Liber Aleph
vel CXI
The Book of Wisdom or Folly.
ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ
ΤΩΥ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΘΗΡΙΟΥ
ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ
ΥΙΟΝ
ΑΥΤΟΥΓΕΣΡΑΜΜΑΤΟΝ
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
1
α
Apologia[1]
I have begotten thee, o my Son, and that strangely, 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.
For in each Man his Inmost Light is the Core of his Star. That is, Hadit; and his Work is the Identification of himself with that Light.
It is not every Man who is called to the sublime Task of the A∴A∴, wherein he must master thoroughly every Detail of the Great Work, so that 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 Incarnation this Great Work may be in Satisfaction of some Magickal Debt, or in Adjustment of some Balance, or in Fulfilment of some Defect. As is written: Suum Cuique.[2]
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]
2
β
De Arte Kabbalistika[4]
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.
3
γ
De Vita Corrigenda[5]
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.
4
δ
Legenda De Amore[6]
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.
5
ε
Gesta De Amore[7]
Now as Literature overfloweth with the Murders of Love, so also doth 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.
6
ϝ
Ultima Thesis De Amore[8]
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.
7
ζ
De Natura Sua Percipienda[9]
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 Matthais, may come to Glory in the Path of his own Virtue.
8
η
Altera De Via Naturæ[10]
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.
9
θ
Quo Modo Natura Sua Est Legenda[11]
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 thee 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.
10
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.
11
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.
12
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 Ecstasy 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.
13
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!
14
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.
15
ξ
De Via Per Empyraeum[17]
Concerning thy 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.
16
ο
De Cultu[18]
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.
17
π
De Clavicula Somniorum[19]
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.
18
ϙ
De Somno Lucido[20]
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 doth also Porphyry make 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.
19
ρ
De Venenis[21]
My Son, if thou fast awhile, 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 ruminant 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.
20
σ
De Motu Vitæ[22]
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 Nuit and Hadit. So therefore every Marriage dissolveth a more material, and createth a less material Complex; and this is our Way of Love, rising ever from Ecstasy to Ecstasy. 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 Ecstasy 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.
21
τ
De Morbis Sanguinis[23]
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 Anhalonium, Ecstacy 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 Ecstacy, the Lower dissolving in the Higher.
22
υ
De Cursu Amoris[24]
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 Ecstasy 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 daily 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.
23
φ
De Nuptiis Mysticis[25]
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.
24
χ
De Voluptate Pœnarum[26]
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.
25
ψ
De Voluntate Ultima[27]
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.
26
ω
De Differentia Rerum[28]
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 divagate,[29] 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 Phantasies and Gestures of thine unconscious Body and Mind, as Symptoms of thy particular Will, and show thee how thou mayst come to their Interpretation.
27
Αα
De Voluntate Tacita[30]
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.
28
Αβ
De Formula Summa[31]
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!"
29
Αγ
De Via Inertiæ[32]
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.
30
Αδ
De Via Libertatis[33]
Do not think then that by Non-Action thou dost 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 bring 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 Self, are the Ideals and Standards of the Slave-Gods, false Religion, false Ethics, even false Science.
31
Αε
De Lege Motus[34]
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 her 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.
32
Αϝ
De Legibus Contra Motum[35]
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.
33
Αζ
De Necessitate Communi[36]
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.
34
Αη
De Libertate Corporis[37]
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.
35
Αθ
De Libertate Mentis[38]
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.
36
Αι
De Libertate Iuvenum[39]
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.
37
Ακ
De Vi Per Disciplinam Colenda[40]
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.
38
Αλ
De Ordine Verum[41]
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 Hæmoglobin resist the Attack of Oxygen, the Body would perish, and the Hæmoglobin 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.
39
Αμ
De Fundamentis Civitatis[42]
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 practise the manifold Crafts of Love. These 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!
40
Αν
De Voluntate Iuvenum[43]
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.
41
Αξ
De Modo Disputandi[44]
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.
42
Αο
De Voluntate Iuvenis Cognoscenda[45]
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.
43
Απ
De Auro Rubeo[46]
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.[47] 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.
44
Αϙ
De Sapientia In Re Sexuali[48]
Consider Love. Here is a Force destructive and corrupting whereby 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 Love, 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, but 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.
45
Αρ
De Gradibus Æquis Scientiæ[49]
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.
46
Ασ
De Virtute Audendi[50]
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 Book? Die thou standing!
47
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.
48
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 germane to thine own Nature than Books of Collateral Offshoots, though such were in themselves better and wiser. Yea, 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.
49
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 Ecstasy 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 but of 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.
