet were burning, as if I were on red hot
steel.{SUP:2})
And now the fire was spread all over me, and parches me, and tortures
me. And my sweat is bitter like poison. And all my blood is acrid in my
veins, like gleet. I seem to be all festering, rotting; and the worms
eating me while I am yet alive.
A voice, neither in myself nor out of myself, is saying: Remember
Prometheus; remember Ixion{SUP:3}.
I am tearing{SUP:4} at nothing. I will not heed. For even this
dust{SUP:5} must be consumed with fire.
And now, although there is no image, at last there is a sense of
obstacle, as if one were at length drawing near to the frontier
--------------------
1. All these passages in brackets are the _currente lingua_
explanations of the Seer (to himself) as each new phrase of the text
was delivered by the Angel. To understand how startling it all was to
him, one must remember that he had been using this Call, in its own
obvious sense, for many weeks, and always with the utmost force
and solemnity. His only warning had been the intuitive feeling
that the Call was really a rejoicing at the opening of the 9th
Aire. And he had thought this merely subjective, due to the
relief of having passed through the Abyss.
2. This was certainly due to no ordinary cause. The Seer was lying
on the roof of the Hotel Royal at Biskra in the shade of the
minaret. It was a cool bright morning.
3. Prometheus stole the fire of Jupiter. Ixion attempted the virtue
of Juno. The Seer, in trying to penetrate this most holy Aire,
was similarly presumptious.
4. He was using the Sign of the Rending of the Veil, (See _Liber O_,
_Eqx_. I, No. 2) against the obscurity of the Aire.
5. i.e. the Magister Templi. See 6th Aethyr et al. supra. Only
a Magus can truly pierce the veil of BABALON. It is written
(of Isis), "No man (i.e., Nemo, the Magister Templi) hath lifted
my veil." But to lift it and look upon HER is one thing; to
possess HER another!
- 147 -
of the Aethyr.
But I am dying.
I can neither strive nor wait. There is agony in my ears, and in my
throat, and mine eyes have been so long blind that I cannot remember that
there ever was such a thing as sight{SUP:1}.
And it cometh to me that I should go away, and await the coming of the
veil of the Aethyr; not here. I think I will go to the Hot Springs{SUP:2}.
So I put away the Stone upon my breast.
Biskra
10:15-11:52 a.m.
Flashes of lightning are playing in the Stone, at the top; and at the
bottom of the Stone there is a black pyramid{SUP:3}, and at the top thereof
is a vesica piscis. The vesica piscis{SUP:4} is of colourless brilliance.
The two curves of Pisces are thus:
[Figure here: The Pisces sign without the cross-line. In Essence
") (", but larger with thick curves.]
They are the same curves as the curves of vesica piscis, but turned
round{SUP:5}.
And a voice comes: How can that which is buried in the pyramids{SUP:6}
behold that which descendeth unto its apex{SUP:7}?
--------------------
1. The physical exhaustion of the Seer was complete. He realized that
further effort was impossible; and --- more also! --- that had he
suddenly succeeded, while in this state, the fury of the impact of the
Energy of the Aire would have been instantly destructive of his
physical form.
2. Hammam Salahin: Sulphurous waters, admirably apt to the idea of
BABALON, whom the Seer intuitively understood to be the Soul of this
Second Aire.
3. Black for Binah. The pyramid for the phallus, for she is also
androgyne. Or, as an unit of Her City, beneath the Night of Pan.
See 14th Aire.
4. The most perfect and mysterious of the symbols of the Feminine
Principle. Its mathematical correspondences are of the greatest
importance. See _The Canon_ and several other treatises on Qabalistic
Geometry.
5. This is the last desperate attempt of the Rauch of the Seer to
escape the Terror of the Presence of Babalon.
6. i.e. the Magister Templi.
7. This apparently simple phrase conceals an allusion of the most sublime
and terrific import. See _AL_ I, 14, 16, 19. Also _The Book of Lies_,
caps. 4 and 15. Mohammed said, "Cursed be he that maketh himself Earth,
and Woman Heaven!" For he understood this Formula as of enormous
Magical Power and wished to keep it from the profane, who might abuse
it, or injure themselves by ignorant of imprudent application.
- 148 -
Again it comes to me, without voice: Therefore is motherhood the
symbol of the Masters. For first they must give up their virginity to be
destroyed, and the seed must lie hidden in them until the nine moons wax
and wane, and they must surround it with the Universal Fluid. And they
must feed it with the blood for fire. Then is the child a living thing.
