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Magick in Theory and Practice, Part 1
Magick in Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley
1989 e.v. key entry and proof reading with re-format and ASCII conversion 9/18/90 e.v. done by Bill rick, T.G. of O.T.O.
(further proof reading desirable)
disk 1 of 4
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Pages in the original are marked thus at the bottom: {page number}
Comments and notes not in the original are identified with the initials of the source: AC note = Cro note. WEH note = Bill Heidrick note, etc.
footnotes have been moved up to the point of citation in the text and set off by <<... >> just beford after the note.
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
MAGICK
IN THEORY AND
PRACTICE
by
The Master Therion
Aleister Crowley
{Based on the Castle Books edition of New York}
HYMN TO PAN
epsilon-phi-rho-iota-xi epsilon-rho-omega-tau-iota pi-epsilon-rho-iota-alpha-rho-chi-eta-sigma ta alpha-nu-epsilon-pi-tau-omicron-mu-alpha-nu
iota-omega iota-omega pi-alpha-nu pi-alpha-nu
omega -pi-alpha-nu pi-alpha-nu alpha-lambda-iota-pi-lambda-alpha-gamma-chi-tau-epsilon, chi-upn-lambda-lambda-alpha-nu-iota-alpha-sigma chi-iota-omicron-nu-omicron-chi-tau-upsilon-pi-omicronit
pi-epsilon-tau-rho-alpha-iota-alpha-sigma alpha-pi-omicron delta-epsilon-iota-rho-alpha-delta-omn-sigma phi-alpha-nu-eta-theta, omega
theta-epsilon-omega-nu chi-omicron-rho-omicron-pi-omicron-iota alpha-nu-alpha-xi
SOPH. AJ.
Thrill with lissome lust of the light,
O man! My man!
Come careering out of the night
Of Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan! Come over the sea
From Sicily and from Arcady!
Roaming as Bacchus, with fauns and pards
And nymphs and satyrs for thy guards,
On a milk-white ass, come over the sea
To me, to me,
Come with Apollo in bridal dress
(Shepherdess and pythoness)
Come with Artemis, silken shod,
And wash thy white thigh, beautiful God,
In the moon of the woods, on the marble mount,
The dimpled dawn of the amber fount!
Dip the purple of passionate prayer
In the crimson shrine, the scarlet snare,
The soul that startles in eyes of blue {V}
To watch thy wantonness weeping through
The tangled grove, the gnarled bole
Of the living tree that is spirit and soul
And body and brain --- come over the sea,
(Io Pan! Io Pan!)
Devil or god, to me, to me,
My man! my man!
Come with trumpets sounding shrill
Over the hill!
Come with drums low muttering
From the spring!
Come with flute and come with pipe!
Am I not ripe?
I, who wait and writhe and wrestle
With air that hath no boughs to nestle
My body, weary of empty clasp,
Strong as a lion and sharp as an asp ---
Come, O come!
I am numb
With the lonely lust of devildom.
Thrust the sword through the galling fetter,
All-devourer, all-begetter;
Give me the sign of the Open Eye,
And the token erect of thorny thigh,
And the word of madness and mystery,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan Pan! Pan,
I am a man:
Do as thou wilt, as a great god can,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! I am awake
in the grip of the snake.
The eagle slashes with beak and claw;
The gods withdraw:
The great beasts come, Io Pan! I am borne
To death on the horn
Of the Unicorn.
I am Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! {VI}
I am thy mate, I am thy man,
Goat of thy flock, I am gold, I am god,
Flesh to thy bone, flower to thy rod.
With hoofs of steel I race on the rocks
Through solstice stubborn to equinox.
And I rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend
Everlasting, world without end,
Mannikin, maiden, Maenad, man,
In the might of Pan.
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan!
-------------
{VII}
{Illustration on page VIII described:
This is the set of photos originally published facing page 12 in EQUINOX I, 2 and titled there: Signs of the Grades."
These are arranged as ten panels: * * * *
* *
* *
*
*
In this re-publication, the original half-tones have been redone as line copy. Each panel consisf an illustration of a single human in a black Tau robe, barefoot with hood completely closed ove h ace. The hood displays a six-pointed figure on the forehead --- presumably the radiant eye ofHousofthe A.'. A.'., but the rendition is too poor in detail. There is a cross pendant over the ear. he en panels are numbered in black in the lower left corner.
The panels are identified by two columns of numbered captions, 1 to 6 to the left and 7 to 10 to theht. The description is bottom to top and left to right:
"1. Earth: the god Set fighting." Frontal figure. Rt. foot pointed to the fore and angled slightly ard with weight on ball of foot. Lf. heel almost touching Rt. heel and foot pointed left. Arms omadiagonal with body, right above head and in line with left at waist height. Hands palmer and pe wthfingers outstretched and together. Head erect.
"2. Air: The god Shu supporting the sky." Frontal. Heels together and slightly angled apart to thent, flat on floor. Head down. Arms angled up on either side of head about head 1.5 ft. from hea owist and crooked as if supporting a ceiling just at head height with the finger tips. The palm fceupard and the backs of the hands away from the head. Thumbs closed to side of palms. Finger staigt ad together.
"3. Water: the goddess Auramoth." Same body and foot position as #2, but head erect. Arms are brougown over the chest so that the thumbs touch above the heart and the backs of the hands are to thefot The fingers meet below the heart, forming between thumbs and fingers the descending triangleofwaer
"4. Fire: the goddess Thoum-aesh-neith." Frontal. Head and body like #3. Arms are angled so that thumbs meet in a line over the brow. Palmer side facing. Fingers meet above head, forming betwentubs and fingers the ascending triangle of fire.
"5,6. Spirit: the rending and closing of the veil." Head erect in both. #5 has the same body postus #1, except that the left and right feet are countercharged and flat on the floor with the heelsi otact. Arms and hands are crooked forward at shoulder level such that the hands appear to be lain oen a split veil --- hands have progressed to a point that the forearms are invisible, beingdirctl ponted at the front. Lower arms are flat and horizontal in the plain of the image.
#6. has the same body posture as #1, feet in same position as #5. The arms are elbow down against aen, with hands forward over heart in claws such that the knuckles are touching. Passing from #5 o# r vice versa is done by motion of shoulders and rotation of wrists. This is different from th ohe sgn of opening the veil, the Sign of the Enterer, which is done with hands flat palm to palmandthe spead without rotation of wrists.
"7-10. The L V X signs."
"7. + Osiris slain --- the cross." Body and feet as in #2. Head bowed. Arms directly horizontal frhe shoulders in the plane of the image. Hands with fingers together, thumbs to side of palm and amrside forward. The tau shape of the robe dominates the image.
"8. L Isis mourning --- the Svastica." The body is in semi-profile, head down slightly and facing r of photograph. The arms, hands, legs and feet are positioned to define a swastika. Left foot fa,crrying weight and angled toward the right of the photo. Right foot toe down behind the figuretoth lft in the photo. Right upper arm due left in photo and forearm vertical with fingers close an pontig upward. Left arm smoothly canted down to the right of the panel, with fingers closed ad ponteddown
"9. V Typhon --- the Trident." Figure frontal and standing on tip toe, toes forward and heels not ting. Head back. Arms angled in a "V" with the body to the top and outward in the plain of the poo Fingers and thumbs as #7, but continuing the lines of the arms.
"10. X Osiris risen --- the Pentagram." Body and feet as in #7. Head directly frontal and level. crossed over heart, right over left with hands extended, fingers closed and thumb on side such ta h palms rest on the two opposite shoulders.}
INTRODUCTION
"Epsilon-sigma-sigma-epsilon-alpha-iota alpha-theta-alpha-nu-alpha-tau-omicron-sigma theta-epsiloicron-sigma, alpha-mu-beta-rho-omicron-tau-omicron-sigma, omicron-upsilon-chi epsilon-tau-iota ht-nu-eta-tau-omicron-sigma
Pythagoras.
"Magic is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge of Natural Philosophy, advanced is works and wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult virtue of thins othat true Agents being applied to proper Patients, strange and admirable effects will thereby e roucd. Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into Nature; they, because of thei skll,kno how to anticipate an effect, the which to the vulgar shall seem to be a miracle."
"The Goetia of the Lemegeton of King Solomon."
"Wherever sympathetic magic occurs in its pure unadulterated form, it is assumed that in nature onent follows another necessarily and invariably without the intervention of any spiritual or personlaecy.
Thus its fundamental conception is identical with that of modern science; underlying the whole sy is a faith, implicit but real and firm, in the order and uniformity of nature. The magician doe o oubt that the same causes will always produce the same effects, that the performance of the prpe creony accompanied by the appropriate spell, will inevitably be attended by the desired result, ules, ideed, his incantations should chance to be thwarted and foiled by the more potent charmsof aothe sorerer. He supplicates no higher power: he sues the favour of no fickle and wayward beng: h abass himelf before no awful deity. Yet his power, great as he believes it to be, is by nomeans rbitray and nlimited. He can wield it only so long as he strictly conforms to the rules ofhis art or to hat maybe called the laws of nature as conceived by {IX} him. To neglect these ruls, to brak theselaws in he smallest particular is to incur failure, and may even expose the unskiful practtioner hiself to te utmost peril. If he claims a sovereignty over nature, it is a consttutional svereignty igorously imited in its scope and exercised in exact conformity with ancient sage. Thusthe analogybetween themagical and the scientific conceptions of the world is close. I both of the the successon of eventsis perfectly regular and certain, being determined by immutabe laws, the oeration of whch can be forseen and calculated precisely; the elements of caprice, ofchance, and ofaccident are bnished from th course of nature. Both of them open up a seemingly bondless vista ofpossibilities t him who knows he causes of things and can touch the secret springsthat set in motin the vast and itricate mechanis of the world. Hence the strong attraction whichmagic and sciencealike have exercied on the human mnd; hence the powerful stimulus that both havegiven to the pursut of knowledge. Tey lure the weary nquirer, the footsore seeker, on through th wilderness of disapointment in the prsent by their endles promises of the future: they take him p to he top of an exeeding high mountainand shew him, beyondthe dark clouds and rolling mists at is feet, a vision of he celestial city, fa off, it may be, but adiant with unearthly splendour, bthed in the light of deams."
Dr. J. G. FRAZER, "The Golden Bough"."
"So far, therefore, as the public profession of magic has been one of the roads by which men havesed to supreme power, it has contributed to emancipate mankind from the thraldom of tradition andt lvate them into a larger, freer life, with a broader outlook on the world. This is no small sevie enered to humanity. And when we remember further that in another direction magic has paved te wy fr sience, we are forced to admit that if the black art has done much evil, it has also beenthe ourc of uch good; that if it is the child of error, it has yet been the mother of freedom andtruth"
Ibid.
{X}
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
St. Paul.
"Also the mantras and spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of the wand and the work of the sw these he shall learn and teach."
"He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals."
"The word of the Law is Theta-epsilon-lambda-eta-mu-alpha."
LIBER AL vel xxxi: The Book of the Law.
-------------
This book is for
ALL:
for every man, woman, and child.
My former work has been misunderstood, and its scope limited, by my use of technical terms. It httracted only too many dilettanti and eccentrics, weaklings seeking in "Magic" an escape from reaiy I myself was first consciously drawn to the subject in this way. And it has repelled only toomay cintific and practical minds, such as I most designed to influence.
But
MAGICK
is for
ALL.
I have written this book to help the Banker, the Pugilist, the Biologist, the Poet, the Navvy, thocer, the Factory Girl, the Mathematician, the Stenographer, the Golfer, the Wife, the Consul ---adal the rest --- to fulfil themselves perfectly, each in his or her own proper function.
Let me explain in a few words how it came about that I blazoned the word
MAGICK
upon the Banner that I have borne before me all my life.
Before I touched my teens, I was already aware that I was THE BEAST whose number is 666. I did nnderstand in the least {XI} what that implied; it was a passionately ecstatic sense of identity.
In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself consciously to the Great Work, understanding therthe Work of becoming a Spiritual Being, free from the constraints, accidents, and deceptions of mtra existence.
I found myself at a loss for a name to designate my work, just as H. P. Blavatsky some years earl "Theosophy", "Spiritualism", "Occultism", "Mysticism", all involved undesirable connotations.
I chose therefore the name.
"MAGICK"
as essentially the most sublime, and actually the most discredited, of all the available terms.
I swore to rehabilitate
MAGICK
to identify it with my own career; and to compel mankind to respect, love, and trust that which theyrned, hated and feared. I have kept my Word.
But the time is now come for me to carry my banner into the thick of the press of human life.
I must make
MAGICK
the essential factor in the life of
ALL.
In presenting this book to the world, I must then explain and justify my position by formulating finition of
MAGICK
and setting forth its main principles in such a way that
ALL
may understand instantly that their souls, their lives, in every relation with every other human beind every circumstance, depend upon
MAGICK
and the right comprehension and right application thereof.
I. "DEFINITION."
MAGICK
is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.
{XII}
(Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my knowledge. I therefoake "magical weapons", pen, ink, and paper; I write "incantations" --- these sentences --- in the"aial language" i.e. that which is understood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spiit",suh as printers, publishers, booksellers, and so forth, and constrain them to convey my messae t thse eople. The composition and distribution of this book is thus an act of
MAGICK
by which I cause changes to take place in conformity with my Will<<By "Intentional" I mean "willed".t even unintentional acts so-seeming are not truly so. Thus, breathing is an act of the Will-to-ie>)
II. "POSTULATE."
ANY required Change may be effected by the application of the proper kind and degree of force in proper manner through the proper medium to the proper object.
(Illustration: I wish to prepare an ounce of Chloride of Gold. I must take the right kind of aciitro-hydrochloric and no other, in sufficient quantity and of adequate strength, and place it, inavsel which will not break, leak, or corrode, in such a manner as will not produce undesirable reuls,wih the necessary quantity of Gold: and so forth. Every Change has its own conditions.
In the present state of our knowledge and power some changes are not possible in practice; we cancause eclipses, for instance, or transform lead into tin, or create men from mushrooms. But it i hoetically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature;an te onditions are covered by the above postulate.)
III. "THEOREMS."
(1) Every intentional act is a Magical Act.<<In one sense Magick may be defined as the name given tience
by the vulgar.>>
(Illustration: See "Definition" above.) {XIII}
(2) Every successful act has conformed to the postulate.
(3) Every failure proves that one or more requirements of the postulate have not been fulfilled.
(Illustrations: There may be failure to understand the case; as when a doctor makes a wrong diagnosand his treatment injures his patient. There may be failure to apply the right kind of force, aswe rustic tries to blow out an electric light. There may be failure to apply the right degree o frc, s when a wrestler has his hold broken. There may be failure to apply the force in the righ maner aswhen one presents a cheque at the wrong window of the Bank. There may be failure to empoy te corectmedium, as when Leonardo da Vinci found his masterpiece fade away. The force may be pplie to a unsutable object, as when one tries to crack a stone, thinking it a nut.)
(4) The first requisite for causing any change is through qualitative and quantitative understandof the conditions.
(Illustration: The most common cause of failure in life is ignorance of one's own True Will, or oe means by which to fulfil that Will. A man may fancy himself a painter, and waste his life tryigt ecome one; or he may be really a painter, and yet fail to understand and to measure the difficltespeuliar to that career.)
(5) The second requisite of causing any change is the practical ability to set in right motion thcessary forces.
(Illustration: A banker may have a perfect grasp of a given situation, yet lack the quality of deon, or the assets, necessary to take advantage of it.)
(6) "Every man and every woman is a star." That is to say, every human being is intrinsically anependent individual with his own proper character and proper motion.
(7) Every man and every woman has a course, depending partly on the self, and partly on the environ which is natural and necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from his own course, either throuhntunderstanding himself, or through external opposition, comes into conflict with the order of te niere, and suffers accordingly. {XIV}
(Illustration: A man may think it his duty to act in a certain way, through having made a fancy pre of himself, instead of investigating his actual nature. For example, a woman may make herselfmsrble for life by thinking that she prefers love to social consideration, or "vice versa". One omn aystay with an unsympathetic husband when she would really be happy in an attic with a lover,whie aothr may fool herself into a romantic elopement when her only true pleasures are those of pesidng a fasionable functions. Again, a boy's instinct may tell him to go to sea, while his parets inists n hisbecoming a doctor. In such a case, he will be both unsuccessful and unhappy in meicine.
(8) A Man whose conscious will is at odds with his True Will is wasting his strength. He cannot to influence his environment efficiently.
(Illustration: When Civil War rages in a nation, it is in no condition to undertake the invasion ther countries. A man with cancer employs his nourishment alike to his own use and to that of th nm which is part of himself. He soon fails to resist the pressure of his environment. In practca lfe a man who is doing what his conscience tells him to be wrong will do it very clumsily. Atfirt!) 9) A man who is doing this True Will has the inertia of the Universe to assist him.
(Illustration: The first principle of success in evolution is that the individual should be true is own nature, and at the same time adapt himself to his environment.)
(10) Nature is a continuous phenomenon, though we do not know in all cases how things are connect (Illustration: Human consciousness depends on the properties of protoplasm, the existence of whicpends on innumerable physical conditions peculiar to this planet; and this planet is determined b h echanical balance of the whole universe of matter. We may then say that our consciousness is aualy onnected with the remotest galaxies; yet we do not know even how it arises from --- or with---themolcular changes in the brain.)
(11) Science enables us to take advantage of the continuity of Nature by the empirical applicationcertain {XV} principles whose interplay involves different orders of idea connected with each othri way beyond our present comprehension.
(Illustration: We are able to light cities by rule-of-thumb methods. We do not know what conscioss is, or how it is connected with muscular action; what electricity is or how it is connected wihtemachines that generate it; and our methods depend on calculations involving mathematical ideaswhchhae no correspondence in the Universe as we know it.<<For instance, "irrational", "unreal", ad "nfiite expressions.>>)
(12) Man is ignorant of the nature of his own being and powers. Even his idea of his limitationsbased on experience of the past, and every step in his progress extends his empire. There is theeoeno reason to assign theoretical limits<<i.e., except --- possibly --- in the case of logicallyabur qestions, such as the Schoolmen discussed in connection with "God".>> to what he may be, or o wat e my do.
(Illustration: A generation ago it was supposed theoretically impossible that man should ever knoe chemical composition of the fixed stars. It is known that our senses are adapted to receive onya nfinitesimal fraction of the possible rates of vibration. Modern instruments have enabled us o etctsome of these suprasensibles by indirect methods, and even to use their peculiar qualities n te srvie of man, as in the case of the rays of Hertz and Rontgen. As Tyndall said, man might a anymomet lern to perceive and utilise vibrations of all conceivable and inconceivable kinds. Th quesion o Magik is a question of discovering and employing hitherto unknown forces in nature. W know hat thy exis, and we cannot doubt the possibility of mental or physical instruments capableof brining us nto reltion with them.)
(13) Every man is more or less aware that his individuality comprises several orders of existencven when he maintains that his subtler principles are merely symptomatic of the changes in his grs eicle. A similar order may be assumed to extend throughout nature.
(Illustration: One does not confuse the pain of toothache with {XVI} the decay which causes it. imate objects are sensitive to certain physical forces, such as electrical and thermal conductiviy u neither in us nor in them --- so far as we know --- is there any direct conscious perception f hee orces. Imperceptible influences are therefore associated with all material phenomena; and her isno eason why we should not work upon matter through those subtle energies as we do through heirmateial ases. In fact, we use magnetic force to move iron, and solar radiation to reproduce mages)
(14) Man is capable of being, and using, anything which he perceives, for everything that he percs is in a certain sense a part of his being. He may thus subjugate the whole Universe of which h scnscious to his individual Will.
(Illustration: Man has used the idea of God to dictate his personal conduct, to obtain power over fellow, to excuse his crimes, and for innumerable other purposes, including that of realizing hisl s God. He has used the irrational and unreal conceptions of mathematics to help him in the costucio of mechanical devices. He has used his moral force to influence the actions even of wild nimls. Hehas employed poetic genius for political purposes.)
(15) Every force in the Universe is capable of being transformed into any other kind of force by g suitable means. There is thus an inexhaustible supply of any particular kind of force that we a ed.
(Illustration: Heat may be transformed into light and power by using it to drive dynamos. The viions of the air may be used to kill men by so ordering them in speech as to inflame war-like passos The hallucinations connected with the mysterious energies of sex result in the perpetuation ofth seces.)
(16) The application of any given force affects all the orders of being which exist in the objectwhich it is applied, whichever of those orders is directly affected.
(Illustration: If I strike a man with a dagger, his consciousness, not his body only, is affected b act; although the dagger, as such, has no direct relation therewith. Similarly, the power of {XI}m thought may so work on the mind of another person as to produce far-reaching physical changesinhi, r in others through him.)
(17) A man may learn to use any force so as to serve any purpose, by taking advantage of the aboveorems.
(Illustration: A man may use a razor to make himself vigilant over his speech, but using it to cumself whenever he unguardedly utters a chosen word. He may serve the same purpose by resolving ta vry incident of his life shall remind him of a particular thing, making every impression the strtngpont of a connected series of thoughts ending in that thing. He might also devote his whole neriesto ome one particular object, by resolving to do nothing at variance therewith, and to makeever actturnto the advantage of that object.)
(18) He may attract to himself any force of the Universe by making himself a fit receptacle for istablishing a connection with it, and arranging conditions so that its nature compels it to flow oadhim.
(Illustration: If I want pure water to drink, I dig a well in a place where there is underground r; I prevent it from leaking away; and I arrange to take advantage of water's accordance with thelw f Hydrostatics to fill it.)
(19) Man's sense of himself as separate from, and oppose to, the Universe is a bar to his conductits currents. It insulates him.
(Illustration: A popular leader is most successful when he forgets himself, and remembers only "Tause". Self-seeking engenders jealousies and schism. When the organs of the body assert their peec otherwise than by silent satisfaction, it is a sign that they are diseased. The single excepio i te organ of reproduction. Yet even in this case its self-assertion bears witness to its disatifacionwith itself, since it cannot fulfil its function until completed by its counterpart in aothe orgnism
(20) Man can only attract and employ the forces for which he is really fitted.
(Illustration: You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. A {XVIII} true man of science leafrom every phenomenon. But Nature is dumb to the hypocrite; for in her there is nothing false.<<ti o objection that the hypocrite is himself part of Nature. He is an "endothermic" product, divde aaist himself, with a tendency to break up. He will see his own qualities everywhere, and thu obaina rdical misconception of phenomena. Most religions of the past have failed by expecting Ntureto cnfor with their ideals of proper conduct.>>)
(21) There is no limit to the extent of the relations of any man with the Universe in essence; fo soon as man makes himself one with any idea the means of measurement cease to exist. But his poe outilize that force is limited by his mental power and capacity, and by the circumstances of hi hma evironment.
(Illustration: When a man falls in love, the whole world becomes, to him, nothing but love boundland immanent; but his mystical state is not contagious; his fellow-men are either amused or annoyd H can only extend to others the effect which his love has had upon himself by means of his mentl ndphsical qualities. Thus, Catullus, Dante and Swinburn made their love a mighty mover of manknd y vrtu of their power to put their thoughts on the subject in musical and eloquent language. gain Clepatr and other people in authority moulded the fortunes of many other people by allowing ove t inflence heir political actions. The Magician, however well he succeed in making contact wth thesecretsource of energy in nature, can only use them to the extent permitted by his intellecual andmoral qalities Mohammed's intercourse with Gabriel was only effective because of his statsmanship soldierhip, andthe sublimity of his command of Arabic. Hertz's discovery of the rays whch we nowuse for wreless teegraphy was sterile until reflected through the minds and wills of thepeople whocould takehis truth,and transmit it to the world of action by means of mechanical and eonomic instuments.)
(22) every individual is essentially sufficient to himself. But he is unsatisfactory to himself l he has established himself in his right relation with the Universe.
(Illustration: A microscope, however perfect, is useless in the {XIX} hands of savages. A poet, ver sublime, must impose himself upon his generation if he is to enjoy (and even to understand) hmef as theoretically should be the case.)
(23) Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and one's conditions. It is the Art of applythat understanding in action.
(Illustration: A golf club is intended to move a special ball in a special way in special circumses. A Niblick should rarely be used on the tee, or a Brassie under the bank of a bunker. But alo h use of any club demands skill and experience.)
(24) Every man has an indefeasible right to be what he is.
(Illustration: To insist that any one else shall comply with one's own standards is to outrage, nnly him, but oneself, since both parties are equally born of necessity.)
(25) Every man must do Magick each time that he acts or even thinks, since a thought is an internal whose influence ultimately affects action, thought it may not do so at the time.
(Illustration: The least gesture causes a change in a man's own body and in the air around him; isturbs the balance of the entire Universe, and its effects continue eternally throughout all spac. vry thought, however swiftly suppressed, has its effect on the mind. It stands as one of the cuss f very subsequent thought, and tends to influence every subsequent action. A golfer may losea fw yrdson his drive, a few more with his second and third, he may lie on the green six bare inces to fa fro the hole; but the net result of these trifling mishaps is the difference of a whole troke and o proably between halving and losing the hole.)
(26) Every man has a right, the right of self-preservation, to fulfil himself to the utmost.<<Men"criminal nature" are simply at issue with their true Wills. The murderer has the Will-to-Live; n i will to murder is a false will at variance with his true Will, since he risks death at the hadsofSoiety by obeying his criminal impulse.>>
(Illustration: A function imperfectly preformed injures, not {XX} only itself, but everything assted with it. If the heart is afraid to beat for fear of disturbing the liver, the liver is starvdfrblood, and avenges itself on the heart by upsetting digestion, which disorders respiration, onwhchcadiac welfare depends.)
(27) Every man should make Magick the keynote of his life. He should learn its laws and live by .
(Illustration: The Banker should discover the real meaning of his existence, the real motive whicd him to choose that profession. He should understand banking as a necessary factor in the econoi xstence of mankind, instead of as merely a business whose objects are independent of the genera wlfre He should learn to distinguish false values from real, and to act not on accidental fluctatins ut n considerations of essential importance. Such a banker will prove himself superior to ther; beausehe will not be an individual limited by transitory things, but a force of Nature, as mpersnal, mpartal and eternal as gravitation, as patient and irresistible as the tides. His systm willnot besubjec to panic, any more than the law of Inverse Squares is disturbed by Elections. He willnot be nxious bout his affairs because they will not be his; and for that reason he will b able todirect tem with he calm, clear-headed confidence of an onlooker, with intelligence uncloued by sel-interestand powerunimpaired by passion.)