50
Αχ
De Modo Quo Operet Lex Magica[54]
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 but Legend) 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.
51
Αψ
De Machina Magica[55]
Lo! I put forth my Will, and my Pen moveth upon the Paper, by Cause that my Will mysteriously hath Power upon the Muscles 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.
52
Αω
De Harmonia Animæ Cum Corpore[56]
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, through 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.
53
Βα
De Mysterio Prudentiæ[57]
Behold now Nature, how prodigal is She of her Forces! The evident Will of every Acorn is to become an Oak; yet nigh all fail of that Will. Therefore one Secret of Magick is Œconomy 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 Œconomy, and apply it faithfully and with Diligence in thy Work.
54
Ββ
De Arte Alchemica[58]
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.
55
Βγ
De Arcano Subtilissimo[59]
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.
56
Βδ
De Menstruo Artis[60]
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 doth 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.
57
Βε
De Necessitate Voluntatis[61]
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 sayest 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 foreordained that I should do, by Me, from the Beginning.
58
Βϝ
De Comedia Universa, Quæ Dictur Pan[62]
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.
59
Βζ
De Cæcitia Hominum[63]
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.
60
Βη
Allegoria De Caissa[64]
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-Power 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.
61
Βθ
De Veritate Falsi[65]
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,[66] do thou cherish the Health of thy Mind.
62
Βι
De Relatione Illusionum[67]
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.
63
Βκ
De Prudentia[68]
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.
64
Βλ
De Ratione Magi Vitæ[69]
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, and becometh null and of no Effect.
65
Βμ
De Corde Candido[70]
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.
66
Βν
De Conformitate Magi[71]
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.
67
Βξ
De Poetis[72]
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 to 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?
68
Βο
De Magis Ordinis A∴A∴ Quibus Caro Fit Verbum[73]
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 He 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.
69
Βπ
De Magis Tempori Antiqui Imprimis De Lao-Tze[74]
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.
70
Βϙ
De Gautama[75]
Whom Men call Gotama, or Siddartha, or The Buddha, 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.
71
Βρ
De Sri Krishna Et De Dionyso[76]
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.
72
Βσ
De Tahuti[77]
Tahuti, or Thoth, 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 amoun, 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.
73
Βτ
De Quodam Mago Ægyptiorum Quem Appelunt Judaei Mosheh[78]
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.
74
Βυ
De Mago Arabico Mohammed[79]
Behold! In these Chapters have I, thy Father, restricted myself, not speaking of any immediate Echo of a Word in the World, because, these Men being long since withdrawn into their Silence, it is their One Word, and that Alone, that resoundeth undiminished through Time. Now 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 of all Races 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.
75
Βφ
De Se Ipso ΤΩΙ ΜΕΓΑΛΩΙ ΘΗΡΙΩΙ ΤΩΙ ΛΟΓΩΙ ΑΙΩΝΟΣ Cuius Verbum Est ΘΕΛΗΜΑ[80]
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 abrahadabra, 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 thelema. "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, Life, Love and Liberty by the Acceptance of this Law. And the Hindrance thereunto is but as the Shell of its Egg to an Eaglet, a Thing foreign to itself, a Protection till the Hour strike, and then — no more!
76
Βχ
Mandatum Ad Filium Suum[81]
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!
77
Βψ
Quare Filium Creavit Ut Fiat Libertas[82]
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.
78
Βω
De Sua Debilitate[83]
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 Kandy, in the Island of Lanka, I used up my whole Charge of Magical Energy; and for two Years I fell away from the Work.
79
Γα
De Manu Quæ Magum Sustinet[84]
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.
80
Γβ
De Suo Peccato[85]
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!
81
Γγ
De Sua Victoria Per Nomen Babalon[86]
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 Our Lady Babalon. 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 Ecstasy, 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.
82
Γδ
De Arcano Nefando[87]
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.
83
Γε
De Arcano Per Quod Spiritus Quidam In Corpore Recipiatur[88]
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.
84
Γϝ
De Clave Kabbalistica Huius Artis[89]
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 Ahitha (blessed be Her Name unto the Ages) and certain others to Boot.
85
Γζ
De Missa Spiritus Sancti[90]
Now at last, o my Son, may I bring 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 Putrefaction 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.
86
Γη
De Formula Tota[91]
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.
87
Γθ
De Hac Formula Considerationes Kabbalisticæ[92]
Behold moreover, my Son, the Œconomy 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 Ecstasy is the Holy Ghost, whose Name is hriliu. These are then the Sun, Mercury, and Venus, whose sacred letters are R (ר), B (ב), and D (ד). But the last of the Diverse Letters is H (ה), which in the Tarot is the Star whose Eidolon is D ד; 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 Nuit 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!
