CHAPTER V




This Chapter is attributed to the element of Spirit; it deals consequently with the harmonization, in terms of humanity, of the Four Blind Forms of Energy. In previous chapters the man 666, being so gross and complex an idea, had no natural right to any place in the relations of his Angel, and the Adept which he has selected and perfected in himself. 666, `the scribe' (etc., as he is called in various passages) must formulate a link between himself and those others. (See I:41 - 49, etc.)

But as Spirit, descending into the midst of Fire, Water, Air and Earth, constitutes them an Unity, Microprosopus, so this Chapter resumes the previous four; it applies them to 666. It explains how the Chymical Marriage of his Magical Self with his Angel affects the totality of his being. The language is consequently less technical; indeed, some passages are intelligible as they stand to quite uninitiated minds.



1




666 has begun to understand his relation with the Marriage in Chapter IV:54 seg. For the root of Yod (in Tetragrammaton) is in the `Unconscious' which connects the human consciousness with the Magical. Cf. Chapter I:41, `the echo of your kisses'; because the reality of such relations is beyond articulate apprehension; one can be conscious only of the reflection (in terms of the Ruach) of Neschamic intuition.

The fact accounts for the impotent babble of the Mystics of old time: they are compelled to rely on rhetorical devices like the use of such words as `ineffable' and of magnificently mysterious metaphors. But now at last S.H. Frater V.V.V.V.V., 8ø = 3;bx, has collaborated with G.H. Frater O.M., 7ø = 4;bx, to construct a true language with accurately defined symbols in which the [...] of the AA (above the Abyss) may be translated into those of the R.R. et A.C. (below the Abyss). See Liber DCCXIII vel Ararita: several passages, but especially V:1 - 8. The bulk of my writings upon the Orgia of the Holy Spirit of Man, from the Sword of Song, Konx Om Pax, and 777, to the Bagh-i-Muattar and my Magical Records are perhaps principally valuable to mankind as the first systematic essays in the interpretation of the Intuition of Neschamah to the Intellect of Ruach.

``The Treasure-House of Pearls'' -- See 777, Column 127, where Pearls are attributed to the First Palace (The Three Supernals) and to the Seventh (Yesod and Malkuth). But the symbolism of the Pearl -- or of Dew -- is peculiarly appropriate to descriptions of the Chymical Marriage. The Pearl is zro (see the Bagh-i-Muattar; The Lost Continent, etc. a cloudy Nebula containing the Rashith-ha-Gilgalim of the new Universe created of the Quintessence of the Substance of the Unity of the Angel and the Adept, expressed therefrom by virtue of ``love under will'' at the moment of Rapture.

In Chapter I, the Chapter of Earth, the scribe or prophet 666 is wroth, importunate, laborious, and ashamed. He had not succeeded in establishing the proper relations. He has now succeeded: ``let me listen'' is not a demand or request. It implies the power as in a true subjunctive. Cf. ``Let there be light.'' He does not wait for an answer.



2




He continues with absolute confidence to indicate the source of his powers. He notes that the starry heaven (Nuit) is `shaken' i.e., its continuum is disrupted by the Chymical Marriage. At the other extreme his own static condition is destroyed. He understands himself not as a fixed being of wrath but as the ``the flying spark of light'' -- a pure dynamic vibration. This conception, first formulated in Liber CCXX, and explained already in this Comment, is in fact the first condition of what the Buddhists call Samma Dithi -- right views. So long as a man thinks of himself as a being rather than as an energy he attributes to himself not, as the profane suppose stability, but stagnation, which is death. Moreover this spark is practically identified with the rapture of the Chymical Marriage.



3




It has been explained that the absolute surrender of the false self is the first condition of the existence of the True Self. While 666 seemed to himself a separate existence he remained impotent. Immediately he understands himself as ``whirled away by the great wind of your perfection.'' The Angel tells him of his success on just that plane of illusion which he has abandoned. The sorrow and failure of 666 arise from his contemplation of his fellow men, of the imperfection and wretchedness, the weariness of existence of this planet. He had found that his personal efforts, so far from remedying the mischief, tended rather to increase it. Now however, that his personality has been destroyed, it becomes efficient. It is impossible to change any fixed state by working upon it from the same level. At most one can rearrange its character by the formula of ;heALIM (see Book 4, Part III, Chapter IV), the formula of witchcraft. However one may manipulate the digits of a number divisible by 9, it remains a multiple of that number. (Consider attentively the whole doctrine connected with the number 9. The references have already been indicated in this Comment.).

The world of Assiah is a crystallization of the Atziluthic idea Briah and Yetzirah. It can be effectively modified by the import of some other Atziluthic quintessence. It is therefore useless for 666 as being of Assiah to attempt to redress it. He can only do so by exalting himself to Atziluth by the Attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the H.G.A., and approaching Assiah through Briah from Yetzirah.

The Angel spontaneously promises 666 that his True Will shall be made operative. The minute spark of his individuality shall be enkindled to a great light and this light shall consume the impurity of the `grey city in the old and desolate land'.

This Book was written down in London, and the apparent reference in the first instance is to that city. The text may mean that in some way or other 666 will become `a great light', a portentious phenomenon pregnant with destruction in the eyes of its inhabitants.

