9919 lines
277 KiB
Plaintext
9919 lines
277 KiB
Plaintext
November 13, 1988 e.v. key entry by Bill Heidrick T.G. O.T.O.
|
||
(c) O.T.O. NOT PROOFED!
|
||
for special characters and alphabets. ---- This is an ASCII file
|
||
Items in Curly Braces are Descriptions of Single Characters --Tony
|
||
*************************************************************************
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Liber CXI vel {HB:Aleph } Aleph
|
||
|
||
The Book of Wisdom and Folly.
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{Pi }{Iota }{Sigma }{Tau }{Omicron }{Lambda }{Eta }
|
||
{Tau }{Omega }{Upsilon } {Mu }{Epsilon }{Gamma }{Alpha }{Lambda }{Omicron }{Upsilon }
|
||
|
||
{Theta }{Eta }{Rho }{Iota }{Omicron }{Upsilon }
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Pi }{Rho }{Omicron }{Sigma } {Tau }{Omicron }{Nu }
|
||
{Upsilon }{Iota }{Omicron }{Nu }
|
||
{Alpha }{Upsilon }{Tau }{Omicron }{Upsilon }{Gamma }{Epsilon }{Sigma }{Rho }{Alpha }{Mu }{Mu }{Alpha }{Tau }
|
||
{Omicron }{Nu }
|
||
|
||
|
||
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
--------------
|
||
|
||
Love is the law, love under will.
|
||
|
||
|
||
666
|
||
|
||
AN X I V
|
||
|
||
{Sun} in {Aries}
|
||
|
||
{Moon} in {Aries}
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Liber CXI vel {HB:Aleph } Aleph
|
||
|
||
The Book of Wisdom and Folly.
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{Pi }{Iota }{Sigma }{Tau }{Omicron }{Lambda }{Eta }
|
||
{Tau }{Omega }{Upsilon } {Mu }{Epsilon }{Gamma }{Alpha }{Lambda }{Omicron }{Upsilon }
|
||
|
||
{Theta }{Eta }{Rho }{Iota }{Omicron }{Upsilon }
|
||
|
||
{Pi }{Rho }{Omicron }{Sigma } {Tau }{Omicron }{Nu }
|
||
{Upsilon }{Iota }{Omicron }{Nu }
|
||
{Alpha }{Upsilon }{Tau }{Omicron }{Upsilon }{Gamma }{Epsilon }{Sigma }{Rho }{Alpha }{Mu }{Mu }{Alpha }{Tau }
|
||
{Omicron }{Nu }
|
||
|
||
|
||
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
|
||
|
||
|
||
------------
|
||
|
||
{alpha } A P O L O G I A
|
||
|
||
|
||
I have begotten thee, o my Son, and that strangle, as thou
|
||
knowest, upon the Scarlet Woman called Hilarion, as it was
|
||
mysteriously foretold unto me in "The Book of the Law." Now
|
||
therefore that thou art come to the Age of Understanding, do
|
||
thou give ear unto my Wisdom, for that therein lieth a simple
|
||
and direct Way for every Man that he may attain to the End.
|
||
Firstly, then, I would have thee to know that Spiritual
|
||
Experience and Perfection have no necessary connection with
|
||
Advancement in our Holy Order. But for each Man is a Path:
|
||
there is a Constant, and there is a Variable. Seek ever
|
||
therefore in thy Work of the Promulgation of the Law to
|
||
discover in each Man his own true Nature, that
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-2-
|
||
|
||
he may in due Season accomplish it not only for himself, but
|
||
for all who are bound unto him. There are very many for whom
|
||
in their present Incarnations this Great Work may be
|
||
impossible; since their appointed Work may be in Satisfaction
|
||
of some Magical Debt, or in Adjustment of some Balance, or in
|
||
Fulfilment of some Defect. As is written: Suum Cuique.
|
||
(Jedem das Seine.)
|
||
Now because thou art the Child of my Bowels, I yearn
|
||
greatly towards thee, o my Son, and I strive strongly with my
|
||
Spirit that by my Wisdom I may make plain thy Way before thee;
|
||
and thus in many Chapters will I write for thee those things
|
||
that may profit thee.
|
||
Sis benedictus.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-3-
|
||
|
||
{beta } DE ARTE KABBALISTIKA.
|
||
|
||
Do thou study most constantly, my Son, in the Art of the
|
||
Holy Qabalah. Know that herein the Relations between Numbers,
|
||
though they be mighty in Power and prodigal of Knowledge, are
|
||
but lesser Things. For the Work is to reduce all other
|
||
conceptions to these of Number, because thus thou wilt lay
|
||
bare the very Structure of thy Mind, whose rule is Necessity
|
||
rather than Prejudice. Not until the Universe is thus laid
|
||
naked before thee canst thou truly anatomize it. The
|
||
Tendencies of thy Mind lie deeper far than any Thought, for
|
||
they are the Conditions and the Laws of Thought; and it is
|
||
these that thou must bring to Nought.
|
||
This Way is most sure; most sacred; and the Enemies thereof
|
||
most awful, most sublime. It is for the Great Souls to enter
|
||
on this Rigour and Austerity. To them the Gods themselves do
|
||
Homage; for it is the Way of Utmost Purity.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-4-
|
||
|
||
{gamma } DE VITA CORRIGENDA.
|
||
|
||
Know, son, that the true Principle of Self-Control is
|
||
Liberty. For we are born into a World which is in Bondage to
|
||
Ideals; to them we are perforce fitted, even as the Enemies to
|
||
the Bed of Procrustes. Each of us, as he grows, learns
|
||
Repression of himself and his true Will. "It is a lie, this
|
||
folly against self.": these Words are written in "The Book of""
|
||
""the Law". So therefore these Passions in ourselves which we
|
||
understand to be Hindrances are not part of our True Will, but
|
||
diseased Appetites, manifest in us through false early
|
||
Training. Thus the Tabus of savage Tribes in such matter as
|
||
Love constrain that True Love which is born in us; and by this
|
||
Constraint come ills of Body and Mind. Either the Force of
|
||
Repression carries it, and creates Neuroses and Insanities; or
|
||
the Revolt against that Force, breaking forth with Violence,
|
||
involves Excesses and Extravagances. All these Things are
|
||
Disorders, and against Nature. Now then learn of me the
|
||
testimony of History and literature as a great Scroll of
|
||
Learning. But the Vellum of the Scroll is of Man's Skin, and
|
||
|
||
its Ink of his Heart's Blood.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-5-
|
||
|
||
{delta } LEGRENDA DE AMORE.
|
||
|
||
The Fault, that is Fatality, in Love, as in every other
|
||
Form of Will, is Impurity. It is not the Spontaneity there-of
|
||
which worketh Woe, but some Repression in the Environment.
|
||
In the Fable of Adam and Eve is this great Lesson taught by
|
||
the Masters of the Holy Qabalah. For Love were to them the
|
||
eternal Eden, save for the Repression signified by the Tree of
|
||
the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus their Nature of Love was
|
||
perfect; it was their Fall from that Innocence which drove
|
||
them from the Garden.
|
||
In the Love of Romeo and Juliet was no Flaw; but family
|
||
Feud, which imported nothing to that Love, was its Bane; and
|
||
the Rashness and Violence of their Revolt against that
|
||
Repression, slew them.
|
||
In the pure Outrush of Love in Desdemona for Othello was no
|
||
Flaw; but his Love was marred by his consciousness of his Age
|
||
and his Race, of the Prejudices of his Fellows and of his own
|
||
Experience of Woman-Frailty.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-6-
|
||
|
||
{epsilon } GESTA DE AMORE.
|
||
|
||
Now as Literature overfloweth with the Murders of Love, so
|
||
also doeth History, and the Lesson is ever the same.
|
||
Thus the Loves of Abelard and of Heloise were destroyed by
|
||
the System of Repression in which they chanced to move.
|
||
Thus Beatrice was robbed of Dante by social
|
||
Artificialities; and Paolo slain on account of Things external
|
||
to his Love of Francesca.
|
||
Then, per contra, Martin Luther, being a Giant of Will, and
|
||
also the Eighth Henry of England, as a mighty King, bent them
|
||
to overturn the whole World that they might have satisfaction
|
||
of their Loves.
|
||
And who shall follow them? For even now we find great
|
||
Churchmen, Statesmen, Princes, Dramamakers, and many lesser
|
||
Men, overwhelmed utterly and ruined by the conflict between
|
||
their Passions and the Society about them. Wherein which
|
||
Party errs is no matter of Moment for our Thought; but the
|
||
Existence of the War is Evidence of Wrong done to Nature.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-7-
|
||
|
||
{digamma } UTIMA THESIS DE AMORE.
|
||
|
||
Therefore, o my Son, be thou wary, not bowing before the
|
||
false Idols and ideals, yet not flaming forth in Fury against
|
||
them, unless that be thy will.
|
||
But in this Matter be prudent and be silent, discerning
|
||
subtly and with acumen the nature of the Will within thee; so
|
||
that thou mistake not Fear for Chastity, or Anger for Courage.
|
||
And since the fetters are old and heavy, and thy Limbs
|
||
withered and distorted by reason of their Compulsion, do thou,
|
||
having broken them, walk gently for a little while, until the
|
||
ancient Elasticity return, so that thou mayst walk, run, and
|
||
leap naturally and with Rejoicing.
|
||
Also, since these Fetters are as a Bond almost universal,
|
||
be instant to declare the Law of Liberty, and the full
|
||
Knowledge of all Truth that appertaineth to this Matter; for
|
||
if in this only thou overcome, then shall all Earth be free,
|
||
taking its Pleasure in Sunlight without Fear or Phrenzy. Amen.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-8-
|
||
|
||
{zeta } DE NATURA SUA PERCIPIENDA.
|
||
|
||
Understand,o my Son, in thy Youth, these Words which some
|
||
wise One, now nameless, spake of old; except ye become as
|
||
little Children ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of
|
||
Heaven. This is to say that thou must first comprehend thine
|
||
original Nature in every Point, before thou wast forced to bow
|
||
before the Gods of Wood and Stone that Men have made, not
|
||
comprehending the Law of Change, and of Evolution Through
|
||
Variation, and the independent Value of every living Soul.
|
||
Learn this also, that even the Will to the Great Work may
|
||
be misunderstood of Men; for this Work must proceed naturally
|
||
and without Overstress, as all true Works. Right also is that
|
||
Word that the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth Violence, and the
|
||
violent take it by Force. But except thou be violent by
|
||
Virtue of thy true Nature, how shalt thou take it? Be not as
|
||
the Ass in the Lion's Skin; but if thou be born Ass, bear
|
||
patiently thy Burdens, and enjoy thy Thistles; for an Ass
|
||
also, as in the Fables of Apuleius and Matthaiss, may come to
|
||
Glory in the Path of his own Virtue.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-9-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{eta } ALTERA DE VIA MATURAE.
|
||
|
||
Sayest thou (methinks) that here is a great Riddle, since
|
||
by Reason of much Repression thou hast lost the Knowledge of
|
||
thine original Nature?
|
||
My son, this is not so; for by a peculiar Ordinance of
|
||
Heaven, and a Disposition occult within his Mine, is every Man
|
||
protected from this Loss of his own Soul, until and unless be
|
||
be by Choronzon disintegrated and dispersed beyond power of
|
||
Will to repair; as when the Conflict within him, rending and
|
||
burning, hath made his Mind utterly desert, and his Soul
|
||
Madness.
|
||
Give Ear, give Ear attentively; the Will is not lost;
|
||
though it be buried beneath a life-old midden of Repressions,
|
||
for it persisteth vital within thee (is it not the true Motion
|
||
of thine inmost Being?) and for all thy conscious Striving
|
||
cometh forth by Night and by Stealth in Dream and Phantasy.
|
||
Now is it naked and brilliant, now clothed in rich Robes of
|
||
Symbol and Hieroglyph; but always travelleth it with thee upon
|
||
|
||
thy Path, ready to acquaint thee with thy true Nature, if thou
|
||
attend unto its Word, its Gesture, or its Show of Imagery.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-10-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{theta } QUO MODO NATURA SUA EST LEGENDA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Therefore deem not that thy lightest Fancy is
|
||
insignificant. Thy most unconscious Acts are Keys to the
|
||
Treasure-Chamber of thine own Palace, which is the House of
|
||
the Holy Ghost. Consider well thy conscious Thoughts and
|
||
Acts, for they are under the Dominion of thy Will, and moved
|
||
in Accord with the Operation of thy Reason; this indeed is a
|
||
necessary work, enabling to comprehend in what manner thou
|
||
mayst adjust thyself to thine Environment. Yet is this
|
||
Adaptation but Defence for the most Part, or at the best
|
||
Subterfuge and Stratagem in the Tactics of thy Life, with but
|
||
an accidental and subordinate Relation to thy true Will,
|
||
whereof by Consciousness and by Reason thou mayst be ignorant,
|
||
unless by Fortune great and rare thou be already harmonized in
|
||
thyself, the Outer with the Inner, which Grace is not common
|
||
among Men, and is the Reward of previous Attainment.
|
||
Neglect not simple Introspections, therefore; but give yet
|
||
|
||
greater Heed unto those Dreams and Phantasies, those Gestures
|
||
and Manners unconscious, and of undiscovered Cause, which
|
||
betoken thee.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-11
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
{kappa } DE SOMNISS. {alpha } CAUSA PER
|
||
ACCIDENS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
As all diseases have two conjunct causes, one immediate,
|
||
external and exciting, the other constitutional, internal, and
|
||
predisposing, so it is with Dreams, which are Dis-Eases, or
|
||
unbalanced States of Consciousness, Disturbers of Sleep as
|
||
Thoughts are of Life.
|
||
This exciting Cause is commonly of two kinds: videlicet,
|
||
imprimis, the physical Condition of the Sleeper, as a Dream of
|
||
Water caused by a shower without, or a Dream of Strangulation
|
||
caused by a Dyspnoea, or a Dream of Lust caused by the seminal
|
||
Congestions of an unclean Life, or a Dream of falling or
|
||
flying caused by some unstable Equilibrium of Body.
|
||
Secundo, the psychic condition of the Sleeper, the Dream
|
||
being determined by recent Events in his Life, usually those
|
||
of the Day previous, and especially such Events as have caused
|
||
|
||
Excitement of Anxiety, the more so if they be unfinished or
|
||
unfulfilled.
|
||
But this exciting Cause is of a superficial Nature, as it
|
||
were a Cloke or a Mask; and thus it but lendeth Aspect to the
|
||
other Cause, which lieth in the Nature of the Sleeper himself.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-12-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{kappa } DE SOMNIIS. {beta } CAUSA PER
|
||
NATURAM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
The deep, constitutional, or predisposing Cause of Dreams
|
||
lieth within the Jurisdiction of the Will itself. For that
|
||
Will, being alway present, albeit (it may be) latent,
|
||
discovereth himself when no longer inhibited by that conscious
|
||
Control which is determined by Environment, and therefore oft
|
||
times contrary to himself. This being so, the Will declareth
|
||
himself, as it were in a Pageant, and showeth himself thus
|
||
apparelled, unto the Sleeper, for a Warning or Admonition.
|
||
Every Dream, or Pageant of Fancy, is therefore a Shew of Will;
|
||
and Will being no more prevented by Environment or by
|
||
Consciousness, cometh as a Conqueror. Yet even so he must
|
||
come for the most Part throned upon the Chariot of the
|
||
exciting Cause of the Dream, and therefore is his Appearance
|
||
symbolic, like a Writing in Cipher, or like a Fable, or like a
|
||
Riddle in Pictures. But alway does he triumph and fulfil
|
||
|
||
himself therein, for the Dream is a natural Compensation in
|
||
the inner World for any Failure of Achievement in the outer.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-13-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{lambda } DE SOMNIIS. {gamma } VESTIMENTA
|
||
HORRORIS.
|
||
|
||
Now then if in a Dream the Will be always triumphant, how
|
||
cometh it that a Man may be ridden of the Nightmare? And of
|
||
this the true Explanation is that in such a case the Will is
|
||
in Danger, having been attacked and wounded or corrupted by
|
||
the Violence of some Repression. Thus the Consciousness of
|
||
the Will is directed to the sore Spot, as in Pain, and seeketh
|
||
comfort in an Externalisation, or shew, of that Antagonism.
|
||
And because the Will is sacred, such dreams excite an Ecstacy
|
||
or Phrenzy of Horror, Fear or Disgust. Thus the true Will of
|
||
Oedipus was toward the bed of Jocasta, but the Tabu, strong
|
||
both by Inheritance and by Environment, was so attached to
|
||
that Will that his Dream concerning his Destiny was a Dream of
|
||
Fear and of Abhorrence, his Fulfilment thereof (even in
|
||
Ignorance) a spell to stir up all the subconscious Forces of
|
||
all the People about him, and his Realization of the Act a
|
||
|
||
madness potent to drive him to self-inflicted Blindness and
|
||
fury-haunted Exile.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-14-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{mu } DE SOMNIIS. {delta } SEQUENTIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Know firmly, o my son, that the true Will cannot err; for
|
||
this is thine appointed course in Heaven, in whose order is
|
||
Perfection.
|
||
A Dream of Horror is therefore the most serious of all
|
||
Warnings; for it signifieth that thy Will, which is Thy Self
|
||
in respect of its Motion, is in Affliction and Danger. Thus
|
||
thou must instantly seek out the Cause of that subconscious
|
||
Conflict, and destroy thine Enemy utterly by bringing thy
|
||
conscious Vigour as an Ally to that true Will. If then there
|
||
be a Traitor in the Consciousness, how much the more is it
|
||
necessary for thee to arise and extirpate him before he wholly
|
||
infect thee with the divided Purpose which is the first Breach
|
||
in that Fortress of the Soul whose Fall should bring it to the
|
||
shapeless Ruin whose Name is Choronzon!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-15-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{nu } DE SOMNIIS. {epsilon } CLAVICULA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
The Dream delightful is then a Pageant of the Fulfilment of
|
||
the true Will, and the Nightmare a symbolic Battle between it
|
||
and its Assailants in thyself. But there can be only one true
|
||
Will, even as there can be only one proper Motion in any Body,
|
||
no matter of how many Forces that Motion be the Resultant.
|
||
Seek therefore this Will, and conjoin with it thy conscious
|
||
Self; for this is that which is written; "Thou hast no right
|
||
but to do thy Will. Do that, and no other shall say nay."
|
||
Thou seest, o my Son, that all conscious Opposition to thy
|
||
Will, whether in Ignorance, or by Obstinacy, or through Fear
|
||
of others, may in the end endanger even thy true Self, and
|
||
bring thy Star into Disaster.
|
||
And this is the true Key to Dreams; see that thou be
|
||
diligent in its Use, and unlock therewith the secret Chambers
|
||
of thine Heart.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-16-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{xi } DE VIA PER EMPYRAEUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Concerning they Travellings in thy Body of Light, or
|
||
Astral journeys and Visions so-called, do thou lay this Wisdom
|
||
to thy Heart, o my Son, that in this Practice, whether Things
|
||
Seen and Heard be Truth and Reality, or whether they be
|
||
Phantoms in the Mind, abideth this Supreme Magical Value,
|
||
namely: Whereas the Direction of such Journeys is consciously
|
||
willed, and determined by Reason, and also unconsciously
|
||
willed, by the true Self, since without It no Invocation were
|
||
possible, we have here a Cooperation of Alliance between the
|
||
Inner and the Outer Self, and thus an Accomplishment, at least
|
||
partial, of the Great Work.
|
||
And therefore is Confusion or Terror in any such Practice
|
||
an Error fearful indeed, bringing about Obsession, which is a
|
||
temporary or even it may be a permanent Division of the
|
||
Personality, or Insanity, and therefore a defeat most fatal
|
||
|
||
and pernicious, a Surrender of the Soul to Choronzon.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-17-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{omicron } DE CULTU.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now, o my Son, that thou mayst be well guarded against thy
|
||
ghostly Enemies, do thou work constantly by the Means
|
||
prescribed in our Holy Books.
|
||
Neglect never the fourfold Adorations of the Sun in his
|
||
four Stations, for thereby thou doest affirm thy Place in
|
||
Nature and her Harmonies.
|
||
Neglect not the Performance of the Ritual of the Pentagram,
|
||
and of the Assumption of the Form of Hoor-pa Kraat.
|
||
Neglect not the daily Miracle of the Mass, either by the
|
||
Rite of the Gnostic Catholic Church, or that of the Phoenix.
|
||
Neglect not the Performance of the Mass of the Holy Ghost,
|
||
as Nature herself prompteth thee.
|
||
Travel also much in the Empyrean in the Body of Light,
|
||
seeking ever Abodes more fiery and lucid.
|
||
Finally, exercise constantly the Eight Limbs of Yoga., And
|
||
|
||
so shalt thou come to the End.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-18-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{pi } DE CLAVIGULA SOMNIORUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
And now concerning Meditation let me disclose unto thee
|
||
more fully the Mystery of the Key of Dreams and Phantasies.
|
||
Learn first that as the Thought of the Mind standeth before
|
||
the Soul and hindereth its Manifestation in consciousness, so
|
||
also the gross physical Will is the Creator of the Dreams of
|
||
common Men, and as in Meditation thou doest destroy every
|
||
Thought by mating it with its Opposite, so must thou cleanse
|
||
thyself by a full and perfect Satisfaction of that bodily will
|
||
in the Way of Chastity and Holiness which has been revealed
|
||
unto thee in thy Initiation.
|
||
This inner Silence of the Body being attained, it may be
|
||
that the true Will may speak in True Dreams; for it is written
|
||
that He giveth unto His Beloved in Sleep.
|
||
Prepare thyself therefore in this Way, as a good Knight
|
||
should do.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-19-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{koppa } DE SOMNO LUCIDO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now know this also that at the End of that secret Way lieth
|
||
a Garden wherein is a Rest House prepared for thee.
|
||
For to him whose physical Needs of whatever Kind are not
|
||
truly satisfied cometh a Lunar or physical Sleep appointed to
|
||
refresh and recreate by Cleansing and Repose; but on him that
|
||
is bodily pure the Lord bestoweth a Solar or Lucid Sleep,
|
||
wherein move Images of pure Light fashioned by the True Will.
|
||
And this is called by the Qabalists the Sleep of Shiloam, and
|
||
of this doeth also Porphyry make mention mention, and Cicero,
|
||
with many other Wise Men of Old Time.
|
||
Compare, o my Son, with this Doctrine that which was taught
|
||
thee in the Sanctuary of the Gnosis concerning the Death of
|
||
the Righteous; and learn moreover that these are but
|
||
particular Cases of an Universal Formula.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-20-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{rho } DE VENEMIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My Son, if thou fast ahwile, there shall come unto thee a
|
||
second State of physiological Being, in which is a delight
|
||
passive and equable, without Will, a contentment of Weakness,
|
||
with a Feeling of Lightness and of Purity. And this is
|
||
because the Blood hath absorbed, in its Need of Nutriment, all
|
||
foreign Elements. Such also is the Case with the Mind which
|
||
hath not fed itself on Thought. Consider the placid and
|
||
ruminent Existence of such Persons as read little, are removed
|
||
from worldy Struggle by some sufficient Property of small and
|
||
unexciting Value, stably invested, and by Age and Environment
|
||
are free from Passion. They live, according to their own
|
||
Nature, without Desire, and they oppose no Resistance to the
|
||
Operations of Time. Such are called Happy, and in their Way
|
||
of Vegetable Life it is so; for they are free of any Poison.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-21-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{sigma } DE MOTU VITAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Learn then, o my Son, that all Phenomena are the effect of
|
||
Conflict, even as the Universe itself is a Nothing expressed
|
||
as the Difference of two Equalities, or, an thou wilt, as the
|
||
Divorce of Nuith and Hadith. So therefore every Marriage
|
||
dissolveth a more material, and createth a less material
|
||
Complex; and this is our Way of Live, rising ever from Ekstacy
|
||
to Ekstacy. So then all high Violence, that is to say, all
|
||
Consciousness, is the spiritual Orgasm of a Passion between
|
||
two lower and grosser Opposites. Thus Light and Heat result
|
||
from the Marriage of Hydrogen and Oxygen; Love from that of
|
||
Man and Woman, Dhyana or Ekstacy from that of the Ego and the
|
||
non-Ego.
|
||
But be thou well grounded in this Thesis corollary, that
|
||
one or two such Marriages do but destroy for a Time the
|
||
Exacerbation of any Complex; to deracinate such is a Work of
|
||
|
||
long Habit and deep Search in Darkness for the Germ thereof.
|
||
But this once accomplished, that particular Complex is
|
||
destroyed, or sublimated for ever.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-22-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{tau } DE MORBIS SANGUINIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now then understand that all Opposition to the Way of
|
||
Nature createth Violence. If thine excretory System do its
|
||
Function not at its fullest, there come Poisons in the Blood,
|
||
and the Consciousness is modified by the conflicts or
|
||
Marriages between the elements heterogeneous. Thus if the
|
||
Liver be not efficient, we have Melancholy; if the Kidneys,
|
||
Coma; if the Testes or Ovaries, loss of Personality itself.
|
||
Also, an we poison the Blood directly with Belladonna, we have
|
||
Delirium vehement and furious; with Hashish, Visions
|
||
phantastic and enormous; with Anhiolonium, Ekstacy of colour
|
||
and what not; with diverse Germs of Disease, Disturbances of
|
||
Consciousness varying with the Nature of the Germ. Also with
|
||
Ether, we gain the Power of analysing the Consciousness into
|
||
its Planes; and so for many others.
|
||
But all these are, in our mystical Sense, Poisons; that is,
|
||
|
||
we take two Things diverse and opposite, binding them together
|
||
so that they are compelled to unite; and the Orgasm of each
|
||
Marriage is an Ekstacy, the Lower dissolving in the Higher.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-23-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{upsilon } DE CURSU AMORIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
I continue then, o my son, and reiterate that this Formula
|
||
is general to all Nature. And thou wilt note that by repeated
|
||
Marriage cometh Toleration, so the Ekstacy appeareth no more.
|
||
Thus his half grain of Morphia, which first opened his Gates
|
||
of Heaven, is nothing worth to the Self-poisoner after a Year
|
||
of dayly Practice. So too the Lover findeth no more Joy in
|
||
Union with his Mistress, so soon as the original Attraction
|
||
between them is satisfied by repeated Conjunctions. For this
|
||
Attraction is an Antagonism; and the greater this Antinomy,
|
||
the more fierce the Puissance of the Magnetism, and the
|
||
Quality of Energy disengaged by the Coition.
|
||
Thus in the Union of Similars, as of Halogens with each
|
||
other, is no strong Passion of explosive Force, and the Love
|
||
between two Persons of the like Character and Taste is placid
|
||
and without Transmutation to higher Planes.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-24-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{phi } DE NUPTIIS MYSTICIS.
|
||
|
||
O my Son, how wonderful is the Wisdom of this Law of Love!
|
||
How vast are the Oceans of uncharted Joy that lie before the
|
||
Keel of thy Ship! Yet know this, that every Opposition is in
|
||
its Nature named Sorrow, and the Joy lieth in the Destruction
|
||
of the Dyad. Therefore, must thou seek ever those Things
|
||
which are to thee poisonous, and that in the highest Degree,
|
||
and make them thine by Love. That which repels, that which
|
||
disgusts, must thou assimilate in this Way of Wholeness. Yet
|
||
rest not in the Joy of the Destruction of each complex in thy
|
||
Nature, but press on to that ultimate Marriage with the
|
||
Universe whose Consummation shall destroy thee utterly,
|
||
leaving only that Nothingness which was before the Beginning.
|
||
So then the Life of Non-Action is not for thee; the
|
||
Withdrawal from Activity is not the Way of the Tao; but rather
|
||
the Intensification and making universal every Unit of thine
|
||
Energy on every Plane.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-25-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{chi } DE VOLUPTATE POENARUM.
|
||
|
||
Go forth, o my Son, o Son of the Sun, rejoicing in thy
|
||
Strength, as a Warrior, as a Bridegroom, to take thy Pleasure
|
||
upon the Earth, and in every Palace of the Mind, moving ever
|
||
from the crass to the subtle, from the coarse to the fine.
|
||
Conquer every Repulsion in thy self, subdue every Aversion.
|
||
Assimilate all Poison, for therein only is there Profit. Seek
|
||
constantly therefore to know what is painful and to cleave
|
||
thereunto, for by Pain cometh true Pleasure. Those who avoid
|
||
Pain physical or mental remain little Men, and there is no
|
||
Virtue in them. Yet be thou ware lest thou fall into the
|
||
Heresy which maketh Pain, and Self-sacrifice as it were Bribes
|
||
to corrupt God, to secure some future Pleasure in an imagined
|
||
After-life. Nay, also of the other Part, fear not to destroy
|
||
thy Complexes, thinking dreadfully thereby to lose the Power
|
||
of creating Joy by their Distinction. Yet in each Marriage be
|
||
thou bold to affirm the spiritual Ardour of the Orgasm, fixing
|
||
|
||
it in some Talisman, whether it be Art, or Magick, or Theurgy.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-26-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{psi } DE VOLUNTATE ULTIMA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Say not then that this Way is contrary to Nature, and that
|
||
in Simplicity of Satisfaction of thy Needs is perfection of
|
||
thy Path. For to thee, who hast aspired, it is thy Nature to
|
||
perform the Great Work, and this is the final Dissolution of
|
||
the Cosmos. For though a Stone seem to lie still on a
|
||
Mountain Top, and have no care, yet hath it an hidden Nature,
|
||
a Task Ineffable and Stupendous; namely, to force its Way to
|
||
the Centre of Gravity of the Universe, and also to burn up its
|
||
Elements into the final Homogeneity of Matter. Therefore the
|
||
Way of Quiet is but an Illusion of Ignorance. Whoever thou
|
||
mayst be now, thy Destiny is that which I have declared unto
|
||
thee; and thou art most fixed in the true Way when, accepting
|
||
this consciously as thy Will, thou gathereth up thy Powers to
|
||
move thy Self mightily within it.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-27-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{omega } DE DIFFERENTIA RERUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
But, o my Son, although thine ultimate Nature be Universal,
|
||
thine immediate Nature is Particular. Thy Way to the Centre
|
||
is not oriented as that of any other Being, and thine elements
|
||
are no kin, but alien, to his. For Shame! Is it not the most
|
||
transcendent of all the Wisdoms of this Cosmos, that no two
|
||
Beings are alike? Lo! This is the Secret of all Beauty, and
|
||
maketh Love not only possible, but necessary, between every
|
||
Thing and every other Thing. So then, lest thou in thine
|
||
Ignorance take the false Way, and divigate, must thou learn
|
||
thine own particular and peculiar Nature in its Relation to
|
||
all others. For though it be Illusion, it is by the true
|
||
Analysis of Falsehoods that we are able to destroy them, just
|
||
as the Physician must understand the Disease of his Patient if
|
||
he is to choose the fitting Remedy. Now therefore will I make
|
||
yet more clear unto thee the Value of thy Dreams and
|
||
|
||
Phantesies and Gestures of thine unconscious Body and Mind, as
|
||
Symptoms of thy particular Will, and show thee how thy mayst
|
||
come to their Interpretation.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-28-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{alpha } DE VOLUNTATE TACITA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
All Disturbances, o my Son, are Variations from
|
||
Equilibrium; and just as thy conscious Thoughts, Words, and
|
||
Acts are Effects of the Displacement of the conscious Will, so
|
||
is it in the Unconscious. For the most Part, therefore, all
|
||
Dreams, Phantasies, and Gestures represent that Will
|
||
subliminal; and if the physical Part of that Will be
|
||
unsatisfied, its Utterance will predominate in all these
|
||
automatic Expressions. Do thou then note what Modifications
|
||
thereof follow such Changes in the conscious Foundation of
|
||
that Part of thy Will as thou mayst make in thy Experiments
|
||
therewith, and thus separate, as sayeth Trismegistus, the fine
|
||
from the coarse, Fire from Earth, or, as we may say, assign
|
||
each Effect to its true Cause. Seek then to perfect a
|
||
conscious Satisfaction of every Part of that Will, so that the
|
||
unconscious Disturbances be at last brought to Silence. Then
|
||
|
||
will the Residuum be as an Elixir clarified and perfected, a
|
||
true Symbol of that other hidden Will which is the Vector of
|
||
thy Magical Self.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-29-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{beta } DE FORMULA SUMMA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Learn moreover that thy Self includeth the whole Universe
|
||
of thy Knowledge, so that every increase upon every Plane is
|
||
an Aggrandisement of that Self. Yet the greater Part of this
|
||
Universe is common Knowledge, so that thy Self is interwoven
|
||
with other Selves, save for that Part peculiar to thy Self.
|
||
And as thou growest, so also this peculiar Part is ever of
|
||
less Proportion to the Whole, until when thou becomest
|
||
infinite, it is a Quantity infinitesimal and to be neglected.
|
||
Lo! When the All is absorbed within the I, it is as if the I
|
||
were absorbed within the All; for if two Things become wholly
|
||
and indissolubly One Thing, there is no more Reason for Names,
|
||
since Names are given to mark off one Thing from another. And
|
||
this is that which is written in "The Book of the Law": "...Let
|
||
there be no difference made among you between any one thing &
|
||
any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt. But whoso
|
||
|
||
availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!"