88
Γι
De Quibusdam Artibus Magicis[93]
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-Læca. 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.
89
Γκ
De Magno Opere[94]
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, II:22. But this Action is subtle and of many 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.
90
Γλ
De Gradibus Ad Magnum Opus[95]
This Great Work is the Attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of thine Holy Guardian Angel. In the Eighth 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 Ecstasy 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.
91
Γμ
De Formula Lunæ[96]
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 alim, 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.
92
Γν
De Aquila Sumenda[97]
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.
93
Γχ
De Medicinis Secundum Quattuor Elementa[98]
Concerning the Use of Chymical 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 every 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.
94
Γο
De Virtute Experientiæ In Hoc Arte[99]
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 thou 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.
95
Γπ
De Sacramento Vero[100]
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 Ecstasy. 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 use 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.
96
Γϙ
De Discipulis Regendis[101]
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 what 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.
97
Γρ
De Quibusdam Morbis Discipulorum[102]
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 his 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.
98
Γσ
De Culpis Domi Petendis[103]
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 Ecstasy 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.
99
Γτ
De Corpore Umbra Hominis[104]
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.
100
Γυ
De Sirenis[105]
Concerning the Love of women, o my Son, it is written in The Book of the Law that all is Freedom, if it be done 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. Now 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.
101
Γφ
De Femina Quadam[106]
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 Babalon. And a Word hath come to me by the Mouth of thee Scarlet Woman, whose Name is eve, or ahitha, 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 wesrun. 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.
102
Γχ
De Sua Virtute[107]
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.
103
Γψ
De Aliquibus Modis Oraculi Petendi[108]
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 Tarot, of the Divination by Earth, or by the other Elements, or by the Book Yi-King, and many another Mode of Truth. Thou knowest 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!
104
Γω
De Fratribus Nigris Filiis Iniquitatis[109]
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.[110]
105
Δα
De Virtute Chirurgica[111]
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. Aumgn. 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 Costiveness. For it is written that there is no bond that can unite the Divided but 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.
106
Δβ
De Operibus Stellæ Microcosmi Quorum Sunt Quattour Minores[112]
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 Œconomy 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 Hé is not Vau only, but with Vau appeareth also a new Hé, as a By-Product, and She is mysterious, being at once the Flower of the three others, and their Poison. Now by the Operation of Vau upon that Hé 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 Hé, 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 these four Works, they pertain all to the Natural Formula of the Cross and Rose.
107
Δγ
De Operibus Stellæ Microcosmi Quorum Sunt Quattuor Maiores[113]
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 Hé with Hé, and of Yod with Vau. Of these 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 Formulæ 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; for herein lieth the Mystery of their Holiness.
108
Δδ
De Stella Macrocosmi[114]
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 Hé. 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 Formulæ 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.
109
Δε
De Sua Femina Olun Et De Ecstasia Præter Omnia Substanti[115]
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 Ecstasy. 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! Μαριε Babalon! Adsum.[116]
110
Δϝ
De Nomine Olun[117]
Four Seasons, or it may be nigh 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.[118] Also instantly I knew in myself that there was a Mystery hidden, and translating into the Greek Tongue, exclaimed 'ΕΡΜΗΣ 'ΕΙΜΙ, 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, ΜΑΡΙΕ, which is also that this Name (as I have learned) is in the Phoenician Tongue, whôlon; which by Interpretation is That which is Infinite, and Space; so that all is consonant with nuit 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.
111
Δζ
De Viris Magnanimis Amore Præclarissimis[119]
Know that in the Mind of Man is much Wisdom that is hidden, being the Treasure of his Sire that he inheriteth. Thus, nigh 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 diamond-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.
112
Δη
De Castitate[120]
My Son, be fervent! Be firm! Be stable! Be quick to mark 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 by Ordinary no 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 shall 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 therewith, nor Hindrance from any. For it is perfect in itself.
113
Δθ
De Ceremonio Equinoxi[121]
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 Adytum 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.
114
Δι
De Luce Stellarum[122]
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 Force 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.
115
Δκ
De Cantu[123]
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 Ecstasy. So, to nigh 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!
116
Δλ
De Stultitia Humana[124]
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.
117
Δμ
De Suo Prœlio[125]
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 Sanctuary, 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.
118
Δν
De Necessitate Verbi Clamandi[126]
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.
119
Δξ
De Mysterio Eucharistico Universali[127]
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 Nuit 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 Step 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.
120
Δο
De Recto In Recto[128]
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 fu-shi) 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.
