Liber 418 - Being of the Angels of the Thirty Aethyrs

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object:Liber 418 - Being of the Angels of the Thirty Aethyrs
LIBER
XXX RVM
VEL SCULI
SUB FIGUR
CDXVIII
BEING OF TH E ANGELS OF THE THIRTY THYRS
THE VISION AND THE VOICE
V
A A
Publication in Class A B. Imprimatur:
D.D.S. 7 = 4 Prmonstrator
O.S.V. 6 = 5 Imperator
N.S.F. 5 = 6 Cancellarius
THE CRY OF THE THIRTIETH OR INMOST AIRE OR THYR WHICH IS CALLED TEX
I AM in a vast crystal cube in the form of the Great God Harpocrates.
This cube is surrounded by a sphere. About me are four archangels in
black robes, their wings and armour lined out in white.
In the North is a book on whose back and front are A.M.B.Z. in Enochian
characters.
Within it is written:
I AM, the surrounding of the four.
Lift up your heads, O Houses of Eternity: for my Father goeth forth to
judge the World. One Light, let it become a thousand, and one sword ten
thousand, that no man hide him from my Father's eye in the Day of
Judgment of my God. Let the Gods hide themselves: let the Angels be
troubled and flee away: for the Eye of My Father is open, and the Book
of the ons is fallen.
Arise! Arise! Arise! Let the Light of the Sight of Time be
extinguished: let the Darkness cover all things: for my Father goeth
forth to seek a spouse to replace her who is fallen and defiled.
Seal the book with the seals of the Stars Concealed: for the Rivers
have rushed together and the Name hwhy is broken in a thousand pieces
(against the Cubic Stone).
Tremble ye, O Pillars of the Universe, for Eternity is in travail of a
Terrible Child; she shall bring forth an universe of Darkness, whence
shall leap forth a spark that shall put his father to flight.
The Obelisks are broken; the stars have rushed together: the Light hath
plunged into the Abyss: the Heavens are mixed with Hell.
My Father shall not hear their Noise: His ears are closed: His eyes are
covered with the clouds of Night.
The End! the End! the End: For the Eye of Shiva He hath opened: the
Universe is naked before Him: for the on of Saturn leaneth toward the
Bosom of Death.
image
The Angel of the East hath a book of red written in letters of Blue
A.B.F.M.A. in Enochian. The Book grows before my eyes and filleth the
Whole Heaven.
Within: "It is Written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God."
I see above the Book a multitude of white-robed Ones from whom droppeth
a great rain of Blood; but above them is a Golden Sun, having an eye,
whence a great Light.
I turned me to the South: and read therein:
Seal up the Book! Speak not that which thou seest and reveal it unto
none: for the ear is not framed that shall hear it: nor the tongue that
can speak it!
O Lord God, blessed, blessed, blessed be Thou for ever! Thy Shadow is
as great Light.
Thy Name is as the Breath of Love across all Worlds.
image
(A vast Svastika is shewn unto me behind the Angel with the Book.)
Rend your garments, O ye clouds! Uncover yourselves! for the Love of My
Son!
Who are they that trouble thee? Who are they that slew thee?
O Light! Come thou, who art joined with me to bruise the Dragon's head.
We, who are wedded, and the Earth perceiveth it not!
O that Our Bed were seen of Men, that they might rejoice in My
Fertility: that My Sister might partake of My Great Light.
O Light of God, when wilt thou find the heart of man-write not! I would
not that men know the Sorrow of my Heart, Amen!
I turned me to the West, and the Archangel bore a flaming Book, on
which was written AN in Enochian. Within was drawn a fiery scorpion,
yet cold withal.
Until the Book of the East be opened! Until the hour sound!
Until the Voice vibrate! Until it pierce my Depth; Look not on High!
Look not Beneath!
For thou wilt find a life which is as Death: or a Death which should be
infinite.
For Thou art submitted to the Four: Five thou shalt find, but Seven is
lone and far.
O Lord God, let Thy Spirit hither unto me!
For I am lost in the night of infinite pain: no hope: no God: no
resurrection: no end: I fall: I fear.
O Saviour of the World, bruise Thou my Head with Thy foot to save the
world, that once again I touch Him whom I slew, that in my death I feel
the radiance and the heat of the moving of Thy Robes!
Let us alone! What have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth?
Go! Go!
If I keep silence-Or if I speak each word is anguish without hope.
And I heard the thyr cry aloud "Return! Return! Return! For the work
is ended; and the Book is shut; and let the glory be to God the Blessed
for ever in the ons, Amen." Thus far is the voice of TEX and no more.
THE CRY OF THE TWENTY AND NINTH AIRE OR THYR, WHICH
IS CALLED RII
The sky appears covered with stars of gold; the background is of green.
But the impression is also of darkness.
An immense eagle-angel is before me. His wings seem to hide all the
Heaven.
He cried aloud saying: The Voice of the Lord upon the Waters: the
Terror of God upon Mankind. The voice of the Lord maketh the Skies to
tremble: the Stars are troubled: the Aires fall. The First Voice
Speaketh and saith: Cursed, cursed be the Earth, for her iniquity is
great. Oh Lord! Let Thy Mercy be lost in the great Deep! Open thine
eyes of Flame and Light, O God, upon the wicked! Lighten thine Eyes!
The Clamour of Thy Voice, let it smite down the Mountains!
Let us not see it! Cover we our eyes, lest we see the End of Man.
Close we our ears, lest we hear the cry of Woman.
Let none speak of it: let none write it: I, I am troubled, my eyes are
moist with dews of terror: surely the Bitterness of Death is past.
And I turned me to the South and lo! a great lion as wounded and
perplexed.
He cried: I have conquered! Let the Sons of Earth keep silence; for my
Name is become as That of Death!
When will men learn the Mysteries of Creation?
How much more those of the Dissolution (and the Pang of Fire)?
I turned me to the West and there was a great Bull; White with horns of
White and Black and Gold. His mouth was scarlet and his eyes as
Sapphire stones. With a great sword he shore the skies asunder, and
amid the silver flashes of the steel grew lightnings and deep clouds of
Indigo.
He spake: It is finished! My mother hath unveiled herself!
My sister hath violated herself! The life of things hath disclosed its
Mystery.
The work of the Moon is done! Motion is ended for ever!
Clipped are the eagle's wings: but my Shoulders have not lost their
strength.
I heard a Great Voice from above crying: Thou liest! For the Volatile
hath indeed fixed itself; but it hath arisen above thy sight. The World
is desert: but the Abodes of the House of my Father are peopled; and
His Throne is crusted over with white Brilliant Stars, a lustre of
bright gems.
In the North is a Man upon a Great Horse, having a Scourge and Balances
in his hand (or a long spear glitters at his back or in his hand). He
is clothed in black velvet and his face is stern and terrible.
He spake saying: I have judged! It is the end: the gate of the
beginning. Look in the Beneath and thou shalt see a new world!
I looked and saw a great abyss and a dark funnel of whirling waters or
fixed airs, wherein were cities and monsters and trees and atoms and
mountains and little flames (being souls) and all the material of an
universe.
And all are sucked down one by one, as necessity hath ordained. For
below is a glittering jewelled globe of gold and
azure, set in a World of Stars.
And there came a Voice from the Abyss, saying: "Thou seest the Current
of Destiny! Canst thou change one atom in its path? I am Destiny. Dost
thou think to control me? for who can move my course?"
And there falleth a thunderbolt therein: a catastrophe of explosion:
and all is shattered. And I saw above me a Vast Arm reach down, dark
and terrible, and a voice cried: I AM ETERNITY.
And a great mingled cry arose: "No! no! no! All is changed; all is
confounded; naught is ordered: the white is stained with blood: the
black is kissed of the Christ! Return! Return! It is a new chaos that
thou findest here: chaos for thee: for us it is the skeleton of a New
Truth!"
I said: Tell me this truth: for I have conjured ye by the Mighty Names
of God, the which ye cannot but obey.
The voice said:
Light is consumed as a child in the Womb of its Mother to develop
itself anew. But pain and sorrow infinite, and darkness are invoked.
For this child riseth up within his Mother and doth crucify himself
within her bosom. He extendeth his arms in the arms of his Mother and
the Light becometh fivefold.*
Lux in Luce, Christus in Cruce; Deo Duce Sempiterno.
image
* The LVX Cross hidden in the Svastika is probably the Arcanum here
connoted.
This Cross on Mars square adds to 65 Adonai, Shone, Gloried, ha-Yekal,
HS
= keep silence.
Svastika itself adds to 231 = 0 + 1 + 2 + - - - + 21, the 21 Keys. The
cubical Svastika regarded as composed of this LVX Cross and the arms
has a total of 78 faces-Tarot and Mezla.
And be the glory for ever and ever unto the Most High God, Amen!
Then I returned within my body, giving glory unto the Lord of Light and
of the Darkness. In Scula Sculorum. Amen!
(On composing myself to sleep, I was shewn an extremely brilliant D in
the Character of the Passing of the River, in an egg of white light.
And I take this as the best of Omens. The letter was extremely vivid
and indeed apparently physical. Almost a Dhyana.)
November 17, 1900, Die '.
A NOTE
Concerning the thirty thyrs:
The Visions of the 29th and 30th thyrs were given to me in Mexico in
August, 1900, and I am now (23.11.9) trying to get the rest. It is to
be remarked that the last three thyrs have ten angels attributed to
them, and they therefore represent the ten Sephiroth. Yet these ten
form but one, a Malkuth-pendant to the next three, and so on, each set
being, as it were, absorbed in the higher. The last set consists,
therefore, of the first three thyrs with the remaining twenty-seven as
their Malkuth. And the letters of the first three thyrs are the
key-sigils of the most exalted interpretation of the Sephiroth.
I is therefore Kether;
L, Chokmah and Binah; A, Chesed;
N, Geburah; R, Tiphereth; Z, Netzach; N, Hod;
O, Jesod.
The geomantic correspondences of the Enochian alphabet form a sublime
commentary.
Note that the total angels of the thyrs are91, the numeration of Amen.
THE CRY OF THE 28TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED BAG
There cometh an Angel into the stone with opalescent shining garments
like a wheel of fire on every side of him, and in his hand is a long
flail of scarlet lightning; his face is black, and his eyes white
without any pupil or iris. The face is very terrible indeed to look
upon. Now in front of him is a wheel, with many spokes, and many tyres;
it is like a fence in front of him.
And he cries: O man, who art thou that wouldst penetrate the Mystery?
for it is hidden unto the End of Time.
And I answer him: Time is not, save in the darkness of Her womb by whom
evil came.
And now the wheel breaks away, and I see him as he is. His garment is
black beneath the opal veils, but it is lined with white, and he has
the shining belly of a fish, and enormous wings of black and white
feathers, and innumerable little legs and claws like a centipede, and a
long tail like a scorpion. The breasts are human, but they are all
scored with blood; and he cries: O thou who hast broken down the veil,
knowest thou not that who cometh where I am must be scarred by many
sorrows?
And I answer him: Sorrow is not, save in the darkness of the womb of
Her by whom came evil.
I pierce the Mystery of his breast, and therein is a jewel. It is a
sapphire as great as an ostrich egg, and thereon is graven this sigil:
image
But there is also much writing on the stone, very minute characters
carved. I cannot read them. He points with his flail to
the sapphire, which is now outside him and bigger than himself; and he
cries: Hail! warden of the Gates of Eternity who knowest not thy right
hand from thy left; for in the on of my Father is a god with clasped
hands wherein he holdeth the universe, crushing it into the dust that
ye call stars.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right eye from thy left; for in the
on of my Father there is but one light.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right nostril from thy left; for in
the on of my Father there is neither life nor death.
Hail unto thee who knowest not thy right ear from thy left; for in the
on of my Father there is neither sound nor silence.
Whoso hath power to break open this sapphire stone shall find therein
four elephants having tusks of mother-of-pearl, and upon whose backs
are castles, those castles which ye call the watch-towers of the
Universe.
Let me dwell in peace within the breast of the Angel that is warden of
the thyr. Let not the shame of my Mother be unveiled. Let not her be
put to shame that lieth among the lilies that are beyond the stars.
O man, that must ever be opening, when wilt thou learn to seal up the
mysteries of the creation? to fold thyself over thyself as a rose in
the embrace of night? But thou must play the wanton to the sun, and the
wind must tear thy petals from thee, and the bee must rob thee of thy
honey, and thou must fall into the dusk of things. Amen and Amen.
Verily the light is hidden, therefore he who hideth himself is like
unto the light; but thou openest thyself; thou art like unto the
darkness that bindeth the belly of the great goddess.*
image
* In the light of the cry of LOE, this passage seems to mean almost
precisely the opposite of its apparent meaning.
OLAHO VIRUDEN MAHORELA ZODIREDA! ON PIREDA EXENTASER; ARBA PIRE GAH
GAHA GAHAL GAHALANA VO ABRA NA GAHA VELU- CORSAPAX.
And the voice of the on cried: Return, return, return! the time
sickeneth, and the space gapeth, and the voice of him that is, was and
shall be crowned rattles in the throat of the mighty dragon of eld.
Thou canst not pass by me, except thou have the mystery of the word of
the abyss.
Now the angel putteth back the sapphire stone into his breast; and I
spake unto him and said, I will fight with thee and overcome thee,
except thou expound unto me the word of the abyss.
Now he makes as if to fight with me. (It is very horrible, all the
tentacles moving and the flail flashing, and the fierce eyeless face,
strained and swollen. And with the Magic sword I pierce through his
armour to his breast. He fell back, saying: Each of these my scars was
thus made, for I am the warden of the thyr. And he would have said
more; but I cut him short, saying: expound the word of the Abyss. And
he said: Discipline is sorrowful and ploughing is laborious and age is
weariness.
Thou shalt be vexed by dispersion.
But now, if the sun arise, fold thou thine arms; then shall God smite
thee into a pillar of salt.