(28) Every man has a right to fulfil his own will without being afraid that it may interfere witht of others; for if he is in his proper place, it is the fault of others if they interfere with hm
(Illustration: If a man like Napoleon were actually appointed by destiny to control Europe, he shouot be blamed for exercising his rights. To oppose him would be an error. Any one so doing wouldhv ade a mistake as to his own destiny, except in so far as it might be necessary for him to lear t lssns of defeat. The sun moves in space without interference. The order of Nature provides a orit or ach star. A clash proves that one or the other has strayed from his course. But as to ach an tat keps his true course, the more firmly he acts, the less likely are others to get in hi way. His xampl will help {XXI} them to find their own paths and pursue them. Every man that becmes a agicia helpsothers to do likewise. The more firmly and surely men move, and the more such ction i acceptd as th standard of morality, the less will conflict and confusion hamper humanity.
--------------
I hope that the above principles will demonstrate to
ALL
that their welfare, their very existence, is bound up in
MAGICK.
I trust that they will understand, not only the reasonableness, but the necessity of the fundamentalth which I was the means of giving to mankind:
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."
I trust that they will assert themselves as individually absolute, that they will grasp the fact tha is their right to assert themselves, and to accomplish the task for which their nature fits them Ya more, that this is their duty, and that not only to themselves but to others, a duty founded po uivrsal necessity, and not to be shirked on account of any casual circumstances of the moment hic ma sem to put such conduct in the light of inconvenience or even of cruelty.
I hope that the principles outlined above will help them to understand this book, and prevent theom being deterred from its study by the more or less technical language in which it is written.
The essence of
MAGICK
is simple enough in all conscience. It is not otherwise with the art of government. The Aim is simprosperity; but the theory is tangled, and the practice beset with briars.
In the same way
MAGICK
is merely to be and to do. I should add: "to suffer". For Magick is the verb; and it is part of thaining to use the passive voice. This is, however, a matter of Initiation rather than of Magick n{XI} its ordinary sense. It is not my fault if being is baffling, and doing desperate!
Yet, once the above principles are firmly fixed in the mind, it is easy enough to sum up the situn very shortly. One must find out for oneself, and make sure beyond doubt, "who" one is, "what" n s "why" one is. This done, one may put the will which is implicit in the "Why" into words, or aterino One Word. Being thus conscious of the proper course to pursue, the next thing is to undestad te cnditions necessary to following it out. After that, one must eliminate from oneself evey elmentalie or hostile to success, and develop those parts of oneself which are specially neededto cotrol he afresaid conditions.
Let us make an analogy. A nation must become aware of its own character before it can be said tost. From that knowledge it must divine its destiny. It must then consider the political conditin fthe world; how other countries may help it or hinder it. It must then destroy it itself any eemnt dscordant with its destiny. Lastly, it must develop in itself those qualities which will enbleit o cmbat successfully the external conditions which threaten to oppose is purpose. We have ad arecet exmple in the case of the young German Empire, which, knowing itself and its will, discpline and raine itself so that it conquered the neighbours which had oppressed it for so many cenuries. But ater 186 and 1870, 1914! It mistook itself for superhuman, it willed a thing impossibe, it filed toeliminae its own internal jealousies, it failed to understand the conditions of vicory,<<Atleast, i allowedEngland to discover its intentions, and so to combine the world against i. {WEH NOE: This fotnote inCrowley's text belongs to this page, but it is not marked in the text. I have asigned it tis tentatie point, as following the general context.>> it did not train itsel to hold th sea, and tus, having iolated every principle of
MAGICK,
it was pulled down and broken into pieces by provincialism and democracy, so that neither individualellence nor civic virtue has yet availed to raise it again to that majestic unity which made so bl id for the mastery of the race of man.
The sincere student will discover, behind the symbolic technicalities of his book, a practical me of making himself a {XXIII} Magician. The processes described will enable him to discriminate btenwhat he actually is, and what he has fondly imagined himself to be<<Professor Sigmund Freud an hs chol have, in recent years, discovered a part of this body of Truth, which has been taught fo may cntuies in the Sanctuaries of Initiation. But failure to grasp the fullness of Truth, especallythatimpled in my Sixth Theorem (above) and its corollaries, has led him and his followers int the rror f admtting that the avowedly suicidal "Censor" is the proper arbiter of conduct. Offical psyho-anaysis i therefore committed to upholding a fraud, although the foundation of the sciene was te obseration o the disastrous effects on the individual of being false to his Unconscious elf, whoe "writig on thewall" in dream language is the record of the sum of the essential tendences of thetrue natue of the ndividual. The result has been that psycho-analysts have misinterpretd life, an announcedthe absurdty that every human being is essentially an anti-social, criminal, nd insane aimal. It i evident tht the errors of the Unconscious of which the psycho-analysts comlain are neiher more norless than th"original sin" of the theologians whom they despise so heartiy.>>. He mus behold his sul in all itsawful nakedness, he must not fear to look on that appallin actuality. H must discard he gaudy garmets with which his shame has screened him; he must accep the fact that othing can makehim anything bu what he is. He may lie to himself, drug himself, hde himself; but e is always ther. Magick will tach him that his mind is playing him traitor. Itis as if a man wee told that tailos' fashion-plateswere the canon of human beauty, so that he trid to make himself ormless and featurless like them, an shuddered with horror at the idea of Holben making a portraitof him. Magick wil show him the beaut and majesty of the self which he has tred to suppress and dsguise.
Having discovered his identity, he will soon perceive his purpose. Another process will show him to make that purpose pure and powerful. He may then learn how to estimate his environment, lear o o make allies, how to make himself prevail against all powers whose error has caused them to wndr crss his path.
In the course of this Training, he will learn to explore the Hidden Mysteries of Nature, and to dop new senses and faculties in himself, whereby he may communicate with, and control, Beings and ocspertaining to orders of existence which {XXIV} have been hitherto inaccessible to profane reserc, ndavailable only to that unscientific and empirical
MAGICK
(of tradition) which I came to destroy in order that I might fulfil.
I send this book into the world that every man and woman may take hold of life in the proper mann It does not matter of one's present house of flesh be the hut of a shepherd; by virtue of my
MAGICK
he shall be such a shepherd as David was. If it be the studio of a sculptor, he shall so chisel fromself the marble that masks his idea that he shall be no less a master than Rodin.
Witness mine hand:
Tau-Omicron Mu-Epsilon-Gamma-Alpha Theta-Eta-Rho-Iota-Omicron-Nu (Taw-Resh-Yod-Vau-Nunfinal ): Beast 666; MAGUS 9 Degree = 2Square A.'. A.'. who is The Word of the Aeon THELEMA; whose name iscle V.V.V.V.V. 8 Degree = 3Square A.'. A.'. in the City of the Pyramids; OU MH 7 Degree = 4SquareA.. .'; OL SONUF VAORESAGI 6 Degree = 5Square, and ... ... 5 Degree = 6Square A.'. A.'. in the Montan o Abegnus: but FRATER PERDURABO in the Outer Order or the A.'. A.'. and in the World of men pon he Erth,Aleister Crowley of Trinity College, Cambridge.
-----------
{XXV}
CONTENTS
-------
(This portion of the Book should be studied in connection with its Parts I. and II.)
0 The Magical Theory of the Universe.
I The Principles of Ritual.
II The Formulae of the Elemental Weapons.
III The Formula of Tetragrammaton.
IV The Formula of Alhim: also that of Alim.
V The Formula of I. A. O.
VI The Formula of the Neophyte.
VII The Formula of the Holy Graal, of Abrahadabra, and of
Certain Other Words; with some remarks on the
Magical Memory.
VIII Of Equilibrium: and of the General and Particular Method
of Preparation of the Furniture of the Temple and the
Instruments of Art.
IX Of Silence and Secrecy: and of the Barbarous names of
Evocation.
X Of the Gestures.
XI Of Our Lady BABALON and of The Beast whereon
she rideth: also concerning Transformations.
XII Of the Bloody Sacrifice and Matters Cognate.
XIII Of the Banishings, and of the Purifications.
XIV Of the Consecrations: with an Account of the Nature and
Nurture of the Magical Link.
XVI (1) Of the Oath.
XV Of the Invocation.
XVI (2) Of the Charge to the Spirit: with some Account of the
Constrains and Curses occasionally necessary.
XVII Of the License to Depart.
XVIII Of Clairvoyance: and of the Body of Light, its Powers and
its Development. Also concerning Divinations.
XIX Of Dramatic Rituals.
XX Of the Eucharist: and of the Art of Alchemy.
XXI Of Black Magick: of the Main Types of the Operations of
Magick Art: and of the Powers of the Sphinx.
{XXVII}
CHAPTER 0
THE MAGICAL THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE
There are three main theories of the Universe; Dualism, Monism and Nihilism. It is impossible toer into a discussion of their relative merits in a popular manual of this sort. They may be stude nErdmann's "History of Philosophy" and similar treatises.
All are reconciled and unified in the theory which we shall now set forth. The basis of this Har is given in Crowley's
"Berashith" --- to which reference should be made.
Infinite space is called the goddess NUIT, while the infinitely small and atomic yet omnipresent t is called HADIT.<<I present this theory in a very simple form. I cannot even explain (for instne hat an idea may not refer to Being at all, but to Going. The Book of the Law demands special tuy ndinitiated apprehension.>> These are unmanifest. One conjunction of these infinites is caled A-HOR-HUIT,<<More correctly, HERU-RA-HA, to include HOOR-PAAR-KRAAT.>> a unity which includes nd hads ll tings.<<The basis of this theology is given in Liber CCXX, AL vel Legis which forms Pat IV f thi Book4. Hence I can only outline the matter in a very crude way; it would require a searate reatis to dicuss even the true meaning of the terms employed, and to show how The Book of te Law aticipats the rcent discoveries of Frege, Cantor, Poincare, Russell, Whitehead, Einstein an others.> (Ther is alsoa particular Nature of Him, in certain conditions, such as have obtained ince the pring of 904, e.v. This profoundly mystical conception {1} is based upon actual spiritul experiene, but thetrained reson<<All advance in understanding demands the acquisition of a new oint-of-vie. Modern cnceptions o Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics are sheer paradox to the "pain man" whothinks of Mater as someting that one can knock up against.>> can reach a reflection o this idea bythe method oflogical contrdiction which ends in reason transcending itself. The reaer should conslt "The Soldie and the Hunchack" in Equinox I, I, and Konx Om Pax.
"Unity" transcends "consciousness". It is above all division. The Father of thought --- the Wor- is called Chaos --- the dyad. The number Three, the Mother, is called Babalon. In connection ihtis the reader should study "The Temple of Solomon the King" in Equinox I, V, and Liber 418.
This first triad is essentially unity, in a manner transcending reason. The comprehension of thiinity is a matter of spiritual experience. All true gods are attributed to this Trinity.<<Considrtos of the Christian Trinity are of a nature suited only to Initiates of the IX Degree of O.T.O. a teyenclose the final secret of all practical Magick.>>
An immeasurable abyss divides it from all manifestations of Reason or the lower qualities of man. the ultimate analysis of Reason, we find all reason identified with this abyss. Yet this abyss stecrown of the mind. Purely intellectual faculties all obtain here. This abyss has no number, orinitall is confusion.
Below this abyss we find the moral qualities of Man, of which there are six. The highest is symbed by the number Four. Its nature is fatherly<<Each conception is, however, balanced in itself. Fu s also Daleth, the letter of Venus; so that the mother-idea is included. Again, the Sephira o 4isChsed, referred to Water. 4 is ruled by Jupiter, Lord of the Lightning (Fire) yet ruler of Ar. Eac Sehira is complete in its way.>>; Mercy and Authority are the attributes of its dignity.
The number Five is balanced against it. The attributes of Five are Energy and Justice. Four ande are again combined and harmonized in the number Six, whose nature is beauty and harmony, mortalt n immortality.
In the number Seven the feminine nature is again predominant, {2} but it is the masculine type ofale, the Amazon, who is balanced in the number Eight by the feminine type of male.
In the number Nine we reach the last of the purely mental qualities. It identifies change with slity.
Pendant to this sixfold system is the number Ten<<
The balance of the Sephiroth:
Kether (1) "Kether is in Malkuth, and Malkuth is in Kether, but
after another manner."
Chokmah (2) is Yod of Tetragrammaton, and therefore also Unity.
Binah (3) is He of Tetragrammaton, and therefore "The
Emperor."
Chesed (4) is Daleth, Venus the female.
Geburah (5) is the Sephira of Mars, the Male.
Tiphereth (6) is the Hexagram, harmonizing, and mediating between
Kether and Malkuth. Also it reflects Kether. "That
which is above, is like that which is below, and
that which is below, is like that which is above."
Netzach (7) and Hod (8) balanced as in text.
Jesod (9) see text.
Malkuth (10) contains all the numbers.>>
which includes the whole of Matter as we know it by the senses.
It is impossible here to explain thoroughly the complete conception; for it cannot be too clearlyerstood that this is a "classification" of the Universe, that there is nothing which is not comprhne therein.
The Article on the Qabalah in Vol. I, No. V of the Equinox is the best which has been written on subject. It should be deeply studied, in connection with the Qabalistic Diagrams in Nos. II and I:"he Temple of Solomon the King".
Such is a crude and elementary sketch of this system.
The formula of Tetragrammaton is the most important for the practical magician. Here Yod = 2, He, Vau = 4 to 9, He final = 10.
The Number Two represents Yod, the Divine or Archetypal World, and the Number One is only attained he destruction of the God and the Magician in Samadhi. The world of Angels is under the numbers ort Nine, and that of spirits under the {3} number Ten.<<It is not possible to give a full accoun o te wenty-two "paths" in this condensed sketch. They should be studied in view of all their atribtesin 77, but more especially that in which they are attributed to the planets, elements and sgns,as aso t the Tarot Trumps, while their position on the Tree itself and their position as link betwen th partcular Sephiroth which they join is the final key to their understanding. It will e notied tha each hapter of this book is attributed to one of them. This was not intentional. Te book as orignally bt a collection of haphazard dialogues between Fra. P. and Soror A.; but on aranging he MSS, hey fellnaturally and of necessity into this division. Conversely, my knowledge f the Schma pointe out to m numerous gaps in my original exposition; thanks to this, I have beenable to mae it a comlete and sstematic treatise. That is, when my laziness had been jogged by th criticismsand suggestons of varius colleagues to whom I had submitted the early drafts.>> All tese numbers re of courseparts of themagician himself considered as the microcosm. The microcosm s an exact imge of the Macocosm; the Grat Work is the raising of the whole man in perfect balanceto the power o Infinity.
The reader will remark that all criticism directed against the Magical Hierarchy is futile. One ot call it incorrect --- the only line to take might be that it was inconvenient. In the same wa n annot say that the Roman alphabet is better or worse than the Greek, since all required soundsca b mre or less satisfactorily represented by either; yet both these alphabets were found so litle atifacory when it came to an attempt at phonetic printing of Oriental languages, that the alphbet ad t be xpanded by the use of italics and other diacritical marks. In the same way our magicl alpabet f theSephiroth and the Paths (thirty-two letters as it were) has been expanded into thefour wrlds crrespoding to the four letters of the name Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh; and each Sephira is suppoed to cntain aTree ofLife of its own. Thus we obtain four hundred Sephiroth instead of the origial ten, nd the Pths bein capable of similar multiplications, or rather of subdivision, the numberis still urther exended. O course this process might be indefinitely continued without destroyin the origial system. The Apoloia for this System is that our purest conceptions {4} are symbolized in Mathematics. "Gis the Grea Arithmetician." "God is the Grand Geometer." It is best therefore to prepare to appeed Him by forulating our minds according to these measures.<<By "God" I here mean the Ideal Idenit o a man's inmot nature. "Something ourselves (I erase Arnold's imbecile and guilty 'not') tha maes or righteousnes;" righteousness being rightly defined as internal coherence. (Internal Cohrenc impies that which s written "Detegitur Yod.")>>
To return, each letter of this alphabet may have its special magical sigil. The student must notect to be given a cut-and-dried definition of what exactly is meant by any of all this. On the cnrr, he must work backwards, putting the whole of his mental and moral outfit into these pigeon-hle. Yo would not expect to be able to buy a filing cabinet with the names of all your past, preset ad ftur correspondents ready indexed: your cabinet has a system of letters and numbers meaninglss i theselvs, but ready to take on a meaning to you, as you fill up the files. As your businessincresed, ach ltter and number would receive fresh accessions of meaning for you; and by adoptingthis oderly rrangeent you would be able to have a much more comprehensive grasp of your affairs tan woul otherwse be te case. By the use of this system the magician is able ultimately to unify he wholeof his kowledge -- to transmute, even on the Intellectual Plane, the Many into the One.
The Reader can now understand that the sketch given above of the magical Hierarchy is hardly evenoutline of the real theory of the Universe. This theory may indeed be studied in the article alrayrferred to in No. V of the Equinox, and, more deeply in the Book of the Law and the Commentarie teron but the true understanding depends entirely upon the work of the Magician himself. Withou maica exerience it will be meaningless.
In this there is nothing peculiar. It is so with all scientific knowledge. A blind man might crp astronomy for the purpose of passing examinations, but his knowledge would be {5} almost entireyurlated to his experience, and it would certainly not give him sight. A similar phenomenon is oseve wen a gentleman who has taken an "honours degree" in modern languages at Cambridge arrives i Pais,andis unable to order his dinner. To exclaim against the Master Therion is to act like a prsonwho,obseving this, should attack both the professors of French and the inhabitants of Paris, nd pehaps o on o deny the existence of France.
Let us say, once again, that the magical language is nothing but a convenient system of classificn to enable the magician to docket his experiences as he obtains them.
Yet this is true also, that, once the language is mastered, one can divine the unknown by study oe known, just as one's knowledge of Latin and Greek enables one to understand some unfamiliar Engihwrd derived from those sources. Also, there is the similar case of the Periodic Law in Chemisty,whchenables Science to prophesy, and so in the end to discover, the existence of certain previoslyunsspeted elements in nature. All discussions upon philosophy are necessarily sterile, since ruthis byondlanguage. They are, however, useful if carried far enough --- if carried to the poin whenit beome aparent that all arguments are arguments in a circle.<<See "The Soldier and the Hunhback, Equinx I, I The apparatus of human reason is simply one particular system of coordinatingimpressons; it structre is determined by the course of the evolution of the species. It is no moe absolue than te evoluton of the species. It is no more absolute than the mechanism of our musces is a cmplete tye wherewih all other systems of transmitting Force must conform.>> But discussons of thedetails ofpurely imainary qualities are frivolous and may be deadly. For the great daner of this agical theoy is that te student may mistake the alphabet for the things which the word represent.
An excellent man of great intelligence, a learned Qabalist, once amazed the Master Therion by sta that the Tree of Life was the framework of the Universe. It was as if some one had seriously manand that a cat was a creature constructed by placing the letters C. A. T. in that order. It is o onerthat Magick has excited the ridicule of the unintelligent, since even its {6} educated studntscanbe uilty of so gross a violation of the first principles of common sense.<<Long since writig th aboe, a even grosser imbecility has been perpetrated. One who ought to have known better tred toimproe theTree of Life by turning the Serpent of Wisdom upside down! Yet he could not even ake hi schem symmerical: his little remaining good sense revolted at the supreme atrocities. Yethe succeded inreducin the whole Magical Alphabet to nonsense, and shewing that he had never undertood itsreal meaing.
The absurdity of any such disturbance of the arrangement of the Paths is evident to any sober stu from such examples as the following. Binah, the Supernal Understanding, is connected with Tipheeh he Human Consciousness, by Zain, Gemini, the Oracles of the Gods, or the Intuition. That is, heatriution represents a psychological fact: to replace it by The Devil is either humour or plainidicy. Agin, the card "Fortitude", Leo, balances Majesty and Mercy with Strength and Severity: wht sese i thee in putting "Death", the Scorpion, in its stead? There are twenty other mistakes inthe nw wonerfulilluminated-from-on-high attribution; the student can therefore be sure of twenty ore laghs ifhe cars to study it.>>
A synopsis of the grades of the A.'. A.'. as illustrative of the Magical Hierarchy in Man is give Appendix 2 "One Star in Sight." This should be read before proceeding with the chapter. The sujc s very difficult. To deal with it in full is entirely beyond the limits of this small treatis.
"FURTHER CONCERNING THE MAGICAL UNIVERSE"
All these letters of the magical alphabet --- referred to above --- are like so many names on a m Man himself is a complete microcosm. Few other beings have this balanced perfection. Of courseeeysun, every planet, may have beings similarly constituted.<<Equally, of course, we have no mean o kowng what we really are. We are limited to symbols. And it is certain that all our sense-pecepion gie only partial aspects of their objects. Sight, for instance, tells us very little abou soldity weiht, composition, electrical character, thermal conductivity, etc., etc. It says nothng atall aout te very existence of such vitally important ideas as Heat, Hardness, and so on. Th impresion wich th mind combines from the senses can never claim to be accurate or complete. We ave inded leart that othing is in itself what it seems to be to us.>> But when we speak of dealig with te planet in Magik, {7} the reference is usually not to the actual planets, but to parts o the eart which ar of the nture attributed to these planets. Thus, when we say that Nakhiel is te "Intellience" of te Sun, we o not mean that he lives in the Sun, but only that he has a certainrank and chracter; andalthough wecan invoke him, we do not necessarily mean that he exists in thesame sense o the word inwhich our bucher exists.
When we "conjure Nakhiel to visible appearance," it may be that our process resembles creation --- rather imagination --- more nearly than it does calling-forth. The aura of a man is called the "aia mirror of the universe"; and, so far as any one can tell, nothing exists outside of this mirrr. I i at least convenient to represent the whole as if it were subjective. It leads to less conusin. And as a man is a perfect microcosm,<<He is this only by definition. The universe may contin a infnitevariety of worlds inaccessible to human apprehension. Yet, for this very reason, the do nt exit forthe purposes of the argument. Man has, however, some instruments of knowledge; wemay, terefor, defie the Macrocosm as the totality of things possible to his perception. As evoluion devlops thse instuments, the Macrocosm and the Microcosm extend; but they always maintain ther mutualrelation Neithe can possess any meaning except in terms of the other. Our "discoveries"are exacty as muchof ourseles as they are of Nature. America and Electricity did, in a sense, exst before e were awae of them;but they are even now no more than incomplete ideas, expressed in smbolic term of a serie of relatios between two sets of inscrutable phenomena.>> it is perfectly esy to re-modl one's concption at anymoment.
Now there is a traditional correspondence, which modern experiment has shown to be fairly reliablThere is a certain natural connexion between certain letters, words, numbers, gestures, shapes, prue and so on, so that any idea or (as we might call it) "spirit", may be composed or called fort b te se of those things which are harmonious with it, and express particular parts of its nature Tesecorespondences have been elaborately mapped in the Book 777 in a very convenient and compeniousform Itwill be necessary for the student to make a careful study of this book in connexion wth soe actal riuals of Magick, for example, {8} that of the evocation of Taphtatharath printed inEquino I, II, page 170-190, where he will see exactly why these things are to be used. Of course as thestudentadvance in knowledge by experience he will find a progressive subtlety in the magicl univere corresonding t his own; for let it be said yet again! not only is his aura a magical miror of th universe but the niverse is a magical mirror of his aura.
In this chapter we are only able to give a very thin outline of magical theory --- faint pencilliy weak and wavering fingers --- for this subject may almost be said to be co-extensive with one'swoeknowledge.
The knowledge of exoteric science is comically limited by the fact that we have no access, exceptthe most indirect way, to any other celestial body than our own. In the last few years, the semieuaed have got an idea that they know a great deal about the universe, and the principal ground fr her ine opinion of themselves is usually the telephone or the airship. It is pitiful to read te bmbatictwaddle about progress, which journalists and others, who wish to prevent men from thinkng, ut ot fo consumption. We know infinitesimally little of the material universe. Our detailedknowldge i so cntemptibly minute, that it is hardly worth reference, save that our shame may spurus to ncreasd endevour. Such knowledge<<Knowledge is, moreover, an impossible conception. All popositins comeultimatly back to "A is A".>> as we have got is of a very general and abstruse, of philosohical an almost agical character. This consists principally of the conceptions of pure mthematics It is, herefore,almost legitimate to say that pure mathematics is our link with the ret of the uiverse andwith "God"
Now the conceptions of Magick are themselves profoundly mathematical. The whole basis of our theis the Qabalah, which corresponds to mathematics and geometry. The method of operation in Magicki aed on this, in very much the same way as the laws of mechanics are based on mathematics. So fr,threore as we can be said to possess a magical theory of the universe, it must be a matter soley o fudamntal law, with a {9} few simple and comprehensive propositions stated in very general tems.
I might expend a life-time in exploring the details of one plane, just as an explorer might give life to one corner of Africa, or a chemist to one subgroup of compounds. Each such detailed piec fwrk may be very valuable, but it does not as a rule throw light on the main principles of the uivrs. Its truth is the truth of one angle. It might even lead to error, if some inferior person ereto enealize from too few facts.
Imagine an inhabitant of Mars who wished to philosophise about the earth, and had nothing to go bt the diary of some man at the North Pole! But the work of every explorer, on whatever branch ofteTee of Life the caterpillar he is after may happen to be crawling, is immensely helped by a grap f enral principles. Every magician, therefore, should study the Holy Qabalah. Once he has masere th man principles, he will find his work grow easy.
"Solvitur ambulando" which does not mean: "Call the Ambulance!"
--------------
{10}
CHAPTER I
THE PRINCIPLES OF RITUAL.
There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Miosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy urin Angel;<<See the "Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage"; and Liber 418, 8th Aethyr,LierSaekh; see Appendix 3.>> or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God.<<The difference bewee thse perations is more of theoretical than of practical importance.>>
All other magical Rituals are particular cases of this general principle, and the only excuse forng them is that it sometimes occurs that one particular portion of the microcosm is so weak that t merfection of impurity would vitiate the Macrocosm of which it is the image, Eidolon, or Reflexon orexample, God is above sex; and therefore neither man nor woman as such can be said fully toundrstnd,much less to represent, God. It is therefore incumbent on the male magician to cultivat thoe feale irtues in which he is deficient, and this task he must of course accomplish without i any ay imairin his virility. It will then be lawful for a magician to invoke Isis, and identifyhimsel with er; ifhe fail to do this, his apprehension of the Universe when he attains Samadhi wil lack he concption o maternity. The result will be a metaphysical and --- by corollary --- ethial limittion in he Religon which he founds. Judaism and Islam are striking example of this failue.