And afterwards is much suffering and much joy, and after that are they torn
asunder, and this is all their thank, that they give it to suck{SUP:1}.
All this while the vision in the Shew-Stone stays as it was, save that
the lightning grows more vehement and clear; and behind the vesica piscis
is a black cross{SUP:2} extending to the top and to the edges of the Stone.
And now blackness spreads, and swallows up the images.
Now there is naught but a vast black triangle having the apex
downwards{SUP:3}, and in the centre of the black triangle is the face of
Typhon, the Lord of the Tempest, and he crieth aloud: Despair! Despair!
For thou mayest deceive the Virgin, and thou mayest cojole the Mother; but
what wilt thou say unto the ancient Whore that is throned in Eternity? For
if she will not, there is neither force nor cunning, nor any wit, that may
prevail upon her.
Thou canst not woo her with love{SUP:4}, for she _is_ love. And she
hath all, and hath no need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with gold{SUP:5}, for all the Kings and
captains of the earth, and all the gods of heaven, have showered their gold
upon her. Thus hath she all, and hath no need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with knowledge, for knowledge is the thing
that she hath spurned{SUP:6}. She hath it all, and hath no need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with wit{SUP:7}, for her Lord is Wit.
--------------------
1. See _The Book of Lies_, Cap. 3.
2. This seems to refer to Thmaist, whose Aeon will succeed that
of Horus. She is Atu VIII referring to Libra, the House of Venus.
In her also, then, is BABALON the Ageless Virgin-Harlot, our
Mother as our Concubine.
3. Cf. 3rd Aire, , the vision of Lilith. This triangle seems to
symbolize Limitation or Restriction; or so the sequel implies.
4. The path of {HEB:Dalet}, Daleth. BABALON is thus shewn as more than merely Binah.
5. Tiphareth is below Her.
6. Dath, the outcast into the Abyss, beneath Her.
7. Chokmah, the Highest Wisdom.
- 149 -
She hath it all, and hath no need of thee. Despair! Despair!
Nor canst thou cling to her knees and ask for pity; nor canst thou
cling to her heart and ask for love; nor canst thou put thine arms about
her neck, and ask for understanding; for thou had all these{SUP:1}, and
they avail thee not. Despair! Despair!
Then I took the Flaming Sword{SUP:2}, and I let it loose against
Typhon, so that his head was cloven asunder, and the black triangle
dissolved in lightnings{SUP:3}.
But as he parted his voice broke out again: Nor canst thou win her
with the Sword, for her eyes are fixed upon the eyes of Him in whose hand
is the hilt of the Sword{SUP:4}. Despair! Despair!
And the echo of that cry was his word, which is identical, although it
be diverse: Nor canst thou win her by the Serpent{SUP:5}, for it was the
Serpent that seduced her first. Despair! Despair!
(Yet he cried thus as he fled:)
I am Leviathan, the great Lost Serpent of the Sea. I writhe eternally
in torment, and I lash the ocean with my tail into a whirlpool of foam that
is vemonous and bitter, and I have no purpose. I go no whither. I can
neither live nor die. I can but rave and rave in my death agony. I am the
Crocodile{SUP:6} that eateth up the children of men. And through the
malice of BABALON I hunger, hunger, hunger.
All this while the Stone is more inert than ever yet; a thousand times
more lifeless than when it is not invoked. Now, when it kindles, it only
kindles into its physical beauty. And now upon
--------------------
1. As shewn in the previous note, the Magister Templi, though he
can lift Her Veil and behold Her with understanding, is unable
to meet Her as an equal and possess Her.
2. This has its hilt in Kether, and its point in Malkuth. the Seer
uses the entire Hierarchy of Existence against the destroyer
of Osiris.
3. His energy is transmuted into the primeval Manifestation of the
Divine Will.
4. i.e. She is wholly set upon Kether. Only when Her Lover is wholly
in His loftiest Selfhood can He possess Her.
5. The Serpent of Wisdom, the 22 Paths which join the 10 Sephiroth.
It is thus the complement of the Flaming Sword. The legend of
Heva and Nachash is drawn from the mystical Doctrine here in
question. This Serpent is the totality of Magical Manifestation,
the Beauty of the 22 Palaces (Atu) of Wisdom. She is at once
the Mother and the Sister of Her adulterous Lord, Mayan, the
Logos who created the universe of illusion.
6. Generally speaking, the monsters which inhabit water symbolize
evil --- in all senses, from the grossest to the most exalted.
They represent the falling into Passivity; whereras the Activity
of Energy is the Idea of Joy.