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-30-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{gamma } DE VIA INERTIAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Of the Way of the Tao I have already written to thee, o my
|
||
Son, but I further instruct thee in this Doctrine of doing
|
||
everything by doing nothing. I will first have thee to
|
||
understand that the Universe being as above said an Expression
|
||
of Zero under the Figure of the Dyad, its Tendency is
|
||
continually to release itself from that strain by the Marriage
|
||
of Opposites whenever they are brought into Contact. Thus thy
|
||
true Nature is a Will to Zero, or an Inertia, or Doing
|
||
Nothing; and the Way of Doing Nothing is to oppose no Obstacle
|
||
to the free Function of that true Nature. Consider the
|
||
Electrical Charge of a Cloud, whose Will is to discharge
|
||
itself in Earth, and so release the Strain of its Potential.
|
||
Do this by free conduction, there is Silence and Darkness;
|
||
oppose it, there is Heat and Light, and the Rending asunder of
|
||
that which will not permit free Passage to the Current.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-31-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{delta } DE VIA LIBERTATIS.
|
||
|
||
Do not think then that by Non-Action thou doest follow the
|
||
Way of the Tao, for thy Nature is Action, and by hindering the
|
||
Discharge of thy Potential thou doest perpetuate and aggravate
|
||
the Stress. If thou ease not Nature, she will being thee to
|
||
Dis-Ease. Free thereof every Function of thy Body and of
|
||
every other Part of thee according to its true Will. This
|
||
also is most necessary, that thou discover that true Will in
|
||
every Case, for thou art born into Dis-Ease; where are many
|
||
false and perverted Wills, monstrous Growths, Parasites,
|
||
Vermin are they, adherent to thee by Vice of Heredity, or of
|
||
Environment or of evil Training. And of all these Things the
|
||
subtlest and most terrible, Enemies without Pity, destructive
|
||
to thy will, and a Menance and Tyranny even to thy elf, are
|
||
the Ideals and Standards of the Slave-gods, false Religion,
|
||
false Ethics, even false Science.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-32-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{epsilon } DE LEGE MOTUS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Consider, o my Son, that Word in the Call or Key of the
|
||
Thirty Aethyrs: Behold the Face of your God, the Beginning of
|
||
comfort, whose Eyes are the Brightness of the heavens, which
|
||
provided you for the Government of the Earth, and her
|
||
unspeakable Variety! And again: Let there be no Creature upon
|
||
her or within her the same. All here Members let them differ
|
||
in their Qualities, and let there be no Creature equal with
|
||
another. Here also is the Voice of true Science, crying
|
||
aloud: Variation is the Key of Evolution. Thereunto Art
|
||
cometh the third, perceiving Beauty in the Harmony of the
|
||
Diverse. Know then, o my Son, that all Laws, all Systems, all
|
||
Customs, all Ideals and Standards which tend to produce
|
||
Uniformity, being in direct Opposition to Nature's Will to
|
||
change and to develop through Variety, are accursed. Do thou
|
||
with all thy Might of Manhood strive against these Forces, for
|
||
|
||
they resist Change, which is Life: and thus they are of Death.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-33-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{digamma } DE LEGIBUS CONTRA MOTUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Say not, in thine Haste, that such Stagnations are Unity
|
||
even as the last Victory of thy Will is Unity. For thy Will
|
||
moveth through free Function, according to its particular
|
||
Nature, to that End of Dissolution of all Complexities, and
|
||
the Ideals and Standards are Attempts to halt thee on that
|
||
Way. Although for thee some certain Ideal be upon thy Path;
|
||
yet for thy Neighbour it may not be so. Set all Men a-
|
||
horseback: thou speedest the Foot-soldier on his Way, indeed:
|
||
but what hast thou done to the Bird-Man? Thou must have
|
||
simple Laws and Customs to express the general Will, and so
|
||
prevent the Tyranny of Violence of a few; but multiply them
|
||
not! Now then herewith I will declare unto thee the Limits of
|
||
the Civil Law upon the rock of the Law of Thelema.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-34-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{zeta } DE NECESSITATE COMMUNI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Understand first that the Disturbers of the Peace of
|
||
Mankind do so by Reason of their Ignorance of their own true
|
||
Wills. Therefore as this Wisdom of mine increaseth among
|
||
Mankind, the false Will to Crime must become constantly more
|
||
rare. Also, the Exercise of our Freedom will cause Men to be
|
||
born with less and ever less Affliction from that Dis-Ease of
|
||
Spirit, which breedeth these false Wills. But, in the while
|
||
of waiting for this Perfection, thou must by Law assure to
|
||
every Man a Means of satisfying his bodily and his mental
|
||
Needs, leaving him free to develop any Super-Structure in
|
||
Accordance with his Will, and protecting him from any that may
|
||
seek to deprive him of these vertebral Rights. There shall be
|
||
therefore a Standard of Satisfaction, though it must vary in
|
||
Detail with Race, Climate, and other such Conditions. And
|
||
this Standard shall be based upon a large Interpretation of
|
||
|
||
Facts biological, physiological, and the like.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-35-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{eta } DE LIBERTATE CORPORIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
There shall be no Property in Human Flesh. Every Man and
|
||
every Woman hath Right Indefeasable to give the Body for the
|
||
Enjoyment of any other. The Exercise of this Right shall not
|
||
be punished either by Law or by Custom; there shall be no
|
||
Penalty either by Loss or Curtailment of Liberty, of Rights,
|
||
of Wealth, or of Social Esteem; but this Freedom shall be
|
||
respected of all, seeing that it is the Right of the Bodily
|
||
Will. For this same Reason thou shalt cause full Restriction
|
||
and Punishment of any who may seek to limit that Freedom for
|
||
the sake of his own Profit, or Desire, or Ideal. Every Man
|
||
and every Woman has full right either to grant or to deny the
|
||
Body, as the Will speaketh within. This being made Custom,
|
||
the Evils of Love, which are many, extending to the
|
||
Disturbance not only of Body but of Mind, and that in obscure
|
||
Paths, shall little by little disappear from the Face of His
|
||
|
||
unspeakable Glory.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-36-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{theta } DE LIBERTATE MENTIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
There shall be no Property in Human Thought. Let each
|
||
think as he will concerning the Universe; but let none seek to
|
||
impose that Thought upon another by any Threat of Penalty in
|
||
this World or any other World. Look now, though I enkindle
|
||
thee to Effort in thy Way, yet it is the Way of thy Will, and
|
||
I say not even that thou dost well to hasten therein, for the
|
||
whole Matter lieth in thy Will, and to force thyself against
|
||
thy Nature would be an Obstacle to thy Passage. But if I urge
|
||
thee to run well this Race as an Athlete, it is because I have
|
||
perceived in thy Nature that firce Lust and mighty
|
||
Concentration in that Will, and I write this Letter unto thee,
|
||
knowing well that thou wilt rejoice exceedingly therein, since
|
||
it is an Expression of thine own Will, and it may be a
|
||
Discovery thereof, which Thing thou vehemently seekest. I
|
||
charge thee therefore that thou permit none to tyrannize any
|
||
|
||
other in Thought, or to threaten, or in any other Wise to
|
||
blaspheme the great Liberty of our Father the Sun in the Great
|
||
Cosmos, or of His Vice-Regent in the Little.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-37-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{iota } DE LIBERATATE JUVENUM
|
||
|
||
|
||
O thou that art the Child of mine own Bowels, how shall I
|
||
write to thee concerning Children? For herein is the Gordian
|
||
Knot in our whole Rope of Wisdom, and it may not be severed by
|
||
Sword, no, not of a Greater than Alexander the Two-Horned.
|
||
And it is a Balance like that of the Egg, and the Violence of
|
||
a Columbus will but crack the tender Shell which we must first
|
||
of all preserve.
|
||
Now Sentinel to this Fortress standeth a certain Paradox of
|
||
general Application, and in this large Order I will declare
|
||
it, so that its particular Sense may enlighten thee hereafter.
|
||
And this is the Paradox, that there are Bonds which lead to
|
||
Slavery, and Bonds which lead to Freedom. All we are bound in
|
||
many Fetters by Environment, and it is for ourselves in great
|
||
Part to determine whether they shall enslave us or emancipate
|
||
us. And I will make clear this Thesis to thee by the Way of
|
||
|
||
Illustration.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-38-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{kappa } DE VI PER DISCIPLINAM COLENDA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Consider the Bond of a cold Climate, how it maketh Man a
|
||
Slave; he must have Shelter and Food with fierce Toil. Yet
|
||
hereby he becometh strong against the Elements, and his moral
|
||
Force waxeth, so that he is Master of such Men as live in
|
||
Lands of Sun where bodily Needs are satisfied without
|
||
Struggle.
|
||
Consider also him that willeth to exceed in Speed or in
|
||
Battle, how he denieth himself the Food he craveth, and all
|
||
Pleasures natural to him, putting himself under the harsh
|
||
Order of a Trainer. So by this Bondage he hath, at the last,
|
||
his Will.
|
||
Now then the one by natural, and the other by voluntary,
|
||
Restriction have come each to greater Liberty. This is also a
|
||
general Law of Biology, for all Development is
|
||
Structuralization; that is, a Limitation and Specialization of
|
||
|
||
an originally indeterminate Protoplasm, which latter may
|
||
therefore be called free, in the Definition of a Pedant.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-39-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{lambda } DE ORDINE VERUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
In the Body every Cell is subordinated to the general
|
||
physiological Control, and we who will that Control do not ask
|
||
whether each individual Unit of that Structure be consciously
|
||
happy. But we do care that each fulfil its Function, and the
|
||
Failure of even a few Cells, or their Revolt, may involve the
|
||
Death of the whole Organism. Yet even here the Complaint of a
|
||
few, which we call Pain, is a Warning of general Danger. Many
|
||
Cells fulfil their Destiny by swift Death, and this being
|
||
their Function, they in no wise resent it. Should Haemoglobin
|
||
resist the Attack of Oxygen, the Body would perish, and the
|
||
Haemoglobin would not even save itself. How, o my Son, do
|
||
thou then consider deeply of these Things in thine Ordering of
|
||
the World under the Law of Thelema. For every Individual in
|
||
the State must be perfect in his own Function, with
|
||
Contentment, respecting his own Task as necessary and holy,
|
||
|
||
not envious of another's. For so only mayst thou build up a
|
||
Free State, whose directing Will shall be singly directed to
|
||
the Welfare of all.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-40-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{mu } DE FUNDAMENTIS CIVITATIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Say not, o my Son, that in this Argument I have set Limits
|
||
to individual Freedom. For each Man in this State which I
|
||
purpose is fulfilling his own true Will by his eager
|
||
Acquiescence in the Order necessary to the Welfare of all, and
|
||
therefore of himself also. But see thou well to it that thou
|
||
set high the Standard of Satisfaction, and that to everyone
|
||
there be a surplus of Leisure and of Energy, so that, his Will
|
||
of Self-Preservation being fulfilled by the Performance of his
|
||
Function in the State, he may devote the remainder of his
|
||
Powers to the Satisfaction of the other Parts of his Will.
|
||
And because the People are oft times unlearned, not
|
||
understanding Pleasure, let them be instructed in the Art of
|
||
Life; to prepare Food palatable and wholesome, each to this
|
||
own Taste, to make Clothes according to Fancy, with Variety of
|
||
Individuality and to prractise the manifold Crafts of Love.
|
||
|
||
There Things being first secured, thou mayst afterward lead
|
||
them into the Heavens of Poesy and Tale, of Music, Painting,
|
||
and Sculpture, and into the Lore of the Mind itself, with its
|
||
insatiable Joy of all knowledge. Thence let them soar!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-41-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{nu } DE VOLUNTATE JUVENUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Long, o my Son, hath been this Digression from the plain
|
||
Path of my Word concerning Children; but it was most needful
|
||
that thou shouldst understand the Limits of true Liberty. For
|
||
that is not the Will of any Man which ultimateth in his own
|
||
Ruin and that of all his Fellows; and that is not Liberty
|
||
whose Exercise bringeth him to Bondage. Thou mayst therefore
|
||
assume that it is always an essential Part of the Will of any
|
||
Child to grow to Manhood or to Womanhood in Health, and his
|
||
Guardians may therefore prevent him from ignorantly acting in
|
||
Opposition thereunto, Care being always taken to remove the
|
||
Cause of the Error, namely, Ignorance, as aforesaid. Thou
|
||
mayst also assume that it is Part of the Child's Will to train
|
||
every Function of the Mind; and the Guardians may therefore
|
||
combat the inertia which hinders its Development. Yet here is
|
||
much Caution necessary, and it is better to work by exciting
|
||
|
||
and satisfying any natural Curiosity than by forcing
|
||
Application to set Tasks, however obvious this Necessity may
|
||
appear.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-42-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{chi } DE MODO DISPUTANDI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now in this Training of the Child there is one most dear
|
||
Consideration, that I shall impress upon thee as in Conformity
|
||
with our Holy ?Experience in the Way of Truth. And it is
|
||
this, that since that which can be thought is not true, every
|
||
Statement is in some Sense false. Even on the Sea of pure
|
||
Reason, we may say that every Statement is in some Sense
|
||
disputable, there fore in every Case, even the simplest, the
|
||
Child should be taught not only the Thesis, but also its
|
||
opposite, leaving the Decision to the Child's own Judgment and
|
||
good Sense, fortified by Experience. And this Practice will
|
||
develop its Power of Thought, and its Confidence in itself,
|
||
and its Interest in all Knowledge. But most of all beware
|
||
against any Attempt to bias its Mind on any point that lieth
|
||
without the Square of ascertained and undisputed Fact.
|
||
Remember also, even when thou art most sure, that so were they
|
||
|
||
sure who gave instruction to the young Copernicus. Pay
|
||
Reverence also to the Unknown unto whom thou presumeth to
|
||
impart the Knowledge; for he may be one greater than thou.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-43-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{omicron } DE VOLUNTATE JUVENIS COGNOSCENDA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
It is important that thou shouldst understand as early as
|
||
may be what is the true Will of the Child in the Matter of his
|
||
Career. Be thou well ware of all Ideals and Day-dreams; for
|
||
the Child is himself, and not thy Toy. Recall the comic
|
||
Tragedy of Napoleon and the King of Rome; build not an House
|
||
for a wild Goat, nor plant a Forest for the Domain of a Shark.
|
||
But be thou vigilant for every Sign, conscious or unconscious
|
||
of the Will of the Child, giving him then all Opportunity to
|
||
pursue the Path which he thus indicates. Learn this, that he,
|
||
being young, will weary quickly of all false Ways, however
|
||
pleasant they may be to him at the Outset; but of the true Way
|
||
he will not weary. This being in this Manner discovered, thou
|
||
mayst prepare it for him perfectly; for no Man can keep open
|
||
all Roads for ever. And to him making his Choice explain how
|
||
one may not travel far on any Road without a general Knowledge
|
||
|
||
of Things apparently irrelevant. And with that he will
|
||
understand, and bend him wisely to his Work.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-44-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{pi } DE AURO RUBEO.
|
||
|
||
I would have thee to consider, o my son, that Word of
|
||
Publius Vergilius Maro, that was the greatest of all the
|
||
Magicians of his time: in medio tutissimus ibis. Which Thing
|
||
has also been said by many wise Men in other Lands; and the
|
||
Holy Qabalah confirmeth the same, placing Tipheret, which is
|
||
the Man, and the Beauty and Harmony of Things, and Gold in the
|
||
Kingdom of the Metals, and the Sun among the Planets, in the
|
||
Midst of the Tree of Life. For the Centre is the Point of
|
||
Balance of all Vectors. So then if thy wilt live wisely,
|
||
learn that thou must establish this Relation of Balance with
|
||
every Thing soever, not omitting one. For there is nothing so
|
||
alien from thy Nature that it may not be brought into
|
||
harmonious Relation therewith; and thy Stature of Manhood
|
||
waxeth great even as thou comest to the Perfection of this
|
||
Art. And there is nothing so close Kin to thee it may not be
|
||
hurtful to thee if this Balance is not truly adjusted. Thou
|
||
|
||
hast need of the whole Force of the Universe to work with thy
|
||
Will; but this Force must be disposed about the Shaft of that
|
||
Will so that there is no Tendency to Hindrance or to
|
||
Deflection. And in my Love of thee I will adorn this Thesis
|
||
with Example following.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-45-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{koppa } DE SAPIENTIA IN RE SEXUALI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
consider Love. Here is a Force destructive and corrupting
|
||
where by many Men have been lost. Yet without Love Man were
|
||
not Man. Therefore thine Uncle Richard Wagner made of our
|
||
Doctrine a musical Fable, wherein we see Amfortas, who yielded
|
||
himself to Seduction, wounded beyond Healing; Klingsor, who
|
||
withdraw himself from a like Danger, cast out for ever from
|
||
the Mountain of Salvation'; and Parsifal, who yielded not,
|
||
able to exercise the true Power of Live, and thereby to
|
||
perform the Miracle of Redemption. Of this also have I myself
|
||
written in my Poema called Adonis. It is the same with Food
|
||
and Drink, with Exercise, with Learning itself, the Problem is
|
||
ever to bring the Appetite into right Relation with the Will.
|
||
Thus thou mayst fast or feast; there is no Rule than that of
|
||
Balance. And this Doctrine is of general Acceptation among
|
||
the better Sort of Men; therefore on thee will I rather
|
||
|
||
impress more carefully the other Part of my Wisdom, namely,
|
||
the Necessity of extending constantly thy Nature to new Mates
|
||
upon every Plane of Being, so that thou mayst become the
|
||
perfect Microcosm, an Image without Flaw of all that is.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-46-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{rho } DE GRADIBUS AEQUIS SCIENTIAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
I say in sooth, my son, that this Extension of thy Nature
|
||
is not in Violation thereof; for it is the Nature of thy
|
||
Nature to grow continually. Now there is no Part of Knowledge
|
||
which is foreign to thee; yet Knowledge itself is of no avail
|
||
unless it be assimilated and co-ordinated into Understanding.
|
||
Grow therefore, easily and spontaneously, developing all Parts
|
||
equally, lest thou become a Monster. And if one Thing tempt
|
||
thee overmuch, correct it by Devotion to its Opposite until
|
||
Equilibrium be re-established. But seek not to grow by sudden
|
||
Determination toward Things that be far from thee; only, if
|
||
such a Thing come into thy Thought, construct a Bridge
|
||
thereunto, and take firmly the first Step upon the Bridge. I
|
||
shall explain this. Dost thou speculate upon the Motives of
|
||
the Stars, and on their Elements, their Size and Weight? Then
|
||
thou must first gain Knowledge of Doctrine mathematical, of
|
||
|
||
Laws physical and chemical. So then first, that thou mayst
|
||
understand clearly the Nature of thine whole Work, map out thy
|
||
Mind, and extend its Powers from the essential outwards, from
|
||
the near to the far, always with Firmness and great
|
||
Thoroughness, making every Link in thy Chain equal and
|
||
perfect.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-47-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{sigma } DE VIRTUTE AUDENDI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Yet this I charge thee with my Might: Live Dangerously.
|
||
Was not this the Word of thine Uncle Friedrich Nietzsche? Thy
|
||
meansest Foe is the Inertia of the Mind. Men do hate most
|
||
those things which touch them closely, and they fear Light,
|
||
and persecute the Torchbearers. Do thou therefore analyse
|
||
most fully all those Ideas which Men avoid; for the Truth
|
||
shall dissolve Fear. Rightly indeed Men say that the Unknown
|
||
is terrible; but wrongly do they fear lest it become the
|
||
Known. Moreover, do thou all Acts of which the common Sort
|
||
beware, save where thou hast already full knowledge, that thou
|
||
mayest learn Use and Control, not falling into Abuse and
|
||
Slavery. For the Coward and the Foolhardy shall not live out
|
||
their Days. Every Thing has its right Use; and thou art great
|
||
as thou hast Use of Things. This is the Mystery of all Art
|
||
Magick, and thine Hold upon the Universe. Yet if thou must
|
||
|
||
err, being human, err by excess of courage rather than of
|
||
Caution, for it is the Foundation of the Honour of Man that he
|
||
dareth greatly. What sayth Quintus Horatius Flaccus in the
|
||
third Ode of his First Booki? Die thou standing!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-48-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{tau } DE ARTE MENTIS COLLENDI. (1)
|
||
MATHEMATICA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now concerning the first Foundation of thy Mind I will say
|
||
somewhat. Thou shalt study with Diligence in the mathematics,
|
||
because thereby shall be revealed unto thee the Laws of thine
|
||
own Reason and the Limitations thereof. This Science
|
||
manifesteth unto thee thy true Nature in respect of the
|
||
Machinery whereby it worketh; and showeth in pure Nakedness,
|
||
without Clothing of Personality or Desire, the Anatomy of thy
|
||
conscious Self. Furthermore, by this thou mayst understand
|
||
the Essence between the Relation of all Things, and the Nature
|
||
of Necessity, and come to the Knowledge of Form. For this
|
||
Mathematics is as it were the last Veil before the Image of
|
||
Truth, so that there is no Way better than our Holy Qabalah,
|
||
which analyseth all Things soever, and reduceth them to pure
|
||
Number; and thus their Natures being no longer coloured and
|
||
|
||
confused, they may be regulated and formulated in Simplicity
|
||
by the Operation of Pure Reason, to thy great Comfort in the
|
||
Work of our Transcendental Art, whereby the Many become One.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-49-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{upsilon } SEQUITUR. (2) CLASSICA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My son, neglect not in any wise the Study of the Writings
|
||
of Antiquity, and that in the original Language. For by this
|
||
thou shalt discover the History of the Structure of thy Mind,
|
||
that is, its Nature regarded as the last term in a Sequence of
|
||
Causes and Effects. For thy Mind hath been built up of these
|
||
Elements, so that in these Books thou mayst bring into the
|
||
Light thine own subconscious Memories. And thy Memory is as
|
||
it were the Mortar in the House of thy Mind, without which is
|
||
no Cohesion or Individuality possible, so that the Lack
|
||
thereof is called Dementia. And these Books have lived long
|
||
and become famous because they are the Fruits of ancient Trees
|
||
whereof thou art directly the Heir, wherefrom (say I) they are
|
||
more truly german to thine own Nature than Books of Collateral
|
||
Offshoots, though such were in themselves better and wiser.
|
||
Yes, o my Son, in these Writings thou mayst study to come to
|
||
|
||
the true Comprehension of thine own Nature, and that of the
|
||
whole Universe, in the Dimension of Time, even as the
|
||
Mathematic declareth it in that of Space: That is, of
|
||
Extension. Moreover, by this Study shall the Child comprehend
|
||
the Foundation of Manners: the which, as sayeth one of the
|
||
Sons of Wisdom, maketh Man.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-50-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{phi } SEQUITUR. (3) SCIENTIFICA.
|
||
|
||
Since Time and Space are the Conditions of Mind, these two
|
||
Studies are fundamental. Yet there remaineth Causality, which
|
||
is the Root of the Actions and Reactions of Nature. This also
|
||
shalt thou seek ardently, that thou mayst comprehend the
|
||
Variety of the Universe, its Harmony and its Beauty, with the
|
||
Knowledge of that which compelleth it. Yet this is not equal
|
||
to the former two in Power to reveal thee to thy Self; and its
|
||
first Use is to instruct thee in the true Method of
|
||
Advancement in Knowledge, which is fundamentally, the
|
||
Observation of the Like and the Unlike. Also, it shall arouse
|
||
in thee the Ekstacy of Wonder; and it shall bring thee to a
|
||
proper Understanding of Art Magick. For our Magick is but one
|
||
of the powers that lie within us undeveloped and unanalysed;
|
||
and it is by the Method of Science that it must be made clear,
|
||
and available to the Use of Man. Is not this a Gift beyond
|
||
Price, the Fruit of a Tree not only of knowledge by to Life?
|
||
|
||
For there is that in Man which is God, and there is that also
|
||
which is Dust; and by our Magick we shall make these twain one
|
||
Flesh, to the Obtaining of the Empery of the Universe.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-51-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{chi } DE MODO QUO OPERET LEX MAGICA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Give Ear attentively, o my Son, while I expound unto thee
|
||
the true Doctrine of Magick. Every force acteth, in due
|
||
Proportion, on all Things with which it is connected. Thus a
|
||
burning Forest causes chemical Change by Combustion, and
|
||
giveth Heat and Motion to the Air about it by the Operation of
|
||
physical Laws, and exciteth thought and Emotion in the Man
|
||
whom it reacheth through his Organs of Perception. Consider
|
||
(even though it were by Legent) the Fall of the apple of Isaac
|
||
Newton, its Effect upon the Spiritual Destinies of Man!
|
||
Consider also that no Force cometh ever to the end of its
|
||
work! The Air that is moved by my Breath is a Disturbance or
|
||
Change of Equilibrium that cannot be fully compensated and
|
||
brought to naught, though the Aeons be endless. Who then
|
||
shall deny the Possibility of Magick? Well said Frazer, the
|
||
most learned Doctor of the College of the Holy Trinity in the
|
||
|
||
University of Cambridge, that Science was but the Name of any
|
||
Magick which failed not of its intended Effect.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-52-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{psi } DE MACHINA MAGICA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Lo! I put forth my Will, and my Pen moveth upon the Paper,
|
||
by Cause that my will mysteriously hath Power upon the Muscle
|
||
of my Arm, and these do Work at a mechanical Advantage against
|
||
the Inertia of the Pen. I cannot break down the Wall opposite
|
||
me by Cause that I cannot come into mechanical Relation with
|
||
it; or the Wall at my Side, by Cause that I am not strong
|
||
enough to overcome its Inertia. To win that Battle I must
|
||
call Time and Pick-axe to mine aid. But how could I retard
|
||
the Motion of the Earth in Space? I am myself Party of its
|
||
Momentum. Yet every Stroke of my Pen affecteth that Motion by
|
||
changing the Equilibrium thereof. The Problem of every Act of
|
||
Magick is then this: to exert a Will sufficiently powerful to
|
||
cause the required Effect, through a Menstruum or Medium of
|
||
Communication. By the common Understanding of the Word
|
||
Magick, we however exclude such Media as are generally known
|
||
|
||
and understood. Now then, o my Son, will I declare unto thee
|
||
first the Nature of the Power, and afterward that of the
|
||
Medium.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-53-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{omega } DE HARMONIA ANIMAE CUM CORPORE.
|
||
|
||
All Things are interwoven. The most spiritual Thought in
|
||
thy Soul (I speak as a Fool) is also a most material Change in
|
||
Blood or Brain. Anger maketh the Blood acid; Hate poisoneth
|
||
Mother's milk; even as I showed formerly in reverse, how
|
||
Disturbance of physical Function altereth the States of
|
||
Consciousness. Now no Man doubteth the Power of the Will of
|
||
Man, whether it be his love that begetteth Children or causes
|
||
wars wherein many Men be slain, whether it be his Eloquence
|
||
that moveth a Mob or his Vanity that destroyeth a People.
|
||
Only in all such Cases we understand how Nature worketh,
|
||
though known Laws physical or psychical. That is, there is a
|
||
State of unstable Equilibrium, so that one Machine setteth
|
||
another in Motion as soon as the first Disturbance ariseth.
|
||
Therefore, it is not proper to regard all Consequence of a
|
||
Will as its Effect. Without the Revolution there could have
|
||
been no great Effect of the Will of Napoleon; and moreover his
|
||
|
||
Will was broken in the End, to the present Misfortune (as it
|
||
seems to many beside myself) of Mankind. This Magick
|
||
therefore, dependeth greatly on the Art to set many other
|
||
Wills in sympathetic Motion; and the greatest Magus may not be
|
||
the most successful in a mean conception of a Limit of Time.
|
||
He may need to strike many Blows before he breaketh down his
|
||
Wall, if that be strong, while a Child may push over one that
|
||
is ready to crumble.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-54-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{alpha } DE MYSTERIO PRUDENTIAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Behold now nature, how prodigal is She of her Forces! The
|
||
evident Will of every Acorn is to become an Oak; yet night all
|
||
fail of that Will. Therefore one Secret of Magick is Oeconomy
|
||
of thy Force; to do no Act unless secure of its Effect. And
|
||
if every Act has an Effect on every Plane, how canst thou do
|
||
this unless thou be connected with all Planes? For this
|
||
Reason must thou know thoroughly not only thy Body and thy
|
||
Mind, but thy Body of Light and all its subtler Principles
|
||
soever. But I will have thee consider most especially what
|
||
powers thou hast within thee which are certainly capable of
|
||
great Effects, yet which are constantly wasted. Think then
|
||
whether, if these Powers, frustrate of their End upon one
|
||
Plane, might not be turned to high Purpose and assured Success
|
||
upon another. For an hundred Acorns, rightly set in
|
||
Conditions fit for their true Growth, will become an hundred
|
||
|
||
Oaks, while otherwise they make but one Meal for one Hog, and
|
||
their subtle Nature is wholly lost to them. Learn then, o my
|
||
Son, this Mystery of Oeconomy, and apply it faithfully and
|
||
with Diligence in thy Work.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-55-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{beta } DE ARTE ALCHEMICA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Here then I must write concerning Talismans for thine
|
||
Instruction. Know first that there are certain Vehicles
|
||
proper for the Incarnation of the Will. I instance Paper,
|
||
whereon by thine Art thou writest a symbolic Representation of
|
||
thy Will, so that when thou next seest it, thou are reminded
|
||
of that Will, or it may be that another, seeing it, will obey
|
||
that Will. Here then is a case of Incarnation and Assumption,
|
||
which, before it was understood, was rightly considered
|
||
Gramarye or Magick. Again, thy Will to live causeth thee to
|
||
plant Corn, which in due Season being eaten is again
|
||
transmuted into Will. Thus thou mayst in many Ways impress
|
||
any particular Will upon the proper Substance, so that by due
|
||
Use thou comest at last to its Accomplishment. So general is
|
||
this Formula, in Truth, that all conscious Actions may be
|
||
included within its scope. There is also the Converse, as
|
||
|
||
when external Objects create Appetite, whose Satisfaction
|
||
again reacteth upon the physical Plane. Praise thou the
|
||
wonder of the Mystery of Nature, rising and falling with every
|
||
Breath, so that there is no Part which is not mystically
|
||
Partaker of the Whole.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-56-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{gamma } DE ARCANO SUBTILISSIMO.
|
||
|
||
O my Son, there is that within thee of marvellous Puissance
|
||
which is by its own Nature the Incarnation of thy Will, most
|
||
ready to receive the Seal thereof. Therein lie hidden all
|
||
Powers, all Memories, more than thou hast teen thousand fold!
|
||
Learn then to draw from that great Treasure-House the Jewel of
|
||
which thou art in any present Need. For all things that are
|
||
possible to thy Nature are already hidden within thee; and
|
||
thou hast but to name them, and to bring them back into the
|
||
Light of thy Consciousness. Then squander not this Gold of
|
||
thine, but put it to most fruitful Usury. Now then of the Art
|
||
and Craft of this most Holy Mystery I write not, for a Reason
|
||
that thou already knowest. Moreover, in this Matter, thou
|
||
shalt best learn by thine own Experience, and thine
|
||
Observation in true Science shall guide thee. For this Secret
|
||
is still of Magick, and Occult, so that I know not certainly
|
||
if thy Will lieth with my Way or no.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-57-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{delta } DE MENSTRUO ARTIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
But concerning the Medium by whose sensitive Nature our
|
||
Magick Force is transmitted to the Object of our Working,
|
||
doubt not. For already in other Galaxies of Physics have we
|
||
been compelled to postulate an Aethyr wholly hypothetical in
|
||
order to explain the Phenomena of Light, Electricity, and the
|
||
like; nor doeth any Man demand Demonstration of the Existence
|
||
of that Aethyr other than its Conformity with general Law.
|
||
Thou therefore, Creator and Transmitter of thine own Energy,
|
||
needest not to ask whether by this or by some other Means thou
|
||
performest thy Work. Yet I know not why this Aethyr of the
|
||
Mathematicians and the Physicians should not be one with the
|
||
Astral Light, or Plastic Medium or Aub, Aud, Aur (these three
|
||
being a Trinity) of which our own Sages have spoken. And this
|
||
Meditation may bring forth much Knowledge physical, which is
|
||
good, for that which is above is like that which is beneath,
|
||
|
||
and the Study of any Law leadeth to the Understanding of all
|
||
Law. So mayst thou learn in the End that there is no Law
|
||
beyond Do what thou wilt.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-58-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{epsilon } DE NECESSITATE VOLUNTATIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
And how then (mayest thou) shall I reconcile this Art
|
||
Magick with that Way of the Tao which achieveth all Things by
|
||
doing nothing? But this have I already declared to thee in
|
||
Part, showing that thou canst do no Magick save it be thy
|
||
Nature to do Magick and so the true Nothing for thee. For to
|
||
do nothing signifieth to interfere with nothing so that for a
|
||
Magician to do no Magick is to commit Violence on himself.
|
||
Yet learn also that all Action is in some sense Magick, being
|
||
an essential Part of that Great Magical Work which we call
|
||
Nature. Then thou hast no free Will? Verily, thou hast said.
|
||
Yet nevertheless it is thy necessary Destiny to act with that
|
||
free Will. Thou canst do nothing save in accordance with that
|
||
true Nature of thine and of all Things, and every Phenomenon
|
||
is the Resultant of the Totality of Forces; Amen. Then thou
|
||
needest take no Thought and make no Effort? Thou sast sooth;
|
||
|
||
yet, art thou not compelled to Thought and Effort in the Way
|
||
of Nature? Yea, I, thy Father, work for thee solicitously,
|
||
and also I laugh at thy Perplexities; for so was it fore-
|
||
ordained that I should do, by Me, from the Beginning.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-59-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{digamma } DE COMEDIA UNIVERSA, QUAE DICTUR MAN.