Look not so deeply into words and letters; for this Mystery hath been
hidden by the Alchemists. Compose the sevenfold into a fourfold
regimen; and when thou hast understood thou mayest make symbols; but by
playing child's games with symbols thou shalt never understand. Thou
hast the signs; thou hast the words; but there are many things that are
not in my power, who am but the warden of the 28th thyr.
Now my name thou shalt obtain in this wise. Of the three angels of the
thyr, thou shalt write the names from right to left and from left to
right and from right to left, and these are the holy letters:
The first 1, the fifth 2, the sixth 3, the eleventh 4, the seventh
5, the twelfth 6, the seventeenth 7.
Thus hast thou my name who am above these three, but the angels of the
30th thyr are indeed four, and they have none above them; wherefore
dispersion and disorder.
Now cometh from every side at once a voice, terribly great, crying:
Close the veil; the great blasphemy hath been uttered; the face of my
Mother is scarred by the nails of the devil. Shut the book, destroy the
breaker of the seal!
And I answered: Had he not been destroyed he had not come hither, for I
am not save in the darkness in the womb of Her by whom came evil into
the world.
And this darkness swallows everything up, and the angel is gone from
the stone; and there is no light therein, save only the light of the
Rose and of the Cross.
AUMALE, ALGERIA.
November 23, 1909, between 8 and 9 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 27TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED ZAA
There is an angel with rainbow wings, and his dress is green with
silver, a green veil over silver armour. Flames of many- coloured fire
dart from him in all directions. It is a woman of some thirty years
old, and she has the moon for a crest, and the moon is blazoned on her
heart, and her sandals are curved silver, like the moon.
And she cries: Lonely am I and cold in the wilderness of the stars. For
I am the queen of all them that dwell in Heaven, and
the queen of all them that are pure upon earth, and the queen of all
the sorcerers of hell.
I am the daughter of Nuit, the lady of the stars. And I am the Bride of
them that are vowed unto loneliness. And I am the mother of the Dog
Cerberus. One person am I, and three gods.
And thou who hast blasphemed me shalt suffer knowing me. For I am cold
as thou art cold, and burn with thy fire. Oh, when shall the war of the
Aires and the elements be accomplished?
Radiant are these falchions of my brothers, invisibly about me, but the
might of the thyrs beneath my feet beareth me down. And they avail not
to sever the Kamailos. There is one in green armour, with green eyes,
whose sword is of vegetable fire. That shall avail me. My son is
he,-and how shall I bear him that have not known man?
All this time intolerable rays are shooting forth to beat me back or
destroy me; but I am encased in an egg of blue-violet, and my form is
the form of a man with the head of a golden hawk. While I have been
observing this, the goddess has kept up a continuous wail, like the
baying of a thousand hounds; and now her voice is deep and guttural and
hoarse, and she breathes very rapidly words that I cannot hear. I can
hear some of them now.
UNTU LA LA ULULA UMUNA TOFA LAMA LE LI NA AHR IMA TAHARA ELULA ETFOMA
UNUNA ARPETI ULU ULU ULU MARABAN ULULU MAHATA ULU ULU LAMASTANA.
And then her voice rises to a shriek, and there is a cauldron boiling
in front of her; and the flames under the cauldron are like unto zinc
flames, and in the cauldron is the Rose, the Rose of 49 petals,
seething in it. Over the cauldron she has arched her rainbow wings; and
her face is bent over the cauldron, and she is blowing opalescent
silvery rings on to the Rose; and each ring as
it touches the water bursts into flame, and the Rose takes new colours.
And now she lifts her head, and raises her hands to heaven, and cries:
O Mother wilt thou never have compassion on the children of earth? Was
it not enough that the Rose should be red with the blood of thine
heart, and that its petals should be by 7 and by 7?
She is weeping, weeping. And the tears grow and fill the whole stone
with moons. I can see nothing and hear nothing for the tears, though
she keeps on praying. "Take of these pearls, treasure them in thine
heart. Is not the Kingdom of the Abyss accurst?" She points downward to
the cauldron; and now in it there is the head of a most cruel dragon,
black and corrupted. I watch, and watch; and nothing happens.
And now the dragon rises out of the cauldron, very long and slim (like
Japanese Dragons, but infinitely more terrible), and he blots out the
whole sphere of the stone.
Then suddenly all is gone, and there is nothing in the stone save
brilliant white light and flecks like sparks of golden fire; and there
is a ringing, as if bells were being used for anvils. And there is a
perfume which I cannot describe; it is like nothing that one can
describe, but the suggestion is like lignum aloes. And now all these
things are there at once in the same place and time. Now a veil of
olive and silver is drawn over the stone, only I hear the voice of the
angel receding, very sweet and faint and sorrowful, saying: Far off and
lonely in the secret stone is the unknown, and interpenetrated is the
knowledge with the will and the understanding. I am alone. I am lost,
because I am all and in all; and my veil is woven of the green earth
and the web of stars. I love; and I am denied, for I have denied
myself. Give me those hands, put them against my heart. Is it not cold?
Sink, sink, the abyss of time remains. It is not possible that one
should come to ZAA. Give me thy face. Let me kiss it with my cold
kisses. Ah! Ah! Ah! Fall back from me. The word, the word of the on is
MAKHASHANAH. And these words shalt thou say backwards: ARARNAY OBOLO
MAHARNA TUTULU NOM LAHARA EN NEDIEZO LO SAD FONUSA SOBANA ARANA BINUF
LA LA LA ARPAZNA UOHULU when thou
wilt call my burden unto appearance, for I who am the Virgin goddess am
the pregnant goddess, and I have cast down my burden even unto the
borders of the universe. They that blaspheme me are stoned, and my veil
is fallen about me even unto the end of time.
Now there arises a great raging of thousands and thousands of mighty
warriors flashing through the thyr so thickly that nothing is to be
seen but their swords, which are like blue-gray plumes. And the noise
is confused, thousands of battle-cries harmonizing to a roar, like the
roar of a monstrous river in flood. And all the stone is dull, dull
gray. The life is gone from it.
There is no more to see.
SIDI AISSA, ALGERIA.
November 24, 1909, 8-9 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 26TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED DES
There is a very bright pentagram: and now the stone is gone, and the
whole heaven is black, and the blackness is the blackness of a mighty
angel. And though he is black (his face and his wings and his robe and
his armour are all black), yet is he so bright that I cannot look upon
him. And he cries: O ye spears and vials of poison and sharp swords and
whirling thunderbolts that are about the corners of the earth, girded
with wrath and justice, know ye that His name is Righteous-ness in
Beauty? Burnt out are your eyes, for that ye have seen me in my
majesty. And broken are the drum-heads of your ears, because my name is
as two mountains of fornication, the breasts of a strange woman; and my
Father is not in them.
Lo! the pools of fire and torment mingled with sulphur! Many are their
colours, and their colour is as molten gold, when all is said. Is not
He one, one and alone, in whom the brightness of your countenance is as
1,728 petals of fire.
Also he spake the curse, folding his wings across and crying: Is not
the son the enemy of his father? And hath not the daughter stolen the
warmth of the bed of her mother? therefore is the great curse
irrevocable. Therefore there is neither wisdom nor understanding nor
knowledge in this house, that hangeth upon the edge of hell. Thou art
not 4 but 2, O thou blasphemy spoken against 1!
Therefore whoso worshippeth thee is accursed. He shall be brayed in a
mortar and the powder thereof cast to the winds, that the birds of the
air may eat thereof and die; and he shall be dissolved in strong acid
and the elixir poured into the sea, that the fishes of the sea may
brea the thereof and die. And he shall be mingled with dung and spread
upon the earth, so that the herbs of the earth may feed thereof and
die; and he shall be burnt utterly with fire, and the ashes thereof
shall calcine the children of flame, that even in hell may be found an
overflowing lamentation.
And now on the breast of the Angel is a golden egg between the
blackness of the wings, and that egg grows and grows all over the
thyr. Andit breaks, and within there is a golden eagle.
And he cries: Woe! woe! woe! Yea, woe unto the world! For there is no
sin, and there is no salvation. My plumes are like waves of gold upon
the sea. My eyes are brighter than the sun. My tongue is swifter than
the lightning.
Yet am I hemmed in by the armies of night, singing, singing praises
unto Him that is smitten by the thunderbolt of the abyss. Is not the
sky clear behind the sun? These clouds that burn thee up, these rays
that scorch the brains of men with blindness; these are heralds before
my face of the dissolution and the night.
Ye are all blinded by my glory; and though ye treasure in your heart
the sacred word that is the last lever of the key to the little door
beyond the abyss, yet ye gloss and comment thereupon; for the light
itself is but illusion. Truth itself is but illusion. Yea, these be the
great illusions beyond life and space and time.
Let thy lips blister with my words! Are they not meteors in thy brain?
Back, back from the face of the accursed one, who am I; back into the
night of my father, into the silence; for all that ye deem right is
left, forward is backward, upward is downward.
I am the great god adored of the holy ones. Yet am I the accursed one,
child of the elements and not their father.
O my mother! wilt thou not have pity upon me? Wilt thou not shield me?
For I am naked, I am manifest, I am profane. O my father! wilt not thou
withdraw me? I am extended, I am double, I am profane.
Woe, woe unto me! These are they that hear not prayer. It is I that
have heard all prayer alway, and there is none to answer me. Woe unto
me! Woe unto me! Accursed am I unto the ons!
All this time this brilliant eagle-headed god has been attacked,
seemingly, by invisible people, for he is wounded now and again, here
and there; little streams of fresh blood come out over the feathers of
his breast. And the smoke of the blood is gradually filling the thyr
with a crimson veil. There is a scroll over the top, saying: Ecclesia
abhorret a sanguine; and there is another scroll below it in a language
of which I do not know the sounds. The meaning is, Not as they have
understood.
The blood is thicker and darker now, and it is becoming clotted and
black, so that everything is blotted out; because it coagulates,
coagulates. And then at the top there steals a dawn of pure
night-blue,-Oh, the stars, the stars in it deeply set!-and
drives the blood down; so that all round the top of the oval gradually
dawns the figure of our Lady Nuit, and beneath her is the flaming
winged disk, and below the altar of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, even as it is upon
the Stele of Revealing. But below is the supine figure of Seb, into
whom is concentrated all that clotted blood.
And there comes a voice: It is the dawn of the on. The ons of cursing
are passed away. Force and fire, strength and sight, these are for the
servants of the Star and the Snake.
And now I seem to be lying in the desert, exhausted.
THE DESERT, NEAR SIDI AISSA.
November 25, 1909. 1.10-2 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 25TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED VTI
There is nothing in the stone but the pale gold of the Rosy Cross.
Now there comes an Angel with bright wings, that is the Angel of the
25th Aire. And all the aire is a dark olive about him, like an
alexandrite stone. He bears a pitcher or amphora. And now there comes
another Angel upon a white horse, and yet again another Angel upon a
black bull. And now there comes a lion and swallows the two latter
angels up. The first angel goes to the lion and closes his mouth. And
behind them are arrayed a great company of Angels with silver spears,
like a forest. And the Angel says: Blow, all ye trumpets, for I will
loose my hands from the mouth of the lion, and his roaring shall
enkindle the worlds.
Then the trumpets blow, and the wind rises and whistles terribly. It is
a blue wind with silver specks; and it blows through the whole thyr.
But through it one perceives the lion, which has become as a raging
flame.
And he roareth in an unknown tongue. But this is the interpretation
thereof: Let the stars be burnt up in the fire of my nostrils! Let all
the gods and the archangels and the angels and the spirits that are on
the earth, and above the earth, and below the earth, that are in all
the heavens and in all the hells, let them be as motes dancing in the
beam of mine eye!
I am he that swalloweth up death and victory. I have slain the crownd
goat, and drunk up the great sea. Like the ash of dried leaves the
worlds are blown before me. Thou hast passed by me, and thou hast not
known me. Woe unto thee, that I have not devoured thee altoge ther!
On my head is the crown, 419 rays far-darting. And my body is the body
of the Snake, and my soul is the soul of the Crowned Child. Though an
Angel in white robes leadeth me, who shall ride upon me but the Woman
of Abom-inations? Who is the Beast? Am not I one more than he? In his
hand is a sword that is a book. In his hand is a spear that is a cup of
fornication. Upon his mouth is set the great and terrible seal. And he
hath the secret of V. His ten horns spring from five points, and his
eight heads are as the charioteer of the West. Thus doth the fire of
the sun temper the spear of Mars, and thus shall he be worshipped, as
the warrior lord of the sun. Yet in him is the woman that devoureth
with her water all the fire of God.
Alas! my lord, thou art joined with him that knoweth not these things.
When shall the day come that men shall flock to this my gate, and fall
into my furious throat, a whirlpool of fire? This is hell unquenchable,
and all they shall be utterly consumed therein. Therefore is that
asbestos unconsumable made pure.
Each of my teeth is a letter of the reverberating name. My tongue is a
pillar of fire, and from the glands of my mouth arise four pillars of
water. TAOTZEM is the name by which I am blasphemed. My name thou shalt
not know, lest thou pronounce it and pass by.
And now the Angel comes forward again and closes his mouth.
All this time heavy blows have been raining upon me from invisible
angels, so that I am weighed down as with a burden greater than the
world. I am altoge ther crushed. Great millstones are hurled out of
heaven upon me. I am trying to crawl to the lion, and the ground is
covered with sharp knives. I cut myself at every inch.
And the voice comes: Why art thou there who art here? Hast thou not the
sign of the number, and the seal of the name, and the ring of the eye?
Thou wilt not.
And I answered and said: I am a creature of earth, and ye would have me
swim.
And the voice said: Thy fear is known; thine ignorance is known; thy
weakness is known; but thou art nothing in this matter. Shall the grain
which is cast into the earth by the hand of the sower debate within
itself, saying, am I oats or barley? Bond-slave of the curse, we give
nothing, we take all. Be thou content. That which thou art, thou art.
Be content.