121
Δπ
De Virgine Beata[129]
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, 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.
122
Δϙ
De Ioco Suæ Mœchæ[130]
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 Ecstasy 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.
123
Δρ
De Periculo Iocorum Amoris[131]
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 well 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.
124
Δσ
De Libidine Secreta[132]
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 Slave-Ages this is a Truth Universal, or well nigh 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-Murder, or else Treachery. So then no Man might choose his way, until he were Hunter, Fighter, Builder; nor 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.
125
Δτ
De Ordine Civitatum[133]
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 the 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 to 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.
126
Δυ
De Scientiæ Modo[134]
To the Mind of the Philosophers, therefore, in the Youth of an Age, any variation in Type must appear as a Disaster; yea, Intelligence itself must perforce prove its Value to the Brute in Terms of Brutishness, or he distrusteth and destroyeth it. Not withstanding, as thou knowest, that Variation which is fitted to his 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 the 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.
127
Δφ
De Monstris[135]
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 therefore every Variation must be left free to perpetuate itself or 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; Amen, 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 Infirmity, so that even his Work for which thou lovest him, shall be enfeebled also.
128
Δχ
De Inferno Palatio Sapientiæ[136]
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 Wind 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.
129
Δψ
De Vitiis Voluntatis Secretæ[137]
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.
130
Δω
De Ratione Præsidio Voluntatis[138]
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 of 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, that is King of that Star whose Name is Thy Self, by 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.
131
Εα
De Cursu Sapientis[139]
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!
132
Εβ
De Ratione Quæ Sine Voluntate Est Fons Maniæ[140]
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.
133
Εγ
De Veritate Quem Feminæ Non Dicere Licet[141]
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.
134
Εδ
De Natura Feminæ[142]
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.[143] 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 Formulæ of the Rock and the Whirlpool. Now then meditate thou strictly upon this most worthy and adorable Arcanum, to thy Profit and Enlightenment.
135
Εε
De Duobus Præmiis Viæ[144]
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 Rosie 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, an 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 Fullness 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!
136
Εϝ
De Ecstasia Samadhi Quo Illis Differt[145]
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 Potential. 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.
137
Εζ
De Arte Amoris Et Deliciarum Mystici[146]
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 Astarté, 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 wit, 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 Success therein. For it hath been said by Philosophers of old that Practice maketh Perfect, and that Manners, being the constant Habit of Life, maketh Man.
138
Εη
De Præmio Summo, Vera Sapientia Et Beatitudine Perfecta[147]
Now then presently shall it come to pass, as by Dint of each Experience that Component thereof which is within thee is attuned to it, a slight Effort shall suffice to unite thee therewith, 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 one hath the Reward of the Path; 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 Distinction, being absorbed into the Body of Our Lady Nuit. May she grant thee this Beatitude; yea, not to thee only, but to all that are.
139
Εθ
De Inferno Servorum[148]
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.
140
Ει
Rhapsodia De Domina Nostra[149]
Blessed be She, ay, blessed unto the Ages be Our Lady Babalon, that plieth her Scourge upon me, ΤΟ ΜΕΓΑ ΤΘΗΡΙΟΝ, 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!
141
Εκ
Rhapsodia De Astro Suo[150]
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 also art a 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 fulfil 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!
142
Ελ
De Harmonia Voluntatis Et Parcarum[151]
This is the evident and final Solvent of the Knot Philosophical concerning Fate and Freewill,[152] that it is thine own Self, Omniscient and Omnipotent, sublime in Eternity, that first didst order the Course of thine own Orbit, so that that 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, an 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. Amen.
143
Εμ
Parenthesis De Quadam Virgine[153]
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?
144
Εν
De Constantia Amoris Cordi Candido[154]
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. Nay, behold the Body of Our Lady Nuit, 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, that in one Phase of Life (or Incarnation) or even in many, they exhaust not that Treasure. Nor will I say that such are not in their Degree and Quality thrice fortunate. But to persist in Dullness, 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.
145
Εξ
De Mysterio Mali[155]
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 Act 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 to 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 that Mind. Thus if it be thy Will to delight in Rhythm and Œconomy 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 of Tolerance, whereby thou 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.
146
Εο
De Virtute Tolerantia[156]
Understand then heartily, o my Son, that in the Light of this my Wisdom all Things are One, being of the Body of Our Lady Nuit, 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 love 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 Nuit, 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.
147
Επ
De Formula Deorum Morientium[157]
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 accurséd!) 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 an 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.
148
Εϙ
De Stultis Malignis[158]
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.
149
Ερ
Apologia Pro Suis Litteris[159]
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.
