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(Edited from a holograph MSS in posession of Dr. J. P. Kowal of 59 Chene Street. Detroit 11. Michigan, with reference to other sources).
Note in A.C.s hand: "This is the actual MS 671 referred to in John St. John".
John St. John is the diary of a magical retirement undertaken by A.C. in Paris in 1908 and published in Vol. 1 Number 1 of The Equinox. 671 means qabalistically Tora,[1] the Law, and Troa,[2] the Gate, and Adonai spelt in full.[3] He describes this ritual in John St. John pp 36-39 as follows:
I shall try and describe Ritual DCLXXI; since its nature is important to this great ceremony of initiation. Those who understand a little about the Path of the Wise may receive some hint of the method of operation of the L.V.X.
And I think that a description will help me to collect myself for the proper adaptation of this Ritual to the purpose of self-initiation.
Oh, how soft is the air, and how serene the sky, to one who has passed through the black rule of Apophis! How infinitely musical are the voices of Nature, those that are heard and those that are not heard! What Understanding of the Universe, what Love is the prize of him that hath performed all things and endured all things!
The first operation of Ritual DCLXXI is the preparation of the Place. There are two forces; that of Death and that of Natural Life. Death begins the Operation by a knock, to which Life answers. Then Death, banishing all forces external to the operation, declares the Speech in the Silence.
Both officers go from their thrones and form the base of a triangle whose apex is the East. They invoke the Divine Word, and then Death slays with the knife, and embalms with the oil, his sister Life.
Life, thus prepared, invokes, at the summons of Death, the forces necessary to the Operation. The Word takes its station in the East and the officers salute it both by speech and silence in their signs; and they pronounce the secret Word of power that riseth from the Silence and returneth thereunto.
All this they affirm; and in affirming the triangular base of the Pyramid, find that they have mysteriously affirmed the Apex thereof whose name is Ecstasy. This also is sealed by that secret Word; for that Word containeth All.
Into this prepared Pyramid of divine Light there cometh a certain darkling wight, who knoweth not either his own nature, or his origin or destiny, or even the name of that which he desireth. Before he can enter the Pyramid, therefore, four ordeals are required of him.
So, bound and blinded, he stumbles forward, and passes through the wrath of the Four Great Princes of the Evil of the World, whose Terror is about him on every side. Yet since he has followed the voice of the Officer who has prepared him, in this part of the Ritual no longer merely Nature, but the great Mother, but Neschamah (his aspiration) and the representative of Adonai, he may pass through all. Yea, in spite of the menace of the Hiereus, whose function is now that of his fear and of his courage, he goes on and enters the Pyramid. But there he is seized and thrown down by both officers as one unworthy to enter. His aspiration purifies him with steel and fire; and there as he lies shattered by the force of the ritual, he hears — even as a corpse that hears the voice of Israfal — the Hegemon that chants a solemn hymn of praise to that glory which is at the Apex, and who invisibly rules and governs the whole Pyramid.
Now then that darkling wight is lifted by the officers and brought to the altar in the centre; and there the Hiereus accuses him of the two and twenty Basenesses, while the Hegemom lifting up his chained arms cries again and again against his enemy that he is under the Shadow of the Eternal Wings of the Holy One. Yet at the end, at the supreme accusation, the Hiereus smites him into death. The same answer avails him, and in its strength he is uplifted by his aspiration — now he stands upright.
Now then he makes a journey in his new house, and perceives at stated times, each time proceeded by a new ordeal and equilibration, the forces that surround him. Death he sees, and the Life of Nature whose name is Sorrow, and the Word that quickeneth these, and his own self — and when he hath recognised these four in their true nature he passes to the altar once more and as the apex of the descending triangle is admitted to the lordship of the Double Kingdom. Thus is he a member of the visible triad that is crossed with the invisible — behold the hexagram of Solomon the King! All this the Hiereus seals with a knock and at the Hegemon's new summons he — to his surprise — finds himself as the Hanged Man of the Tarot.