And now the lion passeth over through the thyr with the crowned beast
upon his back, and the tail of the lion goes on instead of stopping,
and on each hair of the tail is something or other-sometimes a little
house, sometimes a planet, at other times a town. Then there is a great
plain with soldiers fighting upon it, and an enormously high mountain
carved into a thousand temples, and more houses and fields and trees,
and great cities with wonderful buildings in them, statues and columns
and public buildings generally. This goes on and on and on and on and
on and on and on all on the hairs of this lion's tail.
And then there is the tuft of his tail, which is like a comet, but the
head is a new universe, and each hair streaming away from it is a Milky
Way.
And then there is a pale stern figure, enormous, enormous, bigger than
all that universe is, in silver armour, with a sword and a pair of
balances. That is only vague. All has gone into stone-gray, blank.
There is nothing.
AIN EL HAJEL.
November 25, 1909. 8.40-9.40 p.m.
(There were two voices in all this Cry, one behind the other-or, one
was the speech, and the other the meaning. And the voice that was the
speech was simply a roaring, one tremendous noise, like a mixture of
thunder and water-falls and wild beasts and bands and artillery. And
yet it was articulate, though I cannot tell you what a single word was.
But the meaning of the voice-the second voice-was quite silent, and put
the ideas directly into the brain of the Seer, as if by touch. It is
not certain whether the millstones and the sword-strokes that rained
upon him were not these very sounds and ideas.)
THE CRY OF THE 24TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED NIA
An angel comes forward into the stone like a warrior clad in
chain-armour. Upon his head are plumes of gray, spread out like the fan
of a peacock. About his feet a great army of scorpions and dogs, lions,
elephants, and many other wild beasts. He stretches forth his arms to
heaven and cries; In the crackling of the lightning, in the rolling of
the thunder, in the clashing of the swords and the hurling of the
arrows: be thy name exalted!
Streams of fire come out of the heavens, a pale brilliant blue, like
plumes. And they gather themselves and settle upon his lips. His lips
are redder than roses, and the blue plumes gather themselves into a
blue rose, and from beneath the petals of the rose come brightly
coloured humming-birds, and dew falls from the rose-honey-coloured dew.
I stand in the shower of it.
And a voice proceeds from the rose: Come away! Our chariot is drawn by
doves. Of mother-of-pearl and ivory is our chariot and the reins
thereof are the heart-strings of men. Every moment that we fly shall
cover an on. And every place on which we rest shall be a young
universe rejoicing in its strength; the meadows thereof shall be
covered with flowers. There shall we rest but a night, and in the
morning we shall flee away, comforted.
Now, to myself, I have imagined the chariot of which the voice spake,
and I looked to see who was with me in the chariot. It was an Angel of
golden hair and golden skin, whose eyes were bluer than the sea, whose
mouth was redder than the fire, whose breath was ambrosial air. Finer
than a spider's web were her robes. And they were of the seven colours.
All this I saw; and then the hidden voice went on low and sweet: Come
away! The price of the journey is little, though its name be death.
Thou shalt die to all that thou fearest and hopest and hatest and
lovest and thinkest and art. Yea! thou shalt die, even as thou must
die. For all that thou hast, thou hast not; all that thou art, thou art
not!
NENNI OFEKUFA ANANAEL LAIADA I MAEL-PEREJI NONUKA AFAFA ADAREPEHETA
PEREGI ALADI NIISA NIISA LAPE OL ZODIR IDOIAN.
And I said: ODO KIKALE QAA. Why art thou hidden from me, whom I hear?
And the voice answered and said unto me: Hearing is of the spirit
alone. Thou art a partaker of the five-fold mystery. Thou must roll up
the ten divine ones like a scroll, and fashion therefrom a star. Yet
must thou blot out the star in the heart of Hadit.
For the blood of my heart is like a warm bath of myrrh and ambergris;
ba the thyself therein. The blood of my heart is all gathered upon my
lips if I kiss thee, burns in my fingertips if I caress thee, burns in
my womb when thou art caught up into my bed. Mighty are the stars;
mighty is the sun; mighty is the moon; mighty is the voice of the
ever-living one, and the echoes of his whisper are the thunders of the
dissolution of the worlds. But my silence is mightier than they. Close
up the worlds like unto a weary house; close up the book of the
recorder, and let the veil swallow up the shrine, for I am arisen, O my
fair one, and there is no more need of all these things.
If once I put thee apart from me, it was the joy of play. Is not the
ebb and flowing of the tide a music of the sea? Come, let us mount unto
Nuit our mother and be lost! Let being be emptied in the infinite
abyss! For by me only shalt thou mount; thou hast none other wings than
mine.
All this while the Rose has been shooting out blue flames, coruscating
like snakes through the whole Aire. And the snakes have taken shapes of
sentences. One of them is: Sub umbra alarum tuarum Adonai quies et
felicitas. And another: Summum bonum, vera sapientia, magnanima vita,
sub noctis nocte sunt. And another is: Vera medicina est vinum mortis.
And another is: Libertas evangelii per jugum legis ob gloriam dei
intactam ad vacuum nequaquam tendit. And another is: Sub aqua lex
terrarum. And another is: Mens edax rerum, cor umbra rerum;
intelligentia via summa. And another is: Summa via lucis: per
Hephaestum undas regas. And another is: Vir introit tumulum regis,
invenit oleum lucis.
And all round the whole of these things are the letters TARO; but the
light is so dreadful that I cannot read the words. I am going to try
again. All these serpents are collected together very thickly at the
edges of the wheel, because there are an innumerable number of
sentences. One is: tres annos regimen
oraculi. And another is: terribilis ardet rex }wylu. And another is:
Ter amb (amp?) (can't see it) rosam oleo (?). And another is: Tribus
annulis regna olisbon. And the marvel is that with those four letters
you can get a complete set of rules for doing everything, both for
white magic and black.
And now I see the heart of the rose again. I see the face of him that
is the heart of the rose, and in the glory of that face I am ended. My
eyes are fixed upon his eyes; my being is sucked up through my eyes
into those eyes. And I see through those eyes, and lo! the universe,
like whirling sparks of gold, blown like a tempest. I seem to swell out
again into him. My consciousness fills the whole thyr. I hear the cry
NIA, ringing again and again from within me. It sounds like infinite
music, and behind the sound is the meaning of the thyr. Again there
are no words.
All this time the whirling sparks of gold go on, and they are like blue
sky, with a lot of rather thin white clouds in it, outside. And now I
see mountains round, far blue mountains, purple mountains. And in the
midst is a little green dell of moss, which is all sparkling with dew
that drips from the rose. And I am lying on that moss with my face
upwards, drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking of the dew.
I cannot describe to you the joy and the exhaustion of everything that
was, and the energy of everything that is, for it is only a corpse that
is lying on the moss. I am the soul of the thyr.
Now it reverberates like the swords of archangels, clashing upon the
armour of the damned; and there seem to be the blacksmiths of heaven
beating the steel of the worlds upon the anvils of hell, to make a roof
to the thyr.
For if the great work were accomplished and all the thyrs were caught
up into one, then would the vision fail; then would the voice be still.
Now all is gone from the stone.
AIN EL HAJEL.
November 26, 1909. 2-3.25 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 23RD THYR, WHICH IS CALLED TOR.
In the brightness of the stone are three lights, brighter than all,
which revolve ceaselessly. And now there is a spider's web of silver
covering the whole of the stone. Behind the spider's web is a star of
twelve rays; and behind that again, a black bull, furiously pawing up
the ground. The flames from his mouth increase and whirl, and he cries:
Behold the mystery of toil, O thou who art taken in the toils of
mystery. For I who trample the earth thereby make whirlpools in the
air; be comforted, therefore, for though I be black, in the roof of my
mouth is the sign of the Beetle. Bent are the backs of my brethren, yet
shall they gore the lion with their horns. Have I not the wings of the
eagle, and the face of the man?
And now he is turned into one of those winged Assyrian bull- men.
And he sayeth: The spade of the husbandman is the sceptre of the king.
All the heavens beneath me, they serve me. They are my fields and my
gardens and my orchards and my pastures.
Glory be unto thee, who didst set thy feet in the North; whose forehead
is pierced with the sharp points of the diamonds in thy crown; whose
heart is pierced with the spear of thine own fecundity.
Thou art an egg of blackness, and a worm of poison. But thou hast
formulated thy father, and made fertile thy mother.
Thou art the basilisk whose gaze turns men to stone, and the cockatrice
at the breast of an harlot that giveth death for milk. Thou art the asp
that has stolen into the cradle of the babe. Glory unto thee, who art
twined about the world as the vine that
clingeth to the bare body of a bacchanal.
Also, though I be planted so firmly upon the earth, yet is my blood
wine and my breath fire of madness. With these wings, though they be
but little, I lift myself above the crown of the yod, and being without
fins I yet swim in the inviolate fountain.
I disport myself in the ruins of Eden, even as Leviathan in the false
sea, being whole as the rose at the crown of the cross. Come ye unto
me, my children, and be glad. At the end of labour is the power of
labour. And in my stability is concentrated eternal change.
For the whirlings of the universe are but the course of the blood in my
heart. And the unspeakable variety thereof is but my divers hairs, and
plumes, and gems in my tall crown. The change which ye lament is the
life of my rejoicing, and the sorrow that blackeneth your hearts is the
myriad deaths by which I am renewed. And the instability which maketh
ye to fear, is the little waverings of balance by which I am assured.
And now the veil of silver tissue-stuff closes over him, and above
that, a purple veil, and above that, a golden veil, so that now the
whole stone is like a thick mat of woven gold wires; and there come
forth, one from each side of the stone, two women, and grasp each other
by both hands, and kiss, and melt into one another; and melt away.* And
now the veils open again, the gold parts, and the purple parts, and the
silver parts, and there is a crowned eagle, also like the Assyrian
eagles.
And he cries: All my strength and stability are turned to the use of
flight. For though my wings are of fine gold, yet my heart is the heart
of a scorpion.
Glory unto thee, who being born in a stable didst make thee mirth of
the filth thereof, who didst suck in iniquity from the
image
* These are intended to show symbolically that the Bull is the same as
the Eagle.
breast of thy mother the harlot; who didst flood with iniquity the
bodies of thy concubines.
Thou didst lie in the filth of the streets with the dogs; thou wast
tumbled and shameless and wanton in a place where four roads meet.
There wast thou defiled, and there wast thou slain, and there wast thou
left to rot. The charred stake was thrust through thy bowels, and thy
parts were cut off and thrust into thy mouth for derision.
All my unity is dissolved; I live in the tips of my feathers. That
which I think to be myself is but infinite number. Glory unto the Rose
and the Cross, for the Cross is extended unto the uttermost end beyond
space and time and being and knowledge and delight! Glory unto the Rose
that is the minute point of its center! Even as we say; glory unto the
Rose that is Nuit the circumference of all, and glory unto the Cross
that is the heart of the Rose!
Therefore do I cry aloud, and my scream is the treble as the bellowing
of the bull is the bass. Peace in the highest and peace in the lowest
and peace in the midst thereof! Peace in the eight quarters, peace in
the ten points of the Penta-gram! Peace in the twelve rays of the seal
of Solomon, and peace in the four and thirty whirlings of the hammer of
Thor! Behold! I blaze upon thee. (The eagle is gone; it is only a
flaming Rosy Cross of white brilliance.) I catch thee up into rapture.
FALUTLI, FALUTLI!
. . . O it dies, it dies.
BOU SADA.
November 28, 1909. 9.30-10.15 a.m.
THE CRY OF THE 22ND THYR, WHICH IS CALLED LIN
There comes first into the stone the mysterious table of forty- nine
squares. It is surrounded by an innumerable company of angels; these
angels are of all kinds,-some brilliant and flashing as gods, down to
elemental creatures. The light comes and goes on the tablet; and now it
is steady, and I perceive that each letter of the tablet is composed of
forty-nine other letters, in a language which looks like that of
Honorius; but when I would read, the letter that I look at becomes
indistinct at once.
And now there comes an Angel, to hide the tablet with his mighty wing.
This Angel has all the colours mingled in his dress; his head is proud
and beautiful; his headdress is of silver and red and blue and gold and
black, like cascades of water, and in his left hand he has a pan-pipe
of the seven holy metals, upon which he plays. I cannot tell you how
wonderful the music is, but it is so wonderful that one only lives in
one's ears; one cannot see anything any more.
Now he stops playing and moves with his finger in the air. His finger
leaves a trail of fire of every colour, so that the whole Aire is
become like a web of mingled lights. But through it all drops dew.
(I can't describe these things at all. Dew doesn't represent what I
mean in the least. For instance, these drops of dew are enormous
globes, shining like the full moon, only perfectly transparent, as well
as perfectly luminous.)
And now he shows the tablet again, and he says: As there are 49 letters
in the tablet, so are there 49 kinds of cosmos in every thought of God.
And there are 49 interpretations of every cosmos, and each
interpretation is manifested in 49 ways. Thus also are the calls 49,
but to each call there are 49 visions. And each vision is composed of
49 elements, except in the 10th thyr, that is accursd, and that
hath42.
All this while the dewdrops have turned into cascades of gold finer
than the eyelashes of a little child. And though the extent of the
thyr is so enormous, one perceives each hair separately, as well as
the whole thing at once. And now there is a mighty concourse of angels
rushing toward me from every side, and they melt upon the surface of
the egg in which I am standing in the form of the god Kneph, so that
the surface of the egg is all one dazzling blaze of liquid light.
Now I move up against the tablet,-I cannot tell you with what rapture.
And all the names of God, that are not known even to the angels, clothe
me about.
All the seven senses are transmuted into one sense, and that sense is
dissolved in itself . . . (Here occurs Samadhi.)
. . . Let me speak, O God; let me declare it . . . all. It is useless;
my heart faints, my breath stops. There is no link between me and P . .
. I withdraw myself. I see the table again.
(He was behind the table for a very long time. O.V.)
And all the table burns with intolerable light; there has been no such
light in any of the thyrs until now. And now the table draws me back
into itself; I am no more.
My arms were out in the form of a cross, and that Cross was extended,
blazing with light into infinity. I myself am the minutest point in it.
This is the birth of form.