On this interpretation it is not clear what is meant by ``its great impurity'' or how the manifestation of 666 should ``cleanse it therefrom.'' The proper method of exegesis which immediately suggests itself is to collate the passages in the Holy Books which refer to that city, and to study them in the light of the historical events in which 666 has taken part. Even so, despite certain possibly significent incidents it would appear that some such event is still in the future.

There is of course no sure token that this interpretation is valid. An alternative might be sought in the numerical value of the Greek equivalent of ``grey city'' or it may transpire that some city has a peculiar right to be designated as grey.

Further, the allusion may be strictly poetic metaphor; ``grey city'' may mean no more than a place where men assemble, a gloomy, foggy place where men assemble. (Vide Chapter IV:59 - 60).



4




Cf. verse 21, Liber CCXX III:16, also Chapter I:44. It seems to be implied throughout that the work of 666 should be in a peculiar sense secret. See Liber CCXX I:10. I am to operate important changes in human society apart from the cardinal change affecting the onset of the Aeon of Horus and the proclamation of the Law of Thelma. I shall further see the results of my work at least in a certain measure, and it is important that I shall not permit myself to be disheartened by contemplation of them or satisfaction with them.



5




This verse confirms the interpretation of verse 3. There is a quite different reference to the Equinox of the Gods, ABRAHADABRA, the magical Formula of the Aeon (not to be confused with the Word of the Law of the Aeon) represents the establishment of the pillar or phallus of the 5 Alephs. Aleph is a void or kteis, being the Atu marked 0.

The general symbol is repeated in particular terms. Isis and Osiris govern respectively the two Aeons (of the Kether and the Dying God) through which we have passed. The fulfilment of Asi by Asar indicates that their operation is complete, their conjunction having resulted in the appearance of Horus (Heru-ra-Ha in his twin aspects (a) Force and Fire, and (b) Silence). 

The verse tells us that that has come to pass which it was the Great Work of 666, in his official relation to the AA as opposed to his personal career as a magician, to proclaim.

The ``Animal Soul of things'', i.e., the Nephesch of the World. The Lord of the Aeon represents more than a new stage in the progressive infiltration of the darkness of matter by light. He acts directly on the World of Assiah.

Note in particular the form which he assumes -- that of a ``fiery star that falleth upon the darkness of the earth.'' It is as a meteor or thunderbolt that he invades the planet. (Note that he is ``let down'' from the earth he appears as of terrific import, but from the point of view of the Gods he is imbued with all possible gentleness.



6




The symbolism of midnight and of the ``black gnarled glittering stone'' suggests a reference to Atu XVIII where Khephra the Beetle, the Sun of Midnight, appears travelling in his bark under the Heaven. (The stone is everywhere conventionally accepted as a symbol of Sol.) Despite the promise of the symbol  -- ``there is a budding morrow in midnight'' -- this first appearance of Horus is obscure and frightful. Yet He is found in this form and worshipped.

The nature of the symbol is rendered unmistakable by the additional epithets; a ``child'' indicates the irresponsible and innocent mischievousness. ``My conqueror'' further defines Him as overcoming the opposition of the inertia or natural prejudice of the `old guard' of the profane. (Cf. Liber CCXX III as a whole, and in particular verses 3 - 9, II:17 - 18, 28, 32, 42, 46, 49 - 55, 59, 70 - 72.)

``My sword-girt'' captain. This emphasises the warrior aspect in which Horus is to make his first appearance.

Taking these verses as having direct reference to the first publication of The Book of the Law in London, observe that nine months after The Equinox I(10), the War broke out so that Horus was actually worshipped in exactly this aspect in the quite unreasonable way predicted.



7




``My prophet'', as in verse 4, refers to 666. Cf. Liber CCXX I:26, etc. This title is given to him more frequently than any other. The term `prophet' or `forth-speaker' is contrasted with `The Beast' which is connected with my function in Tiphereth, implying my manhood, kingship, my mastery of ecstacy, and as fulfilling the function referred to in the Apocalypse so far as the confusion caused by the corruption of the text of that Book permits us to calculate.

The title ``priest'' refers to the function of serving the Gods proclaimed in Liber CCXX, and administering the Sacrament (the new Magick, formula A...A, etc). The title ``prince'' may be connected with the attribution to Tiphereth, since Microprosopus is the Vau of Tetragrammaton, Vau having the value of 6, and corresponding to the four princes (sometimes called Emperors) of the Tarot.

The ``prophecy'' here mentioned is first of all CCXX Chapter III, this book itself, and various other poems, essays and rituals. Liber 418, Aethyr I.

The second paragraph indicates Horus in his active and adult aspects. The student is referred to the complete exposition of the meaning of the letter Aleph, in particular to that part of it in which it is explained that `the babe in the egg of blue, Harpocrates in whom all power is latent, he being Harpocrates, Bacchus Diphues, Zeus, Baphomet, Parzifal as the `pure fool', the Great Fool of the Celtic legends, the child Hermes, etc., in the first stage of pantomorphous innocence, develops at puberty into Parzifal the Knight-errant, who obtains the Crown by winning the King's daughter (a mystery on which the actual customs of many primitive races are founded). (See J.G. Frazer in The Golden Bough.) The phallic Hermes, the Baphomet of Atu XV, Zeus who assumes the form of a beast in order to impregnate various women (the Scarlet Woman) as in Atu XI. See also the legends of Beauty and the Beast, the Devil of the Sabbath, the Minotaur, Hercules (at first disguised as weaponless and ambisexual), many Asiatic legends.

