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Magick in Theory & Practice Pt.1 [Crowley]
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 ick, 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 = Cronote. WEH note = Bill Heidrick note, etc.
footnotes have been moved up to the point of citation in the text and set off by <<... >> just befor 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 a 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-up-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-om-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 consis an illustration of a single human in a black Tau robe, barefoot with hood completely closed ove h ae. The hood displays a six-pointed figure on the forehead --- presumably the radiant eye ofHousofth A.'. A.'., but the rendition is too poor in detail. There is a cross pendant over the ear. he en anels 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 thet. 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 rd with weight on ball of foot. Lf. heel almost touching Rt. heel and foot pointed left. Arms omadagonal with body, right above head and in line with left at waist height. Hands palmer and pe wthfigers outstretched and together. Head erect.
"2. Air: The god Shu supporting the sky." Frontal. Heels together and slightly angled apart to thet, flat on floor. Head down. Arms angled up on either side of head about head 1.5 ft. from hea owit and crooked as if supporting a ceiling just at head height with the finger tips. The palm fceupar and the backs of the hands away from the head. Thumbs closed to side of palms. Finger staigt ad tgether.
"3. Water: the goddess Auramoth." Same body and foot position as #2, but head erect. Arms are brougwn 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 humbs meet in a line over the brow. Palmer side facing. Fingers meet above head, forming betwentub 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 postu #1, except that the left and right feet are countercharged and flat on the floor with the heelsi otct. Arms and hands are crooked forward at shoulder level such that the hands appear to be lain oena split veil --- hands have progressed to a point that the forearms are invisible, beingdirctl ponte 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 an, with hands forward over heart in claws such that the knuckles are touching. Passing from #5 o# rvice versa is done by motion of shoulders and rotation of wrists. This is different from th ohe sgnof opening the veil, the Sign of the Enterer, which is done with hands flat palm to palmandthe speadwithout 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 fre shoulders in the plane of the image. Hands with fingers together, thumbs to side of palm and amrsde 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 rof photograph. The arms, hands, legs and feet are positioned to define a swastika. Left foot fa,crying weight and angled toward the right of the photo. Right foot toe down behind the figuretoth lftin the photo. Right upper arm due left in photo and forearm vertical with fingers close an pontig uward. 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 tng. Head back. Arms angled in a "V" with the body to the top and outward in the plain of the poo Fngers 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 alms rest on the two opposite shoulders.}
INTRODUCTION
"Epsilon-sigma-sigma-epsilon-alpha-iota alpha-theta-alpha-nu-alpha-tau-omicron-sigma theta-epsilocron-sigma, alpha-mu-beta-rho-omicron-tau-omicron-sigma, omicron-upsilon-chi epsilon-tau-iota ht-u-eta-tau-omicron-sigma
Pythagoras.
"Magic is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge of Natural Philosophy, advanced i works and wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult virtue of thins otat 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 ho 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 onet follows another necessarily and invariably without the intervention of any spiritual or personlaec.
Thus its fundamental conception is identical with that of modern science; underlying the whole syis a faith, implicit but real and firm, in the order and uniformity of nature. The magician doe o obt that the same causes will always produce the same effects, that the performance of the prpe creon accompanied by the appropriate spell, will inevitably be attended by the desired result, ules, idee, 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 bfore no awful deity. Yet his power, great as he believes it to be, is by nomeans rbitray and nlimitd. He can wield it only so long as he strictly conforms to the rules ofhis art or to hat maybe calld the laws of nature as conceived by {IX} him. To neglect these ruls, to brak theselaws in he smallst particular is to incur failure, and may even expose the unskiful practtioner hiself to te utmost eril. If he claims a sovereignty over nature, it is a consttutional svereignty igorously imited in ts scope and exercised in exact conformity with ancient sage. Thusthe analogybetween themagical andthe scientific conceptions of the world is close. I both of the the successon of eventsis perfectlyregular and certain, being determined by immutabe laws, the oeration of whch can be forseen and calclated precisely; the elements of caprice, ofchance, and ofaccident are bnished from th course of natre. Both of them open up a seemingly bondless vista ofpossibilities t him who knows he causes of thngs and can touch the secret springsthat set in motin the vast and itricate mechanis of the world. ence the strong attraction whichmagic and sciencealike have exercied on the human mnd; hence the powrful stimulus that both havegiven to the pursut of knowledge. Tey lure the weary nquirer, the footsre seeker, on through th wilderness of disapointment in the prsent by their endles promises of the fture: they take him p to he top of an exeeding high mountainand shew him, beyondthe dark clouds and olling mists at is feet, a vision of he celestial city, fa off, it may be, but adiant with unearthlysplendour, 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 haveed to supreme power, it has contributed to emancipate mankind from the thraldom of tradition andt lvte them into a larger, freer life, with a broader outlook on the world. This is no small sevie enerd to humanity. And when we remember further that in another direction magic has paved te wy fr siene, we are forced to admit that if the black art has done much evil, it has also beenthe ourc of uch ood; 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 swthese 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 htracted only too many dilettanti and eccentrics, weaklings seeking in "Magic" an escape from reaiy Imyself was first consciously drawn to the subject in this way. And it has repelled only toomay cintfic 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, thcer, the Factory Girl, the Mathematician, the Stenographer, the Golfer, the Wife, the Consul ---adalthe 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 nderstand 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 therhe Work of becoming a Spiritual Being, free from the constraints, accidents, and deceptions of mtra xistence.
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 theyned, 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 inition 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 beid 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 therefoke "magical weapons", pen, ink, and paper; I write "incantations" --- these sentences --- in the"aia language" i.e. that which is understood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spiit",suh s printers, publishers, booksellers, and so forth, and constrain them to convey my messae t thse eope. 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". 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 roper 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 acitro-hydrochloric and no other, in sufficient quantity and of adequate strength, and place it, inavse which will not break, leak, or corrode, in such a manner as will not produce undesirable reuls,wih he 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 canause eclipses, for instance, or transform lead into tin, or create men from mushrooms. But it i hoeically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature;an te onitions 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 tence
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 diagnosnd his treatment injures his patient. There may be failure to apply the right kind of force, aswe ustic tries to blow out an electric light. There may be failure to apply the right degree o frc, s hen a wrestler has his hold broken. There may be failure to apply the force in the righ maner aswhe one presents a cheque at the wrong window of the Bank. There may be failure to empoy te corectmedim, as when Leonardo da Vinci found his masterpiece fade away. The force may be pplie to a unsutableobject, 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 understandf the conditions.
(Illustration: The most common cause of failure in life is ignorance of one's own True Will, or o means by which to fulfil that Will. A man may fancy himself a painter, and waste his life tryigt eome one; or he may be really a painter, and yet fail to understand and to measure the difficltespeular to that career.)
(5) The second requisite of causing any change is the practical ability to set in right motion thessary forces.
(Illustration: A banker may have a perfect grasp of a given situation, yet lack the quality of den, 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 anpendent 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 environwhich is natural and necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from his own course, either throuhntuderstanding 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 pe of himself, instead of investigating his actual nature. For example, a woman may make herselfmsrbe for life by thinking that she prefers love to social consideration, or "vice versa". One omn aysty with an unsympathetic husband when she would really be happy in an attic with a lover,whie aothr my fool herself into a romantic elopement when her only true pleasures are those of pesidng a fasionale functions. Again, a boy's instinct may tell him to go to sea, while his parets inists n hisbecomng 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 her countries. A man with cancer employs his nourishment alike to his own use and to that of th nm hich is part of himself. He soon fails to resist the pressure of his environment. In practca lfe aman who is doing what his conscience tells him to be wrong will do it very clumsily. Atfirt!) 9) 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 s 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 whicpnds on innumerable physical conditions peculiar to this planet; and this planet is determined b h ecanical balance of the whole universe of matter. We may then say that our consciousness is aualy onncted with the remotest galaxies; yet we do not know even how it arises from --- or with---themolcula changes in the brain.)
(11) Science enables us to take advantage of the continuity of Nature by the empirical applicationertain {XV} principles whose interplay involves different orders of idea connected with each othri ay beyond our present comprehension.
(Illustration: We are able to light cities by rule-of-thumb methods. We do not know what conscios is, or how it is connected with muscular action; what electricity is or how it is connected wihtemchines that generate it; and our methods depend on calculations involving mathematical ideaswhchhae o correspondence in the Universe as we know it.<<For instance, "irrational", "unreal", ad "nfiite exressions.>>)
(12) Man is ignorant of the nature of his own being and powers. Even his idea of his limitationsased on experience of the past, and every step in his progress extends his empire. There is theeoen reason to assign theoretical limits<<i.e., except --- possibly --- in the case of logicallyabur qesions, such as the Schoolmen discussed in connection with "God".>> to what he may be, or o wat e my d.
(Illustration: A generation ago it was supposed theoretically impossible that man should ever kno chemical composition of the fixed stars. It is known that our senses are adapted to receive onya ninitesimal fraction of the possible rates of vibration. Modern instruments have enabled us o etctsoe of these suprasensibles by indirect methods, and even to use their peculiar qualities n te srvie o man, as in the case of the rays of Hertz and Rontgen. As Tyndall said, man might a anymomet lern t perceive and utilise vibrations of all conceivable and inconceivable kinds. Th quesion o Magik is question of discovering and employing hitherto unknown forces in nature. W know hat thy exis, and e cannot doubt the possibility of mental or physical instruments capableof brining us nto reltion wih them.)
(13) Every man is more or less aware that his individuality comprises several orders of existencen when he maintains that his subtler principles are merely symptomatic of the changes in his grs eile. 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. mate objects are sensitive to certain physical forces, such as electrical and thermal conductiviy u either in us nor in them --- so far as we know --- is there any direct conscious perception f hee ores. Imperceptible influences are therefore associated with all material phenomena; and her isno easn 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 perc is in a certain sense a part of his being. He may thus subjugate the whole Universe of which h scncious to his individual Will.
(Illustration: Man has used the idea of God to dictate his personal conduct, to obtain power overfellow, to excuse his crimes, and for innumerable other purposes, including that of realizing hisl sGod. He has used the irrational and unreal conceptions of mathematics to help him in the costucio o mechanical devices. He has used his moral force to influence the actions even of wild nimls. Hehasemployed poetic genius for political purposes.)
(15) Every force in the Universe is capable of being transformed into any other kind of force by 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 vions of the air may be used to kill men by so ordering them in speech as to inflame war-like passos Te 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 objecthich 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 bact; although the dagger, as such, has no direct relation therewith. Similarly, the power of {XI}m hought may so work on the mind of another person as to produce far-reaching physical changesinhi, r n others through him.)
(17) A man may learn to use any force so as to serve any purpose, by taking advantage of the abovorems.
(Illustration: A man may use a razor to make himself vigilant over his speech, but using it to cuself whenever he unguardedly utters a chosen word. He may serve the same purpose by resolving ta vr incident of his life shall remind him of a particular thing, making every impression the strtngpontof a connected series of thoughts ending in that thing. He might also devote his whole neriesto omeone particular object, by resolving to do nothing at variance therewith, and to makeever actturnto te advantage of that object.)
(18) He may attract to himself any force of the Universe by making himself a fit receptacle for itablishing a connection with it, and arranging conditions so that its nature compels it to flow oadhm.
(Illustration: If I want pure water to drink, I dig a well in a place where there is underground ; I prevent it from leaking away; and I arrange to take advantage of water's accordance with thelw fHydrostatics to fill it.)
(19) Man's sense of himself as separate from, and oppose to, the Universe is a bar to his conductts currents. It insulates him.
(Illustration: A popular leader is most successful when he forgets himself, and remembers only "Tuse". Self-seeking engenders jealousies and schism. When the organs of the body assert their peec therwise than by silent satisfaction, it is a sign that they are diseased. The single excepio i te rgan of reproduction. Yet even in this case its self-assertion bears witness to its disatifacionwit 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 learom every phenomenon. But Nature is dumb to the hypocrite; for in her there is nothing false.<<ti oobjection that the hypocrite is himself part of Nature. He is an "endothermic" product, divde aaisthimself, with a tendency to break up. He will see his own qualities everywhere, and thu obaina rdicl misconception of phenomena. Most religions of the past have failed by expecting Ntureto cnfor wit their ideals of proper conduct.>>)
(21) There is no limit to the extent of the relations of any man with the Universe in essence; fosoon as man makes himself one with any idea the means of measurement cease to exist. But his poe ouilize that force is limited by his mental power and capacity, and by the circumstances of hi hma evionment.
(Illustration: When a man falls in love, the whole world becomes, to him, nothing but love boundlnd immanent; but his mystical state is not contagious; his fellow-men are either amused or annoyd H an only extend to others the effect which his love has had upon himself by means of his mentl ndphsial qualities. Thus, Catullus, Dante and Swinburn made their love a mighty mover of manknd y vrtu oftheir power to put their thoughts on the subject in musical and eloquent language. gain Clepatr andother people in authority moulded the fortunes of many other people by allowing ove t inflence heir olitical actions. The Magician, however well he succeed in making contact wth thesecretsource of enrgy in nature, can only use them to the extent permitted by his intellecual andmoral qalities Mohamed's intercourse with Gabriel was only effective because of his statsmanship soldierhip, andthe sublmity of his command of Arabic. Hertz's discovery of the rays whch we nowuse for wreless teegraphy ws sterile until reflected through the minds and wills of thepeople whocould takehis truth,and transmt 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 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, er sublime, must impose himself upon his generation if he is to enjoy (and even to understand) hmef s theoretically should be the case.)
(23) Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and one's conditions. It is the Art of applyhat understanding in action.
(Illustration: A golf club is intended to move a special ball in a special way in special circumss. A Niblick should rarely be used on the tee, or a Brassie under the bank of a bunker. But alo h se 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, nly 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 internalwhose 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; iturbs the balance of the entire Universe, and its effects continue eternally throughout all spac. vr thought, however swiftly suppressed, has its effect on the mind. It stands as one of the cuss f vey subsequent thought, and tends to influence every subsequent action. A golfer may losea fw yrdson is drive, a few more with his second and third, he may lie on the green six bare inces to fa fro thehole; but the net result of these trifling mishaps is the difference of a whole troke and o proably etween halving and losing the hole.)
(26) Every man has a right, the right of self-preservation, to fulfil himself to the utmost.<<Mencriminal nature" are simply at issue with their true Wills. The murderer has the Will-to-Live; n i ill to murder is a false will at variance with his true Will, since he risks death at the hadsofSoiey by obeying his criminal impulse.>>
(Illustration: A function imperfectly preformed injures, not {XX} only itself, but everything assed with it. If the heart is afraid to beat for fear of disturbing the liver, the liver is starvdfrbood, and avenges itself on the heart by upsetting digestion, which disorders respiration, onwhchcadic 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 whic him to choose that profession. He should understand banking as a necessary factor in the econoi xsence of mankind, instead of as merely a business whose objects are independent of the genera wlfre e should learn to distinguish false values from real, and to act not on accidental fluctatins ut n cnsiderations of essential importance. Such a banker will prove himself superior to ther; beausehe wll not be an individual limited by transitory things, but a force of Nature, as mpersnal, mpartal an eternal as gravitation, as patient and irresistible as the tides. His systm willnot besubjec to paic, any more than the law of Inverse Squares is disturbed by Elections. He willnot be nxious bout hi 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 powerunimpaire by passion.)
(28) Every man has a right to fulfil his own will without being afraid that it may interfere with 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 shout be blamed for exercising his rights. To oppose him would be an error. Any one so doing wouldhv ae a mistake as to his own destiny, except in so far as it might be necessary for him to lear t lssnsof defeat. The sun moves in space without interference. The order of Nature provides a orit or achstar. A clash proves that one or the other has strayed from his course. But as to ach an tat keps is true course, the more firmly he acts, the less likely are others to get in hi way. His xampl willhelp {XXI} them to find their own paths and pursue them. Every man that becmes a agicia helpsothersto do likewise. The more firmly and surely men move, and the more such ction i acceptd as th standad 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 fundamentalh 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 thais their right to assert themselves, and to accomplish the task for which their nature fits them Ya ore, that this is their duty, and that not only to themselves but to others, a duty founded po uivrsl necessity, and not to be shirked on account of any casual circumstances of the moment hic ma sem t 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 them 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 simrosperity; 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 thining 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 situ 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 ne Word. Being thus conscious of the proper course to pursue, the next thing is to undestad te cndiions necessary to following it out. After that, one must eliminate from oneself evey elmentalie or ostile to success, and develop those parts of oneself which are specially neededto cotrol he afresai conditions.
Let us make an analogy. A nation must become aware of its own character before it can be said tot. From that knowledge it must divine its destiny. It must then consider the political conditin fte world; how other countries may help it or hinder it. It must then destroy it itself any eemnt dscrdant with its destiny. Lastly, it must develop in itself those qualities which will enbleit o cmba successfully the external conditions which threaten to oppose is purpose. We have ad arecet exmplein the case of the young German Empire, which, knowing itself and its will, discpline and raine itsef so that it conquered the neighbours which had oppressed it for so many cenuries. But ater 186 and 870, 1914! It mistook itself for superhuman, it willed a thing impossibe, it filed toeliminae its on internal jealousies, it failed to understand the conditions of vicory,<<Atleast, i allowedEngland o discover its intentions, and so to combine the world against i. {WEH NOE: This fotnote inCrowley'stext belongs to this page, but it is not marked in the text. I have asigned it tis tentatie point, a following the general context.>> it did not train itsel to hold th sea, and tus, having iolated evey principle of
MAGICK,
it was pulled down and broken into pieces by provincialism and democracy, so that neither individualllence nor civic virtue has yet availed to raise it again to that majestic unity which made so bl i for the mastery of the race of man.
The sincere student will discover, behind the symbolic technicalities of his book, a practical meof making himself a {XXIII} Magician. The processes described will enable him to discriminate btenwat he actually is, and what he has fondly imagined himself to be<<Professor Sigmund Freud an hs cholhave, in recent years, discovered a part of this body of Truth, which has been taught fo may cntuiesin the Sanctuaries of Initiation. But failure to grasp the fullness of Truth, especallythatimpled i my Sixth Theorem (above) and its corollaries, has led him and his followers int the rror f admttingthat the avowedly suicidal "Censor" is the proper arbiter of conduct. Offical psyho-anaysis i thereore committed to upholding a fraud, although the foundation of the sciene was te obseration o the diastrous effects on the individual of being false to his Unconscious elf, whoe "writig on thewall" indream 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 evry human being is essentially an anti-social, criminal, nd insane aimal. It i evident tht the error of the Unconscious of which the psycho-analysts comlain are neiher more norless than th"original si" of the theologians whom they despise so heartiy.>>. He mus behold his sul in all itsawful nakednes, he must not fear to look on that appallin actuality. H must discard he gaudy garmets with which is shame has screened him; he must accep the fact that othing can makehim anything bu what he is. H may lie to himself, drug himself, hde himself; but e is always ther. Magick will tach him that hismind is playing him traitor. Itis as if a man wee told that tailos' fashion-plateswere the canon ofhuman beauty, so that he trid to make himself ormless and featurless like them, an shuddered with horor at the idea of Holben making a portraitof him. Magick wil show him the beaut and majesty of theself which he has tred to suppress and dsguise.