150
Εσ
Laus Legis Thelema[160]
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 or 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.
151
Ετ
De Sphinge Ægyptiorum[161]
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 Slave-Gods, but a Witness of Horus through the dark Æon 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 Æon 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 ΣϜΙΝΥ whose Numeration is Six Hundred and Three Score and Six. For the Root thereof is ΣϜ, 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 Æon 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.
152
Ευ
De Natura ΣϜΙΝΥ[162]
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, doth dare with fierce Courage as the Lion, doth know with swift Intelligence as the Man, and doth keep Silence with soaring Subtlety 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.
153
Εφ
De Tauro[163]
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 Æon of Life.
154
Εχ
De Leone[164]
Of the Lion, o my Son, be it said that this is the Courage of thy Manhood, leaping upon all Things, and seizing them for thy 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.
155
Εψ
Altera De Leone[165]
Lo! In the first 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 Nuit toward Hadit 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 Æons 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 Spring 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!
156
Εω
De Viro[166]
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!
157
Ϝα
De Dracone, Quæ Est Aquila, Serpens, Scorpio[167]
Threefold is the Nature of Love, 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 Love which is the Key of Magick, uplifting the Body and its Appurtenance unto high Ecstasy 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, the Organon 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.
158
Ϝβ
De Quattuor Virtutis ΣϜΙΝΥ[168]
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.
159
Ϝγ
De Libra In Qua Quattuor Virtutes Æquipollent[169]
By Gnana Yoga cometh thy Man to 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 Œconomy shall be destroyed by that small Disobedience.
160
Ϝδ
De Pyramide[170]
Now then at last art thou made ready to confront the Pyramid, if thou art established as a Sphinx. 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 Hadit, poised to the Kiss of Nuit. 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 Sphinxhood 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.
161
Ϝε
Prolegomena De Silentio[171]
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 Ecstasy 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 therefrom. 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 properly 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, for the 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.
162
Ϝϝ
De Natura Silentii Nostri[172]
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 than 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 wert 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?
163
Ϝζ
De Formula Recta Draconis[173]
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 Whole 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 himseemeth 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. Unto the which be Restriction in the name of Babalon
164
Ϝη
De Sua Carta Cœlorum[174]
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 Sphinx. 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 segregated, a Stagnation, a Thing of Hate and of Fear. But ever-moving, ever-changing, there is a Star in the Body of Our Lady Nuit, whose Word is None and Two.
165
Ϝθ
De Opere Suo[175]
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 ΤΟ ΜΕΓΑ ΘΗΡΙΟΝ and thy Father. And this is by-come through Virtue of the Intensity of the Will to Change, through many a Serpent-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.
166
Ϝι
De Fratribus Nigris[176]
O my Son, know this concerning the Black Brothers, them that exult: 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.
167
Ϝκ
De Arte Alchymistica[177]
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 the Supernals 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.
168
Ϝλ
De Femina Quæ Est Propria Ioco[178]
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 be 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.
169
Ϝμ
De Formula Feminæ[179]
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 then 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 herein 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 grisely upon thee, proclaiming in a shrill Voice her manifold Excellences, which she hath, and concern this Matter not a Whit.
170
Ϝν
Verba Magistri Sui De Femina[180]
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 Men 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.
171
Ϝξ
De Via Propria Feminis[181]
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.
172
Ϝο
De Hac Re Altera Intelligenda[182]
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[183]. 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.
173
Ϝπ
De Clavibus Mortis Et Diaboli Arcanis Tou Tarot Fraternitatis R∴C∴[184]
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 Scorpion 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.
174
Ϝϙ
Sequitur De His Viis[185]
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 is he 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.
175
Ϝρ
De Oculo Hoor[186]
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 is minished, 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.
176
Ϝσ
De Sua Initiatione[187]
My Son, my Delight, Honey of the Comb of my Life, I will say also this concerning the Odds of the Formulæ 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 Eckenstein 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 the Degree of Magus, the Cat 'ΙΛΑΡΙΩΝ thy Mother, Helen the Play-Actress the Serpent, with Myriamne the Drunkard, and Rita the Harlot to bear Dagger and Poison; then these others Alice the Singing Woman for a Monkey, and Gerda the Madwoman 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.
177
Ϝτ
De Herbo Sanctissimo Arabico[188]
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 Nuit, but also it is called the Fool, who is Parsifal, "der reine Tor", and so referreth to him that walketh in the Way of the Tao. Also, he is Harpocrates, the Child Horus, walking, (as saith Daood, the Badawi 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 Æon, and in Ten Lives I could not declare it.