I am encircled by an immense sphere of many-coloured bands; it seems it
is the sphere of the Sephiroth projected in the three dimensions. This
is the birth of death.
Now in the centre within me is a glowing sun. That is the birth of
hell.
Now all that is swept away, washed away by the table. It is the virtue
of the table to sweep everything away. It is the letter I in this thyr
thatgives this vision, and L is its purity, and N is its energy. Now
everything is confused, for I invoked the Mind, that is disruption.
Every Adept who beholds this vision is
corrupted by mind. Yet it is by virtue of mind that he endures it, and
passes on, if so be that he pass on. Yet there is nothing higher than
this, for it is perfectly balanced in itself. I cannot read a word of
the holy Table, for the letters of the Table are all wrong. They are
only the shadows of shadows. And whoso beholdeth this Table with this
rapture, is light. The true word for light hath seven letters. They are
the same as ARARITA, transmuted.
There is a voice in this thyr, but it cannot be spoken. The only way
one can represent it is as a ceaseless thundering of the word Amen. It
is not a repetition of Amen, because there is no time. It is one Amen
continuous.
Shall mine eye fade before thy glory? I am the eye. That is why the eye
is seventy. You can never understand why, except in this vision.
And now the table recedes from me. Far, far it goes, streaming with
light. And there are two black angels bending over me, covering me with
their wings, shutting me up into the darkness; and I am lying in the
Pastos of our Father Christian Rosenkreutz, beneath the Table in the
Vault of seven sides. And I hear these words:
The voice of the Crowned Child, the Speech of the Babe that is hidden
in the egg of blue. (Before me is the flaming Rosy Cross.) I have
opened mine eye, and the universe is dissolved before me, for force is
mine upper eye-lid and matter is my lower eye-lid. I gaze into the
seven spaces, and there is naught.
The rest of it comes without words; and then again:
I have gone forth to war, and I have slain him that sat upon the sea,
crowned with the winds. I put forth my power and he was broken. I
withdrew my power and he was ground into fine dust.
Rejoice with me, O ye Sons of the Morning; stand with me upon the
Throne of Lotus; gather yourselves up unto me, and we shall play
together in the fields of light. I have passed into the Kingdom of the
West after my Father.
Behold! where are now the darkness and the terror and the lamentation?
For ye are born into the new on; ye shall not suffer death. Bind up
your girdles of gold! Wrea the yourselves with garlands of my unfading
flowers! In the nights we will dance together, and in the morning we
will go forth to war; for, as my Father liveth that was dead, so do I
live and shall never die.
And now the table comes rushing back. It covers the whole stone, but
this time it pushes me before it, and a terrible voice cries: Begone!
Thou hast profaned the mystery; thou hast eaten of the shew-bread; thou
hast spilt the consecrated wine! Begone! For the Voice is accomplished.
Begone! For that which was open is shut. And thou shalt not avail to
open it, saving by virtue of him whose name is one, whose spirit is
one, whose individuum is one, and whose permutation is one; whose light
is one, whose life is one, whose love is one. For though thou art
joined to the inmost mystery of the heaven, thou must accomplish the
sevenfold task of the earth, even as thou sawest the Angels from the
greatest unto the least. And of all this shalt thou take back with thee
but a little part, for the sense shall be darkened, and the shrine
re-veiled. Yet know this for thy reproof, and for the stirring up of
discontent in them whose swords are of lath, that in every word of this
vision is concealed the key of many mysteries, even of being, and of
knowledge, and of bliss; of will, of courage, of wisdom, and of
silence, and of that which, being all these, is greater than all these.
Begone! For the night of life is fallen upon thee. And the veil of
light hideth that which is.
With that, I suddenly see the world as it is, and I am very sorrowful.
BOU-SAADA.
November 28, 1909. 4-6 p.m.
(Note.-You do not come back in any way dazed; it is like going from one
room into another. Regained normal con- sciousness completely and
immediately.)
THE CRY OF THE 21ST THYR, WHICH IS CALLED ASP.
A mighty wind rolls through all the thyr; there is a sense of absolute
emptiness; no colour, no form, no substance. Only now and then there
seem as it were, the shadows of great angels, swept along. No sound;
there is something very remorseless about the wind, passionless, that
is very terrible. In a way, it is nerve-shaking. It seems as if
something kept on trying to open behind the wind, and just as it is
about to open, the effort is exhausted. The wind is not cold or hot;
there is no sense of any kind connected with it. One does not even feel
it, for one is standing in front of it.
Now, the thing opens behind, just for a second, and I catch a glimpse
of an avenue of pillars, and at the end a throne, supported by
sphinxes. All this is black marble.
Now I seem to have gone through the wind, and to be standing before the
throne; but he that sitteth thereon is invisible. Yet it is from him
that all this desolation proceeds.
He is trying to make me understand by putting tastes in my mouth, very
rapidly one after the other. Salt, honey, sugar, assafoetida, bitumen,
honey again, some taste that I don't know at all; garlic, something
very bitter like nux vomica, another taste, still more bitter; lemon,
cloves, rose-leaves, honey again; the juice of some plant, like a
dandelion, I think; honey again, salt, a taste something like
phosphorus, honey, laurel, a very unpleasant taste which I don't know,
coffee, then a burning taste, then a sour taste that I don't know. All
these tastes issue from his eyes; he signals them.
I can see his eyes now. They are very round, with perfectly
black pupils, perfectly white iris, and the cornea pale blue. The sense
of desolation is so acute that I keep on trying to get away from the
vision.
I told him that I could not understand his taste-language, so instead
he set up a humming very much like a big electric plant with dynamos
going.
Now the atmosphere is deep night-blue; and by the power of that
atmosphere, the pillars kindle to a dull glowing crimson, and the
throne is a dull, ruddy gold. And now, through the humming, come very
clear, bell-like notes, and farther still a muttering, like that of a
gathering storm.
And now I hear the meaning of the muttering: I am he who was before the
beginning, and in my desolation I cried aloud, saying, let me behold my
countenance in the concave of the abyss. And I beheld, and lo! in the
darkness of the abyss my countenance was black, and empty, and
distorted, that was (once) invisible and pure.
Then I closed mine eye, that I might not behold it, and for this was it
fixed. Now it is written that one glance of mine eye shall destroy it.
And mine eye I dare not open, because of the foulness of the vision.
Therefore do I gaze with these two eyes throughout the on. Is there
not one of all my adepts that shall come unto me, and cut off mine
eyelids, that I may behold and destroy?
Now I take a dagger, and, searching out his third eye, seek to cut off
the eye-lids, but they are of adamant. And the edge of the dagger is
turned.
And tears drop from his eyes, and there is a mournful voice: So it hath
been ever: so must it ever be! Though thou hast the strength of five
bulls, thou shalt not avail in this.
And I said to him: Who shall avail? And he answered me: I know not. But
the dagger of penance thou shalt temper seven times, afflicting the
seven courses of thy soul. And thou shalt
sharpen its edge seven times by the seven ordeals.
(One keeps on looking round to try to find something else because of
the terror of it. But nothing changes at all. Nothing but the empty
throne, and the eyes, and the avenue of pillars!)
And I said to him: O thou that art the first countenance before time;
thou of whom it is written that "He, God, is one; He is the eternal
one, without equal, son or companion. Nothing shall stand before His
face"; all we have heard of thine infinite glory and holiness, of thy
beauty and majesty, and behold! there is nothing but this abomination
of desolation.
He speaks; I cannot hear a word; something about the Book of the Law.
The answer is written in the Book of the Law, or something of that
sort.
This is a long speech; all that I can hear is: From me pour down the
fires of life and increase continually upon the earth. From me flow
down the rivers of water and oil and wine. From me cometh forth the
wind that beareth the seed of trees and flowers and fruits and all
herbs upon its bosom. From me cometh forth the earth in her unspeakable
variety. Yea! all cometh from me, naught cometh to me. Therefore am I
lonely and horrible upon this unprofitable throne. Only those who
accept nothing from me can bring anything to me.
(He goes on speaking again: I cannot hear a word. I may have got about
a twentieth of what he said.) And I say to him: It was written that his
name is Silence, but thou speakest continually.
And he answers: Nay, the muttering that thou hearest is not my voice.
It is the voice of the ape.
(When I say that he answers, it means that it is the same voice. The
being on the throne has not uttered a word.) I say: O thou ape that
speakest for Him whose name is Silence, how shall I know that thou
speakest truly His thought? And the muttering continues: Nor speaketh
He nor thinketh, so that which
I say is true, because I lie in speaking His thoughts.
He goes on, nothing stops him; and the muttering comes so fast that I
cannot hear him at all.
Now the muttering has ceased, or is overwhelmed by the bells, and the
bells in their turn are overwhelmed by the whirring, and now the
whirring is overwhelmed by the silence. And the blue light is gone, and
the throne and the pillars are returned to blackness, and the eyes of
him that sitteth upon the throne are no more visible.
I seek to go up close to the throne, and I am pushed back, because I
cannot give the sign. I have given all the signs I know and am entitled
to, and I have tried to give the sign that I know and am not entitled
to, but have not the necessary appurtenance; and even if I had, it
would be useless; for there are two more signs necessary.
I find that I was wrong in suggesting that a Master of the Temple had a
right to enter the temple of a Magus or an Ipsissimus. On the contrary,
the rule that holds below, holds also above. The higher you go, the
greater is the distance from one grade to another.
I am being slowly pushed backwards down the avenue, out into the wind.
And this time I am caught up by the wind and whirled away down it like
a dead leaf.
And a great Angel sweeps through the wind, and catches hold of me, and
bears me up against it; and he sets me down on the hither side of the
wind, and he whispers in my ear: Go thou forth into the world, O thrice
and four times blessed who hast gazed upon the horror of the loneliness
of The First. No man shall look upon his face and live. And thou hast
seen his eyes, and understood his heart, for the voice of the ape is
the pulse of his heart and the labouring of his breast. Go, therefore,
and rejoice, for thou art the prophet of the on arising, wherein He is
not. Give thou praise unto thy lady Nuit, and unto her lord Hadit, that
are for thee and thy bride, and the winners of the ordeal X.
And with that we are come to the wall of the thyr, and there is a
little narrow gate, and he pushes me through it, and I am suddenly in
the desert.
THE DESERT, NEAR BOU SADA.*
November 29, 1909. 1.30-2.50 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 20TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED KHR
The dew that was upon the face of the stone is gone, and it is become
like a pool of clear golden water. And now the light is come into the
Rosy Cross. Yet all that I see is the night, with the stars therein, as
they appear through a telescope. And there cometh a peacock into the
stone, filling the whole Aire. It is like the vision called the
Universal Peacock, or, rather, like a representation of that vision.
And now there are countless clouds of white angels filling the Aire as
the peacock dissolves.
Now behind the angels are archangels with trumpets. These cause all
things to appear at once, so that there is a tremendous confusion of
images. And now I perceive that all these things are but veils of the
wheel, for they all gather themselves into a wheel that spins with
incredible velocity. It hath many colours, but all thrilled with white
light, so that they are transparent and luminous. This one wheel is
forty-nine wheels, set at different angles, so that they compose a
sphere; each wheel has forty-nine spokes, and has forty-nine concentric
tyres at equal distances from the centre. And wherever the rays from
any two wheels meet, there is a blinding flash of glory. It must be
understood that though so much detail is visible in the wheel, yet at
the same time the impression is of a single, simple object.
image
* This night I took the shew-stone to my breast to sleep, and
immediately a Dhyana arose of the sun, seen more clearly afterwards
as the Star. Exceeding was its brilliance.
It seems that this wheel is being spun by a hand. Though the wheel
fills the whole Aire, yet the hand is much bigger than the wheel.
And though this vision is so great and splendid, yet there is no
seriousness with it, or solemnity. It seems that the hand is
spinning the wheel merely for pleasure, it would be better to say
amusement.
A voice comes: For he is a jocund and a ruddy god, and his laughter
is the vibration of all that exists, and the earthquakes of the
soul.
One is conscious of the whirring of the wheel thrilling one, like
an electric discharge passing through one.
Now I see the figures on the wheel, which have been inter- preted
as the sworded Sphinx, Hermanubis and Typhon. And that is wrong.
The rim of the wheel is a vivid emerald snake; in the centre of the
wheel is a scarlet heart; and, impossible to explain as it is, the
scarlet of the heart and the green of the snake are yet more vivid
than the blinding white brilliance of the wheel.
The figures on the wheel are darker than the wheel itself; in fact,
they are stains upon the purity of the wheel, and for that reason,
and because of the whirling of the wheel, I cannot see them. But at
the top seems to be the Lamb and Flag, such as one sees on some
Christian medals, and one of the lower things is a wolf, and the
other a raven. The Lamb and Flag symbol is much brighter than the
other two. It keeps on growing brighter, until now it is brighter
than the wheel itself, and occupies more space than it did.
It speaks: I am the greatest of the deceivers, for my purity and
innocence shall seduce the pure and innocent, who but for me should
come to the centre of the wheel. The wolf betrayeth only the greedy
and the treacherous; the raven betrayeth only the melancholy and
the dishonest. But I am he of whom it is written: He shall deceive
the very elect.
For in the beginning the Father of all called forth lying spirits
that they might sift the creatures of the earth in three sieves,
according to the three impure souls. And he chose the wolf for the
lust of the flesh, and the raven for the lust of the mind; but me
did he choose above all to simulate the pure prompting of the soul.
Them that are fallen a prey to the wolf and the raven I have not
scathed; but them that have rejected me, I have given over to the
wrath of the raven and the wolf. And the jaws of the one have torn
them, and the beak of the other has devoured the corpse. Therefore
is my flag white, because I have left nothing upon the earth alive.
I have feasted myself on the blood of the saints, but I am not
suspected of men to be their enemy, for my fleece is white and
warm, and my teeth are not the teeth of one that teareth flesh; and
mine eyes are mild, and they know me not the chief of the lying
spirits that the Father of all sent forth from before his face in
the beginning.
(His attribution is salt; the wolf mercury, and the raven sulphur.)