Each point of the figure thus formed they crown with light, until he glitters with the Flame of the Spirit. Thus and not otherwise is he made a partaker of the Mysteries, and the Lightning Flash strikes him. The Lord hath descended from heaven with a shout and with the Voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God. "He is installed in the Throne of the Double Kingdom, and he wields the Wand of Double Power by the signs of the grade. He is recognised an initiate, and the word of Secret Power, and the silent administration of the Sacrament of Sword and Flame, acknowledge him.
Then, the words being duly spoken and the deeds duly done, all is symbolically sealed by the Thirty Voices, and the Word that vibrateth from the Silence of the Speech, and from the Speech again unto the Silence. Then the Pyramid is sealed up, even as it was opened; yet in the sealing thereof the three men partake in a certain mystical manner of the Eucharist of the Four Elements that are consumed for the Perfection of the Oil.
Konx Om Pax
The Magus at altar with Wand. On the Altar are Incense, Fire, Bread, Wine, the Chain, the Scourge, the Dagger, and the Oil. In his left hand he taketh the Bell.
Two strokes on the bell. Face SW for Asi and NW for Hoor-Apep, ringing the bell once after each name. Begin the Banishing Spiral Dance (to the right) at the word "Let".
Hail, Asi! Hail, Hoor-Apep! Let
The Silence Speech beget!
The Words against the Son of Night
Tahuti speaketh in the Light.
Knowledge and Power, twin warriors, shake
The Invisible; they roll asunder
The darkness; matter shines; a snake.
Sebek is smitten by the thunder —
The Light breaks forth from under!
He goes to the West, in the centre of the base of the triangle of Thoth (aleph), Asi (mem) and Hoor (shin).
O Thou, the Apex of the Plane
With Ibis head and Phoenix Wand
And Wings of Night! Whose serpents strain
Their bodies, bounding the beyond.
Thou in the Light and in the Night
Art one, above their moving might!
He lays the Wand upon the Altar. He scourges the buttocks, cuts cross on the heart[4] and binds chain round forehead, saying:
The Lustral Water! Smite thy flood
Through me — lymph, marrow, and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger, and the Chain
Cleanse body, breast and brain!
He oils the three centres, saying:
The Fire informing! Let the oil
Balance, assain, assoil.
Invoking spiral dance (to the left).
So Life from Death takes fire, and runs
Whirling amid the Suns!
Hail, Asi! Pace the Path, bind on
The girdle of the Starry One!
Stops in W, facing E. Makes sign of Enterer while saying:
Homage to Thee, Lord of the Word!
Lord of the Silence, sink the Sword
And Wand, that through all heaven be heard
That "We adore the Lord"
Makes sign of Silence after saying:
Lord of the Silence, Homage to Thee!
Repeat both signs at the appropriate word
Lord, we adore Thee, still and stirred
Beyond Infinity.
Vibrate the Secret Word M....M ( ).[5]
For from the Silence of the Wand
Unto the speaking of the Sword
And back again to the Beyond,
This is the toil and the reward,
This is the Path of HVA; — Ho!
This is the Path of ΙΑΩ.
Bell, addressing SW
Hail, Asi! Hail, thou wanded Wheel!
Alpha and Delta kissed and came
For Five that feed the Flame.
Bell, addressing NW
Hail, Hoor-Apep! thou Sword of Steel!
Alpha & Delta & Epsilon
Met in the shadow of the Pylon
And in Iota did proclaim
That tenfold core & crown of Flame.
Hail Hoor-Apep! unspoken Name!
(Thus is the Great Pyramid duly builded.)
I know not who I am!
I know not whence I came!
I know not where I go;
I seek — but what I do not know!
I am blind and bound; but I
Have heard one cry
Ring through Eternity:
Arise and follow me!
Assume the Sign of Typhon and invoke:
Asar Un-nefer!
I invoke the Fourfold Horror of the Smoke.
Unloose the Pit! by the dread Word
That Seth Typhon hath heard.
ZAZAS NASATANADA ZAZAS ZAZAS[7]
(A later typescript has: "Sazaz Sazaz Andatsan Sazaz. Pronounce this backwards. But it is very dangerous. It opens the Gates of Hell.")