|
||
|
||
So, therefore, o my Son, count thyself happy when thou
|
||
understandest all these Things, being one of those Beings (or
|
||
By-comings) whom we call Philosophers. All is a never ending
|
||
Play of Love wherein our Lady Nuit and her Lord Hadit rejoice;
|
||
and every Part of the Play is Play. All pain is but sharp
|
||
Sauce to the Dish of Pleasure; for it is the Nature of the
|
||
Universe that hath devised this everlasting Banquet of Joy.
|
||
And he that knoweth not this is necessary as an Ingredient
|
||
even as thou art; wouldst thou change all and spoil the Dish?
|
||
Art thou the Master-Cook? Yea, for thy Palate is become fine
|
||
with thy great Dalliance with the Food of Experience;
|
||
therefore thou art one of them that rejoice. Also it is thy
|
||
Nature as it is mine, o my Son, to will that all Men share our
|
||
Mirth and Jollity; wherefore have I proclaimed my Law to Man,
|
||
and thou continuest in that Work of Joyance.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-60-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{zeta } DE CAECITIA HOMINUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Learn also of my wisdom that this Vision of the Cosmos
|
||
whereof I have written unto thee is not given unto thy Sight
|
||
at all Times; for in that Vision is all Will fulfilled. Thou
|
||
seest the Universe as None, and as One, and as many, and the
|
||
Play thereof; and therewith art thou (who art no longer thou)
|
||
content. For in one Phase art thou also None, in another One,
|
||
and in the third an organised and necessary Part of that great
|
||
Structure, so that there is no more conflict at all in thy
|
||
whole By-coming. But now will I make Light for thine Eyes in
|
||
this Matter as thou gropest, asking: but of them that see not
|
||
this, what sayst thou, o my Father? But in that Vision thou
|
||
sayst not thus, my Son! Learn then of me the Secret Mystery
|
||
of Illusion, and how it Worketh, and other Holy Law that is
|
||
its Nature, and of thine Action therein; for this is an
|
||
Arcanum of the Wisdom of the Magi, and proper unto thee that
|
||
|
||
dwellest in the Land of Understanding.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-61-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{eta } ALLEGORIA DE CAISSA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Consider for an Example the Game and Play of the Chess,
|
||
which is a Pastime of Man, and worthy to exercise him in
|
||
Thought, yet by no means necessary to his Life, so that he
|
||
sweepeth away Board and Pieces at the least Summons of that
|
||
which is truly dear to him. Thus unto him this Game is as it
|
||
were an Illusion. But insofar as he entereth into the Game he
|
||
abideth by the Rules thereof, though they be artificial and in
|
||
no wise proper to his Nature; for in this Restriction is all
|
||
his Pleasure. Therefore, though he hath All-Oower to move the
|
||
Pieces at his own Will, he doth it not, enduring Loss,
|
||
Indignity, and Defeat rather than destroy that Artifice of
|
||
Illusion. Think then that thou hast thyself created this
|
||
Shadow-world the Universe, and that it pleasureth thee to
|
||
watch or to actuate its Play according to the Law that thou
|
||
hast made, which yet bindeth thee not save only by Virtue of
|
||
|
||
thine own Will to do thine own Pleasure therein.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-62-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{theta } DE VERITATE FALSORUM.
|
||
|
||
Moreover this Matter touches the Nature of Truth. For
|
||
although to thee in thy True Self, absolute and without
|
||
Conditions, all this Universe, which is relative and
|
||
conditioned is an Illusion; yet to that Part of Thee by which
|
||
thou perceivest it, the Law of its Being (or By-coming) is a
|
||
Law of Truth. Learn then that all Relations are true upon
|
||
their own Plane, and that it would be a Violation of Nature to
|
||
adjust them skewwise. Thus, albeit thou hast found thy Self,
|
||
and knowest Thy Self immortal and immutable beyond Time and
|
||
Space, free of Causality, so thoroughly that even thy Mind
|
||
partaketh constantly thereof, thou hast in no wise altered the
|
||
Relations of thy Body with its Syndromics in the World whereof
|
||
it is a Part. Wouldst thou lengthen the Life of thy Body?
|
||
Then accommodate thou the Conditions of thy Body to its
|
||
Environment by giving it Light, Air, Food, and Exercise as its
|
||
Nature requireth. So also, mutatis mutandis, do thou cherish
|
||
|
||
the Health of thy Mind.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-63-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{iota } DE RELATIONE ILLUSIONUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Of this will I speak further with thee, for here behold a
|
||
great Rock of Ignorance on the one Hand, and on the other a
|
||
Whirlpool of Error; in this Strait are many Wrecks of Magick
|
||
Ships. Knowest thou not that Riddle of old, whether it be
|
||
lawful to pay Tribute to Caesar or no? Give therefore to the
|
||
Body the Things of the Body, and to the Mind the Things of the
|
||
Mind. Yet because of the interior Harmony of all Things that
|
||
proceedeth from their Original One Nature, there is Action and
|
||
Reaction of the one upon the other, as I have already set
|
||
forth in this mine Epistle. But Law is universal, and between
|
||
these two Kinds of Illusion there is an ordered Proportion,
|
||
and it is proper to thy Science to delimit and describe this
|
||
Law of Interaction, for to deny it wholly (as to extend it to
|
||
Infinity) is Folly, born of Ignorance, Idleness, and
|
||
Incapacity to observe Fact.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-64-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{kappa } DE PRUDENTIA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Consider Drunkenness, how by Variation of bodily Conditions
|
||
thou mayst alter its Effect upon the Mind, and the Contrary,
|
||
remembering the Discipline of Theophrastus Paracelsus, how,
|
||
opposing Wine to bodily Exercise, he obtained a certain
|
||
Purification and Exaltation/ Yet, were he seven times
|
||
greater, he had not done this with Oil of Vitriol. Learn then
|
||
that there are certain definite Channels of Action and
|
||
Reaction between Body and Mind; sound these, and trim thy
|
||
Sails accordingly, not thinking that thou art in the open Sea.
|
||
And if so be that thou in thy sounding findest new Channels,
|
||
rejoice and map them for the Profit of thy Fellows; But
|
||
remember always that to find a new Way up a Precipice removeth
|
||
not the Precipice. For where thou, o Angel and yet Man, hast
|
||
trod delicately albeit without Fear, Fools will rush in to
|
||
their Destruction.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-65-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{lambda } DE RATIONE MAGI VITAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Study Logic, which is the Code of the Laws of Thought.
|
||
Study the Method of Science, which is the Application of Logic
|
||
to the Facts of the Universe. Think not that thou canst ever
|
||
abrogate these Laws, for though they be Limitations, they are
|
||
the rules of thy Game which thou dost play. For in thy
|
||
Trances though thou becomest That which is not subject to
|
||
those Laws, they are still final in respect of these Things
|
||
which thou hast set them to govern. Nay, o my son, I like not
|
||
this Word, govern, for a Law is but a Statement of the nature
|
||
of the Thing to which it applieth. Nor nothing is compelled
|
||
save only by Nature of its own true Will. So therefore human
|
||
Law is a Statement of the Will and of the Nature of Man, or
|
||
else it is a Falsity contrary thereunto, nad becometh null and
|
||
of no Effect.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-66-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{mu } DE CORDE CANDIDO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Think also, o my Son, of this Image, that if two States be
|
||
at Peace, a Man goeth between them without Let; but if there
|
||
be War, all Gateways are forthwith closed, save only for a
|
||
few, and these are watched and guarded, so that the Obstacles
|
||
are many. This then is the Case of Magick; for if thou have
|
||
brought to Harmony all Principles within thee, thou mayst work
|
||
easily to transmute a Force into its semblable upon another
|
||
Plane, which is the essential Miracle of our Art; but if thou
|
||
be at War within thyself, how canst thou work? For our Master
|
||
Hermes Tresmegistus hat written at the Head of His Tablet of
|
||
Emerald this Word: That which is above is like that which is
|
||
below, and that which is below is like that which is above,
|
||
for the Performance of the Miracle of the One Substance. How
|
||
then, if these be not alike? If the Substance of Thee be Two,
|
||
and not One? And herein is the Need of the Confession of a
|
||
|
||
pure Heart, as is written in the Book of the Dead.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-67-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{nu } DE CONFORMITATE MAGI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
See to it therefore, o my Son, that thou in thy Working
|
||
dost no Violence to the whole Will of the All, or to the Will
|
||
common to all those Beings (or By-comings) that are of one
|
||
general Nature with thee, or to thine own particular Will.
|
||
For first of all thou art necessarily moved toward the One End
|
||
from thine own Station, but secondly thou art moved toward the
|
||
End proper to thine own Race, and Caste, and Family, as by
|
||
Virtue of thy Birth. And these are, I may say it, Conditions
|
||
or limits, of thine own individual Will. Thou dost laugh?
|
||
Err not, my Son! The Magus, even as the Poet is the
|
||
Expression of the true Will of his Fellows, and his Success is
|
||
his Proof, as it is written in "The Book of the Law". For his
|
||
Work is to free Men from the Fetters of a false or a
|
||
superannuated Will, revealing unto them, in Measure attuned to
|
||
their Needs, their true Natures.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-68-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{xi } DE POETIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
For this Reason is the Poet called an Incarnation of the
|
||
Zeitgeist, that is, of the Spirit or Will of his Period. So
|
||
every Poet is also a Prophet, because when that which he
|
||
sayeth is recognized as the Expression of their own Thought by
|
||
Men, they translate this into Act, so that, in the Parlance of
|
||
the Folk vulgar and ignorant, "that which he foretold is come
|
||
to pass". Now then the Poet is Interpreter of the Hieroglyphs
|
||
of the Hidden Will of Man in many a matter, some light, some
|
||
deep, as it may be given unto him to do. Moreover, it is not
|
||
altogether in the Word of any Poem, but in the quintessential
|
||
Flavour of the Poet, that thou mayst seek this Prophecy. And
|
||
this is an Art most necessary toe every Statesman. Who but
|
||
Shelley foretold the Fall of Christianity, and the
|
||
Organisation of Labour, and the Freedom of Woman; who by
|
||
Nietzsche declared the Principle at the Root of the World-War?
|
||
|
||
See thou clearly then that in these Men were the Keys of the
|
||
Dark Gates of the Future; Should not the Kings and their
|
||
Ministers have taken heed thereto, fulfilling their Word
|
||
without Conflict.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-69-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{omicron } DE MAGIS ORDINIS A{.'.} A{.'.}
|
||
|
||
quibus caro fit verbum.
|
||
|
||
Now, o my Son, the Incarnation of a Poet is particular and
|
||
not Universal; he sayeth indeed true Things but not the Things
|
||
of All-Truth. And that these may be said it is necessary that
|
||
One take human Flesh, and become a Magus in our Holy Order.
|
||
He then is called the Logos, or Logos Aiones, that is to say,
|
||
the Word of the Aeon or Age, because he is verily that Word.
|
||
And thus may be be known, because He hath it given unto Him to
|
||
prepare the Quintessence of the Will of God, that is, of Man,
|
||
in its Fullness and Wholeness, comprehending all Planes, so
|
||
that his Law is simple, and radical, penetrating all Space
|
||
from its single Light. For though His Words be many, yet is
|
||
His Word One, One and Alone; and by this Word he createth Man
|
||
anew, in an essential Form of Life, so that he is changed in
|
||
his inmost Knowledge of himself. And this Change worketh
|
||
|
||
outwards, little by little, unto its visible Effect.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-70-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{pi } DE MAGIS TEMPORI ANTIQUI:
|
||
|
||
IMPRIMIS, DE LAO-TZE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
It may be unto thy Profit, o my Son, if I relate unto thee
|
||
the secret History of those who have gone before me in this
|
||
Grade of Magus, so far as their Memory hath remained among
|
||
Mankind. For what would it avail thee should I recount the
|
||
deeds of those whom I indeed may know, but thou not? Thou
|
||
knowest well how I keep me from all Taint of Fable, or any
|
||
Word unproven and undemonstrable. First then I speak of Lao-
|
||
Tze, whose word was the Tao. Hereof have I already written
|
||
much unto thee, because His Doctrine has been lost or
|
||
misinterpreted, and it is most needful to restore it. For
|
||
this Tao is the true Nature of Things, being itself a Way or
|
||
Going, that is, a kinetic and not a static Conception. Also
|
||
He taught this Way of Harmony in Will, which I myself have
|
||
|
||
thought to show thee in this little book. So then this Tao is
|
||
Truth, and the Way of Truth, and therefore was He Logos of His
|
||
Aeon, and His true Name or Word was Tao.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-71-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{koppa } DE GAUTAMA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Whom Men call Gotama, or Siddartha, or the Budha, was a
|
||
Magus of our Holy Order. And His Word was Anatta; for the
|
||
Root of His whole Doctrine was that there is no Atman, or
|
||
Soul, as Men ill translate it, meaning a Substance incapable
|
||
of Change. Thus, He, like Lao-Tze, based all upon a Movement,
|
||
instead of a fixed Point. And His Way of Truth was Analysis,
|
||
made possible by great Intention of the Mind toward itself,
|
||
and that well fortified by certain tempered Rigour of Life.
|
||
And He most thoroughly explored and Mapped out the Fastnesses
|
||
of the Mind, and gave the Keys of its Fortresses into the Hand
|
||
of Man. But of all this the Quintessence is in this one Word
|
||
Anatta, because this is not only the foundation and the Result
|
||
of his whole Doctrine, but the Way of its Work.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-72-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{rho } DE SRI KRISHNA ET DE DIONYSO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Krishna has Names and Forms innumerable, and I know not His
|
||
true Human Birth, for His Formula is of the Major Antiquity.
|
||
But His Word hath spread into many Lands, and we know it to-
|
||
day as INRI with the secret IAO concealed therein. And the
|
||
Meaning of this Word is the Working of Nature in Her Changes;
|
||
that is, it is the Formula of Magick whereby all Things
|
||
reproduce and recreate themselves. Yet this Extension and
|
||
Specialisation was rather the Word of Dionysus; for the true
|
||
Word of Krishna was AUM, importing rather a Statement of the
|
||
Truth of Nature than a practical Instruction in detailed
|
||
Operations of Magick. But Dionysus, by the Word INRI, laid
|
||
the Foundation of all Science, as We say Science to-day in a
|
||
particular Sense, that is, of causing external Nature to
|
||
change in Harmony with our Wills.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-73-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{sigma } DE TAHUTI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Tahuti, or Thot, confirmed the Word of Dionysus by
|
||
continuing it; for he showed how by the Mind it was possible
|
||
to direct the Operations of the Will. By Criticism and by
|
||
recorded Memory Man avoideth Error. But the true Word of
|
||
Tahuti was A M O U N, whereby He made Men to understand their
|
||
secret Nature, that is, their Unity with their true Selves,
|
||
or, as they then phrased it, with God. And He discovered unto
|
||
them the Way of this Attainment, and its Relation with the
|
||
Formula of INRI. Also by His Mystery of Number He made plain
|
||
the Path for His Successor to declare the Nature of the whole
|
||
Universe in its Form and in its Structure, as it were an
|
||
Analysis thereof, doing for Matter what the Buddha was decreed
|
||
to do for Mind.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-74-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{tau } DE QUODAMM MAGO AEGYPTIORUM.
|
||
|
||
QUEM APPELUNT JUDAEI MOSHEH.
|
||
|
||
The Follower of Tahuti was an Egyptian whose Name is lost;
|
||
but the Jews called Him Mosheh, or Moses, and their Fabulists
|
||
made Him the Leader of their Legendary Exodus. Yet they
|
||
preserved His Word, and it is IHVH, which thou must understand
|
||
also as that Secret Word which thou hast seen and heard in
|
||
Thunders and Lightnings in thine Initiation to the Degree thou
|
||
wottest of. But this Word is itself a Plan of the Fabrick of
|
||
the Universe, and upon it hath been elaborated the Holy
|
||
Qabalah, whereby we have Knowledge of the Nature of all Things
|
||
soever upon every Plane of By-coming, and of their Forces and
|
||
Tendencies and Operations, with the Keys to their Portals.
|
||
Nor did He leave any Part of His Work unfinished, unless it be
|
||
that accomplished three hundred Years ago by Sir Edward Kelly,
|
||
of whom I also come, as thou knowest.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-75-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{upsilon } DE MAGO ARABICO MOHAMMED.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Behold! In these Chapters have I, thy Father, restricted
|
||
myself, not speaking of any immediate Echo of a Word in the
|
||
World, because, there Men being long since withdrawn into
|
||
their Silence, it is their One Word, and that Alone, that
|
||
resoundeth undiminished through Time. How Mohammed, who
|
||
followeth, is darkened and confused by His Nearness to our own
|
||
Time, so that I say not save with Diffidence that His Word
|
||
ALLH may mean this or that. But I am bold concerning His
|
||
Doctrine of the Unity of God, for God is Man, and he said
|
||
therefore: Man is One. And His Will was to unite all Men in
|
||
One reasonable Faith: to make possible international Co-
|
||
operation in Science. Yet, because He arose in the Time of
|
||
the greatest possible Corruption and Darkness, when every
|
||
Civilisation and Every Religion had fallen into Ruin, by the
|
||
malice of the great Sorcerer of Nazareth, as some say, He is
|
||
|
||
still hidden in the Dust of the Simoom, and we may not
|
||
perceive Him in His true Self of Glory.
|
||
Nevertheless, behold, o My Son, this Mystery. His true
|
||
Word was La ALLH, that is to say: (there is) No God, and LA AL
|
||
is that Mystery of Mysteries which thine own Eye pierced in
|
||
thine Initiation. And of that Truth have the Illusion and
|
||
Falsehood enslaved the Souls of Men, as is written in the Book
|
||
of the Magus.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-76-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{phi } DE SE IPSO {Tau }{Omega }{Iota }
|
||
{Mu }{Epsilon }{Gamma }{Alpha }{Lambda }{Omega }{Iota }
|
||
|
||
{Theta }{Eta }{Rho }{Iota }{Omega }{Iota }, {Tau }{Omega }{Iota }
|
||
{Lambda }{Omicron }{Gamma }{Omega }{Iota }
|
||
|
||
{Alpha }{Iota }{Omega }{Nu }{Omicron }{Sigma } CUJUS VERBUM EST
|
||
{Theta }{Epsilon }{Lambda }{Eta }{Mu }{Alpha }.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my son! me seemeth in certain Hours that I am myself
|
||
fallen on a Time even more fearful and fatal than did
|
||
Mahommed, peace be upon Him! But I read clearly the Word of
|
||
the Aeon, that is A B R A H A D A B R A, wherein is the whole
|
||
Mystery of the great Work, as thou knowest. And I have "The""
|
||
""Book of the Law", that was given unto me by Him thou wottest
|
||
of; and it is the Interpretation of the Secret Will of Man on
|
||
every Plane of his By-coming; and the Word of the Law is T H E
|
||
|
||
L E M A. 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."
|
||
Now because "Love is the law, love under will." do I write
|
||
this Epistle for thee, that thou mayst fulfil this inmost Will
|
||
of Mankind, making them capable of Light, Live, Love and
|
||
Liberty by the Acceptance of this Law. And the Hindrance
|
||
thereunto is but as the Shell of its Egg to an Eaglet, ad
|
||
Thing foreign to itself, a Protection till the Hour strike,
|
||
and then --- no more!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-77-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{chi } MANDATUM AD FILIUM SUUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Here I reach forth mine Hands against thee in the Sign of
|
||
the Enterer, o son of my Bowels, for with all my Magical Might
|
||
I will that thou fight manfully and labour with Diligence
|
||
(with Sword and Trowel; say I) in this Work. For this is the
|
||
first and last of all, that thou bid every Man do What he
|
||
will, in accord with his own true Nature. Therefore also
|
||
blast thou that Lie that Man is of a fallen and evil Nature.
|
||
For the Word of Sin is Restriction, the Doubt of his own
|
||
Godhead, the Suppression of, which is the Blasphemy against,
|
||
his own Holy Spirit. Saith not "The Book of the Law" that
|
||
"...It is a lie, this folly against self. ..."? Therefore to
|
||
every Man, in every Circumstance, say thou: Do what thou wilt;
|
||
and teach him, if he yet waver, how to discover his true
|
||
Nature, earnestly and with Ardour, even as I have striven to
|
||
teach thee --- yea, and more also!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-78-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{psi } QUARE FILIUM CREAVIT: UT
|
||
|
||
FIAT LIBERTAS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Do what thou wilt! be this our Slogan of Battle in every
|
||
Act; for every Act is Conflict. There Victory leapeth shining
|
||
before us; for who may thwart true Will, which is the Order of
|
||
Nature Herself? "...thou hast no right but to do thy will.
|
||
Do that, and no other shall say nay." For if that Will be
|
||
true, its Fulfilment is of a Surety as Daylight following
|
||
Sunrise. It is as certain as the Operation of any other Law
|
||
of Nature; it is Destiny. Then, if that Will be obscured, if
|
||
thou turn from it to Wills diseased or perverse, how canst
|
||
thou hope? Fool! Even thy Turns and Twists are in the Path
|
||
to thine appointed End. But thou art not sprung of a Slave's
|
||
Loins; thou standest firm and straight; thou dost thy Will;
|
||
and thou are Chosen, nay, for this Work wast thou begotten in
|
||
|
||
a Magick Bed, that thou shouldst make Man free.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-79-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Beta }{omega } DE SUA DEBILITATE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Listen attentively, my Son, while I with heavy Heart make
|
||
Confession to thee of mine own Frailty. Thou knowest that I
|
||
made Renunciation of my Wage, taking this Body immediately
|
||
after my Death, the Death of Eliphas Levi Zahed, as Men say,
|
||
that I might attain to this great Work. It is now twenty
|
||
Years, as Men count years, that I came to my first
|
||
Understanding of my true Nature, and aspired to that Work.
|
||
Now then at first I made no Error. I abandoned my chosen
|
||
Career; I poured out my whole Fortune without one Thought; I
|
||
gave my Life utterly to the Work, without keeping back the
|
||
least imaginable Thing. So then I made swift Strides along
|
||
the Path. But in the Dhyanas that were granted unto me in
|
||
kKandy, in the Island of Lanka, I used up my whole Charge of
|
||
Magical Energy; and for two Years I fell away from the Work.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-80-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{alpha } DE MANU QUAE MAGUM SUSTINET.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now it may be well that such Periods of Recuperation are
|
||
necessary to such souls as mine; and so no Ill. But I fell
|
||
from my Will, and sought other Ends in Life; and so the Hand
|
||
came upon me, and tore away that which I desired, as thou
|
||
knowest; also it is written in the Temple of Solomon the King.
|
||
Yet consider also these two Years as a necessary Preparation
|
||
for that greatest of all Events which befell me in El-Kahira,
|
||
in the Land of Khem, the Choice of me as the Word of the Aeon.
|
||
Now then for a while I worked with my Will, though not wholly;
|
||
and again the Hand reached forth and smote me. This, albeit
|
||
my Slackness was but as a Boy playing Truant, not a revolt
|
||
against my Self. Wherefore, despite all, I made much Progress
|
||
in short Time.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-81-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{beta } DE SUO PECCATO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now then, well schooled, I strove no more against my
|
||
Nature, and worked with all my Will. Thou knowest well how
|
||
greatly I was rewarded. Yet in this last Initiation to the
|
||
Grade of Magus, wherein three-and-seventy Days, as Men count
|
||
Days, is but One Day, the Ordeal grew so fierce and
|
||
intolerable that I gave back a Step. I did not utterly
|
||
renounce the Work, but I swore not to continue unless mine
|
||
Agony were abated. But after fifteen Days, I came to myself
|
||
in a certain Ordeal, wherein I knew myself finally, that I
|
||
could do no other than take up that fearful Burden that had
|
||
broken my Spirit. And for these fifteen Days have I not
|
||
suffered infinite Things? Was not the Tree of my Work frozen,
|
||
one Branch withered, and on blasted? Look no more, o my son,
|
||
upon thy Father's Shame!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-82-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{gamma } DE SUA VICTORIA PER NOMEN B A B A L O N.
|
||
|
||
|
||
And after? This Dawn (for I have toiled through the Night
|
||
in my great Love and Care of thee) how is it with me? it is
|
||
well. For I have found myself; I have found my Will; the
|
||
Obstacles that daunted me are seen to be by the Shadows of
|
||
Shadows. Grace be unto Lady B A B A L O N.
|
||
Thus it is written in "The Book of the Law": "Remember all
|
||
ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as
|
||
shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which
|
||
remains."
|
||
Learn then that it is in the contemplation of Division that
|
||
Sorrow is, for Division is the Formula of Choronzon. It is
|
||
therefore discreet for thee to unite each element of Sorrow
|
||
with its Opposite; in whose Triumph of Hymen is Ekstacy, until
|
||
by Apprehension of the new great Opposite the Idea is again
|
||
seen as Sorrow. This then is the Issue from Sorrow; and thou
|
||
|
||
mayst understand that I now also am confident in the Necessity
|
||
of this my Fall to prepare the formula of my Exaltation.
|
||
Therefore, my Son, thus Hail Me: Blessing and worship to the
|
||
Beast, the Prophet of the Lovely Star.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-83-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{delta } DE ARCANO NEFANDO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, learn this concerning Magick, that the Yang
|
||
moveth, and thus giveth itself up Eternally; but the Yin
|
||
moveth not, seeking ever to enclose or restrict, reproducing
|
||
in its own likeness what Impressions soever it made thereon,
|
||
yet without Surrender. Now the Tao absorbeth all without
|
||
Reproduction; so then let the Yang turn thereto, and not unto
|
||
the Yin. And that thou mayst understand this, I say: It is a
|
||
Mystery of O.T.O. For the Sun ariseth not and entereth to
|
||
strike upon the High Altar of the Minster by the Great Western
|
||
Gates, but by the Rose Oriel doth he make Way and Progress in
|
||
His Pageant. O my Son, the Doors of Silver are wide open, and
|
||
they tempt thee with their Beauty: but by the narrow Portal of
|
||
Pure Gold shalt thou come nobly to thy Sanctuary. Behold!
|
||
Thou knowest not how perfect is this Magick; it is the
|
||
dearest-bought and holiest of our Arcana. What then is like
|
||
|
||
unto my Love toward Thee, that bestoweth upon thee this
|
||
Treasure of my Wisdom? My Son, neglect it not; for it is the
|
||
Exorcism of Exorcisms, and the Enchantment of Enchantments.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-84-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{epsilon } DE ARCANO, PER QUOD SPIRITUS
|
||
|
||
QUIDAM IN CORPORE RECIPIATUR.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Here now is another Formula of Power, good to invoke any
|
||
Being to manifest in thyself. First, invoke him by the Power
|
||
of all thy Spells and conjurations, with Mind concentrated and
|
||
Will vehement, toward him, as I have written in many Books.
|
||
But because thou are NEMO, thou mayst safely invoke him, no
|
||
matter of what Nature, within thy Circle. Now then do thou
|
||
confer on him as a Guerdon of his Obedience the Dignity of a
|
||
Soul seeking Incarnation, and so precede to consecrate thine
|
||
Act by performing the Mass of the Holy Ghost. Then shall that
|
||
Spirit make himself Body from those Elements, and thou
|
||
partaking thereof makest thine own Body his Machinery of
|
||
Manifestation, and thus mayst thou work with any Spirit
|
||
soever; yet this shall serve thee most in common Life. Also
|
||
|
||
the Qualities are well defined in the Cards of the Tarot, so
|
||
that thou hast a clear-cut Means of developing thy Powers
|
||
according to the Needs of the Time. But learn also this, to
|
||
work constantly under the Guidance of thine Holy Guardian
|
||
Angel, so that thy Workings be alway in Harmony and Accord
|
||
with thy true Will.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-85-
|
||
|
||
|
||
DE CLAVE KABBALISTICA HUJUS ARTIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now then to thee who art long since Master of High Magick,
|
||
it will be easy to shew how the Mass of the Holy Ghost, sung
|
||
even in Ignorance, may work many a Wonder by Virtue of the
|
||
Force generated being compelled to manifest on other than its
|
||
own Plane. Here then is a Theory of the Mystery of the Aeon,
|
||
that I, being the Logos appointed thereunto, did create an
|
||
Image of my little Universe in the Mind of the Woman of
|
||
Scarlet; that is, I manifested my whole Magical Self in her
|
||
Mind. Thus then in Her, as in a Mirror, have I been able to
|
||
interpret myself to myself. Thou also in thine own Way hast
|
||
the Power to create such an Image; but be thou sure and alert,
|
||
testing constantly the Persons in that Image by the Holy
|
||
Qabalah and by the true Signs of Brotherhood. For each Person
|
||
therein shall be a Part of thyself, made individual and
|
||
perfect, able to instruct thee in thy Path. Yet often there
|
||
|
||
shall be others, that are to aid thee in thy Working, or to
|
||
oppose it. And in this Matter thou shalt read especially the
|
||
Record of thy Father His Workings with Soror Ahita (blessed be
|
||
Her Name unto the Ages) and certain others to Boot.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-86-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{zeta } DE MISSA SPIRITUS SANCTI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now at last, o my son, may I being thee to understand the
|
||
Truth of this Formula that is hidden in the Mass of the Holy
|
||
Ghost. For Horus that is Lord of the Aeon is the Child
|
||
crowned and conquering. The formula of Osiris was, as thou
|
||
knowest, a Word of Death, that is, the Force lay long in
|
||
Darkness, and by Putrifaction came to Resurrection. But we
|
||
take living Things, and pour in Life and Nature of our own
|
||
Will, so that instantly and without Corruption the Child (as
|
||
it were the Word of that Will) is generated; and again
|
||
immediately taketh up his Habitation among us to manifest in
|
||
Force and Fire. This Mass of the Holy Ghost is then the true
|
||
Formula of the Magick of the Aeon of Horus, blessed by He in
|
||
His Name Ra-Hoor-Khuit! And thou shalt bless also the Name of
|
||
our Father Merlin, Frater Superior of the O.T.O., for that by
|
||
seven Years of Apprenticeship in His School did I discover
|
||
|
||
this most excellent Way of Magick. Be thou diligent, o my
|
||
son, for in this wondrous Art is no more Toil, Sorrow, and
|
||
Disappointment, as it was in the dead Aeon of the Slain Gods.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-87-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{eta } DE FORMULA TOTA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Here then is the Schedule for all the Operations of Magick.
|
||
First, thou shalt discover thy true Will, as I have already
|
||
taught thee, and that Bud thereof which is the Purpose of this
|
||
Operation.
|
||
Next, formulate this Bud-Will as a Person, seeking or
|
||
constructing it, and naming it according to thine Holy
|
||
Qabalah, and its infallible Rule of Truth. Third, purify and
|
||
consecrate this Person, concentrating upon him and against all
|
||
else. This Preparation shall continue in all thy daily Life.
|
||
Mark well, make ready a new Child immediately after every
|
||
Birth. Fourth, make an especial and direct Invocation at thy
|
||
Mass, before the Introit, formulating a visible Image of this
|
||
Child, and offering the Right of Incarnation. Fifth, perform
|
||
the Mass, not omitting the Epiklesis, and let there be a
|
||
Golden Wedding Ring at the Marriage of thy Lion with thine
|
||
|
||
Eagle. Sixth, at the Consumption of the Eucharist accept this
|
||
Child, losing thy Consciousness in him, until he be well
|
||
assimilated with thee. Now then do this continuously, for by
|
||
Repetition cometh forth both Strength and Skill, and the
|
||
Effect is cumulative, if thou allow no Time to dissipate
|
||
itself.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-88-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{theta } DE HAC FORMULA CONSIDERATIONES KABBALISTICAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Behold moreover, my Son, the Oeconomy of this Way, how it
|
||
is according to the Tao, fulfilling itself wholly within thine
|
||
own Sphere. And it is utterly in Tune with thine own Will on
|
||
every Plane, so that every Part of thy Nature rejoiceth with
|
||
every other Part, communicating Praise. Now then learn also
|
||
how this Formula is that of the Word ABRAHADABRA. First, HAD
|
||
is the Triangle erect upon twin Squares. Of Hadit need I not
|
||
to write, for He hath hidden Himself in "The Book of the Law".
|
||
This Substance is the Father, the Instrument is the Son, and
|
||
the Metaphysical Ekstacy is the Holy Ghost, whose Name is
|
||
HRILIU. These are then the Sun, Mercury, and Venus, whose
|
||
sacred letters are R ({HB:Resh }), B ({HB:Bet }), and D ({HB:Dalet }). But the
|
||
last of the Diverse Letters is H ({HB:Heh }), which in the Tarot
|
||
is the Star whose Eidolon is D ({HB:Dalet }); and herein is that
|
||
Arcanum concerning the Tao of which I have already written.
|
||
|
||
Of this will I not write more plainly. But mark this, that
|
||
our Trinity is our Path inwards in the Solar System, and that
|
||
H being of our Lady Nuith starry, is an Anchor to this Magick
|
||
which else were apt to deny our wholeness of Relation to the
|
||
Outer as to the Inner. My son, ponder these Words, and profit
|
||
by them; for I have wrought cunningly to conceal or to reveal,
|
||
according to thine Intelligence, o my Son!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-89-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{iota } DE QUIBUSDAM ARTIBUS MAGICIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now of those Operations of Magick by which thou seekest to
|
||
display unto some other Person the Righteousness of thy Will I
|
||
make haste to instruct thee. First, if thou have a reasonable
|
||
Link with him by Word or Letter, it is most natural simply to
|
||
create in thyself, as I have taught, a Child or Bud-Will, and
|
||
let that radiate from thee through the Channels aforesaid.