- 150 -
the face of it is a great black Rose, each of whose petals, though it be
featureless, is yet a devil-face. And all the stalks are the black snakes
of hell. It is alive, this Rose; a single thought informs it. It comes to
clutch, to murder. Yet, because a single thought alone informs it, I have
hope therein.
I think the Rose has a hundred and fifty-six petals, and though it be
black, it has the luminous blush{SUP:1}.
There it is, in the midst of the Stone, and I cannot see anyone who
wears it.
Aha! Aha! Aha! Shut out the sight{SUP:2}!
Holy, Holy, Holy art thou!
Light, Life and Love are like three glow-worms at thy feet: the whole
universe of stars, the dewdrops on the grass whereon thou walkest!
I am quite blind{SUP:3}.
Thou art Nuit! Strain, strain, strain my whole soul{SUP:4}!
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an
nuteru{SUP:5}.
Falutli! Falutli{SUP:6}!
I cling unto the burning Aethyr like Lucifer that fell through the
Abyss, and by the fury of his flight kindled the air.
And I am Belial, for having seen the Rose upon thy breast, I have
denied God.
And I am Satan! I am Satan! I am cast out upon a burning
--------------------
1. This Black Rose is then the veil of BABALON Herself. It is the
repulsiveness which is one half of Fascination.
2. Thus suddenly --- BABALON --- breaks through to her lover.
3. This is meant in its normal physical sense. The Seer supposed
at the time that he had actually lost his sight.
4. Against the appalling conviction that he had been stricken blind
for his presumption in daring to aspire to BABALON in so intimate
a sense he gathered himself together in a furious assault upon Her.
5. From the Stele of Revealing.
6. The outburst of the orgasm (see Note 3, page 38). It continued
unabated throughout the whole of the vision. The Seer was all
this time seated in the water of the hot spring, struggling with
all the pressure on his body, and roaring aloud in the intensity
of his agony or ecstasy. This helped him to endure physically
the continuous spasm of Joy.
- 151 -
crag! And the sea boils about the desolation thereof. And already the
vultures gather, and feast upon my flesh.
Yea! Before thee all the most holy is profane, O thou desolator of
shrines! O thou falsifier of the oracles of truth! Ever as I went, hath it
been thus. The truth of the profane was the falsehood of the Neophyte, and
the truth of the Neophyte was the falsehood of the Zelator! Again and
again the the fortress mut be battered down! pylon must be over thrown!
Again and again must the gods be desecrated!
And now I lie supine before thee, in terror and abasement. O Purity!
O Truth! What shall I say? My tongue cleaveth to my jaws, O thou Medusa
that hast turned me to stone! Yet is that stone the stone of the
philosophers. Yet is that tongue Hadit.
Aha! Aha{SUP:1}!
Yea! Let me take the form of Hadit{SUP:2} before thee, and sing:
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
Nuit! Nuit! Nuit! How art thou manifested in this place! This is a
Mystery ineffable. And it is mine, and I can never reveal it either to God
or to man. It is for thee and me !
Aha! Aha!
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
. . . My spirit is no more; my soul is no more. My life leaps out into
annihilation!
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
--------------------
1. AHA = {HEB:Aleph}{HEB:Heh}{HEB:Aleph} = 7. It is therefore a God-name of Venus.
Interpreted by Yetziratic attribution, it is "The Crossing of our Lady ({HEB:Heh} =
the Supernal Mother) in the air
({HEB:Aleph})." It is also the Pentagram between two Swastikas. The
symbolism of this word, simple as it is, is far too extensive to
discuss adequately in a note. It must be studied intimately and at
length by the Postulant
2. Hadit is a mathematical expression rather than a God. By his
form is meant the Winged Globe, which is used in the Stele of
Revealing to represent Him.
- 152 -
It is the cry of my body! Save me! I have come too close. I have
come too close to that which may not be endured. It must awake, the body;
it must assert itself.
It must shut out the Aethyr, or else it is dead.
Every pulse aches, and beats furiously. Every nerve stings like a
serpent. And my skin is icy cold{SUP:1}.
Neither God nor man can penetrate the Mystery of the Aethyr.
(Here the Seer mutters unintelligibly.)
And even that which understandeth cannot hear its voice. For to the
profane the voice of the Neophyte is called silence, and to the Neophyte
the voice of the Zelator is called silence. And so ever is it.