178
Ϝυ
De Quibusdam Mysteriis, Quæ Vidi[189]
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.
179
Ϝφ
De Quodam Modo Meditationes[190]
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 Stèle 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 a 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 that thou mayst know how every Road endeth in Monsalvat, and the Temple of the Sangraal.
180
Ϝχ
Sequitur De Hac Re[191]
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 Glyph 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.
181
Ϝψ
Sequitur De Hac Re[192]
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 "Black", 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.
182
Ϝω
Conclusio De Hac Modo Sanctitatis[193]
Learn 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 Æthyrs, when I was in the Wilderness of Sahara, by Tolga, upon the Brink of the Great Eastern Erg, 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 Nuit and Hadit 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.
183
Ζα
De Via Sola Solis[194]
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.
184
Ζβ
De Prudentia Ordinis A∴A∴[195]
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 Use 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.
185
Ζγ
Altera De Sua Via[196]
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.
186
Ζδ
De Prudentia Artis Docendi[197]
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 Æon 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 his 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.
187
Ζε
De Mente Inimica Animo[198]
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), which 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 Slave-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.
188
Ζϝ
De Illuminatum Operibus Diversis[199]
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 Æon, universal among Men. Also, ever for them that are fitted to advance in our Light, there is Order and Diversity in Function, as regardeth their Work in Our Sublime 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.
189
Ζζ
De Eadem Re Altera Verba[200]
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 Material 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 in 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.
190
Ζν
De Pace Perfecta Luce[201]
How shall they measure our Statue and our Success by that Canon 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 thou it the Governor of thy Mind, to rule its Pace, lest it hasten or lag by Stress of thine Environment. Now 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.
191
Ζθ
De Pace Perfecta[202]
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 Nuit even as Her Lord Hadit, 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 Men 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?
192
Ζι
De Morte[203]
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 Nuit. 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 Girders are loosened, the weaker first and after that the stronger.
193
Ζκ
De Adeptis R.C. Eschatologia[204]
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 in 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, cleaving 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 Fœtus 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 of Character, and it may be Memory, between the two Vehicles. This is, briefly and without Elaboration, the Way of Asar in Amennti, according to mine Opinion, of which I say not: This is the Truth.
194
Ζλ
De Nuptiis Summis[205]
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 Nuit. 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 Love, 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, through 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 well-favoured, a Man of might, and a Warrior worthy of the Bed of so divine a Dissolution.
195
Ζμ
De Arte Voluptate Dilemma Quædam[206]
There is a certain Objection, o my Son, to our Thesis concerning Will that it should flow freely in its Way: vide licet, 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.
196
Ζν
De Hoc Modo Dissolutio[207]
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: first, those of its own Law; second, those of its Environment. Judge thine own Case individually, each as it pleadeth; for there is no Canon or Code, since every Star hath its own Law diverse from every other. Now there is the Restraint of Conflict which is Impotence and Disruption; but 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.
197
Ζξ
De Comœdia Quæ Pan Dictur[208]
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.
198
Ζο
De Ludo Amoris[209]
In this Mystery of the Restraint of Art is also the Secret of Illusion. Why, sayest thou, hath not Our Lady Nuit her Will of Her Lord Hadit, 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 whet 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.
199
Ζπ
De Gaudio Stupri[210]
O my Son, this Sin itself that is our Disease is but Misunderstanding of the Art of Love of Our Lady Nuit. 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.
200
Ζϙ
De Cæcitia Philosophorum Antiquorum[211]
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 Nuit, who is None and Two, with Hadit 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 these 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.
201
Ζρ
De Heresia Manichæa[212]
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.
202
Ζσ
De Veritate Rerum Mensuranda[213]
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 Man; or a Law mathematical true to him that is imbecile or demented? All Things therefore, even if unreal and irrational, nay, inconceivable and impossible (such as Iota in the Theorem of De Moivre), 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 Oxygen, by whose Love we were else violently combust. This is the Measure of Reality.
203
Ζτ
De Aphorismo Ubi Dico: Omnia Sunt[214]
My Son, long did I await thee, yearning, and with Pride 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 Nuit 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 came 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 Nuit our Lady.
204
Ζυ
De Ratione Huius Epistolæ Scribendæ[215]
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.
205
Ζφ
De Natura Huius Epistolæ[216]
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 Æon that he hath uttered unto Man. But also, because this Word is the Formula of the Æon, 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.
206
Ζχ
De Modo Quo Hanc Epistolam Scripsi[217]
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 Meditation, 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 Nuit and of Hadit, and yet to declare Their Message in the Language of Man.