|
||
But if thou have no Link, the Case is otherwise and is not
|
||
easy. Here thou mayst make Communication through others, as
|
||
it were by Relays; or thou mayst act directly upon his Aura by
|
||
Magical Means, such as the Projection of the Scin-Laeca. But
|
||
unless he be sensitive and well-attuned, thou mayst fare but
|
||
ill. Yet even in this Case thou mayst attain much Skill by
|
||
Practice with Intelligence. In the End it is better
|
||
altogether to work wholly within thine own Universe, slowly
|
||
and with firm Steps advancing from the Centre, and dealing,
|
||
|
||
one by one, with those unharmonized Parts of the Not-Self
|
||
which lie close to thee. This therefore closeth the Circle of
|
||
my Speech, for now I am returned to that which I spake
|
||
aforetime concerning the general Method of love, and thy
|
||
Development by that Way.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-90-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{kappa } DE MAGNO OPERE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
But now give Ear most eagerly, thou Son of my Loins, for I
|
||
will now discourse unto thee of thine Own Attainment, without
|
||
which all is but Idleness. Know first that conscious Thought
|
||
is but phenomenal, the Noise of thy Machine. Now Chemistry,
|
||
or Al-Chem-y meaneth the Egyptian Science, and the true Magick
|
||
of Egypt hath this for its Foundation. We have in our House
|
||
many Substances which act directly upon the Blood, and many
|
||
Practices of Virtue similar, to simulate, compose, purify,
|
||
analyse, direct, or concentrate the Thought. Confer "CCXX". 11,
|
||
22. But this Action is subtle and of man Modes, and dependeth
|
||
heavily on the Conditions of the Experiment, whereof the first
|
||
is thine own Will therein. Therefore I say unto thee that
|
||
this is thy Work immediate and necessary, to discover openly
|
||
thy Will unto thyself, and to fortify and enkindle it by all
|
||
One-Pointedness of Thought and Action, so that thou mayst
|
||
|
||
direct it inwards unto its Core, that is Thyself in thy Name
|
||
HADIT. For thereby is thy Will made white with Heat, so that
|
||
no Dross may cling to it. But this Work is the Great Work,
|
||
and standeth alone.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-91-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{lambda } DE GRADIBUS AD MAGNUM OPUS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
This Great Work is the Attainment of the Knowledge and
|
||
Conversation of thine Holy Guardian Angel. In the Eight
|
||
Aethyr is the Way thereof revealed. But I say: prepare
|
||
thyself most heartily and well for that Battle of Love by all
|
||
means of Magick. Make thyself puissant, wise, radiant in
|
||
every System, and balance thyself well in thine Universe.
|
||
Then with a pure Will tempered in the thousand Furnaces of thy
|
||
Trials, burn up thyself within thy Self. In the Preparation
|
||
thou shalt have learnt how thou mayst still all Thoughts, and
|
||
reach Ekstacy of Trance in many Modes. But in these Marriages
|
||
thy conscious Self is Bridegroom, and the not-Self Bride,
|
||
while in this Great Work thou givest up that conscious Self as
|
||
Bride to thy true Self. This Operation is then radically
|
||
alien from all others. And it is hard, because it is a total
|
||
Reversal of the Current of the Will, and a Transmutation of
|
||
|
||
its Formula and Nature. Here, o my son, is the One Secret of
|
||
Success in this Great Work: Invoke often.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-92-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{mu } DE FORMULA LUNAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Thus then concerning Operations of the Tao with the Yang
|
||
and the Yin is there enough; for thine own Art of Beauty shall
|
||
divine for thee, and devise new Heavens. But in all these is
|
||
the Formula of the Serpent with the Head of the Lion, and all
|
||
this Magick is wrought by the Radiance and Creative Force
|
||
thereof. And this Force leapeth continually from Plane to
|
||
Plane, and breaketh forth from his Bonds, so that Constraint
|
||
is Labour. Now then learn that the Yin hath also a Formula of
|
||
Force. And the Nature of the Yin is to be still, and to
|
||
encircle of limit, and it is as a Mirror, reflecting diverse
|
||
Images without Change in its own Kind. So then it seeketh
|
||
never to overlap the Barriers of its Plane; for this Reason it
|
||
is well to use it in Operations of a very definite and
|
||
restricted Type. But although it be inert, yet is it most
|
||
subject to Change; for its Number is four Score and one, which
|
||
|
||
is the Moon; and these are A L O ,, the Gods elemental before
|
||
H descending in their midst made them Creative. So then thou
|
||
mayst use constantly this Formula to rearrange Things in their
|
||
own Planes; and this is a most pragmatic Consideration.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-93-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{nu } DE AQUILAE SUMKNDA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Take in this Work the Eagle all undefiled and virginal for
|
||
thy Sacrament. And thy Technick is the Magick of Water, so
|
||
that thine Act is of Nourishment, and not of Generation.
|
||
Therefore the Prime Use of this Art is to build up thine own
|
||
Nature. But if thou hast Skill to control the Mood of the
|
||
Eagle, then mayst thou work many an admirable Effect upon
|
||
thine Environment. Thou knowest how great is the Fame of
|
||
Witch-Women (old and without Man) to cause Events, although
|
||
they create nothing. It is this Straitness of the Channel
|
||
which giveth Force to the Stream. Beware, o my Son, lest thou
|
||
cling overmuch to this Mode of Magick; for it is lesser than
|
||
that Other, and if thou neglect That Other, then is thy Danger
|
||
fearful and imminent, for it is the Edge of the Abyss of
|
||
Choronzon, where are the lonely Towers of the Black Brothers.
|
||
Also the Formulation of the Object in the Eagle is by a
|
||
|
||
Species of Intoxication, so that His Nature is of Dream or
|
||
Delirium, and thus there may be Illusion. For this Cause I
|
||
deem it not wholly unwise if thou use this Way of Magick
|
||
chiefly as a Cordial; that is for the Fortifying of thine own
|
||
Nature.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-94-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{chi } DE MEDICINIS SECUNDUM QUATTUOR ELEMENTA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Concerning the Use of chemical Agents, and be mindful that
|
||
thou abuse them not, learn that the Sacrament itself relateth
|
||
to Spirit, and the Four Elements balanced thereunder in its
|
||
Perfection. So also thy Lion himself hath a fourfold
|
||
Menstruum for his Serpents. Now to Fire belong Cocaine, which
|
||
fortifieth the Will, loosing him from bodily Fatigue,
|
||
Morphine, which purifieth the Mind, making the Thought safe,
|
||
and slow, and single, Heroin which partaketh as it seemeth, of
|
||
the Nature of these twain aforesaid albeit in Degree less
|
||
notable than either of them, and Alcohol, which is Food, that
|
||
is, Fuel, for the whole Man. To Water, attribute Hashish and
|
||
Mescal, for they make Images, and they open the hidden Springs
|
||
of Pleasure and of Beauty. Morphine, for its Ease, hath also
|
||
part in Water. Air ruleth Ethyl Oxide, for it is as a Sword,
|
||
dividing asunder ever Part of thee, making easy the Way of
|
||
|
||
Analysis, so that thou comest to learn thyself of what
|
||
Elements thou art compact. Lastly, of the Nature of Earth are
|
||
the direct Hypnotics, which operate by Repose, and restore thy
|
||
Strength by laying thee as a Child in the Arms of the Great
|
||
Mother, I say rather of Her material and physiological
|
||
Vicegerent.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-95-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{omicron } DE VIRTUTE EXPERIMENTIAE IN HOC ARTE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Not Sleep, not Rest, not Contentment are of the Will of the
|
||
Hero, but these Things he hateth, and consenteth to enjoy them
|
||
only with Same of his weak Nature. But he will analyse
|
||
himself without Pity, and he will do all Things soever that
|
||
may free and fortify his Mind and Will. Know that the
|
||
Technick of the Right Use of this Magick with Poisons is
|
||
subtle; and since the Nature of every Man differeth from that
|
||
of his Fellow, there entereth Idiosyncrasy, and thine
|
||
Experience shall be thy Master in this Art. Heed also this
|
||
Word following: The Right Use of these Agents is to gain a
|
||
Knowledge preliminary of thine own Powers, and of High States,
|
||
so that thou goest not altogether blindly and without Aim in
|
||
thy Quest, ignorant of the Ways of thine own inner Being.
|
||
Also, thou must work always for a definite End, never for
|
||
Pleasure or for Relaxation, except thy wilt, as a good Knight
|
||
|
||
is sworn to do. And thou being Hero and Magician art in Peril
|
||
of abusing the fiery Agents only, not those of Earth, Air or
|
||
Water; because these do really work with thee in Purity,
|
||
making thee wholly what thou wouldst be, an Engine
|
||
indefatigable, a Mind clear, calm, and concentrated, and a
|
||
Heart fierce aglow.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-96-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{pi } DE SACRAMENTO VERO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
But in the Sacrament of the Gnosis, which is of the Spirit,
|
||
is there naught hurtful, for its Elements are not only Food,
|
||
but a true Incarnation and Quintessence of Life, Love, and
|
||
Liberty, and at its Manifestation thy Lion is consecrated by
|
||
pure Light of Ekstacy. Also, as this is the strongest so also
|
||
it is the most sensitive of all Things soever, and both proper
|
||
and ready to take Impress of Will, not as a Seal passively but
|
||
with true Recreation in a Microcosm thereof. And this is a
|
||
God alive and puissant to create, and He is a Word of Magick
|
||
wherein thou mayst read Thyself with all thine History and all
|
||
thy Possibility. Also as to thine Eagle, is not this chosen
|
||
by Nature Herself by Her Way of Attraction, without which
|
||
harmony Aesthetic and Magnetic thy Lion is silent, and inert,
|
||
even as Achilles before his Rage in his Tent. Now also
|
||
therefore I charge thee, o my Son, to partake constantly of
|
||
|
||
this Sacrament for it is proper to all Virtue, and as thou
|
||
dost learn to us it in Perfection, thou wilt surpass all other
|
||
Modes of Magick. Yea, in good Sooth, no Herb or Potion is
|
||
like unto this, supreme in every Case, for it is the True
|
||
Stone of Philosophers, and the Elixir and Medicine of all
|
||
Things, the Universal Tincture or Menstruum of thine own Will.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-97-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{koppa } DE DISCIPULIS REGENDIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
I will have thee to know, moreover, my dear Son, the right
|
||
Art of Conduct with them whom I shall give thee for
|
||
Initiation. And the Rule thereof is one Rule; Do that thou
|
||
wilt shall be the whole of the Law. See thou constantly to it
|
||
that this be not broken; especially in the Section thereof (if
|
||
I dare say so) which readeth Mind thine own Business. This is
|
||
of Application equally to all, and the most dangerous Man (or
|
||
Woman, as has occurred, or I err) is the Busy-body. Oh how
|
||
ashamed are we, and moved to Indignation, seeing the Sins and
|
||
Follies of our Neighbours! Of all the Occasions of this
|
||
Grievance the most common is the Desire of Sex unsatisfied;
|
||
and thou knowest already, even in thy young Experience, how in
|
||
that Delirium the Weal of the Whole Universe appeareth of no
|
||
Account. Do thou wean thy Babes from that Simplicity, and
|
||
instil the Sense of true Proportion. For verily this is a Way
|
||
|
||
of Madness, Love, unless it be under Will. And the Cure of
|
||
this Madness is not so good as its Prevention, so that thou
|
||
shouldst be beforehand with these Children, shewing them the
|
||
right Importance of Love, how it should be a sacred Rite,
|
||
exalted above Personality, and a Fire to enlighten and serve
|
||
Man, not to devour him.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-98-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{rho } DE QUIBUSDAM MORBIS DISCIPULORUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
And thus, if any Babe of thine be ill at ease, look closely
|
||
first whether this Love be not the Root of his Distemper.
|
||
Watch also Idleness, for whoso presseth eagerly forward in
|
||
Will heedeth little the Affairs of this Fellows. O my Son, if
|
||
every Man doth his own Will, there is no more to Say! But the
|
||
Busy-body nor mindeth his own Business, nor leaveth others to
|
||
mind theirs. Be thou instant therefore with such an one, to
|
||
cure him by enlightening his Will, and speeding him therein.
|
||
Remember also that if one speak ill of another, the Fault is
|
||
first of all in himself, for we know naught but that which is
|
||
within us. Did not the great Witch-Finder end by confessing
|
||
that he also was a Sorcerer? We become that which obsesseth
|
||
us, either through extreme Hate or Extreme Love. Knowest thou
|
||
not how the one is a Symbol of the other? For this Reason,
|
||
since Love is the Formula of Life, we are under Bond to
|
||
|
||
assimilate (in the End) that which we fear or hate. So then
|
||
we shall be wise to mould all Things within ourselves in
|
||
Quietness and Modulation. But above all must we use all to
|
||
our own End, adapting with Adroitness even our Weakness to the
|
||
Work.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-99-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{sigma } DE CULPIS DOMI PETENDIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Therefore, watch heedfully the Fault of another, that thou
|
||
mayst correct it in thyself. For if it were not in thee, thou
|
||
couldst not perceive it or understand it. Lo, in thine
|
||
Ekstacy of Love, thou callest upon the Universe to bear
|
||
Witness that to this End alone was it created; it is
|
||
unthinkable that thou shouldst love another, and
|
||
incomprehensible that any Man should grieve. Yet ere the Moon
|
||
change her Quarter, thou art free of thy Lunes, and lovest
|
||
another, and it may be grievest in thyself while he that
|
||
amazed thee hath joined the Company of the Rejoicing. Watch
|
||
then, and heed thyself; and pay no Heed to thy Fellows,
|
||
insofar as they impede thee not. And let this be the Rule.
|
||
For every Will is pure and every Orbit free; but Error
|
||
bringeth Confusion. See therefore that none leave his Path,
|
||
lest he foul that of his Brother; and remember also that with
|
||
|
||
Speed cometh Ease of Control. Let each Man therefore urge
|
||
briskly his Chariot in a right Line toward the Centre; for two
|
||
Radii cannot cross. And beware most of this Love, because it
|
||
lieth so close to Will that Dis-ease thereof easily imparteth
|
||
his Error to the Whole Way of the Magician.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-100-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{tau } DE CORPORE UMBRA HOMINIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Concerning the Aeon, o my Son, learn that the Sun and His
|
||
Vicegerent are in all Aeons, of Necessity, Father, Centre,
|
||
Creator, each in His Sphere of Operation. But the Formula of
|
||
the past Aeon was of the Dying god, and was based upon
|
||
Ignorance. For Men thought that the Sun died and was reborn
|
||
alike in the Day and in the Year; and so also was the Mystery
|
||
of Man. Now already are we well assured by Science how the
|
||
Death of the Sun is in Truth but the Shifting of a Shadow; and
|
||
in this Aeon (o my son, I lift up my Voice and I make
|
||
Prophecy!) so shall it be proven as to Death. For the Body of
|
||
Man is but his Shadow, it cometh and goeth even as the tides
|
||
of Ocean; and he only is in Darkness who is hidden by that
|
||
Shadow from the Light of his true Self. Now therefore
|
||
understand thou the Formula of Horus, the Lion God, the Child
|
||
crowned and conquering that cometh forth in Force and Fire!
|
||
|
||
For thy Changes are not Phases of thee, but of the Phantoms
|
||
which thou mistakest for thy Self.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-101-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{upsilon } DE SIRENIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
concerning the Love of women, o my Son, it is written in
|
||
" ""The Book of the Law" that all is Freedon, if it be cone unto
|
||
our Lady Nuit. Yet also there is this Consideration,that for
|
||
every Parsifal there is a Kundry. Thou mayst eat a thousand
|
||
Fruits of the Garden; but there is one Tree whose name for
|
||
thee is Poison. In every great Initiation is an Ordeal,
|
||
wherein appeareth a Siren or Vampire appointed to destroy the
|
||
Candidate. I have myself witnessed the Blasting of not less
|
||
that ten of my own Flowers, that I tended when I was Nemo, and
|
||
that although I saw the Cankerworm, and knew it, and gave
|
||
urgent Warning. How then consider deeply in thyself if I were
|
||
rightly governed in this Action, according to the Tao. For we
|
||
that are Magicians work without Fear or Haste, being
|
||
omnipotent in Eternity, and each Star must go his Way; and who
|
||
am I that should save this People? "Wilt thou smite me as
|
||
|
||
thou smotest the Egyptian yesterday?" Yes, although mine were
|
||
the Might to save these Ten, I reached not forth mine Arm
|
||
against Iniquity, I spake and I was silent; and that which was
|
||
appointed came to pass. As it is written, the Pregnant
|
||
Goddess hath let down Her Burden upon the Earth.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-102-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{phi } DE FEMINA QUADAM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Knowest thou for what Cause I am moved to write this unto
|
||
thee, my Son only-begotten, Child of Magick and of Mystery?
|
||
It is that I thy Father am also in this Ordeal of Initiation
|
||
at this Hour. For the Sun is nigh unto the End of the Sign of
|
||
the Fishes in the Thirteenth Year of the Aeon, and the New
|
||
Current of High Magick leapeth forth as a Flood from the Womb
|
||
of my True Lady B A B A L O N. And a Word hath come to me by
|
||
the Mouth of thee Scarlet Woman, whose Name is E V E, or A H I
|
||
T H A, concerning the Temple of Jupiter that is builded for
|
||
me. And therein is a Woman appointed to a certain Office.
|
||
Now this Woman appeared to me in a Vision when I was in the
|
||
House of the Juggler by the Lake among the Mountains, the Sun
|
||
being in Cancer in the Eleventh Year of the Aeon, even in the
|
||
Week after thy Birth. And I think this Woman to be Her whom I
|
||
call W E S --- R U N. But even while with a pure Heart I did
|
||
|
||
invoke Her, there came unto me another like unto Her, so that
|
||
I am confused in my Mind and bewildered. And this other Woman
|
||
stirreth my true Nature in its Depth, so that I will not call
|
||
it Love. For the Voice of Love I know of old; but this other
|
||
Woman speaketh in a tongue whereof I have no Understanding.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-103-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{chi } DE SUA VIRTUTE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
What then shall I do therein? For the Scarlet Woman
|
||
adjureth me by the great Name of God ITHUPHALLOS that I deal
|
||
with the Other Woman as with any Woman, according to my Will.
|
||
But this I fear for that she is not as any Woman, and I deem
|
||
her to be the Vampire of this Ordeal. Now then? Shall I
|
||
fear? Said I not long since, when I was called of Men Eliphaz
|
||
Levi Zahed, that the Error of Oedipus was that he should have
|
||
tamed the Sphinx, and ridden her into Thebes? Shall I not
|
||
take this Vampire, if she be such, and master her and turn her
|
||
to the Great End? "Am I such a Man as should flee?" Is not
|
||
all Fear the Word of Failure? Shall I distrust my Destiny?
|
||
Am I that am the Word of the Aeon of so little avail that even
|
||
the whole Powers of Choronzon can disperse me? Nay, o my Son,
|
||
there is Courage of Ignorance and Discretion of Knowledge, and
|
||
by no less Virtue will I win through unto mine End. As it is
|
||
|
||
written: with Courage conquering Fear will I approach thee.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-104-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Lambda }{psi } DE ALIQUIBUS MODIS ORACULI PETENDI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My Son, in all Judgment and Decision is great Delicacy, but
|
||
most in these Matters of the Will. For thou art Advocate as
|
||
well as Judge, and unless thou have well organized thy Mind
|
||
thou art Bondslave of Prejudice. For this Cause it is
|
||
adjuvant to thy Wisdom to call Witnesses that are not of thine
|
||
own Nature, and to ask Oracles whose Interpretation is bound
|
||
by fixed rule. This is the Use of the Book T A R O T, of the
|
||
Divination by Earth, or by the other Elements, or by the Book
|
||
" ""Yi-King", and many another Mode of Truth. Thou knoest by thine
|
||
Experience that these Arts deceive thee not, save insofar as
|
||
thou deceivest thyself. So then to thee that art NEMO is no
|
||
Siege Perilous at this Table, but to them that are yet below
|
||
the Abyss is very notable Danger of Error. Yet must they
|
||
train themselves constantly in these Modes, for Experience
|
||
itself shall teach them how their Bias toward their Desires
|
||
|
||
reacteth in the End against themselves, and hindereth them in
|
||
the Execution of their Wills. Nevertheless, as thou well
|
||
knowest, the best Mode is the Creation of an Intelligible
|
||
Image by Virtue of the Mass of the Holy Ghost, declaring the
|
||
true Will unto thee in Terms of thy Qabalah!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-105-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{omega } DE FRATRIBUS NIGRIS? FILIIS INIQUITATIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Of the Black Brothers, o my Son, will I write these Things
|
||
following. I have told thee already concerning Change, how it
|
||
is the Law, because every Change is an Act of Love under will.
|
||
So then He that is Adept Exempt, whether in our Holy Order or
|
||
another, may not remain in the Pillar of Mercy, because it is
|
||
not balanced, but is unstable. Therefore is the Choice given
|
||
unto him, whether he will destroy his Temple, and give up his
|
||
Life, extending it to Universal Life, or whether he will make
|
||
a Fortress about that Temple, and abide therein, in the false
|
||
Sphere of Daath, which is in the Abyss. And to the Adepts of
|
||
our Holy Order this Choice is terrible; by Cause that they
|
||
must abandon even Him whose Knowledge and Conversation they
|
||
have attained. Yet, o my Son, they have much Help of our
|
||
Order in this Aeon, because the general Formula is Love, so
|
||
that their habit itself urges them to the Bed of our Lady
|
||
|
||
BABALON. Know then the Black Brothers by this true Sign of
|
||
their Initiation of iniquity, that that they resist Change,
|
||
restrict and deny Love, fear Death. Percutiantur.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-106-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{alpha } DE VIRTUTE CHIRURGICA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Know that the Cult of the Slave-Gods is a Device of those
|
||
Black Brothers. All that stagnateth is thereof, and thence
|
||
cometh not Stability, but Putrefaction. Endure not thou the
|
||
static Standards either in Thought or in Action Resist not
|
||
even the Change that is the Rottenness of Choronzon, but
|
||
rather speed it, so that the elements may combine by Love
|
||
under Will. Since the Black Brothers and their Cults set
|
||
themselves against Change, do thou break them asunder. Yea,
|
||
though of bad come worse, continue in that Way; for it is as
|
||
if thou didst open an Abscess, the first Effect being noisome
|
||
exceedingly, but the last Cleanness. Heed not then, whoso
|
||
crieth Anarchy, and Immorality, and Heresy against thee, and
|
||
feareth to destroy Abuse lest worse Things come of it. For
|
||
the Will of the Universe in its Wholeness is to Truth, and
|
||
thou dost well to purge it from its Constiveness. For it is
|
||
|
||
written that there is no bond that can unite the Divided by
|
||
Love, so that only those Complexes which are in Truth
|
||
Simplicities, being built Cell by Cell unto an Unity by Virtue
|
||
of Love under Will, are worthy to endure in their Progression.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-107-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{beta } DE OPERIBUS STELLAE MICROCOSMI.
|
||
|
||
QUORUM SUNT QUATTOUR MINORES.
|
||
|
||
|
||
I have already written unto thee, my Son, of the Paradox of
|
||
Liberty, how the Freedom of thy Will dependeth upon the
|
||
Bending of all thy forces to that one End. But now also learn
|
||
how great is the Oeconomy of our Magick, and this will I
|
||
declare unto thee in a Figure of the Holy Qabalah, to wit, the
|
||
Formula of the Tetragrammaton. Firstly, the Operation of Yod
|
||
and He is not Vau only, but with Vau appeareth also a new He,
|
||
as a By-OProduct, and She is mysterious, being at once the
|
||
Flower of the three others, and their Poison. Now by the
|
||
Operation of Vau upon that He is no new Creation, but the
|
||
Daughter is set upon the Throne of Her Mother, and by this is
|
||
rekindled the Fire of Yod, which, consuming that Virgin, doth
|
||
not add a Fifth Person, but balanceth and perfecteth all. For
|
||
|
||
this Shin, that is the Holy Spirit, pervadeth these, and is
|
||
immanent. Thus in three Operations is the Pentagram
|
||
formulated. But in the Figure of that Star these Operations
|
||
are not indicated, for the five Lines of Force connect not
|
||
according to any of them; but five new Operations are made
|
||
possible; and these are the Works proper to the perfected man.
|
||
First, the Work which lieth level, the Vau with the He, is of
|
||
the Yang and the Yin, and maketh One the Human with the
|
||
Divine, as in the Attainment of the Master of the Temple. Yet
|
||
this Work hath his Perversion, which is of Death. Thus then
|
||
for thee four Works, they pertain all to the Natural Formula
|
||
ofthe Cross and Rose.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-108-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{gamma } DE OPERIBUS STELLAE MICROCOSMI.
|
||
|
||
QUORUM SUNT QUATTUOR MAJORES.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, behold now the Virtue and Mystery of the Silver
|
||
Star! For of these four Works not one leadeth to the Crown,
|
||
because Tetragrammaton hath his Root only in Chokmah. So
|
||
therefore the Formula of the Rosy Cross availeth no more in
|
||
the Highest. Now then in the Pentagram are two Lines that
|
||
invoke Spirit, though they lead not thereunto, and they are
|
||
the Works of He with He, and of Yod with Vau. Of thee twain
|
||
the former is a Work Magical of the Nature of Music, and it
|
||
draweth down the Fire of the HIGHER by Seduction or
|
||
Bewitchment. And the latter is a Work opposite thereunto,
|
||
whose Effect forumlateth itself by direct Creation in the
|
||
Sphere of its Purpose and Intent. But there remain yet two of
|
||
the Eight Works, namely, the straight Aspiration of the Chiah
|
||
|
||
or Creator in thee to the Crown, and the Surrender of the
|
||
Nephesh or Animal soul to the Possession thereof; and these be
|
||
the twin principal Formulae of the Final Attainment, being
|
||
Archetypes of the Paths of Magick (the one) and Mysticism (the
|
||
other) unto the End. From each of these Eight Works is
|
||
derived a separate Mode of practical Use, each after his Kind;
|
||
and it should be well for thine Instruction if thou study upon
|
||
these my Words, and found upon them a System. O my son,
|
||
forget not therein the Arcanum of their Balance and
|
||
Proportion; fort herein lieth the Mystery of their Holiness.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-109-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{delta } DE STELLA MACROCOSMI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Thus far then concerning the Pentagram, how it is of the
|
||
Cross, and its Virtue of the Highest; but the Hexagram is for
|
||
the most Part a Detail of the Formula of the Rose and Cross.
|
||
Already have I shewed unto thee how the Most Holy Trinity is
|
||
the Yang; but the Spirit, and the Water (or Fluid) and the
|
||
Blood, that bear Witness in the Inferior, are of the Yin.
|
||
Thus the Operation of the Hexagram lieth wholly within the
|
||
Order of our Plane, uniting indeed any soul with its Image,
|
||
but not transcendentally, for its Effect is Cosmos, the Vau
|
||
that springeth from the Union of the Yod and the He. Thus is
|
||
it but a Glyph of that first Formula, not of the others. But
|
||
of all these Things shalt thou thyself make Study with ardent
|
||
Affection; for therein lie many Mysteries of practical Wisdom
|
||
in our Magick Art. And this is the Wonder and Beauty of this
|
||
Work, that for every Man is his own Palace. Yea, this is
|
||
|
||
Life, that the Secrets of our Order are not fixed and dead, as
|
||
are the Formulae of the Outer. Know that in the many thousand
|
||
Times that I have performed the Ritual of the Pentagram or the
|
||
Invocation of the Heart girt with a Serpent, or the Mass of
|
||
the Phoenix, or of the Holy Ghost, there has not been one Time
|
||
wherein I did not win new Light, or Knowledge or Power or
|
||
Virtue, save through mine own Weakness or Error.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-110-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{epsilon } DE SUA FEMINA OLIM, ET DE ECSTASIA
|
||
|
||
PRAETER OMNIA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My Son, I am enflamed with Love. I burn up eagerly in the
|
||
Passion that thus mightily consumeth me. Yet in myself I know
|
||
not at all That which constraineth me, and enkindleth my Soul
|
||
in Ekstacy. There is Silence in my Soul, and the Fear round
|
||
about me, as I were Syrinx in the Night of the Forest. This
|
||
is a great Mystery that I endure, a Mystery too great for the
|
||
mortal Part of me. For but now, when I cried out upon the
|
||
Name Olun, which is the secret Name of my Lady that hath come
|
||
to me --- most strangely! --- then I was rapt away altogether
|
||
subtly yet fiercely into a Trance that hath transformed me
|
||
with Attainment, yet without Trace in Mind. O my son! there
|
||
is the Transfiguration of Glory, and there is the Jewel in the
|
||
Lotus-flower; yea, also is many other whereof I am Partaker.
|
||
|
||
But this last Passion, that my Lady Olun hath brought unto me
|
||
upon this last Day of the Winter of the thirteenth Year of the
|
||
Aeon, even as I wrote these Words unto thee, is a Mystery of
|
||
Mysteries beyond all these. Oh my son, thou knowest well the
|
||
Perils and the Profit of our Path; continue thou therein.
|
||
Olun! {Mu }{alpha }{pi }{iota }{epsilon } BABALON! Adsum.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-111-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{digamma } DE NOMINE OLUN.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Four Seasons, or it may be night five, ago, I thy Father
|
||
was in the City called New-Orleans, and being in Travail of
|
||
Spirit I did invoke the God that giveth Wisdom, bearing the
|
||
Word of the All-Father by his Caduceus. Then, suddenly, as I
|
||
began (as it were a Gust of Fire whirled forth against that
|
||
Idea) cam the Wit of mine utter Identity, so that I ceased
|
||
crying Mercurius Sum. Also instantly I knew in myself that
|
||
there was a Mystery hidden, and translating into the Greek
|
||
Tongue, exclaimed '{Epsilon }{Pi }{Mu }{Eta }{Sigma } '{Epsilon }{Iota }{Mu }{Iota },
|
||
whose Numeration did I make in my Mind forthwith, and it is
|
||
Four Hundred and Eighteen, like unto the Word of the Aeon. So
|
||
by this I knew that my Work was well wrought in Truth. Thus
|
||
then also was it with this my Lady; for after many Questions I
|
||
obtained from the wizard Amalantrah that Name Olun, that is
|
||
One Hundred and Fifty and Six even as that of our Lady
|
||
|
||
BABALON; and then, being inspired, I wrote down Her Earth-name
|
||
in Greek, {Mu }{Alpha }{Rho }{Iota }{Epsilon }, which is also that this Name
|
||
(as I have learned) is in the Phoenician Tongue, who^len;
|
||
which by Interpretation is That which is Infinite, and Space;
|
||
so that all is consonant with NUITH Our Lady of the Stars.
|
||
Thus, o my Son, is the Word of Truth echoed throughout all
|
||
Worlds; and thus have the Wise mighty Assurance in their Way.
|
||
See, o my Son, that thou work not without this Guard
|
||
inflexible, lest thou err in thy Perceptions.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-112-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{zeta } DE VIRIS MAGNANIMIS, AMORE PRAECLARISSIMIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Know that in the Mind of Man is much Wisdom that is hidden,
|
||
being the Treasure of his Sire that he inheriteth. Thus,
|
||
night all of his moral Nature is unknown to him until his
|
||
Puberty; that is, this Nature pertaineth not unto the
|
||
Recording and Judging Apparatus of his Brain until it is put
|
||
therein by the Stirring of that deeper Nature within him.
|
||
Thou wilt mark also that great Men are commonly great Lovers;
|
||
and this is in Part also because (consciously or not) they are
|
||
ware of that Secret following, that every Act of Love
|
||
communicateth somewhat of the Wisdom stored within him to his
|
||
percipient Mind. Yet must such Act be done rightly, according
|
||
to Art; and unless such Act is of Profit alike to Mind and
|
||
Body, it is an Error. This then is true Doctrine; which if it
|
||
be understanded aright of thee, shall make diamon-clear thy
|
||
Path in Love, which (to them that know not this) is so obscure
|
||
|
||
and perilous that I believe there is not one Man in Ten
|
||
Thousand that cometh not to Misadventure therein.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-113-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{eta } DE CASTITATE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My son, be fervent! Be firm! Be stable! Be quick to make
|
||
Impurity, how one Course of Ideas seeketh to infringe upon
|
||
another, to quell the Virtue thereof. Gold is pure, but to
|
||
drink molten Gold were Impurity to thy Body, and its
|
||
Destruction. Law is a Code of the Customs of a People; if it
|
||
intrude thereon to alter them, it is an Impurity of
|
||
Oppression. So also Diet is to be in Accord with Digestion;
|
||
Ethics were an Impurity therein. Love is an Expression of the
|
||
Will of the Body, yea, and more also, of That which created
|
||
the Body; and its Operation is commonly between One and One,
|
||
so that the Interference of a Third Person is Impurity, and
|
||
not to be endured. Nay, even the thought of Third Person hath
|
||
but ordinary not Part in Love; so that, as thou seest
|
||
constantly in thy Life, Love being strong, taketh no heed of
|
||
others, and some after Interference bringeth Misfortune. Now
|
||
|
||
then shell we therefore cast out Love, or accept Impurity
|
||
therein? God forbid. And for this Cause see thou well to it
|
||
that in thy Kingdom there be no Interference there with, nor
|
||
Hindrance from any. For it is perfect in itself.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-114-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{theta } DE CEREMONIO EQUINOXI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My Son, our Father in Heaven hath passed into the Sign of
|
||
the Ram. I have performed the Rite of Union with Him
|
||
according to the ancient Manner, and I know the Word that
|
||
shall rule the Semester. Also it is given unto my Spirit to
|
||
write unto thee concerning the Virtue of this Rite, and many
|
||
another of Antiquity. And it is this, that our Forefathers
|
||
made of these Ceremonies an Epitome Mnemonic, wherein certain
|
||
Truths, or true Relations, should be communicated in a magical
|
||
Manner. Now therefore by the Practice of these mayst thou
|
||
awaken thy Wisdom, that it may manifest in thy conscious Mind.