Sight is fire, and is the first angle of the Tablet{SUP:2}; spirit is
hearing, and is the centre thereof; thou, therefore, who art all spirit and
fire, and hast no duller elements in thy star; thou art come to sight at
the end of thy will. And if thou wilt hear the voice of the Aethyr{SUP:3},
do thou invoke it in the night, having no other light but the light of the
half moon. Then mayest thou hear the voice, though it may be that thou
understandeth it not. Yet shall it be a potent spell, whereby thou mayest
lay bare the womb of thy understanding to the violence of CHAOS.
Now, therefore, for the last time, let the veil of the Aethyr be torn.
Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha!
A ka dua
Tuf ur biu
Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an
nuteru{SUP:4}.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
--------------------
1. This was in a pool almost inconveniently hot to the normal sense.
2. Meaning, the four watchtowers of the universe (_Eqx_. I, VII).
For the attributions of the Senses to the Elements see _777_.
The growing intelligibility of the words indicates the exhaustion
of the rapture of the Seer. The gradual withdrawal of the immanence
of BABALON.
3. Hitherto, the intellectual content of the Aethyr has been marked
by the Moral (or rather Spiritual) Ravishment of the Seer by BABALON.
4. At this point the Seer sank back exhausted. The Scribe, fearing
that he might be drowned, assisted him to come out of the Pool.
- 153 -
This Aethyr must be left unfinished then until the half moon.
Hammam Salahin.
December 18, 1909 3:10 - 4:25 p.m.
An olvah nu arenu olvah. Diraeseu adika va paretanu poliax poliax in
vah rah ahum subre fifal. Lerthexanax. Mama ra-la hum fifala maha{SUP:1}.
All this is the melody of a flute, very faint and clear. And there is
sort of a sub-tinkle of a bell.
And there is a string instrument, somewhat like a zither. And there
is a human voice.
And the voice comes: this is the Song of the Sphinx, which she singeth
ever in the ears of men.
And it is the song of the syrens. And whoever heareth it is
lost{SUP:2}.
I III
Mu pa telai, O chi balae
Tu wa melai Wa pa malae: --
A, a, a Ut! Ut! Ut!
Tu fu tulu! Ge; fu latrai,
Tu fu Tulu Le fu malai
Pa, Sa, Ga. Kut! -- Hut! -- Nut.
II IV
Qwi Mu telai AI OAI
Ya Pa melai; Rel moai
u, u, u. Ti -- Ti -- Ti!
'Se gu melai; Wa la pelai
Pe fu telai, Tu fu latai
Fu tu lu. Wi, Ni, Bi.
--------------------
1. This began instantly on the resumption of the Vision. We must
assume that the Angel of the Aire, or one of His ministers, undertook
the task of preparing the Seer for the "voice of the Aethyr"
in this manner. --- It is the language of the Sappho-Calypso
angel, commonly called Bathyllic. Its translation is:
"Now it glides in to the heaven-home, glides. Seducingly
the mentrila of the begotten one of the Holy Head (or Skull)
takes hold of the soft tissues, subtly plying its shuttle. Light
follows the explosion. The soft tissues, cleaving to the shuttle,
pump out every drop of water from the well."
2. The Magical Fascination of the whole Aethyr is something quite
apart from, and beyond, almost anything else in the experience
of the seer. The effort upon him, 31 Equinoxes later, of writing
these notes, is quite extraordinary. The memory of it diminishes
the value of the rest of his life, with few excepted incidents,
almost to nothing.
- 154 -
_Translation of Song._
I
Silence! the moon ceaseth (her motion),
That also was sweet
In the air, in the air, in the air!
Who Will shall attain!
Who Will shall attain
By the Moon, and by Myself, and by the Angel of the Lord!
II
Now Silence ceaseth
And the moon waxeth sweet;
(It is the hour of) Initiation, Initiation, Initiation.
The kiss of Isis is honeyed;
My own Will is ended,
For Will hath attained.
III
Behold the lion-child swimmeth (in the heaven)
And the moon reeleth: --
(It is) Thou! (It is) Thou! (It is) Thou!
Triumph; the Will stealeth away (like a thief),
The Strong Will that staggered
Before Ra Hoor Khuit! -- Hadit! -- Nuit!
IV
To the God OAI{SUP:1}
Be praise
In the end and the beginning!
And may none fall
Who Will attain
The Sword, the Balances, the Crown!
And that which thou hearest is but the dropping of the dews from my
limbs, for I dance in the night, naked upon the grass, in shadowy places,
by running streams.
Many are they who have loved the nymphs of the woods, and of the
wells, and of the fountains, and of the hills. And of these some were
nympholept. For it was not a nymph, but I myself that walked upon the
earth taking my pleasure. So also there were many images of Pan, and men
adored them, and as a beautiful god he made their olives bear double and
their vines increase; but some were
--------------------
1. The reversal of the formula of IAO (see _Book 4_, part 3) implies
roughly, the general Mystical, as opposed to the general Magical,
Process.