207
Ζψ
De Sapientia Et Stultitia[218]
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 Nuit Our Lady and Her Lord Hadit, 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 wit by what Inspiration thou didst choose thy Name in the Gnosis, I mean parzival, "der reine Tor", 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: "Höchsten Heiles Wunder! Erlösung dem Erlöser!"[219] 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 the Crown and Essence of all, to the Soul of the Child Horus, the Lord of the Æon. This Way is the Path of the Pure Fool.
208
Ζω
De Oraculo Summo[220]
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 iao! 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 trinc.
But in the antient right Spelling this is trinu whereof the Number is the Number of the Name of Me thy Father! to wit, Six Hundred and Three Score and Six.
Love is the law, love under will.
666
AN XIV
Notes:
[1] Preface
[2] To each his own.
[3] Be blessed.
[4] On the Art of the Qabalah
[5] On the Corrected Life
[6] Fables of Love
[7] History of Love
[8] Final Theory of Love
[9] On Comprehending One's Nature
[10] More on the Way of Nature
[11] On how one's nature should be examined
[12] On Dreams, (a) External Causes
[13] On Dreams, (b) Innate Causes
[14] On Dreams, (g) Closed with Horror
[15] On Dreams, (d) Continued
[16] On Dreams, (e) the Key
[17] On Travel through the Empyrean
[18] Of Discipline
[19] On the Key of Dreams
[20] On Lucid Sleep
[21] On Poisons
[22] On the Motion of Life
[23] On Diseases of Blood
[24] On the Way of Love
[25] On the Mystic Marriage
[26] On Joy from Pain
[27] On the Ultimate Will
[28] On the Difference between Things
[29] To wander, stray; to digress in speech
[30] On the Silent Will
[31] On the Supreme Formula
[32] On the Way of Inertia
[33] On the Way of Freedom
[34] On the Law of Motion
[35] On the Laws against Motion
[36] On the Common Need
[37] On the Freedom of the Body
[38] On the Freedom of the Mind
[39] On the Freedom of Children
[40] On Cultivating Strength through Discipline
[41] On the Ordering of Things
[42] On the Fundamentals of the State
[43] On the Will of Children
[44] On the Method of Argument
[45] On Knowing the Will of a Child
[46] On the Red Gold
[47] You will go safest in the middle.
[48] On Wisdom in Sexual Affairs
[49] On the Equal Steps to Knowledge
[50] On the Virtue of Daring
[51] On the Art of Training the Mind, (1) Mathematics
[52] Continued, (2) Classics
[53] Continued, (3) Science
[54] How Magical Law Works
[55] On the Mechanism of Magick
[56] On the Haromony of the Soul with the Body
[57] On the Mystery of Œconomy [Knowledge, Wisdom]
[58] On the Alchemical Arts
[59] On the Most Subtle Secret
[60] On the Medium of Art
[61] On the Necessity of Will
[62] On the Universal Comedy, which is called Pan
[63] On the Blindness of Men
[64] An Allegory of Chess
[65] On the Truth of Falsehood
[66] The necessary changes having been made
[67] On the Relations of Illusions
[68] On Prudence
[69] On Reason in the Life of the Magician
[70] On the Pure Heart
[71] On the Conformity of the Magician
[72] On the Poets
[73] On the Magi of the A∴A∴ in Whom the Word takes Flesh
[74] On the Magi of Old: First of Lao-tze
[75] On Gautama
[76] On Sri Krishna and Dionysus
[77] On Tahuti
[78] On that Egyptian Magus whom the Jews call Mosheh
[79] On the Arabian Magician Mohammed
[80] On the Great Beast Himself, the Logos of the Æon, whose Word is Thelema
[81] A Command to His Son
[82] Wherefore he Begat His Son: So that there be Freedom
[83] On His Frailty
[84] On the Hand that Upholds the Magus
[85] On His Sins
[86] On His Victory through the Name Babalon
[87] On the Unspeakable Secret
[88] On the Secret through which any Spirit is Received in the Body
[89] On the Qabalistic Key of this Art
[90] On the Mass of the Holy Ghost
[91] On the Complete Formula
[92] Qabalistic Considerations on this Formula
[93] On Certain Magick Arts
[94] On the Great Work
[95] On the Steps to the Great Work
[96] On the Formula of the Moon
[97] On Consuming the Eagle
[98] On Chemical Agents according to the Four Elements
[99] On the Virtue of Experience in this Art
[100] On the True Sacrament
[101] On Directing Disciples
[102] On Certain Diseases of Disciples
[103] On Watching for Faults in the House
[104] On the Body that is the Shadow of Man
[105] On Sirens
[106] On a Certain Woman
[107] On Her Virtue
[108] On Certain Methods of Seeking an Oracle
[109] On the Black Brothers, Sons of Iniquity
[110] [They] are beaten, struck.