The Lord of the present Aeon, two in one (Vau, He, Atu VI, born of union of Yod and He) has thus been subject of prophecy throughout history. His nature, function, and relation with the other Gods, is thus a matter of common knowledge among initiates or even the scholars. At the same time his present appearance is in a sense an original phenomenon. For He is represented in CCXX as the third to Nuit and Hadit, nay rather as the first, Nuit and Hadit being wholly beyond the comprehension of any but The Beast and his Bride and ``the winners of the Ordeal X'' (CCXX III:22). He is therefore shown as springing spontaneously. There is no reference to Isis and Osiris the traditional father and mother of Horus in the Egyptian theology.

``Around thee the maidens shall dance, and bright babes be born unto them.'' One is reminded of the almost universal practice of circumambulating or dancing round the lingam, Maypole, or other cognate symbol of the creative faculty. The voice of scandal suggests that the women who adopted this rite made it effective by physiological precautions. But even so the aptness (congruity) of the two methods is evident and philoprogenitiveness is justified of her children no less than Wisdom. The Puritans rightly asserted that the Maypole was a lingam and May-day a Priapic festival.

The remaining section of the verse is extremely obscure. Humility seems to be discountenanced by The Book of the Law as incompatible with the proper understanding of oneself as a star, a king, or sovereign being, no less than the greatest of the Gods. It is further likely to lead to Sin, i.e., Restriction, since the humble are liable to fail to assert their independence and their right. From this it would appear that in some sense or other humility must be a positive virtue whose climax in an ``ecstacy of abasement'' is no less worthy of respect than any other form of trance. See Yi, Chapter XV, on the Khien Hexagram. This Hexagram is composed of the trigram of the former principle modifying the symbol of earth. See the last Trigram in Liber Trigrammaton. ``Therefore was the end of it sorrow; yet in that sorrow a sixfold star of glory whereby they might see to return unto the stainless Abode; yea, unto the stainless Abode.'' (Liber XXVII.) Abasement means movement towards the base, towards the foundation, Yesod, which represents the resolution of the antinomy Stability --  Change. Observe the sympathetic harmony of all these symbols and compare them further with the doctrine of the Tao Teh King with regard to the supreme strength of water, low-lying and the apotheosis of weakness in the sense understood in the Tao Teh King throughout. I take this opportunity, moreover, to quote The Book of Lies.


PEACHES

Soft and hollow, how thou dost overcome the hard and full!
It dies, it gives itself; to Thee is the fruit!
Be thou the Bride; thou shalt be the Mother hereafter.
To all impressions thus. Let them not overcome thee; yet let them breed within thee. The least of the impressions, come to its perfection, is Pan.
Receive a thousand lovers; thou shalt bear One Child.
This child shall be the heir of Fate the Father.

TAT

Ex nihile N. I. H. I. L. fit.
N. the Fire that twisteth itself and burneth like a scorpion.
I. the unsullied ever-flowing water.
H. the interpenetrating Spirit, without and within.
Is not its name ABRAHADABRA?
I. the unsullied ever-flowing air.
L. the green fertile earth.
Fierce are the Fires of the Universe, and on their daggers they hold aloft the bleeding heart of earth.
Upon the earth lies water, sensuous and sleepy.
Above the water hangs air; and above air, but also below fire --  and in all -- the fabric of all being woven on Its invisible design, is

AIQHP

Cap: 86





From this it is manifest that the humility and abasement referred to have no relation to the Xth ``virtue'' to which that name is given. The humility of Uriah Heep and Pecksniff, of Tartuffe, the ``crucified Jesus'' of the Y.M.C.A., C.I.C.C.U., and similar associations of the herd, which goes with hypocrisy, envy, low, cunning, and that whole complex of fear qualities which are characteristic of those who know themselves inferior. It is curious to reflect that in England we associate this frame of mind with Christianity, especially with Romish Christianity, whereas on the Continent those precise recessions are attributed to Judaism.

The ``humble ones'' in this passage are evidently employing a definite magical formula with their absolute energy and confidence.

The results of the manifestation of Horus are now said ``to transcend the Known and the Unknown with somewhat that hath no name.'' It is quite clear that this is so, but far from obvious why the fact should be so firmly emphasised and explained, especially in such unusual and obscure terminology. The word ``it'' in the last sentence may refer to the nameless ``somewhat'' or to ``all this''.

The ``secret Place of Silence'' is the womb of Nuit or ``egg of blue'' which conceals the babe Harpocrates.

The ``Arcanum that is opened'' may perhaps be paraphrased ``the secret truth that is manifested.'' The Abyss may always be taken to signify ``absence of ground.'' It is the form or means of manifestation of anything which is not so manifested. Alternatively, it may be the abyss that is opened, that is to say made available for investigation.