Now the lamb grows small again, there is again nothing but the
wheel, and the hand that whirleth it.
And I said: "By the word of power, double in the voice of the
Master; by the word that is seven, and one in seven; and by the
great and terrible word 210, I beseech thee, O my Lord, to grant me
the vision of thy glory." And all the rays of the wheel stream out
at me, and I am blasted and blinded with the light. I am caught up
into the wheel. I am one with the wheel. I am greater than the
wheel. In the midst of a myriad lightnings I stand, and I behold
his face. (I am thrown violently back on to the earth every second,
so that I cannot quite concentrate.)
All one gets is a liquid flame of pale gold. But its radiant force
keeps hurling me back.
And I say: By the word and the will, by the penance and the prayer,
let me behold thy face. (I cannot explain this, there is confusion
of personalities.) I who speak to you, see what I tell
you; but I, who see him, cannot communicate it to me, who speak to
you.
If one could gaze upon the sun at noon, that might be like the
substance of him. But the light is without heat. It is the vision
of Ut in the Upanishads. And from this vision have come all the
legends of Bacchus and Krishna and Adonis. For the impression is of
a youth dancing and making music. But you must understand that he
is not doing that, for he is still. Even the hand that turns the
wheel is not his hand, but only a hand energized by him.
And now it is the dance of Shiva. I lie beneath his feet, his
saint, his victim. My form is the form of the God Phtah, in my
essence, but the form of the god Seb in my form. And this is the
reason of existence, that in this dance which is delight, there
must needs be both the god and the adept. Also the earth herself is
a saint; and the sun and the moon dance upon her, torturing her
with delight.
This vision is not perfect. I am only in the outer court of the
vision, because I have undertaken it in the service of the Holy
One, and must retain sense and speech. No recorded vision is
perfect, of high visions, for the seer must keep either his
physical organs or his memory in working order. And neither is
capable. There is no bridge. One can only be conscious of one thing
at a time, and as the consciousness moves nearer to the vision, it
loses control of the physical and mental. Even so, the body and the
mind must be very perfect before anything can be done, or the
energy of the vision may send the body into spasms and the mind
into insanity. This is why the first visions give Ananda, which is
a shock. When the adept is attuned to Samadhi, there is but
cloudless peace.
This vision is particularly difficult to get into, because he is I.
And herefore the human ego is being constantly excited, so that one
comes back so often. An acentric meditation practice like
mahasatipatthana ought to be done before invocations of the Holy
Guardian Angel, so that the ego may be very ready to yield itself
utterly to the Beloved.
And now the breeze is blowing about us, like the sighs of love
unsatisfied-or satisfied. His lips move. I cannot say the words at
first.
And afterwords: "Shalt thou not bring the children of men to the
sight of my glory? 'Only thy silence and thy speech that worship me
avail.' 'For as I am the last, so am I the next, and as the next
shalt thou reveal me to the multitude.' Fear not for aught; turn
not aside for aught, eremite of Nuit, apostle of Hadit, warrior of
Ra Hoor Khu! The leaven taketh, and the bread shall be sweet; the
ferment worketh, and the wine shall be sweet. My sacraments are
vigorous food and divine madness. Come unto me, O ye children of
men; come unto me, in whom I am, in whom ye are, were ye only alive
with the life that abideth in Light."
All this time I have been fading away. I sink. The veil of night
comes down a dull blue-gray with one pentagram in the midst of it,
watery and dull. And I am to abide there for a while before I come
back to the earth. (But shut me the window up, hide me from the
sun. Oh, shut the window!)*
Now, the pentagram is faded; black crosses fill the thyr gradually
growing and interlacing, until there is a network.
It is all dark now. I am lying exhausted, with the sharp edge of
the shew-stone cutting into my forehead.
BOU-SADA.
November 30, 1909. 9.15-10.50 a.m.
image
* It was done.-O. V.
image
The Alphabet
A
A
Of Daggers
B
B
C
C
D
D
E
E
D
F
G
G
H
H
I
I
J
J
K
K
L
L
M
M
N
N
O
O
P
P
Q
Q
R
R
S
S
T
T
U
U
V
V
W
W
X
X
Y
Y
Z
Z
THE CRY OF THE 19TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED POP
At first there is a black web over the face of the stone. A ray of
light pierces it from behind and above. Then cometh a black cross,
reaching across the whole stone; then a golden cross, not so large.
And there is a writing in an arch that spans the cross, in an
alphabet in which the letters are all formed of little daggers,
cross-hilted, differently arranged. And the writing is: Worship in
the body the things of the body; worship in the mind the things of
the mind; worship in the spirit the things of the spirit.
(This holy alphabet must be written by sinners, that is, by those
who are impure.)
"Impure" means those whose every thought is followed by another
thought, or who confuse the higher with the lower, the substance
with the shadow. Every thyr is truth, though it be but a shadow,
for the shadow of a man is not the shadow of an ape.
(Note.-All this has come to me without voice, without vision,
without thought.)
(The shew-stone is pressed upon my forehead and causes intense
pain; as I go on from thyr to thyr, it seems more difficult to
open the thyr.)
The golden cross has become a little narrow door, and an old man
like the Hermit of the Taro has opened it and come out. I ask him
for admission: and he shakes his head kindly, and says: It is not
given to flesh and blood to unveil the mysteries of the thyr, for
therein are the chariots of fire. and the tumult of the horsemen;
whoso entereth here may never look on life again with equal eyes. I
insist.
The little gate is guarded by a great green dragon. And now the
whole wall is suddenly fallen away; there is a blaze of the
chariots and the horsemen; a furious battle is raging. One hears
nothing but the clash of steel and the neighing of the chargers
and the shrieks of the wounded. A thousand fall at every encounter
and are trampled under foot. Yet the thyr is always full; there
are infinite reserves.
No; that is all wrong, for this is not a battle between two forces,
but a mle in which each warrior fights for himself against all
the others. I cannot see one who has even one ally. And the least
fortunate, who fall soonest, are those in the chariots. For as soon
as they are engaged in fighting, their own charioteers stab them in
the back.
And in the midst of the battlefield there is a great tree, like a
chinar-tree. Yet it bears fruits. And now all the warriors are
dead, and they are the ripe fruits that are fallen-the ground is
covered with them.
There is a laugh in my right ear: "This is the tree of life."
And now there is a mighty god, Sebek, with the head of a crocodile.
His head is gray, like river mud, and his jaws fill the whole Aire.
And he crunches up the whole tree and the ground and everything.
Now then at last cometh forth the Angel of the thyr, who is like
the Angel of the fourteenth key of Rota, with beautiful blue wings,
blue robes, the sun in her girdle like a brooch, and the two
crescents of the moon shapen into sandals for her feet. Her hair is
of flowing gold, each sparkle as a star. In her hands are the torch
of Penelope and the cup of Circe.
She comes and kisses me on the mouth, and says: Blessed art thou
who hast beheld Sebek my Lord in his glory. Many are the champions
of life, but all are unhorsed by the lance of death. Many are the
children of the light, but their eyes shall all be put out by the
Mother Darkness. Many are the servants of love, but love (that is
not quenched by aught but love) shall be put out, as the child
taketh the wick of a taper between his thumb and finger, by the god
that sitteth alone.
And on her mouth, like a chrysan themum of radiant light, is a
kiss, and on it is the monogram I.H.S. The letters I.H.S. mean In
Homini Salus and Instar Hominis Summus, and Imago Hominis deuS. And
there are many, many other meanings, but they all imply this one
thing; that nothing is of any importance but man; there is no hope
or help but in man.
And she says: Sweet are my kisses, O wayfarer that wanderest from
star to star. Sweet are my kisses, O householder that weariest
within four walls. Thou art pent within thy brain, and my shaft
pierceth it, and thou art free. Thine imagination eateth up the
universe as the dragon that eateth up the moon. And in my shaft is
it concentrated and bound up. See how all around thee gather my
warriors, strong knights in goodly armour ready for war. Look upon
my crown; it is above the stars. Behold the glow and the blush
thereof! Upon thy cheek is the breeze that stirs those plumes of
truth. For though I am the Angel of the fourteenth key, I am also
the Angel of the eighth key. And from the love of these two have I
come, who am the warden of Pop and the servant of them that dwell
therein. Though all crowns fall, mine shall not fall; for my plumes
reach up unto the Knees of Him that sitteth upon the holy throne,
and liveth and reigneth for ever and ever as the balance of
righteousness and truth. I am the Angel of the moon. I am the
veiled one that sitteth between the pillars veiled with a shining
veil, and on my lap is the open Book of the mysteries of the
ineffable light. I am the aspiration unto the higher; I am the love
of the unknown. I am the blind ache within the heart of man. I am
the minister of the sacrament of pain. I swing the censer of
worship, and I sprinkle the waters of purification. I am the
daughter of the house of the invisible. I am the Priestess of the
Silver Star.
And she catches me up to her as a mother catches her babe, and
holds me up in her left arm, and sets my lips to her breast. And
upon her breast is written: Rosa Mundi est Lilium Coeli.
And I look down upon the open Book of the mysteries, and it is open
at the page on which is the Holy Table with the twelve squares in
the midst. It radiates a blaze of light, too dazzling to make out
the characters, and a voice says: Non haec piscis omnium.
(To interpret that, we must think of 'Icqj, which does not conceal
Iesous Christos Theon Uios Soter as traditionally asserted, but is
a mystery of the letter Nun and the letter Qoph, as may be seen by
adding it up.
'Icqj is only connected with Christianity because it was a
hieroglyph of syphilis, which the Romans supposed to have been
brought from Syria; and it seems to have been confounded with
leprosy, which also they thought was caused by fish-eating.
One important meaning of 'Icqj: it is formed of the initials of
five Egyptian deities and also of five Greek deities: in both cases
a magic formula of tremendous power is concealed.
As to the Holy Table itself, I cannot see it for the blaze of
light; but I am given to understand that it appears in another
thyr, of which it forms practically the whole content. And I am
bidden to study the Holy Table very intently so as to be able to
concentrate on it when it appears.
I have grown greater, so that I am as great as the Angel. And we
are standing, as if crucified, face to face, our hands and lips and
breasts and knees and feet together, and her eyes pierce into my
eyes like whirling shafts of steel, so that I fall backwards
headlong through the thyr-and there is a sudden and tremendous
shout, absolutely stunning, cold and brutal: Osiris was a black
god!* And the thyr claps its hands, greater than the peal of a
thousand mighty thunders.
I am back.
BOU-SAADA.
November 30, 1909 10-11.45 p.m.
image
* The Doctrine implied is that one must not be the child, but the
Mother
THE CRY OF THE 18TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED ZEN
A Voice comes before any vision: Accursed are they who enter herein if
they have nails, for they shall be pierced therewith; or if they have
thorns, for they shall be crowned withal; or if they have whips, for
with whips they shall be scourged: or if they bear wine, for their wine
shall be turned to bitterness; or if they have a spear, for with a
spear shall they be pierced unto the heart. And the nails are desires,
of which there are three; the desire of light, the desire of life, the
desire of love.
(And the thorns are thoughts, and the whips are regrets, and the wine
is ease, or perhaps unsteadiness, especially in ecstasy, and the spear
is attachment.)
And now there dawns the scene of the Crucifixion; but the Crucified One
is an enormous bat, and for the two thieves are two little children. It
is night, and the night is full of hideous things and howlings.
And an angel cometh forth, and saith: Be wary, for if thou change so
much as the style of a letter, the holy word is blasphemed. But enter
into the mountain of the Caverns, for that this (how much more then
that Calvary which mocks it, as his ape mocks Thoth?) is but the empty
shell of the mystery of ZEN. Verily, I say unto thee, many are the
adepts that have looked upon the back parts of my father, and cried,
"our eyes fail before the glory of thy countenance."
And with that he gives the sign of the rending of the veil, and tears
down the vision. And behold! whirling columns of fiery light,
seventy-two. Upon them is supported a mountain of pure crystal. The
mountain is a cone, the angle of the apex being sixty degrees. And
within the crystal is a pyramid of ruby, like unto the Great Pyramid of
Gizeh.
I am entered in by the little door thereof, and I am come into the
chamber of the king, which is fashioned like unto the vault of
the adepts, or rather it is fitting to say that the vault of the adepts
is a vile imitation of it. For there are four sides to the chamber,
which with the roof and the floor and the chamber itself makes seven.
So also is the pastos seven, for that which is within is like unto that
which is without. And there is no furniture, and there are no symbols.
Light streams from every side upon the pastos. This light is that blue
of Horus which we know, but being refined it is brilliance. For the
light of Horus only appears blue because of the imperfection of our
eyes. But though the light pours from the pastos, yet the pastos
remains perfectly dark, so that it is invisible. It hath no form: only,
at a certain point in the chamber, the light is beaten back.
I lie prostate upon the ground before this mystery. Its splendour is
impossible to describe. I can only say that its splendour is so great
that my heart stops with the terror and the wonder and the rapture of
it. I am almost mad. A million insane images chase each other through
my brain. . . . A voice comes: (it is my own voice-I did not know it).
"When thou shalt know me, O thou empty God, my little flame shall
utterly expire in thy great N.O.X." There is no answer. . . . (20
minutes. O.V.). . . .
And now, after so long a while, the Angel* lifts me, and takes me from
the room, and sets me in a little chamber where is another Angel like a
fair youth in shining garments, who makes me partake of the sacraments;
bread, that is labour; and fire, that is wit; and a rose, that is sin;
and wine, that is death. And all about us is a great company of angels
in many-coloured robes, rose and spring-green, and sky-blue, and pale
gold, and silver, and lilac, solemnly chanting without words. It is
music wonderful beyond all that can be thought.
* No angel has been mentioned. The Seer was lost to being.
And now we go out of the chamber; on the right is a pylon, and the
right figure is Isis, and the left figure Nephthys, and they are
folding their wings over, and supporting Ra.
I wanted to go back to the King's Chamber. The Angel pushed me away,
saying: "Thou shalt see these visions from afar off, but thou shalt not
partake of them save in the manner prescribed. For if thou change so
much as the style of a letter, the holy word is blasphemed."