[111] On the Virtue of Surgery
[112] On the Four Lesser Operations of the Microcosmic Star
[113] On the Four Major Operations of the Microcosmic Star
[114] On the Macrocosmic Star
[115] On his Woman Olun, and on the Ecstasy that Surpasses All
[116] I am here.
[117] On the Name Olun
[118] "I am Mercury."
[119] On Great Men Most Distinguished in Love
[120] On Chastity
[121] On the Ceremony of the Equinox
[122] On the Light of the Stars
[123] On Song
[124] On Human Stupidity
[125] On His Struggle
[126] On the Need of Declaring the Word
[127] On the Universal Eucharistic Mystery
[128] On Righteousness in the Fundament
[129] On the Blessed Virgin
[130] On the Sport of His Mistress
[131] On a Danger of the Sports of Love
[132] On the Unconscious, or Libido
[133] On the Organization of Communities
[134] On the Method of Science
[135] On Monsters
[136] On the Hidden Palace of Wisdom
[137] On the Defects of the Hidden Will
[138] On Reason, Minister of the Will
[139] On the Way of Wisdom
[140] On Reason, Source of Madness when not Under Will
[141] On Truth, which may not be Told to a Woman
[142] On the Nature of Woman
[143] "The eternal Feminine draws us upward."
[144] On the Two Rewards of the Path
[145] On the Ecstasy of Samadhi and how it Differs from Others
[146] On the Art of Love and the Pleasures of the Mystic
[147] On the Highest Reward, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness
[148] On the Hell of the Slaves
[149] A Rhapsody to Our Lady
[150] A Rhapsody to His Star
[151] On the Harmony of Will and Fate
[152] "Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate
I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,
And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road,
But not the Master-knot of Human Fate."
— Omar Khayyam, Rubaiyat
[153] A Parenthesis on a Certain Virgin
[154] On Cinstancy in Love, to a Pure Heart
[155] On the Mystery of Evil
[156] On the Virtue of Tolerance
[157] On the Formula of the Dying Gods
[158] On Malign Fools
[159] An Apology for His Writings
[160] In Praise of the Law of Thelema
[161] On the Sphinx of the Egyptians
[162] On the Nature of the Sphinx
[163] On the Bull
[164] On the Lion
[165] Further on the Lion
[166] On the Man
[167] On the Dragon, which is Eagle, Serpent, and Scorpion
[168] On the Four Virtues of the Sphinx
[169] On the Balance in which the Four Virtues have Equal Power
[170] On the Pyramid
[171] Prefatory Remarks on Silence
[172] On the Nature of Our Silence
[173] On the Correct Formula of the Dragon
[174] On His Horoscope
[175] On His Work
[176] On the Black Brothers
[177] On the Alchemical Art
[179] On the Formula of Woman
[180] His Master's Words on Woman
[181] On the Proper Path for Woman
[182] We Will Discuss This Next
[183] "No sign of any returning", i.e., no turning back
[184] On the Keys of Death and the Devil, Arcana of the Tarot of the R.C. Brotherhood
[185] Further on These Paths
[186] On the Eye of Hoor
[187] On His Initiation
[188] On the Most Holy Grass of the Arabs
[189] On Certain Mysteries, which I have Seen
[190] On a Certain Method of Meditation
[191] Further on This
[192] Further on This
[193] Conclusion on this Method of Holiness
[194] On the One Way of the Sun
[195] On the Sagacity of the Order of A∴A∴
[196] More on This Path
[197] On Prodence in Teaching the Arts
[198] On the Mind, Enemy of the Soul
[199] On the Different Works of the Illuminators
[200] Further Words on This
[201] On Perfect Peace in Light
[202] On Perfect Peace
[203] On Death
[204] An Eschatology of the R.C. Adepts
[205] On the Supreme Marriage
[206] On a Certain Problem in the Art of Pleasure
[207] An Unravelling of this Knot
[208] On the Comedy that is called Pan
[209] On the Game of Love
[210] On the Pleasure of Sin
[211] On the Blindness of the Elder Philosophers
[212] On the Manichæan Heresy
[213] On the Measure of Reality
[214] On the Aphorism where I say: All Things Exist
[215] On the Reason for Writing this Letter
[216] On the Nature of this Letter
[217] How I Wrote this Letter
[218] On Wisdom and Folly
[219] "Highest holy wonder! The Redeemer is Redeemed!"
[220] The Supreme Oracle