To take another example, the ascetic life which devotion to {11} magick so often involves argues verty of nature, a narrowness, a lack of generosity. Nature is infinitely prodigal --- not one i ilion seeds ever comes to fruition. Whoso fails to recognise this, let him invoke Jupiter.<<Threar mch deeper considerations in which it appears that "Everything that is, is right". They aresetforh esewhere; we can only summarise them here by saying that the survival of the fittest is teir psho.>>
The danger of ceremonial magick --- the sublest and deepest danger --- is this: that the magicianl naturally tend to invoke that partial being which most strongly appeals to him, so that his natrlecess in that direction will be still further exaggerated. Let him, before beginning his Work,eneaou to map out his own being, and arrange his invocations in such a way as to redress the balace.<Th idal method of doing this is given in Liber 913 (Equinox VII). See also Liber CXI Aleph.> Ths, o couse, should have been done in a preliminary fashion during the preparation of the weapns an furnture f the Temple.
To consider in a more particular manner this question of the Nature of Ritual, we may suppose tha finds himself lacking in that perception of the value of Life and Death, alike of individuals an frces, which is characteristic of Nature. He has perhaps a tendency to perceive the "first nobl tut" ttered by Buddha, that Everything is sorrow. Nature, it seems, is a tragedy. He has perhas een xpeienced the great trance called Sorrow. He should then consider whether there is not som Deiy wh expesses this Cycle, and yet whose nature is joy. He will find what he requires in Dionsus.
There are three main methods of invoking any Deity.
The "First Method" consists of devotion to that Deity, and, being mainly mystical in character, nnot be dealt with in this place, especially as a perfect instruction exists in Liber 175 ("See" Apni).
The "Second method"is the straight forward ceremonial invocation. It is the method which was usu employed in the Middle Ages. Its advantage is its directness, its disadvantage its {12} crudity Te"Goetia" gives clear instruction in this method, and so do many other rituals, white and black e hal presently devote some space to a clear exposition of this Art.
In the case of Bacchus, however, we may roughly outline the procedure. We find that the symbolis Tiphareth expresses the nature of Bacchus. It is then necessary to construct a Ritual of Tiphart. et us open the Book 777; we shall find in line 6 of each column the various parts of our requiedapartus. Having ordered everything duly, we shall exalt the mind by repeated prayers or conjurtios t th highest conception of the God, until, in one sense or another of the word, He appears t us nd foodsour consciousness with the light of His divinity.
The "Third Method is the Dramatic," perhaps the most attractive of all; certainly it is so to theist's temperament, for it appeals to his imagination through his aesthetic sense.
Its disadvantage lies principally in the difficulty of its performance by a single person. But is the sanction of the highest antiquity, and is probably the most useful for the foundation of a eiin. It is the method of Catholic Christianity, and consists in the dramatization of the legendofth Gd. The Bacchae of Euripides is a magnificent example of such a Ritual; so also, through ina lss egre, is the Mass. We may also mention many of the degrees in Freemasonry, particularly th thid. he 5Degree = 6Square Ritual published in No. III of the Equinox is another example.
In the case of Bacchus, one commemorates firstly his birth of a mortal mother who has yielded herasure-house to the Father of All, of the jealousy and rage excited by this incarnation, and of th evnly protection afforded to the infant. Next should be commemorated the journeying westward upn n ss Now comes the great scene of the drama: the gentle, exquisite youth with his following (ciefy cmpoed of women) seems to threaten the established order of things, and that Established Ordr taes seps o put an end to the upstart. We find Dionysus confronting the angry King, not with dfianc, butwith eekness; yet with a subtle confidence, an underlying laughter. His forehead is wrathed ith vie tendils. He is an effeminate figure with those broad leaves clustered upon his bro? But hose leves hid {13} horns. King Pentheus, representative of respectability,<<There is a mch deepe interprtation i which Pentheus is himself "The Dying God". See my "Good Hunting!" and D. J.G.Fraer's "Golen Bough">> is destroyed by his pride. He goes out into the mountains to attac the womenwho have fllowed Bachus, the youth whom he has mocked, scourged, and put in chains, yetwho has onl smiled; an by those wmen, in their divine madness, he is torn to pieces.
It has already seemed impertinent to say so much when Walter Pater has told the story with such sthy and insight. We will not further transgress by dwelling upon the identity of this legend wit h ourse of Nature, its madness, its prodigality, its intoxication, its joy, and above all its sulie eristence through the cycles of Life and Death. The pagan reader must labour to understand tis n Pters "Greek Studies", and the Christian reader will recognise it, incident for incident, inthe toryof Crist. This legend is but the dramatization of Spring.
The magician who wishes to invoke Bacchus by this method must therefore arrange a ceremony in whie takes the part of Bacchus, undergoes all His trials, and emerges triumphant from beyond death. H ut, however, be warned against mistaking the symbolism. In this case, for example, the doctrin o idiidual immortality has been dragged in, to the destruction of truth. It is not that utterlyworhles prt of man, his individual consciousness as John Smith, which defies death --- that conscousnss wich ies and is reborn in every thought. That which persists (if anything persist) is hisreal ohn Sithinss, a quality of which he was probably never conscious in his life.<<See "The Bookof Lie", Libr 333,for several sermons to this effect. Caps. Alpha, Delta, Eta, Iota-Epsilon, Iota-Sima, Ioa-Eta, Kappa-Alpha, Kappa-Eta, in particular. The reincarnation of the Khu or magcal Selfis anothr matterentirely, too abstruse to discuss in this elementary manual. {WEH NOTE: Ihave madea correcton in theabove list of chapters from Liber 333. The published text cites IotaDigamma, wich does nt exist. he correct chapter is Iota-Sigma, which does exist and discusses te subject}.>
Even that does not persist unchanged. It is always growing. The Cross is a barren stick, and thtals of the Rose fall and decay; but in the union of the Cross and the Rose is a constant {14} sucsin of new lives.<<See "The Book of Lies", Liber 333, for several sermons to this effect. The wol teoy of Death must be sought in Liber CXI Aleph.>> Without this union, and without this deathof he ndiidual, the cycle would be broken.
A chapter will be consecrated to removing the practical difficulties of this method of Invocationt will doubtless have been noted by the acumen of the reader that in the great essentials these tremthods are one. In each case the magician identifies himself with the Deity invoked. To "invoe"isto"call in", just as to "evoke" is to "call forth". This is the essential difference betweenthetwobraches of Magick. In invocation, the macrocosm floods the consciousness. In evocation, te maicia, haing become the macrocosm, creates a microcosm. You "in"voke a God into the Circle. ou "evoke Spirt into the Triangle. In the first method identity with the God is attained by lov and b surreder, b giving up or suppressing all irrelevant (and illusionary) parts of yourself. t is th weedin of a grden.
In the second method identity is attained by paying special attention to the desired part of your: positive, as the first method is negative. It is the potting-out and watering of a particular lwrin the garden, and the exposure of it to the sun.
In the third, identity is attained by sympathy. It is very difficult for the ordinary man to losmself completely in the subject of a play or of a novel; but for those who can do so, this methodi nuestionably the best.
Observe: each element in this cycle is of equal value. It is wrong to say triumphantly "Mors janitae", unless you add, with equal triumph, "Vita janua mortis". To one who understands this chai fte Aeons from the point of view alike of the sorrowing Isis and of the triumphant Osiris, not frgttngtheir link in the destroyer Apophis, there remains no secret veiled in Nature. He cries tht nme f Gd which throughout History has been echoed by one religion to another, the infinite sweling aeanI.A..!<<This name, I.A.O. is qabalistically identical with that of THE BEAST and with Hisnumbe 666,so tht he who invokes the former invokes also the latter. Also with AIWAZ and the Numbr 93. See Chpter V>> {15}
CHAPTER II
THE FORMULAE OF THE ELEMENTAL WEAPONS.
Before discussing magical formulae in detail, one may observe that most rituals are composite, anntain many formulae which must be harmonized into one.
The first formula is that of the Wand. In the sphere of the principle which the magician wishes nvoke, he rises from point to point in a perpendicular line, and then descends; or else, beginnin tte top, he comes directly down, "invoking" first the god of that sphere by "devout supplication<<ewre O brother, lest thou bend the knee! Liber CCXX teaches the proper attitude. See also Libr CCLX. Ifra, furthermore, there is special instruction: Chapter XV and elsewhere.>> that He may eignto snd te appropriate Archangel. He then "beseeches" the Archangel to send the Angel or Anges of hat shere o his aid; he "conjures" this Angel or Angels to send the intelligence in question and tis intlligene he will "conjure with authority" to compel the obedience of the spirit and hi manifetation. To thi spirit he "issues commands".
It will be seen that this is a formula rather of evocation than of invocation, and for the latter procedure, though apparently the same, should be conceived of in a different manner, which bring tuder another formula, that of Tetragrammaton. The essence of the force invoked is one, but the"Gd"reresents the germ or beginning of the force, the "Archangel" its development; and so on, untl, iththe"Spirit", we have the completion and perfection of that force. {16}
The formula of the Cup is not so well suited for Evocations, and the magical Hierarchy is not invd in the same way; for the Cup being passive rather than active, it is not fitting for the magicint se it in respect of anything but the Highest. In practical working it consequently means litte utpryer, and that prayer the "prayer of silence".<<Considerations which might lead to a contrar cocluionare unsuited to this treatise. See Liber LXXXI.>>
The formula of the dagger is again unsuitable for either purpose, since the nature of the dagger iscriticise, to destroy, to disperse; and all true magical ceremonies tend to concentration. The dge ill therefore appear principally in the banishings, preliminary to the ceremony proper.
The formula of the pantacle is again of no particular use; for the pantacle is inert. In fine, tormula of the wand is the only one with which we need more particularly concern ourselves.<<Later hs remarks are amplified, and to some extent modified.>>
Now in order to invoke any being, it is said by Hermes Trismegistus that the magi employ three mes. The first, for the vulgar, is that of supplication. In this the crude objective theory is asue s true. There is a god named A, whom you, B, proceed to petition, in exactly the same sense a abo mght ask his father for pocket-money.
The second method involves a little more subtlety, inasmuch as the magician endeavours to harmoniimself with the nature of the god, and to a certain extent exalts himself, in the course of the crmn; but the third method is the only one worthy of our consideration.
This consists of a real identification of the magician and the god. Note that to do this in perfon involves the attainment of a species of Samadhi: and this fact alone suffices to link irrefragbymgick with mysticism.
Let us describe the magical method of identification. The symbolic form of the god is first studwith as much care as an artist would bestow upon his model, so that a perfectly clear and {17} unhkale mental picture of the god is presented to the mind. Similarly, the attributes of the god ae nsried in speech, and such speeches are committed perfectly to memory. The invocation will the bein itha prayer to the god, commemorating his physical attributes, always with profound understndin of heirreal meaning. In the "second part" of the invocation, the voice of the god is heard,and Hs chaacterstic utterance is recited.
In the "third portion" of the invocation the magician asserts the identity of himself with the goIn the "fourth portion" the god is again invoked, but as if by Himself, as if it were the utteraneo he will of the god that He should manifest in the magician. At the conclusion of this, the orgialobect of the invocation is stated.
Thus, in the invocation of Thoth which is to be found in the rite of Mercury (Equinox I, VI) and iber LXIV, the first part begins with the words "Majesty of Godhead, wisdom-crowned TAHUTI, Thee,Te invoke. Oh Thou of the Ibis head, Thee, Thee I invoke"; and so on. At the conclusion of thi ameta image of the God, infinitely vast and infinitely splendid, should be perceived, in just th sae snseas a man might see the Sun.
The second part begins with the words:
"Behold! I am yesterday, today, and the brother of tomorrow."
The magician should imagine that he is hearing this voice, and at the same time that he is echoin, that it is true also of himself. This thought should so exalt him that he is able at its conclso o utter the sublime words which open the third part: "Behold! he is in me, and I am in him." t hi mment, he loses consciousness of his mortal being; he is that mental image which he previousy bt sw. This consciousness is only complete as he goes on: "Mine is the radiance wherein Ptah flatet ove hisfirmament. I travel upon high. I tread upon the firmament of Nu. I raise a flashin flam withthe lghtnings of mine eye: ever rushing on in the splendour of the daily glorified Ra -- givig my lfe to he treaders of Earth!" This thought gives the relation of God and Man from thedivine oint ofview.
The magician is only recalled to himself at the conclusion of the {18} third part; in which occur, st as if by accident, the words: "Therefore do all things obey my word." Yet in the fourth part,wihbegins: "Therefore do thou come forth unto me", it is not really the magician who is addressin te od it is the God who hears the far-off utterance of the magician. If this invocation has bee corecly erformed, the words of the fourth part will sound distant and strange. It is surprisingthata dumy (o the magus now appears to Himself) should be able to speak!
The Egyptian Gods are so complete in their nature, so perfectly spiritual and yet so perfectly maal, that this one invocation is sufficient. The God bethinks him that the spirit of Mercury shoudnwappear to the magician; and it is so. This Egyptian formula is therefore to be preferred to te iearhical formula of the Hebrews with its tedious prayers, conjurations, and curses.
It will be noted, however, that in this invocation of Thoth which we have summarized, there is anr formula contained, the Reverberating or Reciprocating formula, which may be called the formula fHrs and Harpocrates. The magician addresses the God with an active projection of his will, and he bcoes passive while the God addresses the Universe. In the fourth part he remains silent, lisenig, o te prayer which arises therefrom.
The formula of this invocation of Thoth may also be classed under Tetragrammaton. The first partfire, the eager prayer of the magician, the second water, in which the magician listens to, or cace he reflection of, the god. The third part is air, the marriage of fire and water; the god andth mn ave become one; while the fourth part corresponds to earth, the condensation or materializaionof hos three higher principles.
With regard to the Hebrew formulae, it is doubtful whether most magicians who use them have ever erly grasped the principles underlying the method of identity. No passage which implies it occur omnd, and the extant rituals certainly give no hint of such a conception, or of any but the mostpesoaland material views of the nature of things. They seem to have thought that there was an Arhanel ame Ratziel in exactly the same sense as there was a statesman named Richelieu, an individul beng lvingin a definite place. He had possibly certain powers of a somewhat metaphysical order--- h migh be {9} in two places at once,<<He could do this provided that he can travel with a sped exceding tat of ight, as he does. See A.S.Eddington "Space, Time, and Gravitation". Also: wha means at once?>> forexample, though even the possibility of so simple a feat (in the case of spiits) sees to be enied bycertain passages in extant conjurations which tell the spirit that if he appens tobe in chans in a prticular place in Hell, or if some other magician is conjuring him so hat he canot come, ten let himsend a spirit of similar nature, or otherwise avoid the difficultly But of corse so vulgr a concepton would not occur to the student of the Qabalah. It is just pssible that he magi wrot their conjuations on this crude hypothesis in order to avoid the cloudin of the mind y doubt and mtaphysical spculation.
He who became the Master Therion was once confronted by this very difficulty. Being determined tstruct mankind, He sought a simple statement of his object. His will was sufficiently informed b omn sense to decide him to teach man "The Next Step", the thing which was immediately above him. H mgh have called this "God", or "The Higher Self", or "The Augoeides", or "Adi-Buddha", or 61 oherthigs -- but He had discovered that these were all one, yet that each one represented some thery o theUnivrse which would ultimately be shattered by criticism --- for He had already passed though he relm ofReason, and knew that every statement contained an absurdity. He therefore said: Let medeclar this ork under this title: 'The obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Hly Guarian Angl'", beause the theory implied in these words is so patently absurd that only simpltons woud waste uch timein analysing it. It would be accepted as a convention, and no one would ncur the rave dangr of builing a philosophical system upon it.
With this understanding, we may rehabilitate the Hebrew system of invocations. The mind is the grenemy; so, by invoking enthusiastically a person whom we know not to exist, we are rebuking that mn. et we should not refrain altogether from philosophising in the light of the Holy Qabalah. We holdacept the Magical Hierarchy as a more or less convenient classification of the facts of the Uivese s tey are {20} known to us; and as our knowledge and understanding of those facts increase,so souldwe edeavour to adjust our idea of what we mean by any symbol.
At the same time let us reflect that there is a certain definite consensus of experience as to thrrelation of the various beings of the hierarchy with the observed facts of Magick. In the simpl atr of astral vision, for example, one striking case may be quoted.
Without telling him what it was, the Master Therion once recited as an invocation Sappho's "Ode tnus" before a Probationer of the A.'. A.'. who was ignorant of Greek, the language of the Ode. Tedsiple then went on an "astral journey," and everything seen by him was without exception harmonou wthVenus. This was true down to the smallest detail. He even obtained all the four colour-sclesof enu with absolute correctness. Considering that he saw something like one hundred symbols n al, th odd against coincidence are incalculably great. Such an experience (and the records of he A.. A.' contin dozens of similar cases) affords proof as absolute as any proof can be in this orld o Illuson tha the correspondences in Liber 777 really represent facts in Nature.
It suggests itself that this "straightforward" system of magick was perhaps never really employedall. One might maintain that the invocations which have come down to us are but the ruins of theTml of Magick. The exorcisms might have been committed to writing for the purpose of memorising he, hie it was forbidden to make any record of the really important parts of the ceremony. Such etals f Rtual as we possess are meagre and unconvincing, and though much success has been attaine in he qite onventional exoteric way both by FRATER PERDURABO and by many of his colleagues, yet eremoies o thischaracter have always remained tedious and difficult. It has seemed as if the sucess wee obtaned alost in spite of the ceremony. In any case, they are the more mysterious parts f the Rtual whch haveevoked the divine force. Such conjurations as those of the "Goetia" leave oe cold, lthough,notably n the second conjuration, there is a crude attempt to use that formula ofCommemoraion of whch we spoe in the preceding Chapter. {21}
CHAPTER III
THE FORMULA OF TETRAGRAMMATON.<<Yod, He, Vau, He, the Ineffable Name (Jehovah) of Hebrews. The four letters refer respectively to the four "elements", Fire, Water, Air, Earth, inteoder named.>>
This formula is of most universal aspect, as all things are necessarily comprehended in it; but ise in a magical ceremony is little understood.
The climax of the formula is in one sense before even the formulation of the Yod. For the Yod is most divine aspect of the Force --- the remaining letters are but a solidification of the same tig It must be understood that we are here speaking of the whole ceremony considered as a unity, nt erlyof that formula in which "Yod" is the god invoked, "He" the Archangel, and so on. In orderto ndestad the ceremony under this formula, we must take a more extended view of the functions ofthe our eapos than we have hitherto done.
The formation of the "Yod" is the formulation of the first creative force, of that father who is ed "self-begotten", and unto whom it is said: "Thou has formulated thy Father, and made fertile tyMter". The adding of the "He" to the "Yod" is the marriage of that Father to the great co-equalMohe, ho is a reflection of Nuit as He is of Hadit. Their union brings forth the son "Vau" who i th her. Finally the daughter "He" is produced. She is both the twin sister and the daughter of Vau"<<Thre i a further mystery herein, far deeper, for initiates.>>
His mission is to redeem her by making her his bride; the result of this is to set her upon the te of her mother, and it is only she whose youthful embrace can reawaken the eld of the {22} All-Fte. In this complex family relationship<<The formula of Tetragrammaton, as ordinarily understood,enin wth the appearance of the daughter, is indeed a degradation.>> is symbolised the whole cours oftheUnierse. It will be seen that (after all) the Climax is at the end. It is the second halfof te fomulawhich symbolises the Great Work which we are pledged to accomplish. The first step o thisis th attanment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, which constitues theAdept f the nner Order.
The re-entry of these twin spouses into the womb of the mother is that initiation described in Li418, which gives admission to the Inmost Order of the A.'. A.'. Of the last step we cannot speak
It will now be recognised that to devise a practical magical ceremony to correspond to Tetragramm in this exalted sense might be difficult if not impossible. In such a ceremony the Rituals of prfction alone might occupy many incarnations.
It will be necessary, therefore, to revert to the simpler view of Tetragrammaton, remembering onlat the "He" final is the Throne of the Spirit, of the Shin of Pentagrammaton.
The Yod will represent a swift and violent creative energy; following this will be a calmer and mreflective but even more powerful flow of will, the irresistible force of a mighty river. This saeo mind will be followed by an expansion of the consciousness; it will penetrate all space, and hi wllfinally undergo a crystallization resplendent with interior light. Such modifications of te oigial ill may be observed in the course of the invocations when they are properly performed.
The peculiar dangers of each are obvious --- that of the first is a flash in the pan --- a misfirhat of the second, a falling into dreaminess or reverie; that of the third, loss of concentration Amstake in any of these points will prevent, or injure the proper formation of, the fourth.
In the expression which will be used in Chapter XV: "Enflame thyself", etc., only the first stagespecified; but if that is properly done the other stages will follow as if by necessity. So far s twritten concerning the formula of Tetragrammaton. {23}
CHAPTER IV.
THE FORMULA OF ALHIM, AND THAT OF ALIM.
"ALHIM", (Elohim) is the exoteric word for Gods.<<"Gods" are the Forces of Nature; their "Names" ahe Laws of Nature. Thus They are eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent and so on; and thus their "Wils r immutable and absolute.>> It is the masculine plural of a feminine noun, but its nature is pinipll feminine.<<It represents Sakti,or Teh; femininity always means form, manifestation. The mscuineSiv, or Tao, is always a concealed force.>> It is a perfect hieroglyph of the number 5. Ths shuld e stdied in "A Note on Genesis" (Equinox I, II).
The Elements are all represented, as in Tetragrammaton, but there is no development from one into others. They are, as it were, thrown together --- untamed, only sympathising by virtue of theirwl nd stormy but elastically resistless energy. The Central letter is "He" --- the letter of brat -- nd represents Spirit. The first letter "Aleph" is the natural letter of Air, and the Final"Me" i th natural letter of Water. Together, "Aleph" and "Mem" make "Am" --- the mother within wose omb he Csmos is conceived. But "Yod" is not the natural letter of Fire. Its juxtaposition wth "H" santifie that fire to the "Yod" of Tetragrammaton. Similarly we find "Lamed" for Earth, were weshouldexpectTau --- in order to emphasize the influence of Venus, who rules Libra.
"ALHIM", therefore, represents rather the formula of Consecration than that of a complete ceremonIt is the breath of benediction, yet so potent that it can give life to clay and light to darknes. n consecrating a weapon, "Aleph" is the whirling force of the thunderbolt, the lightning which fmeh ut of the East even {24} into the West. This is the gift of the wielding of the thunderbolt fZeu orIndra, the god of Air. "Lamed" is the Ox-goad, the driving force; and it is also the Balace repesening the truth and love of the Magician. It is the loving care which he bestows upon pefecing hs insruments, and the equilibration of that fierce force which initiates the ceremony.<<Te leters Aeph an Lamed are infinitely important in this Aeon of Horus; they are indeed the Key ofthe Bok of te Law. No more can be said in this place than that Aleph is Harpocrates, Bacchus Diphes, th Holy Ghst, the Pure Fool" or Innocent Babe who is also the Wandering Singer who impregnate the Kig's Daugher with Hmself as Her Child; Lamed is the King's Daughter, satisfied by Him, holdng His "word and Blances" inher lap. These weapons are the Judge, armed with power to execute Hi Will, an Two Witneses "in whomshall every Truth be established" in accordance with whose testimoy he givesjudgment.>>
"Yod" is the creative energy -- the procreative power: and yet "Yod" is the solitude and silence he hermitage into which the Magician has shut himself. "Mem" is the letter of water, and it is teMmfinal, whose long flat lines suggest the Sea at Peace HB:Mem-final ; not the ordinary (initialan mdil) Mem whose hieroglyph is a wave HB:Mem.<<In the symbolism above outlined, Yod is the Mercria "Vrgi Word", the Spermatozoon concealing its light under a cloke; and Mem is the amniotic flud, te flod werein is the Life-bearing Ark. See A. Crowley "The Ship", Equinox I, X.>> And then,in th Cente of ll, broods Spirit, which combines the mildness of the Lamb with the horns of the Rm, andis theletterof Bacchus or "Christ".<<The letter He is the formula of Nuith, which makes posible th proces descried in the previous notes. But it is not permissible here to explain fully te exact atter ormanner o this adjustment. I have preferred the exoteric attributions, which are ufficienty informaive for te beginner.>>
After the magician has created his instrument, and balanced it truly, and filled it with the lightn of his Will, then is the weapon laid away to rest; and in this Silence, a true Consecration coe.
THE FORMULA OF ALIM
It is extremely interesting to contrast with the above the formula of the elemental Gods deprivedthe creative spirit. One {25} might suppose that as ALIM, is the masculine plural of the masculienu AL, its formula would be more virile than that of ALHIM, which is the masculine plural of thefeinnenoun ALH. A moment's investigation is sufficient to dissipate the illusion. The word masclin ha nomeaning except in relation to some feminine correlative.
The word ALIM may in fact be considered as neuter. By a rather absurd convention, neuter objects treated as feminine on account of their superficial resemblance in passivity and inertness with h nertilized female. But the female produces life by the intervention of the male, while the neuerdos o only when impregnated by Spirit. Thus we find the feminine AMA, becoming AIMA<<AMA is 42 th nuberof sterility; AIMA, 52, that of fertility, of BN, the SON.>>, through the operation of te phllicYod,while ALIM, the congress of dead elements, only fructifies by the brooding of Spirit. Thisbeingso, hw can we describe ALIM as containing a Magical Formula? Inquiry discloses the factthat tis forula isof a very special kind.
The word adds up to 81, which is a number of the moon. It is thus the formula of witchcraft, whichunder Hecate.<<See A. Crowley "Orpheus" for the Invocation of this Goddess.>> It is only the romni ediaeval perversion of science that represents young women as partaking in witchcraft, which i, roery speaking, restricted to the use of such women as are no longer women in the Magical senseof he ord because thy are no longer capable of corresponding to the formula of the male, and are hereore eute rather than feminine. It is for this reason that their method has always been refered tothe mon, i that sense of the term in which she appears, not as the feminine correlative of te sun,but asthe bunt-out, dead, airless satellite of earth.
No true Magical operation can be performed by the formula of ALIM. All the works of witchcraft allusory; and their apparent effects depend on the idea that it is possible to alter things by themr earrangement of them. One {26} must not rely upon the false analogy of the Xylenes to rebut tisarumnt. It is quite true that geometrical isomers act in different manners towards the substane t whch hey are brought into relation. And it is of course necessary sometimes to rearrange theelemnts f a olecule before that molecule can form either the masculine or the feminine element ina tru Magial cobination with some other molecule.
It is therefore occasionally inevitable for a Magician to reorganize the structure of certain eles before proceeding to his operation proper. Although such work is technically witchcraft, it mutntbe regarded as undesirable on that ground, for all operations which do not transmute matter fal trcty speaking under this heading.