``All this'' has no name because it is ``the unity uttermost showed'' (see CCXX III:37) of Horus. His identity absorbs these diverse phenomena with equal absoluteness. In the perfect purity of the child, or pure fool, (Parzifal, asked his name, answers ``Ich weiss nicht'') all differences vanish for ever; see CCXX I:4 and 22 - 23. This verse 7 may therefore be summarised somewhat as follows:

The proclamation of Horus by 666 will enable every person to fulfil his proper function of True Will, and by so doing to reach the perfection of his own nature, whereas the illusion of dividuality is entirely destroyed. As it is written in Liber CCXX I:44 - 51.

``For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.''

``The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!''



8




The essence of this rhapsody is clear; yet the plane on which it may best be interpreted will differ according to the degree of initiation which the reader has attained.

Roughly, however, for all alike, it may be paraphrased ``Thy soul has undergone the contamination of material and phenomenal illusion''. Cf. II:4 - 6, 7 - 16, III:4 - 12, 40 - 48, IV:2 - 3, 5, 33 - 37, 42 - 44. See also Liber VII, several passages, which may be discovered by the right ingenium of the Exempt Adept.



9




Despite the above, the Holy Guardian Angel has always indwelt the being of the Adept, not even needing the nourishment represented by ``oil.'' (For this symbol see Book 4, Part II, Chapter 5.)

The Angel exceeds alike Sol, Luna and Agni, the three principles which (in the Hindu symbolism) come into course successively during each twenty-four hours, thus determining the character of Dhyana attained at any given period of the day. (For full explanation see [...]).



10




The relation of the man with his Angel is independent of his acts qua man. His Nephesch, considered as in relation to the non-Ego, is incapable of interfering with his true Nephesch.



11




This being understood by the profane, they take the proper view of Man. They realise (e.g.) that the `vices' of Shakespeare and Shelley do not detract from their genius.



12




The profane being thus purified are capable of receiving the benefit of the Initiation of the Adept.



13




The reference seems to be a theory (at present unfashionable) of the formation of nebulae. The point here is simply that the intimate contact of two apparently `dark' or `evil' ideas leads to their transmutation into Light. It is ``love under will.''



14




Adonai: Aleph is the swastika or Thunderbolt by shape: Daleth means Door or Pylon: Nun refers to Scorpio, the Serpent: Yod is the Phallus (Yod of ;heIHVH -- considered as the inmost and simplest idea).



15




See Liber Ararita (DCCCXIII sub figura DLXX) for this. The symbolic mode of writing the Word is

DIAGRAM

A separate volume might be -- and should be and shall be! --  written upon the Arcana of this Hieroglyph.



16




The reference is to a material ring: see The Spirit of Solitude for some account of it. The lettering about the Eye is V.V.V.V.V. See Liber LXI verses 22 seq. These are the initials of the Motto of 666 as Magister Templi, 8ø = 3;bx ``Vi Veri Univers Vivus Vici'' also V is the Latin letter signifying 5, and its value ([...]) is 6. The allusion is thus to 5ø = 6;bx, the Great Work. Again, the arrangements of the letters on the lapis lazuli indicated the Pentagram.



17 - 18




The instruction in personal and practical. Cf. CCXX, I:10 and 50. The Magister Templi communicates, as such, only with [...] that is directly.



19




Again personal and practical to 666. I have done much mischief by insisting on making everything clear to people who were not ready for it.

Ghebers: fire-worshippers in Persia. See Compte d Gobineau: Trois Ans en Asie.

Generally, the abuse of a formula does not injure the passive party, who is unconcerned, and incurs no responsibility.



20




Still personal and practical. 666 is to continue to live his normal life as a man of the world, unrecognised for what He is save by the `just merchant' the man who can rightly assess values. It is the duty and privilege of some such man to bring to 666 his due measure of fame.



21




666 will (naturally) care as little for fame as he has always done for misunderstanding, abuse, and infamy. He will be wholly absorbed in His attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. This is the sempiternal. Change, sorrow, unsubstantiality: Anicca, Dukka, Anatta; The Three Characteristics. See my ``Science and Buddhism'' and other references.



22




Impression: Vrittis. The True Self is independent of all phenomena. See numerous explanations of these matters in very many of my writings. See, in particular, my Tao Teh King. The Magister Templi reacts with perfect elasticity to all impacts, appearing to be wholly passive to all alike, yet really uninfluenced in the slightest degree by any.



23




Compare this refrain with verses 5, 24, 25. In verse 5 the Great Work is announced impersonally. Here it is identified with the Attainment.



24




Being, Consciousness, Bliss: Sat, Chit, Ananda. See my writings on Hindu Philosophy. Contrast with verse 21. The Attainment emancipates the Adept from all conditions soever.



25




The human consciousness of Aleister Crowley is to be enlightened on this point. He is to be sanctified thereby, and `consumed' or `consummated'. This Chymical Marriage unites him with the Angel and the Adept, Three in One and One in Three: This is the final perfection of union. Hence the repetition of the fourth time of the symbol of the Pillar in the Void. Cf. the Four consecrations in the Neophyte Ritual of GD.

It must not surprise the Practicus -- ``him, even!'' -- to find the private affairs of 666 discussed in a Class A publication of AA purporting to deal with the Great Work of 5ø = 6;bx. This book is primarily concerned with the Attainment of 666 to that Grade; and it is only because all true Attainment is so almost wholly impersonal that its contents are actually valid for the Aspirant in general.