Having discovered his identity, he will soon perceive his purpose. Another process will show himto make that purpose pure and powerful. He may then learn how to estimate his environment, lear o omake allies, how to make himself prevail against all powers whose error has caused them to wndr crsshis path.
In the course of this Training, he will learn to explore the Hidden Mysteries of Nature, and to dp new senses and faculties in himself, whereby he may communicate with, and control, Beings and ocsprtaining to orders of existence which {XXIV} have been hitherto inaccessible to profane reserc, ndavilable 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 mannIt 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 froself 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. 8 Degree = 3Square A.'. A.'. in the City of the Pyramids; OU MH 7 Degree = 4SquareA.. .'; L SONUF VAORESAGI 6 Degree = 5Square, and ... ... 5 Degree = 6Square A.'. A.'. in the Montan o Abegns: but FRATER PERDURABO in the Outer Order or the A.'. A.'. and in the World of men pon he Erth,Aleiter Crowley of Trinity College, Cambridge.
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{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 tor into a discussion of their relative merits in a popular manual of this sort. They may be stude nEdmann'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 Haris 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 is called HADIT.<<I present this theory in a very simple form. I cannot even explain (for instne ht an idea may not refer to Being at all, but to Going. The Book of the Law demands special tuy ndintiated apprehension.>> These are unmanifest. One conjunction of these infinites is caled A-HOR-HUI,<<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. Hnce I can only outline the matter in a very crude way; it would require a searate reatis to dicuss een the true meaning of the terms employed, and to show how The Book of te Law aticipats the rcent dicoveries of Frege, Cantor, Poincare, Russell, Whitehead, Einstein an others.> (Ther is alsoa particlar Nature of Him, in certain conditions, such as have obtained ince the pring of 904, e.v. This prfoundly mystical conception {1} is based upon actual spiritul experiene, but thetrained reson<<All avance in understanding demands the acquisition of a new oint-of-vie. Modern cnceptions o Mathematic, Chemistry, and Physics are sheer paradox to the "pain man" whothinks of Mater as someting that onecan knock up against.>> can reach a reflection o this idea bythe method oflogical contrdiction whichends in reason transcending itself. The reaer should conslt "The Soldie and the Hunchack" in Equino 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 ihti 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 thinity is a matter of spiritual experience. All true gods are attributed to this Trinity.<<Considrtosof the Christian Trinity are of a nature suited only to Initiates of the IX Degree of O.T.O. a teyenlose 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 stecown of the mind. Purely intellectual faculties all obtain here. This abyss has no number, orinital is confusion.
Below this abyss we find the moral qualities of Man, of which there are six. The highest is symbd by the number Four. Its nature is fatherly<<Each conception is, however, balanced in itself. Fu salso Daleth, the letter of Venus; so that the mother-idea is included. Again, the Sephira o 4isChse, referred to Water. 4 is ruled by Jupiter, Lord of the Lightning (Fire) yet ruler of Ar. Eac Sehir 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 and are again combined and harmonized in the number Six, whose nature is beauty and harmony, mortalt n mmortality.
In the number Seven the feminine nature is again predominant, {2} but it is the masculine type ofle, 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 sity.
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 clearlyrstood that this is a "classification" of the Universe, that there is nothing which is not comprhne herein.
The Article on the Qabalah in Vol. I, No. V of the Equinox is the best which has been written on ubject. It should be deeply studied, in connection with the Qabalistic Diagrams in Nos. II and I:"h 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 e destruction of the God and the Magician in Samadhi. The world of Angels is under the numbers ort ine, and that of spirits under the {3} number Ten.<<It is not possible to give a full accoun o te wety-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 theTarot Trumps, while their position on the Tree itself and their position as link betwen th partcularSephiroth which they join is the final key to their understanding. It will e notied tha each hapterof this book is attributed to one of them. This was not intentional. Te book as orignally bt a colection of haphazard dialogues between Fra. P. and Soror A.; but on aranging he MSS, hey fellnaturall and of necessity into this division. Conversely, my knowledge f the Schma pointe out to m numerousgaps in my original exposition; thanks to this, I have beenable to mae it a comlete and sstematic teatise. That is, when my laziness had been jogged by th criticismsand suggestons of varius colleagus to whom I had submitted the early drafts.>> All tese numbers re of courseparts of themagician himelf considered as the microcosm. The microcosm s an exact imge of the Macocosm; the Grat Work is th 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 t call it incorrect --- the only line to take might be that it was inconvenient. In the same wa n anot say that the Roman alphabet is better or worse than the Greek, since all required soundsca b mreor less satisfactorily represented by either; yet both these alphabets were found so litle atifacorywhen it came to an attempt at phonetic printing of Oriental languages, that the alphbet ad t be xpaned by the use of italics and other diacritical marks. In the same way our magicl alpabet f theSephioth and the Paths (thirty-two letters as it were) has been expanded into thefour wrlds crrespoding t the four letters of the name Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh; and each Sephira is suppoed to cntain aTree ofLife ofits own. Thus we obtain four hundred Sephiroth instead of the origial ten, nd the Pths bein capableof similar multiplications, or rather of subdivision, the numberis still urther exended. O course tis process might be indefinitely continued without destroyin the origial system. The Apoloia for thi System is that our purest conceptions {4} are symbolized in Mathematics. "Gis the Grea Arithmetican." "God is the Grand Geometer." It is best therefore to prepare to appeed Him by forulating our inds according to these measures.<<By "God" I here mean the Ideal Idenit o a man's inmot nature. "Smething ourselves (I erase Arnold's imbecile and guilty 'not') tha maes or righteousnes;" righteousnss being rightly defined as internal coherence. (Internal Cohrenc impies that which s written "Deteitur Yod.")>>
To return, each letter of this alphabet may have its special magical sigil. The student must notct 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 wuld not expect to be able to buy a filing cabinet with the names of all your past, preset ad ftur corespondents ready indexed: your cabinet has a system of letters and numbers meaninglss i theselvs, bt ready to take on a meaning to you, as you fill up the files. As your businessincresed, ach ltter nd number would receive fresh accessions of meaning for you; and by adoptingthis oderly rrangeent yo 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 trnsmute, 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 evenutline of the real theory of the Universe. This theory may indeed be studied in the article alrayrfrred to in No. V of the Equinox, and, more deeply in the Book of the Law and the Commentarie teron bt the true understanding depends entirely upon the work of the Magician himself. Withou maica exerince it will be meaningless.
In this there is nothing peculiar. It is so with all scientific knowledge. A blind man might cr astronomy for the purpose of passing examinations, but his knowledge would be {5} almost entireyurlted to his experience, and it would certainly not give him sight. A similar phenomenon is oseve wena gentleman who has taken an "honours degree" in modern languages at Cambridge arrives i Pais,andis nable to order his dinner. To exclaim against the Master Therion is to act like a prsonwho,obsevingthis, should attack both the professors of French and the inhabitants of Paris, nd pehaps o on o den the existence of France.
Let us say, once again, that the magical language is nothing but a convenient system of classific 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 o known, just as one's knowledge of Latin and Greek enables one to understand some unfamiliar Engihwr derived from those sources. Also, there is the similar case of the Periodic Law in Chemisty,whchenbles Science to prophesy, and so in the end to discover, the existence of certain previoslyunsspetedelements in nature. All discussions upon philosophy are necessarily sterile, since ruthis byondlangage. They are, however, useful if carried far enough --- if carried to the poin whenit beome aparen that all arguments are arguments in a circle.<<See "The Soldier and the Hunhback, Equinx I, I The pparatus of human reason is simply one particular system of coordinatingimpressons; it structre is dtermined by the course of the evolution of the species. It is no moe absolue than te evoluton of th species. It is no more absolute than the mechanism of our musces is a cmplete tye wherewih all othr systems of transmitting Force must conform.>> But discussons of thedetails ofpurely imainary qualties are frivolous and may be deadly. For the great daner of this agical theoy is that te student my 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 stathat the Tree of Life was the framework of the Universe. It was as if some one had seriously manandthat a cat was a creature constructed by placing the letters C. A. T. in that order. It is o onertht Magick has excited the ridicule of the unintelligent, since even its {6} educated studntscanbe uily of so gross a violation of the first principles of common sense.<<Long since writig th aboe, a eve grosser imbecility has been perpetrated. One who ought to have known better tred toimproe theTree f 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 whle 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 stufrom such examples as the following. Binah, the Supernal Understanding, is connected with Tipheeh h Human Consciousness, by Zain, Gemini, the Oracles of the Gods, or the Intuition. That is, heatriuton 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 inputting "Death", the Scorpion, in its stead? There are twenty other mistakes inthe nw wonerfulillumnated-from-on-high attribution; the student can therefore be sure of twenty ore laghs ifhe cars to sudy it.>>
A synopsis of the grades of the A.'. A.'. as illustrative of the Magical Hierarchy in Man is giveAppendix 2 "One Star in Sight." This should be read before proceeding with the chapter. The sujc svery 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 mMan himself is a complete microcosm. Few other beings have this balanced perfection. Of courseeeysn, every planet, may have beings similarly constituted.<<Equally, of course, we have no mean o kowngwhat we really are. We are limited to symbols. And it is certain that all our sense-pecepion gie oly partial aspects of their objects. Sight, for instance, tells us very little abou soldity weiht, omposition, electrical character, thermal conductivity, etc., etc. It says nothng atall aout te ver existence of such vitally important ideas as Heat, Hardness, and so on. Th impresion wich th mind ombines from the senses can never claim to be accurate or complete. We ave inded leart that othing s in itself what it seems to be to us.>> But when we speak of dealig with te planet in Magik, {7} te reference is usually not to the actual planets, but to parts o the eart which ar of the nture attrbuted to these planets. Thus, when we say that Nakhiel is te "Intellience" of te Sun, we o not meanthat he lives in the Sun, but only that he has a certainrank and chracter; andalthough wecan invoke im, 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 --- ather imagination --- more nearly than it does calling-forth. The aura of a man is called the "aia irror of the universe"; and, so far as any one can tell, nothing exists outside of this mirrr. I i a least convenient to represent the whole as if it were subjective. It leads to less conusin. And asa man is a perfect microcosm,<<He is this only by definition. The universe may contin a infnitevarity of worlds inaccessible to human apprehension. Yet, for this very reason, the do nt exit forthe prposes of the argument. Man has, however, some instruments of knowledge; wemay, terefor, defie the acrocosm 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 posess any meaning except in terms of the other. Our "discoveries"are exacty as muchof ourseles as the are of Nature. America and Electricity did, in a sense, exst before e were awae of them;but they ae even now no more than incomplete ideas, expressed in smbolic term of a serie of relatios between to 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 reliablhere is a certain natural connexion between certain letters, words, numbers, gestures, shapes, prue nd so on, so that any idea or (as we might call it) "spirit", may be composed or called fort b te seof those things which are harmonious with it, and express particular parts of its nature Tesecorespndences have been elaborately mapped in the Book 777 in a very convenient and compeniousform Itwillbe necessary for the student to make a careful study of this book in connexion wth soe actal riuals f Magick, for example, {8} that of the evocation of Taphtatharath printed inEquino I, II, page 170-10, where he will see exactly why these things are to be used. Of course as thestudentadvance in knoledge 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 i a magical mirror of his aura.
In this chapter we are only able to give a very thin outline of magical theory --- faint pencilli weak and wavering fingers --- for this subject may almost be said to be co-extensive with one'swoekowledge.
The knowledge of exoteric science is comically limited by the fact that we have no access, excepthe most indirect way, to any other celestial body than our own. In the last few years, the semieuae have got an idea that they know a great deal about the universe, and the principal ground fr her in opinion of themselves is usually the telephone or the airship. It is pitiful to read te bmbatictwadle about progress, which journalists and others, who wish to prevent men from thinkng, ut ot fo conumption. We know infinitesimally little of the material universe. Our detailedknowldge i so cntempibly 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 backto "A is A".>> as we have got is of a very general and abstruse, of philosohical an almost agical caracter. This consists principally of the conceptions of pure mthematics It is, herefore,almost leitimate 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 thes the Qabalah, which corresponds to mathematics and geometry. The method of operation in Magicki ae on this, in very much the same way as the laws of mechanics are based on mathematics. So fr,threor as we can be said to possess a magical theory of the universe, it must be a matter soley o fudamnta 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 ife to one corner of Africa, or a chemist to one subgroup of compounds. Each such detailed piec fwr may be very valuable, but it does not as a rule throw light on the main principles of the uivrs. It truth is the truth of one angle. It might even lead to error, if some inferior person ereto enealie from too few facts.
Imagine an inhabitant of Mars who wished to philosophise about the earth, and had nothing to go b the diary of some man at the North Pole! But the work of every explorer, on whatever branch ofteTe of Life the caterpillar he is after may happen to be crawling, is immensely helped by a grap f enra principles. Every magician, therefore, should study the Holy Qabalah. Once he has masere th man pinciples, 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 Mism with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy urinAngel;<<See the "Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage"; and Liber 418, 8th Aethyr,LierSaek; see Appendix 3.>> or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God.<<The difference bewee thse pertions is more of theoretical than of practical importance.>>
All other magical Rituals are particular cases of this general principle, and the only excuse forg them is that it sometimes occurs that one particular portion of the microcosm is so weak that t mefection of impurity would vitiate the Macrocosm of which it is the image, Eidolon, or Reflexon orexmple, God is above sex; and therefore neither man nor woman as such can be said fully toundrstnd,muc less to represent, God. It is therefore incumbent on the male magician to cultivat thoe feale irtus in which he is deficient, and this task he must of course accomplish without i any ay imairin his irility. It will then be lawful for a magician to invoke Isis, and identifyhimsel with er; ifhe fai to do this, his apprehension of the Universe when he attains Samadhi wil lack he concption o maternty. The result will be a metaphysical and --- by corollary --- ethial limittion in he Religon whichhe 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 erty of nature, a narrowness, a lack of generosity. Nature is infinitely prodigal --- not one i ilon seeds ever comes to fruition. Whoso fails to recognise this, let him invoke Jupiter.<<Threar mchdeeper considerations in which it appears that "Everything that is, is right". They aresetforh esewere; 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 magician naturally tend to invoke that partial being which most strongly appeals to him, so that his natrlecss in that direction will be still further exaggerated. Let him, before beginning his Work,eneaou t map out his own being, and arrange his invocations in such a way as to redress the balace.<Th idal ethod of doing this is given in Liber 913 (Equinox VII). See also Liber CXI Aleph.> Ths, o couse, hould have been done in a preliminary fashion during the preparation of the weapns an furnture f theTemple.
To consider in a more particular manner this question of the Nature of Ritual, we may suppose thafinds himself lacking in that perception of the value of Life and Death, alike of individuals an frcs, which is characteristic of Nature. He has perhaps a tendency to perceive the "first nobl tut" ttred by Buddha, that Everything is sorrow. Nature, it seems, is a tragedy. He has perhas een xpeiened the great trance called Sorrow. He should then consider whether there is not som Deiy wh expesse 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, not 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 usuemployed in the Middle Ages. Its advantage is its directness, its disadvantage its {12} crudity Te"oetia" gives clear instruction in this method, and so do many other rituals, white and black e hal resently 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 symbolisTiphareth expresses the nature of Bacchus. It is then necessary to construct a Ritual of Tiphart. e us open the Book 777; we shall find in line 6 of each column the various parts of our requiedapartu. Having ordered everything duly, we shall exalt the mind by repeated prayers or conjurtios t th hihest conception of the God, until, in one sense or another of the word, He appears t us nd foodsour onsciousness with the light of His divinity.
The "Third Method is the Dramatic," perhaps the most attractive of all; certainly it is so to thest'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 i 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, s the Mass. We may also mention many of the degrees in Freemasonry, particularly th thid. he 5Degre = 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 hersure-house to the Father of All, of the jealousy and rage excited by this incarnation, and of th evny protection afforded to the infant. Next should be commemorated the journeying westward upn n ss ow comes the great scene of the drama: the gentle, exquisite youth with his following (ciefy cmpoed f women) seems to threaten the established order of things, and that Established Ordr taes seps o pu an end to the upstart. We find Dionysus confronting the angry King, not with dfianc, butwith eeknes; yet with a subtle confidence, an underlying laughter. His forehead is wrathed ith vie tendils. e is an effeminate figure with those broad leaves clustered upon his bro? But hose leves hid {13} hrns. King Pentheus, representative of respectability,<<There is a mch deepe interprtation i which Pntheus is himself "The Dying God". See my "Good Hunting!" and D. J.G.Fraer's "Golen Bough">> is desroyed by his pride. He goes out into the mountains to attac the womenwho have fllowed Bachus, the yuth whom he has mocked, scourged, and put in chains, yetwho has onl smiled; an by those wmen, in ther 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 shy and insight. We will not further transgress by dwelling upon the identity of this legend wit h orse of Nature, its madness, its prodigality, its intoxication, its joy, and above all its sulie erisence through the cycles of Life and Death. The pagan reader must labour to understand tis n Pters "reek 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 whi 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 idiidal immortality has been dragged in, to the destruction of truth. It is not that utterlyworhles prt f man, his individual consciousness as John Smith, which defies death --- that conscousnss wich ies nd is reborn in every thought. That which persists (if anything persist) is hisreal ohn Sithinss, aquality of which he was probably never conscious in his life.<<See "The Bookof Lie", Libr 333,for seeral sermons to this effect. Caps. Alpha, Delta, Eta, Iota-Epsilon, Iota-Sima, Ioa-Eta, Kappa-Apha, 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 lis of chapters from Liber 333. The published text cites IotaDigamma, wich does nt exist. he correctchapter 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 thals of the Rose fall and decay; but in the union of the Cross and the Rose is a constant {14} sucsinof new lives.<<See "The Book of Lies", Liber 333, for several sermons to this effect. The wol teoy f Death must be sought in Liber CXI Aleph.>> Without this union, and without this deathof he ndiidul, the cycle would be broken.
A chapter will be consecrated to removing the practical difficulties of this method of Invocation will doubtless have been noted by the acumen of the reader that in the great essentials these tremtods are one. In each case the magician identifies himself with the Deity invoked. To "invoe"isto"cll in", just as to "evoke" is to "call forth". This is the essential difference betweenthetwobrache of Magick. In invocation, the macrocosm floods the consciousness. In evocation, te maicia, haing ecome the macrocosm, creates a microcosm. You "in"voke a God into the Circle. ou "evoke Spirt int the Triangle. In the first method identity with the God is attained by lov and b surreder, b givin 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 lwri 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 losself completely in the subject of a play or of a novel; but for those who can do so, this methodi nustionably the best.