A Pause. Then resume a normal stance.
The Fear of Darkness & of Death
The Fear of Water & of Fire
The Fear o'th'Chasm & the Chain
The Fear of Hell & the Dead Breath,
The Fear of Him, the Demon dire
That stands on the Threshold of the Inane
Stands with his Dragon Fear to slay
The Pilgrims of the Way:
These I pass by with force & care,
Advance with fortitude & wit
In the straight Path; or else their snare
Were surely infinite.
Stagger and fall back to earth.[9] Suit action to words, using chain, scourge and dagger.
Asar! who clutches at my throat?
Who pins me down? Who stabs my heart?
I am unfit to pass within
This Pylon of the Hall of Maat.
The Lustral Water! Let thy flood
Cleanse me — lymph marrow and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger & the Chain
Purge body, breast & brain!
The Fire Informing! Let the Oil
Balance, assain, assoil.
I am Mentu the truth-telling brother
Who was master of Thebes from his birth:
O heart of me, heart of my mother!
O heart that I had upon earth!
Stand thou not thou up against me a witness!
Oppose me not, judge, in my quest!
Accuse me not now of unfitness
Before the great God, the dread Lord of the West!
Speak fair words for OU ME![12] May he flourish
In the place of the weighing of hearts
By the marsh of the dead, where the crocodiles nourish
Their lives on the lost! where the Serpent upstarts —
For though I be joined to the Earth
In the innermost shrine of the Heaven am I.
I was Master of Thebes from my birth;
As a dog shall I die? Thou shalt not let me die!
But my khu that the teeth of the crocodile sever
Shall be mighty in heaven for ever and ever!
Yea! but I am a fool & a flutterer.
I am under the Shadow of the Wings.[13]
I am a liar & a sorcerer.
I am so fickle that I scorn the bridle.
I am unchaste & voluptuous & idle.
I am a bully & a tyrant crass —
I am as dense & stubborn as an ass —
I am untrusty, cruel & insane —
I am a fool & frivolous & vain —
I am a weakling & a coward; I cringe —
I am a catamite & cunnilinge —
I am a glutton, a besotted wight;
I am a satyr & a sodomite —
I am as changeful & selfish as the sea —
I am a thing of vice & vanity —
I am most violent & I vaccilate —
I am a blind man & emasculate —
I am a raging fire of wrath — no wiser! —
I am a blackguard spendthrift & a miser! —
I am obscene & devious & null;
I am ungenerous & base & dull —
I am not marked with the white Flame of Breath!
I am a traitor — die the traitor's death!
(He is slain by the sword at "death".)
Rise erect. Begin the invoking spiral dance — to the left.
Now let me pace the Path, bind on
The girdle of the Starry One!
(Come to the barred Pylon in the North West. Again, suit actions to words.)
Asar! who clutches at my throat?
Who pins me down? Who stabs my heart?
I am unfit to pass within
This Pylon of the Hall of Maat.
The Lustral Water! Let thy flood
Cleanse me — lymph marrow and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger & the Chain
Purge body, breast & brain!
The Fire Informing! Let the Oil
Balance, assain, assoil.
(Bar in North. Address Horus.)
Soul-mastering Terror is thy Name
Lord of the Gods! Dread Lord of Hell!
I come. I fear Thee not. Thy flame
Is mine to weave my maiden spell!
I know Thee and I pass Thee by
For more than Thou am I.
(Bar in S.E. Suit actions to words.)
Asar! who clutches at my throat?
Who pins me down? Who stabs my heart?
I am unfit to pass within
This Pylon of the Hall of Maat.
The Lustral Water! Let thy flood
Cleanse me — lymph marrow and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger & the Chain
Purge body, breast & brain!
The Fire Informing! Let the Oil
Balance, assain, assoil.
(Bar in south — address Isis. Suit actions to words.)
Sorrow that eateth up the Soul,
Dam of the Gods, the blue sky's Queen,
This is Thy name. I come. Control
And pass. I know Thee, Lady of Teen[14]
I know Thee, and I pass Thee by;
For more than Thou am I.