- 155 -
slain by the god, for it was I that had woven the garlands about
him{SUP:1}.
Now cometh a song.
So sweet is this song that no one could resist it. For in it is all
the passionate ache for the moonlight, and the great hunger of the sea, and
the terror of desolate places, --- all things that lure men to the
unattainable.
Omari tessala marax,
tessala dodi phornepax.
amri radara poliax
armana piliu.
amri radara piliu son';
mari narya barbiton
madara anaphax sarpedon
andala hriliu.
_Translation_
I am the harlot that shaketh Death.
This shaking giveth the Peace of Satiate Lust.
Immortality jetteth from my skull,
And music from my vulva.
Immortality jetteth from my vulva also,
For my Whoredom is a sweet scent like a seven-stringed instrument,
Played unto God the Invisible, the all-ruler,
That goeth along giving the shrill scream of orgasm.
Every man that hath seen me forgetteth me never, and I appear oftentimes in
the coals of the fire, and upon the smooth white skin of woman, and in the
constancy of the waterfall, and in the emptiness of deserts and marshes,
and upon great cliffs that look seaward; and in many strange places, where
men seek me not. And many thousand times he beholdeth me not. And at last
I smite myself into him as a vision smiteth into a stone, and whom I call
must follow.
Now I perceive myself standing in a Druid circle, in an immense open
plain.
A whole series of beautiful visions of deserts and sunsets and islands
in the sea, green beyond imagination . . . . But there is no subsistence
in them{SUP:2}.
--------------------
1. From this it would appear that BABALON (who is speaking through
one of Her ministers) is the Feminine (or Androgyne) equivalent
and not merely complement --- of Pan. This is shewn in many
of Her images.
2. These visions are semi-distractions, due to the Seer's human
weakness, which could not endure the rapture of the Voice.
"Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy." _AL_, II, 70.
During the great revelation of the Cairo Working, the Seer had been
similarly ravished, and fainted under the excess of Enthusiasm.
- 156 -
A voice goes on: this is the holiness of fruitless love and aimless toil.
For in doing the thing for the things's sake is concentration, and this is
the holiest of them that suit not the means to the end. For therein is
faith and sympathy and a knowledge of the true Magick{SUP:1}.
Oh my beloved, that fliest in the air like a dove, beware of the
falcon! oh my beloved, that springest upon the earth like a gazelle, beware
of the lion!
There are hundreds of visions, trampling over one another. In each
one the Angel of the Aethyr is mysteriously hidden.
Now I will describe the Angel of the Aethyr until the voice begins
again.
He is like one's idea of Sappho and Calypso, and all seductive and
deadly things{SUP:2}; heavy eye-lids, long lashes, a face like ivory,
wonderful barbaric jewellery, intensely red lips, a very small mouth, tiny
ears, a Grecian face. Over the shoulders is a black robe with a green
collar; the robe is spangled with golden stars; the tunic is a pure soft
blue.
Now the whole Aethyr is swallowed up in a forest of unquenchable fire,
and fearlessly through it all a show-white eagle flies. And the eagle
cries: the house also of death{SUP:3}. Come away! The volume of the book is open, the
Angel waiteth without, for the summer is at hand. Come away!
For the Aeon is measured, and thy spans allotted. Come away! For the
mighty sounds have entered into
--------------------
1. _AL_ I, 44. "For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered
from the lust of result, is every way perfect." This doctrine
is fundamental to all working soever. Its neglect vitiates
(by a paradox curious enough) all fruitfulness in any operation.
One may indeed distinguish work worthy of being performed from
menial toil (such as that of statesmen, financiers, and sewer
rats) by this criterion. (Faith, spelt empirically
{GRK:phi}{GRK:alpha}{GRK:iota}{GRK:theta} ---
a practice not to be commended or even defended -- it being of
the nature of paranomasia -- is equivalent to {HEB:Resh}{HEB:Shin}
{HEB:Koph} --- lawful.)
2. BABALON, "in whom all power is given," is the Teh, Sakhi, {HEB:Heh}.
She is seductive and deadly, being the Disturber of the Total
Equilibrium of the Absolute Zero, which considered as a positive
Idea, is Existence in perfect Peace, an immutable Essence. But
He cannot truly exist without Her; and through Her therefore
comes Change, which is Love and Death.