Observe: each element in this cycle is of equal value. It is wrong to say triumphantly "Mors jantae", unless you add, with equal triumph, "Vita janua mortis". To one who understands this chai fteAeons from the point of view alike of the sorrowing Isis and of the triumphant Osiris, not frgttngthir link in the destroyer Apophis, there remains no secret veiled in Nature. He cries tht nme f Gd wich throughout History has been echoed by one religion to another, the infinite sweling aeanI.A..!<<his name, I.A.O. is qabalistically identical with that of THE BEAST and with Hisnumbe 666,so tht he ho invokes the former invokes also the latter. Also with AIWAZ and the Numbr 93. See Chpter V>> {1}
CHAPTER II
THE FORMULAE OF THE ELEMENTAL WEAPONS.
Before discussing magical formulae in detail, one may observe that most rituals are composite, antain 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 voke, he rises from point to point in a perpendicular line, and then descends; or else, beginnin ttetop, he comes directly down, "invoking" first the god of that sphere by "devout supplication<<ewre Obrother, 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 apropriate Archangel. He then "beseeches" the Archangel to send the Angel or Anges of hat shere o hisaid; he "conjures" this Angel or Angels to send the intelligence in question and tis intlligene he wll "conjure with authority" to compel the obedience of the spirit and hi manifetation. To thi spirithe "issues commands".
It will be seen that this is a formula rather of evocation than of invocation, and for the latterprocedure, though apparently the same, should be conceived of in a different manner, which bring tudr another formula, that of Tetragrammaton. The essence of the force invoked is one, but the"Gd"rereents the germ or beginning of the force, the "Archangel" its development; and so on, untl, iththe"Sprit", 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 inv in the same way; for the Cup being passive rather than active, it is not fitting for the magicint s it in respect of anything but the Highest. In practical working it consequently means litte utprye, and that prayer the "prayer of silence".<<Considerations which might lead to a contrar cocluionareunsuited to this treatise. See Liber LXXXI.>>
The formula of the dagger is again unsuitable for either purpose, since the nature of the dagger isriticise, to destroy, to disperse; and all true magical ceremonies tend to concentration. The dge il 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, trmula of the wand is the only one with which we need more particularly concern ourselves.<<Later hs emarks 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 me. The first, for the vulgar, is that of supplication. In this the crude objective theory is asue strue. There is a god named A, whom you, B, proceed to petition, in exactly the same sense a abo mgh ask his father for pocket-money.
The second method involves a little more subtlety, inasmuch as the magician endeavours to harmonimself 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 perfn involves the attainment of a species of Samadhi: and this fact alone suffices to link irrefragbymgck with mysticism.
Let us describe the magical method of identification. The symbolic form of the god is first studith as much care as an artist would bestow upon his model, so that a perfectly clear and {17} unhkal mental picture of the god is presented to the mind. Similarly, the attributes of the god ae nsriedin speech, and such speeches are committed perfectly to memory. The invocation will the bein itha payer to the god, commemorating his physical attributes, always with profound understndin of heirrealmeaning. In the "second part" of the invocation, the voice of the god is heard,and Hs chaacterstic tterance is recited.
In the "third portion" of the invocation the magician asserts the identity of himself with the gon the "fourth portion" the god is again invoked, but as if by Himself, as if it were the utteraneo h will of the god that He should manifest in the magician. At the conclusion of this, the orgialobec 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 ber LXIV, the first part begins with the words "Majesty of Godhead, wisdom-crowned TAHUTI, Thee,Te nvoke. Oh Thou of the Ibis head, Thee, Thee I invoke"; and so on. At the conclusion of thi ameta iage of the God, infinitely vast and infinitely splendid, should be perceived, in just th sae snseas 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 outter the sublime words which open the third part: "Behold! he is in me, and I am in him." t hi mmet, he loses consciousness of his mortal being; he is that mental image which he previousy bt sw. Thi consciousness is only complete as he goes on: "Mine is the radiance wherein Ptah flatet ove hisfirmment. I travel upon high. I tread upon the firmament of Nu. I raise a flashin flam withthe lghtnigs of mine eye: ever rushing on in the splendour of the daily glorified Ra -- givig my lfe to he treders 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, t as if by accident, the words: "Therefore do all things obey my word." Yet in the fourth part,wihbgins: "Therefore do thou come forth unto me", it is not really the magician who is addressin te od i is the God who hears the far-off utterance of the magician. If this invocation has bee corecly erfrmed, the words of the fourth part will sound distant and strange. It is surprisingthata dumy (o th 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 mal, that this one invocation is sufficient. The God bethinks him that the spirit of Mercury shoudnwapear to the magician; and it is so. This Egyptian formula is therefore to be preferred to te iearhial 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 an formula contained, the Reverberating or Reciprocating formula, which may be called the formula fHrsand Harpocrates. The magician addresses the God with an active projection of his will, and he bcoespassive while the God addresses the Universe. In the fourth part he remains silent, lisenig, o te payer which arises therefrom.
The formula of this invocation of Thoth may also be classed under Tetragrammaton. The first partire, the eager prayer of the magician, the second water, in which the magician listens to, or cace h reflection of, the god. The third part is air, the marriage of fire and water; the god andth mn av become one; while the fourth part corresponds to earth, the condensation or materializaionof hos thee higher principles.
With regard to the Hebrew formulae, it is doubtful whether most magicians who use them have ever rly grasped the principles underlying the method of identity. No passage which implies it occur omn, and the extant rituals certainly give no hint of such a conception, or of any but the mostpesoalan material views of the nature of things. They seem to have thought that there was an Arhanel ame Raziel in exactly the same sense as there was a statesman named Richelieu, an individul beng lvingin adefinite place. He had possibly certain powers of a somewhat metaphysical order--- h migh be {9} intwo places at once,<<He could do this provided that he can travel with a sped exceding tat of ight, s 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 assages in extant conjurations which tell the spirit that if he appens tobe in chans in a prticular lace in Hell, or if some other magician is conjuring him so hat he canot come, ten let himsend a spiit of similar nature, or otherwise avoid the difficultly But of corse so vulgr a concepton would no occur to the student of the Qabalah. It is just pssible that he magi wrot their conjuations on ths 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 ttruct mankind, He sought a simple statement of his object. His will was sufficiently informed b omnsense to decide him to teach man "The Next Step", the thing which was immediately above him. H mgh hve called this "God", or "The Higher Self", or "The Augoeides", or "Adi-Buddha", or 61 oherthigs -- ut He had discovered that these were all one, yet that each one represented some thery o theUnivrse hich would ultimately be shattered by criticism --- for He had already passed though he relm ofReaso, and knew that every statement contained an absurdity. He therefore said: Let medeclar this ork uner this title: 'The obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Hly Guarian Angl'", beause th theory implied in these words is so patently absurd that only simpltons woud waste uch timein analying it. It would be accepted as a convention, and no one would ncur the rave dangr of builing a phiosophical system upon it.
With this understanding, we may rehabilitate the Hebrew system of invocations. The mind is the greemy; so, by invoking enthusiastically a person whom we know not to exist, we are rebuking that mn. e we should not refrain altogether from philosophising in the light of the Holy Qabalah. We holdacep the Magical Hierarchy as a more or less convenient classification of the facts of the Uivese s tey re {20} known to us; and as our knowledge and understanding of those facts increase,so souldwe edeavur 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 threlation of the various beings of the hierarchy with the observed facts of Magick. In the simpl atrof 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 tus" before a Probationer of the A.'. A.'. who was ignorant of Greek, the language of the Ode. Tedsile then went on an "astral journey," and everything seen by him was without exception harmonou wthVeus. This was true down to the smallest detail. He even obtained all the four colour-sclesof enu wih absolute correctness. Considering that he saw something like one hundred symbols n al, th odd aganst coincidence are incalculably great. Such an experience (and the records of he A.. A.' contin doens of similar cases) affords proof as absolute as any proof can be in this orld o Illuson tha the crrespondences in Liber 777 really represent facts in Nature.
It suggests itself that this "straightforward" system of magick was perhaps never really employedll. One might maintain that the invocations which have come down to us are but the ruins of theTml f Magick. The exorcisms might have been committed to writing for the purpose of memorising he, hie t was forbidden to make any record of the really important parts of the ceremony. Such etals f Rtua as we possess are meagre and unconvincing, and though much success has been attaine in he qite onvetional exoteric way both by FRATER PERDURABO and by many of his colleagues, yet eremoies o thischarater have always remained tedious and difficult. It has seemed as if the sucess wee obtaned alost inspite of the ceremony. In any case, they are the more mysterious parts f the Rtual whch haveevoked he divine force. Such conjurations as those of the "Goetia" leave oe cold, lthough,notably n the seond conjuration, there is a crude attempt to use that formula ofCommemoraion of whch we spoe in the receding Chapter. {21}
CHAPTER III
THE FORMULA OF TETRAGRAMMATON.<<Yod, He, Vau, He, the Ineffable Name (Jehovah) of ebrews. The four letters refer respectively to the four "elements", Fire, Water, Air, Earth, inteodr named.>>
This formula is of most universal aspect, as all things are necessarily comprehended in it; but ie 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 ismost divine aspect of the Force --- the remaining letters are but a solidification of the same tig I must be understood that we are here speaking of the whole ceremony considered as a unity, nt erlyofthat formula in which "Yod" is the god invoked, "He" the Archangel, and so on. In orderto ndestad te ceremony under this formula, we must take a more extended view of the functions ofthe our eapos thn we have hitherto done.
The formation of the "Yod" is the formulation of the first creative force, of that father who is d "self-begotten", and unto whom it is said: "Thou has formulated thy Father, and made fertile tyMte". The adding of the "He" to the "Yod" is the marriage of that Father to the great co-equalMohe, hois a reflection of Nuit as He is of Hadit. Their union brings forth the son "Vau" who i th her. Finlly the daughter "He" is produced. She is both the twin sister and the daughter of Vau"<<Thre i a frther 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 t of her mother, and it is only she whose youthful embrace can reawaken the eld of the {22} All-Fte. n this complex family relationship<<The formula of Tetragrammaton, as ordinarily understood,enin wththe appearance of the daughter, is indeed a degradation.>> is symbolised the whole cours oftheUniers. It will be seen that (after all) the Climax is at the end. It is the second halfof te fomulawhic symbolises the Great Work which we are pledged to accomplish. The first step o thisis th attanmentof the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, which constitues theAdept f the nner Oder.
The re-entry of these twin spouses into the womb of the mother is that initiation described in Li18, 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 Tetragrammin this exalted sense might be difficult if not impossible. In such a ceremony the Rituals of prfcton alone might occupy many incarnations.
It will be necessary, therefore, to revert to the simpler view of Tetragrammaton, remembering onlt 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 meflective but even more powerful flow of will, the irresistible force of a mighty river. This saeo ind will be followed by an expansion of the consciousness; it will penetrate all space, and hi wllfially undergo a crystallization resplendent with interior light. Such modifications of te oigial illmay 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 misfirat of the second, a falling into dreaminess or reverie; that of the third, loss of concentration Amsake 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 stagepecified; but if that is properly done the other stages will follow as if by necessity. So far s twitten 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" ae Laws of Nature. Thus They are eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent and so on; and thus their "Wils r mmutable and absolute.>> It is the masculine plural of a feminine noun, but its nature is pinipll fminine.<<It represents Sakti,or Teh; femininity always means form, manifestation. The mscuineSiv, o Tao, is always a concealed force.>> It is a perfect hieroglyph of the number 5. Ths shuld e stdiedin "A Note on Genesis" (Equinox I, II).
The Elements are all represented, as in Tetragrammaton, but there is no development from one intoothers. They are, as it were, thrown together --- untamed, only sympathising by virtue of theirwl n stormy but elastically resistless energy. The Central letter is "He" --- the letter of brat -- ndrepresents Spirit. The first letter "Aleph" is the natural letter of Air, and the Final"Me" i th naural letter of Water. Together, "Aleph" and "Mem" make "Am" --- the mother within wose omb he Csmosis conceived. But "Yod" is not the natural letter of Fire. Its juxtaposition wth "H" santifie thatfire 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 ceremont is the breath of benediction, yet so potent that it can give life to clay and light to darknes. nconsecrating a weapon, "Aleph" is the whirling force of the thunderbolt, the lightning which fmeh utof the East even {24} into the West. This is the gift of the wielding of the thunderbolt fZeu orInda, the god of Air. "Lamed" is the Ox-goad, the driving force; and it is also the Balace repesening he truth and love of the Magician. It is the loving care which he bestows upon pefecing hs insrumens, and the equilibration of that fierce force which initiates the ceremony.<<Te leters Aeph an Lamedare infinitely important in this Aeon of Horus; they are indeed the Key ofthe Bok of te Law. No morecan be said in this place than that Aleph is Harpocrates, Bacchus Diphes, th Holy Ghst, the Pure Foo" or Innocent Babe who is also the Wandering Singer who impregnate the Kig's Daugher with Hmself as er Child; Lamed is the King's Daughter, satisfied by Him, holdng His "word and Blances" inher lap. hese weapons are the Judge, armed with power to execute Hi Will, an Two Witneses "in whomshall everyTruth 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 e hermitage into which the Magician has shut himself. "Mem" is the letter of water, and it is teMmfnal, 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 Wod", the Spermatozoon concealing its light under a cloke; and Mem is the amniotic flud, te flod werei is the Life-bearing Ark. See A. Crowley "The Ship", Equinox I, X.>> And then,in th Cente of ll, boods Spirit, which combines the mildness of the Lamb with the horns of the Rm, andis theletterof Bachus or "Christ".<<The letter He is the formula of Nuith, which makes posible th proces descried in te previous notes. But it is not permissible here to explain fully te exact atter ormanner o this adustment. I have preferred the exoteric attributions, which are ufficienty informaive for te beginne.>>
After the magician has created his instrument, and balanced it truly, and filled it with the lightnof 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 deprivedhe creative spirit. One {25} might suppose that as ALIM, is the masculine plural of the masculienu L, its formula would be more virile than that of ALHIM, which is the masculine plural of thefeinnenon ALH. A moment's investigation is sufficient to dissipate the illusion. The word masclin ha nomeaing except in relation to some feminine correlative.
The word ALIM may in fact be considered as neuter. By a rather absurd convention, neuter objectstreated as feminine on account of their superficial resemblance in passivity and inertness with h netilized female. But the female produces life by the intervention of the male, while the neuerdos o nly when impregnated by Spirit. Thus we find the feminine AMA, becoming AIMA<<AMA is 42 th nuberof terility; AIMA, 52, that of fertility, of BN, the SON.>>, through the operation of te phllicYod,whil ALIM, the congress of dead elements, only fructifies by the brooding of Spirit. Thisbeingso, hw canwe describe ALIM as containing a Magical Formula? Inquiry discloses the factthat tis forula isof a vry special kind.
The word adds up to 81, which is a number of the moon. It is thus the formula of witchcraft, whichnder Hecate.<<See A. Crowley "Orpheus" for the Invocation of this Goddess.>> It is only the romni eiaeval perversion of science that represents young women as partaking in witchcraft, which i, roery peaking, restricted to the use of such women as are no longer women in the Magical senseof he ord beause thy are no longer capable of corresponding to the formula of the male, and are hereore eute rater than feminine. It is for this reason that their method has always been refered tothe mon, i thatsense 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 alusory; and their apparent effects depend on the idea that it is possible to alter things by themr errangement 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 heyare brought into relation. And it is of course necessary sometimes to rearrange theelemnts f a olecle before that molecule can form either the masculine or the feminine element ina tru Magial cobinaton with some other molecule.
It is therefore occasionally inevitable for a Magician to reorganize the structure of certain ele before proceeding to his operation proper. Although such work is technically witchcraft, it mutntb regarded as undesirable on that ground, for all operations which do not transmute matter fal trcty peaking under this heading.
The real objection to this formula is not inherent in its own nature. Witchcraft consists in tre it as the exclusive preoccupation of Magick, and especially in denying to the Holy Spirit his rgtt ndwell His Temple.<<The initiate of the XI Degree of O.T.O. will remark that there is a totalydifeen formula of ALIM, complementary with that here discussed. 81 may be regarded as a numbe ofYesd rthe than of Luna. The actual meaning of the word may be taken as indicating the formul. Aeph ay b refrred to Harpocrates, with allusion to the well-known poem of Catullus. Lamed ma impl the xaltaion o Saturn, and suggest the Three of Swords in a particular manner. Yod will ten recll Heres, an Mem te Hanged Man. We have thus a Tetragrammaton which contains no feminine omponen. The nitial orce ishere the Holy Spirit and its vehicle or weapon the "Sword and Balancs". Jusice is ten done pon the ercurial "Virgin", with the result that the Man is "Hanged" or etended, ad is slai in this anner. Sch an operation makes creation impossible --- as in the formr case; bu here ther is no quetion of rearrangement; the creative force is employed deliberatelyfor destrucion, and isentirely aborbed in it own sphere (or cylinder, on Einstein's equations) o action. Ths Work is tobe regarded s "Holiness o the Lord". The Hebrews, in fact, conferred th title of Qadsh (holy) upo its adepts. Its effect isto consecrate the Magicians who perform it i a very specia way. We may ake note also f the correspodence of Nine with Teth, XI, Leo, and th Serpent. The reat merits of his formula arethat it avoids ontact with the inferior planes, tha it is self-suffcient, that it ivolves no responibilities, and tat it leaves its masters not onl stronger in themelves, but whollyfree to fulfil thir essential Natues. 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 Ma. "I" is Isis, Nature, ruined by "A", Apophis the Destroyer, and restored to life by the RedeemrOii.<<There is a quite different formula in which I is the father, O the Mother, A the child -- ad etanther, in which I.A.O. are all fathers of different kinds balanced by H.H.H., 3 Mothers, o cmplte he niverse. In a third, the true formula of the Beast 666, I and O are the opposites wich orm he feld or 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 Trinty:
"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 thrmula which is implied in those ancient and modern monuments in which the phallus is worshipped steSviour 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. Ontecnrary, he repeatedly insists on the distinction.
The same is true of a magical ceremony. The magician who is destroyed by absorption in the Godhe really destroyed. The {28} miserable mortal automaton remains in the Circle. It is of no morecneunce to Him that the dust of the floor.<<It is, for all that, His instrument, acquired by Himasanasroomer buys a telescope. See Liber Aleph, for a full explanation of the objects attained y te sratgemof 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 iessentially the formula of Yoga or meditation; in fact, of elementary mysticism in all its brance. nbeginning a meditation practice, there is always<<If not, one is not working properly.>> a quieteaur, a gentle natural growth; one takes a lively interest in the work; it seems easy; one is qut leaed o have started. This stage represents Isis. Sooner or later it is succeeded by depresson-- theDarkNight of the Soul, an infinite weariness and detestation of the work. The simplest nd asist acs becme almost impossible to perform. Such impotence fills the mind with apprehensio anddespir. Te intesity of this loathing can hardly be understood by any person who has not expriencd it. This i the peiod 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. he Alchemists themselves taught this same truth. The first matter of the work was base and primve tough "natural". After passing through various stages the "black dragon" appeared; but from hsaroe te pure and perfect gold.