|
||
And this Way is of Use even when the Ceremonies, as those of
|
||
the Christians, are corrupt and deformed; but in such a Case
|
||
thou shalt seek out the true ancient Significance thereof.
|
||
For there is that within thee which remembereth Truth, and is
|
||
ready to communicate the same unto thee when thou hast Wit to
|
||
|
||
evoke it from the Aditum and Sanctuary of thy Being. And this
|
||
is to be done by this Repetition of the Formula of that Truth.
|
||
Note thou further that this which I tell thee is the Defence
|
||
of Formalism; and indeed thou must work upon a certain
|
||
Skeleton, but clothe it with live Flesh.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-115
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{iota } DE LUCE STELLARUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
It was that most Holy Prophet, thine Uncle, called upon
|
||
Earth William O'Neill, or Blake, who wrote for our
|
||
Understanding these Eleven Sacred Words! ---
|
||
If the Sun and Moon should doubt
|
||
They'd immediately go out.
|
||
O my Son, our Work is to shine by Fore and Virtue of our own
|
||
Natures without Consciousness or consideration. Now,
|
||
notwithstanding that our Radiance is constant and undimmed, it
|
||
may be that Clouds gathering about us conceal our Glory from
|
||
the Vision of other Stars. These Clouds are our Thoughts; not
|
||
those true Thoughts which are but conscious Expressions of our
|
||
Will, such as manifest in our Poesy, or our Music, or other
|
||
Flower-Ray of our Life quintessential. Nay, the Cloud-Thought
|
||
is born of Division and of Doubt; for all Thoughts, except
|
||
they be creative emanations, are Witnesses to Conflict within
|
||
|
||
us. Our settled Relations with the Universe do not disturb
|
||
our Minds, as, by Example, our automatic Functions, which
|
||
speak to us only in the Sign of Distress. Thus all
|
||
consideration is Demonstration of Doubt, and Doubt of Duality,
|
||
which is the Root of Choronzon.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-116-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{kappa } DE CANTU.
|
||
|
||
|
||
So then, o my Son, there is my Wisdom, that the Voice of
|
||
the Soul in its true Nature Eternal and Unchangeable,
|
||
comprehending all Change, is Silence; and the Voice of the
|
||
Soul, dynamic, in the Way of its Will, is song. Nor is there
|
||
any Form of utterance that is not, as song is, the Music
|
||
proper to that Motion, according to the Law. Thus, as thy
|
||
Cousin Arthur Machen hath rejoiced to make plain unto Men in
|
||
his Book called "Hieroglyphics", the first Quality of Art is its
|
||
Ekstacy. So, night to all Men at one Time or other, cometh
|
||
Joy of Creation, with the Belief that their Utterance is holy
|
||
and beautiful, glorious with Banners. This would indeed be
|
||
the Case, an we could discern their Thought from their Words;
|
||
but because they have no technical Skill to express
|
||
themselves, the do not enable others to reproduce or recreate
|
||
the original Passion which inspired them, or even any Memory
|
||
|
||
thereof. Understand then what is the Agony of the Great Soul
|
||
who hath every Key of Paradise at his Girdle, when he would
|
||
open the Gate of Holiness, or of Beauty, or any Virtue soever,
|
||
to the Men of his Age!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-117-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{lambda } DE STULTITIA HUMANA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Know that a Mind can only apprehend those Things with which
|
||
it is already familiar, at least in Part. Moreover, it will
|
||
ever interpret according to the Distortion of its own Lenses.
|
||
Thus, in a great War, all Speech soever may be understood as
|
||
if it were of Reference thereunto; also, a Guilty Person, or a
|
||
Melancholic may see in every Stranger an Officer of Justice,
|
||
or one of them that are banded together to persecute him, as
|
||
the Case may be. But consider moreover that the Mysterious is
|
||
always the Terrible, for Vulgar Minds. How then when a New
|
||
Word is spoken? Either it is not heard, or it is
|
||
misunderstood; and it evoketh Fear and Hate as a Reaction
|
||
against Fear. Then Men take him and set him at naught, and
|
||
spit upon him and scourge him, and lead him away to crucify
|
||
him; and the third Day he riseth from among the Dead, and
|
||
ascendeth into Heaven, and sitteth at the right Hand of God,
|
||
|
||
and cometh to judge the Quick and the Dead. This, o my son,
|
||
is the History of Every Man unto whom is given a Word.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-118-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{mu } DE SUO PROELIO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now therefore thou seest how Men take the Son of Science,
|
||
and burn him for a Sorcerer or a Heretic; the Poet and cast
|
||
him out as Reprobate; the Painter, as deforming Nature, the
|
||
Musician, as denying Harmony; and so for every New Word. How
|
||
much more, then, if the Word be of Universal Import, a Word of
|
||
Revolution and of Revelation in the Deep of the Soul? A new
|
||
Star; that is for the Astronomers, and maybe setteth them by
|
||
the Ears. But a new Sun! That were for all Men; and a Seed
|
||
of Tumult and Upheavel in every Land. consider in thyself,
|
||
therefore, what is the Might of the Adepts, the Energy of the
|
||
Sancturary, that can endow one Man with the Word of an Aeon,
|
||
and bring him to the End in Victory, with his Chariot wreathed
|
||
in Flowers, and his Head bound round with a Fillet of Blood-
|
||
honoured Laurel! My Son, thou are entered into the Battle;
|
||
and the Men of our Race and our Clan return not save in Glory.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-119-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{nu } DE NECESSITATE VERBI CLAMANDI.
|
||
|
||
He that striveth against his own Nature is a Fool, and
|
||
wotteth not his Will, darkening Counsel in himself, and
|
||
denying his own God, and giving Place to Choronzon. So then
|
||
his Work becometh Hotchpot, and he is shattered and dispersed
|
||
in the Abyss. Nor is it better for him if he do this for the
|
||
supposed Good of another, and for that other is it Evil also
|
||
in the End of the Matter. For to manifest thine own Division
|
||
to another, and to deceive him, is but to confirm him in
|
||
blindness, or Illusion, and to hinder or to deflect him in his
|
||
Way. Now to do thine own Will is to leave him free to do his
|
||
own Will, but to mask thy Will is to falsify one of the
|
||
Beacons by which he may steer his Ship. My son, all division
|
||
of Soul, that begetteth Neurosis and Insanity, cometh from
|
||
wrong Adjustment to Reality, and to Fear thereof. Wilt thou
|
||
then hide Truth from thy Brother, lest he suffer? Thou dost
|
||
not well, but confirmest him in Iniquity, and in Illusion, and
|
||
|
||
in Infirmity of Spirit.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-120-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{xi } DE MYSTERIO EUCHARISTICO UNIVERSALI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My son, heed also this Word of thine Uncle William O'Neill;
|
||
Everything that lives is holy. Yea, and more also, every Act
|
||
is holy, being essential to the Universal Sacrament. Knowing
|
||
this, thou mayst conform with that which is written in "The""
|
||
""Book of the Law": to make no Distinction between any one Thing
|
||
and any other Thing. Learn well to apprehend this Mystery,
|
||
for it is the Great Gate of the College of Understanding,
|
||
whereby each and all of thy Senses become constant and
|
||
perpetual Witnesses of the One Eucharist, whereunto also they
|
||
are Ministers. So then to thee every Phenomenon soever is the
|
||
Body of Nuith in her Passion; for it is an Event; that is, the
|
||
Marriage of some one Point of view with some One Possibility.
|
||
And this State of Mind is notably an Appurtenance of thy Grade
|
||
of Master of the Temple, and the Unveiling of the Arcanum of
|
||
Sorrow, which is thy Work, as it is written in Liber Magi.
|
||
|
||
Moreover, this State, assimilated in the very Marrow of thy
|
||
Mind, is the first Stop toward the comprehension of the
|
||
Arcanum of Change, which is the Root of the Work of a Magus of
|
||
Our Holy Order. O my Son, bind this within thine Heart, for
|
||
its Name is the Beatific Vision.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-121
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{omicron } DE RECTO IN RECTO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now also then I bid thee use all filial Diligence, and
|
||
attend to this same Word in the Mouth of thine earliest
|
||
Ancestor (except we adventure to invoke the Name F U --- H S
|
||
I) in our known Genealogy, the Most Holy, the True Man, Lao-
|
||
Tze, that gave His Light unto the Kingdom of Flowers. For
|
||
being questioned concerning the abode of the Tao, he gave
|
||
Answer that It was in the Dung. Again, the Tathagata, the
|
||
Buddha, most blessed, most perfect and most enlightened, added
|
||
His Voice, that there is no Grain of Dust which shall not
|
||
attain to the Arhan. Keep therefore in just Balance the
|
||
Relation of Illusion to Illusion in that Aspect of Illusion,
|
||
neither confusing the Planes, nor confounding the Stars, nor
|
||
denying the Laws of their Reaction, yet with Eagle's Vision
|
||
beholding the One Sun of the True Nature of the Whole. Verily,
|
||
this is the Truth, and unto it did also Dionysus and Tahuti
|
||
|
||
and Sri Krishna set the seal of their Witness. Cleanse
|
||
therefore thine Heart, o my son, in the Waters of the Great
|
||
Sea, and enkindle it with the Fire of the Holy Ghost. For
|
||
this is His peculiar Work of Sanctification.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-122-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{pi } DE VIRGINE BEATA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Understand then well this Mystery of Universal Godliness;
|
||
for it is the naked Beauty of the Virgin of the World. Lo!
|
||
Since the End is Perfection, as I have already shewn unto
|
||
thee, and since also every Event is inexorably and ineluctably
|
||
interwoven in the Web of that Fate, as it is certain that
|
||
every Phenomenon is (as thou art sworn to understand) "a
|
||
particular Dealing of God with thy Soul". Yea, and more also,
|
||
it is a necessary Rubric in this Ritual of Perfection. Turn
|
||
not therefore away thine Eyes, for that they are too pure to
|
||
behold Evil; but look upon Evil with Joy, comprehending it in
|
||
the Fervour of this Light that I have enkindled in thy Mind.
|
||
Learn also that every Thing soever is Evil, if thou consider
|
||
it as apart, static and in Division; and thus in a Degree must
|
||
thou apprehend the Mystery of Change, for it is by Virtue of
|
||
Change that this Truth of Beauty and Holiness is made
|
||
|
||
steadfast in the Universe. O my son, there is no Delight
|
||
sweeter than the continuous Contemplation of this Marvel and
|
||
Pageant that is ever about thee; it is the Beatitude of the
|
||
Beatitudes.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-123-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{koppa } DE LOCO SUAE MOECHAE.
|
||
|
||
Resist not Change, therefore, but act constantly according
|
||
to thy True Nature, for here only thou standest in Sorrow, if
|
||
there be a Division conscious of itself, and hindered from its
|
||
Way (whose Name is Love) unto its Dissolution. It is written
|
||
in "The Book of the Law" that the Pain of Division is as
|
||
nothing, and the Joy of Dissolution all. Now then here is an
|
||
Art and Device of Magick that I will declare unto thee, albeit
|
||
it is a Peril if thou be not fixed in that Truth and in that
|
||
Beatific Vision whereof I have written in the three Chapters
|
||
foregoing. And it is this, to create by Artifice a Conflict
|
||
in thyself, that thou mayst take thy Pleasure in its
|
||
Resolution. Of this Play is thy sweet Stepmother, my
|
||
concubine, the Holy and Adulterous Olun, sublimely Mistress;
|
||
for she invoketh in her Fancy a thousand Obstacles to Love, so
|
||
that she shuddereth at a Touch, swooneth at a Kiss, and
|
||
suffereth Death and Hell in the Ekstacy of her Body. And this
|
||
|
||
is her Art, and it is of Nuit Our Lady, for it is the Drama of
|
||
Commemoration of the whole mystery of By-coming.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-124-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{rho } DE PERICULO JOCORUM AMORIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Yet be thou heedful, o my son, for this Art is set upon a
|
||
Razor's Edge. In our Blood is this great Pox of Sin, whose
|
||
Word is Restriction, as Inheritance of our Sires that served
|
||
the Slave-Gods. Thou must be free in the Law of Thelema,
|
||
perfectly one with thy true Self, singly and wholly bound in
|
||
thy true Will, before thou durst (in Prudence) invoke the Name
|
||
of Choronzon, even for thy good Sport and Phantasy. It is but
|
||
to pretend, thou sayst; and that is Sooth; yet thou must make
|
||
Pretence so well as to deceive thyself, albeit for a Moment;
|
||
else were thy Sport savourless. Then, and thou have one point
|
||
of Weakness in thee, that Thought of thine may incarnate, and
|
||
|
||
destroy thee. Verily, the wise Enchanter is sure beyond Doubt
|
||
of his Charm ere he toy with a Fanged Cobra; and thou will
|
||
knowest that this Peril of Division in thy Self is the only
|
||
one that can touch thee. For all other Evil is but
|
||
Elaboration of this Theme of Choronzon. Praise therefore thy
|
||
sweet Stepmother my concubine, the Holy and Adulterous Olun;
|
||
and thine own Mother Hilarion, for in this Art was she also
|
||
pre-eminent.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-125-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{sigma } DE LIBIDINE SECRETA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
It is said among Men that the Word Hell deriveth from the
|
||
Word helan, to hele or conceal, in the Tongue of the Anglo-
|
||
Saxons. That is, it is the concealed Place, which, since all
|
||
things are in thine own Self, is the Unconscious. How then?
|
||
Because Men were already aware how this Unconscious, or
|
||
Libido, is opposed, for the most Part , to the conscious Will.
|
||
In the Salve-Ages this is a Truth Universal, or well night to
|
||
it; for in such Times are Men compelled to Uniformity by the
|
||
Constraint of Necessity herself. Yea, of old it was a
|
||
continual Siege of every Man of every Clan, of every
|
||
Environment; and to relax guard was then Self-murdr, or also
|
||
Treachery. so then no Man might chose his way, until he were
|
||
Hunter, Fighter, Builder; not any Woman, but she must first be
|
||
Breeder. Now in the Growth of States by Organisation came,
|
||
stepping stealthily, a certain Security against the grossest
|
||
|
||
Perils, so that a few Men could be spared from Toil to
|
||
cultivate Wisdom, and this was first provided by the Selection
|
||
of a caste Pontifical. By this Device came the Alliance of
|
||
King and Priest, Strength and Cunning fortifying each the
|
||
other through the Division of Labour.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-126-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{tau } DE ORDINE CIVITATUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
So presently, O my son, this first Organisation among Men,
|
||
by a Procedure parallel to that of the Differentiation of
|
||
Protoplasm, made the State competent to explore and to control
|
||
Nature; and every Profit of this sort released more energy,
|
||
and enlarged the class of the Learned, until, as it is this
|
||
day, only a small proportion of any man's work must needs go
|
||
to the satisfaction of first will essential and common, the
|
||
provision of shelter, food, and protection. Verily, also thou
|
||
seest many women made free to live as they will, even o the
|
||
admiration and delight of the Sage whose eye laugheth to
|
||
contemplate mischief. Thus the duty of every Unit towards the
|
||
whole is diminished, and also the necessity to conform with
|
||
those narrow laws which preserve primitive tribes in their
|
||
struggle against environment. Thus the State need suppress
|
||
only such heresies as directly threaten its political
|
||
|
||
stability, only such modes of life as work manifest and proven
|
||
hurt to others, or cause general disorder by their scandal.
|
||
Therefore save and except he interferes thereby with the root
|
||
laws of common weal, a man is free to develop as he will
|
||
according to his true nature.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-127-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{upsilon } DE SCIENTIAE MODO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
To the mind of the early Philosopher, therefore, any
|
||
variation in type must appear as a disaster; yea, intelligence
|
||
itself must perforce prove its value to the brute, or he
|
||
distrusteth it and destroyeth it. Yet as thou knowest, that
|
||
variation which is fitted to the environment is the salvation
|
||
of the species. Only among men, his fellows turn ever upon
|
||
the Saviour, and rend him, until those who follow him in
|
||
secret, and it may be unconsciously, prove their virtue and
|
||
his wisdom by their survival when his persecutors perish in
|
||
their folly. But we, being secure against all primary enemies
|
||
to the individual, or the common weal, may, nay, we must, if
|
||
we would attain the summit for our race, devote all spare
|
||
leisure, wealth, and energy to he creation of variation from
|
||
the Norm, and thus by clear knowledge bought of experiment and
|
||
of experience, move with eyes well open upon our true path.
|
||
|
||
So therefore Our Law of Thelema is justified also of biology
|
||
and of social science. It is the true Way of Nature, the
|
||
right strategy in the way of man with his environment, and the
|
||
life of his soul.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-128-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{phi } DE MONSTRIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Sayst thou, o my son, that not thus, but by forced
|
||
training, one cometh to perfection. This indeed is sooth,
|
||
that by artificial selection and well-watched growth and
|
||
environment, one hath dogs, horses, pigeons, and the like,
|
||
which excel their forebears in strength, in beauty, in speed,
|
||
as one will. Yet is this work but a false magical artifice,
|
||
temporary and of illusion; for thy masterpieces are but
|
||
monsters, not true variations, and if thou leave them, they
|
||
revert swiftly to their own proper and authentic type, because
|
||
that type was fitted by experience to its environment. So
|
||
every variation must be left free to perpetuate itself of
|
||
perish, not cherished for its beauty, or guarded for its
|
||
appeal to thine ideal, or cut off in thy fear thereof. For
|
||
the proof of its virtue lieth in the manifestation of its
|
||
power to survive, and to reproduce itself after its kind.
|
||
|
||
Nurse not the weakness of any man, nor swaddle and cosset him,
|
||
not though he were poet or artist because of his value to thy
|
||
fancy, for if thou do this, he shall grow in his informity, so
|
||
that even his work for which thou lovest him, shall be
|
||
enfeebled also.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-129-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{chi } DE INFERNO PALATIO SAPIENTIAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now then thou seest that this Hell, or concealed place
|
||
within thee, is no more a fear or hindrance to men of a free
|
||
race, but the treasure house of the assimilated wisdom of the
|
||
ages, and the knowledge of the True Way. Thus are we just and
|
||
wise to discover this secret in ourselves, to conform the
|
||
conscious mind therewith. For that mind is compact solely
|
||
(until it be illuminated) of impressions and judgments, so
|
||
that its will is but directed by the sum of the shallow
|
||
reactions of a most limited experience. But thy true will is
|
||
the wisdom of the ages of thy generations, the expression of
|
||
that which hath fitted thee exactly to thine environment.
|
||
Thus thy conscious mind is oftentimes foolish, as when thou
|
||
admirest an ideal, and wouldst attain it, but thy true will
|
||
letteth thee, so that there is conflict, and the humiliation
|
||
of that mind. Here will I call to witness the common event of
|
||
|
||
"Good Resolutions" that defy the lightning of destiny, being
|
||
puffed up by the mind of an indigestible ideal putrefying
|
||
within thee. Thence cometh colic, and presently the poison is
|
||
expelled, or else thou diest. But resolutions of true will
|
||
are mighty against circumstance.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-130-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{psi } DE VITIIS VOLUNTATIS SECRETAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Learn moreover concerning this Hell, or hidden wisdom, that
|
||
is within thee, that it is modified, little by little, through
|
||
the experience of the conscious mind, which feedeth it. For
|
||
that wisdom is the expression, or rather symbol and
|
||
hieroglyph, of the true adjustment of thy being to its
|
||
environment. Now, then, this environment being eroded by
|
||
time, this wisdom is no more perfect, for it is not absolute,
|
||
but standeth in relation to the Universe. So then a part
|
||
thereof may become useless, and atrophy as (I will instance
|
||
this case) Man's wit of smell; and the bodily organ
|
||
corresponding degeneratheth therewith. But this is an effect
|
||
of much time, so that in thy hell thou art like to find
|
||
elements vain, or foolish, or contrary to thy present weal.
|
||
Yet, o my Son, this hidden wisdom is not thy true will, but
|
||
only the levers (I may say so) thereof. Notwithstanding,
|
||
|
||
there lieth therein a faculty of balance, whereby it is able
|
||
to judge whether any element in itself is presently useful and
|
||
benign, or idle and malignant. Here then is a root of
|
||
conflict between the conscious and the unconscious, and a
|
||
debate concerning the right order of conduct, how the will may
|
||
be accomplished.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-131-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{omega } DE RATIONE PRAESIDIO VOLUNTATIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, in this case is there darkness, yet this comfort
|
||
as a lamp therein, that there is no error in the will, but
|
||
only doubt as to the means of success, else were we as
|
||
children afeared of Night. Thus we have need of naught but to
|
||
consider the matter by wit of reason, and of prudence, and on
|
||
common sense, and of experience, and of science, adjusting
|
||
ourselves so far as we may. Here is the key of success, and
|
||
its name is the skill to make right use of circumstance. This,
|
||
then is the virtue of the mind, to be the Wazir of the will, a
|
||
true counsellor, through intelligence of the Universe. But o,
|
||
my Son, do thou lay this word beneath thine heart, that the
|
||
mind hath no will, nor right thereto, so the Usurpation
|
||
bringeth forth a fatal conflict in thyself. For the mind is
|
||
sensitive, unstable as air, and may be led foolishly in leash
|
||
by a stronger mind that worketh as the cunning tool of a will.
|
||
|
||
Therefore thy safety and defence is to hold thy mind to his
|
||
right function, a faithful minister to thine own true will,
|
||
but election of nature. Heed well this, o my Son, for thy
|
||
mind passive is rightly a mirror to reflect all things clearly
|
||
without prejudice, and to remain unstained by them.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-132-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{alpha } DE CURSU SAPIENTIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Therefore consider this again in a figure, that thy mind is
|
||
as the marshal of an army, to observe the dispositions of the
|
||
enemy, and to order his own forces rightly, according to that
|
||
information; but he hath no will, only obedience to the word
|
||
of his king to outwit and to overcome the Opposite. Nor doth
|
||
that king make war by his own whim, if he be wise and true,
|
||
but solely because of the necessity of his country, and its
|
||
nature, whereof he is but executive officer and interpreter,
|
||
its voice as the Marshal is its arm. Thus then do thou
|
||
understand thyself, not giving place to thy mind to dispute
|
||
thy will, nor through ignorance and carelessness allowing the
|
||
enemy to deceive thee, nor by fear, by imprudence and
|
||
foolhardiness, by hesitation and vacillation, by disorder and
|
||
the lack of firm correctness, by failure in elasticity or in
|
||
obstinacy, each at its moment, suffering defeat in the hour of
|
||
|
||
shock. So, then, o my Son, this is thy work, to know the word
|
||
of thy will without error, and to make perfect every faculty
|
||
of thy mind, in right order and readiness to impose that word
|
||
as law upon the Universe. So mote it be!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-133-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{beta } DE RATIONE QUAE SINE VOLUNTATE EST
|
||
|
||
FONS MANIAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Is it not a marvel how he that worketh with his will and is
|
||
in constant touch with the reality external, maketh his mind
|
||
to serve him? How eagerly runneth it and returneth,
|
||
gathering, arranging, clarifying, classifying, organizing,
|
||
comparing, setting in array, with skill and might and energy
|
||
that faileth never! Nay, my son, in this way thou canst be
|
||
pitiless with thy mind, and it will not rebel against thee, or
|
||
neglect thine Ordinance. But now consider him that worketh
|
||
not with his will, how his mind is idle, not reaching out
|
||
after reality, but debating within itself of its own affairs,
|
||
like a democracy, introspective. Then this mind, not reacting
|
||
equally and with elasticity to the world, is lost in its own
|
||
anarchy and civil war, so that although it works not, it is
|
||
|
||
overcome by weakness of division, and becometh Choronzon. And
|
||
unto these words I call to my witness the madness of the soul
|
||
of Muscovy, in this year XIII, of our Aeon that is ended.
|
||
Therefore behold how this our Law of Thelema, Do what thou
|
||
wilt, is the first foundation of health, whether in the body
|
||
or in the mind, either of a simple, or a complex organism.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-134-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{gamma } DE VERITATE QUEM FEMINAE NON DICERE LICET.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My Son, I charge thee, however thou beest provoked
|
||
thereunto, tell not the Truth to any woman. For this is that
|
||
which is written, Cast not thy pearls before swine, lest they
|
||
turn again and rend thee. Behold, in the nature of woman is
|
||
no truth, nor apprehension of truth, nor possibility of truth,
|
||
only, if thou entrust this jewel unto them, they forthwith use
|
||
it to thy loss and destruction. But they are ware of thine
|
||
own love of truth, and thy respect thereunto, so therefore
|
||
they tempt thee, flattering with their lips, that thou betray
|
||
thyself to them. And they feign falsely, with every wile, and
|
||
cast about for thy soul, until either in love or in wrath or
|
||
in some other folly thereof, thou speak truth, profaning thy
|
||
sanctuary. So was it ever, and herein I call to my witness
|
||
Samson of Timmath, that was lost by this error. Now for any
|
||
woman, any lie sufficeth; and think not in thine extremity
|
||
|
||
that truth is mighty, and shall prevail, as it does with any
|
||
man, for with a woman her whole craft and device is to
|
||
persuade thee of this, so that thou utter the secret of thy
|
||
soul, and become her prey. But so long as thou feed her with
|
||
her own food of falsity, thou art secure.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-135-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{delta } DE NATURA FEMINAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
The nature of woman, o my Son, is as thou hast learned in
|
||
our most Holy Qabalah; and she is the clothing in sex of man,
|
||
the magical image of his will to love. Therefore was it said
|
||
by thine uncle Wolfgang von Goethe: Das Ewigweibliche zieht
|
||
uns hinan. But therefore also hath she no nature of truth,
|
||
because she is but the Eidolon of an excitement and a going of
|
||
thy star, and appertaineth not unto its essence and stability.
|
||
So then to thee she is but matter and to her thou art but
|
||
energy, and neither is competent to the formula of the other.
|
||
Therefore also thy will is itself imperfection, as I have
|
||
shewed thee aforetime, thou art not in the way of love except
|
||
thou be dressed in that robe of thine which thou callest
|
||
woman. And thou canst not lure her to this action proper to
|
||
her by thy truth; but thou shalt, as our grammar sayeth,
|
||
assume the mask of the spirit, that thou mayst evoke it by
|
||
|
||
sympathy. But thou shalt appear in thy glory only when she is
|
||
in thy power, and bewildered utterly by ecstasy. This is a
|
||
mystery, o my Son, and of old times it was declared in the
|
||
fable of Scylla and Charybdis, which are the formula of the
|
||
rock and the whirlpool. Now then meditate thou strictly upon
|
||
this most worthy and adorable arcanum, to thy profit and
|
||
enlightenment.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-136-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{epsilon } DE DUOBUS PRAEMIIS VIAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Let it be a treasure in thine heart, o my Son, this mystery
|
||
that I shall next unveil before thine eyes, O eagle that art
|
||
undazzled by the brilliance of light, that soarest continually
|
||
with virile flight to thine august inheritance. Behold the
|
||
Beatific Vision is of two orders, and in the formula of the
|
||
Rosy Cross it is of the Heart and is called Beauty; but in the
|
||
formula of the silver star (id est, of the eye within the
|
||
triangle) it is of the mind, and is called wonder. Otherwise
|
||
spoken, the former is of Art, a sensuous and creative
|
||
perception; but the latter of science, and intellectual and
|
||
intelligible insight. Or again, in our Holy Qabalah, the one
|
||
is of Tiphereth, the other of Binah, and in pure philosophy,
|
||
this is a contemplation of the Cosmos, causal and dynamic, and
|
||
that of its effect in static presentation. Now this rapture
|
||
of art is a virtue or triumph of Love in his most universal
|
||
|
||
comprehension, but the ecstasy of science is a continual
|
||
orgasm of light; that is, of the mind. Thou sayest, o my
|
||
Father, how may I attain to this fulness and perfection? Art
|
||
thou there, o my Son? It is well, and blessed be the bed
|
||
wherein thou was begotten, and the womb of thy sweet Mother
|
||
Hilarion, my concubine, holy and adulterous, the Scarlet
|
||
Woman! Amen!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-137-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{digamma } DE ECSTASIA SAMADHI, QUO ILLIS DIFFERT.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Confuse thou not this beatific vision with the Trances
|
||
called Samadhi; yet is Samadhi the Pylon of the Temple
|
||
thereof. For Samadhi is the orgasm of the coition of the
|
||
Unlike, and is commonly violent, even as the lightning cometh
|
||
of the discharge between two vehicles of extreme difference of
|
||
potentials. But as I shewed formerly concerning love, how
|
||
each such discharge bringeth either component more nigh to
|
||
equilibrium, so is it in this other matter, and by experience
|
||
thou comest constantly to integration of love (or what not)
|
||
within thyself, just as all effort becometh harmonious and
|
||
easy by virtue of practice. Rememberest thou the first time
|
||
thou was thrown into water, thy fear and thy struggles, and
|
||
the vehemence of thy joy when first thou didst swim without
|
||
support? Then, little by little all violence dieth away,
|
||
because thou art adjusted to that condition. Therefore the
|
||
|
||
fury of thine early victory in these arts magical and sciences
|
||
is but the sign of thine own baseness and unworthiness, since
|
||
the contrast or differential is so overwhelming to thee; but,
|
||
becoming expert and adept, thou art balanced in the glory, and
|
||
calm, even as the stars.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-138-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{zeta } DE ARTE AMORIS ET DELICIARUM MYSTICI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
The path therefore unto this beatific vision of beauty, o
|
||
my Son, is that practice of Bhakti Yoga which is written in
|
||
the book called Eight Score and Fifteen, or "Astarte", by this
|
||
mine hand when I was in Gaul the beloved, at Montigny that is
|
||
hard by the Forest of the Blue Fountain, with Agatha my
|
||
concubine, the very soul of love and of musick, that had
|
||
ventured herself from beneath the Cross Austral that she might
|
||
seek me, to inspire and comfort me, and this was my reward
|
||
from the masters, and consolation in the years of my sorrow.
|
||
But the way that leadeth to the other form of this vision of
|
||
beatitude, to with, science is Gana Yoga or Raja Yoga, of
|
||
which I have written only here and there, as one who should
|
||
throw great stones upon the earth in disorder, by default of
|
||
building them nobly into a pyramid. And of this do I heartily
|
||
repent me, and ask of the God Thoth that he may give me
|
||
|
||
(albeit at the eleventh hour) virtue and with that I may
|
||
compose a true book upon these ways of union. Thy first step,
|
||
therefore, o my Son, is to attain unto Samadhi, and to urge
|
||
thyself perpetually to repetition of thy successes therein,
|
||
for it hat been said by philosophers of old that practice
|
||
maketh perfect, and that manners, being the constant habit of
|
||
life, maketh man.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-139-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{eta } DE PRAEMIO SUMMO, VERA SAPIENTIA ET
|
||
BEATITUDINE
|
||
|
||
PERFECTA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now then presently shall it some to pass, as by dint of
|
||
each experience that component thereof which is within thee is
|
||
attuned to it, and this without shock, so that thou art no
|
||
longer thrown back from the trance, as exhausted, but abidest
|
||
therein, almost without knowledge of thy state. So then at
|
||
last this Samadhi shall become normal to thy common
|
||
consciousness, as it were a point of view. Thus all things
|
||
shall appear to thee very continually as to one in his first
|
||
love, by the vision of beauty, and by the vision of science
|
||
thou shalt marvel constantly with joy unfathomable at the
|
||
mystery of the laws whereby the Universe is upheld. This is
|
||
that which is written: True wisdom and perfect happiness, o my
|
||
|
||
son, it is in this contemplation that on hath the reward of
|
||
the oath; it is by this that the tribulations are rolled away
|
||
as a stone from thy tomb; it is with this that thou art wholly
|
||
freed from the illusions of distinctions, being absorbed into
|
||
the body of our Lady Nuith. May she grant thee this
|
||
beatitude; yea, not to thee only, but to all that are.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-140-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{theta } DE INfERNO SERVORUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now, o my Son, having understood the heaven that is within
|
||
thee, according to thy will, learn this concerning the hell of
|
||
the slaves of the slave-gods, that it is a true place of
|
||
torment. For they, restricting themselves, and being divided
|
||
in will, are indeed the servants of sin, and they suffer,
|
||
because, not being united in love with the whole Universe,
|
||
they perceive not beauty, but ugliness and deformity, and, not
|
||
being united in understanding thereof. Conceive only of
|
||
darkness and confusion, beholding evil therein. Thus at last
|
||
they come, as did the Manichaeans, to find, to their terror, a
|
||
division even in the one, not that division which we know for
|
||
the craft of love, but a division of hate. And this,
|
||
multiplying itself, conflict upon conflict, endeth in
|
||
hotchpot, and in the impotence and envy of Choronzon, and in
|
||
the abominations of the abyss. And of such the Lords are the
|
||
|
||
Black Brothers, who seek by their sorceries to confirm
|
||
themselves in division, yet in this even is no true evil, for
|
||
love conquereth all, and their corruption and disintegration
|
||
is also the victory of Babalon.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-141-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{iota } RHAPSODIA DE DOMINA NOSTRA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Blessed be She, ay, blessed unto the Ages be our Lady B A B
|
||
A L O N, that plieth her scourge upon me, {Tau }{Omicron }
|
||
{Mu }{Epsilon }{Gamma }{Alpha } {Tau }{Theta }{Eta }{Rho }{Iota }{Omicron }{Nu }, to compel
|
||
me to creation and to destruction, which are one, in birth and
|
||
in death, being Love! Blessed be She, uniting the egg with
|
||
the serpent, and restoring man unto his mother, the earth!
|
||
Blessed be she, that offereth beauty and ecstasy in the orgasm
|
||
of every change, and that exciteth thy wonder and thy worship
|
||
by the contemplation of her mind many-wiled! Blessed be She,
|
||
that hath filled her cup with every drop of my blood, so that
|
||
my life is lost wholly in the wine of her rapture! Behold,
|
||
how she is drunken thereon, and staggereth about the heavens,
|
||
wallowing in joy, crying aloud the song of uttermost love! Is
|
||
not she thy true mother among the stars, o my Son, and hast
|
||
thou not embraced her in the madness of incest and adultery?
|
||
|
||
Yea, blessed be she, blessed be her name, and the name of her
|
||
name, unto the ages!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-142-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{kappa } RHAPSODIA DE ASTRO SUO
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, knowest thou not the joy to lie in the wilderness
|
||
and to behold the stars, in their majesty of motion calm and
|
||
irresistible? Hast thou thought there that thou art also as
|
||
star, free because consciously in accord with the law and
|
||
determination of thy being? It was thine own true will hat
|
||
bound thee in thine orbit; therefore thou speedest on thy path
|
||
from glory unto glory in continual joy. O Son, o reward of my
|
||
work, o harmony and completion of my nature, o token of my
|
||
toil, o witness of my love for thy sweet Mother, the holy and
|
||
adulterous Hilarion, my concubine, adorable in thine innocence
|
||
as she in her perfection, is not this verily intoxication of
|
||
the spirit in the innermost, to be free absolutely and
|
||
eternally, to run and to return upon the course in the play of
|
||
love, to filfil nature constantly in light and life? "Afloat
|
||
in the Air, o my god!" Without support, without constraint,
|
||
|
||
wing thine own way, o swan, o bliss of brightness!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-143-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{lambda } DE HARMONIA VOLUNTATIS CUM DESTINIA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
This is the evident and final solvent of the Knot
|
||
Philosophical concerning fate and free will, that it is thine
|
||
own self, omniscient and omnipotent, sublime in eternity, that
|
||
first didst order the course of thine orbit, so that the which
|
||
befalleth thee by fate is indeed the necessary effect of thine
|
||
own will. These two, then, that like Gladiators have made war
|
||
in philosophy through these many centuries, are one by the
|
||
love under will which is the Law of Thelema. O my son, there
|
||
is no doubt that resolveth not in certainty and rapture at the
|
||
touch of the wand of our law, as thou apply it with wit. Do
|
||
thou grow constantly in the assimilation of the law, and thou
|
||
shalt be made perfect. Behold, there is a pageant of triumph
|
||
as each star, free from confusion, sweepeth free in his right
|
||
orbit; all heaven acclaimeth thee as thou goest,
|
||
transcendental in joy and in splendour; and thy light is as a
|
||
|
||
beacon to them that wander afar, strayed in the night. Amon.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-144-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{mu } PARANTHESIS DE QUADAM VIRGINE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now, o my Son, I will declare unto thee the virtue of that
|
||
part of love which receiveth and draweth, being the
|
||
counterpart of thine own. For behold! I am moved in myself
|
||
by the absence of the virgin that is appointed for me. And
|
||
her eagerness of purity doth encompass me with its soft
|
||
tenderness, and twineth about me with sweet scent so that my
|
||
mind is enkindled with a gentle flame, luminous and subtle,
|
||
and I write unto thee as in a dream; for in this enchantment
|
||
of her devotion I am caught up cunningly into beautitude, with
|
||
great joy of the Gods that have bestrewn my way with flowers,
|
||
ay many flowers and herbs of magick and of holiness withal to
|
||
match their beauty. Nay, o my son, I will cease this epistle
|
||
unto thee for awhile, that I may rest in the pleasure of this
|
||
contemplation, for it is solace ineffable, and recreation like
|
||
unto sleep among the mountains. Yea, can I wish thee more
|
||
|
||
than this, that, coming to mine age, thou mayst find a virgin
|
||
like unto this to draw thee with her simplicity, and her
|
||
embroidered silence?