26




The Crown, Kether, the Abyss, either Daath or that which is beyond Malkuth. The limitless Sphere, the Ain Soph.

The general meaning is that the Attainment fills the whole Universe.



27




The pools, and the flame between them, refer to the Sephiroth and the Paths.

The general meaning is that the Attainment has fitted the Adept to perform creative work in all spheres.



28




It enables him, moreover, to perform transmutations: it is not clear why these special examples [...] poetic grounds. (They are in essence Air to Water, and Earth to Fire).



29




For the colours in this and the last verse, Cf. CCXX: ``Blue am I and gold in the light of my bride: but the red gleam is in my eyes; & my spangles are purple & green.''

``Purple beyond Purple: it is the light high than eyesight.''

``There is a veil: that veil is black. It the veil of the modest woman; it is the veil of sorrow, & the pall of death: this none of me. Tear down that lying spectre of the centuries: veil not you vices in virtuous words: these vices are my service; ye do well, & I will reward you here and hereafter.'' (II:50 - 52.)

The lord of the Gods is presumably Jupiter; he may be chosen because the whole transmutation refer to Chesed, or because of his position as the highest Sephira of Microprosopus.



30-33




The identification of the various elements into which Initiation has analysed the original individual is now complete.

The Great Work -- Solve et Coagula -- has been accomplished. There is no distinction between the personal Attainment of Aleister Crowley and the Proclamation of the Word of the Law of Thelema through him.

Those who realise what this means rightly assume that it marks the end of an Aeon.



34 - 40




This passage is perhaps the most obscure in the whole book.



34




``Parricidal''. They have slain their fathers; i.e., they have won to manhood and the consciousness of the Independence of the Individuality.

``Pomp''. They celebrate their attainment of Freedom by means of a Pageant. They manifest the Godhead which they have won. Atheists. ``Allah's the atheist! He owns no Allah!'' (Bagh-i-Muattar). They are free of the obsession of mortality and dependence. Coupled. They unite with their comrades in ``love under will'', being equal and identical despite their apparent difference. (See CCXX I:1 - 4, 22, 50 etc..) By virtue of the ecstasy of their common relation to Nuit. Laugh and rejoice. (See CCXX I:26, 58, II:9, 19 - 25, 35 - 44, 62 - 64, 70, III:46.)

``Purple''. See CCXX I:61, II:24, 50 - 51. Purple is the royal colour and that of ecstasy, in particular, of the Chymical Marriage of Nuit and Hadit.



35




This verse carries on the idea of `atheists'. Cf. too Chapter I:7 - 9, etc. Their natural place being Yesod (whose colour is purple) they, having destroyed the Foundation, are risen to Hod (whose colour is also purple). See Liber 777, Column XVII. The sword. Their weapon of Intellectual Destruction. Hope is a crawling worm, being the token of non-realisation of one's Self as supreme Enjoyment.



36




Cf. ``The City of Dreadful Night.''



37




In Persian Theology, the principles of Good and Evil. Cf. Nietzsche; and in our own doctrine, expressed in many ways in many places.

Unto the Ages. ``Le-Olahm.'' See Ritual of the Pentagram. The value of the word is 176; this is 8 ;tm 22 or 16 ;tm 11 and this means the Redemption of the Serpent (22 letters) or the Magical Power (11) applied to the Blasted Tower (Atu XVI) for whose significance see this Comment, above.



38




TERRIER-WORK

Doubt.

Doubt thyself.

Doubt even if thou doubtest thyself.

Doubt all.

Doubt even if thou doubtest all.

It seems sometimes as if beneath all conscious doubt there lay some deepest certainty. O kill it! Slay the snake!

The horn of the Doubt-Goat be exalted!

Dive deeper, ever deeper, into the Abyss of Mind, until thou unearth the fox THAT. On, hounds! Yoicks! Tally-ho! Bring THAT to bay!

Then wind the Mort!

(Liber 333, Chapter 51)




39




``Spear'': the weapon of Sol (and Mars).

``Dragon'': the Stooping Dragon: see ``The Temple of Solomon the King,'' diagram of the Fall, ;[The Equinox;] I(2), page 283.

``Stagnant Water'': the `soul', in its uninitiated state, passive, corrupt and motionless, reflecting wrongly the imagery of the non-ego. (The Buddhist idea of the Mind is identical with this). The Words ``sat'' and ``stagnant'' connect this with the doctrine of the Black Brothers, and the theory of CCXX of the Universe as Going, or Energy.

(Quote a few appropriate passages).



40




The destruction of this illusion releases the soul to Purity and Motion, to `ease', which is not idleness but freedom of action, for which men thirst. Pure water is the Principle of Elasticity, the Transmitter of Energy. The Pure Soul is identified with the Moving Spirit which informs it, reflecting it truly with perfect understanding. See the whole symbolism of the Cup. See Book 4, Part II, Chapter VII. See in particular Chapter III and my Comment.



41




The passage 34 - 40 was `in the spirit vision'. It follows 30 - 33. 34 - 40 thus become intelligible; it is my vision of mankind in the New Aeon of which I have proclaimed the Word. I now return to the contemplation of my personal relation with mine Angel.