Even in the legend of Prometheus we find an identical formula concealed; and a similar remark appli those of Jesus Christ, and of many other mythical god-men worshipped in different countries.<<SeJGFazer, "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 naturatic process. We find it the {29} basis of many important initiations, notably the Third Degree nMsny, and the 5 Degree = 6Square ceremony of the G.'. D.'. described in Equinox I, III. A cereonalsef-nitiation may be constructed with advantage on this formula. The essence of it consistsin obig yurslf as a king, then stripping and slaying yourself, and rising from that death to theKnowedgeand onvesation of the Holy Guardian Angel<<This formula, although now superseded by thatof HOUS, te Croned ad Conquering Child, remains valid for those who have not yet assimilated thepoint f viewof theLaw ofThelema. But see Appendix, Liber SAMEKH. Compare also "The Book of theSpirit f the Lving Gos," -- here 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 entiely different, as the descriptions here given have schewn.
Professor William James, in his "Varieties of Religious Experience," has well classified religionhe "once-born" and the "twice-born"; but the religion now proclaimed in Liber Legis harmonizes teeb ranscending them. There is no attempt to get rid of death by denying it, as among the once-or; ortoaccept death as the gate of a new life, as among the twice-born. With the A.'. A.'. lif an deth re qually incidents in a career, very much like day and night in the history of a plane. Bt, t purue te simile, we regard this planet from afar. A Brother of A.'. A.'. looks at (wha anoter peson wuld cll) "himself", as one --- or, rather, some --- among a group of phenomena. e is tat "nohing" hose cnsciousness is in one sense the universe considered as a single phenomenn in tie and sace, an in anoher sense is the negation of that consciousness. The body and mind f the ma are onl importat (if atall) as the telescope of the astronomer to him. If the telescop were desroyed it ould makeno apprecable 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 whooys it is conscious of himself as a man liable to suffering, and anxious to transcend that stateb eoing one with god. It will appear to him as the Supreme Ritual, as the final step; but, as hs lrad ben {30} pointed out, it is but a preliminary. For the normal man today, however, it repesets onsderble 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 satihe 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 Obytratngthe 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 hierh 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 truhe Virgin (Yod-Virgo) contains in herself the Principle of Growth --- the epicene Hermetic seed. tbcmes the Babe in the Egg (A --- Harpocrates) by virtue of the Spirit (A = Air, impregnating te oter--ulture) 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 Tetragron). A the Babe is pursued by the Dragon, who casts a flood from his mouth to swallow it. See Rv"VI. The Dragon is also the Mother --- the "Evil Mother" of Freud. It is Harpocrates, threatne b te rocodile in the Nile. We find the symbolism of the Ark, the Coffin of Osiris, etc. TheLots i th Yoi; the Water the Amniotic Fluid. In order to live his own life, the child must leav theMothr, ad ovrcome the temptation to return to her for refuge. Kundry, Armida, Jocasta, Circ, etc, aresymbos of his force which tempts the Hero. He may take her as his servant<<Her sole seech i the lst Actis "Dinen: Dienen".>> when he has mastered her, so as to heal his father (Amfotas), aenge hi (Osiri), or pcify 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 remainfor a time as neuters among woman, prevented from living themale life.>, and waner in the aterless wlderness 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 legens of heroes imply this formula in strikingly simlar symbols. Digamma. Va the Sun --- on. He is suposed to be mortal; but how is this shewn? t seems an abslute perversio of truth: thesacred symbolshave no hint of it. This lie is the essnce of the Grea Sorcery. Osiran religion is Freudian phantsy fashioned of man's dread of deathand ignorance ofnature. The parhenogenesis-idea{34} persists, bt is now the formula for incarnaing demi-gods, ordivine kings; thee must be slain ad raised from thedead in one way or another.<All these ideas ma be explained by rference to anthroplogy. But this isnot their condemnation, ut their justificaton; for the customsand legends of manknd reflect the truenature 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), a pre-existent manifested Unit from which all springs and to which all returns. The Great Work i omk the initial Digamma Digamma of Assiah (The world of material illusion) into the final Digmm ItaDiamma 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 arorant of his formula, and, imagining themselves to be evil, accuse Nature herself of their own patsa crime. Satan is Saturn, Set, Abrasax, Adad, Adonis, Attis, Adam, Adonai, etc. The most seios hageagainst him is that he is the Sun in the South. The Ancient Initiates, {35} dwelling asthe di inlans whose blood was the water of the Nile or the Euphrates, connected the South with lfe-wtherng hat, nd cursed that quarter where the solar darts were deadliest. Even in the legendof Hiam, i is a highnoon that he is stricken down and slain. Capricornus is moreover the sign wich th sun etererswhen h 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 an impassable; these also were connected in their minds with te South. ut to us, ware of asronomical acts, this antagonism to the South is a silly superstitin which theaccidents o their loca conditionssuggested to our animistic ancestors. We see no enmty between Rght and Left Up and Down and similarpairs of opposites. These antitheses are real oly as a stateent of relatin; they are te conventionsof an arbitrary device for representing our deas in a plurlistic symbolim based on duaity. "Good" mst be defined in terms of human ideals ad instincts. "ast" has no meaing except withreference to th earth's internal affairs; as an abslute direction i space it change a degree every our minutes. "U" is the same for no two men, uness one chance tobe in the line joning the other wih the centre of te earth. "Hard" is the privte opinion of our uscles. "True" isan utterly uninteligible epithet whih 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 la sound, and the phenomena of speech and hearing, compel us to connect with the group of "Gods" woenms are based upon Sht, or D, vocalized by the free breath A. For these Names imply the qualiie o curge, frankness, energy, pride, power and triumph; they are the words which express the cratie ad pteral will.
Thus "the Devil" is Capricornus, the Goat who leaps upon the loftiest mountains, the Godhead which,t 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, p to roar, to boom, and {36} to command, being a forcible breath controlled by the firm circle oftemuh.
He is the Open Eye of the exalted Sun, before whom all shadows flee away: also that Secret Eye whakes an image of its God, the Light, and gives it power to utter oracles, enlightening the mind. hs e is Man made God, exalted, eager; he has come consciously to his full stature, and so is redytose ot on his journey to redeem the world. But he may not appear in this true form; the Visin o Pa wold rive 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; i, he is wholly man. But his initiation has made him master of the Event by giving him the undertnigthat whatever happens to him is the execution of this true will. Thus the last stage of hisintitin s expressed in our formula as the final:
Digamma --- The series of transformations has not affected his identity; but it has explained him toelf. 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 destructible, inviolably itself throughout all its adventures, and in all its disguises. We seemroe that it can only make use of its powers, fulfill the possibilities of its nature, and satisy tseqatons, by thus combining with its counterparts. Its existence as a separate substance is vidnceof ts ubjection to stress; and this is felt as the ache of an incomprehensible yearning unil i reaisesthatevery experience is a relief, an expression of itself; and that it cannot be injred b augh thatmay bfall it. In the Aeon of Osiris it was indeed realised that Man must die in rder t live. But nw in te Aeon of Horus we know that every event is a death; subject and object lay eac other n "loveunder wll"; 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 Lantc.). {37}
The first process is to find the I in the V --- initiation, purification, finding the Secret Rootneself, 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 Truthermes in the Silence of the Fool. He acquires the Eye-Wand, beholding the acting and being adord TeInverted Pentagram --- Baphomet --- the Hermaphrodite fully grown --- begets himself on himslfasV gan.
Note that there are now two sexes in one person throughout, so that each individual is self-procre sexually, whereas Isis knew only one sex, and Osiris thought the two sexes opposed. Also the oml s 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 ind triangle of Yods, which suggests the formula of Nuit --- Hadit --- Ra-Hoor-Khuit. A is the elmnswirling 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 inca of anything. He is therefore represented as blindfolded and bound. His only aid is his aspirain eresented by the officer who is to lead him into the Temple. Before entering, he must be purfid ndcosecrated. Once within the Temple, he is required to bind himself by an oath. His aspirtio isnowforulated as Will. He makes the mystic circumambulation of the Temple for the reasons o bedescibedin te Chapter on "Gesture". After further purification and consecration, he is alloed fo one omentto se the Lord of the West, and gains courage<<Fear is the source of all false peceptio. Eve Freudhad a limpse of this fact.>> to persist. For the third time he is purified an consecated, ad he ses the Lrd of the East, who holds the balance, keeping him in a straight lin. In th West hegains enrgy. Inthe East he is prevented from dissipating the same. So fortifie, he may e receive into theOrder as neophyte by the three principal officers, thus uniting the ross with he Triangl. He may hen be plaed between the pillars of the Temple, to receive the fouth and fina consecratin. In thisposition th secrets of the grade are communicated to him, and te last of hi fetters is emoved. Allthis is seald 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 witanced motion in a given direction. Numerous example of this formula are given {39} in Equinox I o.I and III. It is the formula of the Neophyte Ceremony of G.'. D.'. It should be employed inth cnscrtion 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 grotesqueish in the latter case, and in the former obscure and unpractical.>> (Equinox I, III) are given uldtils of this formula, which cannot be too carefully studied and practised. It is unfortunatey,th mstcomplex of all of them. But this is the fault of the first matter of the work, which isso udded hatmany 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, Eq 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 forof 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 ghe last drop of his life's blood to that cup. It is the original price paid for magick power. n fb magick power we mean the true power, the assimilation of all force with the Ultimate Light,th tueBrdal of the Rosy Cross, then is that blood the offering of Virginity, the sole sacrifice ellplesin tothe 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 gaiupposed" personal gain. There is really no person to gain; so the whole transaction is a swindl nbt 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 d. It is rather the sacrifice of the Man, who transfers life to his descendants. For a woman de o arry 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 o to OUR LADY. The Cross is both Death and Generation, and it is on the Cross that the Rose bloos Tefull significance of these symbols is so lofty that it is hardly fitted for an elementary tratseofths type. One must be an Exempt Adept, and have become ready to pass on, before one can se te smbos een 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 41Equinox 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 genname for the totality of the Units of Existence; it is thus a name feminine in form. Each unit fCASis 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, ad thus ultimately rewarding the Magician (the Son) ten thousandfold, it would be stil moe imrope to peak in this place. So holy a mystery is the Arcanum of the Masters of the Tempe, tht it s her hintd at in order to blind the presumptuous who may, unworthy, seek to lift the eil, ad at te sametime t lighten the darkness of such as may be requiring only one ray of the Su in ordr to sping int life ad light.
II
ABRAHADABRA is a word to be studied in Equinox I, V., "The Temple of Solomon the King". It repre the Great Work complete, and it is therefore an archetype of all lesser magical operations. Iti naway too perfect to be applied in {42} advance to any of them. But an example of such an opeatonma b studied in Equinox I, VII, "The Temple of Solomon the King", where an invocation of Hors o ths frmua is given in full. Note the reverberation of the ideas one against another. The frmul of orushas ot yet been so fully worked out in details as to justify a treatise upon its exoeric heoryand pactic; 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 opera.
For example, V.I.T.R.I.O.L. gives a certain Regimen of the Planets useful in Alchemical work. Ar 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" --- epsiloo Nuith (CCXX, I, 51) --- lambda The Work accomplished in Justice --- eta The Holy Graal --- mu h ae 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 of the Father) --- The Massacre of the Innocents, pi (winepress) --- The Draught of Ecstasy, et. h student will find it well worth his while to seek out these ideas in detail, and develop the chiqe f their application.
There is also the Gnostic Name of the Seven Vowels, which gives a musical formula most puissant ications of the Soul of Nature. There is moreover ABRAXAS; there is XNOUBIS; there is MEITHRAS; n ned 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 imossible, 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 (ee Liber D in Equinox I, VIII, Supplement, and Liber 777) affords the mens of aalysis nd applcation equired. 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 rahadabra concerns us, as men, principally because each of us represents the pentagram or microcs;adour equilibration must therefore be with the hexagram or macrocosm. In other words, 5 Degre =6Suae s the formula of the Solar operation; but then 6 Degree = 5Square is the formula of the artal pertio, and this reversal of the figures implies a very different Work. In the former insancethe roblm wa to dissolve the microcosm in the macrocosm; but this other problem is to separae a prticuar foce frm the macrocosm, just as a savage might hew out a flint axe from the deposit in a halk ciff. imilary, an operation of Jupiter will be of the nature of the equilibration ofhim wit Venus. Its grphic fomula will be 7 Degree = 4Square, and there will be a word in which te characer of ths operaton is decribed, just as Abrahadabra describes the Operation of the GreatWork.
It may be stated without unfairness, as a rough general principle, that the farther from originallity 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 becomeophyte, 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 takent (especially after the passing of Tiphareth) the distance between grade and grade increases as twr y a geometrical progression with an enormously high factor, which itself progresses.<<A suggstonha rcently been made that the Hierarchy of the Grades should be "destroyed, and replaced by"---a rng ystm of 13 grades all equal. There is, of course, one sense in which every grade is a hingin-Iself Bu the Hierarchy is only a convenient method of classifying observed facts. One i remided o the emocrcy, who, on being informed by the Minister of the Interior that the scarcityof proisionswas du to th Law of Supply and Demand, passed a unanimous resolution calling for theimmediae repea of tha iniquious measure!
Every person, whatever his grade in the Order, has also a "natural" grade appropriate to his intc virtue. He may expect to be "cast out" into that grade when he becomes 8 Degree = 3Square. Tu n an, throughout his career, may be essentially of the type of Netzach; another, of Hod. In hesae ayRembrandt and Raphael retained their respective points of view in all stages of their ar. he racica consideration is that some aspirants may find it unusually difficult to attain certin gades or,wors, allow their inherent predispositions to influence them to neglect antipathetic and ndulg symptheti, types of work. They may thus become more unbalanced than ever, with disasrous rsults. Succes in oe's favourite pursuit is a temptress; whose yields to her wiles limits hs own gowth. rue, evry Willis partial; but, even so, it can only fulfill itself by symmetrical xpansion It mus be adjuted to te Universe, or fail of perfection.>> {44}
It is evidently impossible to give details of all these formulae. Before beginning any operationer the magician must make a through Qabalistic study of it so as to work out its theory in symmer fprfection. 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 itlysis affords an excellent illustration of the principles on which the Practicus may construct hsonScred 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 ord 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 o Sacred Knowledge. Many volumes have been written with regard to it; but, for our present purpoe twll be necessary only to explain how it came to serve for the representation of the principalphloopicl tenets of the Rishis. {45}
Firstly, it represents the complete course of sound. It is pronounced by forcing the breath fromback of the throat with the mouth wide open, through the buccal cavity with the lips so shaped a omdfy the sound from A to O (or U), to the closed lips, when it becomes M. Symbolically, this nnunesth course of Nature as proceeding from free and formless creation through controlled and frme prseratin to the silence of destruction. The three sounds are harmonized into one; and thusthe ord epreentsthe Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; and the operations in the Univere of heir riuneenerg. It is thus the formula of a Manvantara, or period of manifested existence whichalterntes wih a Prlaya, during which creation is latent.
Analysed Qabalistically, the word is found to possess similar properties. A is the negative, and the unity which concentrates it into a positive form. A is the Holy Spirit who begets God in fehuo the Virgin, according to the formula familiar to students of "The Golden Bough". A is alsoth "ab i the Egg" thus produced. The quality of A is thus bisexual. It is the original being -- Zus rrhnotelus, Bacchus Diphues, or Baphomet.
U or V is the manifested son himself. Its number is 6. It refers therefore, to the dual nature e Logos as divine and human; the interlacing of the upright and averse triangles in the hexagram I sthe first number of the Sun, whose last number<<The Sun being 6, a square 6x6 contains 36 sqars. W arange the numbers from 1 to 36 in this square, so that each line, file, and diagonal add tothesam nuber. 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 foon 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 catastron nature. It is cognate with the formula of the Slain God. The "resurrection" and "ascension" r o mplied in it. They are later inventions without basis in necessity; they may be described ided s redian phantasms conjured up by the fear of facing reality. To {46} the Hindu, indeed, thy ae sillles respectable. in his view, existence is essentially objectionable<<Thelemites agreethatmanieste exitence implies Imperfection. But they understand why Perfection devises this disuise. The heoryis deeloped fully in Liber Aleph, and in Part IV of this Book 4. See also Cap V aragrah on Dgamma inal o Digamma-Iota-Alpha-Omicron-Digamma.>>; and his principle concern is to nvoke Siva<<Th Vaishnva theoy, superficially opposed to this, turns out on analysis to be practially idetical.>>to destry the ilusion 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 thts of nature. The point of view is based upon misapprehension of the character of existence. I onbcame obvious to The Master Therion that AUM was an inadequate and misleading hieroglyph. Itstte olypart of the truth, and it implied a fundamental falsehood. He consequently determined t moifythewor in such a manner as to fit it to represent the Arcana unveiled by the Aeon of whichHe hd ataine to e the Logos.
The essential task was to emphasize the fact that nature is not catastrophic, but proceeds by meansndulations. It might be suggested that Manvantara and Pralaya are in reality complementary curvs u he Hindu doctrine insists strongly on denying continuity to the successive phases. It was nvethles mportant to avoid disturbing the Trinitarian arrangement of the word, as would be done b th aditin o other letters. It was equally desirable to make it clear that the letter M represets a opeatio whih does not actually occur in nature except as the withdrawal of phenomena into te abslute;whichproces, even when so understood, is not a true destruction, but, on the contrary,the emncipaton of nythin from the modifications which it had mistaken for itself. It occurred t him tht the tue natue of Sience was to permit the uninterrupted vibration of the undulatory enegy, freefrom thefalse coceptionsattached to it by the Ahamkara or Ego-making facility, whose assmption tht conscios individality contitutes existence let it to consider its own apparently catatrophic chracter as ertaining o the orde of nature. {47}
The undulatory formula of putrefaction is represented in the Qabalah by the letter N, which referScorpio, whose triune nature combines the Eagle, Snake and Scorpion. These hieroglyphs themselvsidcte the spiritual formulae of incarnation. He was also anxious to use the letter G, another rinefomua expressive of the aspects of the moon, which further declares the nature of human exisenc inthefolowing manner. The moon is in itself a dark orb; but an appearance of light is commuicatd toit b thesun; and it is exactly in this way that successive incarnations create the appeaance,just s theindivdual star, which every man is, remains itself, irrespective of whether earthperceies it r not. Nowit so happens that the root GN signifies both knowledge and generation combined in a single i in an bsolute form independent of personality. The G is a silent letter, as in our word Gnosis n he soundGN is nasal, suggesting therefore the breath of life as opposed to that of speech. Ipele b these cosiderations, the Master Therion proposed to replace the M of AUM by a compound leterMGN sybolizing tereby the subtle transformation of the apparent silence and death which termiatesthe anifsted life o Vau by a continuous vibration of an impersonal energy of the nature of gneraton an knowedge, the Vigin Moon and the Serpent furthermore operating to include in the ideaa commmoratin of te legend so gossly deformed in the Hebrew legend of the Garden of Eden, and it even mre malinantly ebased falsifiation in that bitterly sectarian broadside, the Apocalypse.