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-145-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{nu } DE CONSTANTIA AMORIS, CORVO CANDIDO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Think it not strange, my Son, that I, praising adultery,
|
||
should praise also constancy and delight therein. For this is
|
||
to state ill thy question. Herein is truth and wisdom
|
||
concerning this matter, that so long as love be not wholly
|
||
satisfied, and equilibrated by entire fulfilment and exchange,
|
||
constancy is a point of thy concentration and adultery a
|
||
division in thy will. But when thou hast the summit and
|
||
perfection of any work, of what worth is it to continue
|
||
therein? Hast thou two stomachs, as has a cow, to chew the
|
||
cud of a digested love? Yet, o my Son, this constancy is not
|
||
of necessity a stagnation. Hay, behold the body of our lady
|
||
Nuith, therein are found twin suns, that revolve constantly
|
||
about each other. So also it may be in love, that two souls,
|
||
meeting, discover each in the other such wealth and richness
|
||
of light and love, and in one phase of life (or incarnation)
|
||
|
||
or even in may, they exhaust not that treasure. Or will I say
|
||
that such are not in their degree and quality thrice
|
||
fortunate. But to persist in dulness, in satiety, and in
|
||
mutual irritation and abhorrence, is contrary to the way of
|
||
nature. So therefore there is no rule in any such case, but
|
||
the law shall give light to every one that hath it in his
|
||
heart, and by that wisdom let him govern himself.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-146-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{xi } DE MYSTERIO MALL.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Moreover, say not thou in thy syllogism that, since every
|
||
change soever, be it the creation of a symphony, or a poem, or
|
||
the putrefaction of a carcass, is an art of love, and since we
|
||
are to make no difference between any thing and any other
|
||
thing, therefore all changes are equal in respect of our
|
||
praise. For though this be a right conclusion in the term of
|
||
thy comprehension as a master of the Temple, yet it is false
|
||
in the eyes of the mind that hath not attained this
|
||
understanding. So therefore any change (or phenomenon)
|
||
appeareth noble or base to the imperfect mind, according to
|
||
its consonance and harmony with the will that governeth the
|
||
mind. Thus if it be thy will to delight in rythm and Oeconomy
|
||
of words, the advertisement of a commodity may offend thee;
|
||
but if thou art in need of that merchandise, thou wilt rejoice
|
||
therein. Praise then or blame aught, as seemeth good unto
|
||
|
||
thee; but with this reflection, that thy judgment is relative
|
||
to thine own condition, and not absolute. This also is a
|
||
point o tolerance, whereby thy shalt avoid indeed those things
|
||
that are hateful or noxious to thee, unless thou canst (in our
|
||
mode) win them by love, by withdrawing thine attention from
|
||
them; but thou shalt not destroy them, for that they are
|
||
without doubt the desire of another.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-147-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{omicron } DE VIRTUTE TOLERANTIA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Understand then heartily, o my son, that in the light of
|
||
this my wisdom all things are one, being of the body or our
|
||
Lady Nuith, proper, necessary and perfect. There is then none
|
||
superfluous or harmful, and there is none honourable or
|
||
dishonourable more than another. Lo! In thine own body, the
|
||
vile intestine is of more worth to thee than the noble hand or
|
||
the proud eye, for thou canst lose these and live, but not
|
||
that. Esteem therefore a thing in relation to thine own will,
|
||
preferring the ear if thou love musick, and the palate if thou
|
||
live wine, but the essential organs of life above these. Have
|
||
respect also to the will of thy fellow, not hindering him in
|
||
his way save as he may overly jostle thee in thine. For by
|
||
the practice of this tolerance thou shalt come sooner to the
|
||
understanding of this equality of all things in our Lady
|
||
Nuith, and so the high attainment of universal love. Yet in
|
||
|
||
thy partial and particular action, as thou art a creature of
|
||
illusion, do thou maintain the right relation of one thing to
|
||
another; fighting if thou be a soldier, or building if thou be
|
||
a mason. For if thou hold not fast this discipline and
|
||
proportion, which alloweth its true will to every part of thy
|
||
being, the error of one shall draw all after it into ruin and
|
||
dispersion.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-148-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{pi } DE FORMULA DEORUM OCCISORUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Alas, my son! this hath been fatal constantly to many a
|
||
man of noble aspiration, that these words were hidden from his
|
||
understanding. For there is a balance in all things and the
|
||
body hath charter to fulfil his nature, even as the mind hath.
|
||
So to repress one function is to destroy that proportion which
|
||
is wholesome, and wherein indeed all health and sanity have
|
||
consistency. Verily, it is the art of life to develop each
|
||
organ of body and mind, or, as I may say, each weapon of the
|
||
will to its perfection, neither distorting any use, nor
|
||
suffering the will of one part to tyrannize over that of
|
||
another. And this doctrine (be it accursed!) that pain and
|
||
repression are wholesome and profitable in themselves is a lie
|
||
born of sin and of ignorance, the false vision of the Universe
|
||
and of its laws that is the basis of the averse formula of the
|
||
Slain God. It is true that on occassion one limb must be
|
||
|
||
sacrificed to save the whole body, as when one cutteth away
|
||
one hand that is bitten by a viper, or as when a man giveth
|
||
his life to save his city. But this is a right and natural
|
||
subordination of the superficial and particular to the
|
||
fundamental and general will, and moreover it is a case
|
||
extraordinary, relating to accident or extremity, not in any
|
||
wise a rule of life, or a virtue in its absolute nature.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-149-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{koppa } DE STULTIS MALIGNIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My Son, there are afflictions many and woes many, that come
|
||
of the errors of men in respect of the will; but there is none
|
||
greater than this, the interference of the busy-body. For
|
||
they make pretence to know a man's thought better than he doth
|
||
himself, and to direct his will with more wisdom than he, and
|
||
to make plans for his happiness. And of all these the worst
|
||
is he that sacrificeth himself for the weal of his fellows.
|
||
He that is so foolish as not to follow his own will, how shall
|
||
be be so wise as to pursue that of another? If mine horse
|
||
balk at a fence, should some varlet come behind him, and
|
||
strike at his hoofs? Nay, Son, pursue thy path in peace, that
|
||
thy brother beholding thee may take courage from thy bearing,
|
||
and comfort from his confidence that thou wilt not hinder him
|
||
by thy superfluity of compassion. Let me not begin to tell
|
||
thee of the mischiefs that I have seen, whose root was in
|
||
|
||
kindness, whose flower was in self-sacrifice, and whose fruit
|
||
in catastrophe. Verily I think there should be no end
|
||
thereof. Strike, rob, slay thy neighbour, but comfort him not
|
||
unless he ask it of thee, and if he ask it, be wary.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-150-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{rho } APOLOGIA PRO SUIS LITERIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
How then, sayest thou, concerning this my Counsel unto
|
||
thee? I say Sooth, it is of my will to bring up this my
|
||
Wisdom from its silence into my conscious mind, that I may the
|
||
more easily reflect thereon. Thou art but a pretext for my
|
||
action, and a focus for my light. Nevertheless heed these my
|
||
words, for they shall profit thee, thou being of age
|
||
responsible in judgment, and free in the law of Thelema. Thus
|
||
thou mayst read or no, concur or no, as thou wilt. Have I not
|
||
tutored thee in the way of the balance, or of antithesis,
|
||
shewing thee the art of contradiction, whereby thou dost
|
||
accept no word save as the victor in thy mind over its
|
||
opposites, nay more, as the child transcendental of a marriage
|
||
of opposites. This book then shall serve thee but as a food
|
||
for thy meditation, as wine to excite thy mind to love and
|
||
war. It shall be unto thee as a chariot to carry thee whither
|
||
|
||
thou wilt; for I have seen in thee independence and sobriety
|
||
of judgment, with that faculty (most rare, most noble) to
|
||
examine freely, neither obsequious nor rebellious to
|
||
authority.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-151-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{sigma } LAUS LEGIS THELEMA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
This Property of thy Mind, my Son, is verily of sublime
|
||
Virtue; for the Vulgar are befogged, and their Judgment made
|
||
null, by their emotional Reaction. They are swayed by the
|
||
Eloquence of a Numscull, or overpowered by a Name or an
|
||
Office, or the Magic of a Tailor; else, it may be, they, being
|
||
made Fools too often, reject without Reflection even as at
|
||
first they accepted. Again, they are wont to believe the best
|
||
of the worst, as Hope or Fear predominateth in them at the
|
||
Moment. Thus, they lose Touch of the Blade of Reality, and it
|
||
pierceth them. Then they in Delirium of their Wounds increase
|
||
Delusion fortifying themselves in Belief of those Phantasies
|
||
created by their Emotions or impressed upon their Silliness,
|
||
so that their Minds have no Unity, or Stability, or
|
||
Discrimination, but become Hotchpot, and the Garbage-Heap of
|
||
Choronzon. O my Son, against this the Law of Thelema is a
|
||
|
||
Sure Fortress, for through the Quest of thy True Will the Mind
|
||
is balanced about it, and confirmeth its Flight, as the
|
||
Feathers upon an Arrow, so that thou hast a Touchstone of
|
||
Truth, Experience holding thee to Reality, and to Proportion.
|
||
Now therefore see from yet another Art of Heaven the Absolute
|
||
Virtue of Our Law.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-152-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{tau } DE SPHINGE AEGYPTIORUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
It is now expedient that I instruct thee concerning the
|
||
Four Powers of the Sphinx, and firstly, that this most arcane
|
||
of the Mysteries of Antiquity was never at any Period the Tool
|
||
of the Slavegods, but a Witness of Horus through the dark Aeon
|
||
of Osiris to His Light and Truth, His Force and Fire. Thou
|
||
canst by no means interpret the Sphinx in Terms of the Formula
|
||
of the Slain God. This did I comprehend even when as Eliphas
|
||
Levi Zahed I walked up and down the Earth, seeking a
|
||
Reconciliation of these Antagonisms, which was a Task
|
||
impossible, for in that Plane they have Antipathy. (Even so
|
||
may no Man form a Square Magical of Four Units.) But the
|
||
Light of the New Aeon revealeth this Sphinx as the true Symbol
|
||
of this our Holy Art of Magick under the Law of Thelema. In
|
||
Her is the equal Development and Disposition of the Forces of
|
||
Nature, each in its Balanced Strength; also Her True Name has
|
||
|
||
the Digamma for Phi, and endeth in Upsilon, not in Xi, so that
|
||
Her Orthography is {Sigma }{Digamma }{Iota }{Nu }{Upsilon } whose Numeration is
|
||
Six Hundred and Three Score and Six. For the Root thereof is
|
||
{Sigma }{Digamma }, which signifieth the Incarnation of the Spirit; and
|
||
of Kin are not only the Sun, Our Father, but Sumer, where Man
|
||
knew himself Man, and Soma, the Divine Potion that giveth Men
|
||
Enlightenment, and Scin, Light Astral, and Scire also, by a
|
||
far Travelling. But especially is this Root hidden in Sus,
|
||
that is of the Sow, Swine, because the Most Holy must needs
|
||
take its Delight under the Omphalos of the Unclean. But this
|
||
was hidden by Wisdom in Order that the Arcanum should not be
|
||
profaned during the Aeon of the Slain God. But now it has
|
||
been given unto me to understand the Heart of Her Mystery,
|
||
wherefore, o my Son, by Right of the Great Love that I bear
|
||
unto thee, I will inform thee thereof.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-153-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{upsilon } DE NATURA {Sigma }{Digamma }{Iota }{Nu }{Upsilon }.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Firstly, this Sphinx is a Symbol of the Coition of Our Lady
|
||
BABALON with me THE BEAST in its Wholeness. For as I am of
|
||
the Lion and the Dragon, so is She of the Man and the Bull, in
|
||
our Natures, but the Converse thereof in our Offices, as thou
|
||
mayst understand by the Study of the Book of the Vision and
|
||
the Voice. It is thus a Glyph of the Satisfaction and
|
||
Perfection of the Will and of the Work, the completion of the
|
||
True Man as the Reconcilor of the Highest with the Lowest, so
|
||
for our Convenience conventionally to distinguish them. This
|
||
then is the Adept, who doth Will with solid Energy as the
|
||
Bull, doh dare with fierce Courage as the Lion, doth know with
|
||
swift Intelligence as the Man, and doth keep Silence with
|
||
soaring Subtilty as the Eagle or Dragon. Moreover, this
|
||
Sphinx is an Eidolon of the Law, for the Bull is Life, the
|
||
Lion is Light, the Man is Liberty, the Serpent Love. Now then
|
||
|
||
this Sphinx, being perfect in true Balance, yet taketh the
|
||
Aspect of the Feminine Principle that so She may be partner of
|
||
the Pyramid, that is the Phallus, pure Image of Our Father the
|
||
Sun, the Unity Creative. The Signification of this Mystery is
|
||
that the Adept must be Whole, Himself, containing all Things
|
||
in true Proportion, before he maketh himself Bride of the One
|
||
Universal Transcendental, in its most Secret Virtue. And now
|
||
therefore, o my Son, comprehending this Mystery by thine
|
||
Intelligence, I will write further unto thee of these your
|
||
Beasts of Power.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-154-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{phi } DE TAURO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Concerning the Bull, this is thy Will, constant and
|
||
unwearied, whose Letter is Vau, which is Six, the Number of
|
||
the Sun. He is therefore the Force and the Substance of thy
|
||
Being; but besides this, he is the Hierophant in the Taro, as
|
||
if this were said: "that thy Will leadeth thee unto the Shrine
|
||
of Light." And in the Rites of Mithras the Bull is slain, and
|
||
his Blood poured upon the Initiate, to endow him with that
|
||
Will and that Power of Work. Also in the land of Hind is the
|
||
Bull sacred to Shiva, that is God among that Folk, and is unto
|
||
them the Destroyer of all Things that be opposed to Him. And
|
||
this God is also the Phallus, for this Will operateth through
|
||
Love even as it is written in our Own Law. Yet again, Apis
|
||
the Bull of Khem hath Kephra the Beetle upon His tongue, which
|
||
signifieth that it is by this Will, and by this Work, that the
|
||
Sun cometh unto Dawn from Midnight. All these Symbols are
|
||
|
||
most similar in their Nature, save as the Slaves of the Slave-
|
||
gods have read their own Formula into the Simplicity of Truth.
|
||
For there is naught so plain that Ignorance and Malice may not
|
||
confuse and misinterpret it, even as the Bat is dazzled and
|
||
bewildered by the Light of the Sun. See then that thou
|
||
understand this Bull in Terms of the Law of this our Aeon of
|
||
Life.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-155-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{chi } DE LEONE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Of this, Lion, o my Son, be it said that this is the
|
||
Courage of thy Manhood, leaping upon all Things, and seizing
|
||
them for their Prey. His letter is Teth, whose Implication is
|
||
a Serpent, and the Number thereof Nine, whereof is Aub, the
|
||
secret Fire of Obeah. Also Nine is of Jesod, uniting Change
|
||
with Stability. But in the "Book of Thoth" He is the Atu called
|
||
Strength, whose Number is ELEVEN which is Aud, the Lifht Odic
|
||
of Magick. And therein is figured the Lion, even THE BEAST,
|
||
and Our Lady BABALON with Her Hands upon His Mouth, that She
|
||
may master Him. Here I would have thee to mark well how these
|
||
our Symbols are cognate, and flow forth the one into the
|
||
other, because each Soul partaketh in proper Measure of the
|
||
Mystery of Holiness, and is kin with his Fellow. But now let
|
||
me show how this Lion of Courage is more especially the Light
|
||
in thee, as Leo is the House of the Sun that is the Father of
|
||
|
||
Light. And it is thus: that thy Light, conscious of itself,
|
||
is the Source and Instigator of thy Will, enforcing it to
|
||
spring forth and conquer. Therefore also is his Nature strong
|
||
with hardihood and Lust of Battle, else shouldst thou fear
|
||
that which is unlike thee, and avoid it, so that thy
|
||
Separateness should increase upon thee. For this Cause he
|
||
that is defective in Courage becometh a Black Brother, and to
|
||
Dare is the Crown of all thy Virtue, the Root of the Tree of
|
||
Magick.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-156-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{psi } ALTERA DE LEONE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Lo! In the firs of thine Initiations, when first the
|
||
Hoodwink was uplifted from before thine Eyes, thou wast
|
||
brought unto the Throne of Horus, the Lord of the Lion, and by
|
||
Him enheartened against Fear. Moreover, in Minutum Mundum, the
|
||
Map of the Universe, it is the Path of the Lion that bindeth
|
||
the two Highest Faculties of thy Mind. Again, it is Mau, the
|
||
Sun at Brightness of high Noon, that is called the Lion, very
|
||
lordly, in our Holy Invocation. Sekhet our Lady is figured as
|
||
a lioness, for that She is that Lust of Nuith toward Hadith
|
||
which is the Fierceness of the Night of the Stars, and their
|
||
Necessity; whence also is She true Symbol of thine own Hunger
|
||
of Attainment, the Passion of thy Light to dare all for its
|
||
Fulfilling. It is then the Possession of this Quality which
|
||
determineth thy Manhood; for without it thou art not impelled
|
||
to Magick, and thy Will is but the Salve's Endurance and
|
||
|
||
Patience under the Lash. For this Cause, the Bull being of
|
||
Osiris, was it necessary for the Masters of the Aeons to
|
||
incarnate me as more especially a lion, and my Word is first
|
||
of all a Word of Enlightenment and of Emancipation of the
|
||
Will, giving to every Man a Sprint within Himself to determine
|
||
His Will, that he may do that Will, and no more another's.
|
||
Arise therefore, o my son, arm thyself, haste to the Battle!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-157-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Epsilon }{omega } DE VIRO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Learn now that this Lion is a natural Quality in Man, and
|
||
secret, so that he is not ware thereof, except he be Adept.
|
||
Therefore is it necessary for thee also to know, by the Head
|
||
of the Sphinx. This then is thy Liberty, that the Impulse of
|
||
the Lion should become conscious by means of the Man; for
|
||
without this thou art but an Automaton. This Man moreover
|
||
maketh thee to understand and to adjust thyself with
|
||
Environment, else being devoid of Judgment, thou goest blindly
|
||
upon an headlong Path. For every Star in his Orbit holdeth
|
||
not his Way obstinately, but is sensitive to every other Star,
|
||
and his true Nature is to do this. Oh how many are they whom
|
||
I have seen persisting in a fatal Course, in Sway of the
|
||
Belief that their dead Rigidity was Exercise of Will. And the
|
||
Letter of the Man is Tzaddi, whose Number is Ninety; which is
|
||
Maim, the Water that conformeth itself perfectly with its
|
||
|
||
Vessel, that seeketh constantly its Level, that penetrateth
|
||
and dissolveth Earth, that resisteth Pressure maugre its
|
||
Adaptability, that being heated is the Force to drive great
|
||
Engines, and being frozen breaketh the Mountains in Pieces. O
|
||
my Son, seek well to know!
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-158-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{alpha } DE DRACONE, QUAE EST AQUILA, SERPENS, SCORPION.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Threefold is the Nature of Live, Eagle, Serpent, and
|
||
Scorpion. And of these the Scorpion is he that, having no
|
||
Lion of Light and of Courage within him, seemeth to himself
|
||
encircled by Fire, and, driving his Sting into himself, he
|
||
dieth. Such are the Black Brothers, that cry: I am I, they
|
||
that deny Love, restricting it to their own Nature. But the
|
||
Serpent is the secret Nature of Man, that is Life and Death,
|
||
and maketh his Way through the Generations in Silence. And
|
||
the Eagle is that Might of Live which is the Key of Magick,
|
||
uplifting the Body and its Appurtenance unto high Ekstacy upon
|
||
his Wings. It is by Virtue thereof that the Sphinx beholdeth
|
||
the Sun unwinking, and confronteth the Pyramid without Shame.
|
||
Our Dragon, therefore, combining the Natures of the Eagle and
|
||
the Serpent, is our Love, thyeOrganon of our Will, by whose
|
||
Virtue we perform the Work and Miracle of the One Substance,
|
||
|
||
as saith thine Ancestor Hermes Trismegistus, in his Tablet of
|
||
Smaragda. And this Dragon, is called thy Silence, because in
|
||
the Hour of his Operation that within thee which saith "I" is
|
||
abolished in its Conjunction with the Beloved. For this Cause
|
||
also is its Letter Nun, which in our Rota is the Trump Death;
|
||
and Nun hath the value of Fifty, the Number of the Gates of
|
||
Understanding.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-159-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{beta } DE QUATTUOR VIRTUTIS
|
||
{Sigma }{Digamma }{Iota }{Nu }{Upsilon }.
|
||
|
||
|
||
See now our Sphinx, with what Subtility and Art is She made
|
||
Whole! Here is thy Light, the Lion, the Necessity of thy
|
||
Nature, fortified by thy Life, the Bull, the Power of Works,
|
||
and guided by thy Liberty, the Man, the Wit to adapt Action to
|
||
Environment. These are three Virtues in One, necessary to all
|
||
proper Motion, as I may say in a Figure, the Lust of the
|
||
Archer, the propulsive Force of his Arm, and the equilibrating
|
||
and directing Control of his Eye. Of these three if one fail,
|
||
the Mark is not hit. But hold! Is not a Fourth Element
|
||
essential in the Work? Yea, soothly, all were vain without
|
||
the Engine, Arrow and Bow. This Engine is thy Body, possessed
|
||
by thee and used by thee for thy Work, yet not Part of thee,
|
||
even as are his Weapons to this Archer in my Similitude. Thus
|
||
is thy Dragon to be cherished of thy Lion, but if thou lack
|
||
|
||
Energy and Endurance of thy Bull, thy Tools lie idle, and if
|
||
Cunning and Intelligence, with Experience also of thy Man, thy
|
||
Shaft flieth crooked. So then, o my son, do thou perfect
|
||
thyself in these Four Powers, and that with Equity.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-160-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{gamma } DE LIBRA, IN QUA GUATTUOR VIRTUTES
|
||
AEQUIPOLLENT.
|
||
|
||
|
||
By Gana Yoga cometh thy Man to9 Knowledge; by Karma Yoga
|
||
thy Bull to Will; by Raja Yoga is thy Lion brought to his
|
||
Light; and to make perfect thy Dragon, thou hast Bhakta Yoga
|
||
for the Eagle therein, and Hatha Yoga for the Serpent. Yet
|
||
mark thou well how all these interfuse, so that thou mayst
|
||
accomplish no one of the Works separately. As to make Gold
|
||
thou must have Gold (it is the Word of the Alchemists), so to
|
||
become the Sphinx thou must first be a Sphinx. For naught may
|
||
grow save to the Norm of its own Nature, and in the Law of its
|
||
own Law, or it is but Artifice, and endureth not. So
|
||
therefore is it Folly, and a Rape wrought upon Truth to aim at
|
||
aught but the Fulfilment of thine own True Nature. Order then
|
||
thy Workings in Accord with thy Knowledge of that Norm as best
|
||
thou mayst, not heeding the Importunity of them that prate of
|
||
|
||
the Ideal. For this Rule, this Uniformity, is proper only to
|
||
a Prison, and a Man Liveth by Elasticity, nor endureth Rigor
|
||
save in Death. But whoso groweth bodily by a Law foreign to
|
||
his own Nature, he hath a Cancer, and his whole Oeconomy shall
|
||
be destroyed by that small Disobedience.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-161-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{delta } DE PYRAMIDE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now then at last art thou made ready to confront the
|
||
Pyramid, if thou art established as a Shinx. For It also hath
|
||
the foursquare Base of Law, and the Four Triangles of Light,
|
||
Life, Love and Liberty for its Sides, that meet in a Point of
|
||
Perfection that is Hadith, poised to the Kiss of Nuith. But
|
||
in this Pyramid there is no Difference of Form between the
|
||
Sides, as it is in thy Shinx, for these are wholly One, save
|
||
in Direction. Thou art then an Harmony of the Four by Right
|
||
of thy Attainment of Adeptship, the Crown of thy Manhood, but
|
||
not an Identity, as in Godhead. Therefore may it be said from
|
||
one Point of Sight that thine Achievement is but a
|
||
Preparation, an Adornment of the Bride for the Temple of
|
||
Hymen, and his Rite. Verily, o my Son, I deem in my Wisdom
|
||
that this whole Work of thy Development to Shinxhood cometh
|
||
before the Work of Theurgy, for the Lord descendeth not upon a
|
||
|
||
Temple ill-conceived, and builded wry, nor abideth in a Shrine
|
||
unworthy. Accomplish then this Task in Patience, with
|
||
Assiduity, not hasting furiously after Godliness. For this is
|
||
most sure, that to the Beauty of a Maiden answereth the Lust
|
||
of her Lord, spontaneous and without Effort or Appeal of her
|
||
Contriving.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-162-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{epsilon } PROLEGOMENA DE SILENTIO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
But now concerning Silence, o my Son, I will have a further
|
||
Word with thee. For thereby we mean not the Muteness of him
|
||
that hath a dumb Devil. This Silence is the Dragon of thine
|
||
unconscious Nature, not only the Ekstacy or Death of thine Ego
|
||
in the Operation of its Organ, but also, in its Unity with thy
|
||
Lion, the Truth of thy Self. Thus is thy Silence the Way of
|
||
the Tao, and all Speech a deviation thereform. This Lion and
|
||
Dragon are therefore of thy Self, and the Man and the Bull the
|
||
Feminine Counterparts thereof, being the Grace of Our Lady
|
||
BABALON that She bestoweth upon thee in thine Adultery with
|
||
Her. They are then as a Vesture of Honour, and a Reward, that
|
||
are won by the Intensity of thy Light and of thy Love. So
|
||
perperly we esteem Men by the Measure of their Intelligence
|
||
and their Strength, since they are equal in their essential
|
||
Godhead, so far as concerneth the Quality thereof. See thou
|
||
|
||
closely moreover into it, that if thou be well favoured of Our
|
||
Lady, thy Lion and thy Dragon grow in like Measure, forthe
|
||
Excess of the Feminine is Dead Weight. The Intellectual
|
||
without Virility is a Dreamer of Follies, and the laborious
|
||
Giant without Courage is a Slave.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-163-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{digamma } DE NATURA SILENTII NOSTRI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
The Nature of this Silence is shewn also by the God
|
||
Harprocrates, the Babe in the Lotus, who is also the Serpent
|
||
and the Egg, that is, the Holy Ghost. This is the most secret
|
||
of all Energies, the Seed of all being, and therefore must He
|
||
be sealed up in an Ark from the Malice of the Devourers. If
|
||
then by thine Art thou canst conceal thyself in thine own
|
||
Nature, this is Silence, this, and not Nullity of
|
||
Consciousness else were a Stone more perfect in Adeptship that
|
||
thou. But, abiding in thy Silence, thou art in a City of
|
||
Refuge, and the Waters prevail not against the Lotus that
|
||
enfoldeth thee. This Ark or Lotus is then the Body of Our
|
||
Lady BABALON, without which thou weret the Prey of Nile and of
|
||
the Crocodiles that are therein. Now, o my Son, mark thou
|
||
well this that I will write for thine Advertisement and
|
||
Behoof, that this Silence, though it be Perfection of Delight,
|
||
|
||
is but the Gestation of thy Lion, and in thy Season thou must
|
||
dare, and come forth to the Battle. Else, were not this
|
||
Practice of Silence akin to the Formula of Separateness of the
|
||
black Brothers?