The real objection to this formula is not inherent in its own nature. Witchcraft consists in treg it as the exclusive preoccupation of Magick, and especially in denying to the Holy Spirit his rgtt indwell His Temple.<<The initiate of the XI Degree of O.T.O. will remark that there is a totalydifeent formula of ALIM, complementary with that here discussed. 81 may be regarded as a numbe ofYesd rther than of Luna. The actual meaning of the word may be taken as indicating the formul. Aeph ay b referred to Harpocrates, with allusion to the well-known poem of Catullus. Lamed ma impl the xaltaion of Saturn, and suggest the Three of Swords in a particular manner. Yod will ten recll Heres, an Mem the Hanged Man. We have thus a Tetragrammaton which contains no feminine omponen. The nitial orce is here the Holy Spirit and its vehicle or weapon the "Sword and Balancs". Jusice is ten done pon the Mercurial "Virgin", with the result that the Man is "Hanged" or etended, ad is slai in this anner. Such an operation makes creation impossible --- as in the formr case; bu here ther is no quetion of re-arrangement; the creative force is employed deliberatelyfor destrucion, and isentirely aborbed in its own sphere (or cylinder, on Einstein's equations) o action. Ths Work is tobe regarded s "Holiness to the Lord". The Hebrews, in fact, conferred th title of Qadsh (holy) upo its adepts. Its effect is to consecrate the Magicians who perform it i a very specia way. We may ake note also f the correspondence of Nine with Teth, XI, Leo, and th Serpent. The reat merits of his formula arethat it avoids contact with the inferior planes, tha it is self-suffcient, that it ivolves no responibilities, and that it leaves its masters not onl stronger in themelves, but whollyfree to fulfil thir essential Natures. Its abuse is an abominaion.>> {27}
CHAPTER V
The Formula of I.A.O.
This formula is the principal and most characteristic formula of Osiris, of the Redemption of Mad. "I" is Isis, Nature, ruined by "A", Apophis the Destroyer, and restored to life by the RedeemrOiis.<<There is a quite different formula in which I is the father, O the Mother, A the child -- ad etanother, in which I.A.O. are all fathers of different kinds balanced by H.H.H., 3 Mothers, o cmplte he Universe. In a third, the true formula of the Beast 666, I and O are the opposites wich orm he feld for the operation of A. But this is a higher matter unsuited for this elementaryhandbok. ee, hwever, Liber Samekh, Point II, Section J.>> The same idea is expressed by the Roscrucia formua of te Trinity:
"Ex Deo nascimur.
In Jesu Morimur
Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus."
This is also identical with the Word Lux, L.V.X., which is formed by the arms of a cross. It is thormula which is implied in those ancient and modern monuments in which the phallus is worshipped steSaviour of the World.
The doctrine of resurrection as vulgarly understood is false and absurd. It is not even "Scriptu. St. Paul does not identify the glorified body which rises with the mortal body which dies. Ontecntrary, he repeatedly insists on the distinction.
The same is true of a magical ceremony. The magician who is destroyed by absorption in the Godhes really destroyed. The {28} miserable mortal automaton remains in the Circle. It is of no morecneuence to Him that the dust of the floor.<<It is, for all that, His instrument, acquired by Himasanasronomer buys a telescope. See Liber Aleph, for a full explanation of the objects attained y te sratgem of incarnation; also Part IV of this Book 4.>>
But before entering into the details of "I.A.O." as a magick formula it should be remarked that i essentially the formula of Yoga or meditation; in fact, of elementary mysticism in all its brance. n beginning a meditation practice, there is always<<If not, one is not working properly.>> a quieteaure, a gentle natural growth; one takes a lively interest in the work; it seems easy; one is qut leaed to have started. This stage represents Isis. Sooner or later it is succeeded by depresson-- theDark Night of the Soul, an infinite weariness and detestation of the work. The simplest nd asist acs become almost impossible to perform. Such impotence fills the mind with apprehensio anddespir. Te intensity of this loathing can hardly be understood by any person who has not expriencd it. This i the period of Apophis.
It is followed by the arising not of Isis, but of Osiris. The ancient condition is not restored, a new and superior condition is created, a condition only rendered possible by the process of det. The Alchemists themselves taught this same truth. The first matter of the work was base and primve though "natural". After passing through various stages the "black dragon" appeared; but from hsaroe the pure and perfect gold.
Even in the legend of Prometheus we find an identical formula concealed; and a similar remark applio those of Jesus Christ, and of many other mythical god-men worshipped in different countries.<<SeJGFrazer, "The Golden Bough:" J.M.Robertson "Pagan Christs;" A. Crowley "Jesus," etc., etc.>>
A magical ceremony constructed on this formula is thus in close essential harmony with the naturastic process. We find it the {29} basis of many important initiations, notably the Third Degree nMsnry, and the 5 Degree = 6Square ceremony of the G.'. D.'. described in Equinox I, III. A cereonalsef-initiation may be constructed with advantage on this formula. The essence of it consistsin obig yurself as a king, then stripping and slaying yourself, and rising from that death to theKnowedgeand onversation of the Holy Guardian Angel<<This formula, although now superseded by thatof HOUS, te Croned and Conquering Child, remains valid for those who have not yet assimilated thepoint f viewof theLaw of Thelema. But see Appendix, Liber SAMEKH. Compare also "The Book of theSpirit f the Lving Gos," -- where there is a ritual given "in extenso" on slightly different line: Equino I, III,pages 26-272.>>. There is an etymological identity between Tetragrammaton and "IA O", butthe magicl formula are entirely different, as the descriptions here given have schewn.
Professor William James, in his "Varieties of Religious Experience," has well classified religionthe "once-born" and the "twice-born"; but the religion now proclaimed in Liber Legis harmonizes teeb transcending them. There is no attempt to get rid of death by denying it, as among the once-or; orto accept death as the gate of a new life, as among the twice-born. With the A.'. A.'. lif an deth re equally incidents in a career, very much like day and night in the history of a plane. Bt, t purue the simile, we regard this planet from afar. A Brother of A.'. A.'. looks at (wha anoter peson wuld call) "himself", as one --- or, rather, some --- among a group of phenomena. e is tat "nohing" hose consciousness is in one sense the universe considered as a single phenomenn in tie and sace, an in another sense is the negation of that consciousness. The body and mind f the ma are onl importat (if at all) as the telescope of the astronomer to him. If the telescop were desroyed it ould makeno appreciable difference to the Universe which that telescope reveals
It will now be understood that this formula of I A O is a formula of Tiphareth. The magician wholoys it is conscious of himself as a man liable to suffering, and anxious to transcend that stateb eoming one with god. It will appear to him as the Supreme Ritual, as the final step; but, as hs lrad been {30} pointed out, it is but a preliminary. For the normal man today, however, it repesets onsderable attainment; and there is a much earlier formula whose investigation will occupy haptr VI
THE MASTER THERION, in the Seventeenth year of the Aeon, has reconstructed the Word I A O to satithe new conditions of Magick imposed by progress. The Word of the Law being Thelema, whose numbe s9, this number should be the canon of a corresponding Mass. Accordingly, he has expanded I A Obytratng the O as an Ayin, and then adding Vau as prefix and affix. The full word is then
Vau Yod Aleph Ayin Vau
whose number is 93. We may analyse this new Word in detail and demonstrate that it is a proper hierph of the Ritual of Self-Initiation in this Aeon of Horus. For the correspondence in the followignt, see Liber 777. The principal points are these: {31}
--------------.---.-------------.---.--------------.------------------------
: : : : :
Atu :No.: Hebrew :No.:Correspondence: Other
:of : :of : :
(Tarot Trump) :Atu: letters :let: in Nature : Correspondences
: : :ter: :
--------------+---+-------------+---+--------------+------------------------
: : : : :
: : : : :
The Hiero- : V :Vau (a nail) : 6 :Taurus (An :The Sun. The son in Te-
phant. (Osi-: : English V, : : earthy sign : tragrammaton. (See Cap.
ris throned : : W, or vo- : : ruled by : III). The Pentagram
& crowned, : : wel between : : Venus; the : which shows Spirit
with Wand. : : O and U- : : Moon exalt- : master & reconciler of
: : ma'ajab and : : ed therein. : the Four Elements.
: : ma'aruf. : : but male.) :
Four Wor- : : : : Liberty,i.e.:The Hexagram which un-
shippers;the: : : : free will. : God and Man. The cons-
four ele- : : : : : sciousness or Ruach.
ments. : : : : :
: : : : :Parzival as the Child in
: : : : : his widowed mother's
: : : : : care: Horus, son of
: : : : : Isis and the slain
: : : : : Osiris.
: : : : :
: : : : :Parzival as King &
: : : : : Priest in Montsalvat
: : : : : performing the mir-
: : : : : acle of redemption;
: : : : : Horus crowned and
: : : : : conquering, taking the
: : : : : place of his father.
: : : : :
: : : : :Christ-Bacchus in Hea-
: : : : : ven-Olympus saving the
: : : : : world.
: : : : :
: : : : :
: : : : :
The Hermit :IX :Yod (a hand) : 10:Virgo (an :The root of the Alphabet
(Hermes : : English I : : earthy sign : The Spermatozoon. The
with Lamp, : : or Y. : : ruled by : youth setting out on
Wings, : : : : Mercury : his adventures after
Wand, : : : : exalted : receiving the Wand.
Cloak, and : : : : therein; : Parzival in the desert
Serpent). : : : : sexually : Christ taking refuge
: : : : ambivalent) : in Egypt, and on
: : : : Light, i.e. : the Mount tempted by
: : : : of Wisdom, : the Devil. The uncon-
: : : : the Inmost. : scious Will, or Word.
{32}
--------------.---.-------------.---.--------------.------------------------
: : : : :
Atu :No.: Hebrew :No.:Correspondence: Other
:of : : of: :
(Tarot Trump) :Atu: letters :let: in Nature : Correspondences
: : :ter: :
--------------+---+-------------+---+--------------+------------------------
: : : : :
: : : : :
The Fool : O :Aleph (an ox): 1 :Air (The con- :The free breath. The
(The Babe : : English A, : : dition of : Svastika. The Holy
in the Egg : : more or : : all Life, : Ghost. The Virgin's
on the Lo- : : less : : the impar- : Womb. Parzial as "der
tus, Bacchus: : : : tial vehicle: reine Thor" who knows
Diphues, : : : : Sexually : nothing. Horus.
etc. : : : : undevelop- : Christ-Bacchus as the
: : : : ed). Life; : innocent babe, pursued
: : : : i.e. the : by Herod-Here.
: : : : organ of : Hercules strangling
: : : : possible : the serpents. The
: : : : expression. : Unconscious Self not
: : : : : yet determined in any
: : : : : direction.
: : : : :
: : : : :
The Devil :XV :Ayin (an : 70:Capricornus :Parzival in Black Armour,
(Baphomet : : eye) En- : : (an earthy : ready to return to
throned & : : glish A, or: : sign ruled : Montsalvat as Redeemer-
adored by : : O more or : : by Saturn; : King: Horus come to
Male & Fe- : : less: the : : Mars exalt- : full growth. Christ-
male. See : : bleat of a : : ed therein. : Bacchus with Calvary-
Eliphas : : goat, A'a. : : Sexually : Cross Kithairon ---
Levi's de- : : : : male) : Thyrsus.
sign.) : : : : love: i.e. :
: : : : the instinct:
: : : : to satisfy :
: : : : Godhead by :
: : : : uniting it :
: : : : with the :
: : : : Universe. :
: : : : :
Iota-Alpha-Digamma varies in significance with successive Aeons.
{33}
"Aeon of Isis." Matriarchal Age. The Great Work conceived as a straightforward simple affair.
We find the theory reflected in the customs of Matriarchy. Parthenogenesis is supposed to be truThe Virgin (Yod-Virgo) contains in herself the Principle of Growth --- the epicene Hermetic seed. tbcomes the Babe in the Egg (A --- Harpocrates) by virtue of the Spirit (A = Air, impregnating te oter--Vulture) and this becomes the Sun or Son ( Digamma = the letter of Tiphareth, 6, even whe splt s Oega, in Coptic. See 777).
"Aeon of Osiris." Patriarchal age. Two sexes. I conceived as the Father-Wand. (Yod in Tetragrton). A the Babe is pursued by the Dragon, who casts a flood from his mouth to swallow it. See Rv"VII. The Dragon is also the Mother --- the "Evil Mother" of Freud. It is Harpocrates, threatne b te crocodile in the Nile. We find the symbolism of the Ark, the Coffin of Osiris, etc. TheLots i th Yoni; the Water the Amniotic Fluid. In order to live his own life, the child must leav theMothr, ad overcome the temptation to return to her for refuge. Kundry, Armida, Jocasta, Circ, etc, aresymbos of this force which tempts the Hero. He may take her as his servant<<Her sole seech i the lst Actis "Dienen: Dienen".>> when he has mastered her, so as to heal his father (Amfotas), aenge hi (Osiri), or pacify him (Jehovah). But in order to grow to manhood, he must cease o dependon her, arning te Lance (Parzival), claiming his arms (Achilles), or making his club (Herules)<<Noe that al these thee remain for a time as neuters among woman, prevented from living themale life.>, and waner in the aterless wilderness like Krishna, Jesus, Oedipus, chi. tau. lamba. --- unti the hour wen, as the King's Son" or knight-errant, he must win the Princess, and set imself upon strange thrne. Almost ll the legends of heroes imply this formula in strikingly simlar symbols. Digamma. Va the Sun --- on. He is supposed to be mortal; but how is this shewn? t seems an abslute perversio of truth: thesacred symbols have no hint of it. This lie is the essnce of the Grea Sorcery. Osiran religion is Freudian phantasy fashioned of man's dread of deathand ignorance ofnature. The parhenogenesis-idea{34} persists, but is now the formula for incarnaing demi-gods, ordivine kings; thee must be slain ad raised from the dead in one way or another.<All these ideas ma be explained by rference to anthroplogy. But this is not their condemnation, ut their justificaton; for the customsand legends of manknd reflect the true nature of the specie.>>
"Aeon of Horus." Two sexes in one person.
Digamma Iota Alpha Omicron Digamma: 93, the full formula, recognizing the Sun as the Son (Star), ae pre-existent manifested Unit from which all springs and to which all returns. The Great Work i omke the initial Digamma Digamma of Assiah (The world of material illusion) into the final Digmm ItaDigamma of Atziluth,<<For these spellings see 777.>> the world of pure reality.
Spelling the Name in full, Digamma Digamma + Iota Digamma Delta + Alpha Lambda Pi + Omicron Iota+ Digamma Iota = 309 = Sh T = XX + XI = 31 the secret Key of the Law.
Digamma is the manifested Star.
Iota is the secret Life .............. Serpent
--- Light ............. Lamp
--- Love .............. Wand
--- Liberty ........... Wings
--- Silence ........... Cloak
These symbols are all shewn in the Atu "The Hermit".
They are the powers of the Yod, whose extension is the Vau.
Yod is the Hand wherewith man does his Will. It is also
The Virgin; his essence is inviolate.
Alpha is the Babe "who has formulated his Father, and made fertile
his Mother" --- Harpocrates, etc., as before; but he develops
to
Omicron The exalted "Devil" (also the "other" secret Eye) by the
formula of the Initiation of Horus elsewhere described in
detail. This "Devil" is called Satan or Shaitan, and regarded with horror by people who arnorant of his formula, and, imagining themselves to be evil, accuse Nature herself of their own patsal crime. Satan is Saturn, Set, Abrasax, Adad, Adonis, Attis, Adam, Adonai, etc. The most seios hage against him is that he is the Sun in the South. The Ancient Initiates, {35} dwelling asthe di inlands whose blood was the water of the Nile or the Euphrates, connected the South with lfe-wtherng hat, and cursed that quarter where the solar darts were deadliest. Even in the legendof Hiam, i is a high noon that he is stricken down and slain. Capricornus is moreover the sign wich th sun etererswhen he reaches his extreme Southern declination at the Winter Solstice, the seson of he deat of vegtation, for the folk of the Northern hemisphere. This gave them a second case for crsing th south. A third; the tyranny of hot, dry, poisonous winds; the menace of deserts r oceans readful bcause myserious and impassable; these also were connected in their minds with te South. ut to us, ware of asronomical facts, this antagonism to the South is a silly superstitin which theaccidents o their loca conditions suggested to our animistic ancestors. We see no enmty between Rght and Left Up and Down and similar pairs of opposites. These antitheses are real oly as a stateent of relatin; they are te conventions of an arbitrary device for representing our deas in a plurlistic symbolim based on duaity. "Good" must be defined in terms of human ideals ad instincts. "ast" has no meaing except withreference to the earth's internal affairs; as an abslute direction i space it change a degree every our minutes. "Up" is the same for no two men, uness one chance tobe in the line joning the other wih the centre of the earth. "Hard" is the privte opinion of our uscles. "True" isan utterly uninteligible epithet which has proved refractory o the analysis of or ablest philosophes.
We have therefore no scruple in restoring the "devil-worship" of such ideas as those which the laf sound, and the phenomena of speech and hearing, compel us to connect with the group of "Gods" woenmes are based upon Sht, or D, vocalized by the free breath A. For these Names imply the qualiie o curage, frankness, energy, pride, power and triumph; they are the words which express the cratie ad pternal will.
Thus "the Devil" is Capricornus, the Goat who leaps upon the loftiest mountains, the Godhead which,it become manifest in man, makes him Aegipan, the All.
The Sun enters this sign when he turns to renew the year in the North. He is also the vowel O, pr to roar, to boom, and {36} to command, being a forcible breath controlled by the firm circle oftemuth.
He is the Open Eye of the exalted Sun, before whom all shadows flee away: also that Secret Eye whmakes an image of its God, the Light, and gives it power to utter oracles, enlightening the mind. hs he is Man made God, exalted, eager; he has come consciously to his full stature, and so is redytose out on his journey to redeem the world. But he may not appear in this true form; the Visin o Pa wold drive men mad with fear. He must conceal Himself in his original guise.
He therefore becomes apparently the man that he was at the beginning; he lives the life of a man; id, he is wholly man. But his initiation has made him master of the Event by giving him the undertnig that whatever happens to him is the execution of this true will. Thus the last stage of hisintitin is expressed in our formula as the final:
Digamma --- The series of transformations has not affected his identity; but it has explained him toself. Similarly, Copper is still Copper after
Cu+O = CuO:+H SO =CuS O(H O):+K S=CuS(K SO ):
2 4 4 2 2 2 4 + blowpipe and reducing agent = Cu(S).
It is the same copper, but we have learnt some of its properties. We observe especially that it ndestructible, inviolably itself throughout all its adventures, and in all its disguises. We seemroer that it can only make use of its powers, fulfill the possibilities of its nature, and satisy tseqations, by thus combining with its counterparts. Its existence as a separate substance is vidnceof ts subjection to stress; and this is felt as the ache of an incomprehensible yearning unil i reaisesthat every experience is a relief, an expression of itself; and that it cannot be injred b augh thatmay befall it. In the Aeon of Osiris it was indeed realised that Man must die in rder t live. But nw in the Aeon of Horus we know that every event is a death; subject and object lay eac other n "loveunder will"; each such death is itself life, the means by which one realisesoneself n a seris of epiodes.
The second main point is the completion of the A babe Bacchus by the O Pan (Parzival wins the Lanetc.). {37}
The first process is to find the I in the V --- initiation, purification, finding the Secret Rootoneself, the epicene Virgin who is 10 (Malkuth) but spelt in full 20 (Jupiter).
This Yod in the "Virgin" expands to the Babe in the Egg by formulating the Secret Wisdom of TruthHermes in the Silence of the Fool. He acquires the Eye-Wand, beholding the acting and being adord Te Inverted Pentagram --- Baphomet --- the Hermaphrodite fully grown --- begets himself on himslfasV gain.
Note that there are now two sexes in one person throughout, so that each individual is self-procrve sexually, whereas Isis knew only one sex, and Osiris thought the two sexes opposed. Also the oml is now Love in all cases; and the end is the beginning, on a higher plane.
The I is formed from the V by removing its tail, the A by balancing 4 Yods, the O by making an ined triangle of Yods, which suggests the formula of Nuit --- Hadit --- Ra-Hoor-Khuit. A is the elmnswhirling as a Svastika --- the creative Energy in equilibrated action.<<WEH Note: Thus, note heveic:
Vau Yod
Aleph Yod Yod -----. :
: :
.----+----.
Yod Yod : :
: .-----
Ayin Yod Yod
Yod
>>
--------------
{38}
CHAPTER VI
THE FORMULA OF THE NEOPHYTE<<See the Neophyte Ceremony, Equinox I,II.>>.
This formula has for its "first matter" the ordinary man entirely ignorant of everything and incae of anything. He is therefore represented as blindfolded and bound. His only aid is his aspirain epresented by the officer who is to lead him into the Temple. Before entering, he must be purfid ndconsecrated. Once within the Temple, he is required to bind himself by an oath. His aspirtio isnowformulated as Will. He makes the mystic circumambulation of the Temple for the reasons o bedescibedin the Chapter on "Gesture". After further purification and consecration, he is alloed fo one omentto see the Lord of the West, and gains courage<<Fear is the source of all false peceptio. Eve Freudhad a glimpse of this fact.>> to persist. For the third time he is purified an consecated, ad he ses the Lord of the East, who holds the balance, keeping him in a straight lin. In th West hegains enrgy. In the East he is prevented from dissipating the same. So fortifie, he may e receive into theOrder as a neophyte by the three principal officers, thus uniting the ross with he Triangl. He may hen be placed between the pillars of the Temple, to receive the fouth and fina consecratin. In thisposition the secrets of the grade are communicated to him, and te last of hi fetters is emoved. Allthis is sealed by the sacrament of the Four Elements.
It will be seen that the effect of this whole ceremony is to endow a thing inert and impotent witlanced motion in a given direction. Numerous example of this formula are given {39} in Equinox I o.II and III. It is the formula of the Neophyte Ceremony of G.'. D.'. It should be employed inth cnscration of the actual weapons used by the magician, and may also be used as the first formua o intiaion.
In the book called Z 2<<Those sections dealing with divination and alchemy are the most grotesquebish in the latter case, and in the former obscure and unpractical.>> (Equinox I, III) are given uldtails of this formula, which cannot be too carefully studied and practised. It is unfortunatey,th mst complex of all of them. But this is the fault of the first matter of the work, which isso udded hat many operations are required to unify it.
------------
{40}
CHAPTER VII
THE FORMULA OF THE HOLY GRAAL:
OF
ABRAHADABRA:
"and of certain other Words."
Also: THE MAGICAL MEMORY.
The Hieroglyph shewn in the Seventh Key of the Tarot (described in the 12th Aethyr, Liber 418, Eqx I, V) is the Charioteer of OUR LADY BABALON, whose Cup or Graal he hears.
Now this is an important formula. It is the First of the Formulae, in a sense, for it is the for of Renunciation.<<There is no moral implication here. But to choose A implies to refuse not-A: tlat, that is so, below the Abyss.>> It is also the Last!
This Cup is said to be full of the Blood of the Saints; that is, every "saint" or magician must gthe last drop of his life's blood to that cup. It is the original price paid for magick power. n fby magick power we mean the true power, the assimilation of all force with the Ultimate Light,th tueBridal of the Rosy Cross, then is that blood the offering of Virginity, the sole sacrifice ellplesin to the Master, the sacrifice whose only reward is the pain of child-bearing unto him.
But "to sell one's soul to the devil", to renounce no matter what for an equivalent in personal gaiSupposed" personal gain. There is really no person to gain; so the whole transaction is a swindl nbth sides.>>, is black magic. You are no longer a noble giver of your all, but a mean huckster 41
This formula is, however, a little different in symbolism, since it is a Woman whose Cup must be ed. It is rather the sacrifice of the Man, who transfers life to his descendants. For a woman de o carry in herself the principle of new life, except temporarily, when it is given her.
But here the formula implies much more even than this. For it is his whole life that the Magus os to OUR LADY. The Cross is both Death and Generation, and it is on the Cross that the Rose bloos Te full significance of these symbols is so lofty that it is hardly fitted for an elementary tratseofthis type. One must be an Exempt Adept, and have become ready to pass on, before one can se te smbos even from the lower plane. Only a Master of the Temple can fully understand them.
(However, the reader may study Liber CLVI, in Equinox I, VI, the 12th and 2nd Aethyrs in Liber 41 Equinox I, V, and the Symbolism of the V Degree and VI Degree in O.T.O.)
Of the preservation of this blood which OUR LADY offers to the ANCIENT ONE, CHAOS<<CHAOS is a gen name for the totality of the Units of Existence; it is thus a name feminine in form. Each unit fCAS is itself All-Father.>> the All-Father, to revive him, and of how his divine Essence fills te auhtr (the soul of Man) and places her upon the Throne of the Mother, fulfilling the Economy oftheUniers, and thus ultimately rewarding the Magician (the Son) ten thousandfold, it would be stil moe imrope to speak in this place. So holy a mystery is the Arcanum of the Masters of the Tempe, tht it s her hinted at in order to blind the presumptuous who may, unworthy, seek to lift the eil, ad at te sametime to lighten the darkness of such as may be requiring only one ray of the Su in ordr to sping int life and light.
II
ABRAHADABRA is a word to be studied in Equinox I, V., "The Temple of Solomon the King". It repres the Great Work complete, and it is therefore an archetype of all lesser magical operations. Iti na way too perfect to be applied in {42} advance to any of them. But an example of such an opeatonma be studied in Equinox I, VII, "The Temple of Solomon the King", where an invocation of Hors o ths frmula is given in full. Note the reverberation of the ideas one against another. The frmul of orushas not yet been so fully worked out in details as to justify a treatise upon its exoeric heoryand pactice; but one may say that it is, to the formula of Osiris, what the turbine is o the eciproating ngine.
III
There are many other sacred words which enshrine formulae of great efficacity in particular operas.
For example, V.I.T.R.I.O.L. gives a certain Regimen of the Planets useful in Alchemical work. Ara is a formula of the macrocosm potent in certain very lofty Operations of the Magick of the InmotLgt. (See Liber 813.)
The formula of Thelema may be summarized thus: Theta "Babalon and the Beast conjoined" --- epsiloto Nuith (CCXX, I, 51) --- lambda The Work accomplished in Justice --- eta The Holy Graal --- mu h aer therein --- alpha The Babe in the Egg (Harpocrates on the Lotus.)
That of "Agape" is as follows:
Dionysus (Capital Alpha) --- The Virgin Earth gamma --- The Babe in the Egg (small alpha --- the e of the Father) --- The Massacre of the Innocents, pi (winepress) --- The Draught of Ecstasy, et. he student will find it well worth his while to seek out these ideas in detail, and develop the chiqe of their application.