Sound work invariable vindicates itself by furnishing confirmatory corollaries not contemplated b Qabalist. In the present instance, the Master Therion was delighted to remark that his compoun etrMGN, 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 -- Wil, and of Agape --- Love, which indicates the nature of Will. It is furthermore thenumbr ofthe ord hich overcomes death, as members of the degree of M M of the O.T.O. are well awae;<<WH NOT: IIIDegre O.T.O., a word never to be written, published or spoken without the rite.>>and itis als that f the omplete formula of existence as expressed in the {48} True Word of the Nophyte,<WEH NOE: Anoter unpulished word, this time belonging to the A.'. A.'. and not to O.T.O. he two wrds are ifferent even tothe number of letters. It was written down once, in a letter toFrank Benett.>> whre existece is takn 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 tosis of the O.T.O.<<WEH NOTE: IX Degree O.T.O.>> are taught, expresses the unity under the form fcmlte manifestation by the symbolism of pure number, being Kether by Aiq Bkr<<A method of exegeisinwhch1 = 10 = 100, 2 = 20 = 200, etc.>>; also Malkuth multiplied by itself<<10 to the 2 power = 00.>, nd hus established in the phenomenal universe. But, moreover, this number 100 mysteriosly ndictes he Mgical formula of the Universe as a reverberatory engine for the extension of Notingnes thrugh te devce of equilibrated opposites.<<Koph-Pehfinal = 100 (20 + 80). HB:Koph = chi= Kapp-tau-esilon-ota-sima: 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, the creative or reproductive force is primarily situated. Qoph in the Tarot is "the Moon", a cr ugsting illusion, yet shewing counterpartal forces operating in darkness, and the Winged Beetl o Mdngh Sun in his Bark travelling through the Nadir. Its Yetziratic attribution is Pisces, sybolc o th poitive and negative currents of fluidic energy, the male Ichthus or "Pesce" and the fmaleVesia, sekin respectively the anode and kathode. The number 100 is therefore a synthetic glph ofthe sbtle nergis 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 illustto the student the methods employed in the construction of the hieroglyphics of Magick, and to amhmwth a mantra of terrific power by virtue whereof he may apprehend the Universe, and contro i hmslfits Karmic consequences. {49}
VI
THE MAGICAL MEMORY.<<WEH NOTE: This is not the same "Magical Memory" as thatribed 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 obd to reincarnation that the population of this planet has been increasing rapidly. Were do the e ol come from? It is not necessary to invent theories about other planets; it is enough to say ha te arh is passing through a period when human units are being built up from the elements withinceasd fequncy. The evidence for this theory springs to the eye: in what other age was there sch perilty, uch ack of race-experience, such reliance upon incoherent formulas? (Contrast the ifantie emoionalsm an credulity of the average "well-educated" Anglo-Saxon with the shrewd commonsense f the ormal lliterte peasant.) A large proportion of mankind today is composed of "souls" ho are iving te humanlife fo the first time. Note especially the incredible spread of congenita homosexality an other sxual defciencies in many forms. These are the people who have not undertood, accpted, andused eventhe Formua 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 donot comprehend, in soothing-syrup affirmations such s those of Cristian Sciece, Spirituaism, and allthe sham 'occult' creeds, as well as the emasculted forms of o-called Chritianity.>>. s Zoroaster sys: "Explore the river of the soul; whence ad in what orde thou has come" One cannot d one's True Wil intelligently unless one knows what itis. Liber Thisrb, Equinox I, II, give instrutions for deterining this by calculating the resultnt of the forceswhich have made ne what one is. But this practic 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 directf the one reach visible was that of the whole stream. It would help very much if one rememberedtebaings of previous reaches traversed before one's nap. It would further relieve one's anxietywhn nebeame 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. the careful {50} practice of Dharana is perhaps more generally useful. As one prevents the mor cesble thoughts from arising, we strike deeper strata --- memories of childhood reawaken. Stil depr ie a class of thoughts whose origin puzzles us. Some of these apparently belong to formerincrnaion. y cultivating these departments of one's mind we can develop them; we become expert;we frm a orgnize coherence of these originally disconnected elements; the faculty grows with astnishig rapdity,once he knack of the business is mastered.
It is much easier (for obvious reasons) to acquire the Magical Memory when one has been sworn for lives to reincarnate immediately. The great obstacle is the phenomenon called Freudian forgetfles hat is to say, that, though an unpleasant event may be recorded faithfully enough by the mecansmofth brain, we fail to recall it, or recall it wrong, because it is painful. "The Psychopatoloy o Evrydy Life" analyses and illustrates this phenomenon in detail. Now, the King of Terror beig Deth, t ishard indeed to look it in the face. Mankind has created a host of phantastic maks; pople alk o "goig to heaven", "passing over", and so on; banners flaunted from pasteboard toers ofbaseles theoies. ne instinctively flinches from remembering one's last, as one does from maginin one's ext, deth.<<Ths later is a very valuable practice to perform. See Liber HHH; alsoread up he Buddhst medittions ofthe Ten Impurities. {WEH NOTE ADENDA: Right, but it scares the dckens outof you! Wen I succeded in te practice in my teens, I panicked out of using the related bilities fr several ears. Thi was withot 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 tr 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 fortifying himself with some definite person in the immediate past. A brief account of Aleister Crwe' ood fortune in this matter should be instructive. It will be seen that the points of contac vrygraty 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 coursely 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 Es Levi's works. The motive of this play is a Magical Operation of a very peculiar kind. The foml hch Aleister Crowley supposed to be his original idea is mentioned by Levi. We have not beenabe o rae 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. e 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 AleiCrowley. The intention of the parents that their son should have a religious career; the inabilt omke use of very remarkable talents in any regular way; the inexplicable ostracism which afflite hm,an whose authors seemed somehow to be ashamed of themselves; the events relative to marriae<<evi onherdeliberately 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 wn will, as she defined it; this compelled him to stand aside. What happene to Mm. Consant hapened o 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 const trying to reconcile insuperable antagonisms. Both find it hard to destroy the delusion that me' ie beliefs and customs may be radically altered by a few friendly explanations. Both show a criusfodnss 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 or a repulsion which sometimes almost amounts to {52} temporary insanity. The rling assio in ech cae is that of helping humanity. Both show quixotic disregard of their personl proserity,and evn comfrt, 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 thde of Adeptus Exemptus, he had already collected his ideas when Levi's "Clef des Grands Mysteres elito his hands. It was remarkable that he, having admired Levi for many years, and even beguntosupet he identity, had not troubled (although an extravagant buyer of books) to get this partiula wok. He ound, 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 materpice in question.
8. The style of the two men is strikingly similar in numerous subtle and deep-seated ways. The gl point of view is almost identical. The quality of the irony is the same. Both take a pervers laue in playing practical jokes on the reader. In one point, above all, the identity is absolue --threis no third name in literature which can be put in the same class. The point is this: I a inge sntece is combined sublimity and enthusiasm with sneering bitterness, scepticism, grossnss ad scrn. It i 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 pssibleelement of thought to contribute to the spasm.
If the theory of reincarnation were generally accepted, the above considerations would make out ang case. FRATER PERDURABO was quite convinced in one part of his mind of this identity, long beoeh ot any actual memories as such.<<Long since writing the above, the publication of the biograhyofElphs 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 on by the methods above indicated. {53} It may be of some assistance to give a few characteristiso euine Magical Memory; to mention a few sources of error, and to lay down critical rules for te erfiaton of one's results.
The first great danger arises from vanity. One should always beware of "remembering" that one waopatra 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 imnt things in one's life, not those which mankind commonly classes as such. For instance, AleistrColy does not remember any of the decisive events in the life of Eliphas Levi. He recalls intiat tivalties of childhood. He has a vivid recollection of certain spiritual crises; in particulr, ne hic wa fought out as he paced up and down a lonely stretch of road in a flat and desolate istrct. He rmembrs ridiculous incidents, such as often happen at suppers when the conversation tkes aturn uch tat it gaiety somehow strikes to the soul, and one receives a supreme revelation wich isyet pefectlyinartiulate. He has forgotten his marriage and its tragic results<<It is perhps signficant hat altough th 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 aturally, one might think, reopen the wound.
There is a sense which assures us intuitively when we are running on a scent breast high. There "oddness" about the memory which is somehow annoying. It gives a feeling of shame and guiltines Tee is a tendency to blush. One feels like a schoolboy caught red-handed in the act of writin pety. Tere is the same sort of feeling as one has when one finds a faded photograph or a lock o har tent yers old among the rubbish in some forgotten cabinet. This feeling is independent of he qestin whtherthe thing remembered was in itself a source of pleasure or of pain. Can it be tat weresen the dea o our "previous condition of servitude"? We want to forget the past, howevergood rason w may hve to e 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 whatmncl disasters. Instead of the feeling of being caught in the slips, one has that of being missd t hewiket. One has the sly satisfaction of having done an outrageously foolish thing and got ff cotfre. hen one sees life in perspective, it is an immense relief to discover that things lie bakrupcy, edlok, and the gallows made no particular difference. They were only accidents suchas miht hapen t anybdy; they had no real bearing on the point at issue. One consequently remembrs havng ones earscroppe as a lucky escape, while the causal jest of a drunken skeinsmate in an ll-nigh cafe sings on with te 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 security would be a great error to ask too much. In consequence of the peculiar character of the recollcin hich are under the microscope, anything in the shape of gross confirmation almost presumes prjry pthologist would arouse suspicion if he said that his bacilli had arranged themselves on he lid soas o spell Staphylococcus. We distrust an arrangement of flowers which tells us that "ife s woth lvingin Detroit, Michigan". Suppose that Aleister Crowley remembers that he was Sir dwardKelly It oes nt follow that he will be able to give us details of Cracow in the time of Jaes I o Englad. Maerial vents are the words of an arbitrary language; the symbols of a cipher prviouslyagreed n. Wha happend to Kelly in Cracow may have meant something to him, but there is n reason o presum that ithas any eaning for his successor.
There is an obvious line of criticism about any recollection. It must not clash with ascertaineds. For example --- one cannot have two lives which overlap, unless there is reason to suppose ta h arlier died spiritually before his body ceased to breathe. This might happen in certain cass,suh s nsanity.
It is not conclusive against a previous incarnation that the present should be inferior to the paOne's life may represent the full possibilities of a certain partial Karma. One may have {55} dvtdoe's incarnation to discharging the liabilities of one part of one's previous character. Forintace oe might devote a lifetime to settling the bill run up by Napoleon for causing unnecessar suferng,wit the object of starting afresh, clear of debt, in a life devoted to reaping the rewad ofthe orsian'sinvaluable services to the race.
The Master Therion, in fact, remembers several incarnations of almost uncompensated wretchedness,ish and humiliation, voluntarily undertaken so that he might resume his work unhampered by spirta rditors.
These are the stigmata. Memory is hall-marked by its correspondence with the facts actually obsein the present. This correspondence may be of two kinds. It is rare (and it is unimportant forteraons stated above) that one's memory should be confirmed by what may be called, contemptuousl, xtrnl vidence. It was indeed a reliable contribution to psychology to remark that an evil andaduterus eneation sought for a sign.
(Even so, the permanent value of the observation is to trace the genealogy of the Pharisee --- friaphas 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 omunicate directly. When Walter Raleigh flung his cloak upon the muddy road, he merely exprese, n cpher contrived by a combination of circumstances, his otherwise inexpressible wish to ge ongoo tems ith Queen Elizabeth. The significance of his action was determined by the concourseof crcumtancs. he reality can have no reason for reproducing itself exclusively in that especia form It an hae no eason for remembering that so extravagant a ritual happened to be necessary o worsip. Terefor, howeer well a man might remember his incarnation as Julius Caesar, there is o necesity forhis repesentin his power to set all upon the hazard of a die by imagining the Rubion. Anyspiritua state cn be symolized by an infinite variety of actions in an infinite variety f circumsances. Oe should ecollect nly those events which happen to {56} be immediately linked ith one's eculiar tedencies toimagine on thing rather than another.<<The exception is when some himsical cicumstance tes a knot i the cornerof one's mnemonic handkerchief.>>
Genuine recollections almost invariably explain oneself to oneself. Suppose, for example, that yel an instinctive aversion to some particular kind of wine. Try as you will, you can find no resnfryour idiosyncrasy. Suppose, then, that when you explore some previous incarnation, you remebe tatyo died by a poison administered in a wine of that character, your aversion is explained b th prver, " burnt child dreads the fire." It may be objected that in such a case your libido hs crateda phntas of itself in the manner which Freud has explained. The criticism is just, but ts vaue isreducd if t should happen that you were not aware of its existence until your Magical emory ttractd yourattenton to it. In fact, the essence of the test consists in this: that your emory ntifies ou of smethingwhich 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 thoughch led him to remember his life as a Roman named Marius de Aquila. It would be straining probablt opresume a connection between (alpha) this hieroglyphically recorded mode of self-analysis an (et) rdnary introspection conducted on principles intelligible to himself. He remembers directy vrios popl 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 th act of remembering them, they are absolute. He can find no reason for corrlatingthem wth anyhing i the present. But a subsequent examination of the record shows that thelogicalresult f the Wrk of Mrius de Aquila did not occur to that romantic reprobate; in point offact, hedied befre anythng couldhappen. 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 carer {57} of the Master Therion, it is assuredly the easiet and most easonable eplanation t assume an dentity between the two men. Nobody is shocked to oserve that te ambition o Napoleon ha diminished he average stature of Frenchmen. We know that smehow or othe every force ust find its ulfilment; an those people who have grasped the fact thatexternal event are merely syptoms of exteral ideas, cannt 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 oethat it matters to the mathematician whether the use of the symbol X to the 22 power involvs he"ralty" of 22 dimension of space. The Master Therion does not care a scrap of yesterday's nwspperwheherhe was Marius de Aquila, or whether there ever was such a person, or whether the Unierseitsef isanyting more than a nightmare created by his own imprudence in the matter of rum andwater Hismemor of Mrius de Aquila, of the adventures of that person in Rome and the Black Fores, mattrs noting, ether t him or to anybody else. What matters is this: True or false, he has fond a sybolic frm whic has enbled him to govern himself to the best advantage. "Quantum nobis prdest hecfabula Cristi!" he "falsty" 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 e regarded as sceptical, save only in the last resort. No scientific hypothesis can adduce strogreience of its validity than the confirmation of its predictions by experimental evidence. Theobeciv cn always be expressed in subjective symbols if necessary. The controversy is ultimatelyunmanig. Howver we interpret the evidence, its relative truth depends in its internal coherence. We ay terefre sy that any magical recollection is genuine if it gives the explanation of our exernalor inernalcondiions. Anything which throws light upon the Universe, anything which revealsus to urselvs, shold be elcome 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 ut indicate with unmistakable accuracy the solution of some enigma which is propounded by theSpyn o or own unknown birth-city, Thebes. The complicated situation in which we find ourselves s cmpoed f eements; 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 f one's ear, in the past. The symbolism may change; the facts do not. In oe formor anoher, eerythig that exists is derived from some previous manifestation. Have it, if ou will that te memores of oher 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 o the Oath of the Master of the Temple is: "I swear to interpet every penomenon a a particuar dealingof God with my soul." The Magical Memory is (in the las analysis) ne manner, nd, as expeience testiies, 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 thiorism is an Arcanum of the grade of Ipsissimus. It may, however, be partially apprehended by std fLber Aleph, and the Book of the Law and the Commentaries thereon. It explains Existence.>> o aythth holiest of the Books of the ancient Qabalah. (Siphra Tzeniutha 1. 2.) One countenanceher spkenof s the Macrocosm, the other the Microcosm.<<This is the case because we happen ourseles t be icroosmswhose Law is "love under will". But it is also Magick for an unit which has attined erfecion (n abslute 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 Macrocos 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. Teiprance of this is so great, and the truth of it so obvious, that no one with the most mediocrecaacty{6} for magick can tolerate any unbalanced object for a moment. His instinct instantly reolt.<<hisis ecause the essence of his being a Magician is his intuitive apprehension of the fundmentl prncipes o the Universe. His instinct is a subconscious assertion of the structural identty ofthe Mcrocom andthe Microcosm. Equilibrium is the condition of manifested existence.>>. Fo this eason he weaons, atar, circle, and magus are all carefully proportioned one with another. It willnot do o have cup lie 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 s the magician have any unbalanced ornament. If he have the wand in his right hand, let him haveteRn<<The Ring has not been described in Part II of this book, for reasons which may be or may nt e ppret to the reader. It is the symbol of Nuit, the totality of the possible ways in which h ma reresnt imself and fulfill himself.>> on his left, or let him take the Ankh, or the Bell, orthe up. And owevr 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 everity, let him recount that Severity is the instrument of Mercy;<<For xample,as whenFirmnes with oe's self or another is the truest kindness; or when amputation saveslife.>> f Stabilty, let im show he basis of that Stability to be constant change, just as the stbility ofa molecul is securd by the omentum 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 trnding their contradiction in a higher harmony.
It is not safe to use any thought in Magick, unless that thought has been thus equilibrated and dyed.
Thus again with the instruments themselves; the Wand must be ready to change into a Serpent, the cle into the whirling Svastika or Disk of Jove, as if to fulfil the functions of the Sword. {61 h rss is both the death of the "Saviour"<<It is the extension in matter of the Individual Self,th Idiisble Point determined by reference to the Four Quarters. This is the formula which enabls i toexpessits Secret Self; its dew falling upon the Rose is developed into an Eidolon of Itsel, indue easo.>> nd the Phallic symbol of Resurrection. Will itself must be ready to culminate i the urrener ofthat ill:<<See Liber LXV and Liber VII.>> the aspiration's arrow that is shot aganst th Holy ove mut tranmute itself into the wondering Virgin that receives in her womb the quicening o that sme Spirt of Go.