42




I repeat the Invocation. He is the Image of Nuit. The propriety of these phrases becomes manifest on studying the account already given of this nature.



43




The first sentence is an acrostic of `Ada Laird'. This was one of the girls with whom I was intimate at the time of writing this Book.

In these verses I deliberately identify my sexual exhilaration with my spiritual ecstasy, thus finally denying any difference between any two parts of my conscious being.



44




This constitutes a profound Riddle of Holiness. (Note 781 = 71 ;tm 11. See authorities for special meanings of these words.

(Quote something useful). 

Those only understand it who combine in themselves the extremes of Moral idea, identifying them through transcendental overcoming of the antinomy. They must have gone further yet, beyond the fundamental opposition of the sexes. The male must have completed himself and become androgyne; the female, and become gynander.

This incompleteness imprisons the soul. To think ``I am not woman, but man'' or vice versa, is to limit one's self, to set a bar to one's motion. It is the root of the `shutting-up' which culminates in become ``Mary inviolate'' or a ``Black Brother.'' By ``the old Slime of Khem'' is meant the principle of stagnation which was symbolized in Egypt (Khem) by Sebek, the dweller in the mud of Nile -- see above, and in [...] for the full account. Note that this is not `evil', but merely the stoppage of the Energy of the Universe. The `contending forces' of Good and Evil are complementary, and to be united by ``love under will'' -- as I too often do, loosely and clumsily, thanks to my education and the limitations of language -- to mean ``that which is against my True Will,'' the implication is not of anything active, however, loathsome or terrible it might appear. Any such idea is to be assimilated by ``love under will'' with its contradictory, thus reaching, in ecstacy, to a new Conception transcending the plane of these opposites.

Thus, my chief obstacle is the belief that any active Idea soever is `evil' and it is therefore the main tenet of the Slave Gods, `Original Sin', the existence of a Personal `Devil' opposed to an Almighty Goodness -- Ahrimanes and Aormuzdi as above -- which threatens my Will.

Amennti -- the West -- the Place of Death -- is the quarter attributed to Osiris in his aspect as the Slain God, that is, in modern slang, to `Jesus'. To us ``The word of Sin is restriction.'' The only possibility of `evil' is that the Will may be hampered. On the contrary, to the slaves of `Jesus', there is scarce an act which is not of the nature of `sin'. Even our ``righteousness is as filthy rags.'' ``There is none good, no, not one,'' etc., etc., ad nauseam -- et praetor! To us, then, `Jesus' is the very fount and origin of all possible `evil', for he synonymous with the idea of Restriction on every plane. The Christian conception of sin as the will of the natural man, the `Old Adam', is the basis of all internal conflict -- of moral insanity.

It is true that some writers calling themselves Christian have declared for Antinomianism; but orthodoxy has always condemned these; it is evident that these doctrines imply Pantheism. The sophisms of Paul demonstrate clearly enough how deeply false to one's self one must be, even to make the essay to disengage the mind from the dilemma implicit in the theses that `Salvation' emancipates from `Sin', and that the `Saint' is morally bound by the `laws of God'. The passages here following would be laughable had not History stigmatized them as atrocious.



45




There is here an intentional identification of the very words of the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel with those appropriate to a fervent rhapsody addressed to an whore.



46




The land of the Elephant: India. The reference is to Dionysus --  to Bacchus Diphues. The symbol of Atu 0 has already been explained in detail. Note the emphasis laid upon his attributes  -- the male animal lust, courage, and ferocity of the tiger, the voluptuous female passivity, sensual (garlanded) yet spiritual, of the lotus; yet from these -- whose Chymical Marriage is that of Nuit and Hadit -- He is immune. (He is Innocence and Silence  -- the Babe in the Egg of Blue).

(Quote Hymn to Bacchus).

I invoke Him to `inebriate my Life' with His `madness'; to inspire me with his essential ecstasy.

Hail, child of Somele!

To her as unto thee

Be reverence, be diety, be immortality!


Shame! treachery of the spouse

of the Olympian house.

Hers! thy grime device against the sweet carouse!


Lo! in red [...] and flame

Did Zeus descend! What claim
   
To feel the immortal fire had then the [...] dame!


Caught in that fiery wave

Here love and life she gave

With one last kissing cry the unborn child to save.


And thou, O Zeus, the sire

of Bromius -- hunter dire!

Didst snatch the unborn babe from that Olympian fire:


In thine own thigh most holy

That offspring melancholy

Didst hide, didst feed, on light, ambrosia, and moly.


Ay! and with serpent hair

And limbs divinely fair

Didst thou, Dionysus, leap forth to the nectar air!


Ay! thus the dreams of fate

We dare commemorate,

Twinging in lovesome curls the spoil of mate and mate.


O Dionysus start

Be close, be quick, be near,

Whispering enchanted words in every curving ear!


O Dionysus start

As the Apollonian dart!

Bury thy horned head in every bleeding heart!


(``Orpheus'')





The last phrase ``that She leap at my passing'' is peculiarly obscure. ``She'' may be taken to refer to Ada Laird -- to I wot not what!