There is also the Gnostic Name of the Seven Vowels, which gives a musical formula most puissant iocations of the Soul of Nature. There is moreover ABRAXAS; there is XNOUBIS; there is MEITHRAS; n need it may briefly be stated that every true name of God gives the formula of the invocation o tatGo.<<Members of the IV Degree of the O.T.O. are well aware of a Magick Word whose analysis cotais al tuth, human and Divine, a word indeed potent for any group which dares to use it.>> It wuld hereore e impossible, even were it desirable, to analyse all such names. The general method f doig so as ben {43} given, and the magician must himself work out his own formula for particula cases<<The oly Qaalah (see Liber D in Equinox I, VIII, Supplement, and Liber 777) affords the mens of aalysis nd applcation required. See also Equinox I, V, "The Temple of Solomon The King".>>
IV.
It should also be remarked that every grade has its peculiar magical formula. Thus, the formula brahadabra concerns us, as men, principally because each of us represents the pentagram or microcs;ad our equilibration must therefore be with the hexagram or macrocosm. In other words, 5 Degre =6Suae is the formula of the Solar operation; but then 6 Degree = 5Square is the formula of the artal pertion, and this reversal of the figures implies a very different Work. In the former insancethe roblm was to dissolve the microcosm in the macrocosm; but this other problem is to separae a prticuar foce from the macrocosm, just as a savage might hew out a flint axe from the deposit in a halk ciff. imilarly, an operation of Jupiter will be of the nature of the equilibration ofhim wit Venus. Its grphic formula will be 7 Degree = 4Square, and there will be a word in which te characer of ths operaton is described, just as Abrahadabra describes the Operation of the GreatWork.
It may be stated without unfairness, as a rough general principle, that the farther from originalality are the two sides of the equation, the more difficult is the operation to perform.
Thus, to take the case of the personal operation symbolized by the grades, it is harder to becomeeophyte, 1 Degree = 10Square, than to pass from that grade to Zelator, 2 Degree = 9Square.
Initiation is, therefore, progressively easier, in a certain sense, after the first step is takenut (especially after the passing of Tiphareth) the distance between grade and grade increases as twr by a geometrical progression with an enormously high factor, which itself progresses.<<A suggstonha recently been made that the Hierarchy of the Grades should be "destroyed, and replaced by"---a rng ystem of 13 grades all equal. There is, of course, one sense in which every grade is a hingin-Iself But the Hierarchy is only a convenient method of classifying observed facts. One i remided o the emocracy, who, on being informed by the Minister of the Interior that the scarcityof proisionswas du to the Law of Supply and Demand, passed a unanimous resolution calling for theimmediae repea of tha iniquitous measure!
Every person, whatever his grade in the Order, has also a "natural" grade appropriate to his intic virtue. He may expect to be "cast out" into that grade when he becomes 8 Degree = 3Square. Tu n man, throughout his career, may be essentially of the type of Netzach; another, of Hod. In hesae ay Rembrandt and Raphael retained their respective points of view in all stages of their ar. he racical consideration is that some aspirants may find it unusually difficult to attain certin gades or,worse, allow their inherent predispositions to influence them to neglect antipathetic and ndulg sympthetic, types of work. They may thus become more unbalanced than ever, with disasrous rsults. Succes in one's favourite pursuit is a temptress; whose yields to her wiles limits hs own gowth. rue, evry Will is partial; but, even so, it can only fulfill itself by symmetrical xpansion It mus be adjuted to the Universe, or fail of perfection.>> {44}
It is evidently impossible to give details of all these formulae. Before beginning any operationver the magician must make a through Qabalistic study of it so as to work out its theory in symmer fperfection. Preparedness in Magick is as important as it is in War.
V
It should be profitable to make a somewhat detailed study of the strange-looking word AUMGN, for italysis affords an excellent illustration of the principles on which the Practicus may construct hsonSacred Words.
This word has been uttered by the MASTER THERION himself, as a means of declaring his own personal as the Beast, the Logos of the Aeon. To understand it, we must make a preliminary considerationo h word which it replaces and from which it was developed: the word AUM.
The word AUM is the sacred Hindu mantra which was the supreme hieroglyph of Truth, a compendium oe Sacred Knowledge. Many volumes have been written with regard to it; but, for our present purpoe twill be necessary only to explain how it came to serve for the representation of the principalphloopical tenets of the Rishis. {45}
Firstly, it represents the complete course of sound. It is pronounced by forcing the breath from back of the throat with the mouth wide open, through the buccal cavity with the lips so shaped a omdify the sound from A to O (or U), to the closed lips, when it becomes M. Symbolically, this nnunesthe course of Nature as proceeding from free and formless creation through controlled and frme prseration to the silence of destruction. The three sounds are harmonized into one; and thusthe ord epreents the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; and the operations in the Univere of heir riuneenergy. It is thus the formula of a Manvantara, or period of manifested existence whichalterntes wih a Pralaya, during which creation is latent.
Analysed Qabalistically, the word is found to possess similar properties. A is the negative, ando the unity which concentrates it into a positive form. A is the Holy Spirit who begets God in fehuon the Virgin, according to the formula familiar to students of "The Golden Bough". A is alsoth "ab in the Egg" thus produced. The quality of A is thus bisexual. It is the original being -- Zus rrhnothelus, Bacchus Diphues, or Baphomet.
U or V is the manifested son himself. Its number is 6. It refers therefore, to the dual nature he Logos as divine and human; the interlacing of the upright and averse triangles in the hexagram I s the first number of the Sun, whose last number<<The Sun being 6, a square 6x6 contains 36 sqars. W arrange the numbers from 1 to 36 in this square, so that each line, file, and diagonal add tothesam number. This number is 111; the total of all is 666.>> is 666, "the number of a man".
The letter M exhibits the termination of this process. It is the Hanged Man of the Tarot; the foion of the individual from the absolute is closed by his death.
We see accordingly how AUM is, on either system, the expression of a dogma which implies catastroin nature. It is cognate with the formula of the Slain God. The "resurrection" and "ascension" r o implied in it. They are later inventions without basis in necessity; they may be described ided s reudian phantasms conjured up by the fear of facing reality. To {46} the Hindu, indeed, thy ae sillless respectable. in his view, existence is essentially objectionable<<Thelemites agreethatmanieste existence implies Imperfection. But they understand why Perfection devises this disuise. The heoryis developed fully in Liber Aleph, and in Part IV of this Book 4. See also Cap V aragrah on Dgamma inal of Digamma-Iota-Alpha-Omicron-Digamma.>>; and his principle concern is to nvoke Siva<<Th Vaishnva theory, superficially opposed to this, turns out on analysis to be practially idetical.>>to destry the illusion whose thrall is the curse of the Manvantara.
The cardinal revelation of the Great Aeon of Horus is that this formula AUM does not represent thcts of nature. The point of view is based upon misapprehension of the character of existence. I onbecame obvious to The Master Therion that AUM was an inadequate and misleading hieroglyph. Itstte oly part of the truth, and it implied a fundamental falsehood. He consequently determined t moifytheword in such a manner as to fit it to represent the Arcana unveiled by the Aeon of whichHe hd ataine to be the Logos.
The essential task was to emphasize the fact that nature is not catastrophic, but proceeds by meansundulations. It might be suggested that Manvantara and Pralaya are in reality complementary curvs u the Hindu doctrine insists strongly on denying continuity to the successive phases. It was nvethles important to avoid disturbing the Trinitarian arrangement of the word, as would be done b th aditin of other letters. It was equally desirable to make it clear that the letter M represets a opeatio which does not actually occur in nature except as the withdrawal of phenomena into te abslute;whichprocess, even when so understood, is not a true destruction, but, on the contrary,the emncipaton of nything from the modifications which it had mistaken for itself. It occurred t him tht the tue natue of Silence was to permit the uninterrupted vibration of the undulatory enegy, freefrom thefalse coceptions attached to it by the Ahamkara or Ego-making facility, whose assmption tht conscios individality constitutes existence let it to consider its own apparently catatrophic chracter as ertaining o the order of nature. {47}
The undulatory formula of putrefaction is represented in the Qabalah by the letter N, which refer Scorpio, whose triune nature combines the Eagle, Snake and Scorpion. These hieroglyphs themselvsidcate the spiritual formulae of incarnation. He was also anxious to use the letter G, another rinefomula expressive of the aspects of the moon, which further declares the nature of human exisenc inthefollowing manner. The moon is in itself a dark orb; but an appearance of light is commuicatd toit b the sun; and it is exactly in this way that successive incarnations create the appeaance,just s theindividual star, which every man is, remains itself, irrespective of whether earthperceies it r not. Now it so happens that the root GN signifies both knowledge and generation combined in a single i in an absolute form independent of personality. The G is a silent letter, as in our word Gnosis n he sound GN is nasal, suggesting therefore the breath of life as opposed to that of speech. Ipele b these considerations, the Master Therion proposed to replace the M of AUM by a compound leterMGN sybolizing thereby the subtle transformation of the apparent silence and death which termiatesthe anifsted life of Vau by a continuous vibration of an impersonal energy of the nature of gneraton an knowedge, the Virgin Moon and the Serpent furthermore operating to include in the ideaa commmoratin of te legend so grossly deformed in the Hebrew legend of the Garden of Eden, and it even mre malinantly ebased falsification in that bitterly sectarian broadside, the Apocalypse.
Sound work invariable vindicates itself by furnishing confirmatory corollaries not contemplated be Qabalist. In the present instance, the Master Therion was delighted to remark that his compoun etr MGN, constructed on theoretical principles with the idea of incorporating the new knowledge f heAen, had the value of 93 (M = 40, G = 3, N = 50). 93 is the number of the word of the Law -- Thlem -- Will, and of Agape --- Love, which indicates the nature of Will. It is furthermore thenumbr ofthe ord which overcomes death, as members of the degree of M M of the O.T.O. are well awae;<<WH NOT: IIIDegree O.T.O., a word never to be written, published or spoken without the rite.>>and itis als that f the complete formula of existence as expressed in the {48} True Word of the Nophyte,<WEH NOE: Anoter unpublished word, this time belonging to the A.'. A.'. and not to O.T.O. he two wrds are ifferent even to the number of letters. It was written down once, in a letter toFrank Benett.>> whre existece is taken to import that phase of the whole which is the finite resoution of te Qabalistc Zero.
Finally, the total numeration of the Word AUMGN is 100, which, as initiates of the Sanctuary of tnosis of the O.T.O.<<WEH NOTE: IX Degree O.T.O.>> are taught, expresses the unity under the form fcmlete manifestation by the symbolism of pure number, being Kether by Aiq Bkr<<A method of exegeisinwhch 1 = 10 = 100, 2 = 20 = 200, etc.>>; also Malkuth multiplied by itself<<10 to the 2 power = 00.>, nd thus established in the phenomenal universe. But, moreover, this number 100 mysteriosly ndictes he Magical formula of the Universe as a reverberatory engine for the extension of Notingnes thrugh te device of equilibrated opposites.<<Koph-Pehfinal = 100 (20 + 80). HB:Koph = chi= Kapp-tau-esilon-ota-sigma: HB:Pehfinal = phi = Phi-alpha-lambda-lambda-omicron-sigma; (by Notaiqon).>
It is moreover the value of the letter Qoph, which means "the back of the head", the cerebellum, e the creative or reproductive force is primarily situated. Qoph in the Tarot is "the Moon", a cr ugesting illusion, yet shewing counterpartal forces operating in darkness, and the Winged Beetl o Mdnght Sun in his Bark travelling through the Nadir. Its Yetziratic attribution is Pisces, sybolc o th positive and negative currents of fluidic energy, the male Ichthus or "Pesce" and the fmaleVesia, seking respectively the anode and kathode. The number 100 is therefore a synthetic glph ofthe sbtle nergies employed in creating the Illusion, or Reflection of Reality, which we callmanifeted exstence
The above are the principal considerations in the matter of AUMGN. They should suffice to illust to the student the methods employed in the construction of the hieroglyphics of Magick, and to amhmwith a mantra of terrific power by virtue whereof he may apprehend the Universe, and contro i hmslf its Karmic consequences. {49}
VI
THE MAGICAL MEMORY.<<WEH NOTE: This is not the same "Magical Memory" as thatcribed by F. A. Yates and used by the ancient Roman orators for mnemonics.>>
I
There is no more important task than the exploration of one's previous incarnations<<It has been obed to reincarnation that the population of this planet has been increasing rapidly. Were do the e ols come from? It is not necessary to invent theories about other planets; it is enough to say ha te arth is passing through a period when human units are being built up from the elements withinceasd fequency. The evidence for this theory springs to the eye: in what other age was there sch perilty, uch lack of race-experience, such reliance upon incoherent formulas? (Contrast the ifantie emoionalsm and credulity of the average "well-educated" Anglo-Saxon with the shrewd commonsense f the ormal lliterate peasant.) A large proportion of mankind today is composed of "souls" ho are iving te humanlife for the first time. Note especially the incredible spread of congenita homosexality an other sxual deficiencies in many forms. These are the people who have not undertood, accpted, andused eventhe Formula of Osiris. Kin to them are the "once-born" of William Jams, who areincapable f philosopy, magick, or even religion, but seek instinctively a refuge from te horror ofcontemplatig Nature, wich they do not comprehend, in soothing-syrup affirmations such s those of Cristian Sciece, Spirituaism, and all the sham 'occult' creeds, as well as the emasculted forms of o-called Chritianity.>>. s Zoroaster says: "Explore the river of the soul; whence ad in what orde thou has come" One cannot d one's True Will intelligently unless one knows what itis. Liber Thisrb, Equinox I, II, give instrutions for determining this by calculating the resultnt of the forceswhich have made ne what one is. But this practice is confined to one's present inarnation.
If one were to wake up in a boat on a strange river, it would be rash to conclude that the directof the one reach visible was that of the whole stream. It would help very much if one rememberedtebarings of previous reaches traversed before one's nap. It would further relieve one's anxietywhn nebecame aware that a uniform and constant force was the single determinant of all the findins o th steam: gravitation. We could rejoice "that even the weariest river winds somewhere safe t sea"
Liber Thisarb describes a method of obtaining the Magical Memory by learning to remember backwards.t the careful {50} practice of Dharana is perhaps more generally useful. As one prevents the mor cesible thoughts from arising, we strike deeper strata --- memories of childhood reawaken. Stil depr ies a class of thoughts whose origin puzzles us. Some of these apparently belong to formerincrnaion. By cultivating these departments of one's mind we can develop them; we become expert;we frm a orgnized coherence of these originally disconnected elements; the faculty grows with astnishig rapdity,once the knack of the business is mastered.
It is much easier (for obvious reasons) to acquire the Magical Memory when one has been sworn fory lives to reincarnate immediately. The great obstacle is the phenomenon called Freudian forgetfles that is to say, that, though an unpleasant event may be recorded faithfully enough by the mecansmofthe brain, we fail to recall it, or recall it wrong, because it is painful. "The Psychopatoloy o Evryday Life" analyses and illustrates this phenomenon in detail. Now, the King of Terror beig Deth, t is hard indeed to look it in the face. Mankind has created a host of phantastic maks; pople alk o "going to heaven", "passing over", and so on; banners flaunted from pasteboard toers ofbaseles theoies. One instinctively flinches from remembering one's last, as one does from maginin one's ext, deth.<<This later is a very valuable practice to perform. See Liber HHH; alsoread up he Buddhst medittions of the Ten Impurities. {WEH NOTE ADENDA: Right, but it scares the dckens outof you! Wen I succeded in the practice in my teens, I panicked out of using the related bilities fr several ears. Thi was without benefit of initiation.}>> The point of view of the intiate helpsone immensey.
As soon as one has passed this Pons Asinorum, the practice becomes much easier. It is much less tre to reach the life before the last; familiarity with death breeds contempt for it.
It is a very great assistance to the beginner if he happens to have some intellectual grounds forntifying himself with some definite person in the immediate past. A brief account of Aleister Crwe' good fortune in this matter should be instructive. It will be seen that the points of contac vrygratly in character.
1. The date of Eliphas Levi's death was about six months previous to that of Aleister Crowley's b. The reincarnating ego is supposed to take possession of the foetus at about this stage of deveomn. {51}
2. Eliphas Levi had a striking personal resemblance to Aleister Crowley's father. This of courseely suggests a certain degree of suitability from a physical point of view.
3. Aleister Crowley wrote a play called "The Fatal Force" at a time when he had not read any of Eas Levi's works. The motive of this play is a Magical Operation of a very peculiar kind. The foml hich Aleister Crowley supposed to be his original idea is mentioned by Levi. We have not beenabe o race it anywhere else with such exact correspondence in every detail.
4. Aleister Crowley found a certain quarter of Paris incomprehensibly familiar and attractive to This was not the ordinary phenomenon of the "deja vu", it was chiefly a sense of being at home gi. He discovered long after that Levi had lived in the neighbourhood for many years.
5. There are many curious similarities between the events of Eliphas Levi's life and that of Alei Crowley. The intention of the parents that their son should have a religious career; the inabilt omake use of very remarkable talents in any regular way; the inexplicable ostracism which afflite hm,and whose authors seemed somehow to be ashamed of themselves; the events relative to marriae<<evi onher deliberately abandoning him, withdrew his protection from his wife; she lost her beaty ad inellience, and became the prey of an aged and hideous pithecoid. Aleister Crowley's wife nsistd upo doin her own will, as she defined it; this compelled him to stand aside. What happene to Mm. Consant hapened to her, although in a more violent and disastrous form.>>: all these offe surpriingly cose parllels.
6. The characters of the two men present subtle identities in many points. Both seem to be consty trying to reconcile insuperable antagonisms. Both find it hard to destroy the delusion that me' ied beliefs and customs may be radically altered by a few friendly explanations. Both show a criusfodness for out-the-way learning, preferring recondite sources of knowledge they adopt eccentic pperanes. Both inspire what can only be called panic fear in absolute strangers, who can giveno rasonwhatver for a repulsion which sometimes almost amounts to {52} temporary insanity. The rling assio in ech case is that of helping humanity. Both show quixotic disregard of their personl proserity,and evn comfort, yet both display love of luxury and splendour. Both have the pride f Satan
7. When Aleister Crowley became Frater Omicron-Upsilon Mu-Eta and had to write his thesis for thade of Adeptus Exemptus, he had already collected his ideas when Levi's "Clef des Grands Mysteres elinto his hands. It was remarkable that he, having admired Levi for many years, and even beguntosupet the identity, had not troubled (although an extravagant buyer of books) to get this partiula wok. He found, to his astonishment, that almost everything that he had himself intended to sa wasther writen. The result of this was that he abandoned writing his original work, and insteadtransated he materpiece in question.
8. The style of the two men is strikingly similar in numerous subtle and deep-seated ways. The gal point of view is almost identical. The quality of the irony is the same. Both take a pervers laure in playing practical jokes on the reader. In one point, above all, the identity is absolue --thre is no third name in literature which can be put in the same class. The point is this: I a inge sntence is combined sublimity and enthusiasm with sneering bitterness, scepticism, grossnss ad scrn. It is evidently the supreme enjoyment to strike a chord composed of as many conflictig eleents s posible. The pleasure seems to be derived from gratifying the sense of power, the poer to ompel very pssible element of thought to contribute to the spasm.
If the theory of reincarnation were generally accepted, the above considerations would make out aong case. FRATER PERDURABO was quite convinced in one part of his mind of this identity, long beoeh got any actual memories as such.<<Long since writing the above, the publication of the biograhyofElphas Levi by M. Paul Chacornat has confirmed the hypothesis in innumerable striking ways.>>
II
Unless one has a groundwork of this sort to start with, one must get back to one's life as best oan by the methods above indicated. {53} It may be of some assistance to give a few characteristiso enuine Magical Memory; to mention a few sources of error, and to lay down critical rules for te erfiation of one's results.
The first great danger arises from vanity. One should always beware of "remembering" that one waeopatra or Shakespeare.
Again, superficial resemblances are usually misleading.
One of the great tests of the genuineness of any recollection is that one remembers the really imant things in one's life, not those which mankind commonly classes as such. For instance, AleistrColey does not remember any of the decisive events in the life of Eliphas Levi. He recalls intiat tivalities of childhood. He has a vivid recollection of certain spiritual crises; in particulr, ne hic was fought out as he paced up and down a lonely stretch of road in a flat and desolate istrct. He rmembers ridiculous incidents, such as often happen at suppers when the conversation tkes aturn uch tat its gaiety somehow strikes to the soul, and one receives a supreme revelation wich isyet pefectlyinarticulate. He has forgotten his marriage and its tragic results<<It is perhps signficant hat altough the name of the woman has been familiar to him since 1898, he has neverbeen abl to commt it to emory.>>, although the plagiarism which Fate has been shameless enough toperpetrat in this resent lie, would naturally, one might think, reopen the wound.
There is a sense which assures us intuitively when we are running on a scent breast high. There n "oddness" about the memory which is somehow annoying. It gives a feeling of shame and guiltines Tere is a tendency to blush. One feels like a schoolboy caught red-handed in the act of writin pety. There is the same sort of feeling as one has when one finds a faded photograph or a lock o har tent years old among the rubbish in some forgotten cabinet. This feeling is independent of he qestin whther the thing remembered was in itself a source of pleasure or of pain. Can it be tat weresen the dea of our "previous condition of servitude"? We want to forget the past, howevergood rason w may hve to be proud of it. It is well known that many men are embarrassed in the prsence o a monky. {54
When the "loss of face" does not occur, distrust the accuracy of the item which you recall, The reliable recollections which present themselves with serenity are invariably connected with whatmncll disasters. Instead of the feeling of being caught in the slips, one has that of being missd t hewicket. One has the sly satisfaction of having done an outrageously foolish thing and got ff cotfre. When one sees life in perspective, it is an immense relief to discover that things lie bakrupcy, edlock, and the gallows made no particular difference. They were only accidents suchas miht hapen t anybody; they had no real bearing on the point at issue. One consequently remembrs havng ones earscropped as a lucky escape, while the causal jest of a drunken skeinsmate in an ll-nigh cafe sings on with the shame of the parvenu to whom a polite stranger has unsuspectingly entioned"Mine Unle".
The testimony of intuitions is, however, strictly subjective, and shrieks for collateral securityt would be a great error to ask too much. In consequence of the peculiar character of the recollcin which are under the microscope, anything in the shape of gross confirmation almost presumes prjry pathologist would arouse suspicion if he said that his bacilli had arranged themselves on he lid soas to spell Staphylococcus. We distrust an arrangement of flowers which tells us that "ife s woth lving in Detroit, Michigan". Suppose that Aleister Crowley remembers that he was Sir dwardKelly It oes not follow that he will be able to give us details of Cracow in the time of Jaes I o Englad. Maerial events are the words of an arbitrary language; the symbols of a cipher prviouslyagreed n. Wha happened to Kelly in Cracow may have meant something to him, but there is n reason o presum that ithas any meaning for his successor.
There is an obvious line of criticism about any recollection. It must not clash with ascertainedts. For example --- one cannot have two lives which overlap, unless there is reason to suppose ta h earlier died spiritually before his body ceased to breathe. This might happen in certain cass,suh s insanity.
It is not conclusive against a previous incarnation that the present should be inferior to the pa One's life may represent the full possibilities of a certain partial Karma. One may have {55} dvtdone's incarnation to discharging the liabilities of one part of one's previous character. Forintace one might devote a lifetime to settling the bill run up by Napoleon for causing unnecessar suferng,with the object of starting afresh, clear of debt, in a life devoted to reaping the rewad ofthe orsian's invaluable services to the race.
The Master Therion, in fact, remembers several incarnations of almost uncompensated wretchedness,uish and humiliation, voluntarily undertaken so that he might resume his work unhampered by spirta reditors.
These are the stigmata. Memory is hall-marked by its correspondence with the facts actually obse in the present. This correspondence may be of two kinds. It is rare (and it is unimportant forterasons stated above) that one's memory should be confirmed by what may be called, contemptuousl, xtrnl evidence. It was indeed a reliable contribution to psychology to remark that an evil andaduterus eneration sought for a sign.
(Even so, the permanent value of the observation is to trace the genealogy of the Pharisee --- fraiaphas to the modern Christian.)
Signs mislead, from "Painless Dentistry" upwards. The fact that anything is intelligible proves it is addressed to the wrong quarter, because the very existence of language presupposes impotenet ommunicate directly. When Walter Raleigh flung his cloak upon the muddy road, he merely exprese, n cipher contrived by a combination of circumstances, his otherwise inexpressible wish to ge ongoo tems with Queen Elizabeth. The significance of his action was determined by the concourseof crcumtancs. The reality can have no reason for reproducing itself exclusively in that especia form It an hae no reason for remembering that so extravagant a ritual happened to be necessary o worsip. Terefor, however well a man might remember his incarnation as Julius Caesar, there is o necesity forhis repesenting his power to set all upon the hazard of a die by imagining the Rubion. Anyspiritua state cn be symbolized by an infinite variety of actions in an infinite variety f circumsances. Oe should ecollect only those events which happen to {56} be immediately linked ith one's eculiar tedencies toimagine one thing rather than another.<<The exception is when some himsical cicumstance tes a knot i the corner of one's mnemonic handkerchief.>>
Genuine recollections almost invariably explain oneself to oneself. Suppose, for example, that yeel an instinctive aversion to some particular kind of wine. Try as you will, you can find no resnfr your idiosyncrasy. Suppose, then, that when you explore some previous incarnation, you remebe tatyou died by a poison administered in a wine of that character, your aversion is explained b th prver, "A burnt child dreads the fire." It may be objected that in such a case your libido hs crateda phntasm of itself in the manner which Freud has explained. The criticism is just, but ts vaue isreducd if it should happen that you were not aware of its existence until your Magical emory ttractd yourattention to it. In fact, the essence of the test consists in this: that your emory ntifies ou of smething which is the logical conclusion of the premisses postulated by the pst.
As an example, we may cite certain memories of the Master Therion. He followed a train of thoughich led him to remember his life as a Roman named Marius de Aquila. It would be straining probablt o presume a connection between (alpha) this hieroglyphically recorded mode of self-analysis an (et) rdinary introspection conducted on principles intelligible to himself. He remembers directy vrios pople and various events connected with this incarnation; and they are in themselves to al apearace atual. There is no particular reason why they, rather than any others, should have enered is spere. In the act of remembering them, they are absolute. He can find no reason for corrlatingthem wth anyhing in the present. But a subsequent examination of the record shows that thelogicalresult f the Wrk of Marius de Aquila did not occur to that romantic reprobate; in point offact, hedied befre anythng could happen. Can we suppose that any cause can be baulked of effect? The Univrse is unnimous inrebuttal. If then the exact effects which might be expected to resultfrom thesecauses aremanifestedin the career {57} of the Master Therion, it is assuredly the easiet and most easonable eplanation t assume an identity between the two men. Nobody is shocked to oserve that te ambition o Napoleon ha diminished the average stature of Frenchmen. We know that smehow or othe every force ust find its ulfilment; and those people who have grasped the fact thatexternal event are merely syptoms of exteral ideas, cannot find any difficulty in attributing thecorrespondencesof the one to te identities ofthe other.