Any idea that is thus in itself positive and negative, active and passive, male and female, is fiexist above the Abyss; any idea not so equilibrated is below the Abyss, contains in itself an uniiae duality or falsehood, and is to that extent qliphotic<<See The Qabalah for the use of this or, ndstdy the doctrine concerning the Kings of Edom.>> and dangerous. Even an idea like "truth isunsfe nles it is realized that all Truth is in one sense falsehood. For all Truth is relativ; an if t besuppsed absolute, will mislead.<<See Poincare for the mathematical proof of this theis. ut Spritua Expeience goes yet deeper, and destroys the Canon of the Law of Contradiction. here i an imense aount o 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 o consider (provisionally) Truth in the sense in which it is takn by Physcal Sciene.>> "Th Book of ies falsely so called" (Liber 333) is worthy of close and caeful studyin this repect. Thereader shold also consult Konx Om Pax, "Introduction", and "Thien ao" in the ame volume. All thisis to be exressed 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". is: it must never have been used by any other person or for any other purpose. The {62} greatetiprance was attached by the Adepts of old to this, and it made the task of the Magician no easyon. Hewated a wand; and in order to cut and trim it he needed a knife. It was not sufficient meelyto uy ne knife; he felt that he had to make it himself. In order to make the knife, he woul reqire hunred ther things, the acquisition of each of which might require a hundred more; and o on. Thisshowsthe ipossibility of disentangling one's self from one's environment. Even in Magck we annot et on ithoutthe help of others.<<It is, and the fact is still more important, utterl fatal nd demoalizingto acqure the habit of reliance on others. The Magician must know every deail of hs work, nd be abe and wiling to roll up his shirtsleeves and do it, no matter how trivia or menia it may sem. Abraelin (it s true) forbids the Aspirant to perform any tasks of an humiiating typ; but he wll never b able to cmmand perfect service unless he has experience of such ncessary wor, mastered uring his erly trainin.>>
There was, however, a further object in this recommendation. The more trouble and difficulty youpon costs, the more useful you will find it. "If you want a thing well done, do it yourself." twudbe quite useless to take this book to a department store, and instruct them to furnish you aTepl acoding to specification. It is really worth the while of the Student who requires a swordto o ad dg ot iron ore from the earth, to smelt it himself with charcoal that he has himself preared to orgethe eapon with his own hand: and even to take the trouble of synthesizing the oil ofvirtil wit whic it i engraved. He will have learnt a lot of useful things in his attempt to mak a realy virin swod; he ill 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 ature, and he will also perceive the true operation of the law o Karma.<<n this sese especilly: any ne 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 bngle". The Wand was to be cut with a single stroke of the knife. There must be no {63} bogglin n aking 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 mae no compromise. You cannot make revolutions with rose-water, or wrestle in a silk at. You ill ind ery soon that you must either lose the hat or stop wrestling. Most people do boh. Tey tae up he maical path without sufficient reflection, without that determination of adamat whic made he autor of his book exclaim, as he took the first oath, "PERDURABO" --- "I will endre untothe end"<<"Forendurin unto the End, at the End was Naught to endure." Liber 333, Cap Zeta>> Theystart onit at a reat pac, and then find that their boots are covered with mud. Instead f persistng, they o back toPiccadill. 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 cl the square of any fraction approximates to 2, no fraction equals the square root of 2. The squr otof 2 is not in the series; it is a different kind of number altogether.>> The least of the agca Istuments is worth infinitely more than all that you possess, or if you like, than all thatyoustuidl supose yourself to possess. Break this rule, and the usual Nemesis of the half-hearte awats yu. ot oly do you get inferior instruments, but you lose in some other way what you thouht yo wereso clver t have saved. Remember Ananias!<<Observe well that there is never any real euivalece or easurale reltion between any two things, for each is impregnably Itself. The exchane of prperty i not a athematcally accurate equation. The Want is merely a conventional expressin of theWill, jut as a wrd is ofa thought. It can never be anything else; thus, though the procss of makng it, whther it ivolves tie, 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 tndor has thrown in {64} the purse of Fortunatus. No matter in what extremity you may seem to be ttelast moment your difficulties will be solved. For there is no power either of the firmamentofth ehe, or of the earth or under the earth, on dry land or in the water, of whirling air or ofrusingfir, o 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 Pth. This command and this promise have been given by all the Magi withot excepion. Ad wherethis comand 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 thatead, the process is threefold, PURIFICATION, CONSECRATION and INITIATION.
Therefore every magical weapon, and even the furniture of the Temple, must be passed through thisefold regimen. The details only vary on inessential points. E.G. to prepare the magician, he prfe imself by maintaining his chastity<<See The Book of the Law and the Commentaries thereon forth tuedeinition of this virtue.>> and abstaining from any defilement. But to do the same with, et s sy, he up, we assure ourselves that the metal has never been employed for any other purpose--- e smlt vrginore, 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 candidat initiation; but in those parts of the ritual in which the candidate is blindfolded, we wrap thewao n a black cloth<<This refers to the "formula of the Neophyte". There are alternatives.>>. heoah hih he takes is replaced by a "charge" in similar terms. The details of the preparation o eah wapo shuld 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 wvokes Him. It should be the love of the father for his child, the tenderness and care of the brdgomfor his bride, and that peculiar feeling which the creator of every work of art feels for hi mstrpec.
Where this is clearly understood, the magician will find no difficulty in observing the proper rituot only in the actual ceremonial consecration of each weapon, but in the actual preparation, a poeswich should adumbrate this ceremony; e.g., the magician will cut the wand from the tree, willstipitofleaves and twigs, will remove the bark. He will trim the ends nearly, and smooth down te kots -- ths is the banishing.
He will then rub it with the consecrated oil until it becomes smooth and glistening and golden. ll 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 fiom heaven, formulating to himself the passing of the Holy Influence through it. In this and othrwy e will perform the initiation; and, this being accomplished, he will repeat the whole proces i a eabrate ceremony.<<I have omitted to say that the whole subject of Magick is an example of ythpoea i tht particular form called Disease of Language. Thoth, God of Magick, was merely a ma whoinveted ritig, as his monuments declare clearly enough. "Grammarye", Magick, is only the Grek "Gamma" So lso te 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 thgan to attribute other powers, merely invented, to the people who were able to write. The Wand ste othing but the pen; the Cup, the Inkpot; the Dagger, the knife for sharpening the pen; and te is (anacle) is either the papyrus roll itself; or the weight which kept it in position, or thesanboxforsoaing up the ink. And, of course, the Papyrus of Ani is only the Latin for toilet-papr.>> T tak an ntirely different case, that of the Circle; the magician will synthesize the Vermiliorequied frm Merury an Sulphur which he has himself sublimated. This pure {66} vermilion he willhmself ix wit the cnsecrated oil, and as he uses this paint he will think intently and with devoio of thesymbolswhich h draws. This circle may then be initiated by a circumambulation, during hic the magcian invkes the ames of God that are on it.
Any person without sufficient ingenuity to devise proper methods of preparation for the other art required is unlikely to make much of a magician; and we shall only waste space if we deal in dealwt the preparation of each instrument.
There is a definite instruction in Liber A vel Armorum, in the Equinox, Volume I, Number IV, as t 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 conjuratioe those in an ancient and perhaps forgotten language, or even those couched in a corrupt and posil lays meaningless jargon. Of these there are several main types. The "preliminary invocation i te Gotia" consists principally of corruptions of Greek and Egyptian names. For example, we fnd Osoronophis" for "Asor Un-Nefer".<<See appendix 4, Liber Samekh; this is an edition of this Ivocaion,withan eaborate Rubric, translation, scholia, and instruction.
{WEH ADDENDUM: This is the "Preliminary Invocation" placed in the "Goetia" in the Mathers transion (Not "translation") by Crowley. This invocation is not a part of the original text, but comst sfrom 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 vertha published in the "Goetia".>> The conjurations given by Dr. Dee (vide Equinox I, VII) ae ina laguag called Angelic, or Enochian. Its source has hitherto baffled research, but it s a lnguag and ot a argon, 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: ais 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 ps magically competent. We possess a number of Invocations in Greek of every degree of excellenc;i ain but few, and those of inferior quality. It will be noticed that in every case the conjurtinsar vry sonorous, {68} and there is a certain magical voice in which they should be recited. Thi spcia voce 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 alreaisted one example, the charm of the witches in Macbeth; although this was perhaps not meant seriul,is effect is indubitable.<<A true poet cannot help revealing himself and the truth of things n isar, hether 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. "Tzard Way" (Equinox I,I) gives a good idea of the sort of thing. So does the Evocation of Bartzae nEuinox I,IX. There are many extant invocations throughout his works, in many kinds of metre,ofmay ins 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 chils told that he could invoke the devil by repeating the "Lord's Prayer" backwards. He went into h adn 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 m excitement required may even be aroused by the perception of the absurdity of the process, and h esstence in it, as when once FRATER PERDURABO (at the end of His magical resources) recited "FomGrenan's Icy Mountains", and obtained His result.<<See "Eleusis", A. Crowley, "Collected Works, Vl. II pilgue.>>
It may be conceded in any case that the long strings of formidable words which roar and moan throo 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 , corresponding to the seven planets, the bull-roarer, the tom-tom, and even the violin, have al enued, as well as many others, of which the {69} most important is the bell<<See Part II. It soud e ai that in experience no bell save His own Tibetan bell of Electrum Magicum has ever soundd stisactry o the Master Therion. Most bells jar and repel.>>, though this is used not so much or atualconjratin as to mark stages in the ceremony. Of all these the tom-tom will be found to e themost eneraly usful.
While on the subject of barbarous names of evocation we should not omit the utterance of certain me 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 the 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 Wrdexreses the current Kether - Beth - Binah - Cheth - Geburach - Mem - Hod - Shin - Malkuth, te dscet fom 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 supmoment, and even then they should burst from the magician almost despite himself --- so great shudb is reluctance<<This reluctance is Freudian, due to the power of these words to awaken the suprssd ubonscious libido.>> to utter them. In fact, they should be the utterance of the God in hm a th fist nset 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 omdi, he should never utter consciously even in thought, until perhaps with it he gives up the gos. Suh 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 nicated by Him to the proper postulants, at the proper time and place, in the proper circumstancs>. t is said that at the utterance of this name the Universe crashes into dissolution. Let theMaicaneanestly seek this Lost Word, for its pronunciation is synonymous with the accomplishment f te GeatWor.<<Each man has a different Great Work, just as no two points on the circumference o a crcleare onneted 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. rd may become potent and terrible by virtue of constant repetition. It is in this way that mostrlgos gain strength. At first the statement "So and so is God" excites no interest. Continue, ndyo metscorn and scepticism: possibly persecution. Continue, and the controversy has so far did ot tat o oe 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 it that any one disbelieves in the ostensibly prevailing cult; they deplore Atheism --- all bt nieralin practice and implicit in the theory of practically all intelligent people --- as if i wee te ecenricity of a few negligible or objectionable persons. This is the ordinary story of dverisemnt; he sam has exactly the same chance as the real. Persistence is the only quality reqired or sucess. Th opposite formula is that of secrecy. An idea is perpetuated because it must never be mention A fremason never forgets the secret words entrusted to him, thought these words mean absolutelyntig to hi, 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 initiae.
In such a work of practical Magick as the preaching of a new {71} Law, these methods may be advanusly combined; on the one hand infinite frankness and readiness to communicate all secrets; on teohrthe 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 ma in any full and accurate sense. For that thought is sown in a different soil, and anno prouce n idntical effect. I cannot put a spot of red upon two pictures without altering eah in ivers ways It ight have little effect on a sunset by Turner, but much on a nocturne by Whitler. The idntity f the wo spots as spots would thus be fallacious.>>
It is, according to tradition, a certain advantage in conjurations to employ more than one languaIn all probability the reason of this is than any change spurs the flagging attention. A man enae nintense mental labour will frequently stop and walk up and down the room --- one may supposefo tiscase --- 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 des encourage one --- it is useless to deny it --- to be knocked down by a Demon f whoe exitenceone ws 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 greaus speaks and acts impromptu and extempore.>> and the entire ceremony should be so perfectly peromdtat one is hardly conscious of any effort of memory. The ceremony should be constructed withsuh ogca fatality that a mistake is impossible.<<First-rate poetry is easily memorized because te ieasandthemusical values correspond to man's mental and sensory structure.>> The conscious eg of he Mgicin isto be destroyed to be absorbed in that of the God whom he invokes, and the proces shold no intefere ith 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 wenergy, intelligence, reason, and resource. This automaton should be the perfect man far more {2 hnany other man can be. It is only the divine self within the man, a self as far above the posesin f ill or any other qualities whatsoever as the heavens are high above the earth, that shoud rabsrb tsef into that illimitable radiance of which it is a spark.<<This is said of the partia or esse Wors ofMagick. This is an elementary treatise; one cannot discuss higher Works as for xampl thos of "he Hemit of Aesopus Island".>>
The great difficulty for the single Magician is so to perfect himself that these multifarious dutf the Ritual are adequately performed. At first he will find that the exaltation destroys memor n aalyses muscle. This is an essential difficulty of the magical process, and can only be overom b pacice and experience.<<See "The Book of Lies"; there are several chapters on this subject. Bu Riht xalation should produce spontaneously the proper mental and physical reactions. As soo as he dvelomentis secured, there will be automatic reflex "justesse", exactly as in normal affars mid andbody espon with free unconscious rightness to the Will.>>
In order to aid concentration, and to increase the supply of Energy, it has been customary for thician to employ assistants or colleagues. It is doubtful whether the obvious advantages of thispa opensate the difficulty of procuring suitable persons<<The organic development of Magick in te ord ueto the creative Will of the Master Therion makes it with every year that passes easier t fid sienifially trained co-workers.>>, and the chance of a conflict of will or a misunderstandig inthe ircl itslf. On one occasion FRATER PERDURABO was disobeyed by an assistant, and had it ot ben forHis pomptiude 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 culprt.
However, there is no doubt that an assemblage of persons who really are in harmony can much more y produce an effect than a magician working by himself. The psychology of "Revival meetings" wilb ailiar to almost every one, and though such {73} meetings<<See, for an account of properly-codute cngegational ceremonial, Equinox I, IX. "Energized Enthusiasm", and Equinox III, L. Liber V, cclsia Gnsticae Catholicae Cannon Missae. The "Revival meetings" here in question were delibrateexplitatons f religious hysteria.>> are the foulest and most degraded rituals of black magic the aws o Magik arenot 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 memf many people now living. At a nigger camp meeting in the "United" States of America, devotees eewred up to such a pitch of excitement that the whole assembly developed a furious form of hystri. Th cmparatively intelligible cries of "Glory" and "Hallelujah" no longer expressed the situaion Smebdy creamed out "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!", and this was taken up by the whole meeting and ylledcontnuouly, ntil reaction set in. The affair got into the papers, and some particularly briht dicipleof Jon Sturt Mill, logician and economist, thought that these words, having set one se of fols cray, migt do te same to all the other fools in the world. He accordingly wrote a song and prduced te desird resul. This is the most notorious example of recent times of the power eerted bya barbarus name f evocaton.
A few words may be useful to reconcile the general notion of Causality with that of Magick. How e be sure that a person waving a stick and howling thereby produces thunderstorms? In no other a hnthat familiar to Science; we note that whenever we put a lighted match to dry gunpowder, an niteliiby 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 thsibility of Magick, chosing one which is at first sight of an obviously "fatal" character. It i ovnent to quote verbatim from the Diary<<In a later entry we read that the diarist has found a imla tai of argument in "Space, Time, and Gravitation", page 51. He was much encourage by the cnfimaton f hs thesis in so independent a system of thought.>> of a distinguished Magician and phlosoher. " hav noticed that the effect of a Magical Work has followed {74} it so closely that it must habeen tarte before the time of the Work. E.g. I work to-night to make X in Paris write to me. Igtthe leter th next morning, so that it must have been written before the Work. Does this deny ha te Work aused te effect?
"If I strike a billiard-ball and it moves, both my will and its motion are due to causes long antnt to the act. I may consider both my Work and its reaction as twin effects of the eternal Univre Te moved arm and ball are parts of a state of the Cosmos which resulted necessarily from its omntriy revious state, and so, back for ever.
"Thus, my Magical Work is only one of the cause-effects necessarily concomitant with the case-effwhich set the ball in motion. I may therefore regard the act of striking as a cause-effect of m rgnl Will to move the ball, though necessarily previous to its motion. But the case of magicalWok s otquite analogous. For my nature is such that I am compelled to perform Magick in order t mae m wil t prevail; so that the cause of my doing the Work is also the cause of the ball's moton, nd tere s noreason why one should precede the other. (CF. "Lewis Carroll," where the Red Quen sceams eforeshe picks 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 hsown initiative", as it would seem. But I summoned him because I wanted him; and I wanted hi bcasehewas my representative; and his intelligence made him resolve to join me because it judge rihtl tht te 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 broper to say that the writing of the letter was the direct cause of his arrival, it is evident ta fIhad not written I should have been different from what I actually am, and therefore my relaton wthhi would have been otherwise than they are. In this sense, therefore, the letter and the ourey re auslly connected.
"One cannot go farther, and say that in this case I ought to write the letter even if he had arriefore I did so; for it {75} is part of the whole set of circumstance that I do not use a crowbaro noen door.
"The conclusion is that one should do one's Will 'without lust of result'. If one is working in dance with the laws of one's own nature, one is doing 'right'; and no such work can be criticise s'sless', even in cases of the character here discussed. So long as one's Will prevails, thereisnocasefor complaint.
"To abandon one's Magick would shew lack of self-confidence in one's powers, and doubt as to one'ost faith in Self and in Nature.<<i.e. on the ground that one cannot understand how Magick can pouete desired effects. For if one possesses the inclination to do Magick, it is evidence of a tndnc i oe's Nature. Nobody understands fully how the mind moves the muscles; but we know that lck f cnfienc on this point means paralysis. "If the Sun and Moon should doubt, They'd immediatey goout" as lakesaid. Also, as I said myself. "Who hath the How is careless of the Why".>> Ofcours one hange one' 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 tself. 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 existitween it, the earth, and myself. The connexion exists; I can predicate nothing beyond that. I antpstulate purpose, or even determine the manner in which the event comes to be. Similarly, whn d Mgik, it is in vain to inquire why I so act, or why the desired result does or does not folow. No ca I now how the previous and subsequent conditions are connected. At most I can describ theconsiousess hich I interpret as a picture of the facts, and make empirical generalizations o the uperfcial spect of the case.
"Thus, I have my own personal impressions of the act of telephoning; but I cannot be aware of what iousness, electricity, mechanics, sound, etc., actually are in themselves. And although I can apa oexperience to lay down 'laws' as to what {76} conditions accompany the act, I can never be sretht he have always been, or ever will again be, identical. (In fact, it is certain that an evnt an eve ocur 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 grante cannot say --- finally --- how an electric current is generated. I cannot be sure that some toal nuspected force is not at work in some entirely arbitrary way. For example, it was formerly uposd ha Hydrogen and Chlorine would unite when an electric spark was passed through the mixture no we'knw' hat the presence of a minute quantity of aqueous vapour (or some tertium quid) is esentil tothe eacton. We formulated before the days of Ross the 'laws' of malarial fever, withoutrefernce t the osquio; we might discover one day that the germ is only active when certain event are tanspirng in ome neula<<The history of the Earth is included in the period of some such reltion; s that w cannotpossibl 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 ma therefore admit quite cheerfully that Magick is as mysterious as mathematics, as empirica poetry, a 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 exactlysame 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 possibis of deep and important Knowledge;<<Magick is less liable to lead to error than any other Scienc,bcue its terms are interchangeable, by definition, so that it is based on relativity from the sar. Weru no risk of asserting absolute propositions. Furthermore we make our measurements in tems f te ojec measured, thus avoiding the absurdity of defining metaphysical ideas by mutable stadard, (C. Edingtn "Space, Time, and Gravitation". Prologue.) of being forced to attribute the qulitie of hman cnsciosness to inanimate things (Poincare, "La mesure du temps"), and of assertingthat w know nythin of th universe in itself, though the nature of our senses and our minds necesarily dtermine our obervatios, so that the limit of our knowledge is subjective, just as a thermmeter ca record othing bt its ow reaction to one particular type of Energy.