And this is the manner prescribed:
Let there be a room furnished as for the ritual of passing through the
Tuat. And let the aspirant be clad in the robes of, and let him bear
the insignia of his grade. And at the least he shall be a neophyte.
Three days and three nights shall he have been in the tomb, vigilant
and fasting, for he shall sleep no longer than three hours at any one
time, and he shall drink pure water, and eat little sweet cakes
consecrated unto the moon, and fruits, and the eggs of the duck, or of
the goose, or of the plover. And he shall be shut in, so that no man
may break in upon his meditation. But in the last twelve hours he shall
neither eat nor sleep.
Then shall he break his fast, eating rich food, and drinking sweet
wines, and wines that foam; and he shall banish the elements and the
planets and the signs and the sephiroth; and then shall he take the
holy table that he hath made for his altar, and he shall take the call
of the thyr of which he will partake, which he hath written in the
angelic character, or in the character of the holy alphabet that is
revealed in Pop, upon a fair sheet of virgin vellum; and therewith
shall he conjure the thyr, chanting the call. And in the lamp that is
hung above the altar shall he burn the call that he hath written.
Then shall he kneel before the holy table, and it shall be given him to
partake of the mystery of the thyr.
And concerning the ink with which he shall write; for the first
thyr let it be gold, for the second scarlet, for the third violet, for
the fourth emerald, for the fifth silver, for the sixth sapphire, for
the seventh orange, for the eighth indigo, for the ninth gray, for the
tenth black, for the eleventh maroon, for the twelfth russet, for the
thirteenth green-gray, for the fourteenth amber, for the fifteenth
olive, for the sixteenth pale blue, for the seventeenth crimson, for
the eighteenth bright yellow, for the nineteenth crimson adorned with
silver, for the twentieth mauve, for the twenty-first pale green, for
the twenty-second rose-madder, for the twenty-third violet cobalt, for
the twenty-fourth beetle- brown, blue-brown colour, for the
twenty-fifth a cold dark gray, for the twenty-sixth white flecked with
red, blue, and yellow; the edges of the letters shall be green, for the
twenty-seventh angry clouds of ruddy brown, for the twenty-eighth
indigo, for the twenty-ninth bluish-green, for the thirtieth mixed
colours.
This shall be the form to be used by him who would partake of the
mystery of any thyr. And let him not change so much as the style of a
letter, lest the holy word be blasphemed.
And let him beware, after he hath been permitted to partake of this
mystery, that he await the completion of the 91st hour of his
retirement, before he open the door of the place of his retirement;
lest he contaminate his glory with uncleanness, and lest they that
behold him be smitten by his glory unto death.
For this is a holy mystery, and he that did first attain to reveal the
alphabet thereof, perceived not one ten-thousandth part of the fringe
that is upon its vesture.
Come away! for the clouds are gathered together, and the Aire heaveth
like the womb of a woman in travail. Come away! lest he loose the
lightnings from his hand, and unleash his hounds of thunder. Come away!
For the voice of the thyr is accomplished. Come away! For the seal of
His loving-kindness is made sure. And let there be praise and blessing
unspeakable unto him that sitteth upon the Holy Throne, for he casteth
down
mercies as a spendthrift that scattereth gold. And he hath shut up
judgment and hidden it away as a miser that hoardeth coins of little
worth.
All this while the Angel hath been pushing me backwards, and now he is
turned into a golden cross with a rose at its heart, and that is the
red cross wherein is set the golden shewstone.
BOU-SADA.
December 1, 1909. 2.30-4.10 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 17TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED TAN
Into the stone there first cometh the head of a dragon, and then the
Angel Madimi. She is not the mere elemental that one would suppose from
the account of Casaubon. I enquire why her form is different.
She says: Since all things are God, in all things thou seest just so
much of God as thy capacity affordeth thee. But behold! Thou must
pierce deeply into this thyr before true images appear. For TAN is
that which transformeth judgment into justice. BAL is the sword, and
TAN the balances.
A pair of balances appears in the stone, and on the bar of the balance
is written: Motion about a point is iniquity.
And behind the balances is a plume, luminous, azure. And somehow
connected with the plume, but I cannot divine how, are these words:
Breath is iniquity. (That is, any wind must stir the feather of truth.)
And behind the plume is a shining filament of quartz, suspended
vertically from the abyss to the abyss. And in the midst is a winged
disk of some extremely delicate, translucent substance, on which is
written in the "dagger" alphabet: Torsion is iniquity. (This means,
that the Rashith Ha-Gilgalim is the first appearance of evil.)
And now an Angel appears, like as he were carven in black
diamonds. And he cries: Woe unto the Second, whom all nations of men
call the First. Woe unto the First, whom all grades of Adepts call the
First. Woe unto me, for I, even as they, have worshipped him. But she
is whose paps are the galaxies, and he that never shall be known, in
them is no motion. For the infinite Without filleth all and moveth not,
and the infinite Within goeth indeed; but it is no odds, else were the
space-marks confounded.
And now the Angel is but a shining speck of blackness in the midst of a
tremendous sphere of liquid and vibrating light, at first gold, then
becoming green, and lastly pure blue. And I see that the green of Libra
is made up of the yellow of air and the blue of water, swords and cups,
judgment and mercy. And this word TAN meaneth mercy. And the feather of
Maat is blue because the truth of justice is mercy. And a voice cometh,
as it were the music of the ripples of the surface of the sphere: Truth
is delight. (This means that the Truth of the universe is delight.)
Another voice cometh; it is the voice of a mighty Angel, all in silver;
the scales of his armour and the plumes of his wings are like
mother-of-pearl in a framework of silver. And he sayeth: Justice is the
equity that ye have made for yourselves between truth and falsehood.
But in Truth there is nothing of this, for there is only Truth. Your
falsehood is but a little falser than your truth. Yet by your truth
shall ye come to Truth. Your truth is your troth with Adonai the
Beloved one. And the Chymical Marriage of the Alchemists beginneth with
a Weighing, and he that is not found wanting hath within him one spark
of fire, so dense and so intense that it cannot be moved, through all
the winds of heaven should clamour against it, and all the waters of
the abyss surge against it, and all the multitude of the earths heap
themselves upon it to smother it. Nay, it shall not be moved.
And this is the fire of which it is written: "Hear thou the voice of
fire!" And the voice of fire is the second chapter of the Book of the
Law, that is revealed unto him that is a score and
half a score and three that are scores, and six, by Aiwass, that is his
guardian, the mighty Angel that extendeth from the first unto the last,
and maketh known the mysteries that are beyond. And the method and the
form of invocation whereby a man shall attain to the knowledge and
conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel shall be given unto thee in the
proper place, and seeing that the word is deadlier than lightning, do
thou meditate straitly thereupon, solitary, in a place where is no
living thing visible, but only the light of the sun. And thy head shall
be bare.* Thus mayest thou become fitted to receive this, the holiest
of the Mysteries. And it is the holiest of the Mysteries because it is
the Next Step. And those Mysteries which lie beyond, though they be
holier, are not holy unto thee, but only remote. (The sense of this
passage seems to be, that the holiness of a thing implies its personal
relation with one, just as one cannot blaspheme an unknown god, because
one does not know what to say to annoy him. And this explains the
perfect inefficiency of those who try to insult the saints; the most
violent attacks are very often merely clumsy compliments.)
Now the Angel is spread completely over the globe, a dewy film of
silver upon that luminous blue.
And a great voice cries: Behold the Queen of Heaven, how she hath woven
her robes from the loom of justice. For as that straight path of the
Arrow cleaving the Rainbow became righteousness in her that sitteth in
the hall of double truth, so at last is she exalted unto the throne of
the High Priestess, the Priestess of the Silver Star, wherein also is
thine Angel made manifest. And this is the mystery of the camel that is
ten days in the desert, and is not athirst, because he hath within him
that water which is the dew distilled from the the night of Nuit.
image
* This I performed in a sort of cave upon the ridge of a great mountain
in the Desert near Bou-Saada at 12-3 p.m. on December 2.
Triple is the cord of silver, that it may be not loosed; and three
score and half a score and three is the number of the name of my name,
for that the ineffable wisdom, that also is of the sphere of the stars,
informeth me. Thus am I crowned with the triangle that is about the
eye, and therefore is my number three. And in me there is no
imperfection, because through me descendeth the influence of TARO. And
that is also the number of Aiwass the mighty Angel, the Minister of
Silence.
And even as the shew-stone burneth thy forehead with its intolerable
flame, so he who hath known me, though but from afar, is marked out and
chosen among men, and he shall never turn back or turn aside, for he
hath made the link that is not to be broken, nay, not by the malice of
the Four Great Princes of evil of the world, nor by Chorozon, that
mighty Devil, nor by the wrath of God, nor by the affliction and
feebleness of the soul.
Yet with this assurance be not thou content; for though thou hast the
wings of the Eagle, they are vain, except they be joined to the
shoulders of the Bull. Now, therefore, I send forth a shaft of my
light, even as a ladder let down from the heaven upon the earth, and by
this black cross of Themis that I hold before thine eyes, do I swear
unto thee that the path shall be open henceforth for evermore.
There is a clash of a myriad silver cymbals, and silence. And then
three times a note is struck upon a bell, which sounds like my holy
Tibetan bell, that is made of electrum magicum.
I am happily returned unto the earth.
BOU-SADA.
December 2, 1909. 12.15-2 a.m.
THE CRY OF THE 16TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED LEA
There are faint and flickering images in a misty landscape, all very
transient. But the general impression is of moonrise at midnight, and a
crowned virgin riding upon a bull.
And they come up into the surface of the stone. And she is singing a
chant of praise: Glory unto him that hath taken upon himself the image
of toil. For by his labour is my labour accomplished. For I, being a
woman, lust ever to mate myself with some beast. And this is the
salvation of the world, that always I am deceived by some god, and that
my child is the guardian of the labyrinth that hath two-and-seventy
paths.
Now she is gone.
And now there are Angels, walking up and down in the stone. They are
the Angels of the Holy Sevenfold Table. It seems that they are waiting
for the Angel of the thyr to come forth.
Now at last he appears in the gloom. He is a mighty King, with crown
and orb and sceptre, and his robes are of purple and gold. And he casts
down the orb and sceptre to the earth, and he tears off his crown, and
throws it on the ground, and tramples it. And he tears out his hair,
that is of ruddy gold tinged with silver, and he plucks at his beard,
and cries with a terrible voice: Woe unto me that am cast down from my
place by the might of the new on. For the ten palaces are broken, and
the ten kings are carried away into bondage, and they are set to fight
as the gladiators in the circus of him that hath laid his hand upon
eleven. For the ancient tower is shattered by the Lord of the Flame and
the Lightning. And they that walk upon their hands shall build the holy
place. Blessed are they who have turned the Eye of Hoor unto the
zenith, for they shall be filled with the vigour of the goat.
All that was ordered and stable is shaken. The on of Wonders is come.
Like locusts shall they gather themselves
together, the servants of the Star and of the Snake, and they shall eat
up everything that is upon the earth. For why? Because the Lord of
Righteousness delighteth in them.
The prophets shall prophesy monstrous things, and the wizards shall
perform monstrous things. The sorceress shall be desired of all men,
and the enchanter shall rule the earth.
Blessing unto the name of the Beast, for he hath let loose a mighty
flood of fire from his manhood, and from his womanhood hath he let
loose a mighty flood of water. Every thought of his mind is as a
tempest that uprooteth the great trees of the earth, and shaketh the
mountains thereof. And the throne of his spirit is a mighty throne of
madness and desolation, so that they that look upon it shall cry:
Behold the abomination!
Of a single ruby shall that throne be built, and it shall be set upon a
high mountain, and men shall see it afar off. Then will I gather
together my chariots and my horsemen and my ships of war. By sea and
land shall my armies and my navies encompass it, and I will encamp
round about it, and besiege it, and by the flame thereof shall I be
utterly devoured. Many lying spirits have I sent into the world that my
on might be established, and they shall be all overthrown.
Great is the Beast that cometh forth like a lion, the servant of the
Star and of the Snake. He is the Eternal one; He is the Almighty one.
Blessed are they upon whom he shall look with favour, for nothing shall
stand before his face. Accursed are they upon whom he shall look with
derision, for nothing shall stand before his face.
And every mystery that hath not been revealed from the foundation of
the world he shall reveal unto his chosen. And they shall have power
over every spirit of the Ether; and of the earth and under the earth;
on dry land and in the water; of whirling air and of rushing fire. And
they shall have power over all the inhabitants of the earth, and every
scourge of God shall be
subdued beneath their feet. The angels shall come unto them and walk
with them, and the great gods of heaven shall be their guests.
But I must sit apart, with dust upon my head, discrowned and desolate.
I must lurk in forbidden corners of the earth. I must plot secretly in
the by-ways of great cities, in the fog, and in marshes of the rivers
of pestilence. And all my cunning shall not serve me. And all my
undertakings shall be brought to naught. And all the ministers of the
Beast shall catch me and tear out my tongue with pincers of red-hot
iron, and they shall brand my forehead with the word of derision, and
they shall shave my head, and pluck out my beard, and make a show of
me.
And the spirit of prophecy shall come upon me despite me ever and anon,
as even now upon my heart and upon my throat; and upon my tongue seared
with strong acid are the words: Vim patior. For so must I give glory to
him that hath supplanted me, that hath cast me down into the dust. I
have hated him, and with hate my bones are rotten. I would have spat
upon him, and my spittle hath befouled my beard. I have taken up the
sword against him, and I am fallen upon it, and mine entrails are about
my feet.
Who shall strive with his might? Hath he not the sword and the spear of
the Warrior Lord of the Sun? Who shall contend with him? Who shall lift
himself up against him? For the latchet of his sandal is more than the
helmet of the Most High. Who shall reach up to him in supplication,
save those that he shall set upon his shoulders? Would God that my
tongue were torn out by the roots, and my throat cut across, and my
heart torn out and given to the vultures, before I say this that I must
say: Blessing and Worship to the Prophet of the Lovely Star!