Far be it from any apologist for Magick to insist upon the objective validity of these concatenat! It would be childish to cling to the belief that Marius de Aquila actually existed; it mattersn oe that it matters to the mathematician whether the use of the symbol X to the 22 power involvs he"rality" of 22 dimension of space. The Master Therion does not care a scrap of yesterday's nwspperwheher he was Marius de Aquila, or whether there ever was such a person, or whether the Unierseitsef isanything more than a nightmare created by his own imprudence in the matter of rum andwater Hismemor of Marius de Aquila, of the adventures of that person in Rome and the Black Fores, mattrs noting, ether to him or to anybody else. What matters is this: True or false, he has fond a sybolic frm whic has enabled him to govern himself to the best advantage. "Quantum nobis prdest hecfabula Cristi!" he "falsity" of Aesop's Fables does not diminish their value to mankind.
The above reduction of the Magical Memory to a device for externalizing one's interior wisdom need be regarded as sceptical, save only in the last resort. No scientific hypothesis can adduce strogreidence of its validity than the confirmation of its predictions by experimental evidence. Theobeciv can always be expressed in subjective symbols if necessary. The controversy is ultimatelyunmanig. However we interpret the evidence, its relative truth depends in its internal coherence. We ay terefre say that any magical recollection is genuine if it gives the explanation of our exernalor inernalconditions. Anything which throws light upon the Universe, anything which revealsus to urselvs, shold be welcome in this world of riddles.
As our record extends into the past, the evidence of its truth is cumulative. Every incarnation we remember must increase {58} our comprehension of ourselves as we are. Each accession of knoweg ust indicate with unmistakable accuracy the solution of some enigma which is propounded by theSpyn o our own unknown birth-city, Thebes. The complicated situation in which we find ourselves s cmpoed f elements; and no element of it came out of nothing. Newton's First Law applies to evey plne o thoght. The theory of evolution is omniform. There is a reason for one's predispositio to gut, o the hape of one's ear, in the past. The symbolism may change; the facts do not. In oe formor anoher, eerything that exists is derived from some previous manifestation. Have it, if ou will that te memores of other incarnations are dreams; but dreams are determined by reality jut as muc as the vents ofthe day. The truth is to be apprehended by the correct translation of th symboliclanguage. The lastsection of the Oath of the Master of the Temple is: "I swear to interpet every penomenon a a particuar dealing of God with my soul." The Magical Memory is (in the las analysis) ne manner, nd, as expeience testifies, one of the most important manners, of performin this vow.
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{59}
CHAPTER VIII
OF EQUILIBRIUM, AND OF THE GENERAL AND PARTICULAR
METHOD OF PREPARATION OF THE FURNITURE OF THE
TEMPLE AND OF THE INSTRUMENTS OF ART.
I
"Before there was equilibrium, countenance beheld not countenance."<<The full significance of thihorism is an Arcanum of the grade of Ipsissimus. It may, however, be partially apprehended by std fLiber Aleph, and the Book of the Law and the Commentaries thereon. It explains Existence.>> o ayththe holiest of the Books of the ancient Qabalah. (Siphra Tzeniutha 1. 2.) One countenanceher spkenof is the Macrocosm, the other the Microcosm.<<This is the case because we happen ourseles t be icroosms whose Law is "love under will". But it is also Magick for an unit which has attined erfecion (n absolute nothingness, 0 Degree), to become "divided for love's sake, for the chace of nion".>
As said above, the object of any magick ceremony is to unite the Macrocosm and the Microcosm.
It is as in optics; the angles of incidence and reflection are equal. You must get your Macrocosd Microcosm exactly balanced, vertically and horizontally, or the images will not coincide.
This equilibrium is affirmed by the magician in arranging the Temple. Nothing must be lop-sided. you have anything in the North, you must put something equal and opposite to it in the South. Teiprtance of this is so great, and the truth of it so obvious, that no one with the most mediocrecaacty{60} for magick can tolerate any unbalanced object for a moment. His instinct instantly reolt.<<hisis because the essence of his being a Magician is his intuitive apprehension of the fundmentl prncipes of the Universe. His instinct is a subconscious assertion of the structural identty ofthe Mcrocom and the Microcosm. Equilibrium is the condition of manifested existence.>>. Fo this eason he weaons, altar, circle, and magus are all carefully proportioned one with another. It willnot do o have cup like a thimble and a wand like a weaver's beam.<<See Bagh-i-Muattar, V,par. 2.>
Again, the arrangement of the weapons of the altar must be such that they "look" balanced. Nor sd the magician have any unbalanced ornament. If he have the wand in his right hand, let him haveteRng<<The Ring has not been described in Part II of this book, for reasons which may be or may nt e pprent to the reader. It is the symbol of Nuit, the totality of the possible ways in which h ma reresnt himself and fulfill himself.>> on his left, or let him take the Ankh, or the Bell, orthe up. And owever little he move to the right, let him balance it by an equivalent movement to te lef; or f forards, backwards; and let him correct each idea by implying the contradictory contaned threin. If he nvoke Severity, let him recount that Severity is the instrument of Mercy;<<For xample,as whenFirmnes with one's self or another is the truest kindness; or when amputation saveslife.>> f Stabilty, let im show the basis of that Stability to be constant change, just as the stbility ofa molecul is securd by the momentum of the swift atoms contained in it.<<See Liber 418, 1th Aethyr>>
In this way let every idea go forth as a triangle on the base of two opposites, making an apex trending their contradiction in a higher harmony.
It is not safe to use any thought in Magick, unless that thought has been thus equilibrated and doyed.
Thus again with the instruments themselves; the Wand must be ready to change into a Serpent, the acle into the whirling Svastika or Disk of Jove, as if to fulfil the functions of the Sword. {61 h ross is both the death of the "Saviour"<<It is the extension in matter of the Individual Self,th Idiisible Point determined by reference to the Four Quarters. This is the formula which enabls i toexpess its Secret Self; its dew falling upon the Rose is developed into an Eidolon of Itsel, indue easo.>> and the Phallic symbol of Resurrection. Will itself must be ready to culminate i the urrener ofthat Will:<<See Liber LXV and Liber VII.>> the aspiration's arrow that is shot aganst th Holy ove mut transmute itself into the wondering Virgin that receives in her womb the quicening o that sme Spirt of God.
Any idea that is thus in itself positive and negative, active and passive, male and female, is fi exist above the Abyss; any idea not so equilibrated is below the Abyss, contains in itself an uniiaed duality or falsehood, and is to that extent qliphotic<<See The Qabalah for the use of this or, ndstudy the doctrine concerning the Kings of Edom.>> and dangerous. Even an idea like "truth isunsfe nless it is realized that all Truth is in one sense falsehood. For all Truth is relativ; an if t besupposed absolute, will mislead.<<See Poincare for the mathematical proof of this theis. ut Spritua Experience goes yet deeper, and destroys the Canon of the Law of Contradiction. here i an imense aount of work by the Master Therion on this subject; it pertains especially to Hs gradeof 9 Deree = 2quare. Such profundities are unsuited to the Student, and may unsettle him eriously It wil be bestfor him to consider (provisionally) Truth in the sense in which it is takn by Physcal Sciene.>> "Th Book of Lies falsely so called" (Liber 333) is worthy of close and caeful studyin this repect. Thereader should also consult Konx Om Pax, "Introduction", and "Thien ao" in the ame volume. All thisis to be expressed in the words of the ritual itself, and symbolised in every act perfor.
II
It is said in the ancient books of Magick that everything used by the Magician must be "virgin". t is: it must never have been used by any other person or for any other purpose. The {62} greatetiprtance was attached by the Adepts of old to this, and it made the task of the Magician no easyon. Hewanted a wand; and in order to cut and trim it he needed a knife. It was not sufficient meelyto uy new knife; he felt that he had to make it himself. In order to make the knife, he woul reqire hunred other things, the acquisition of each of which might require a hundred more; and o on. Thisshowsthe impossibility of disentangling one's self from one's environment. Even in Magck we annot et on ithout the help of others.<<It is, and the fact is still more important, utterl fatal nd demoalizingto acquire the habit of reliance on others. The Magician must know every deail of hs work, nd be abe and willing to roll up his shirtsleeves and do it, no matter how trivia or menia it may sem. Abraelin (it is true) forbids the Aspirant to perform any tasks of an humiiating typ; but he wll never b able to command perfect service unless he has experience of such ncessary wor, mastered uring his erly training.>>
There was, however, a further object in this recommendation. The more trouble and difficulty youapon costs, the more useful you will find it. "If you want a thing well done, do it yourself." twud be quite useless to take this book to a department store, and instruct them to furnish you aTepl acording to specification. It is really worth the while of the Student who requires a swordto o ad dg out iron ore from the earth, to smelt it himself with charcoal that he has himself preared to orgethe weapon with his own hand: and even to take the trouble of synthesizing the oil ofvirtil wit whic it is engraved. He will have learnt a lot of useful things in his attempt to mak a realy virin swod; he will understand how one thing depends upon another; he will begin to apprciate te meanig of th words "the harmony of the Universe", so often used so stupidly and superfically by he ordinry apoloist for Nature, and he will also perceive the true operation of the law o Karma.<<n this sese especilly: any one thing involves, and is involved in, others apparently altgether alin.>>
Another notable injunction of the ancient Magick was that whatever appertained to the Work should bingle". The Wand was to be cut with a single stroke of the knife. There must be no {63} bogglin n acking at things, no clumsiness and no hesitation. If you strike a blow at all, strike with yurstenth! "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might!" If you are going to tae u Maick make no compromise. You cannot make revolutions with rose-water, or wrestle in a silk at. You ill ind very soon that you must either lose the hat or stop wrestling. Most people do boh. Tey tae up he magical path without sufficient reflection, without that determination of adamat whic made he autor of this book exclaim, as he took the first oath, "PERDURABO" --- "I will endre untothe end"<<"Forenduring unto the End, at the End was Naught to endure." Liber 333, Cap Zeta>> Theystart onit at a reat pace, and then find that their boots are covered with mud. Instead f persistng, they o back toPiccadilly. Such persons have only themselves to thank if the very steet-boys mck at them
Another recommendation was this: buy whatever may be necessary without haggling!
You must not try to strike a proportion between the values of incommensurable things.<<However cly the square of any fraction approximates to 2, no fraction equals the square root of 2. The squr ot of 2 is not in the series; it is a different kind of number altogether.>> The least of the agca Istruments is worth infinitely more than all that you possess, or if you like, than all thatyoustuidl suppose yourself to possess. Break this rule, and the usual Nemesis of the half-hearte awats yu. ot only do you get inferior instruments, but you lose in some other way what you thouht yo wereso clver to have saved. Remember Ananias!<<Observe well that there is never any real euivalece or easurale relation between any two things, for each is impregnably Itself. The exchane of prperty i not a athematically accurate equation. The Want is merely a conventional expressin of theWill, jut as a wrd is of a thought. It can never be anything else; thus, though the procss of makng it, whther it ivolves time, money, or labour, is a spiritual and moral synthesis, it s not measrable in trms of itselements.>>
On the other hand, if you purchase without haggling you will find that along with your purchase tendor has thrown in {64} the purse of Fortunatus. No matter in what extremity you may seem to be tte last moment your difficulties will be solved. For there is no power either of the firmamentofth eher, or of the earth or under the earth, on dry land or in the water, of whirling air or ofrusingfir, or any spell or scourge of God which is not obedient to the necessity of the Magician! Tha whih hehas, he has not; but that which he is, he is; and that which he will be, he will be. And nitherGod nr Man, nor all the malice of Choronzon, can either check him, or cause him to wave for oe instnt upo the Path. This command and this promise have been given by all the Magi withot excepion. Ad wherethis command has been obeyed, this promise has been most certainly fulfilled
III
In all actions the same formulae are applicable. To invoke a god, i.e. to raise yourself to thathead, the process is threefold, PURIFICATION, CONSECRATION and INITIATION.
Therefore every magical weapon, and even the furniture of the Temple, must be passed through thiseefold regimen. The details only vary on inessential points. E.G. to prepare the magician, he prfe himself by maintaining his chastity<<See The Book of the Law and the Commentaries thereon forth tuedefinition of this virtue.>> and abstaining from any defilement. But to do the same with, et s sy, he Cup, we assure ourselves that the metal has never been employed for any other purpose--- e smlt vrgin ore, and we take all possible pains in refining the metal --- it must be chemicaly pue.
To sum up this whole matter in a phrase, every article employed is treated as if it were a candidatr initiation; but in those parts of the ritual in which the candidate is blindfolded, we wrap thewao in a black cloth<<This refers to the "formula of the Neophyte". There are alternatives.>>. heoah hich he takes is replaced by a "charge" in similar terms. The details of the preparation o eah wapo should be thought out carefully by the magician. {65}
Further, the attitude of the magician to his weapons should be that of the God to the suppliant wnvokes Him. It should be the love of the father for his child, the tenderness and care of the brdgom for his bride, and that peculiar feeling which the creator of every work of art feels for hi mstrpece.
Where this is clearly understood, the magician will find no difficulty in observing the proper ritunot only in the actual ceremonial consecration of each weapon, but in the actual preparation, a poeswhich should adumbrate this ceremony; e.g., the magician will cut the wand from the tree, willstipitof leaves and twigs, will remove the bark. He will trim the ends nearly, and smooth down te kots -- this is the banishing.
He will then rub it with the consecrated oil until it becomes smooth and glistening and golden. ill then wrap it in silk of the appropriate colour: --- this is the Consecration.
He will then take it, and imagine that it is that hollow tube in which Prometheus brought down firom heaven, formulating to himself the passing of the Holy Influence through it. In this and othrwy he will perform the initiation; and, this being accomplished, he will repeat the whole proces i a eaborate ceremony.<<I have omitted to say that the whole subject of Magick is an example of ythpoea i that particular form called Disease of Language. Thoth, God of Magick, was merely a ma whoinveted riting, as his monuments declare clearly enough. "Grammarye", Magick, is only the Grek "Gamma" So lso the old name of a Magical Ritual, "Grimoire", is merely a Grammar.
It appeared marvellous to the vulgar that men should be able to communicate at a distance, and thegan to attribute other powers, merely invented, to the people who were able to write. The Wand ste nothing but the pen; the Cup, the Inkpot; the Dagger, the knife for sharpening the pen; and te is (antacle) is either the papyrus roll itself; or the weight which kept it in position, or thesanboxforsoaking up the ink. And, of course, the Papyrus of Ani is only the Latin for toilet-papr.>> T tak an entirely different case, that of the Circle; the magician will synthesize the Vermiliorequied frm Mercury an Sulphur which he has himself sublimated. This pure {66} vermilion he willhmself ix wit the consecrated oil, and as he uses this paint he will think intently and with devoio of thesymbolswhich he draws. This circle may then be initiated by a circumambulation, during hic the magcian invkes the names of God that are on it.
Any person without sufficient ingenuity to devise proper methods of preparation for the other arts required is unlikely to make much of a magician; and we shall only waste space if we deal in dealwth the preparation of each instrument.
There is a definite instruction in Liber A vel Armorum, in the Equinox, Volume I, Number IV, as te Lamp and the Four Elemental Weapons.
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{67}
CHAPTER IX
OF SILENCE AND SECRECY:
AND OF
THE BARBAROUS NAMES OF EVOCATION.
It is found by experience (confirming the statement of Zoroaster) that the most potent conjuratiore those in an ancient and perhaps forgotten language, or even those couched in a corrupt and posil lways meaningless jargon. Of these there are several main types. The "preliminary invocation i te Goetia" consists principally of corruptions of Greek and Egyptian names. For example, we fnd Osoronophris" for "Asor Un-Nefer".<<See appendix 4, Liber Samekh; this is an edition of this Ivocaion,withan elaborate Rubric, translation, scholia, and instruction.
{WEH ADDENDUM: This is the "Preliminary Invocation" placed in the "Goetia" in the Mathers transtion (Not "translation") by Crowley. This invocation is not a part of the original text, but comst s from the Greco-Egyptian period of perhaps the 6th century. The Goetia is itself a small porio o te "Lemegeton" or "Lesser Key of Solomon." This "Preliminary Evocation" is altered in LiberSamkh verthat published in the "Goetia".>> The conjurations given by Dr. Dee (vide Equinox I, VII) ae ina laguage called Angelic, or Enochian. Its source has hitherto baffled research, but it s a lnguag and ot a jargon, for it possesses a structure of its own, and there are traces of gramar andsyntax
However this may be, it "works". Even the beginner finds that "things happen" when he uses it: ahis is an advantage --- or disadvantage! ---- shared by no other type of language,. The rest nee kl. This needs Prudence!
The Egyptian Invocations are much purer, but their meaning has not been sufficiently studied by pns magically competent. We possess a number of Invocations in Greek of every degree of excellenc;i atin but few, and those of inferior quality. It will be noticed that in every case the conjurtinsar very sonorous, {68} and there is a certain magical voice in which they should be recited. Thi spcia voice was a natural gift of the Master Therion; but it can be easily taught --- to the ightpeope.
Various considerations impelled Him to attempt conjurations in the English language. There alreaxisted one example, the charm of the witches in Macbeth; although this was perhaps not meant seriul,its effect is indubitable.<<A true poet cannot help revealing himself and the truth of things n isar, whether he be aware of what he is writing, or no.>>
He has found iambic tetrameters enriched with many rimes both internal an external very useful. "Tizard Way" (Equinox I,I) gives a good idea of the sort of thing. So does the Evocation of Bartzae nEquinox I,IX. There are many extant invocations throughout his works, in many kinds of metre,ofmay inds of being, and for many kinds of purposes. (See Appendix).
Other methods of incantation are on record as efficacious. For instance Frater I.A., when a chilas told that he could invoke the devil by repeating the "Lord's Prayer" backwards. He went into h aden and did so. The Devil appeared, and almost scared him out of his life.
It is therefore not quite certain in what the efficacy of conjurations really lies. The peculiar ml excitement required may even be aroused by the perception of the absurdity of the process, and h esistence in it, as when once FRATER PERDURABO (at the end of His magical resources) recited "FomGrenand's Icy Mountains", and obtained His result.<<See "Eleusis", A. Crowley, "Collected Works, Vl. II pilogue.>>
It may be conceded in any case that the long strings of formidable words which roar and moan throso many conjurations have a real effect in exalting the consciousness of the magician to the proprpth --- that they should do so is no more extraordinary than music of any kind should do so.
Magicians have not confined themselves to the use of the human voice. The Pan-pipe with its seven s, corresponding to the seven planets, the bull-roarer, the tom-tom, and even the violin, have al enused, as well as many others, of which the {69} most important is the bell<<See Part II. It soud e aid that in experience no bell save His own Tibetan bell of Electrum Magicum has ever soundd stisactry to the Master Therion. Most bells jar and repel.>>, though this is used not so much or atualconjration as to mark stages in the ceremony. Of all these the tom-tom will be found to e themost eneraly useful.
While on the subject of barbarous names of evocation we should not omit the utterance of certain eme words which enshrine (alpha) the complete formula of the God invoked, or (beta) the whole cermn. Examples of the former kind are Tetragrammaton, I.A.O., and Abrahadabra.
An example of the latter kind is the great word StiBeTTChePhMeFSHiSS, which is a line drawn on thee of Life (Coptic attributions) in a certain manner.<<It represents the descent of a certain Infune See the Evocation of Taphtatharath, Equinox I, III. The attributions are given in 777. Thi Wrdexresses the current Kether - Beth - Binah - Cheth - Geburach - Mem - Hod - Shin - Malkuth, te dscet fom 1 to 10 via the Pillar of Severity.>>
With all such words it is of the utmost importance that they should never be spoken until the sup moment, and even then they should burst from the magician almost despite himself --- so great shudb his reluctance<<This reluctance is Freudian, due to the power of these words to awaken the suprssd ubconscious libido.>> to utter them. In fact, they should be the utterance of the God in hm a th fist onset of the divine possession. So uttered, they cannot fail of effect, for they hav becme te efect.
Every wise magician will have constructed (according to the principles of the Holy Qabalah) many words, and he should have quintessentialised them all in one Word, which last Word, once he has omdit, he should never utter consciously even in thought, until perhaps with it he gives up the gos. Suh a Word should in fact be so potent that man cannot hear it and live. {70}
Such a word was indeed the lost Tetragrammaton<<The Master Therion has received this Word; it is unicated by Him to the proper postulants, at the proper time and place, in the proper circumstancs>. It is said that at the utterance of this name the Universe crashes into dissolution. Let theMaicanearnestly seek this Lost Word, for its pronunciation is synonymous with the accomplishment f te GeatWork.<<Each man has a different Great Work, just as no two points on the circumference o a crcleare onnected with the centre by the same radius. The Word will be correspondingly unique>>
In this matter of the efficacity of words there are again two formulae exactly opposite in nature. ord may become potent and terrible by virtue of constant repetition. It is in this way that mostrlgons gain strength. At first the statement "So and so is God" excites no interest. Continue, ndyo met scorn and scepticism: possibly persecution. Continue, and the controversy has so far did ot tat o one troubles to contradict your assertion.
No superstition is so dangerous and so lively as an exploded superstition. The newspapers of to-(written and edited almost exclusively by men without a spark of either religion or morality) dar o int that any one disbelieves in the ostensibly prevailing cult; they deplore Atheism --- all bt nieral in practice and implicit in the theory of practically all intelligent people --- as if i wee te ecentricity of a few negligible or objectionable persons. This is the ordinary story of dverisemnt; he sham has exactly the same chance as the real. Persistence is the only quality reqired or sucess. The opposite formula is that of secrecy. An idea is perpetuated because it must never be mention A freemason never forgets the secret words entrusted to him, thought these words mean absolutelyntig to him, in the vast majority of cases; the only reason for this is that he has been forbidde t mnton them, although they have been published again and again, and are as accessible to the prfan asto he initiate.
In such a work of practical Magick as the preaching of a new {71} Law, these methods may be advanously combined; on the one hand infinite frankness and readiness to communicate all secrets; on teohr the sublime and terrible knowledge that all real secrets are incommunicable.<<If this were nt hecae, individuality would not be inviolable. No man can communicate even the simplest thoughtto ny the man in any full and accurate sense. For that thought is sown in a different soil, and anno prouce n identical effect. I cannot put a spot of red upon two pictures without altering eah in ivers ways It might have little effect on a sunset by Turner, but much on a nocturne by Whitler. The idntity f the two spots as spots would thus be fallacious.>>
It is, according to tradition, a certain advantage in conjurations to employ more than one langua In all probability the reason of this is than any change spurs the flagging attention. A man enae n intense mental labour will frequently stop and walk up and down the room --- one may supposefo tiscause --- but it is a sign of weakness that this should be necessary. For the beginner in agik, oweer, it is permissible<<This is not to say that it is advisable. O how shameful is humanweakess! Butit does encourage one --- it is useless to deny it --- to be knocked down by a Demon f whoe exitenceone was not really quite sure.>> to employ any device to secure the result.
Conjurations should be recited, not read:<<Even this is for the weaker brethern. The really greagus speaks and acts impromptu and extempore.>> and the entire ceremony should be so perfectly peromdthat one is hardly conscious of any effort of memory. The ceremony should be constructed withsuh ogcal fatality that a mistake is impossible.<<First-rate poetry is easily memorized because te ieasandthe musical values correspond to man's mental and sensory structure.>> The conscious eg of he Mgicin is to be destroyed to be absorbed in that of the God whom he invokes, and the proces shold no intefere with the automation who is performing the ceremony.
But this ego of which it is here spoken is the true ultimate ego. The automaton should possess w energy, intelligence, reason, and resource. This automaton should be the perfect man far more {2 hn any other man can be. It is only the divine self within the man, a self as far above the posesin f will or any other qualities whatsoever as the heavens are high above the earth, that shoud rabsrb tself into that illimitable radiance of which it is a spark.<<This is said of the partia or esse Wors of Magick. This is an elementary treatise; one cannot discuss higher Works as for xampl thos of "he Hermit of Aesopus Island".>>
The great difficulty for the single Magician is so to perfect himself that these multifarious dutof the Ritual are adequately performed. At first he will find that the exaltation destroys memor n aralyses muscle. This is an essential difficulty of the magical process, and can only be overom b pactice and experience.<<See "The Book of Lies"; there are several chapters on this subject. Bu Riht xaltation should produce spontaneously the proper mental and physical reactions. As soo as he dveloment is secured, there will be automatic reflex "justesse", exactly as in normal affars mid andbody espond with free unconscious rightness to the Will.>>
In order to aid concentration, and to increase the supply of Energy, it has been customary for thgician to employ assistants or colleagues. It is doubtful whether the obvious advantages of thispa ompensate the difficulty of procuring suitable persons<<The organic development of Magick in te ord ue to the creative Will of the Master Therion makes it with every year that passes easier t fid sienifically trained co-workers.>>, and the chance of a conflict of will or a misunderstandig inthe ircl itself. On one occasion FRATER PERDURABO was disobeyed by an assistant, and had it ot ben forHis pomptitude in using the physical compulsion of the sword, it is probable that the crcle wuld hae beenbroken. As it was, the affair fortunately terminated in nothing more serious tan the estructon of te culprit.
However, there is no doubt that an assemblage of persons who really are in harmony can much more ly produce an effect than a magician working by himself. The psychology of "Revival meetings" wilb amiliar to almost every one, and though such {73} meetings<<See, for an account of properly-codute cngregational ceremonial, Equinox I, IX. "Energized Enthusiasm", and Equinox III, L. Liber V, cclsia Gnosticae Catholicae Cannon Missae. The "Revival meetings" here in question were delibrateexplitatons of religious hysteria.>> are the foulest and most degraded rituals of black magic the aws o Magik are not thereby suspended. The laws of Magick are the laws of Nature.
A singular and world-famous example of this is of sufficiently recent date to be fresh in the memof many people now living. At a nigger camp meeting in the "United" States of America, devotees eewrked up to such a pitch of excitement that the whole assembly developed a furious form of hystri. Th comparatively intelligible cries of "Glory" and "Hallelujah" no longer expressed the situaion Smebdy screamed out "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!", and this was taken up by the whole meeting and ylledcontnuouly, until reaction set in. The affair got into the papers, and some particularly briht dicipleof Jon Stuart Mill, logician and economist, thought that these words, having set one se of fols cray, migt do the same to all the other fools in the world. He accordingly wrote a song and prduced te desird result. This is the most notorious example of recent times of the power eerted bya barbarus name f evocation.