Magick recognizes frankly (1) that truth is relative, subjective, and apparent; (2) that Truth im Omniscience, which is unattainable by mind, being transfinite; just as if one tried to make an xc a of England in England, that map must contain a map of the map, and so on, ad infinitum; (3)tht ogca contradiction is inherent in reason, (Russell, "Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, p 13; Cowly, "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 intheir own language.>>that no Art offers such opportunities to the ambitin {77} f the Sul to epress is Truth, in Ecstasy, through Beauty; and that no Sport rivals its facination of dangr and deight, soexcites, exercises, and tests its devotees to the uttermost, or o rewardsthem by wll-being,pride, an the passionate pleasures of personal triumph.
"Magick takes every thought and act for its apparatus; it has the Universe for its Library and itoratory; all Nature is its Subject; and its Game, free from close seasons and protective restricin,aways abounds in infinite variety, being all that exists.<<The elasticity of Magick makes it qul o llpossible kinds of environment, and therefore biologically perfect. "Do what thou wilt.." iplis slf-djustment, so that failure cannot occur. One's true Will is necessarily fitted to te whle Uivere wih the utmost exactitude, because each term in the equation a+b+c=0 must be equaland oposit to te sumof all the other terms. No individual can ever be aught than himself, or doaught lse thn his ill, wich is his necessary relation with his environment, dynamically considerd. Allerror i no mor than a illusion proper to him to dissipate the mirage, and it is a generallaw thatthe methd of accmplishin this operation is to realize, and to acquiesce in, the order ofthe Univese, and t refrain rom attemting the impossible task of overcoming the inertia of the foces which ppose, andtherefore re identicl with, one's self. Error in thought is therefore failue to undersand, and inaction to prform, one' 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 obvioumple. It comes natural to man (poor creature!) to throw himself to the ground in the presence o h bect of his adoration.<<The Magician must eschew prostration, or even the "bending of the kne i sppiction", as infamous and ignominious, an abdication of his sovereignty.>>
Intermediate between this and the purely artificial form of gesture comes a class which depends ouired habit. Thus it is natural to an European officer to offer his sword in token of surrender ATbtan 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, thoome of these simulate a natural action --- e.g. the sign of the Rending of the Veil. But the sino uamoth (see Equinox I, II, Illustration "The Signs of the Grades") merely imitates a hieroglyh hih asonly a remote connection with any fact in nature. All signs must of course be studied wth nfiitepatence, and practised until the connection {79} between them and the mental attitude wich hey epreent ppears "necessary."
II
The principal movement in the circle is circumambulation.<<In Part II of this Book 4 it was assumat 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 her power of Going, that is their eternal energy. By shape the Ankh (or Crux Ansata) suggststheforulaby which this going is effected in actual practice.>> This has a very definite resut, bt on whih isvery difficult to describe. An analogy is the dynamo. Circumambulation properl perfrmed n cominatin with the Sign of Horus (or "The Enterer") on passing the East is one of th best ethodsof arosing te macrocosmic force in the Circle. It should never be omitted unless thre be sme specal reasn againt it.
A particular tread seems appropriate to it. This tread should be light and stealthy, almost furtand 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, oneard. They can be performed in either direction; and, like the circumambulation, if performed desl<.. In the same direction as the hands of a watch move.>> they invoke --- if widdershins<<i.e n heoposite direction.>> they banish<<Such, at least, is the traditional interpretation. But her isa depe design which may be expressed through the direction of rotation. Certain forces ofthe ost ormiablecharacter may be invoked by circumambulation Widdershins when it is executed wit intet towrd thm, an the initiated technique. Of such forces Typhon is the type, and the war ofthe Tians aginst te Olymians 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 usua-iota-tau-alpha-nu or Tau-alpha-iota-tau-alpha-nu to obtain 666 in place of 661 or 662.>>. In tesia the tread is light and tripping, almost approximating to a dance: while performing it the mgiia wllusually turn on his own axis, either in the same direction as {80} the spiral, or in theoppsit diecton. Each combination involves a different symbolism.
There is also the dance proper; it has many different forms, each God having his special dance. f the easiest and most effective dances is the ordinary waltz-step combined with the three signso ... It is much easier to attain ecstasy in this way than is generally supposed. The essence f heprces 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 ol. It is through the mutual destruction of these antagonisms in the mental and moral being of temgcan 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 ovrous stations in the Temple, each station having a symbolic meaning of its own; but in pure ivoatona etter 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 mach movements. For every Circle has its natural symbolism, and even if no use is to be made of teefcs, one must be careful not to let anything be inharmonious with the natural attributions.<<Te ratialnecessities of the work are likely to require certain movements. One should either exclde hissymolim altogether, or else think out everything beforehand, and make it significant. Do ot lt soe acionsbe symbolic and others haphazard.>> For the sensitive aura of the magician migh be dsturbd, an the alue of the ceremony completely destroyed, by the embarrassment caused by th discoery ofsome sch errr, just as if a pre-occupied T-totaller found that he had strayed into aTemple f the Dmon Rum It istherefore 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 sphe Geburah (Severity) were situated (actually, in the heavens) opposite to the Square of Chesed (Mry fthe Tau in the Circle, and the triangle placed accordingly. It would be improper for the Maustostndon that Square unless using this formula, "I, from Chesed, rule Geburah through the Pathof he ion; wile --- taking an extreme case --- to stand on the square of Hod (which is naturallydomiatedby Gbura) would be a madness which only a formula of the very highest Magick could countract. Cetain ositins, however, such as Tiphareth<<Tiphareth is hardly "dominated" even by Kether. Iis theson raher thn the servant.>>, are so sympathetic to the Magus himself that he may use themwthout rferenceto the ature of the spirit, or of the operation; unless he requires an exceptionalyprecise pirit fre of allextraneous 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 inv Hathor, Goddess of Love, to descend upon the Altar. Standing on the square of Netzach you willmk or invocation to Her, and then dance an inward spiral deosil ending at the foot of the altar,whreyo snk on your knees with your arms raised above the altar as if inviting Her embrace.<<But OT in uppicaion".>>
To conclude, one may add that natural artistic ability, of you possess it, forms an excellent guidel Art is Magick.
Isadora Duncan has this gift of gesture in a very high degree. Let the reader study her dancing;ossible rather in private than in public, and learn the superb "unconsciousness" --- which is maia osciousness --- with which she suits the action to the melody.<<This passage was written in 111e.. Wae 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 dence between them consists only in this, that the instrument with which they are made seals themwt t own special properties. It is of no great importance (even so) whether they are made by clppngth hnds or stamping the feet, by strokes of one of the weapons, or by the theoretically apprprite nstumet, the bell. It may nevertheless be admitted that they become more important in thecereony f th Magcian considers it worth while to take up<<Any action not purely rhythmical is a isturance.> an nstruent 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 whi strikes. Thus the use of the bell, or of the hands, means that the Magician wishes to impress h tophere of the whole circle with what has been or is about to be done. He wishes to formulatehi wllinsound, and radiate it in every direction; moreover, to influence that which lives by breth n te snseof his purpose, and to summon it to bear witness to his Word. The hands are used assymbls o hisexective power, the bell to represent his consciousness exalted into music. To strie wit the and i to uter the fiat of creation; the cup vibrates with his delight in receiving spiitual ine. blow ith th dagger is like the signal for battle. The disk is used to express the hrowingdown ofthe prie of on's purchase. To stamp with the foot is to declare one's mastery of he matte in hand Similaly, any ther form of giving knocks has its own virtue. From the above eamples th intellignt studen will hav 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 th has complied with the laws of his operation. To strike the lamp is to summon the Light divine. hsfr the rest.
It must also be observed that many combinations of ideas are made possible by this convention. Tike the wand within the cup is to apply the creative will to its proper complement, and so {83} efr he Great Work by the formula of Regeneration. To strike with the hand on the dagger declare taton dmands the use of the dagger as a tool to extend one's executive power. The reader will ecal hw Segfied smote Nothung, the sword of Need, upon the lance of Wotan. By the action Wagner whowas nstrctedhow to apply magical formulae by one of the heads of our Order, intended his heaers t undestandthat he reign of authority and paternal power had come to an end; that the new mater ofthe wold wasintellct.
The general object of a knock or a knell is to mark a stage in the ceremony. Sasaki Shigetz tellin his essay on Shinto that the Japanese are accustomed to clap their hands four times "to driveaa vl spirits". He explains that what really happens is that the sudden and sharp impact of thesondthow 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 aperfectly 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 likechorus in a Greek play. It helps him to make a clean cut, to turn his attention from one part o i ok to the next.
So much for the general character of the knock or knell. Even this limited point of view offers opportunities to the resourceful Magician. But further possibilities lie to our hand. It is ntuuly desirable to attempt to convey anything except emphasis, and possibly mood, by varying thefoceofth blow. It is obvious, moreover, that there is a natural correspondence between the hardlou knck f iperious command on the one hand, and the soft slurred knock of sympathetic comprehenion n th othr. t is easy to distinguish between the bang of the outraged creditor at the front,and te hused ta of te 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 ds the general principles of determining what number of strokes will be proper in any case, {84} n o e 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 omn. It represents Kether, which is the source of all things equally without partaking of any qualt ywich we discriminate one thing from another. Continuing on these lines, the number of knockswil efr o 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 cong, as well as liable to overweight the other parts of the ritual. In practice, 11 is about the ii. t 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 standpohat our danger lies in vagueness. A knock should be well defined; its meaning should be precise Tevry nature of knocks suggests smartness and accuracy. We must therefore devise some means ofmain te equence significant of the special sense which may be appropriate. Our only resource isin he se f itervals.
It is evidently impossible to attain great variety in the smaller numbers. But this fact illustrthe excellence of our system. There is only one way of striking 2 knocks, and this fact agrees ihtenature of Chokmah; there is only one way of creating. We can express only ourselves, althouh e o o n duplex form. But there are three ways of striking 3 knocks, and these 3 ways correspod t th theefld manner in which Binah can receive the creative idea. There are three possible tyes o tringle Wemay understand an idea either as an unity tripartite, as an unity dividing itsel intoa duaity, r as 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. Therenumerous ways of striking 6, each of which is suited to the nature of the several {85} aspects o ihrth. 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 reasonsthis are as follows: "Firstly", 11 is the number of Magick in itself. It is therefore suitable oaltpes of operation. "Secondly", it is the sacred number par excellence of the new Aeon. As i i witenin the Book of the Law: "...11, as all their numbers who are of us." "Thirdly", it is te nmbe oftheletters of the word ABRAHADABRA, which is the word of the Aeon. The structure of ths wod issuchthatit expresses the great Work, in every one of its aspects. "Lastly", it is possile threby o expess al possible spheres of operation, whatever their nature. This is effected bymakingan eqution btween he number of the Sephira and the difference between that number and 11. For exaple, 2 egree=9quare i 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 positon as the Foundation, and by its function of generation. Ths complex s further quilibrate by identiying it with the number 2 of Chokmah, which possesses th airy qualiy, being th Word, and he lunar qulity, being the reflection of the sun of Kether as Ysod is the sn of Tiphareh. It is th wisdom whic is the foundation by being creation. This entie cycle of idas is expressd in the doube formula 2 Dgree = 9Square, 9 Degree = 2Square; and any f these ideas ay be selectedand articulate by a suitablebattery.
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 reittetendency to wander. This will be a work of Yesod. But he must emphasize the stability of tatSehia s against the Airy quality which it possesses. His first action will be to put the 9 uner he rotctin of the 2; the battery at this point will be 1-9-1. But this 9 as it stands is sugestie ofthe hangfulness 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 lement. He will reflect, moreover, that 4 is symbolic of the stability of mater, whie 5 expesses te same dea with regard to motion. At this stage the battery will appear as1-2-5-2-. Afterdue consderationhe will probably conclude that to split up the central 5 would tnd to desroy the smplicity f his forula, and decide to use it as it stands. The possible alterntive wouldbe to makea single kock the cetre of his battery as if he appealed to the ultimate immtability ofKether, invking that uity by placng a fourfold knock on either side of it. In this cse, his battry would be -4-1-4-1. H will naturaly 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 sacrede 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 Ml 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 ao go anywhere and do anything. There will, however, be a certain limitation to his work, becaus ehsformed his magical body from the fine matter of his own element. Therefore, although he maybeabe o enetrate the utmost recesses of the heavens, or conduct vigorous combats with the most uproouneabe dmons of the pit, it may be impossible for him to do as much as knock a vase from a mnteliece Hi magcal body is composed of matter too tenuous to affect directly the gross matter o whic illuions uch a tables and chairs are made.<<The one really easy "physical" operation whichthe Boy of Lght ca perfom is "Congressus subtilis". The emanations of the "Body of Desire" of te materal bein whom oe visit are, if the visit be agreeable, so potent that one spontaneously gans substnce in te embrac. Thereare many cases on record of Children having been born as the reslt of suc unions. See the wrk of De inistrari 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 toher it would be quite legitimate to seek to transcend this limitation. One need not presume to asjdment. 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 is, and so deprived (according to the theory of death then current) of the material vehicle for exctn is will, to take on the form of certain animals, such as a golden hawk or a crocodile, and i schfom o go about the earth "taking his pleasure among the living."<<See "The Book of Lies" Cap 44 an Th Colected Works of Aleister Crowley, Vol. III, pp. 209-210, where occur paraphrased traslatons f cetainclassical Egyptian rituals.>> As a general rule, material was supplied out of wich h coul consruct he 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 livingo about the world in some such incognito. Now, then, conceive of this magical body as creative oc,seking 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 appropriady from its elements. This is, generally speaking, a very hard thing to do, because the physica osiution 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 oraniation, perhaps known to some of those who may read this, which could very readily beadaped t som suc purpose as we are now discussing.
The second method sounds very easy and amusing. You take some organism already existing, which hs to be suitable to your purpose. You drive out the magical being {89} which inhabits it, and tk osssion. To do this by force is neither easy nor justifiable, because the magical being of th ohe ws ncarnated in accordance with its Will. And "... thou hast no right but to do thy will." On shuldharly strain this sentence to make one's own will include the will to upset somebody ele's ill!<Yetit mght happen that the Will of the other being was to invite the Magician to indwel its nstruent.> Morover, it is extremely difficult thus to expatriate another magical being; fo thoug, unles it i a comlete microcosm like a human being, it cannot be called a star, it is a lttle bi of a sar, andpart ofthe body of Nuit.
But there is no call for all this frightfulness. There is no need to knock the girl down, unlessrefuses to do what you want, and she will always comply if you say a few nice things to her.<<Eseilyon the subject of the Wand or the Disk.>> You can always use the body inhabited by an elemeta, uc a an eagle, hare, wolf, or any convenient animal, by making a very simple compact. You tke vertheresonsibility for the animal, thus building it up into your own magical hierarchy. Thi repesens a remedous gain to the animal.<<This is the magical aspect of eating animal food, and ts jutifiction,or raher the reconciliation of the apparent contradiction between the carnivorousand huanitaran eleents i the nature of "Homo Sapiens".>> It completely fulfils its ambition by n alliace of tis extrmely inimate sort with a Star. The magician, on the other hand, is able totransfor and retansform imself i a thousand ways by accepting a retinue of such adherents. In tis way th projectin of the astral" o Body of Light may be made absolutely tangible and practical At the sme time, te magicianmust realie that in undertaking the Karma of any elemental, he is ssuming a vry serious esponsibiliy. The bon which unites him with that elemental is love; and, hough it is nly a small art of the otfit of a maician, it is the whole of the outfit of the elemntal. He wil, therefore, uffer intensey in case of ny error or misfortune occurring to his protgee. This feeing is rather eculiar. It i quite instincive with the best men. They {90} hear o the destructio of a city of afew thousand inabitants with etire 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 subnaturally appeals will readily understand the importance of what has been said. Those who are ohrieinclined 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, fos question is indeed traditionally important in Magick. Nigh all ancient Magick revolves aroundti ater. In particular all the Osirian religions --- the rites of the Dying God --- refer to ths. Te laing of Osiris and Adonis; the mutilation of Attis; the cults of Mexico and Peru; the stoy o Heculs o Melcarth; the legends of Dionysus and of Mithra, are all connected with this one ida. n th Hebew rligion we find the same thing inculcated. The first ethical lesson in the Bibleis tht theonly acrifce pleasing to the Lord is the sacrifice of blood; Abel, who made this, findng favur wit the Lrd, whle Cain, who offered cabbages, was rather naturally considered a cheap sort. Te idea ecurs aain andagain. We have the sacrifice of the Passover, following on the stor of Abraam's beig commaned to sarifice his firstborn son, with the idea of the substitution of aimal for uman life The annal ceremoy of the two goats carries out this in perpetuity. And we se again th dominatio of this iea in the omance of Esther, where Haman and Mordecai are the two gats or gods and ultimaely in the resentationof the rite of Purim in Palestine, where Jesus and Brabbas happeed to be theGoats in tha particular ear 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. azer.