3. See the 11th Call, which invokes {Spirit} of {Water}, the Princess of
the Lotus of the Floods. (The reading is a variant of that given
in the official A{.'.} A{.'.} ritual.) The Eagle is snow-white
for Her purity; and He is the White Eagle of the Alchemists.
- 157 -
every angle{SUP:1}. And they have awakened the Angels of the Aethyrs that slept these
three hundred years{SUP:2}.
For in the Holy letter Shin, that is the Resurrection in the Book of
Thoth, that is the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, that is three hundred in the
tale of the years{SUP:3}, hath the tomb been opened, so that this great
wisdom might be revealed.
Come away! For the Second Triad is completed, and there remaineth
only the Lord of the Aeon, the Avenger, the Child both Crowned and
Conquering, the Lord of the Sword and the Sun, the Babe in the Lotus, pure
from his birth, the Child of suffering, the Father of justice, unto whom be
the glory throughout all the Aeon{SUP:4}!
Come away! For that which was to be accomplished is accomplished,
seeing that thou hadst faith unto the end of all.
In the letter N the Voice of the Aethyr is ended{SUP:5}.
Biskra, Algeria.
December 20, 1909. 8:35 - 9:15 p.m.
The Cry of the 1st Aethyr, Which is Called LIL{SUP:6}
First, let praise and worship and honour and glory and great thank be
given unto the Holy One, who hath permitted us to come thus far, who hath
revealed unto us the ineffable mysteries, that they might be disclosed
before men. And we humbly beseech His
--------------------
1. See the Keys, especially the 5th and 6th, where the angles (of
the Watch Towers) are specifically mentioned.
2. i.e. since the Working of Dr. John Dee and Sir Edward Kelly.
3. {HEB:Shin} = 300: also {HEB:Shin} = Atu XX, "The Last Judgment" (or
Resurrection, as implied in the usual form of the Atu). {HEB:Shin} = <
= Spirit in the regular attribution (the triple Gue (sic) of Fire; see
the Acts of the Apostles). 300 = {HEB:Mem- final}{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Heh}
{HEB:Lamed}{HEB:Aleph} {HEB:Chet}{HEB:Vau}{HEB:Resh} = Rauch Elohim
the Spirit of the Gods.
4. The Seer had absolutely forgotten this prophecy, and was amazed
at the final identification of the Child in LIL with Hoor.
5. This implies that the Voice of the Aethyr ends never! For N
is the vibration which continues through the nostrils. See
_Book 4_, part 3 on the word AUGMN, whereby the Seer rebuked
and perfected the Aum of the Rishis. N = {HEB:Nun}, the letter of
Sexual immortality, the formula of Perfection through putrefaction.
6. LIL = {Cancer}{Aquarius}{Cancer} = 76 = {HEB:Nun- final}{HEB:Vau}
{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Chet} = Secret, a refuge; {HEB:Chet}{HEB:Chet}
{HEB:Yod}{HEB:Nun} rest, peace; and {HEB:Dalet}{HEB:Bet}{HEB:Ayin}, a
Servant (in the noble sense). In Hebrew LIL would be 70, the eye of
Horus, {HEB:Ayin}. But see a previous note on the twelvefold table,
15th Aethyr, where these letters rule the Universe. (scil. that of the
present Aeon.)
- 158 -
infinite goodness that he will be pleased to manifest unto us even the
Mystery of the First Aethyr{SUP:1}.
(Here followeth the Call of the Aethyr.)
The veil of the Aethyr is like the veil of night, dark azure, full of
countless stars. And because the veil is infinite, at first one seeth not
the winged globe of the sun that burneth in the centre thereof. Profound
peace filleth me, --- beyond ecstasy, beyond thought, beyond being itself,
IAIDA. (This word means "I am", but in a sense entirely beyond being.)
(_Note_. --- In Hebrew letters it adds to 26. In Hebrew letters the
name of the Aethyr is 70, ayin; but by turning the Yetziratic attributions
of the letters into Hebrew, it gives 66{SUP:2}, is the sum of the numbers
from 0 to 11.)
Yes; there is peace. There is no _tendency_ of any sort, much less
any observation or feeling or impression. There is only a faint
consciousness, like the scent of jasmine.
The body of the Seer is rested in a waking sleep that is deeper than
sleep, and his mind is still; he seems like a well in the desert, shaded by
windless palms.
And it is night; and because the night is the whole night of space,
and not the partial night of earth, there is no thought of dawn. For the
light of the Sun maketh illusion, blinding man's eyes to the glory of the
stars. And unless he be in the shadow of the earth, he cannot see the
stars. So, also, unless he be hidden from the light of life, he cannot
behold Nuit. Here, then, do I abide in unalterable midnight, utterly at
peace.