47




Finally pleasure and pain themselves must be mingled, identified, in a Chymical Marriage of their own. For all possible elements of sensation must take part in the supreme Sacrament. To omit aught thereof would be to leave it imperfect and therefore `evil' to exclude a guest from the Wedding Feast; to restrict the Universe in that particular dimension.



48 -- 52




Once more the plane of the Communion between the Adept and his Angel changes: This passage is simple instruction. It should be read in connection with Cap: I, v. 9 and similar texts where there is question of `that which is beyond.' I am told here, as first in my Initiation of 1905- 1906 (quote dates, and give essential passage in diary), that my Mission  to Mankind concerns the Next Step on Jacob's Ladder of the Spiritual Ascent of the Race. They must progress in a sane and orderly manner, not soaring Icarus-like toward ill-defined perfections like Nibbana, but steadily and critically using their existing faculties to the best advantage, fulfilling each function adequately, accurately, with intelligent aspiration, not shirking the hard work of evolution, not trying to run before they can walk, making sure of every step as it is taken, and fortifying each position as it is won before proceeding to attach the next line of entrenchments.

Napoleon's campaign of 1812 -- Moscow -- should warn the Aspirant.

In my experience, I have found this error to be the most dangerous to which really promising young Magicians are liable; while making any progress at all.

I quote the case of Meredith Starr as instructive in the highest degree. (Quote from `Hag').



49




Cf. Cap: II, vv. 37-44 and Comment. Living in Thebes, seek your water in the Nile instead of wasting your time in vast vague vapourish vagaries about the Atlantic. In Plain English, follow out percisely and patiently the systematic course of Initiation prescribed by the AA Be THOROUGH. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves. Those who despise detail are eventually destroyed by these vary things which they thought trivial; and their discomfiture and disgrace are all the more humiliating.

Lord Nose-in-the-Air stumbled over his own door-stop. (Quote W. S. Gilbert ``The Haughty Actor'' (''Bab Ballads''). Verse 50. 



50




Every incident in life is of combined importance. No man can afford to lose the experience proper to his actual stage of initiation. Fulfil the formula of Isis -- never mind, for the moment, Isis being a `Lower' manifestation of the principle Yin than Nuit is! -- and you come immediately to be priest of Nuit, and receive Her infinite bounty. (See my ``Across the Gulf'' Equinox, I, vii, pp: 295-354). I refer the Aspirant to the diary of S.H. Frater O.I.V.V.I.O. who instead of plodding steadily through the appointed Task of a Zelator, took advantage of a subtle Regulation of the AA which permits any man, whatever his grade, to declare himself a Master of the Temple, and by mere virtue of the Oath, to become one. In this case the intense purity of the aspiration of our Brother, and the Magical Necessity  -- in a matter not directly connected with his personal career in the Order  -- that he should take this appalling step, with his eyes open to the responsibility and danger involved, saved him from the consequences which would have smashed any arrogant, insolent, or presumptuous pretender. Nevertheless, his ignorance of the details of the intermediate Grades, led him constantly into the most deplorable errors, from the devastating penalties of which he was saved by the loving vigilance of his Superior in the Order, at least insofar as the more critical catastrophes were concerned.



51




There is yet a third consideration to be made in connection with this doctrine of The Next Step. It does in fact seem far easier to wander in the Wonderland of the Supernal Triad than to dig one's way painfully through the Path of Tau, to make the Renunciation of a Dhamma-Buddha than to acquire Asana by dint of Anguished application and acutest agony of that detested and despised physical phantom, the very soul of Distraction, Dispersion, Degradation, Distress, and Despair!

But this is a `damnable heresy and a dangerous delusion' arising from the simple fact that nobody can possibly form any idea soever of the Nature of the Task of any grade beyond his own -- and I say this with every emphasis, despite by devotion and determination to describe the details of the Path of the Wise -- even being at the pains of inventing what is practically a new language for this very purpose.

True, I have succeded thus far, that the Initiate, on arriving at any given Grade, instantly recognizes the accuracy of my account, thus confirming his confidence in my knowledge of the matter, and his assurance that he has really attained thereto and is not being fooled by his own vanity. But, until he has actual experience of this part of the Faith, he is bound to misunderstand my plainest presentation of its most evident symptoms.

Unless the Aspirant fully comprehend and freely acquiesce in this inherent incapacity, he is only too likely to try to sneak through the dim dreary dreadful discipline of his Grade -- the more loathsome precisely because it represents his actual limitation of the moment, and have a perfectly lovely time fancying himself an Exempt Adept or an Arahat or even -- I have known one such unhappy expert in self-delusion -- an Ipsissimus! It was nothing to the great Him that the only reference to that Grade in all our Holy Books is to indicate a certain practice (itself beyond comprehension of any but the mightiest-minded Masters of the Temple!) as ``the opening of the Grade.''

The Parable of the Pyramid requires no commentary: it is as lucid as it is sublime.