And now he is fallen quite to the ground, in a heap, and dust is upon
his head; and the throne upon which he sat is shattered into many
pieces.
And dimly dawning in this unutterable gloom, far, far above, is the
face that is the face of a man and of a woman, and upon the brow is a
circle, and upon the breast is a circle, and in the palm of the right
hand is a circle. Gigantic is his stature, and he hath the Uraeus
crown, and the leopard's skin, and the flaming orange apron of a god.
And invisibly about him is Nuit, and in his heart is Hadit, and between
his feet is the great god Ra Hoor Khuit. And in his right hand is a
flaming wand, and in his left a book. Yet is he silent; and that which
is understood between him and me shall not be revealed in this place.
And the mystery shall be revealed to whosoever shall say, with ecstasy
of worship in his heart, with a clear mind, and a passionate body: It
is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
And now all that glory hath withdrawn itself; and the old King lies
prostate, abject.
And the virgin that rode upon the bull cometh forth, led by all those
Angels of the Holy Sevenfold Table, and they are dancing round her with
garlands and sheaves of flowers, loose robes and hair dancing in the
wind. And she smiles upon me with infinite brilliance, so that the
whole thyr flushes warm, and she says with a subtle sub-meaning,
pointing downwards: By this, that.
And I took her hand and kissed it, and I say to her: Am I not nearly
purged of the iniquity of my forefa thers?
With that she bends down, and kisses me on the mouth, and says: "Yet a
little, and on thy left arm shalt thou carry a man- child, and give him
to drink of the milk of thy breasts. But I go dancing."
And I wave my hand, and the thyr is empty and dark, and I bow myself
before it in the sign that I, and only I, may know. And I sink through
waves of blackness, poised on an eagle, down, down, down.
And I give the sign that only I may know.
And now there is nothing in the stone but the black cross of
Themis, and on it these words: Memento: Sequor. (These words probably
mean that the Equinox of Horus is to be followed by that of Themis.)
BOU-SADA.
December 2, 1909. 4.50-6.5 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 15TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED OXO
There appears immediately in the thyr a tremendous column of scarlet
fire, whirling forth, rebounding, crying aloud. And about it are four
columns of green and blue and gold and silver, each inscribed with
writings in the character of the dagger. And the column of fire is
dancing among the pillars. Now it seems that the fire is but the skirt
of the dancer, and the dancer is a mighty god. The vision is
over-powering.
As the dancer whirls, she chants in a strange, slow voice, quickening
as she goes: Lo! I gather up every spirit that is pure, and weave him
into my vesture of flame. I lick up the lives of men, and their souls
sparkle from mine eyes. I am the mighty sorceress, the lust of the
spirit. And by my dancing I gather for my mother Nuit the heads of all
them that are baptized in the waters of life. I am the lust of the
spirit that eateth up the soul of man. I have prepared a feast for the
adepts, and they that partake thereof shall see God.
Now it is clear what she has woven in her dance; it is the Crimson Rose
of 49 Petals, and the Pillars are the Cross with which it is conjoined.
And between the pillars shoot out rays of pure green fire; and now all
the pillars are golden. She ceases to dance, and dwindles, gathering
herself into the centre of the Rose.
Now it is seen that the Rose is a vast ampitheatre, with seven tiers,
each tier divided into seven partitions. And they that sit in the
Amphitheatre are the seven grades of the Order of the Rosy
Cross. This Amphitheatre is built of rose-coloured marble, and of its
size I can say only that the sun might be used as a ball to be thrown
by the players in the arena. But in the arena there is a little altar
of emerald, and its top has the heads of the Four Beasts, in turquoise
and rock-crystal. And the floor of the arena is ridged like a grating
of lapis lazuli. And it is full of pure quicksilver.
Above the altar is a veiled Figure, whose name is Pan. Those in the
outer tier adore him as a Man; and in the next tier they adore him as a
Goat; and in the next tier they adore him as a Ram; and in the next
tier they adore him as a Crab; and in the next tier they adore him as
an Ibis; and in the next tier they adore him as a Golden Hawk; and in
the next tier they adore him not.
And now the light streameth out from the altar, splashed out by the
feet of him that is above it. It is the Holy Twelve-fold Table of OIT.
The voice of him that is above the altar is silence, but the echo
thereof cometh back from the walls of the circus, and is speech. And
this is the speech: Three and four are the days of a quarter of the
moon, and on the seventh day is the sabbath, but thrice four is the
Sabbath of the Adepts whereof the form is revealed in the thyr ZID;
that is the eighth of the Aires. And the mysteries of the Table shall
not be wholly revealed, nor shall they be revealed herein. But thou
shalt gather of the sweat of thy brow a pool of clear water wherein
this shall be revealed. And of the oil that thou burnest in the
midnight shall be gathered together thirteen rivers of blessing; and of
the oil and the water I will prepare a wine to intoxicate the young men
and the maidens. And now the Table is become the universe; every star
is a letter of the Book of Enoch. And the Book of Enoch is drawn
therefrom by an inscrutable Mystery, that is known only to the Angels
and the Holy Sevenfold Table. While I have been gazing upon this table,
an Adept has come forth, one from each tier,
except the inmost Tier.
And the first drove a dagger into my heart, and tasted the blood, and
said: caqarj, caqarj, caqarj, caqarj, caqarj, caqarj.
And the second Adept has been testing the muscles of my right arm and
shoulder, and he says: fortis, fortis, fortis, fortis, fortis.
And the third Adept examines the skin and tastes the sweat of my left
arm, and says:
TAN, TAN, TAN, TAN.
And the fourth Adept examines my neck, and seems to approve, though he
says nothing; and he hath opened the right half of my brain, and he
makes some examination, and says: "Samajh, samajh, samajh."
And the fifth Adept examines the left half of my brain, and then holds
up his hand in protest, and says "PLA . . ." (I cannot get the
sentence, but the meaning is: In the thick darkness the seed awaiteth
spring.)
And now am I again rapt in contemplation of that universe of letters
which are stars.
The words ORLO, ILRO, TULE are three most secret names of God. They are
Magick names, each having an interpretation of the same kind as the
interpretation of I.N.R.I., and the name OIT, RLU, LRL, OOE are other
names of God, that contain magical formulae, the first to invoke fire;
the second, water; the third, air; and the fourth, earth.
And if the Table be read diagonally, every letter, and every
combination of letters, is the name of a devil. And from these are
drawn the formulae of evil magick. But the holy letter I above the
triad LLL dominateth the Table, and preserveth the peace of the
universe
And in the seven talismans about the central Table are contained the
Mysteries of drawing forth the letters. And the letters of the
circumference declare in glory of Nuit, that
beginneth from Aries*.
All this while the Adepts must have been chanting as it were an
oratorio for seven instruments. And this oratorio hath one dominant
theme of rapture. Yet it applieth to every detail of the universe as
well as to the whole. And herein is Choronzon brought utterly to ruin,
that all his work is against his will, not only in the whole, but in
every part thereof, even as a fly that walketh upon a beryl-stone.
And the tablet blazeth ever brighter till it filleth the whole Aire.
And behold! there is is one God therein, and the letters of the stars
in his crown, Orion, and the Pleiades, and Aldebaran, and Alpha
Centauri, and Cor Leonis, and Cor Scorpionis, and Spica, and the
pole-star, and Hercules, and Regulus, and Aquila, and the Ram's Eye.
And upon a map of the stars shalt thou draw the sigil of that name; and
because also some of the letters are alike, thou shalt know that the
stars also have tribes and nations. The letter of a star is but the
totem thereof. And the letter representeth not the whole nature of the
star, but each star must be known by itself in the wisdom of him that
hath the Cynocephalus in leash.
And this pertaineth unto the grade of a Magus-and that is beyond thine.
(All this is communicated not by voice, or by writing; and there is no
form in the stone, but only the brilliance of the Table. And now I am
withdrawn from all that, but the Rosy Cross of 49 petals is set upright
upon the summit of a pyramid, and all is dark, because of the exceeding
light behind.)
And there cometh a voice: The fly cried unto the ox, "Beware!
Streng then thyself. Set thy feet firmly upon the earth, for it is my
purpose to alight between thy shoulders, and I would not harm thee." So
also are they who wish well unto the Masters of the Pyramid.
And the bee said unto the flower: "Give me of thine honey,"
image
* Note that the corner letters in this table are all B = >.
and the flower gave richly thereof; but the bee, though he wit it not,
carried the seed of the flower into many fields of sun. So also are
they that take unto themselves the Masters of the Pyramid for servants.
Now the exceeding light that was behind the Pyramid, and the Rosy Cross
that is set thereon, hath fulfilled the whole Aire. The black Pyramid
is like the back of a black diamond. Also the Rosy Cross is loosened,
and the petals of the Rose are the mingled hues of sunset and of dawn;
and the Cross is the Golden light of noon, and in the heart of the Rose
there is the secret light that men call midnight.
And a voice: "Glory to God and thanksgiving to God, and there is no God
but God. And He is exalted; He is great; and in the Sevenfold Table is
His Name writ openly, and in the Twelvefold Table is His Name
concealed."
And the Pyramid casts a shadow of itself into the sky, and the shadow
spreads over the whole stone. And an angel clad in blue and scarlet,
with golden wings and plumes of purple fire, comes forth and scatters
disks of green and gold, filing all the Aire. And they become
swiftly-whirling wheels, singing together.
And the voice of the angel cries: Gather up thy garments about thee, *
O thou that hast entered the circle of the Sabbath; for in thy
grave-clothes shouldest thou behold the resurrection.
The flesh hangeth upon thee like his rags upon a beggar that is a
pilgrim to the shrine of the Exalted One. Nevertheless, bear them
bravely, and rejoice in the beauty thereof, for the company of the
pilgrims is a glad company, and they have no care, and with song and
dance and wine and fair women do they make merry. And every hostel is
their place, and every maid their queen.
image
* Since the examination in the amphitheatre I have been a naked spirit
Gather up thy garments about thee, I say, for the voice of the thyr,
that is the voice of the on, is ended, and thou art absorbed into the
lesser night, and caught in the web of the light of thy mother in the
word ARBADAHARBA.
And now the five and the six are divorced, and I am come again within
my body.
BOU-SADA.
December 3, 1909. 9.15 to 11.10 a.m.
THE CRY OF THE 14TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED UTA
There come into the stone a white goat, a green dragon, and a tawny
bull. But they pass away immediately. There is a veil of such darkness
before the thyr that it seems impossible to pierce it. But there is a
voice saying: Behold, the Great One of the Night of Time stirreth, and
with his tail he churneth up the slime, and of the foam thereof shall
he make stars. And in the battle of the Python and the Sphinx shall the
glory be to the Sphinx, but the victory to the Python.
Now the veil of darkness is formed of a very great number of
exceedingly fine black veils, and one tears them off one at a time. And
the voice says, There is no light or knowledge or beauty or stability
in the Kingdom of the Grave, whither thou goest. And the worm is
crowned. All that thou wast hath he eaten up, and all that thou art is
his pasture until to-morrow. And all that thou shalt be is nothing.
Thou who wouldst enter the domain of the Great One of the Night of
Time, this burden must thou take up. Deepen not a superficies.
But I go on tearing down the veil that I may behold the vision of UTA,
and hear the voice thererof. And there is a voice: He hath drawn the
black bean. And another voice answers it: Not otherwise could he plant
the Rose. And the first voice: He hath drunk of the waters of death.
The answer: Not otherwise could
he water the Rose. And the first voice: He hath burnt himself at the
Fires of life. And the answer: Not otherwise could he sun the Rose. And
the first voice is so faint that I cannot hear it. But the answer is:
Not otherwise could he pluck the Rose.
And still I go on, struggling with the blackness. Now there is an
earthquake. The veil is torn into thousands of pieces that go flying
away in a whirling wind. And there is an all-glorious Angel before me,
standing in the sign of Apophis and Typhon. On his Forehead is a star,
but all about him is darkness, and the crying of beasts. And there are
lamps moving in the darkness.
And the Angel says: Depart! For thou must invoke me only in the
darkness. Therein will I appear, and reveal unto thee the Mystery of
UTA. For the Mystery thereof is great and terrible. And it shall not be
spoken in sight of the sun.
Therefore I withdraw myself. (Thus far the vision upon Da'leh Addin, a
mountain in the desert near Bou-Saada.)
December 3.
2.50-3.15 p.m.
The Angel re-appears.
The blackness gathers about, so thick, so clinging, so penetrating, so
oppressive, that all the other darkness that I have ever conceived
would be like bright light beside it.
His voice comes in a whisper: O thou that art master of the fifty gates
of Understanding, is not my mother a black woman? O thou that art
master of the Pentagram, is not the egg of spirit a black egg? Here
abideth terror, and the blind ache of the Soul, and lo! even I, who am
the sole light, a spark shut up, stand in the sign of Apophis and
Typhon.
I am the snake that devoureth the spirit of man with the lust of light.
I am the sightless storm in the night that wrappeth the world about
with desolation. Chaos is my name, and thick
darkness. Know thou that the darkness of the earth is ruddy, and the
darkness of the air is grey, but the darkness of the soul is utter
blackness.
The egg of the spirit is a basilisk egg, and the gates of the
understanding are fifty, that is the sign of the Scorpion. The pillars
about the neophyte are crowned with flame, and the vault of the Adepts
is lighted by the Rose. And in the abyss is the eye of the hawk. But
upon the great sea shall the Master of the Temple find neither star nor
moon.
And I was about to answer him: "The light is within me." But before I
could frame the words, he answered me with the great word that is the
Key of the Abyss. And he said: Thou hast entered the night; dost thou
yet lust for day? Sorrow is my name, and affliction. I am girt about
with tribulation. Here still hangs the Crucified One, and here the
Mother weeps over the children that she hath not borne. Sterility is my
name, and desolation. Intolerable is thine ache, and incurable thy
wound. I said, Let the darkness cover me; and behold, I am compassed
about with the blackness that hath no name. O thou, who hast cast down
the light into the earth, so must thou do for ever. And the light of
the sun shall not shine upon thee, and the moon shall not lend thee of
her lustre, and the stars shall be hidden, because thou art passed
beyond these things, beyond the need of these things, beyond the desire
of these things.