I have forgotten where I am, and who I am. I am hanging in nothing.
--------------------
1. The Seer was only too well aware that, considering the dire straits
to which he was put to obtain the Second Aire, he was surely
incapable of penetrating the First. In fact, only a full Magus
could pierce the Second properly, and for the First, none but
an Ipsissimus would be competent. This apprehension was in fact
justified. Only now and then was he able to live at the level
of LIL; much of the Vision and the Voice here printed is but
a pale reflection in Rauch (and even that at the cost of infinite
effort) of the Word of the Angel of the Aethyr. These "Ersatz-words"
are indicated in the present edition by square brackets.
2. i.e. by taking I as Luna. In the note in the title, we have
taken it as {Cancer}, experience having shewn that this mode is more
accurate. L is {Moon} in her decrease, and {Cancer} her house. But
the Enochian alphabet is referred to the Zodiac and the Elements;
only indirectly to the planets; and it is imprudent to make any
exception.
- 159 -
Now the veil opens of itself. (To Scribe. Come nearer; I don't want
to have to speak so loudly.)
It is a little child covered with lilies and roses. He is supported
by countless myriads of Archangels. The Archangels are all the same
colourless brilliance, and every one of them is blind. Below the
Archangels again are many, many other legions, and so on far below, so far
that the eye cannot pierce. And on his forehead, and on his heart, and in
his hand, is the secret sigil of the Beast{SUP:1}. And of all this the
glory is so great that all the spiritual senses fail, and their reflections
in the body fail.
It is very strange. In my heart is rapture, holy and ineffable,
absolutely beyond emotion; beyond even that bliss called Ananda, infinitely
calm and pure. Yet at the gates of mine eyes stand tears, like warriors
upon the watch, that lean on their spears, listening{SUP:2}.
The great and terrible Angel keeps on looking at me, as if to bar me
from the vision. There is another forcing my head down in sleep.
(It's very difficult to talk at all, because an impression takes such
an immense time to travel from the will to the muscles. Naturally, I've no
idea of time.)
I have gone up again to the child, led by two Angels, abasing my head.
This child seems to be the child that one attempted to describe in
"The Garden of Janus.{SUP:3}"
Every volition is inhibited. I have tried to say a lot, but it has
always got lost on the way.
Holy art thou, O more beautiful than all the stars of the Night!
There has never been such peace, such silence. But these are
_positive_ things. Singing praises of things eternal amid the flames of
first glory, and every note of every song is a fresh flower in the garland
of peace.
This child danceth not, but it is because he is the soul of the two
dances, --- the right hand and the left hand, and in him they are one
dance, the dance without motion.
--------------------
1.
2. There are long intervals between many of these paragraphs, the
Seer having been lost to Being. The reader will note that "The
Great and Terrible Angel" has not been mentioned, but comes in
suddenly. This was because the Seer's speech was inaudible,
or never occurred. This angel was the "Higher Genius" of the Seer.
3. See the _Winged Beetle_ and _Eqx_. I, No. 3.
- 160 -
There is dew on all the fire. Every drop is the quintessence of the
ecstasy of stars.
Yet a third time am I led to him, prostrating myself seven times at
every step. There is a perfume in the air, reflected down even to the body
of the seer. That perfume thrills his body with an ecstasy that is like
love, like sleep.
And this is the song:
I am the child of all who am the father of all, for from me come forth
all things, that I might be. I am the fountain in the snows, and I am the
eternal sea. I am the lover, and I am the beloved, and I am the first-
fruits of their love. I am the first faint shuddering of the Light, and I
am the loom wherein night weaveth her impenetrable veil.
I am the captain of the hosts of eternity; of the swordsmen and the
spearmen and the bowmen and the charioteers. I have led the armies of the
east against the armies of the west, and the armies of the west against the
armies of the east. For I am Peace.
My groves of olive were planted by an harlot, and my horses were bred
by a thief. I have trained my vines upon the spears of the Most High, and
with my laughter have I slain a thousand men.
With the wine in my cup have I mixed the lightnings, and I have carved
my bread with a sharp sword.
With my folly have I undone the wisdom of the Magus, even as with my
judgments I have overwhelmed the universe. I have eaten the pomegranate in the House of
Wrath, and I have crushed out the blood of my mother between mill-stones to make bread.