The whole passage (vv. 48-51) may be summed as an appeal to ordinary Good Sense -- called ``Common Sense'' (Lucus a non lucendo) as being the rarest of Human qualities. Yet the truth lies deeper than this cynical apothegm. Good sense is in reality common to all men: it is the property of the Unconscious whose Omniscience matches its Omnipotence. The trouble is that in practically every particular case the Intellect insists on interfering: Vanity craves to be flattered by `improving' what is by nature perfect --  with uniformly disastrous results. This is one of the main interpretations of the repeated diatribes in The Book of the Law against ``the Reason,'' against ``because and his kin'' (CCXX, ii, 27-33, etc.) or any similar usurpation of the royalty of the Individual by his own self-created illusions. The intellect should be a machine whereby one can express the facts of Nature. But it cannot even interpret them; that is the function of Neschamah. Even its critical faculty is limited to the object of seeming internal coherence, of avoiding any appearance of conflict. When it arrogates to itself any further function it is ultra crepidam.

Note the word But in CCXX, ii, 34, marking the antithesis of the right course of action (vv. 34-51) against the wrong (vv. 27-33).



52 -- 56




The Parable of the Ibis, the Humming-Bird, and Uraeus Serpent.

Any comment would be impertinent: the signification of the Parable, deep though it be, is lucid as any passage in literature; and the language, exquisitely ornate as it is, a sublimity and a simplicity all its own.

The moral value, in particular, challenges that of the boasted parables of the Gospels. Contrast their sectarianism, their triteness, and (too frequently) their moral obliquity with this masterpiece.



57




This verse completes the conception of time set forth in the Parable. In the K. and C. of the H.G.A. the divisions of time cease to imply difference. To use the Roman metaphor, every day is marked with a white stone. But there is no difference between them; they seem all alike monuments of glittering candour unsoiled by the details of life. All ordinary events cease to perturb the even brilliance.



58 -- 65




The final passage summarizes the whole Book. It demands intimate study and adroit handling on the part of the Commentator; for each verse, while complete in itself, is an integral and necessary element of the whole.



58




``I'': the Scribe: CF. Verse 48.

The significance of the number LXV has been explained in the prefatory note. The metaphors in this text are peculiar. One is of gold -- fine gold  -- beaten with fine gold to form a circlet to adorn a bride and queen. The reference is to the Adept in this relation with Adonai.

The metaphor of the stones is, on the other hand, of Tiphereth. (The text assumes that the Great Pyramid of Gizeh as in fact designed as a Temple of Initiation wherein right fitly he celebrated the Ritual of the Slain God). For the whole symbolism of the stone, see the Qabalah, the rituals of Freemasonry, etc.

Note that words and deeds, being rightly wrought into one, lose their grossness and become pure Thought. (The capital letters, Th, M.A. may be read wwwww Truth).



59




Intellectual criticism of this Book leads to barren controversy -- the wilderness of pedantry. It must be appreciated as a poem (sealed up into the blood) taken as the nourishment of the inmost life itself. Those who do this become chosen candidates for the K. and C. of the H.G.A. Their Aspiration (Thought) is then crystallized into Word and Deed: they accomplish the Operation of the Sacred Magick.

The ``Land:'' the reference is to Nuit. They become conscious that they are Stars in Space. For the whole interpretation of this symbol as equivalent to the achievement of the Great Work see wwwww (Quote authorities).



60




Here is the idea of the life of the Adept in itself:  



61




And here, in reference to his fellow-men. My own Magical career should be an adequate explanation of these two verses.



62 -- 64




This doctrine is the most deadly poison for the unworthy (even the Christian Mystics gathered some faint idea of this ``eating and drinking damnation unto themselves'')

It is strange that the text refrains from specifying the nature of the error: apparently the only point at issue is whether one is or is not ``chosen.'' (v. 63).

Note the word ``weary,'' and the symbols of stagnation and passivity (a) hath hold upon them, (b) thick, (c) black, (d) smoke, (e) abode. Contrast with these the stigmata of Attainment in v. 64 all fiery, active, and eager, even in the sphere ordinarily associated with the idea of repose --  ``eventide.'' The Crown of the Sun himself is their girdle (Cf. the Rosicrucian adjuration ``Be thy mind open, etc.) -- the girdle of the ``death-kisses'' this identifying death with love, the creative energy.

The mystery becomes clear on reference to verse 59. To be ``chosen'' is a matter for one's own Will to decide. If this Book be ailen to the student, it will poison him through and through; he must ``seal'' it up into his blood; then, drinking of it as a Wine which is identical with his life itself, it intoxicates them to the realization of themselves as the Lord Adonai, the Soul of the Book itself.



65




Cf. verse 14: meditate strictly upon the propriety of the first appearance of this particular symbol in just this place.

The symbol is now completed by the introduction of Nuit into its midst. Compare the similar appearance of Shin in IHVH. (If this is not explained, do so fully).

What letter, then significant of Nuit, will transmit as Shin does wwwww? The usual letter is He, ``The Star,'' Atu XVII, wwwww (Note that by the precession of the Equinoxes the sun is now in Aquarius instead of Pisces at the Vernal Equinox. In the Aeon of the Dying God men worshipped (the Virgin and) the Fish. We replace this by Nuit and (Babalon and the Beast conjoined). But as ``Y'' is not the Star'' and swing around as an about (Atus VIII and XI interchanged, and so Atus XVII and IV). But the Actual God worshipped has progressed from wwwww the laborious slain Bull of Mithras. 
in the North, to II the Children (R.H.K. and H.P.K.) We thus obtain a Pentagrammaton whose value is 70, Y, the Eye, Set or Saturn, Atu XV ``The Devil.''