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-164-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{zeta } DE FORMULA RECTA DRACONIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Verily, o my Son, herein lieth the Danger and the Treason
|
||
of thy Scorpion. For his Nature is against himself, being the
|
||
deepest Ego, that is, a Being separate from the Universe; and
|
||
this is the Root of the while Mystery of Evil. For he hath in
|
||
him the Magick Power, which if he use not, he is self-
|
||
poisoned, even as any Organ of the Body that refuseth its
|
||
Function. So then his Cure is in his Ally the Lion, that
|
||
feareth not the Crocodiles, nor hideth himself, but leapeth
|
||
eagerly forward. The Path of the Mystic hath this Pitfall;
|
||
for though he unite himself with his God, his Mode is to
|
||
withdraw from that which him seemeth is not God. Whereby he
|
||
affirmeth and confirmeth the Demon, that is Duality. Be thou
|
||
instant therefore, o my Son, to turn from every Act of Love at
|
||
the Moment of full satisfaction, flinging the invoked Might
|
||
thereof against a new Opposite; for the Formula of every
|
||
Dragon is Perpetual Motion or Change, and therefore to dwell
|
||
|
||
in the Satisfaction of thy Nature is a Stagnation, and a
|
||
Violation thereof, making the Duality of Conflict, which is
|
||
the Falling Away to Choronzon.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-165-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{eta } DE SUA CARTA COELORUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
I pray thee to mark, o my Son, how the Grace of Nature was
|
||
benignant at my Nativity, to the right Balance and Formulation
|
||
of my Shinx. For Neptune was in the Sign of the Bull, giving
|
||
Strength and Stability to my Spiritual Essence. Uranus was
|
||
ascending in the Lion, to fortify my Magical Will with
|
||
Courage, and to turn it to the Salvation of Man. In the
|
||
Waterman was Saturnus, to make mine Intelligence sober,
|
||
profound, and capable of Labour. Jupiter, with Mercury His
|
||
Herald, was in Scorpio, harmonizing me and my Word according
|
||
to the Essence of my Nature. Then of the others, Mars was
|
||
exalted in the Goat, for physical Endurance of Toil; Sol was
|
||
conjoined with Venus in the Balance, for judgment in Art and
|
||
in Life, and for Equability of Temple. Lastly, the Moon was
|
||
in the Sign of the Fishes, her loved abode, for a Gift of
|
||
Sensitiveness and of Glamour. What then am I? I am a
|
||
|
||
transient Effect of infinite Causes, a Child of Changes.
|
||
There is no I, o thou that art not thou, else were I segrated,
|
||
a Stagnation, a Thing of Hate and of Fear. But ever-moving,
|
||
ever-changing, there is a Star in the Body of Our Lady Nuith,
|
||
whose Word is None and Two.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-166-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{theta } DE OPERE SUO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
I am not I. Then, sayst thou, why is this Word? Know o my
|
||
Son, that this first Person is but the common Figure of the
|
||
Speech of Men whereof the Magus may avail himself without
|
||
Implication of Metaphysick. Yet in the Mystery of Illusion,
|
||
which is the Instrument of the Universal Will, I will not say
|
||
the Harlot of its Pleasure, are manifested these many Stars,
|
||
and amongst them that Logos of the Aeon of Horus whom thou
|
||
callest {Tau }{Omicron } {Mu }{Epsilon }{Gamma }{Alpha }
|
||
{Theta }{Eta }{Rho }{Iota }{Omicron }{Nu } and THY Father. And this is by-come
|
||
through Virtue of the Intensity of the Will to Change, through
|
||
many a Sepent-Phase of Life and Death, until in the Play of
|
||
the Game its Manifestation is the Utterance of this Word of
|
||
the Aeon, this Law of Thelema, that shall be for a Season the
|
||
Formula of the Magick of the Earth. Who then should inquire
|
||
of the further Destiny of that Star, or of another? It is the
|
||
|
||
Play of the Game, and the Operation of its Function shall
|
||
suffice it. Rid thyself therefore of this Thought of "I"
|
||
apart from all, but, attaining to Consciousness of All by Our
|
||
True Way, contemplate the Play of Illusion by thine Instrument
|
||
of Mind and Sense, leaving it without Care to continue in its
|
||
own Path of Change.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-167-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{iota } DE FRATRIBUS NIGRIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, know this concerning the Black Brothers, that
|
||
cry: I am I. This is Falsity and Delusion, for the Law
|
||
endureth not Exception. So then these Brethern are not apart,
|
||
as they vainly think being wrought by Error; but are peculiar
|
||
Combinations of Nature in Her Variety. Rejoice then even in
|
||
the Contemplation of these, for they are proper to Perfection,
|
||
and Adornments of Beauty, like a Mole upon the Cheek of a
|
||
Woman. Shall I then say that were it of thine own Nature,
|
||
even thine, to compose so sinister a Complex, thou shouldst
|
||
not strive therewith, destroying it by Love, but continue in
|
||
that Way? I deny not this hastily, nor affirm; nay, shall I
|
||
even utter a Hint of that which I may foresee? For it is in
|
||
mine own Nature to think that in this Matter the Sum of Wisdom
|
||
is Silence. But this I say, and that boldly, that thou shalt
|
||
not look upon this Horror with Fear, or with Hate, but accept
|
||
|
||
all this as thou dost all else, as a Phenomenon of Change,
|
||
that is, of Love. For in a swift Stream thou mayst behold a
|
||
Twig held steady for a while by the Play of the Water, and by
|
||
this Analogue thou mayst understand the Nature of this Mystery
|
||
of the Path of Perfection.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-168-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{kappa } DE ARTE ALCHEMISTICA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Wilt thou acquaint thyself now further at my Reproof
|
||
concerning this Arcanum of Alchymia, the Art Egyptian, how to
|
||
make Gold? Of a Surety this is already in thy Knowledge, if
|
||
thou examine by Our Holy Qabalah, what be the Forces that are
|
||
the Influx upon Tiphereth, which is the Harmony and Beauty, or
|
||
Sol, in every Kingdom of the Universe, so then also among
|
||
Metals. Now this Influx is Fivefold. First, from the Crown
|
||
descendeth the High Priestess in the Path of the Moon, for
|
||
Inspiration, and Imagination, and Idea: see to it that this
|
||
Virgin be Pure, for herein Error is Illusion. Next, from the
|
||
Father floweth the Power of the Emperor in the Path of the
|
||
Ram, for Initiative, and Energy, and Determination. Third,
|
||
from the Mother are the Lovers in the Path of the Twins, for
|
||
Intellectual Wholeness, and for Adjustment to Environment.
|
||
These Three are from this Superna and complete the Theorick of
|
||
|
||
thy Work. After this, in the Praxis and Executive thereof
|
||
thou hast the Hermit as an Influence from the Sphere of
|
||
Jupiter in the Path of the Virgin, for Secrecy, and for
|
||
Concentration, and for Prudence. Lastly, from the Sphere of
|
||
Mars, travelleth Justice in the Path of the Balance, for good
|
||
Judgment, and Tact, and Art. O my Son, in this Chapter is
|
||
more wisdom than in Ten Thousand Folios of the Alchemists!
|
||
Study therefore to acquire Skill in this Method, and
|
||
Experience; for this Gold is not only of the Metals, but of
|
||
every Sphere, and this Key is of virtue to enter every Palace
|
||
of Perfection.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-169-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{lambda } DE FEMINA: QUAE EST PROPRIA JOCO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, hear this Wisdom of Experience, how at thy first
|
||
Sight, when I put thee into the Arms of Ahitha, thy sweet
|
||
Stepmother my concubine, such was thy Beauty that she became
|
||
enamoured of thee, crying aloud; Ay me, an such he the Fruit
|
||
of thy Magick, o my Master, then let me, me also, even me,
|
||
give myself utterly to this Holy Art! Then did I, becoming
|
||
heavy in Spirit, make Question of her, saying: To what End?
|
||
And at this was she confounded and brought into Bewilderment;
|
||
but after a great While, fumbling in her Mind, made Answer,
|
||
like a Scarecrow in a Field, so was it for Rags and Tatters of
|
||
Thought. Thus yet more Atrabilious and Sluggard was this
|
||
Liver of thy Father, so that I fell into a Gloom night unto
|
||
Weeping. Then she beholding me with Amazement cried upon me
|
||
thus: Art thou not glad in Heart, o my Master? At this I gave
|
||
a Sigh even as one night unto Death. And She: if this be so,
|
||
|
||
then is no need anymore for me to give myself to Magick.
|
||
Thereat, perceiving yet again the Just Universal of Our Lord
|
||
Pan, was I swallowed up (like unto Jonah of the Old Fable) in
|
||
the Belly of the Whale called Laughter, and it seemeth to me
|
||
at this present Writing that I am like to abide therein for
|
||
the Time that remaineth to me in this Body.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-170-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{mu } DE FORMULA FEMINAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now this is the right Power and Property of a Woman, to
|
||
arrange and to adjust all Things that exist in their proper
|
||
Sphere, but not to create or to transcend. Therefore in all
|
||
practical Matters is she of Might and of Wit to produce an
|
||
Effect consonant with her Mood. And her Symbol is Water, that
|
||
seeketh the Level, whether for Wrath, eating away the
|
||
Mountains (yet even in this making smooth the Plains) or for
|
||
Love, in Fecundity of Earth. But it is the Fire of Man that
|
||
hath heaved up those Mountains, in huge Turmoil. Man them
|
||
maketh Mischief and Trouble by his Violence, be his Will
|
||
convenient to His Environment, or antipathetic; but Woman
|
||
disturbeth by Manipulation, adroit or sinister as her Mood may
|
||
be of Order or of Disorder. For any Man to meddle in her
|
||
Affair is Folly, for he comprehendeth not Quiet; so also for
|
||
her to emulate him in his Office is Fatuity. Therefore in
|
||
|
||
Magick though a Woman excel all men in every Quality that is
|
||
profitable for her for Attainment, yet she is Naught in that
|
||
Work, even as a Man without Hands in the Shop of a Carpenter;
|
||
for She hath not the Organism that might make Use of this
|
||
Opportunity. Of all this is she aware by her Instinct, for
|
||
her Nature is to Understand, even without Knowledge; and if
|
||
thou doubt herin the Wisdom of thy Sire, do thou seek out a
|
||
Woman (but with Precaution) and affirm these my Words. So
|
||
shall she wax woundily wrath, and look grisly upon thee,
|
||
proclaiming in a shrill Voice her manifold Excellences, which
|
||
she hath, and concern the Matter not a Whit.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-171-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{nu } VERBA MAGISTRI SUI DE FEMINA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Of a Thousand Years it is nigh unto the Fiftieth Part, o my
|
||
Son, since I obtained Favour in the Light of a great Master of
|
||
the Truth, whom Men call Allan Bennett, so that he received me
|
||
for his Disciple in Magick. And he was instant with me in
|
||
this Matter, and vehement, adjuring his Gods that this (which
|
||
I have myself here above declared unto thee) was the Truth
|
||
concerning the Nature of Woman. But I being but a Youth, and
|
||
Headstrong, and being enraptured in Love of Women, and
|
||
Admiration of Them, and Worship, delighting in them eagerly,
|
||
and learning constantly from them, nourished by the Milk of
|
||
their Mystery, as it should be for all true Men, did resist
|
||
angrily the Doctrine of that most holy Man of God. And
|
||
because, (as it was written) he was a vowed Virgin from his
|
||
Birth, and had no Commerce with any in the Way of Carnality, I
|
||
disabled his Judgment herein, as if he, being a Fish, had
|
||
|
||
disallowed the Flight of Birds. But I, o my Son, am not
|
||
wholly ignorant of Women, save as all Mem must be in the
|
||
Limitation of their Nature, for the Number of my Concubines is
|
||
not notably or shamefully exceeded by that of the Phases of
|
||
the Moon since my Birth. Many also have been my Disciples in
|
||
Magick that were Women; and (more also) I do owe,
|
||
acknowledging the same with open Gladness, the greater Part of
|
||
mine own Initiation and Advancement to the Operation of Women.
|
||
Notwithstanding all these Things, I bow humbly before Allan
|
||
Bennett, and repent mine Insolence, for his Saying was Sooth.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-172-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{xi } DE VIA PROPRIA FEMINIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
It is indeed easy for a Woman to obtain the Experience of
|
||
Magick, in a certain Sort, as Visions, Trances, and the like;
|
||
yet they take not Hold upon Her, to transform Her, as with
|
||
Men, but pass only as Images upon a Speculum. So then a Woman
|
||
advanceth never in Magick, but remaineth the same, rightly or
|
||
wrongly ordered according to the Force that moveth Her. Here
|
||
therefore is the Limit of Her Aspiration in Magick, to abide
|
||
joyous and obedient beneath the Man that her Instinct shall
|
||
divine so that by Habit becoming a Temple well-ordered, comely
|
||
and consecrated, she may in her next Incarnation attract by
|
||
her Fitness a Man-soul. For this Cause hath Man esteemed
|
||
Constancy and Patience as Qualities preeminent in Good women,
|
||
because by these she gaineth her Going toward Our Godliness.
|
||
Her Ordeal therefore is principally to resist Moods, which
|
||
make Disorder, that is of Choronzon. Also, let her be content
|
||
|
||
in this Way, for verily she hath a noble and an excellent
|
||
Portion in Our Holy Banquet, and escapeth many a Peril that is
|
||
proper to us others. Only, be she in Awe and Wariness, for in
|
||
her is no Principle of Resistance to Choronzon, so that if she
|
||
become disordered in her Moods, as by Lust, or by Drunkenness,
|
||
or by Idleness, she hath no Standard whereunto she may rally
|
||
her Forces. In this see thou her Need of a well-guarded Life,
|
||
and of a True Man for her God.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-173-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{omicron } DE HAC RE ALTERA INTELLIGENDA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Mark then, o my Son, how in the Ancient Books of Magick it
|
||
is Man that selleth his Soul unto the Devil, but Woman that
|
||
maketh Pact with him. For she hath constantly the Wit and
|
||
Power to arrange Things at his Bidding, and she payeth this
|
||
Price of his Alliance. But a Man hath one Jewel, and,
|
||
bartering this, he becometh the Mockery of Satanas. Let then
|
||
this tutor thee in thine own Art of Magick, that thou employ
|
||
Women in all Practical Matters, to order them with Cunning,
|
||
but Men in thy Need of Transfiguration or Transmutation. In a
|
||
Trope, let the Woman direct the Chess-Play of Life, but the
|
||
Man alter the Rules, if he so will. Lo! in ill Play is
|
||
Mischief and Disorder, but in a New Law is Earthquake, and
|
||
Destruction of the Root of Things. Therefore is Fear of any
|
||
Man that is in Commerce with his Genius, for none knoweth if
|
||
his Law shall amend the Game or do it Hurt; and of this the
|
||
|
||
Proof is in Experience, won after the Victory of his Will,
|
||
when there is no Way of Return; as saith the Poet, Vestigia
|
||
Nulla Retrorsum. Nor do thou fear to create: for, even as I
|
||
have written in "The Book of Lies (falsely so-called)", thou
|
||
canst create nothing that is not God. But beware of false
|
||
Creations wrought by Women in whom is no Function thereof; for
|
||
they are Phantoms, poisonous Vapours, bred of the Moon in her
|
||
Witchcraft of Blood.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-174-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{pi } DE VIIS MORTIS ET DIABOLI, ARCANIS
|
||
|
||
TOU TAROT FRATERNITATIS R{.'.} C{.'.}
|
||
|
||
|
||
It shall profit thee much, o my Son, or I err, that I
|
||
instruct thee in the Mysteries of the Paths of Nun and of
|
||
Ayin, that in our rota are figured in the Atu called Death,
|
||
and that called the Devil. Of these Nun joineth the Sun with
|
||
Venus, and is referred to Scorpio in the Zodiac. This Path is
|
||
perilous, for it seeketh the Level, and may abase thee, except
|
||
thou take Head unto the Going. Of its three Modes, the
|
||
Scorpio destroyeth himself, as if it were a Type of animal
|
||
Pleasure. Next, the Serpent is proper to Works of Change, or
|
||
Magick; yet is he poisonous also unless thou hast Wit to
|
||
enchant him. Lastly the Eagle is subtlest in this Sort, so
|
||
that this Path is proper to a Transcendental Labour. Yet all
|
||
these are in the Way of Death, so that thy Wand is dissolved
|
||
|
||
and corroded in the Waters of the Cup, and must be renewed by
|
||
Virtue of thy Nature in its Course. For Fire is extinguished
|
||
by Water; but upon Earth it burneth freely, and is inflamed by
|
||
the Wind. Understand also that which is written concerning
|
||
the Vesica, that it is the Mother, giving Ease, Sleep, and
|
||
Death, which Consolations are eschewed by the True Man or
|
||
Hero.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-175-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{koppa } SEQUITUR DE HIS VIIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now the Path of Ayin is a Link between Mercury and the Sun,
|
||
and in the Zodiac importeth the Goat. This Goat is called
|
||
also Strength, and standeth in the Meridian at the Sunrise of
|
||
Spring; and it is His Nature to leap upon the Mountains. So
|
||
therefore he is a Symbol of true Magick, and his Name is
|
||
Baphomet, wherefore did I design him as an Atu of Thoth, the
|
||
Fifteenth, and put his Image in the Front of my Book, the
|
||
" ""Ritual of High Magick", which was the second Part of my Thesis
|
||
for the Grade of Major Adept, when I was clothed about with
|
||
the Body called Alphonse Louis Constant. Now the Goat flieth
|
||
not as doth the Eagle; but consider this also that it is the
|
||
true Nature of Man to dwell upon the Earth, so that his
|
||
Flights are oft but Phantasy; yea, the Eagle also is bound to
|
||
his Eyrie, nor feedeth upon Air. Therefore this goat, making
|
||
each leap with Fervour, yet all Times secure in his own
|
||
|
||
Element, is a true Hieroglyph of the Magician. Mark also,
|
||
this Path sheweth One continuous in Exaltation upon a Throne,
|
||
and so is it the Formula of the Man, as the other was of the
|
||
Woman.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-176-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{rho } DE OCULO HOOR.
|
||
|
||
|
||
I say furthermore that this Path is of the Circle, and of
|
||
the Eye of Horus that sleepeth not, but is vigilant. The
|
||
Circle is all-perfect, equal every Way, but the Vesica hath
|
||
bitter Need, and seeketh thy Medicine, that is of right
|
||
compounded for High Purpose, to ease her Infirmity. Thus is
|
||
thy Will frustrated, and thy Mind distracted, and thy Work
|
||
lamed, if it be not brought to Naught. Also thy Puissance in
|
||
thine Art isminished, by a full Moiety, as I do esteem it.
|
||
But the Eye of Horus hath no Need, and is free in his Will,
|
||
not seeking a Level, or requiring a Medicine, and is fit and
|
||
worthy to be the Companion and the Ally of thee in thy Work,
|
||
as a Friend to thee, not Mistress and not Slave, that seek
|
||
ever with Slyness and Deceit to encompass their own Ends.
|
||
There is moreover a Reason in Physics for my Word; study thou
|
||
this matter in the Laws of the Changes of Nature. For Things
|
||
|
||
Unlike do in their Marriage produce a Child which is
|
||
relatively Stable, and resisteth Change; but Things like
|
||
increase mutually the Potential of their particular Natures.
|
||
Howbeit, each Path hath his own Use; and thou, being
|
||
instructed in all Ways, choose thine with Discretion.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-177-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{sigma } DE SUA INITIATIONE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My son, my Delight, Honey of the Comb of my Life, I will
|
||
say also this concerning the Odds of the Formulae of Male and
|
||
Female, that mine Initiation was ordered as followeth. First,
|
||
unto the Middle of the Way, the Attainment of the Knowledge
|
||
and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, were these Men
|
||
appointed to mine Aid, Jerome Politt of Kendal, Cecil Jones of
|
||
Basingstoke, Allan Bennett of the Border, and Oscar Exkenstein
|
||
of the Mountain with no Woman. But after that Attainment hath
|
||
Word come to me only through Women, Ouarda the Seer, and
|
||
Virakam, and in mine Initiation in to theDegree of Magus, the
|
||
Cat '{Iota }{Lambda }{Alpha }{Rho }{Iota }{Omega }{Nu } thy Mother, Helen the Play
|
||
Actress the Serpent, with Myriamme the Drunkard, and Rita the
|
||
Harlot to bear Dagger and Poison; then these others Alice the
|
||
Singing Woman for an Owl; then Catherine the Dog of Anubis,
|
||
and Ahitha the Camel that renewed the Work of Virakam, with
|
||
|
||
Ollun the Dragon and --- but here I do restrict myself in
|
||
Speech, for the End is wrapped about with a Veil, as the Face
|
||
of a Virgin. But do thou meditate strictly upon these Things,
|
||
distinguishing the right Property, Order, and Use of the Other
|
||
and the other in the Relative, even as thou makest them All-
|
||
One, that is None, in the Absolute.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-178-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{tau } DE HERBO SANCTISSIMO ARABICO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Recall, o my Son, the Fable of the Hebrews, which they
|
||
brought from the City Babylon, how Nebuchadnezzar the Great
|
||
King, being afflicted in his Spirit, did depart from among Men
|
||
for Seven Years' Space, eating Grass as doth an Ox. Now this
|
||
Ox is the Letter Aleph, and is that Atu of Thoth whose Number
|
||
is Zero, and whose name is Maat, Truth, or Maut, the Vulture,
|
||
the All-Mother, being an Image of Our Lady Nuith, but also it
|
||
is called the Fool, who is Parsifal, "der reine Tor", and so
|
||
referreth to him thatwalketh in the Way of the Tao. Also, he
|
||
is Harpocrates, the Child Horus, walking, (as saith David, the
|
||
Badavi that became King in his Psalms) upon the Lion and the
|
||
Dragon; that is, he is in Unity with his own secret Nature, as
|
||
I have shewn thee in my Word concerning the Sphinx. O my Son,
|
||
yester Eve came the Spirit upon me that I also should eat the
|
||
Grass of the Arabs, and by Virtue of the Bewitchment thereof
|
||
|
||
behold that which might be appointed for the Enlightenment of
|
||
mine Eyes. Now then of this may I not speak, seeing that it
|
||
involveth the Mystery of the Transcending of Time, so that in
|
||
One Hour of our terrestrial Measure did I gather the Harvest
|
||
of an Aeon, and in Ten Lives I could no declare it.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-179-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{upsilon } DE QUIBUSDAM MYSTERIIS, QUAE VIDI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Yet even as a Man may set up a Memorial or Symbol to import
|
||
Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand, so may I strive to inform
|
||
thine Understanding by Hieroglyph. And here shall thine own
|
||
Experience serve us, because a Token of Remembrance sufficeth
|
||
him that is familiar with a Matter, which to him that knoweth
|
||
it not should not be made manifest, no, not in a Year of
|
||
Instruction. Here first then is one amid the uncounted
|
||
Wonders of that Vision; upon a field blacker and richer than
|
||
Velvet was the Sun of all Being, alone. Then about Him were
|
||
little Crosses, Greek, over-running the Heaven. These changed
|
||
from Form to Form geometrical, Marvel devouring Marvel, a
|
||
Thousand Times a Thousand in their Course and Sequence, until
|
||
by their Movement was the Universe churned into the
|
||
Quintessence of Light. Moreover at another Time did I behold
|
||
All Things as Bubbles, iridescent and luminous, self-shining
|
||
|
||
in every Colour, Myriad pursuing Myrad until by their
|
||
perpetual Beauty they exhausted the Virtue of my Mind to
|
||
receive them, and whelmed it, so that I was fain to withdraw
|
||
myself from the Burden of that Brilliance. Yet, o my Son, the
|
||
Sun of all this amounteth not to the Worth of one Dawn-Glimmer
|
||
of Our True Vision of Holiness.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-180-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{phi } DE QUORUM MODO MEDITATIONES.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now for the Chief of that which was granted unto me, it was
|
||
the Apprehension of those willed Changes or Transmutations of
|
||
the Mind which lead into Truth, being as Ladders unto Heaven,
|
||
or so I called them at that Time, seeking for a Phrase to
|
||
admonish the Scribe that attended on my Words, to grave a
|
||
Balustre upon the Stele of of my Working. But I make Effort
|
||
in vain, o my Son, to record this matter in Detail; for it is
|
||
the quality of the Grass to quicken the Operation of Thought
|
||
it may be Thousandfold, and moreover to figure each Step in
|
||
Images complex and overpowering in Beauty, so that one hath no
|
||
Time wherein to conceive, much less to utter, any Word for a
|
||
Name or any of them. Also, such was the multiplicity of these
|
||
Ladders, and their Equivalence, that the Memory holdeth no
|
||
more any one of them, but only a certain Comprehension of the
|
||
Method, wordless by Reason of its Subtilty. Now therefore
|
||
|
||
must I make by my Will a Concentration mighty and terrible of
|
||
my Thought, that I may bring forth this Mystery in Expression.
|
||
For this Method is of Virtue and Profit, by it mayst thou come
|
||
easily and with Delight to the Perfection of Truth, it is no
|
||
Odds from what Thought thou makest the first Leap in thy
|
||
Meditation, so hat thou mayst know how every Road endeth in
|
||
Monsalvat, and the Temple of the Sangral.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-181-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{chi } SEQUITUR DE HAC RE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
I believe generally, on Ground both of Theory and
|
||
Experience, so little as I have, that a Man must first be
|
||
initiate, and established in Our Law, before he may use this
|
||
Method. For in it is an Implication of our Secret
|
||
Enlightenment, concerning the Universe, how its Nature is
|
||
utterly Perfection. Now every Thought is a Separation, and
|
||
the Medicine of that is to marry Each One with its
|
||
Contradiction, as I have shewed formerly in many Writings.
|
||
And thou shalt clap the one to the other with Vehemence of
|
||
Spirit, swiftly as Light itself, that the Ecstasy be
|
||
spontaneous. So therefore it is Expedient that thou have
|
||
travelled already in this Path of Antithesis, knowing
|
||
perfectly the Answer to every Griph or Problem, and thy Mind
|
||
ready therewith. For by the Property of this Grass all
|
||
passeth with Speed incalculable of Wit, and an Hesitation
|
||
|
||
should confound thee, breaking down thy ladder, and throwing
|
||
back thy Mind to receive Impression from Environment, as at
|
||
thy first beginning. Verily; the nature of this Method is
|
||
Solution, and the Destruction of every Complexity by Explosion
|
||
of Ecstasy, as every Element thereof is fulfilled by its
|
||
Correlative, and is annihilated (since it loseth separate
|
||
Existence) in the Orgasm that is consummated within the Bed of
|
||
thy Mind.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-182-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{psi } SEQUITUR DE HAC RE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Thou knowest right well, o my Son, how a Thought is
|
||
imperfect in two Dimensions, being separate from its
|
||
Contradiction, but also constrained in its Scope, because by
|
||
that Contradiction we do not (commonly) complete the Universe,
|
||
save only that of its Discourse. Thus if we contrast health
|
||
with Sickness, we include in their Sphere of Union no more
|
||
than one Quality that may be predicated of all Things.
|
||
Furthermore, it is for the most Part not easy to find or to
|
||
formulate the true Contradiction of any Thought as a positive
|
||
Idea, but only as a Formal Negation in vague Terms, so that
|
||
the ready Answer is but the Antithesis. Thus to "White" one
|
||
putteth not the Phrase "all that which is not white", for this
|
||
is void, formless, neither clear, simple, nor positive in
|
||
conception; but one answereth "BBlack", for this hath an Image
|
||
of his Significance. So the Cohesion of Antitheticals
|
||
|
||
destroyeth them only in Part, and one becometh instantly
|
||
conscious of the Residue that is unsatisfied or unbalanced,
|
||
whose Eidolon leapeth in thy Mind with Splendour and Joy
|
||
unspeakable. Let not this deceive thee, for its Existence
|
||
proveth its Imperfection, and thou must call forth its Mate,
|
||
and destroy them by Love, as with the former. This Method is
|
||
continuous and proceedeth ever from the Gross to the Fine, and
|
||
from the Particular to the General, dissolving all Things into
|
||
the One Substance of Light.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-183-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Digamma }{omega } CONCLUSIO DE HAC MODO SANCTITATIS.
|
||
|
||
Lean now that Impression of Sense have Opposites readily
|
||
conceived, as long to short, or light to dark; and so with
|
||
Emotions and Perceptions, as Love to Hate, or false to true;
|
||
but the more violent is the Antagonism, the more is it bound
|
||
in Illusion, determined by Relation. Thus the Word "Long"
|
||
hath no Meaning save it be referred to a Standard; but Love is
|
||
not thus obscure, because Hate is its Twin, partaking
|
||
bountifully of a Common Nature therewith. Now, hear this; it
|
||
was given unto me in my Visions of the Aethyrs, when I was in
|
||
the Wilderness of Sahara, by Tolga, that above the Abyss,
|
||
contradiction is Unity, and that Nothing could be true save by
|
||
Virtue of the Contradiction that is contained in itself.
|
||
Behold, therefore, in this method thou shalt come presently to
|
||
Ideas of this Order, that include in themselves their own
|
||
Contradiction, and have no Antithesis. Here then is thy Lever
|
||
of Antinomy broken in thine Hand; yet, being in true Balance,
|
||
|
||
thou mayst soar, passionate and eager, from Heaven to Heaven,
|
||
by the Expansion of thine Idea, and its Exaltation, of
|
||
Concentration as thou understandest by thy Studies in "The Book""
|
||
""of the Law", the Word thereof concerning Our Lady Nuith and
|
||
Hadith that is the Core of every Star. And this last Going
|
||
upon thy Ladder is easy, if thou be truly Initiate, for the
|
||
Momentum of thy Force in Transcendental Antithesis serveth to
|
||
propel thee, and the Emancipation from the Fetters of Thought
|
||
that thou hast won in that Praxis of Art maketh the Whirlpool
|
||
and Gravitation of Truth of Competence to Draw thee unto
|
||
itself.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-184-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{alpha } DE VIA SOLA SOLIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
This is the Profit of mine Intoxication of this Holy Herb,
|
||
the Grass of the Arab, that it has shewed me this Mystery
|
||
(with many others) not as a new Light, for I had that
|
||
aforetime, but by its swift Synthesis and Manifestation of a
|
||
Long Sequence of Events in a Moment, I had Wit to analyse this
|
||
Method, and to discover its Essential Law, which before had
|
||
escaped the Focus of the Lens of mine Understanding. Yea, o
|
||
my Son, there is no true Path of Light, save that which I have
|
||
formerly made plain; yet in every Path is Profit, if thou be
|
||
cunning to perceive it and to clasp it. For we win Truth
|
||
oftentimes by Reflection or by the Composition and Selection
|
||
of an Artist in his Presentation thereof, when else we were
|
||
blind thereunto; lacking his Mode of Light. Yet were that Art
|
||
of none avail unless we had already the Root of that Truth in
|
||
our Nature, and a Bud ready to flower at the Summoning of that
|
||
|
||
Sun. In Witness, nor a Boy nor a Stone hath Knowledge of the
|
||
Sections of a Cone, and their Properties; but thou mayst teach
|
||
these to the Boy by right Presentation, because he hath in his
|
||
Nature those laws of Mind that are consonant with our Art
|
||
Mathematical, and hath Need only of the Fledging (I may say
|
||
this) so that he apply them consciously to the Work, when all
|
||
being in Truth, that is, in the necessary Relations that rule
|
||
our Illusion, he cometh in Course to Apprehension.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-185-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Delta }{beta } DE PRUDENTIA ORDINIS A{.'.} A{.'.}
|
||
|
||
|
||
Here then o my Son, that shall be mightier than all the
|
||
Kings of the Earth, as it is prophesied, ---an thou be He---
|
||
because thou shalt establish the Law which I have given, even
|
||
the Law of Thelema, here in this which I have written is a
|
||
Point of Judgment in they Work to bring into the Light of
|
||
Initiation such as come unto thee, affirming their Will to
|
||
this Attainment. For every One hath his own Path and his own
|
||
Law, and there is no Art in Magick but to seek out that Path
|
||
and that Law, that he may pursue the one by the right Used of
|
||
the Other. It shall be that one cometh unto thee, desiring
|
||
Amen-Ra (I speak in a Figure or Exemplar) another Asi, a third
|
||
Hoor-Pa-Kraat; or again, one seeketh Instruction in Obeah, and
|
||
his Fellow in Wanga; and of all these not one in Ten Thousand
|
||
shall be aware of his true Way. For albeit our last step is
|
||
one for all, yet his next stem is particular to each.
|
||
|
||
Therefore is the Preparation of a Student that seeketh Our
|
||
Holy Order of A{.'.} A{.'.} most general, informing his Mind of
|
||
all known Methods, so that his Will may select among these by
|
||
Instinct: then after, as a Probationer, he practiseth those
|
||
which he hath preferred, and by the Examination of his Record
|
||
after the Period appointed thou mayst have Wisdom concerning
|
||
him, to confirm him in those Ways which are shewed thereby to
|
||
be germane to his True Nature.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-186-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{gamma } ALTERA DE SUA VIA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Thus I was brought unto the Knowledge of myself in a
|
||
certain secret Grace, and as a Poet, by Jerome Politt of
|
||
Kendal; Oscar Eckenstein of the Mountain discovered Manhood in
|
||
me, teaching me to endure Hardship, and to dare many Shapes of
|
||
Death; also he nurtured me in Concentration, the Art of the
|
||
Mystics, but without Lumber of Theology. Allan Bennett
|
||
bestowed upon me the right Art of Magic, and Our Holy Qabalah,
|
||
with a great Treasure of Learning in many Matters, but
|
||
especially concerning Egypt, and Asia, the Mysteries of their
|
||
Arcane Wisdom. But of Cecil Jones had I the Great Gift of the
|
||
Holy Magick of Abramelin, and he inducted me into that Order
|
||
which we name not, because of the Silliness of the Profane
|
||
that pretend thereto, and he brought me to the Knowledge and
|
||
conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel; also, he was the
|
||
Herald of the Masters of the Temple when They bade me welcome
|
||
|
||
to their Order, appointing a Siege for me in the City of the
|
||
Pyramids, under the Night of Pan; but for three Years I was
|
||
not willing to avail myself thereof. Now mark well this, o my
|
||
Son, that this Path was peculiar to the law of my Star, and
|
||
none other should follow me herein, or seek to follow me, for
|
||
he hath his own proper Orbit. O my Son, err not by
|
||
Generalisation and Conformity, for this is the very Idleness,
|
||
and breedeth Ideals and Standards that are Death.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-187-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{delta } DE PRUDENTIA ARTIS DOCENDI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Nevertheless, this one Affliction shall touch nigh all that
|
||
come to thee, and that is this great Pox of Sin, that is our
|
||
Bane inherited of the Aeon of Slain Gods. Look the first of
|
||
all, when any Postulant boweth before thee, whether there be
|
||
not Conflict and Restriction in his Mind, and in his Will. If
|
||
he deem Good and Evil to be absolute, instead of as relative
|
||
to the Health of this Body, or the Weal of the Society of
|
||
which he is a Member, or what not, as it may be, instruct him.