There is nothing that I have not trampled beneath my feet. There is
nothing that I have not set a garland on my brow. I have wound{SUP:1} all
things about my waist as a girdle. I have hidden all things in the cave of
my heart. I have slain all things because I am Innocence. I have lain
with all things because I am Untouched Virginity. I have given birth to
all things because I am Death.
Stainless are my lips, for they are redder than the purple of the
vine, and of the blood wherewith I am intoxicated. Stainless is my
forehead, for it is whiter than the wind and the dew that cooleth it.
I am light, and I am night, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am speech, and I am silence, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am life, and I am death, and I am that which is beyond them.
--------------------
1. {WEH Note: In this Word lurks a Pun that is Key to all the Work.}
- 161 -
I am war, and I am peace, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am weakness, and I am strength, and I am that which is beyond them.
Yet by none of these can man reach up to me. Yet by each of them must
man reach up to me.
Thou shalt laugh at the folly of the fool. Thou shalt learn the
wisdom of the Wise. And thou shalt be initiate in holy things. And thou
shalt be learned in the things of love. And thou shalt be mighty in the
things of war. And thou shalt be adept in things occult. And thou shalt
interpret the oracles. And thou shalt drive all these before thee in thy
car, and though by none of these canst thou reach up to me, yet by each of
these must thou attain to me. And thou must have the strength of the lion,
and the secrecy of the hermit. And thou must turn the wheel of life. And
thou must hold the balances of Truth. Thou must pass through the great
Waters, a Redeemer. Thou must have the tail of the scorpion, and the
poisoned arrows of the Archer, and the dreadful horns of the Goat. And so
shalt thou break down the fortress that guardeth the Palace of the King my
son. And thou must work by the light of the Star and of the Moon and of
the Sun, and by the dreadful light of judgment that is the birth of the
Holy Spirit within thee. When these shall have destroyed the universe,
then mayest thou enter the palace of the Queen my daughter{SUP:1}.
Blessed, blessed, blessed; yea, blessed; thrice and four times blessed
is he that hath attained to look upon thy face. For I will hurl thee forth
from my presence as a whirling thunderbolt to guard the ways, and whom thou smitest shall
be smitten indeed. And whom thou lovest shall be loved
indeed. And whether by smiting or by love thou workest, each one shall see
my face, a glimmer through a thousand veils. And they shall rise up from
love's sleep or death's, and gird themselves with a girdle of snake-skin
for wisdom, and they shall wear the white tunic of purity, and the apron of
flaming orange for will, and over their shoulders shall they cast the
panther's skin of courage. And they shall wear the nemyss of secrecy and
the ateph crown of truth. And on their feet shall they put sandals made of
the skin of breasts, that they may trample upon all they were, yet also
that its toughness shall support them, and protect their feet, as they pass
upon the mystical way that lieth through the pylons. And upon their
breasts shall be the Rose and Cross of light and life, and in their hands
the hermit's staff and lamp. Thus shall they set out upon the never-ending
journey, each step of which is an unutterable reward{SUP:2}.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy; yea, thrice and four times holy art
--------------------
1. This passage is quite spurious, a vague and false reflection
of the true voice, which was a lyrical sequence of the Atus of
Thoth.
2. This passage is not wholly wrong; it is the poor expression,
which is to be deplored.
- 162 -
thou, because thou hast attained to look upon my face; not by my favour
only, not by thy magick only, may this be won. Yet it is written: "Unto the
persevering mortal the blessed Immortals are swift."
Mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty; yea, thrice and four times mighty art
thou. He that riseth up against thee shall be thrown down, though thou
raise not so much as thy little finger against him. And he that speaketh
evil against thee shall be put to shame, though thy lips utter not the
littlest syllable against him. And he that thinketh evil concerning thee
shall be confounded in his thought, although in thy mind arise not the
least thought of him{SUP:1}. And they shall be brought unto subjection
unto thee, and serve thee, though thou willest it not. And it shall be
unto them a grace and a sacrament, and ye shall all sit down together at
the supernal banquet, and ye shall feast upon the honey of the
gods, and be drunk upon the dew of immortality --- FOR I AM HORUS, THE CROWNED AND
CONQUERING CHILD, WHOM THOU KNEWEST NOT!
Pass thou on, therefore, O thou Prophet of the Gods, unto the Cubical
Altar of the Universe; there shalt thou receive every tribe and kingdom and
nation into the mighty Order that reacheth from the frontier fortresses
that guard the Uttermost Abyss unto My Throne.
This is the formula of the Aeon, and with that the voice of LIL, that
is the Lamp of the Invisible Light, is ended. Amen.
Biskra, Algeria.
December 19, 1909. 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.