Enough has now been said to show that the bloody sacrifice has from time immemorial been the mostidered part of Magick. {92} The ethics of the thing appear to have concerned no one; nor, to teltetuth, need they do so. As St. Paul says, "Without shedding of blood there is no remission"; ndwh ae e to argue with St. Paul? But, after all that, it is open to any one to have any opinio tht h lies pon the subject, or any other subject, thank God! At the same time, it is most necesaryto sudy he bsiness, whatever we may be going to do about it; for our ethics themselves will aturaly deend uon ou theory of the universe. If we were quite certain, for example, that everybdy wen to heven whn he ded, there could be no serious objection to murder or suicide, as it is gnerallyconcede --- bythose wo 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 imnce to the student, and we therefore make no further apology, We should not have made even thisaooyfor an apology, had it not been for the solicitude of a pious young friend of great austerit o carctr 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 bloodhe principal vehicle of vital Prana.<<Prana or force" is often used as a generic term for all kid fsbtle energy. The prana of the body is only one of its "vayus". Vayu means air or spirit. Th ieaisthat all bodily forces are manifestations of the finer forces of the more real body, thi rel bdy ein 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 knowthat 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 beonly interpreted in terms of motion. So, as to "prana", one might hpothesiz a phenoenon in he etheranalogous to isomerism. We already know of bodies chemically idntical whse molecuar structre makes ne active, another inactive, to certain reagents. Metals ca be "tired or even "illed" as o some of heir properties, without discoverable chemical change. ne can "kil" steel, an "raise it rom the dea"; and flies drowned in icewater can be resuscitated That it shuld be imposible to creae high organc life is scientifically unthinkable, and the Mater Therion blieves it to e a matter offew years inded before this is done in the laboratory. Aready we restoe the apparenty drowned. Wh not those dea from such causes as syncope? If we undrstood the ultiate physics andchemistry of th brief moment o death we would get hold of the forc in some say, suply the missing lement, reverse he electrical coditions or what not. Already weprevent certain knds of death by spplying wants, asin the case of Throid.>>, 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 tohave established tha weight is lost at te moment of death, ad the unsupported sttements of alleged cairvoyants that hey have seen the sou issuing like a vapou from the mouth of pesons "in articulo moris"; but hisexperiences as an explrer have convinced theMaster Therion that met loses a notable porton of it nutritive value withina very few minutes afte the death of the anima, and that this loss prceed with ever-diminishing rpidity as time goes on. It is further generally onceded that live food, ch as oysters, is the mos rapidly assimilable and ost concentrated form of nergy.<<Once can becom acually drunk on oysters by chewing them completel. Rigor seems to be a symtom of the loss of hat I my call the Alpha-enrgy and makes a sharp breakin the curve. The Beta andother energies dssipate mor slowly. Physioogists should make it their irst duty to measure these penomena; for heir study is eidently a dirct line of research into the ature of Life. The analogy btween the iving and complex mlecules ofthe Uranium group of inorganicand the Protoplasm group of oranic elments is extremely suggstive. The faculties of growth, action self-recuperation, etc., must e asribed to similar propertiesin bth cases; and as we have detecte, measured and partially explaindradioactivity, it must be possil to contrive means of doing the sme for Life.>> Laboratory expermnts in food-values seem to be alot worthless, for reasons which w cannot here enter into; the gnera testimony of mankind appears safr guide.
It would be unwise to condemn as irrational the practice of those savages who tear the heart and from an adversary, and devour them while yet warm. In any case it was the theory of {94} the acetMgicians, that any living being is a storehouse of energy varying in quantity according to th szean halth of the animal, and in quality according to its mental and moral character. At the eat oftheanial this energy is liberated suddenly.
The animal should therefore be killed<<It is a mistake to suppose that the victim is injured. Oncontrary, this is the most blessed and merciful of all deaths, for the elemental spirit is direcl ul up into Godhead --- the exact goal of its efforts through countless incarnations. On the ohe hnd te practice of torturing animals to death in order to obtain the elemental as a slave is ndeensble uterly 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 he Master Therion's Great Magical Retirement by Lake Pasquaney, where he "crcifieda toadin theBasilik abode".>> within the Circle, or the Triangle, as the case may be, so tat its nergy cnnot esape. A animal should be selected whose nature accords with that of the cermony ---thus, bysacrificng a femle lamb one would not obtain any appreciate quantity of the fiere energy seful to Magicianwho was ivoking Mars. In such a case a ram<<A wolf would be still beter in thecase of Mas. See 77 for the crrespondences between various animals and the "32 Paths"of Nature.> would be mre suitable And this am should be virgin --- the whole potential of its oiginal totalenergy shoul not have ben diminishedin any way.<<There is also the question of its mgical freedom Sexual intecourse create a link betwen its exponents, and therefore a responsibilty.>> For thehighest spirital working onemust accordingy choose that victim which contains the reatest and purst force. A mae child of perfct innocence an high intelligence<<It appears from he Magical Recors of Frater Perdrabo that He mad this particularsacrifice on an average about 15 times every yearbetween 1912 e.v.and 1928 e.v. Cotrast J.K.Huyman' "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 chre 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 ntrpettion 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 ite that he thereby obfuscates the actual practice. Crowley did this by diversion of the act of eulitercourse and other sexual actions. He considered contraception as human sacrifice. There s o ndcaion in any of his writings that he ever performed infanticide. In fact, Crowley was eve agins abrtin.>> 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 --- the being that the spirit might obtain from the blood this subtle but physical substance which was h unessence of its life in such a manner as to enable it to take on a visible and tangible shape<<eeEqinx (I, V. Supplement: Tenth Aethyr) for an Account of an Operation where this was done. Magcalpheomea 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 s purpose the incense of Abramelin may be burnt in large quantities. Dittany of Crete is also a aubemedium. Both these incenses are very catholic in their nature, and suitable for almost any atriliaton.
But the bloody sacrifice, though more dangerous, is more efficacious; and for nearly all purposesn sacrifice is the best. The truly great Magician will be able to use his own blood, or possibl hto a disciple, and that without sacrificing the physical life irrevocably.<<Such details, howeer my afly be left to the good sense of the Student. Experience here as elsewhere is the best tachr. In he acrifice during Invocation, however, it may be said without fear of contradiction tht th deah ofthe ictim should coincide with the supreme invocation.
WEH addenda: A sworn testimony by Crowley declares that he held actual human sacrifice to physieath to be the most efficacious, but that he never did such a thing. On the matter concerning daho he victim in invocation, Crowley elsewhere enlarges that this is the ephemeral death of the go>> A eample of this sacrifice is given in Chapter 44 of Liber 333. This Mass may be recommendd gnerllyfordaily practice.
One last word on this subject. There is a Magical operation of maximum importance: the Initiatioa New Aeon. When it becomes necessary to utter a Word, the whole Planet must be bathed in blood Bfr man is ready to accept the Law of Thelema, the Great War must be fought. This Bloody Sacriic i te ritical point of the World-{96}Ceremony of the Proclamation of Horus, the Crowned and coqueingChid, s Lord of the Aeon.<<Note: This paragraph was written in the summer of 1911 e.v., jut thee yars efor its fulfilment.>>
This whole matter is prophesied in the Book of the Law itself; let the student take note, and ente ranks of the Host of the Sun.
II
There is another sacrifice with regard to which the Adepts have always maintained the most profoucrecy. It is the supreme mystery of practical Magick. Its name is the Formula of the Rosy Cros. ntis case the victim is always --- in a certain sense --- the Magician himself, and the sacrifcemut oicide with the utterance of the most sublime and secret name of the God whom he wishes toinvke. roprly performed, it never fails of its effect. But it is difficult for the beginner to do it isfatoriy, because it is a great effort for the mind to remain concentrated upon the purpose of h eremoy. Te 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 hesirable to warn the reader against the numerous false orders which have impudently assumed the nm fRsicrucian. The Masonic Societas Rosicruciana is honest and harmless; and makes no false preenes i is members happen as a rule to be pompous busy-bodies, enlarging the borders of their phyactrie, ad srupulous about cleansing the outside of the cup and the platter; if the masks of theOffiers n thir Msteries suggest the Owl, the Cat, the Parrot, and the Cuckoo, while the Robe of heir hief agus s a Lon's Skin, that is their affair. But those orders run by persons "claiming"to repesent he Tru Anciet Fraternity are common swindles. The representatives of the late S. L.Mathers(Count cGregor are th phosphorescence of the rotten wood of a branch which was lopped offthe treeat the ed of the19th cenury. Those of Papus (Dr. Encausse), Stanislas de Guaita and Peldan, meri respect s serious but lackfull knowledge and authority. The "Ordo Rosae Crucis" is a ass of ignrance and alsehood, ut this ma be a deliberate device for masking itself. The test ofany Order i its attitue towards te Law of Thlema. The True Order presents the True Symbols, butavoids attacing the TrueName thereto it is only hen the Postulant has taken irrevocable Oaths an been receive formally, tht he discover what Fraternty he has joined. If he have taken false sybols for true,and find himsef magically pldged to a gangof rascals, so much the worse for him!>>Order of the Roy Cross, {97} ad he must have aken the vows wth the fullest comprehension and exprience of their eaning. It is aso extremely desrable that he shuld have attained an absolute deree of moral emanipation<<This reslts from the fullacceptance of theLaw of THELEMA, persistentlyput into practice.>, and that purityof spirit which reults from a perfec 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 mannere once only, on an occasion of tremendous import, when, indeed, it was not He that made the offeig u ONE in Him. For he perceived a grave defect in his moral character which he has been able o vecoe n the intellectual plane, but not hitherto upon higher planes. Before the conclusion ofwriingthi bok 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, butgeneral conclusions are summed up in Frazer's "Golden Bough", which is strongly recommended to terae.
Actual ceremonial details likewise may be left to experiment. The method of killing is practicaliform. The animal should be stabbed to the heart, or its throat severed, in either case by the nf. ll other methods of killing are less efficacious; even in the case of Crucifixion death is gve b sabing.<<Yet one might devise methods of execution appropriate to the Weapons: Stabbing or lubingfortheLance or Wand, Drowning or poisoning for the Cup, Beheading for the Sword, Crushing or te Dik, Brnin for the Lamp, and so forth.>>
One may remark that warm-blooded animals only are used as victims: with two principal exceptions. first is the serpent, which is only used in a very special Ritual;<<The Serpent is not really kle;i is seethed in an appropriate vessel; and it issues in due season refreshed and modified, bu sil esetially itself. The idea is the transmission of life and wisdom from a vehicle which hasfulilld is frmula to one capable of further extension. The development of a wild fruit by repeaed pantigs i suiable soil is an analogous operation.
WEH ADDENDA: The serpent is the phallus. The vessel and the seething are likewise sub rosa.>> econd 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 r its energy may be as it were poisoned. It must also not be too large:<<The sacrifice (e.g.) o ulis sufficient for a large number of people; hence it is commonly made in public ceremonies, ndinsoe nitiations, e.g. that of a King, who needs force for his whole kingdom. Or again, in th Cosecatin o a Temple.
See Lord Dunsany, "The Blessing of Pan" --- a noble and most notable prophecy of Life's fair futurthe amount of energy disengaged is almost unimaginably great, and out of all anticipated proporto ote strength of the animal. Consequently, the Magician may easily be overwhelmed and obsessedbyth frc 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 eticalimplcatin. The danger is that one may get something which one does not want. This is "ad" b defiition Noting is in itself good or evil. The shields of the Sabines which crushed Tareia wee not urderos to tem, but the contrary. Her criticism of them was simply that they were wat she id not ant in er Opertion.>> is absolutely essential to safety.
In evocations the danger is not so great, as the Circle forms a protection; but the circle in sucase must be protected, not only by the names of God and the Invocations used at the same time, btb ong 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, , II and Liber 333, cap. XXV for both of these) should make the "real circle", i.e. he Ara o theMagu, impregnable.
This Aura should be clean-cut, resilient, radiant, iridescent, brilliant, glittering. "A Soap-buof razor-steel, streaming with light from within" is my first attempt at description; and is notbd epite its incongruities: P.
"FRATER PERDURABO, on the one occasion on which I was able to see Him as He really appears, was bri than the Sun at noon. I fell instantly to the floor in swoon which lasted several hours, durin hc was initiated." Soror A.'.. Cf. Rev. I, 12-17.>> If you are easily disturbed or alarmed, r f ouhae not yet overcome the tendency of the mind to wander, it is not advisable for you to pefor {9} te "loody Sacrifice".<<The whole idea of the word Sacrifice, as commonly understood, ress upn anerro andsuperstition, and is unscientific, besides being metaphysically false. The Law f Theema hs totlly canged 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 Conervation of Matter and of Energy.>> Yet it should not be forgotten hat this and tha other at at whih 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 meaningere is a traditional saying that whenever an Adept seems to have made a straightforward, comprehnil tatement, then is it most certain that He means something entirely different. The Truth is evrtelssclearly set forth in His Words: it is His simplicity that baffles the unworthy. I have hosn te epresions in this Chapter in such a way that it is likely to mislead those magicians whoallo selish ntersts to cloud their intelligence, but to give useful hints to such as are bound b the roperOathsto deote their powers to legitimate ends. "...thou hast no right but to do thy wil." "t is alie, tis foly against self." The radical error of all uninitiates is that they defie "self as irrconcilaly oppoed to "not-self." Each element of oneself is, on the contrary, sterle and wthout mening, unil it fufils itself, by "love under will", in its counterpart in the Macocosm. T separateoneself fom othersis to destroy oneself; the way to realize and to extend oneslf is to lse that sef --- its ense of searateness --- in the other. Thus: Child plus food: thisdoes not prserve one a the expens of the othr; it "destroys" or rather changes both in order to ulfil both i the result f the operaton --- a gron man. It is in fact impossible to preserve anyhing as it isby positive ation upon it. Its integrit demands inaction; and inaction, resistance o change, is sagnation, deat and dissolutin due to the iternal 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. wand is not a wand if it has something sticking to it which is not an essential part of itself. fyuwish 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'logy in electricity. If insulation is imperfect, the whole current goes back to earth. It is ueest plead that in all those miles of wire there is only one-hundredth of an inch unprotected. t s o oo 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 inable.<<See, however, the Essay on Truth in "Konx om Pax". The Circle (in one aspect) asserts Daiy nd emphasizes Division.>> If one littlest thought intrude upon the mind of the Mystic, his onenraio 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 spiit within the circle, the effect of the conjuration will be entirely absorbed byit.<<hile ne reains xposed to the action of all sorts of forces they more or less counterbalanceeach oher, s that he genral equilibrium, produced by evolution, is on the whole maintained. Butif we sppress ll but ne, itsaction becomes irresistible. Thus, the pressure of the atmosphere wuld crus us if w "banishd" that f our bodies; and we should crumble to dust if we rebelled succesfully aginst coheion. A mn who is ormally an "allround good sort" often becomes intolerable whn he gets id of his ollection f vices; h is swept into monomania by the spiritual pride which ha been previusly restraned by counervailing pssions. Again, there is a worse draught when an illfitting dooris closed thn when it stnds open. I is not as necessary to protect his mother and hs cattle fromDon Juan as i was from theHermits of th 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 rliminary purification of from three days to many months. During this period of training the tokth umost pains with diet. They avoided animal food, lest the elemental spirit of the animalshold et ntotheir atmosphere. They practised sexual abstinence, lest they should be influenced n an wayby te sprit of the wife. Even in regard to the excrements of the body they were equallycarefl; intrimmng th hair and nails, they ceremonially destroyed<<Such destruction should be by urningor othr mean whichproduces a complete chemical change. In so doing care should be taken t bless nd libeate thenative lemental of the thing burnt. This maxim is of universal application>> the svered potion. Tey faste, so that the body itself might destroy anything extraneous to te bare neessity ofits existnce. The purified the mind by special prayers and conservations. Thy avoided he contamiation of scial interourse, especially the conjugal kind; and their servitorswere discipes speciall chosen andconsecratedfor the work.
In modern times our superior understanding of the essentials of this process enables us to dispen some extent with its external rigours; but the internal purification must be even more carefull efred. We may eat meat, provided that in doing so we affirm that we eat it in order to strengtenusfo te special purpose of our proposed invocation.<<In an Abbey of Thelema we say "Will" befoe amea. he ormula is as follows. "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." "What is hy Wll?" "Itis m will to eat and drink" "To what end?" "That my body may be fortified thereby. "Towhat nd?" "ThatI may accomplish the Great Work." "Love is the law, love under will." "Fal to!" This my be aapted s a monologue. One may also add the inquiry "What is the Great Work?" ad answe appropiately,when itseems useful to specify the nature of the Operation in progress at te time. The poin is to size ever occasion of bringing every available force to bear upon the objctive of he assaul. It doe not mattr what the force is (by any standard of judgment) so long asit plays is proper prt in secuing the sucess of the general purpose. Thus, even laziness may beused to incease our inifference t interferin impulses, or envy to counteract carelessness. See iber CLXXV, quinox I, VI, p. 37. Ths is especialy true, since the forces are destroyed by the pocess. That s, one destros a complex wich in itselfis "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 gravngers of falling into spiritual pride.
We have understood the saying: "To the pure all things are pure", and we have learnt how to act uit. We can analyse the mind far more acutely than could the ancients, and we can therefore distnus he real and right feeling from its imitations. A man may eat meat from self-indulgence, or n rdr o void the dangers of asceticism. We must constantly examine ourselves, and assure ourseles hatevey ation is really subservient to the One Purpose.
It is ceremonially desirable to seal and affirm this mental purity by Ritual, and accordingly thet operation in any actual ceremony is bathing and robing, with appropriate words. The bath signfe h removal of all things extraneous to antagonistic to the one thought. The putting on of theroe s hepositive side of the same operation. It is the assumption of the fame of mind suitable o tat ne houht.
A similar operation takes place in the preparation of every instrument, as has been seen in the Cr devoted to that subject. In the preparation of the place of working, the same considerations pl. e first remove from that place all objects; and we then put into it those objects, and only hoe 10} bjects, which are necessary. During many days we occupy ourselves in this process of clansng nd onscration; and this again is confirmed in the actual ceremony.
The cleansed and consecrated Magician takes his cleansed and consecrated instruments into that cld and consecrated place, and there proceeds to repeat that double ceremony in the ceremony itsel,wihhas these same two main parts. The first part of every ceremony is the banishing; the secon, heinokng. The same formula is repeated even in the ceremony of banishing itself, for in the bnisingrital f the pentagram we not only command the demons to depart, but invoke the Archangels nd teir oststo at as guardians of the Circle during our pre-occupation with the ceremony proper. Inmore laborte ceemonies it is usual to banish everything by name. Each element, each planet and ech sig, perhps eve the Sephiroth themselves; all are removed, including the very one whichwe wishd to inoke, fo that frces as existing in Nature is always impure. But this process, bein long an wearisoe, is no altogeter advisable in actual working. It is usually sufficient to perorm a genral banising, and o rely upn the aid of the guardians invoked. Let the banishing thereore be shot, but in o wise slured --- fo it is useful as it tends to produce the proper attitudeof mind forthe invocatons. "The anishing Riual of the Pentagram" (as now rewritten, Liber 333, ap. XXV) is he best to ue.<<See alsothe Ritual clled "The Mark of the Beast" given in an Appendi. But this i pantomorphou.>> Only thefour elementsare specifically mentioned, but these four eements containthe planets an the signs<<Th signs and theplanets, of course, contain, the element. It is importnt to remember his fact, as ithelps one to grsp what all these terms really mean. None of the "Thrty-two Paths" i a simple idea; ach one is a comination, differentiated from theothers by its strcture and proportons. The chemica elements are simlarly constituted, as the crtics of Magick hav at last been complled to admit.>> -- the four element 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! atch 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 thaty thing necessary to the ceremony is in its right place. The Magician may then proceed to the fnlcnecration of the furniture of the Temple.<<That is, of the special arrangement of that furnitre ac oject should have been separately consecrated beforehand. The ritual here in question shuldsumarie te situation, and devote the particular arrangement to its purpose by invoking the aproprate orce. Lt it be well remembered that each object is bound by the Oaths of its original cnsecrtion s suc. Ths, if a pantacle has been made sacred to Venus, it cannot be used in an opertion o Mars;the Enrgy ofthe Exorcist would be taken up in overcoming the opposition of the "Karm" or inrtia threin inerent.>
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