|
||
Or, if he will say that he will sacrifice all for Initiation,
|
||
correct him, as it is written: "but whoso gives one Particle
|
||
of Dust shall lose all in that Hour." For it is Conflict if
|
||
he weigh one Thing with another; and Renunciation, being
|
||
sorrowful, is not worthy of Acceptance. But he must with Joy
|
||
unite all he is and hath, heaping the Whole into one Billow of
|
||
Love, under Will. Yea, o my son, until thou hast brought the
|
||
|
||
Postulant into our Freedom from Sin, and the Sense and
|
||
Conviction thereof, he is not ready for the Path of our Magick
|
||
and Illumination; because every Way soever is a Going, and
|
||
this Sin is an obstacle and a Fetter and an Hoodwink on every
|
||
one of them, for it is Restriction, whether he set out by the
|
||
Meditations of the Dhamma, or by Our Qabalah, or by Vision or
|
||
Theurgy, or how else soever.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-188-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{epsilon } DE MENTE INIMICA ANIMO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
How shall a Man attain to the Trance where All is One, if
|
||
he yet debate within his Mind concerning Virtue as a Thing
|
||
Absolute? Thus, o my Son, there be those that are fuddled
|
||
with Doubt whether Meat is to be eaten (I choose this as a
|
||
Reference with Habit is proper to the Lion, as Grass to the
|
||
Horse, so that his right Problem is solely thus, what is
|
||
fitting to his own Nature. Or again, I suppose that he is in
|
||
Vision, and an Angel, visiting him, imparteth a Truth contrary
|
||
to his Prejudice, as it fell out in mine own Case, when I
|
||
inhabited the Body of Sir Edward Kelly, or so do I in Part
|
||
remember, as it seemeth dimly. This nevertheless is sure (or
|
||
the learned Casaubon, publishing the Record of that Word with
|
||
the Magician Dee, sayeth falsely) that an Angel did declare
|
||
unto Kelly the very Axiomata of our Law of Thelema, in good
|
||
Measure, and plainly; but Dee, afflicted by the Fixity of his
|
||
|
||
Tenets that were of the Salve-Gods, was wroth, and by his
|
||
Authority prevailed upon the other, who was indeed not wholly
|
||
perfected as an Instrument, or the World ready for that
|
||
Sowing. Consider also how in this very Life I was the Enemy
|
||
of mine own Law, and wrote down "The Book of the Law" contrary
|
||
to my conscious Will by the Virtue of Obedience as a Scribe,
|
||
and strove constantly to escape mine own Work, and the
|
||
Utterance of my Word, until by Initiation I was made All-One.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-189-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{digamma } DE ILLUMINATUM OPERIBUS DIVERSIS.
|
||
|
||
Do thou understand how few be they whose Work in this their
|
||
present Lives is our Way of Initiation. Yet it is written in
|
||
" ""The Book of the Law" that the Law is for all, so that thou
|
||
shalt in no wise err if thou establish it as the formula of
|
||
the Aeon, universal among Men. Also, ever for them that are
|
||
fitted to advance in our Light, there is Order and Diversity
|
||
in Function, as reagardeth their Work in our Sub;lime
|
||
Brotherhood, Thus, it might well be that, in a Profess-House
|
||
of the Temple, or College of the Holy Ghost, each Knight or
|
||
Brother might severally attain Experience of every Trance,
|
||
unto the Perfection of all Illumination; yet by this there
|
||
ought not to arise Confusion, one usurping the appointed
|
||
office of another. For the Abbot, although he be not
|
||
enlightened wholly, is yet Abbot; and the Place of the Cook,
|
||
were he Saint, Arhan, and Paramahamsa in one Person, is in his
|
||
Kitchen. Confound not thou in any wise therefore the Degree
|
||
|
||
of Attainment of any Man with his right Function in our Holy
|
||
Order; for although by initiation cometh the Light, and the
|
||
Right, and the Might to accomplish all Works soever, yet these
|
||
are inoperative save as they are able to use a Machine which
|
||
is of the same Order of Things as the Effect required. As the
|
||
best Swordsman hath Need of a Sword, so hath every magician of
|
||
a Body and Mind capable to the Work that he willeth; and he
|
||
can do nothing, save it be proper to his Nature.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-190-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{zeta } DE EADEM RE ALTERA VERBA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
By this Understanding be they rebuked that make a Reproach
|
||
to our Art, saying in their Insolence that if we have all
|
||
Power, why are we betimes in Stress of Poverty, and in
|
||
Contempt of men, and in Pain of Disease, and so forth, mocking
|
||
us, and holding our Magick for Delusion. But they behold not
|
||
our Light, how it guideth us in our Path unto a Goal that is
|
||
not in their Comprehension, so that we crave not that which
|
||
seemeth to them the Sole Food and Comfort of Life. Also, this
|
||
which we attain, though it be the Essence of Omniscience and
|
||
Omnipotence, informeth and moveth the Matherial World (so to
|
||
call it) only according to the Nature of that which is
|
||
therein. For the Light of the Sun (by His very Wholeness
|
||
itself) sheweth a Rose Red, but a Leaf Green; and His Heat
|
||
gathereth the Clouds, and disperseth them also. So I then,
|
||
though I were perfect ion Magick, might not work in Metals as
|
||
|
||
a Smith, or become rich by Commerce as a Merchant; for I have
|
||
not in my Nature the Engines proper to these Capacities, and
|
||
therefore it is not of my will to seek to exercise them. Here
|
||
then is my Case, that I can not because I will not, and it
|
||
were Conflict, should I turn thither. But let every man
|
||
become perfect in his own Work, not heeding the Rebuke of
|
||
another, that some Way not his own is more Noble, or
|
||
Profitable, but being constant in mindfulness concerning his
|
||
Business.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-191-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{nu } DE PACE PERFECTA LUCE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
How shall the measure our Statue and our Success by that
|
||
Cannon of Relation and Illusion, and their ignorance of our
|
||
Nature? Time is but Sequence, and a moment of Light
|
||
outweigheth an Age of Darkness. What is Happiness but the
|
||
Issue of the Harmony of our Consciousness with our Truth, and
|
||
the Conformity of Will with Action? To the Initiate is
|
||
Certainty of his Fulfilment, which to the Profane is but the
|
||
Effect of Hazard, and he feareth to lose what he loveth, or
|
||
thinketh he loveth. But we, loving only in Light, suffer not
|
||
by Fear or by Bereavement, because to us every Event is
|
||
Welcome, being right, necessary and proper to our particular
|
||
Path. The Knowledge of this one Matter is the End of Dread
|
||
and of Regret; make it the Governor of thy Mind, to rule its
|
||
Pace, lest it hasten or lag by Stress of thine Environment.
|
||
How this Attainment is possible for all Mankind, since it
|
||
|
||
asketh but Resolution of Complexities that already exist; so
|
||
that this true Wisdom and Happiness cometh by the Acceptance
|
||
of our Law, and its Use is the Key to all locked Doors of the
|
||
Mind, and the Reconcilement of every Contention. O my Son, in
|
||
the Promulgation of the Law lieth the Reward of our Chief
|
||
Work, the making whole of Mankind from the Conscience of Sin
|
||
which divideth him, and afflicteth his Spirit.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-192-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{theta } DE PACE PERFECTA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, is it not a marvel, this Light whereof we are the
|
||
Quintessence and the Seed? By it are we made Whole, dissolved
|
||
in the Body and in the Soul of Our Lady Nuith even as Her Lord
|
||
Hadith, so that the Gnostic Sacrament of the Cosmos is
|
||
perpetually Elevated before us. We behold all that is and
|
||
comprehend its Mystery, and its Order in this High Mass
|
||
eternally celebrated among us, acknowledging the Perfection of
|
||
the Rite, neither confusing the Parts thereof, nor
|
||
discriminating in Worship between them. So unto us is every
|
||
Phenomenon a Shew of Godliness, proceeding continually in a
|
||
Pageant that returneth unto itself, identical in the Phase of
|
||
Naught as of Many, but whirling in the Orgia of Ineffable
|
||
Holiness as it were a Dance that weaveth Figures of Beauty in
|
||
Variety inexhaustible. Shall the Initiate bestir him, to
|
||
better so prime a Perfection? Nay, this Will that was his is
|
||
|
||
accomplished; he hath attained the Summit; so without Hope or
|
||
Fear he abideth, and leaveth his Vehicle of Illusion and
|
||
Magical Engine, that is, as Man say, his Body and Mind, to
|
||
work out their Ritual of Change without his interference. O
|
||
my son, ask not to what End! As it is written in "The Book of""
|
||
""the Heart Girt with the Serpent", concerning the Boy and the
|
||
Swan: is there not joy ineffable in this aimless Winging?
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-193-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{iota } DE MORTE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Thou hast made Question of me concerning Death, and this is
|
||
my Opinion, of which I say not: this is the Truth. First in
|
||
the Temple called Man is the God, his Soul, or Star,
|
||
individual and eternal, but also inherent in the Body of Our
|
||
Lady Nuith. Now this Soul, as an Officer in the High Mass of
|
||
the Cosmos, taketh on the Vesture of his Office, that is,
|
||
inhabiteth a Tabernacle of Illusion, a Body and Mind. And
|
||
this Tabernacle is Subject to the Law of Change, for it is
|
||
complex, and diffuse reacting to every Stimulus or Impression.
|
||
If then the mind be attached constantly to the Body, Death
|
||
hath no Power to decompose it wholly, but a decaying Shell of
|
||
the dead Man, his Mind holding together for a little his Body
|
||
of Light, haunteth the Earth, seeking a new Tabernacle (in its
|
||
Error that feareth Change) in some other Body. These Shells
|
||
are broken away utterly from the Star that did enlighten them,
|
||
|
||
and they are Vampires, obsessing them that adventure
|
||
themselves into the Astral World without Magical Protection,
|
||
or invoke them, as do the Spiritists. For by Death is Man
|
||
released only from the Gross Body, at the first, and is
|
||
complete otherwise upon the Astral Plane, as he was in his
|
||
Life. But this Wholeness suffereth Stress, and its Gidrirs
|
||
are loosened, the weaker first and after that the stronger.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-194-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{lambda } DE ADEPTIS R. C. ESCATOLOGIA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
consider now in this Light what shall come to the Adept, to
|
||
him that hath aspired constantly and firmly to his Star,
|
||
attuning the Mind unto the Musick of its Will. In him, if his
|
||
Mind be knit perfectly together is itself, and conjoined with
|
||
the Star, is so strong a Confection that it breaketh away
|
||
easily not only from the Gross Body, but the fine. It is this
|
||
Fine Body which bindeth it to the Astral, as did the Gross to
|
||
the Material World so then it accomplisheth willingly the
|
||
Sacrament of a second Death and leaveth the Body of Light.
|
||
But the Mind, cleaveth closely, by Right of its Harmony, and
|
||
Might of its Love, to its Star, resisteth the Ministers of
|
||
Disruption, for a Season, according to its Strength. Now, if
|
||
this Star be of those that are bound by the Great Oath,
|
||
incarnating without Remission because of Delight in the Cosmic
|
||
Sacrament, it seeketh a new Vehicle in the appointed Way, and
|
||
|
||
indwelleth the Foetus of a Child, and quickeneth it. And if
|
||
at this Time the mind of its Former Tabernacle yet cling to
|
||
it, then is there Continuity Character, and it may be Memory
|
||
between the two Vehicles. This is, briefly and without
|
||
Elaboration, the Way of Asar in Amenti, according to mine
|
||
Opinion, of which I say not: This is the Truth.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-195-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{mu } DE NUPTIIS SUMMIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Now then to this Doctrine, o my Son, add thou that which
|
||
thou hast learned in "The Book of the Law", that Death is the
|
||
Dissolution in the Kiss of Our Lady Nuith. This is a true
|
||
Consonance as of Bass with Treble for here is the Impulse that
|
||
setteth us to Magick, the Pain of the Conscious Mind. Having
|
||
then Wit to find the Cause of this Pain in the Sense of
|
||
Separation, and its Cessation by the Union of Live, it is the
|
||
Summit of our Holy Art to present the whole Being of our Star
|
||
to Our Lady in the Nuptial of our Bodily Death. We are then
|
||
to make our whole Engine the true and real Appurtenance of our
|
||
Force, without Leak, or Friction, or any other Waste or
|
||
Hindrance to its Action. Thou knowest well how an Horse, or
|
||
even a Machine propelled by a Man's feet, becometh as it were
|
||
as Extension of the Rider, though his Skill and Custom. Thus
|
||
let thy Star have profit of thy Vehicle, assimilating it, and
|
||
|
||
sustaining it, so that it be healed of its Separation, and
|
||
this even in Life, but most especially in Death. Also thou
|
||
oughtest to increase thy Vehicle in Mass by true Growth in
|
||
Balance, that thou be a Bridegroom comely and wellfavoured, a
|
||
Man of might, and a Warrior worthy of the Bed of so divine a
|
||
Dissolution.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-196-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{nu } DE ARTE VOLUPTATE DILEMMA GUAEDAM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
There is a certain Objection, o my Son, to our Thesis
|
||
concerning Will that it should flow freely in its Way: namely
|
||
that for such as I am it is well, because I am endowed by
|
||
Nature with a Lust insatiable in any Kind, so that the
|
||
Universe itself seemeth incapable to appease it. For I have
|
||
poured myself out unceasingly, in Bodily Passion, and in
|
||
Battles with Men, and with Wild Beasts, and with Mountains and
|
||
Deserts, and in Poetry and other Writings of the Musick of
|
||
mine Imagination, and in Books of our own Mysteries, and in
|
||
Works Magical, and so forth, so that in Mine Age I am become
|
||
verily a Slave to mine own Genius and my Law is that unless I
|
||
sleep or create, my Soul is sick, and fain to claim the Reward
|
||
and the Recreation of my Death. But (I hear thee say it) this
|
||
is not the Case of All, or even of many Men; but their Act of
|
||
Will is satisfied easily at its first Guerdon. Should not
|
||
|
||
then their Wisdom be to resist themselves for a Space, as
|
||
Water heaped up by a Dam gathereth Force, and Hunger feedeth
|
||
upon Abstinence? Also, there is that which I have written in
|
||
a former Chapter of the right Use of Discipline; and thirdly,
|
||
this free Flowing is without Subtility of Art, as it were an
|
||
Harlot that plucketh Men by the Sleeve.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-197-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{xi } DE HOC MODO DISSOLUTIO.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Here therefore will I write down the Answer to this
|
||
Indictment of our Wisdom; that every Act of Will is to be made
|
||
in its Perfection, which State is to be attained according to
|
||
these Conditions: firs, those of its own Law; second, those of
|
||
its Environment. Judge thine own Case individually, each as
|
||
it pleadeth; for there is no Cannon or Code, since every Star
|
||
hath its own Law diverse from every other. Now there is the
|
||
Restraint of Conflict which is Impotance and Disruption; the
|
||
the Restraint of Discipline is a Fortification of the Will by
|
||
Repose and by Preparation, as a Conqueror resteth his Armies,
|
||
and feedeth them, and looketh to their Furniture and to their
|
||
Spirit, before he joineth the Battle. Also, there is the
|
||
Restraint of Art, which includeth that other of Discipline,
|
||
and its Nature is to adorn the Will and to admire its Strength
|
||
and its Beauty, and to enjoy its Victory by Anticipation in
|
||
|
||
full Confidence, not fearful of Time that robbeth them that
|
||
are ignorant concerning him, how he is but Mirage and
|
||
Illusion, incapable to besiege the Fortress of the Soul. Work
|
||
thou thy Will, as I said aforetime by the Mouth of Eliphas
|
||
Levi Zahed, knowing thyself Omnipotent, and thine Habitation
|
||
Eternity. O my Son, attend well this Word, for it is an
|
||
Heirloom, and a Ring of Ruby and Emerald in thine Inheritance.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-198-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{omicron } DE COMEDIA, QUAE PAN DICTUR.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Subtler than the Serpent of Hermes, o my Son, is this Way
|
||
of Restraint of Art, and thou shalt meet therein with the God
|
||
Pan, and have him to thy Playmate. So shalt thou devise
|
||
Comedy and Tragedy, as it were Settings for the Jewel of thy
|
||
Will, to enhance the Beauty thereof, and to refine thy
|
||
Pleasures. This is that which is written in "The Book of the""
|
||
""Law": "... Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more
|
||
joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture! If thou drink, drink
|
||
by the eight and ninety rules of art: if thou love, exceed by
|
||
delicacy; and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety
|
||
therein! But exceed! exceed!" Thus thou mayst even toy with
|
||
thy tamed Devil of Sin, and use the Pain thereof to sharpen
|
||
the taste of thy Meat, being Adult, and thy Tongue keen to the
|
||
Olive, and cloyed by the Sweet, while a Child is opposite to
|
||
this in his Preference; or as a skilled Match of Love
|
||
|
||
aboundeth in Pinchings, Slappings, Bitings and the like, to
|
||
intensify the Bout and to prolong it. But this is Risk and
|
||
Peril unless thou be wholly Master, one in thy Will; for there
|
||
is Poison in these dead Snakes, to destroy thee if thou lend
|
||
them of thy Life by so little as one Doubt of thyself, as a
|
||
Seed of Division.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-199-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{pi } DE LUDO AMORIS.
|
||
|
||
|
||
In this Mystery of the Restraint of Art is also the Secret
|
||
of Illusion. Why, sayest thou, hath not Our Lady Nuith her
|
||
Will of Her Lord Hadith, and He of Her, and so all ended? But
|
||
this is the Play of Her Love, that She veileth Her Beauty in
|
||
the Robe of Illusion many-coloured, and evadeth Him in Sport,
|
||
yea, and divorceth Him from the Embrace, weaving new Modesties
|
||
and allurements in Her Dance. Now, o my Son, the full
|
||
Comprehension of this Arcanum is the Fruit of Contemplation,
|
||
if this be prepared by the Experience of this Art in thine own
|
||
Case. But to them that understand not, and have Grief and
|
||
Separation, being deceived by this Play so that they deem it
|
||
the Division of Hate, She can but speak in Simplicity by that
|
||
Word written in "The Book of the Law": "To me!" For until thou
|
||
love, the Play of Love is but Emptiness; and its cruelty is
|
||
Cruelty indeed, except thou know it to be but a Sauce to wet
|
||
|
||
Appetite, and to give Emphasis of Contrast, as a Painter
|
||
dimmeth the Light by Cunning of his Shadows. But all this
|
||
Delight that thou mayst have of the Universe both in its Veils
|
||
and in its Nakedness is a Reward of thine Attainment of Truth,
|
||
and followeth after it. Nor canst thou comprehend this
|
||
Doctrine by Mind, for the Division in thee crieth aloud in its
|
||
Agony, denying it, unless thou be wholly Initiate.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-200-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{koppa } DE GAUDIO STUPRI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, this Sin itself that is our Disease is but
|
||
Misunderstanding of the Art of Love of Our Lady Nuith. Yea,
|
||
verily, it is all a Trick of Her Wit, and a Device of Her
|
||
Delight, that Sin should appear, and also (Mark thou well!)
|
||
the Misapprehension of its Nature. Therefore the Pain of any
|
||
Sinner in his Division and His Separation is to Her a little
|
||
Spasm of Pleasure. But as for him, let him apprehend this
|
||
Doctrine, and dissolve himself in Her Love. Thou then, being
|
||
Initiate and Illuminated in this Truth, mayst accept thine own
|
||
Sorrow, or rather that of thy Vehicle, as Lackey to the Joy
|
||
that thou hast in thy True Self, the Star among the Stars of
|
||
Her Body. The Adept of our Art is not compassionate
|
||
concerning Sin, in his own Vehicle or another's, unless the
|
||
Healing thereof were proper to his Will, for he is aware of
|
||
the whole Truth of the Matter. So goeth he upon his Way, and
|
||
|
||
tighteneth not a Rein upon the Horses of the Universe, but is
|
||
content, beholding the Speed of their Course. Verily, o my
|
||
Son, it is well written in the Book of the Magus that it is
|
||
the Curse of my Grade that I must needs preach my Law unto
|
||
Men. For I am afflicted in my Tabernacle on this Count, but
|
||
in my Self, I rejoice, and join in the Laughter of Her love.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-201-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{rho } DE CAECITIA PHILOSOPHORUM ANTIQUORUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Behold, how comfortable is this thy Wisdom, wherein I have
|
||
resolved every Conflict soever that is or that can be, even in
|
||
all dimensions, that Antagonism of Things no less than their
|
||
Limitations. I have said: Evil be thou my Good; for it is the
|
||
Magical Mirror of Our Astarte and the Caduceus of our Hermes.
|
||
Now this was the Error of Elder Philosophers, that perceiving
|
||
Changeful Duality as the Cause of Sorrow, they sought the
|
||
Reconcilement in Unity and in Stability. But I shew thee the
|
||
Universe as the Body of Our Lady Nuith, who is None and Two,
|
||
with Hadith Her Lord as the Alternator of those Phases. This
|
||
Universe is then a perpetual By-coming, the Vessel of every
|
||
Permutation of infinity, wherein every Phenomenon is a
|
||
Sacrament, Change being the act of Love, and Duality the
|
||
Condition prodromal to that Act even as an Axe must be taken
|
||
back from a Cedar that it may deliver its Stroke. The Error
|
||
|
||
therefore of thee Philosophers lay in their false Assumption
|
||
that Bliss, Knowledge and Being (the Qualities of their
|
||
Changeless Unity) could be States. O my Son, how pitiful is
|
||
their Beggary, these Paupers of Sense and of Experience and of
|
||
Observation! The Emptiness of their Bellies was it that bred
|
||
Phantoms of Ideal, so that they sought Joy by a crude Denial
|
||
of what Truth (or rather, Fact) they had perceived concerning
|
||
the Universe, so that they set up an Idol of Death for their
|
||
God, in very Rage of Hatred against the Sum of their own
|
||
Selves.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-202-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{sigma } DE HERESIA MANICHAEA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
These Philosophers, or shall I not say Misosophers and
|
||
Pseudo-Sophists, have been hard put to it to explain the
|
||
Mystery of the Existence of their Evil. They have cried,
|
||
frothing with Words, the Evil is Illusion. But if so, that
|
||
Illusion is Evil, whence came it, and to what End? If their
|
||
Devil created it, who created that Devil? All their
|
||
contention resolveth to this Dilemma of Change in a
|
||
Changeless, Falsity in a True, Hate in a Loving, Weakness in
|
||
an Almighty, Duality in a Simple, Being as they define their
|
||
God. Nor do they see that they restrict their God (whom yet
|
||
they would have to be All) by admitting Opposites to this
|
||
Nature, ever when they sum these Opposites as Illusion, since
|
||
Illusion is the Denial of His Truth. But the Indians, seeing
|
||
this, seek Escape by denying all Duality soever to their God,
|
||
or True State, I speak of Parabrahaman and of Nibbana, thus in
|
||
|
||
any Reality of Thought rather denying Him or It than
|
||
destroying Illusion. But in our Light we have no Need of any
|
||
Denial, and accept all, yea Illusion itself, discriminating
|
||
only in our Minds between Phenomena by Comparison with some
|
||
convenient Standard, for the Purpose of maintaining the Order
|
||
of our Conceptions in Respect of the Relation of any Being
|
||
with its Environment.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-203-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{tau } DE VERITATE RERUM.
|
||
|
||
|
||
So do thou apprehend this Wisdom, o my Son, laying it to
|
||
thine Heart, as a Mistress, and hiding it in the Treasury of
|
||
thy Mind as a Jewel of Enlightenment. Consider a Dream, how
|
||
it is unreal in Respect of thine Experience of the Objects of
|
||
thy Waking Sense, but real also, both as it did in Fact
|
||
impress thy Mind, and as it did express some Hunger of thy
|
||
Secret Nature, as I have already shewed in this Letter.
|
||
Consider the Play of the Chess, how its Law hath made for
|
||
itself a Language and a Literature, yet it is but an arbitrary
|
||
invention; without impinging (save as it operateth though
|
||
Pleasure and interest upon Minds) on any other Sphere soever
|
||
of the Universe. Equally, Things called (vulgarly) Real and
|
||
Material exist in the Universe of our Consciousness only by
|
||
the Apprehension of their Images in mind through Sense; as,
|
||
how is Colour Real or Material to a blind may or a Law
|
||
|
||
mathematical true to a man that is imbecile or demented? All
|
||
things therefore exist in one form or another; but the Reality
|
||
of any, though in itself absolute, is in regard of its
|
||
Relation with any other thing dependent upon the Intercourse
|
||
and Language between them, conscious or unconscious. Consider
|
||
Azote, that hath night Four Parts in Five of the Air, how it
|
||
is not real to the Perception of any human Sense, but yet most
|
||
real to our Lungs, diluting the Oxigen, by whose Love we were
|
||
else violently combust.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-204-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{upsilon } DE APHORISMO UBI DICO: OMNIA SUNT.
|
||
|
||
|
||
My son, long did I await thee, yearning, and with Price and
|
||
Great Gladness did I bid thee Welcome to my City of the
|
||
Pyramids, under the Night of Pan. Now then in my dear Love of
|
||
thee will I reveal this Secret of Wisdom which I wrote
|
||
occultly in my last Chapter, in these Words: All Things
|
||
Exist. Considered by right Understanding, this is to deny
|
||
that there is anything imaginable or unimaginable which doth
|
||
not exist. That is, the Body of Our Lady Nuith hath no Limit,
|
||
and there is no void that She filleth not with the Variety and
|
||
Beauty of Her Stars in Her Space. Nor is there any one Law of
|
||
her Nature, but in Her are all Laws, so that each Thing or
|
||
each Truth that thou perceiveth is as it were one Gesture of
|
||
Her Dance. Shut up the Book of thy Questions, o my Son,
|
||
concerning nature, Her Way, Her Origin, or Her Purpose, except
|
||
in those Matters which concern thee and thine own Orbit, o
|
||
|
||
thou Star, begotten of my Loins in my Lust of Hilarion, the
|
||
Golden Rose, mystic and Joyous, the Lily of a Thousand Petals
|
||
and One Petal, subtle and perverse, that thou mightest fulfil
|
||
this Work of a Magus which I cam to accomplish, robing myself
|
||
in Flesh of man, as was my Nature and the Will of my Nature,
|
||
the Name of my Star that flameth in the Body of Nuith our
|
||
Lady.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-205-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{phi } DE RATIONE HUJUS EPISTOLAE SCRIBENDAE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Behold, I draw unto the End of this Discourse of Wisdom, as
|
||
a Ship that hath adventured upon Ocean, from whose mast the
|
||
Watcher espieth in the Dimness of the Horizon a Point of Snow,
|
||
being the Peak of a great Mountain that is Guardian of the
|
||
Harbour, the Term of that Voyage. So now do I commit thee
|
||
wholly unto thyself, for I exist not in thine Universe, save
|
||
in my Relation with thee, wherefore this Part of me is in
|
||
Truth thou rather than I. Yet do thou treasure this Letter,
|
||
for it is mine especial Gift, and hath Radiance of the Light
|
||
of my Wisdom, and flameth, being the Blood of my Love of thee
|
||
and of Mankind. Also, it is the Word of my Will, the Charter
|
||
of the Liberty of my Soul, and thine, and that of every Man,
|
||
and every Woman; for we are Stars, O my Son, for many Days was
|
||
I silent, until thou wast fearful lest thou hadst, by
|
||
Ignorance or by Inadvertance, enkindled the Fire of my Wrath.
|
||
|
||
But I spake not, because I knew in my Wisdom that thou must
|
||
pass a certain Ordeal of thine Initiation by thine own Virtue.
|
||
For this Cause I held aloof; but in my Love I made a Beginning
|
||
of this Letter, beholding thy triumph beforehand; and with
|
||
Prescience, divining thy next Need, that is to say, this Book
|
||
of the Words of my Wisdom.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-206-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{chi } DE NATURA HUJUS EPISTOLAE.
|
||
|
||
O my Son, in this Letter have I written the Name of my own
|
||
Nature, its Law, its Quality, its Will and its Appurtenance or
|
||
Ornament. For it is the Child of my Love toward thee, and the
|
||
Expression through mine Art of my Will so far as that
|
||
regardeth thee. Now every Child is made of the Essence of his
|
||
Father, so that every Creation is a Likeness or image of the
|
||
Creator, but modified by the Mother, that is to say, the
|
||
Material whereon he begetteth it. So then this Letter is a
|
||
Projection of mine own Star in a Mirror, to wit, mine Idea in
|
||
thy Regard; and it shall be unto thee as a clear Vision of thy
|
||
Father, and of the Word of the Aeon that he hath uttered unto
|
||
Man. But also, because this Word is the Formula of the Aeon,
|
||
that is the Law of its Changes or Phenomena, the Equation that
|
||
expresseth its Energy and its Motion, it shall serve every Man
|
||
in his Measure as a Text-Book or Comment upon the Theorick and
|
||
Praxis of Magick. By it may he discover his true Nature, and
|
||
|
||
its Will, and apply his Force and his Intelligence to the
|
||
right Fulfilment thereof. It shall be a beacon to enlighten
|
||
him, to comfort him, and to direct him; and it shall be a
|
||
Witness and Memorial of my Word and of my Work, as of mine
|
||
Attainment unto Wisdom.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-207-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{psi } DE MODO QUO HAEC EPISTOLAM SCRIPSI.
|
||
|
||
|
||
There is not one Word in this Letter that is not writ with
|
||
mine own Hand and Style, slowly and heedfully (as is contrary
|
||
with my custom) being the Fruit of the Tree of my Mediation,
|
||
well-ripened by the Sun of mine Illumination. With much Toil
|
||
have I done this, being oftentimes seated without Motion save
|
||
of the Hands, while Earth rolled from Twilight unto Twilight,
|
||
so that my Body became cold and rigid, even as is a Corpse.
|
||
Also, in the Intervals of this Scripture, have I been given to
|
||
Contemplation and to Works of High Magick, notably the Mass of
|
||
the Holy Ghost, in the Concentration of my Will to impart this
|
||
Wisdom unto thee, and to reveal the Mysteries of Truth. Now
|
||
of all these this is the Root, that Truth is not fixed with
|
||
the Rigour of Death, but vital with Lust of Change, and
|
||
enflamed with the Love of its opposite. Thus even Falsehood
|
||
is not alien to Truth, for the Perfection of Nature
|
||
|
||
comprehendeth all. But all these Things are written in "The""
|
||
""Book of the Law", after which do I limp painfully; afar off,
|
||
upon the poor Crutch of mine Understanding of its Word; yea, I
|
||
am well assured that in that Book are writ all Things soever;
|
||
but we, being mostly without Wit are not able to distinguish
|
||
them. For the Stature of Aiwass is beyond our Measure, seeing
|
||
that he was able to comprehend the whole Mystery of Nuith and
|
||
of Hadith, and yet to declare Their Message in the Language of
|
||
Man.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-208-
|
||
|
||
|
||
{Gamma }{omega } DE SAPIENTIA ET STULTITIA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
O my Son, in this the Colophon of my Epistle will I recall
|
||
the Title and Superscription thereof; that is, "The Book of""
|
||
""Wisdom or Folly". I proclaim Blessing and Worship to Nuith Our
|
||
Lady and Her Lord Hadith, for the Miracle of the Anatomy of
|
||
the Child Ra-Hoor-Khuit, as it is shewn in the Design Minutum
|
||
Mundum, the Tree of Life. For though Wisdom be the Second
|
||
Emanation of his Essence, there is a Path to separate and to
|
||
join them, the Reference thereof being Aleph, that is One
|
||
indeed, but also an Hundred and Eleven in his full
|
||
Orthography; to signify the Most Holy Trinity, and by
|
||
Metathesis it is Thick Darkness, and Sudden Death. This is
|
||
also the Number of AUM, which is AMOUN, and the Root-Sound of
|
||
OMNE, or, in Greek, PAN, and it is a Number of the Sun. Yet
|
||
is the Atu of Thoth that correspondeth thereunto marked with
|
||
ZERO, and its Name is MAT, whereof I have spoken formerly, and
|
||
|
||
its Image is the Fool. O my Son, gather thou all these Limbs
|
||
together in One Body, and breathe upon it with thy Spirit,
|
||
that it may live; then do thou embrace it with Lust of they
|
||
Manhood, and go in unto it, and know it; so shall ye be One
|
||
Flesh. Now at last in the Reinforcement and Ecstasy of this
|
||
Consummation thou shalt with by what Inspiration thou didst
|
||
choose thy Name in the Gnosis, I mean PARZIVAL, "der reine
|
||
Thor", the True Knight that won Kingship in Monsalvat, and
|
||
made whole the Wound of Amfortas, and ordered Kundry to right
|
||
Service, and regained the Lance, and revived the Miracle of
|
||
the Sangral; yea
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
also upon himself did he accomplish his Work in the End:
|
||
"Hochsten Heiles Wunder! Erlosung dem Erloser !" This is the
|
||
last Word of the Song that thine Uncle Richard Wagner made for
|
||
Worship of this Mystery. Understand thou this, o my son, as I
|
||
take leave of thee in this Epistle, that the Summit of Wisdom
|
||
is the opening of the Way that leadeth unto theCrown and
|
||
Essence of all, to the Soul of the Child Horus, the Lord of
|
||
the Aeon. This Way is the Path of the Pure Fool. Amoun.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-210-
|
||
|
||
|
||
And who is this Pure Fool? Lo, in the Sagas of Old Time,
|
||
Legend of Scald, of Brad, of Druid, cometh He not in Green
|
||
Like Spring? O thou Great Fool, thou Water that art Air, in
|
||
whom all Complex is resolved! Yes, thou in ragged Raiment,
|
||
with the Staff of Priapus and the Wineskin! thou standest up
|
||
on the Crocodile, like Hoor-pa-Kraat; and the Great Cat
|
||
leapeth upon thee! Yea, and more also I have known Thee who
|
||
Thou art, Bacchus Diphues, none and two, in thy Name I A O !
|
||
Now at the End of all do I come to the Being of Thee, beyond
|
||
By-coming, and I cry aloud my Word, as it was given unto Man
|
||
by thine Uncle Alcofribas Masior, the Oracle of the Bottle of
|
||
BACBUC, and this Word is T R I N C.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Love is the law, love under will.
|
||
|
||
|
||
666.
|
||
|
||
|
||
AN X I V
|
||
|
||
{Sun} in {Aries}
|
||
{Moon} in {Aries}
|
||
|