A few words may be useful to reconcile the general notion of Causality with that of Magick. How we be sure that a person waving a stick and howling thereby produces thunderstorms? In no other a hn that familiar to Science; we note that whenever we put a lighted match to dry gunpowder, an niteliibly arbitrary phenomenon, that of sound, is observed; and so forth.
We need not dwell upon this point; but it seems worth while to answer one of the objections to thssibility of Magick, chosing one which is at first sight of an obviously "fatal" character. It i ovnient to quote verbatim from the Diary<<In a later entry we read that the diarist has found a imla tain of argument in "Space, Time, and Gravitation", page 51. He was much encourage by the cnfimaton f his thesis in so independent a system of thought.>> of a distinguished Magician and phlosoher. " have noticed that the effect of a Magical Work has followed {74} it so closely that it must habeen tarted before the time of the Work. E.g. I work to-night to make X in Paris write to me. Igtthe leter the next morning, so that it must have been written before the Work. Does this deny ha te Work aused the effect?
"If I strike a billiard-ball and it moves, both my will and its motion are due to causes long antent to the act. I may consider both my Work and its reaction as twin effects of the eternal Univre The moved arm and ball are parts of a state of the Cosmos which resulted necessarily from its omntriy previous state, and so, back for ever.
"Thus, my Magical Work is only one of the cause-effects necessarily concomitant with the case-eff which set the ball in motion. I may therefore regard the act of striking as a cause-effect of m rgnal Will to move the ball, though necessarily previous to its motion. But the case of magicalWok s ot quite analogous. For my nature is such that I am compelled to perform Magick in order t mae m wil to prevail; so that the cause of my doing the Work is also the cause of the ball's moton, nd tere s no reason why one should precede the other. (CF. "Lewis Carroll," where the Red Quen sceams eforeshe pricks her finger.)
"Let me illustrate the theory by an actual example.
"I write from Italy to a man in France and another in Australia on the same day, telling them to me. Both arrive ten days later; the first in answer to my letter, which he received, the secondo hs own initiative", as it would seem. But I summoned him because I wanted him; and I wanted hi bcasehe was my representative; and his intelligence made him resolve to join me because it judge rihtl tht the situation (so far as he knew it) was such as to make me desire his presence.
"The same cause, therefore, which made me write to him made him come to me; and though it would bproper to say that the writing of the letter was the direct cause of his arrival, it is evident ta fI had not written I should have been different from what I actually am, and therefore my relaton wthhim would have been otherwise than they are. In this sense, therefore, the letter and the ourey re ausally connected.
"One cannot go farther, and say that in this case I ought to write the letter even if he had arribefore I did so; for it {75} is part of the whole set of circumstance that I do not use a crowbaro nopen door.
"The conclusion is that one should do one's Will 'without lust of result'. If one is working in rdance with the laws of one's own nature, one is doing 'right'; and no such work can be criticise s'seless', even in cases of the character here discussed. So long as one's Will prevails, thereisnocase for complaint.
"To abandon one's Magick would shew lack of self-confidence in one's powers, and doubt as to one'most faith in Self and in Nature.<<i.e. on the ground that one cannot understand how Magick can pouethe desired effects. For if one possesses the inclination to do Magick, it is evidence of a tndnc i one's Nature. Nobody understands fully how the mind moves the muscles; but we know that lck f cnfience on this point means paralysis. "If the Sun and Moon should doubt, They'd immediatey goout" as lake said. Also, as I said myself. "Who hath the How is careless of the Why".>> Ofcours one hange one's methods as experience indicates; but there is no need to change them on anysuch gound a the aove.
"Further, the argument here set forth disposes of the need to explain the "modus operandi" of Mag A successful operation does not involve any theory soever, not even that of the existence of caslt itself. The whole set of phenomena may be conceived as single.
"For instance, if I see a star (as it was years ago) I need not assume causal relations as existietween it, the earth, and myself. The connexion exists; I can predicate nothing beyond that. I antpostulate purpose, or even determine the manner in which the event comes to be. Similarly, whn d Mgick, it is in vain to inquire why I so act, or why the desired result does or does not folow. No ca I know how the previous and subsequent conditions are connected. At most I can describ theconsiousess which I interpret as a picture of the facts, and make empirical generalizations o the uperfcial spects of the case.
"Thus, I have my own personal impressions of the act of telephoning; but I cannot be aware of what ciousness, electricity, mechanics, sound, etc., actually are in themselves. And although I can apa o experience to lay down 'laws' as to what {76} conditions accompany the act, I can never be sretht hey have always been, or ever will again be, identical. (In fact, it is certain that an evnt an eve occur twice in precisely the same circumstances.)<<If it did so, how could we call it dplex>>
"Further, my 'laws; must always take nearly all the more important elements of knowledge for granteI cannot say --- finally --- how an electric current is generated. I cannot be sure that some toal nsuspected force is not at work in some entirely arbitrary way. For example, it was formerly uposd hat Hydrogen and Chlorine would unite when an electric spark was passed through the mixture no we'knw' that the presence of a minute quantity of aqueous vapour (or some tertium quid) is esentil tothe eaction. We formulated before the days of Ross the 'laws' of malarial fever, withoutrefernce t the osquito; we might discover one day that the germ is only active when certain event are tanspirng in ome nebula<<The history of the Earth is included in the period of some such reltion; s that w cannotpossibly be sure that we may deny: "Malarial fever is a function of the presnt precesion of he Equinxes".>>, or when so apparently inert a substance as Argon is present in te air in ertain prportions. "We may therefore admit quite cheerfully that Magick is as mysterious as mathematics, as empirica poetry, as uncertain as golf, and as dependent on the personal equation as Love.
"That is no reason why we should not study, practice and enjoy it; for it is a Science in exactly same sense as biology; it is no less an Art that Sculpture; and it is a Sport as much as Mountaiern.
"Indeed, there seems to be no undue presumption in urging that no Science possesses equal possibies of deep and important Knowledge;<<Magick is less liable to lead to error than any other Scienc,bcuse its terms are interchangeable, by definition, so that it is based on relativity from the sar. Werun no risk of asserting absolute propositions. Furthermore we make our measurements in tems f te oject measured, thus avoiding the absurdity of defining metaphysical ideas by mutable stadard, (C. Edington "Space, Time, and Gravitation". Prologue.) of being forced to attribute the qulitie of hman cnsciousness to inanimate things (Poincare, "La mesure du temps"), and of assertingthat w know nythin of the universe in itself, though the nature of our senses and our minds necesarily dtermine our obervations, so that the limit of our knowledge is subjective, just as a thermmeter ca record othing bt its own reaction to one particular type of Energy.
Magick recognizes frankly (1) that truth is relative, subjective, and apparent; (2) that Truth ims Omniscience, which is unattainable by mind, being transfinite; just as if one tried to make an xc ap of England in England, that map must contain a map of the map, and so on, ad infinitum; (3)tht ogcal contradiction is inherent in reason, (Russell, "Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, p 13; Cowley, "Eleusis", and elsewhere); (4) that a Continuum requires a Continuum to be commenurabe wih it (5) that Empiricism is ineluctable, and therefore that adjustment is the only possibe metod ofactio; and (6) that error may be avoided by opposing no resistance to change, and regisering bserve phenoena in their own language.>>that no Art offers such opportunities to the ambitin {77} f the Sul to epress its Truth, in Ecstasy, through Beauty; and that no Sport rivals its facination of dangr and deight, so excites, exercises, and tests its devotees to the uttermost, or o rewardsthem by wll-being,pride, and the passionate pleasures of personal triumph.
"Magick takes every thought and act for its apparatus; it has the Universe for its Library and itboratory; all Nature is its Subject; and its Game, free from close seasons and protective restricin,always abounds in infinite variety, being all that exists.<<The elasticity of Magick makes it qul o ll possible kinds of environment, and therefore biologically perfect. "Do what thou wilt.." iplis slf-adjustment, so that failure cannot occur. One's true Will is necessarily fitted to te whle Uivere with the utmost exactitude, because each term in the equation a+b+c=0 must be equaland oposit to te sum of all the other terms. No individual can ever be aught than himself, or doaught lse thn his ill, which is his necessary relation with his environment, dynamically considerd. Allerror i no mor than an illusion proper to him to dissipate the mirage, and it is a generallaw thatthe methd of accmplishing this operation is to realize, and to acquiesce in, the order ofthe Univese, and t refrain rom attempting the impossible task of overcoming the inertia of the foces which ppose, andtherefore re identical with, one's self. Error in thought is therefore failue to undersand, and inaction to prform, one's own true Will.>>
{78}
CHAPTER X
OF THE GESTURES
This chapter may be divided into the following parts:
1. Attitudes.
2. Circumambulations (and similar movements).
3. Changes of position (This depends upon the theory of the construction of the circle).
4. The Knocks or Knells.
I
Attitudes are of two Kinds: natural and artificial. Of the first kind, prostration is the obviouample. It comes natural to man (poor creature!) to throw himself to the ground in the presence o h bject of his adoration.<<The Magician must eschew prostration, or even the "bending of the kne i sppication", as infamous and ignominious, an abdication of his sovereignty.>>
Intermediate between this and the purely artificial form of gesture comes a class which depends oquired habit. Thus it is natural to an European officer to offer his sword in token of surrender ATbetan would, however, squat, put out his tongue, and place his hand behind his right ear.
Purely artificial gestures comprehend in their class the majority of definitely magick signs, thosome of these simulate a natural action --- e.g. the sign of the Rending of the Veil. But the sino uramoth (see Equinox I, II, Illustration "The Signs of the Grades") merely imitates a hieroglyh hih as only a remote connection with any fact in nature. All signs must of course be studied wth nfiitepatience, and practised until the connection {79} between them and the mental attitude wich hey epreent appears "necessary."
II
The principal movement in the circle is circumambulation.<<In Part II of this Book 4 it was assumhat the Magician went barefoot. This would imply his intention to make intimate contact with hisCrl. But he may wear sandals, for the Ankh is a sandal-strap; it is born by the Egyptian Gods tosiniy heir power of Going, that is their eternal energy. By shape the Ankh (or Crux Ansata) suggststheforula by which this going is effected in actual practice.>> This has a very definite resut, bt on whih is very difficult to describe. An analogy is the dynamo. Circumambulation properl perfrmed n comination with the Sign of Horus (or "The Enterer") on passing the East is one of th best ethodsof arosing the macrocosmic force in the Circle. It should never be omitted unless thre be sme specal reasn against it.
A particular tread seems appropriate to it. This tread should be light and stealthy, almost furt and yet very purposeful. It is the pace of the tiger who stalks the deer.
The number of circumambulations should of course correspond to the nature of the ceremony.
Another important movement is the spiral, of which there are two principal forms, one inward, oneward. They can be performed in either direction; and, like the circumambulation, if performed desl<.e. In the same direction as the hands of a watch move.>> they invoke --- if widdershins<<i.e n heopposite direction.>> they banish<<Such, at least, is the traditional interpretation. But her isa deper design which may be expressed through the direction of rotation. Certain forces ofthe ost ormiable character may be invoked by circumambulation Widdershins when it is executed wit intet towrd thm, and the initiated technique. Of such forces Typhon is the type, and the war ofthe Tians aginst te Olympians the legend. (Teitan, Titan, has in Greek the numerical value of 66.)
WEH Addenda: Crowley is using the spelling Tau-epsilon-iota-tau-alpha-nu in place of the more usuau-iota-tau-alpha-nu or Tau-alpha-iota-tau-alpha-nu to obtain 666 in place of 661 or 662.>>. In tesial the tread is light and tripping, almost approximating to a dance: while performing it the mgiia wll usually turn on his own axis, either in the same direction as {80} the spiral, or in theoppsit diection. Each combination involves a different symbolism.
There is also the dance proper; it has many different forms, each God having his special dance. of the easiest and most effective dances is the ordinary waltz-step combined with the three signso ..X. It is much easier to attain ecstasy in this way than is generally supposed. The essence f heprcess consists in the struggle of the Will against giddiness; but this struggle must be prolnge an seere, and upon the degree of this the quality and intensity of ecstasy attained may depen.
With practice, giddiness is altogether conquered; exhaustion then takes its place and the enemy oll. It is through the mutual destruction of these antagonisms in the mental and moral being of temgcian that Samadhi is begotten.
III
Good examples of the use of change of position are given in the manuscripts Z.1 and Z.3;<<Equinox I, pp. 244-260.>> explanatory of the Neophyte Ritual of the G.'. D.'., where the candidate is take ovrious stations in the Temple, each station having a symbolic meaning of its own; but in pure ivoatona better example is given in Liber 831<<Equinox I, VII, pp. 93 sqq.>>.
In the construction of a ceremony an important thing to decide is whether you will or will not mauch movements. For every Circle has its natural symbolism, and even if no use is to be made of teefcts, one must be careful not to let anything be inharmonious with the natural attributions.<<Te ratial necessities of the work are likely to require certain movements. One should either exclde hissymolism altogether, or else think out everything beforehand, and make it significant. Do ot lt soe acions be symbolic and others haphazard.>> For the sensitive aura of the magician migh be dsturbd, an the value of the ceremony completely destroyed, by the embarrassment caused by th discoery ofsome sch error, just as if a pre-occupied T-totaller found that he had strayed into aTemple f the Dmon Rum It is therefore impossible to neglect the theory of the Circle. {81}
To take a simple example, suppose that, in an Evocation of Bartzabel, the planet Mars, whose sphes Geburah (Severity) were situated (actually, in the heavens) opposite to the Square of Chesed (Mry f the Tau in the Circle, and the triangle placed accordingly. It would be improper for the Maustostnd on that Square unless using this formula, "I, from Chesed, rule Geburah through the Pathof he ion; while --- taking an extreme case --- to stand on the square of Hod (which is naturallydomiatedby Gburah) would be a madness which only a formula of the very highest Magick could countract. Cetain ositions, however, such as Tiphareth<<Tiphareth is hardly "dominated" even by Kether. Iis theson raher than the servant.>>, are so sympathetic to the Magus himself that he may use themwthout rferenceto the nature of the spirit, or of the operation; unless he requires an exceptionalyprecise pirit fre of all extraneous elements, or one whose nature is difficulty compatible withTipareth.
To show how these positions may be used in conjunction with the spirals, suppose that you are invg Hathor, Goddess of Love, to descend upon the Altar. Standing on the square of Netzach you willmk our invocation to Her, and then dance an inward spiral deosil ending at the foot of the altar,whreyo sink on your knees with your arms raised above the altar as if inviting Her embrace.<<But OT in uppication".>>
To conclude, one may add that natural artistic ability, of you possess it, forms an excellent guidell Art is Magick.
Isadora Duncan has this gift of gesture in a very high degree. Let the reader study her dancing;possible rather in private than in public, and learn the superb "unconsciousness" --- which is maia onsciousness --- with which she suits the action to the melody.<<This passage was written in 111e.. Wake Duncan with thy Knocking? I would thou couldst!">>
There is no more potent means than Art of calling forth true Gods to visible appearance. {82}
IV.
The knocks or knells are all of the same character. They may be described collectively --- the drence between them consists only in this, that the instrument with which they are made seals themwt ts own special properties. It is of no great importance (even so) whether they are made by clppngth hands or stamping the feet, by strokes of one of the weapons, or by the theoretically apprprite nstument, the bell. It may nevertheless be admitted that they become more important in thecereony f th Magician considers it worth while to take up<<Any action not purely rhythmical is a isturance.> an nstrument whose single purpose is to produce them.
Let it first be laid down that a knock asserts a connection between the Magician and the object whie strikes. Thus the use of the bell, or of the hands, means that the Magician wishes to impress h tosphere of the whole circle with what has been or is about to be done. He wishes to formulatehi wllin sound, and radiate it in every direction; moreover, to influence that which lives by breth n te snse of his purpose, and to summon it to bear witness to his Word. The hands are used assymbls o hisexecutive power, the bell to represent his consciousness exalted into music. To strie wit the and i to utter the fiat of creation; the cup vibrates with his delight in receiving spiitual ine. blow ith the dagger is like the signal for battle. The disk is used to express the hrowingdown ofthe prie of one's purchase. To stamp with the foot is to declare one's mastery of he matte in hand Similaly, any other form of giving knocks has its own virtue. From the above eamples th intellignt studen will have perceived the method of interpreting each individual case tat may com in questin.
As above said, the object struck is the object impressed. Thus, a blow upon the altar affirms the has complied with the laws of his operation. To strike the lamp is to summon the Light divine. hsfor the rest.
It must also be observed that many combinations of ideas are made possible by this convention. Trike the wand within the cup is to apply the creative will to its proper complement, and so {83} efr the Great Work by the formula of Regeneration. To strike with the hand on the dagger declare taton demands the use of the dagger as a tool to extend one's executive power. The reader will ecal hw Segfried smote Nothung, the sword of Need, upon the lance of Wotan. By the action Wagner whowas nstrcted how to apply magical formulae by one of the heads of our Order, intended his heaers t undestandthat the reign of authority and paternal power had come to an end; that the new mater ofthe wold wasintellect.
The general object of a knock or a knell is to mark a stage in the ceremony. Sasaki Shigetz tell in his essay on Shinto that the Japanese are accustomed to clap their hands four times "to driveaa vil spirits". He explains that what really happens is that the sudden and sharp impact of thesondthows the mind into an alert activity which enables it to break loose from the obsession of is pevius ood. It is aroused to apply itself aggressively to the ideals which had oppressed it. hereis terefre a perfectly rational interpretation of the psychological power of the knock.
In a Magical ceremony the knock is employed for much the same purpose. The Magician uses it like chorus in a Greek play. It helps him to make a clean cut, to turn his attention from one part o i ork to the next.
So much for the general character of the knock or knell. Even this limited point of view offers t opportunities to the resourceful Magician. But further possibilities lie to our hand. It is ntuully desirable to attempt to convey anything except emphasis, and possibly mood, by varying thefoceofthe blow. It is obvious, moreover, that there is a natural correspondence between the hardlou knck f imperious command on the one hand, and the soft slurred knock of sympathetic comprehenion n th othr. It is easy to distinguish between the bang of the outraged creditor at the front,and te hused ta of the lover at the bedroom, door. Magical theory cannot here add instruction toinstint.
But a knock need not be single; the possible combinations are evidently infinite. We need only dss the general principles of determining what number of strokes will be proper in any case, {84} n o we may interrupt any series so as to express our idea by means of structure.
The general rule is that a single knock has no special significance as such, because unity is omnm. It represents Kether, which is the source of all things equally without partaking of any qualt ywhich we discriminate one thing from another. Continuing on these lines, the number of knockswil efr to the Sephira or other idea Qabalistically cognate with that number. Thus, 7 knocks wil inimae Vnus, 11 the Great Work, 17 the Trinity of Fathers, and 19 the Feminine Principle in its ost enerl sese.
Analyzing the matter a little further, we remark firstly that a battery of too many knocks is conng, as well as liable to overweight the other parts of the ritual. In practice, 11 is about the ii. It is usually not difficult to arrange to cover all necessary ground with that number.
Secondly, each is so extensive in scope, and includes aspects so diverse from a practical standpothat our danger lies in vagueness. A knock should be well defined; its meaning should be precise Tevery nature of knocks suggests smartness and accuracy. We must therefore devise some means ofmain te sequence significant of the special sense which may be appropriate. Our only resource isin he se f intervals.
It is evidently impossible to attain great variety in the smaller numbers. But this fact illustr the excellence of our system. There is only one way of striking 2 knocks, and this fact agrees ihte nature of Chokmah; there is only one way of creating. We can express only ourselves, althouh e o o in duplex form. But there are three ways of striking 3 knocks, and these 3 ways correspod t th theefold manner in which Binah can receive the creative idea. There are three possible tyes o tringle We may understand an idea either as an unity tripartite, as an unity dividing itsel intoa duaity, r as a duality harmonized into an unity. Any of these methods may be indicated by3 equa knock; 1 folowed, after a pause, by 2; and 2 followed, after a pause, by 1.
As the nature of the number becomes more complex, the possible varieties increase rapidly. There numerous ways of striking 6, each of which is suited to the nature of the several {85} aspects o ihreth. We may leave the determination of these points to the ingenuity of the student.
The most generally useful and adaptable battery is composed of 11 strokes. The principal reasons this are as follows: "Firstly", 11 is the number of Magick in itself. It is therefore suitable oaltypes of operation. "Secondly", it is the sacred number par excellence of the new Aeon. As i i witen in the Book of the Law: "...11, as all their numbers who are of us." "Thirdly", it is te nmbe ofthe letters of the word ABRAHADABRA, which is the word of the Aeon. The structure of ths wod issuchthat it expresses the great Work, in every one of its aspects. "Lastly", it is possile threby o expess all possible spheres of operation, whatever their nature. This is effected bymakingan eqution btween the number of the Sephira and the difference between that number and 11. For exaple, 2 egree=9quare is the formula of the grade of initiation corresponding to Yesod. Yesd represnts the nstabiliy of air, the sterility of the moon; but these qualities are balanced in t by the tability mplied inits position as the Foundation, and by its function of generation. Ths complex s further quilibrate by identifying it with the number 2 of Chokmah, which possesses th airy qualiy, being th Word, and he lunar quality, being the reflection of the sun of Kether as Ysod is the sn of Tiphareh. It is th wisdom which is the foundation by being creation. This entie cycle of idas is expressd in the doube formula 2 Degree = 9Square, 9 Degree = 2Square; and any f these ideas ay be selectedand articulate by a suitable battery.
We may conclude with a single illustration of how the above principles may be put into practice. us suppose that the Magician contemplates an operation for the purpose of helping his mind to reitte tendency to wander. This will be a work of Yesod. But he must emphasize the stability of tatSehia as against the Airy quality which it possesses. His first action will be to put the 9 uner he rotction of the 2; the battery at this point will be 1-9-1. But this 9 as it stands is sugestie ofthe hangefulness of the moon. It may occur to him to divide this into 4 and 5, 4 being te numer offixit, law, and authoritative power; and 5 that of courage, energy, and triumph of the pirit 86} ovr the lements. He will reflect, moreover, that 4 is symbolic of the stability of mater, whie 5 expesses te same idea with regard to motion. At this stage the battery will appear as1-2-5-2-. Afterdue consderation he will probably conclude that to split up the central 5 would tnd to desroy the smplicity f his formula, and decide to use it as it stands. The possible alterntive wouldbe to makea single kock the centre of his battery as if he appealed to the ultimate immtability ofKether, invking that uity by placing a fourfold knock on either side of it. In this cse, his battry would be -4-1-4-1. H will naturally have been careful to preserve the balance of ach part of te battery aganst the correponding part. This would be particularly necessary in an peration such s we have chosn for our examle.
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{87}
CHAPTER XI
OF OUR LADY BABALON AND OF THE BEAST
WHEREON SHE RIDETH.
ALSO CONCERNING TRANSFORMATIONS.
I
The contents of this section, inasmuch as they concern OUR LADY, are too important and too sacredbe printed. They are only communicated by the Master Therion to chosen pupils in private instrucin
II
The essential magical work, apart from any particular operation, is the proper formation of the Mal Being or Body of Light. This process will be discussed at some length in Chapter XVIII.
We will here assume that the magician has succeeded in developing his Body of Light until it is ato go anywhere and do anything. There will, however, be a certain limitation to his work, becaus ehs formed his magical body from the fine matter of his own element. Therefore, although he maybeabe o penetrate the utmost recesses of the heavens, or conduct vigorous combats with the most uproouneabe demons of the pit, it may be impossible for him to do as much as knock a vase from a mnteliece Hi magical body is composed of matter too tenuous to affect directly the gross matter o whic illuions uch as tables and chairs are made.<<The one really easy "physical" operation whichthe Boy of Lght ca perform is "Congressus subtilis". The emanations of the "Body of Desire" of te materal bein whom oe visits are, if the visit be agreeable, so potent that one spontaneously gans substnce in te embrac. There are many cases on record of Children having been born as the reslt of suc unions. See the wrk of De Sinistrari on Incubi and Succubi for a discussion of analogou phenomena>> {89}
There has been a good deal of discussion in the past within the Colleges of the Holy Ghost, as tother it would be quite legitimate to seek to transcend this limitation. One need not presume to asjdgment. One can leave the decision to the will of each magician.
The Book of the Dead contains many chapters intended to enable the magical entity of a man who isd, and so deprived (according to the theory of death then current) of the material vehicle for exctn his will, to take on the form of certain animals, such as a golden hawk or a crocodile, and i schfom to go about the earth "taking his pleasure among the living."<<See "The Book of Lies" Cap 44 an Th Collected Works of Aleister Crowley, Vol. III, pp. 209-210, where occur paraphrased traslatons f cetain classical Egyptian rituals.>> As a general rule, material was supplied out of wich h coul consruct the party of the second part aforesaid, hereinafter referred to as the hawk.
We need not, however, consider this question of death. It may often be convenient for the livinggo about the world in some such incognito. Now, then, conceive of this magical body as creative oc,seeking manifestation; as a God, seeking incarnation.
There are two ways by which this aim may be effected. The first method is to build up an appropriaody from its elements. This is, generally speaking, a very hard thing to do, because the physica ositution of any material being with much power is, or at least should be, the outcome of ages o eoltin. However, there is a lawful method of producing an homunculus which is taught in a certan scre oranization, perhaps known to some of those who may read this, which could very readily beadaped t som such purpose as we are now discussing.
The second method sounds very easy and amusing. You take some organism already existing, which hns to be suitable to your purpose. You drive out the magical being {89} which inhabits it, and tk osession. To do this by force is neither easy nor justifiable, because the magical being of th ohe ws incarnated in accordance with its Will. And "... thou hast no right but to do thy will." On shuldhardly strain this sentence to make one's own will include the will to upset somebody ele's ill!<Yetit might happen that the Will of the other being was to invite the Magician to indwel its nstruent.> Moreover, it is extremely difficult thus to expatriate another magical being; fo thoug, unles it i a complete microcosm like a human being, it cannot be called a star, it is a lttle bi of a sar, andpart of the body of Nuit.