(Deosil to bar in N.E. Suit actions to words.)
Asar! who clutches at my throat?
Who pins me down? Who stabs my heart?
I am unfit to pass within
This Pylon of the Hall of Maat.
The Lustral Water! Let thy flood
Cleanse me — lymph marrow and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger & the Chain
Purge body, breast & brain!
The Fire Informing! Let the Oil
Balance, assain, assoil.
(Bar in East. Address Thoth. Pause in silent contemplation.)
The Lustral Water! Let thy flood
Cleanse me — lymph marrow and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger & the Chain
Purge body, breast & brain!
The Fire Informing! Let the Oil
Balance, assain, assoil.
(Deosil to bar in S.W. Suit actions to words.)
Asar! who clutches at my throat?
Who pins me down? Who stabs my heart?
I am unfit to pass within
This Pylon of the Hall of Maat.
The Lustral Water! Let thy flood
Cleanse me — lymph marrow and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger & the Chain
Purge body, breast & brain!
The Fire Informing! Let the Oil
Balance, assain, assoil.
(Bar in West. Address Self-Nature.)
I will not look upon Thee more
For Fatal is Thy Name. Begone!
False Phantom, thou shalt pass before
The frowning forehead of the Sun.
I know Thee and I pass Thee by
For more than Thou am I.
Return to center, at altar. Draw the Hexagram with Wand. Say:
Now witness Ye upon the earth
Spirit and water and red blood.
Witness above, Bright Babe of Birth
Spirit and Father — that are God!
Contemplate Self as the Babe in the Egg of Blue, saying:
For Silence duly is begot
And darkness duly brought to bed,
The Shroud is figured in my thought,
The Inmost Light is on my head.
Making the Sign of the Enterer, declare:
Attack! I eat up the strong lions, I!
Fear is on Seb, on them that dwell therein.
Behold the radiant Vigour of the Lord.
Making the Sign of Silence, say:
Defence! I close the mouth of Sebek, ply
My Fear on Nile, Asar that held not in!
Behold my radiance Peace, ye things abhorred!
Assuming the Sign of Apophis and Typhon, say:
For see, the Gods have loosed mine hands:
Asar unfettered stands!
Hail Asi! Hail Hoor-Apep cries —
Now I the Son of Man arise
And follow — dead where Asar lies!
Lie down in Sign of Hanged Man during the meditation:
I gild my left foot with the light
I gild my Phallus with the light
I gild my right knee with the light
I gild my right foot with the light
I gild my left knee with the light
I gild my Phallus with the light
I gild mine elbows with the light
I gild my navel with the light
I gild my heart wedge with the light
I gild my black throat with the light
I gild my forehead with the light
I gild my Phallus with the light
The threefold star cross-crowned, I rise
Partaker of the Mysteries.[15]
Rise; and invoking Kundalini, declare:
Asar Un-nefer! I am Thine
Waiting Thy glory in the shrine,
Thy bride, thy virgin, ah my Lord!
Smite through the spirit with thy sword!
Asar Un-nefer! rise in me
The chosen catamite of thee
Come! O come now! I wait, I wait
Patient-impatient, slave of Fate
Bought by thy glance. Come now, come now!
Touch and inform this burning brow.
Asar Un-nefer in the shrine
Make Thou me wholly Thine
Upon achieving Union, stand and declare:
I am Asar worthy alone
To sit upon the Double Throne.
Attack is mine, and mine defence:
And these are one. Let us go hence!
For I am master of my Fate,
Wholly initiate.
M....M
The words are spoken duly: The deeds are duly done.
My soul is risen newly to greet the risen sun
Sound these on the bell; only say the ending words ("Hail!" "All hail!"). Make the Four as a square, the Five as the upright Pentagram, the Ten following the manner of the Sephiroth up the Tree of Life.
One! Four! Five! Hail!
One! Four! Five! Ten! All hail!
Give the appropriate Sign after each line, then assume the Sign of Silence.
I give the sign that rends the Veil,
The sign that closes up the Veil.
M....M
The Magus at altar with Wand. On the Altar are Incense, Fire, Bread, Wine, the Chain, the Scourge, the Dagger, and the Oil. In his left hand he taketh the Bell.
Two strokes on the bell. Face SW for Asi and NW for Hoor-Apep, ringing the bell once after each name. Begin the Banishing Spiral Dance (to the right) at the word "Let".
Hail, Asi! Hail, Hoor-Apep! Let
The Silence Speech beget!
The Words against the Son of Night
Tahuti speaketh in the Light.
Knowledge and Power, twin warriors, shake
The Invisible; they roll asunder
The darkness; matter shines; a snake.
Sebek is smitten by the thunder —
The Light breaks forth from under!
He goes to the West, in the centre of the base of the triangle of Thoth (aleph), Asi (mem) and Hoor (shin).
O Thou, the Apex of the Plane
With Ibis head and Phoenix Wand
And Wings of Night! Whose serpents strain
Their bodies, bounding the beyond.
Thou in the Light and in the Night
Art one, above their moving might!
He lays the Wand upon the Altar. He scourges the buttocks, cuts cross on the heart[16] and binds chain round forehead, saying:
The Lustral Water! Smite thy flood
Through me — lymph, marrow, and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger, and the Chain
Cleanse body, breast and brain!
He oils the three centres, saying:
The Fire informing! Let the oil
Balance, assain, assoil.
Banishing spiral dance (to the right).
So Life from Death takes fire, and runs
Whirling amid the Suns!
Now let mine hands unloose the sweet
And shining girdle of Nuit!
Stops in W, facing E. Makes sign of Enterer while saying:
Homage to Thee, Lord of the Word!
Lord of the Silence, sink the Sword
And Wand, that through all heaven be heard
That "We adore the Lord"
Makes sign of Silence after saying:
Lord of the Silence, Homage to Thee!
Repeat both signs at the appropriate word
Lord, we adore Thee, still and stirred
Beyond Infinity.
M....M
Behold! The Perfect One hath said:
These are my body's elements
Tried and found pure, a golden spoil.
Consume the Sacrament, suiting actions to words.
Incense and Wine and Fire and Bread:
These I consume, true sacraments,
For the perfection of the Oil —
For I am clothed about with flesh
And I am the Eternal Spirit.
I am the Lord that riseth fresh
From Death, whose glory I inherit
Since I partake with Him. I am
The Manifestor of the Unseen.
Without me, all the land of Khem
Is as it had not been.
For from the Silence of the Wand
Unto the speaking of the Sword
And back again to the Beyond,
This is the toil and the reward,
This is the Path of HVA; — Ho!
This is the Path of ΙΑΩ.
Face the appropriate directions: Hoor, NW; Asi, SW; Tahuti, E; Asar Un-Nefer, center. Saute with the following words:
Hail, Hoor! Hail, Asi! Hail, Tahut! Hail,
Asar Un-Nefer! through the rended Veil
I am Thyself, with all Thy brilliance decked —
Khabs Am Pekht.
[1] This is misspelled. It should be תורה, not תערא.
[2] Aramaic, תרעא, gate
[3] Aleph Daleth Nun Yod, אלף דלת נון יוד
[4] A rough scratch that leaves the sign + upon the breast; the intersection of the cross is pierced with the tip of the Dagger producing a drop of blood.
[5] This is a blind. "Yellow-Green" should not be there.
[6] The Tuat Pylon
[7] Here I have written out the words of the initials "Z.N.Z.Z."
[8] The Tomb Pylon.
[9] Others have, "...in position of Osiris Slain."
[10] Later typescript has "still in corpse position"
[11] Later reading: "Unless it be that I am Thine"
[12] Note: Ou Me in Greek was A.C.'s motto as 7° = 4□ in the A∴A∴. The later typescript adds here as a note: "Change this to your own motto. Work the scansion correctly."
[13] This line is the refrain, to be spoken after each accusation.
[14] typescript has "Teeu"
[15] The last two lines are not in the manuscript.
[16] A rough scratch that leaves the sign + upon the breast; the intersection of the cross is pierced with the tip of the Dagger producing a drop of blood.