But there is no call for all this frightfulness. There is no need to knock the girl down, unless refuses to do what you want, and she will always comply if you say a few nice things to her.<<Eseily on the subject of the Wand or the Disk.>> You can always use the body inhabited by an elemeta, uc as an eagle, hare, wolf, or any convenient animal, by making a very simple compact. You tke vertheresponsibility for the animal, thus building it up into your own magical hierarchy. Thi repesens a remendous gain to the animal.<<This is the magical aspect of eating animal food, and ts jutifiction,or rather the reconciliation of the apparent contradiction between the carnivorousand huanitaran eleents in the nature of "Homo Sapiens".>> It completely fulfils its ambition by n alliace of tis extrmely intimate sort with a Star. The magician, on the other hand, is able totransfor and retansform imself in a thousand ways by accepting a retinue of such adherents. In tis way th projectin of the astral" or Body of Light may be made absolutely tangible and practical At the sme time, te magicianmust realise that in undertaking the Karma of any elemental, he is ssuming a vry serious esponsibiliy. The bond which unites him with that elemental is love; and, hough it is nly a small art of the otfit of a magician, it is the whole of the outfit of the elemntal. He wil, therefore, uffer intensey in case of any error or misfortune occurring to his protgee. This feeing is rather eculiar. It i quite instinctive with the best men. They {90} hear o the destructio of a city of afew thousand inabitants with entire callousness, but then they hearof a dog having urt its paw, the feel Weltschmerz acutely.
It is not necessary to say much more than this concerning transformations. Those to whom the sub naturally appeals will readily understand the importance of what has been said. Those who are ohrie inclined may reflect that a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.
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{91}
CHAPTER XII
OF THE BLOODY SACRIFICE: AND MATTERS COGNATE.
It is necessary for us to consider carefully the problems connected with the bloody sacrifice, fois question is indeed traditionally important in Magick. Nigh all ancient Magick revolves aroundti atter. In particular all the Osirian religions --- the rites of the Dying God --- refer to ths. Te laying of Osiris and Adonis; the mutilation of Attis; the cults of Mexico and Peru; the stoy o Heculs or Melcarth; the legends of Dionysus and of Mithra, are all connected with this one ida. n th Hebew religion we find the same thing inculcated. The first ethical lesson in the Bibleis tht theonly acrifice pleasing to the Lord is the sacrifice of blood; Abel, who made this, findng favur wit the Lrd, while Cain, who offered cabbages, was rather naturally considered a cheap sort. Te idea ecurs aain and again. We have the sacrifice of the Passover, following on the stor of Abraam's beig commaned to sacrifice his firstborn son, with the idea of the substitution of aimal for uman life The annal ceremony of the two goats carries out this in perpetuity. And we se again th dominatio of this iea in the romance of Esther, where Haman and Mordecai are the two gats or gods and ultimaely in the resentation of the rite of Purim in Palestine, where Jesus and Brabbas happeed to be theGoats in tha particular year of which we hear so much, without agreement n the date.
This subject must be studied in the "Golden Bough", where it is most learnedly set forth by Dr. J. razer.
Enough has now been said to show that the bloody sacrifice has from time immemorial been the mostsidered part of Magick. {92} The ethics of the thing appear to have concerned no one; nor, to teltetruth, need they do so. As St. Paul says, "Without shedding of blood there is no remission"; ndwh ae we to argue with St. Paul? But, after all that, it is open to any one to have any opinio tht h lies upon the subject, or any other subject, thank God! At the same time, it is most necesaryto sudy he business, whatever we may be going to do about it; for our ethics themselves will aturaly deend uon our theory of the universe. If we were quite certain, for example, that everybdy wen to heven whn he died, there could be no serious objection to murder or suicide, as it is gnerallyconcede --- bythose who know neither --- that earth is not such a pleasant place as heaven
However, there is a mystery concealed in this theory of the bloody sacrifice which is of great imance to the student, and we therefore make no further apology, We should not have made even thisaooy for an apology, had it not been for the solicitude of a pious young friend of great austerit o carcter who insisted that the part of this chapter which now follows --- the part which was orginllywriten --- might cause us to be misunderstood. This must not be.
The blood is the life. This simple statement is explained by the Hindus by saying that the bloodthe principal vehicle of vital Prana.<<Prana or force" is often used as a generic term for all kid fsubtle energy. The prana of the body is only one of its "vayus". Vayu means air or spirit. Th ieais that all bodily forces are manifestations of the finer forces of the more real body, thi rel bdy eing a subtle and invisible thing.>> There is some ground for the belief that there is defnitesubsance<<This substance need not be conceived as "material" in the crude sense of Victoran scence;we no know that such phenomena as the rays and emanations of radioactive substances occpy an ntermeiate psition. For instance, mass is not, as once supposed, necessarily impermeable t mass, nd mattr itsel can be only interpreted in terms of motion. So, as to "prana", one might hpothesiz a phenoenon in he ether analogous to isomerism. We already know of bodies chemically idntical whse molecuar structre makes one active, another inactive, to certain reagents. Metals ca be "tired or even "illed" as o some of their properties, without discoverable chemical change. ne can "kil" steel, an "raise it rom the dead"; and flies drowned in icewater can be resuscitated That it shuld be imposible to creae high organic life is scientifically unthinkable, and the Mater Therion blieves it to e a matter offew years indeed before this is done in the laboratory. Aready we restoe the apparenty drowned. Wh not those dead from such causes as syncope? If we undrstood the ultiate physics andchemistry of th brief moment of death we would get hold of the forc in some say, suply the missing lement, reverse he electrical conditions or what not. Already weprevent certain knds of death by spplying wants, asin the case of Thyroid.>>, not isolated as yet whose presence maes all {93} the diference between lie and dead matter. We pass by with deserve contempt the pseud-scientific experimnts of American chalatans who claim to have established tha weight is lost at te moment of death, ad the unsupported sttements of alleged clairvoyants that hey have seen the sou issuing like a vapou from the mouth of pesons "in articulo mortis"; but hisexperiences as an explrer have convinced theMaster Therion that met loses a notable portion of it nutritive value withina very few minutes afte the death of the anima, and that this loss proceed with ever-diminishing rpidity as time goes on. It is further generally onceded that live food, sch as oysters, is the mos rapidly assimilable and ost concentrated form of nergy.<<Once can becom actually drunk on oysters by chewing them completel. Rigor seems to be a symtom of the loss of hat I may call the Alpha-enrgy and makes a sharp breakin the curve. The Beta andother energies dssipate more slowly. Physioogists should make it their irst duty to measure these penomena; for heir study is evidently a dirct line of research into the ature of Life. The analogy btween the iving and complex molecules ofthe Uranium group of inorganicand the Protoplasm group of oranic elments is extremely suggestive. The faculties of growth, action self-recuperation, etc., must e asribed to similar properties in bth cases; and as we have detecte, measured and partially explaindradioactivity, it must be possibl to contrive means of doing the sme for Life.>> Laboratory expermnts in food-values seem to be alost worthless, for reasons which w cannot here enter into; the gnera testimony of mankind appears safer guide.
It would be unwise to condemn as irrational the practice of those savages who tear the heart and r from an adversary, and devour them while yet warm. In any case it was the theory of {94} the acetMagicians, that any living being is a storehouse of energy varying in quantity according to th szean health of the animal, and in quality according to its mental and moral character. At the eat oftheanimal this energy is liberated suddenly.
The animal should therefore be killed<<It is a mistake to suppose that the victim is injured. On contrary, this is the most blessed and merciful of all deaths, for the elemental spirit is direcl ult up into Godhead --- the exact goal of its efforts through countless incarnations. On the ohe hnd the practice of torturing animals to death in order to obtain the elemental as a slave is ndeensble utterly black magic of the very worst kind, involving as it does a metaphysical basis o duaism. Thee is, however, no objection to dualism or black magic when they are properly understod. Se theaccout of the Master Therion's Great Magical Retirement by Lake Pasquaney, where he "crcifieda toadin theBasilisk abode".>> within the Circle, or the Triangle, as the case may be, so tat its nergy cnnot esape. An animal should be selected whose nature accords with that of the cermony ---thus, bysacrificng a female lamb one would not obtain any appreciate quantity of the fiere energy seful to Magicianwho was invoking Mars. In such a case a ram<<A wolf would be still beter in thecase of Mas. See 77 for the correspondences between various animals and the "32 Paths"of Nature.> would be mre suitable And this ram should be virgin --- the whole potential of its oiginal totalenergy shoul not have ben diminished in any way.<<There is also the question of its mgical freedom Sexual intecourse create a link between its exponents, and therefore a responsibilty.>> For thehighest spirital working onemust accordingly choose that victim which contains the reatest and purst force. A mae child of perfct innocence and high intelligence<<It appears from he Magical Recors of Frater Perdrabo that He mad this particular sacrifice on an average about 15 times every yearbetween 1912 e.v.and 1928 e.v. Cotrast J.K.Huyman's "La-Bas", where a pervertedform of Magic of a analogous order i described.
"It is the sacrifice of oneself spiritually. And the intelligence and innocence of that male chare the perfect understanding of the Magician, his one aim, without lust of result. And male he utb, because what he sacrifices is not the material blood, but his creative power." This initiatd ntrpetation of the texts was sent spontaneously by Soror I.W.E., for the sake of the younger Brthen.
WEH ADDENDA: When Crowley speaks of sacrificing a male child, his diaries and other writings iate that he thereby obfuscates the actual practice. Crowley did this by diversion of the act of eulintercourse and other sexual actions. He considered contraception as human sacrifice. There s o ndcation in any of his writings that he ever performed infanticide. In fact, Crowley was eve agins abrtion.>> is the most satisfactory and suitable victim. {95}
For evocations it would be more convenient to place the blood of the victim in the Triangle --- thea being that the spirit might obtain from the blood this subtle but physical substance which was h untessence of its life in such a manner as to enable it to take on a visible and tangible shape<<eeEqinox (I, V. Supplement: Tenth Aethyr) for an Account of an Operation where this was done. Magcalpheomena of the creative order are conceived and germinate in a peculiar thick velvet darknss, rimsn, prple, or deep blue, approximating black: as if it were said, In the body of Our Lady f theStars
See 777 for the correspondences of the various forces of Nature with drugs, perfumes, etc.>>
Those magicians who abject to the use of blood have endeavored to replace it with incense. For sa purpose the incense of Abramelin may be burnt in large quantities. Dittany of Crete is also a aube medium. Both these incenses are very catholic in their nature, and suitable for almost any atriliation.
But the bloody sacrifice, though more dangerous, is more efficacious; and for nearly all purposesan sacrifice is the best. The truly great Magician will be able to use his own blood, or possibl htof a disciple, and that without sacrificing the physical life irrevocably.<<Such details, howeer my afely be left to the good sense of the Student. Experience here as elsewhere is the best tachr. In he Sacrifice during Invocation, however, it may be said without fear of contradiction tht th deah ofthe victim should coincide with the supreme invocation.
WEH addenda: A sworn testimony by Crowley declares that he held actual human sacrifice to physideath to be the most efficacious, but that he never did such a thing. On the matter concerning daho the victim in invocation, Crowley elsewhere enlarges that this is the ephemeral death of the go>> A example of this sacrifice is given in Chapter 44 of Liber 333. This Mass may be recommendd gnerllyfor daily practice.
One last word on this subject. There is a Magical operation of maximum importance: the Initiatio a New Aeon. When it becomes necessary to utter a Word, the whole Planet must be bathed in blood Bfre man is ready to accept the Law of Thelema, the Great War must be fought. This Bloody Sacriic i te critical point of the World-{96}Ceremony of the Proclamation of Horus, the Crowned and coqueingChid, as Lord of the Aeon.<<Note: This paragraph was written in the summer of 1911 e.v., jut thee yars efore its fulfilment.>>
This whole matter is prophesied in the Book of the Law itself; let the student take note, and enthe ranks of the Host of the Sun.
II
There is another sacrifice with regard to which the Adepts have always maintained the most profouecrecy. It is the supreme mystery of practical Magick. Its name is the Formula of the Rosy Cros. nthis case the victim is always --- in a certain sense --- the Magician himself, and the sacrifcemut oincide with the utterance of the most sublime and secret name of the God whom he wishes toinvke. roperly performed, it never fails of its effect. But it is difficult for the beginner to do it isfatorily, because it is a great effort for the mind to remain concentrated upon the purpose of h eremoy. The overcoming of this difficulty lends most powerful aid to the Magician.
It is unwise for him to attempt it until he has received regular initiation in the true<<It is heesirable to warn the reader against the numerous false orders which have impudently assumed the nm fRosicrucian. The Masonic Societas Rosicruciana is honest and harmless; and makes no false preenes i its members happen as a rule to be pompous busy-bodies, enlarging the borders of their phyactrie, ad scrupulous about cleansing the outside of the cup and the platter; if the masks of theOffiers n thir Mysteries suggest the Owl, the Cat, the Parrot, and the Cuckoo, while the Robe of heir hief agus s a Lion's Skin, that is their affair. But those orders run by persons "claiming"to repesent he Tru Ancient Fraternity are common swindles. The representatives of the late S. L.Mathers(Count cGregor are the phosphorescence of the rotten wood of a branch which was lopped offthe treeat the ed of the19th century. Those of Papus (Dr. Encausse), Stanislas de Guaita and Peldan, meri respect s serious but lack full knowledge and authority. The "Ordo Rosae Crucis" is a ass of ignrance and alsehood, ut this may be a deliberate device for masking itself. The test ofany Order i its attitue towards te Law of Thelema. The True Order presents the True Symbols, butavoids attacing the TrueName thereto it is only when the Postulant has taken irrevocable Oaths an been receive formally, tht he discover what Fraternity he has joined. If he have taken false sybols for true,and find himsef magically pldged to a gang of rascals, so much the worse for him!>>Order of the Roy Cross, {97} ad he must have aken the vows with the fullest comprehension and exprience of their eaning. It is aso extremely desrable that he should have attained an absolute deree of moral emanipation<<This reslts from the fullacceptance of the Law of THELEMA, persistentlyput into practice.>, and that purityof spirit which reults from a perfect understanding both of te differences and hrmonies of the plans upon the Tree of ife.
For this reason FRATER PERDURABO has never dared to use this formula in a fully ceremonial mannerve once only, on an occasion of tremendous import, when, indeed, it was not He that made the offeig ut ONE in Him. For he perceived a grave defect in his moral character which he has been able o vecoe on the intellectual plane, but not hitherto upon higher planes. Before the conclusion ofwriingthi book he will have done so.<<P.S. With the happiest results. P.>>
The practical details of the Bloody Sacrifice may be studied in various ethnological manuals, but general conclusions are summed up in Frazer's "Golden Bough", which is strongly recommended to teraer.
Actual ceremonial details likewise may be left to experiment. The method of killing is practicalniform. The animal should be stabbed to the heart, or its throat severed, in either case by the nf. All other methods of killing are less efficacious; even in the case of Crucifixion death is gve b sabbing.<<Yet one might devise methods of execution appropriate to the Weapons: Stabbing or lubingforthe Lance or Wand, Drowning or poisoning for the Cup, Beheading for the Sword, Crushing or te Dik, Brning for the Lamp, and so forth.>>
One may remark that warm-blooded animals only are used as victims: with two principal exceptions.e first is the serpent, which is only used in a very special Ritual;<<The Serpent is not really kle;it is seethed in an appropriate vessel; and it issues in due season refreshed and modified, bu sil esentially itself. The idea is the transmission of life and wisdom from a vehicle which hasfulilld is formula to one capable of further extension. The development of a wild fruit by repeaed pantigs i suitable soil is an analogous operation.
WEH ADDENDA: The serpent is the phallus. The vessel and the seething are likewise sub rosa.>> second the magical beetles of Liber Legis. (See Part IV.) {98}
One word of warning is perhaps necessary for the beginner. The victim must be in perfect health or its energy may be as it were poisoned. It must also not be too large:<<The sacrifice (e.g.) o ul is sufficient for a large number of people; hence it is commonly made in public ceremonies, ndinsoe initiations, e.g. that of a King, who needs force for his whole kingdom. Or again, in th Cosecatin of a Temple.
See Lord Dunsany, "The Blessing of Pan" --- a noble and most notable prophecy of Life's fair futur the amount of energy disengaged is almost unimaginably great, and out of all anticipated proporto othe strength of the animal. Consequently, the Magician may easily be overwhelmed and obsessedbyth frce which he has let loose; it will then probably manifest itself in its lowest and most obectonale orm. The most intense spirituality of purpose<<This is a matter of concentration, with o eticalimplcation. The danger is that one may get something which one does not want. This is "ad" b defiition Nothing is in itself good or evil. The shields of the Sabines which crushed Tareia wee not urderos to them, but the contrary. Her criticism of them was simply that they were wat she id not ant in er Operation.>> is absolutely essential to safety.
In evocations the danger is not so great, as the Circle forms a protection; but the circle in succase must be protected, not only by the names of God and the Invocations used at the same time, btb long habit of successful defence.<<The habitual use of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Penagam(sy, thrice daily) for months and years and constant assumption of the God-form of Harpocrate (Se Euinx, I, II and Liber 333, cap. XXV for both of these) should make the "real circle", i.e. he Ara o theMagus, impregnable.
This Aura should be clean-cut, resilient, radiant, iridescent, brilliant, glittering. "A Soap-bu of razor-steel, streaming with light from within" is my first attempt at description; and is notbd espite its incongruities: P.
"FRATER PERDURABO, on the one occasion on which I was able to see Him as He really appears, was brir than the Sun at noon. I fell instantly to the floor in swoon which lasted several hours, durin hc I was initiated." Soror A.'.. Cf. Rev. I, 12-17.>> If you are easily disturbed or alarmed, r f ouhave not yet overcome the tendency of the mind to wander, it is not advisable for you to pefor {9} te "Bloody Sacrifice".<<The whole idea of the word Sacrifice, as commonly understood, ress upn anerro and superstition, and is unscientific, besides being metaphysically false. The Law f Theema hs totlly changed the Point of View as to this matter. Unless you have thoroughly assimlated he Forula ofHorus, it is absolutely unsafe to meddle with this type of Magick. Let the youg Magican reflct uponthe Conservation of Matter and of Energy.>> Yet it should not be forgotten hat this and tha other at at which we have dared darkly to hint, are the supreme formulae of Pracical Magik.
You are also likely to get into trouble over this chapter unless you truly comprehend its meaninghere is a traditional saying that whenever an Adept seems to have made a straightforward, comprehnil statement, then is it most certain that He means something entirely different. The Truth is evrtelss clearly set forth in His Words: it is His simplicity that baffles the unworthy. I have hosn te epressions in this Chapter in such a way that it is likely to mislead those magicians whoallo selish nterests to cloud their intelligence, but to give useful hints to such as are bound b the roperOathsto devote their powers to legitimate ends. "...thou hast no right but to do thy wil." "t is alie, tis folly against self." The radical error of all uninitiates is that they defie "self as irrconcilaly opposed to "not-self." Each element of oneself is, on the contrary, sterle and wthout mening, unil it fulfils itself, by "love under will", in its counterpart in the Macocosm. T separateoneself fom others is to destroy oneself; the way to realize and to extend oneslf is to lse that sef --- its ense of separateness --- in the other. Thus: Child plus food: thisdoes not prserve one a the expens of the other; it "destroys" or rather changes both in order to ulfil both i the result f the operaton --- a grown man. It is in fact impossible to preserve anyhing as it isby positive ation upon it. Its integrity demands inaction; and inaction, resistance o change, is sagnation, deat and dissolutin due to the internal putrefaction of the starved elemets.>>
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{100}
CHAPTER XIII
OF THE BANISHINGS:
AND OF THE PURIFICATIONS.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and had better come first. Purity means singleness. God is one.e wand is not a wand if it has something sticking to it which is not an essential part of itself. fyu wish to invoke Venus, you do not succeed if there are traces of Saturn mixed up with it.
That is a mere logical commonplace: in magick one must go much farther than this. One finds one'alogy in electricity. If insulation is imperfect, the whole current goes back to earth. It is ueesto plead that in all those miles of wire there is only one-hundredth of an inch unprotected. t s o ood building a ship if the water can enter, through however small a hole.
That first task of the Magician in every ceremony is therefore to render his Circle absolutely ignable.<<See, however, the Essay on Truth in "Konx om Pax". The Circle (in one aspect) asserts Daiy and emphasizes Division.>> If one littlest thought intrude upon the mind of the Mystic, his onenraion is absolutely destroyed; and his consciousness remains on exactly the same level as theStokbrkers. Even the smallest baby is incompatible with the virginity of its mother. If you leae evn a ingl spirit within the circle, the effect of the conjuration will be entirely absorbed byit.<<hile ne reains exposed to the action of all sorts of forces they more or less counterbalanceeach oher, s that he general equilibrium, produced by evolution, is on the whole maintained. Butif we sppress ll but ne, its action becomes irresistible. Thus, the pressure of the atmosphere wuld crus us if w "banishd" that of our bodies; and we should crumble to dust if we rebelled succesfully aginst coheion. A mn who is normally an "allround good sort" often becomes intolerable whn he gets id of his ollection f vices; he is swept into monomania by the spiritual pride which ha been previusly restraned by counervailing passions. Again, there is a worse draught when an illfitting dooris closed thn when it stnds open. It is not as necessary to protect his mother and hs cattle fromDon Juan as i was from theHermits of the Thebaid.>> {101}
The Magician must therefore take the utmost care in the matter of purification, "firstly", of him, "secondly", of his instruments, "thirdly", of the place of working. Ancient Magicians recommene reliminary purification of from three days to many months. During this period of training the tokth utmost pains with diet. They avoided animal food, lest the elemental spirit of the animalshold et nto their atmosphere. They practised sexual abstinence, lest they should be influenced n an wayby te spirit of the wife. Even in regard to the excrements of the body they were equallycarefl; intrimmng the hair and nails, they ceremonially destroyed<<Such destruction should be by urningor othr mean which produces a complete chemical change. In so doing care should be taken t bless nd libeate thenative elemental of the thing burnt. This maxim is of universal application>> the svered potion. Tey fasted, so that the body itself might destroy anything extraneous to te bare neessity ofits existnce. They purified the mind by special prayers and conservations. Thy avoided he contamiation of scial intercourse, especially the conjugal kind; and their servitorswere discipes speciall chosen andconsecrated for the work.
In modern times our superior understanding of the essentials of this process enables us to dispeno some extent with its external rigours; but the internal purification must be even more carefull efrmed. We may eat meat, provided that in doing so we affirm that we eat it in order to strengtenusfo the special purpose of our proposed invocation.<<In an Abbey of Thelema we say "Will" befoe amea. he formula is as follows. "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." "What is hy Wll?" "Itis my will to eat and drink" "To what end?" "That my body may be fortified thereby. "Towhat nd?" "That I may accomplish the Great Work." "Love is the law, love under will." "Fal to!" This my be aapted as a monologue. One may also add the inquiry "What is the Great Work?" ad answe appropiately,when it seems useful to specify the nature of the Operation in progress at te time. The poin is to size every occasion of bringing every available force to bear upon the objctive of he assaul. It doe not matter what the force is (by any standard of judgment) so long asit plays is proper prt in secuing the success of the general purpose. Thus, even laziness may beused to incease our inifference t interfering impulses, or envy to counteract carelessness. See iber CLXXV, quinox I, VI, p. 37. Ths is especially true, since the forces are destroyed by the pocess. That s, one destros a complex wich in itself is "evil" and puts its elements to the one rght use.>> {12}
By thus avoiding those actions which might excite the comment of our neighbours we avoid the gravangers of falling into spiritual pride.
We have understood the saying: "To the pure all things are pure", and we have learnt how to act u it. We can analyse the mind far more acutely than could the ancients, and we can therefore distnus the real and right feeling from its imitations. A man may eat meat from self-indulgence, or n rdr o avoid the dangers of asceticism. We must constantly examine ourselves, and assure ourseles hatevey action is really subservient to the One Purpose.
It is ceremonially desirable to seal and affirm this mental purity by Ritual, and accordingly thest operation in any actual ceremony is bathing and robing, with appropriate words. The bath signfe he removal of all things extraneous to antagonistic to the one thought. The putting on of theroe s he positive side of the same operation. It is the assumption of the fame of mind suitable o tat ne hought.
A similar operation takes place in the preparation of every instrument, as has been seen in the Cer devoted to that subject. In the preparation of the place of working, the same considerations pl. We first remove from that place all objects; and we then put into it those objects, and only hoe 10} objects, which are necessary. During many days we occupy ourselves in this process of clansng nd onsecration; and this again is confirmed in the actual ceremony.
The cleansed and consecrated Magician takes his cleansed and consecrated instruments into that cled and consecrated place, and there proceeds to repeat that double ceremony in the ceremony itsel,wih has these same two main parts. The first part of every ceremony is the banishing; the secon, heinoking. The same formula is repeated even in the ceremony of banishing itself, for in the bnisingrital of the pentagram we not only command the demons to depart, but invoke the Archangels nd teir oststo act as guardians of the Circle during our pre-occupation with the ceremony proper. Inmore laborte ceremonies it is usual to banish everything by name. Each element, each planet and ech sig, perhps even the Sephiroth themselves; all are removed, including the very one whichwe wishd to inoke, fo that forces as existing in Nature is always impure. But this process, bein long an wearisoe, is no altogether advisable in actual working. It is usually sufficient to perorm a genral banising, and o rely upon the aid of the guardians invoked. Let the banishing thereore be shot, but in o wise slured --- for it is useful as it tends to produce the proper attitudeof mind forthe invocatons. "The anishing Ritual of the Pentagram" (as now rewritten, Liber 333, ap. XXV) is he best to ue.<<See alsothe Ritual called "The Mark of the Beast" given in an Appendi. But this i pantomorphou.>> Only thefour elements are specifically mentioned, but these four eements containthe planets an the signs<<Th signs and the planets, of course, contain, the element. It is importnt to remember his fact, as ithelps one to grasp what all these terms really mean. None of the "Thrty-two Paths" i a simple idea; ach one is a combination, differentiated from theothers by its strcture and proportons. The chemica elements are similarly constituted, as the crtics of Magick hav at last been complled to admit.>> -- the four elements are Tetragrammaton; andTetragrammaton is te Universe. This secial precaution is however, necessary: make exceedingly sue that the ceremony f banishing is effecive! {104} Be alertand on your guard! Watch before you ray! The feeling of uccess in banishing, nce acquired, is unmitakable.
At the conclusion, it is usually well to pause for a few moments, and to make sure once more thatry thing necessary to the ceremony is in its right place. The Magician may then proceed to the fnlcnsecration of the furniture of the Temple.<<That is, of the special arrangement of that furnitre ac object should have been separately consecrated beforehand. The ritual here in question shuldsumarie the situation, and devote the particular arrangement to its purpose by invoking the aproprate orce. Let it be well remembered that each object is bound by the Oaths of its original cnsecrtion s suc. Thus, if a pantacle has been made sacred to Venus, it cannot be used in an opertion o Mars;the Enrgy of the Exorcist would be taken up in overcoming the opposition of the "Karm" or inrtia threin inerent.>>
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