What I thought were shapes of rocks, rather felt than seen, now appear
to be veiled Masters, sitting absolutely still and silent. Nor can any
one be distinguished from the others.
And the Angel sayeth: Behold where thine Angel hath led thee! Thou
didst ask fame, power and pleasure, health and wealth and love, and
strength, and length of days. Thou didst hold life with eight
tentacles, like an octopus. Thou didst seek the four powers and the
seven delights and the twelve
emancipations and the two and twenty Privileges and the nine and forty
Manifestations, and lo! thou art become as one of These. Bowed are
their backs, whereon resteth the universe. Veiled are their faces, that
have beheld the glory Ineffable.
These adepts seem like Pyramids-their hoods and robes are like
Pyramids.
And the Angel sayeth: Verily is the Pyramid a Temple of Initiation.
Verily also is it a tomb. Thinkest thou that there is life within the
Masters of the Temple, that sit hooded, encamped upon the Sea? Verily,
there is no life in them.
Their sandals were the pure light, and they have taken them from their
feet and cast them down through the abyss, for this thyr is holy
ground.
Herein no forms appear, and the vision of God face to face, that is
transmuted in the Athanor called dissolution, or hammered into one in
the forge of meditation, is in this place but a blasphemy and a
mockery.
And the Beatific Vision is no more, and the glory of the Most High is
no more. There is no more knowledge. There is no more bliss. There is
no more power. There is no more beauty. For this is the Palace of
Understanding: for thou art one with the Primeval things.
Drink in the myrrh of my speech, that is bruised with the gall of the
roc, and dissolved in the ink of the cuttle-fish, and perfumed with the
deadly nightshade.
This is thy wine, who wast drunk upon the wine of Iacchus. And for
bread shalt thou eat salt, O thou on the corn of Ceres that didst wax
fat! For as pure being is pure nothing, so is pure wisdom pure --,* and
so is pure understanding silence, and stillness, and darkness. The eye
is called seventy, and the triple Aleph whereby thou perceivest it,
divideth into the number of the
image
* I suppose that only a Magus could have heard this word.
terrible word that is the Key of the Abyss.
I am Hermes, that am sent from the Father to expound all things
discreetly in these the last words that thou shalt hear before thou
take thy seat among these, whose eyes are sealed up, and whose ears are
stopped, and whose mouths are clenched, who are folded in upon
themselves, the liquor of whose bodies is dried up, so that nothing
remains but a little pyramid of dust.
And that bright light of comfort, and that piercing sword of truth, and
all that power and beauty that they have made of themselves, is cast
from them, as it is written, "I saw Satan like lightning fall from
Heaven." And as a flaming sword is it dropt through the abyss, where
the four beasts keep watch and ward. And it appeareth in the heaven of
Jupiter as a morning star, or as an evening star. And the light thereof
shineth even unto the earth, and bringeth hope and help to them that
dwell in the darkness of thought, and drink of the poison of life.
Fifty are the gates of understanding, and one hundred and six are the
seasons thereof. And the name of every season is Death.
During all this speech, the figure of the Angel has dwindled and
flickered, and now it is gone out.
And I come back in the body, rushing like a flame in a great wind. And
the shew-stone has become warm, and in it is its own light.
BOU-SADA.
December 3, 1909 9.50-11.15 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 13TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED ZIM
Into the Stone there cometh an image of shining waters, glistening in
the sun. Unfathomable is their beauty, for they are limpid, and the
floor is of gold. Yet the sense thereof is of fruitlessness.
And an Angel cometh forth, of pure pale gold, walking upon the water.
Above his head is a rainbow, and the water foams beneath his feet. And
he saith: Before his face am I come that hath the thirty-three thunders
of increase in his hand. From the golden water shalt thou gather corn.
All the Aire behind him is gold, but it opens as it were a veil. There
are two terrible black giants, wrestling in mortal hatred. And there is
a little bird upon a bush, and the bird flaps its wings. Thereat the
strength of the giants snaps, and they fall in heaps to the earth, as
though all their bones were suddenly broken.
And now waves of light roll through the thyr, as if they were playing.
Therefore suddenly I am in a garden, upon a terrace of a great castle,
that is upon a rocky mountain. In the garden are fountains and many
flowers. There are girls also in the garden, tall, slim, delicate and
pale. And now I see that the flowers are the girls, for they change
from one to another; so varied, and lucent, and harmonious is all this
garden, that it seems like a great opal.
A voice comes: This water which thou seest is called the water of
death. But NEMO hath filled therefrom our springs.
And I said: Who is NEMO?
And the voice answered: A dolphin's tooth, and a ram's horns, and the
hand of a man that is hanged, and the phallus of a goat. (By this I
understand that nun is explained by shin, and h by resh, and mem by
yod, and ayin by tau. NEMO is therefore called 165 = 11 15; and is in
himself 910 = 91 Amen 10; and 13 70 = The One Eye, Achad Ayin.)
And now there cometh an Angel into the garden, but he hath not any of
the attributes of the former Angels, for he is like a young man,
dressed in white linen robes.
And he saith: No man hath beheld the face of my Father. Therefore he
that hath beheld it is called NEMO. And know
thou that every man that is called NEMO hath a garden that he tendeth.
And every garden that is and flourisheth hath been prepared from the
desert by NEMO, watered with the waters that were called death.
And I say unto him: To what end is the garden prepared?
And he saith: First for the beauty and delight thereof; and next
because it is written, "And Tetragrammaton Elohim planted a garden
eastward in Eden." And lastly, because though every flower bringeth
forth a maiden, yet is there one flower that shall bring forth a
man-child. And his name shall be called NEMO, when he beholdeth the
face of my Father. And he that tendeth the garden seeketh not to single
out the flower that shall be NEMO. He doeth naught but tend the garden.
And I said: Pleasant indeed is the garden, and light is the toil of
tending it, and great is the reward.
And he said: Bethink thee that NEMO hath beheld the face of my Father.
In Him is only Peace.
And I said: Are all gardens like unto this garden?
And he waved his hand, and in the Aire across the valley appeared an
island of coral, rosy, with green palms and fruit- trees, in the midst
of the bluest of the seas.
And he waved his hand again, and there appeared a valley shut in by
mighty snow mountains, and in it were pleasant streams of water,
rushing through, and broad rivers, and lakes covered with lilies.
And he waved his hand again, and there was a vision, as it were of an
oasis in the desert.
And again he waved his hand, and there was a dim country with grey
rocks, and heather, and gorse, and bracken.
And he waved his hand yet again, and there was a park, and a small
house therein, surrounded by yews. This time the house opens, and I see
in it an old man, sitting by a table. He is blind. Yet he writeth in a
great book, constantly. I see what he is
writing: "The words of the Book are as the leaves of the flowers in the
garden. Many indeed of these my songs shall go forth as maidens, but
there is one among them, which one I know not, that shall be a
man-child, whose name shall be NEMO, when he hath beheld the face of
the Father, and become blind."
(All this vision is most extraordinarily pleasant and peaceful,
entirely without strength or ecstasy, or any positive quality, but
equally free from the opposites of any of those qualities.) And the
young man seems to read my thought, which is, that I should love to
stay in this garden and do nothing for ever; for he sayeth to me: Come
with me, and behold how NEMO tendeth his garden.
So we enter the earth, and there is a veiled figure, in absolute
darkness. Yet it is perfectly possible to see in it, so that the
minutest details do not escape us. And upon the root of one flower he
pours acid so that that root writhes as if in torture. And another he
cuts, and the shriek is like the shriek of a mandrake, torn up by the
roots. And another he chars with fire, and yet another he anoints with
oil.
And I said: Heavy is the labour, but great indeed is the reward.
And the young man answered me: He shall not see the reward, he tendeth
the garden.
And I said: What shall come unto him?
And he said: This thou canst not know, nor is it revealed by the
letters that are the totems of the stars, but only by the stars.
And he says to me, quite disconnectedly: The man of earth is the
adherent. The lover giveth his life unto the work among men. The hermit
goeth solitary, and giveth only of his light unto men.
And I ask him: Why does he tell me that?
And he says: I tell thee not. Thou tellest thyself, for thou hast
pondered thereupon for many days, and hast not found light.
And now that thou art called NEMO, the answer to every riddle that thou
hast not found shall spring up in thy mind, unsought. Who can tell upon
what day a flower shall bloom?
And thou shalt give thy wisdom unto the world, and that shall be thy
garden. And concerning time and death, thou hast naught to do with
these things. For though a precious stone be hidden in the sand of the
desert, it shall not heed for the wind of the desert, although it be
but sand. For the worker of works hath worked thereupon; and because it
is clear, it is invisible; and because it is hard, it moveth not.
All these words are heard by everyone that is called NEMO. And with
that doth he apply himself to understanding. And he must understand the
virtue of the waters of death, and he must understand the virtue of the
sun and the wind, and of the worm that turneth the earth, and the stars
that roof in the garden. And he must understand the separate nature and
property of every flower, or how shall he tend his garden?
And I said to him: Concerning the Vision and the Voice, I would know if
these things be of the essence of the thyr, or of the essence of the
seer.
And he answers: It is of the essence of him that is called NEMO,
combined with essence of the thyr, for from the 1st thyr to the 15th
thyr, there is no vision and no voice, save for him that is called
NEMO. And he that seeketh the vision and the voice therein is led away
by dog-faced demons that show no sign of truth, seducing from the
Sacred Mysteries, unless his name be NEMO.
And hadst thou not been fitted, thou too hadst been led away, for
before the gate of the 15th thyr, is this written: He shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. And again it is
written: The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. And again it is written
that God tempteth man. But thou hadst the word and the sign, and thou
hadst authority from thy superior,
and licence. And thou hast done well in that thou didst not dare, and
in that thou dost dare. For daring is not presumption.
And he said moreover: Thou dost well to keep silence, for I perceive
how many questions arise in thy mind; yet already thou knowest that the
answering, as the asking, must be vain. For NEMO hath all in himself.
He hath come where there is no light or knowledge, only when he needeth
them no more.
And then we bow silently, giving a certain sign, called the Sign of
Isis Rejoicing. And then he remaineth to ward the thyr, while I return
unto the bank of sand that is the bed of the river near the desert.
THE RIVER-BED NEAR BOU-SADA.
December 4, 1909. 2.10-3.45 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 12TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED LOE.
There appear in the stone two pillars of flame, and in the midst is a
chariot of white fire.
This seems to be the chariot of the Seventh Key of Tarot. But it is
drawn by four sphinxes, diverse, like the four sphinxes upon the door
of the vault of the adepts, counterchanged in their component parts.
The chariot itself is the lunar crescent, waning. The canopy is
supported by eight pillars of amber. These pillars are upright, and yet
the canopy which they support is the whole vault of the night.
The charioteer is a man in golden armour, studded with sapphires, but
over his shoulders is a white robe, and over that a red robe. Upon his
goldenhelmet he beareth for his crest a crab. His hands are clasped
upon a cup, from which radiates a ruddy glow, constantly increasing, so
that everything is blotted out by its glory, and the whole Aire is
filled with it.
And there is a marvelous perfume in the Aire, like unto the perfume of
Ra Hoor Khuit, but sublimated, as if the quintessence of that perfume
alone were burnt. For it hath the richness and voluptuousness and
humanity of blood, and the strength and freshness of meal, and the
sweetness of honey, and the purity of olive-oil, and the holiness of
that oil which is made of myrrh, and cinnamon, and galangal.
The charioteer speaks in a low, solemn voice, awe-inspiring, like a
large and very distant bell: Let him look upon the cup whose blood is
mingled therein, for the wine of the cup is the blood of the saints.
Glory unto the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, that
rideth upon the Beast, for she hath spilt their blood in every corner
of the earth and lo! she hath mingled it in the cup of her whoredom.
With the breath of her kisses hath she fermented it, and it hath become
the wine of the Sacrament, the wine of the Sabbath; and in the Holy
Assembly hath she poured it out for her worshippers, and they had
become drunken thereon, so that face to face they beheld my Father.
Thus are they made worthy to become partakers of the Mystery of this
holy vessel, for the blood is the life. So sitteth she from age to age,
and the righteous are never weary of her kisses, and by her murders and
fornications she seduceth the world. Therein is manifested the glory of
my Father, who is truth.
(This wine is such that its virtue radiateth through the cup, and I
reel under the intoxication of it. And every thought is destroyed by
it. It abideth alone, and its name is Compassion. I understand by
"Compassion," the sacrament of suffering, partaken by the true
worshippers of the Highest. And it is an ecstasy in which there is no
trace of pain. Its passivity (=passion) is like the giving-up of the
self to the beloved.)
The voice continues: This is the Mystery of Babylon, the Mother of
abominations, and this is the mystery of her adulteries,
for she hath yielded up herself to everything that liveth, and hath
become a partaker in its mystery. And because she hath made herself the
servant of each, therefore is she become the mistress of all. Not as
yet canst thou comprehend her glory.
Beautiful art thou, O Babylon, and desirable, for thou hast given
thyself to everything that liveth, and thy weakness hath subdued their
strength. For in that union thou didst understand. Therefore art thou
called Understanding, O Babylon, Lady of the Night!
This is that which is written, "O my God, in one last rapture let me
attain to the union with the many." For she is Love, and her love is
one, and she hath divided the one love into infinite loves, and each
love is one, and equal to The One, and therefore is she passed "from
the assembly and the law and the enlightenment unto the anarchy of
solitude and darkness. For ever thus must she veil the brilliance of
Her Self."
O Babylon, Babylon, thou mighty Mother that ridest upon the crownd
beast, let me be drunken upon the wine of thy fornications; let thy
kisses wanton me unto death, that even I, thy cup-bearer, may
understand.
Now, through the ruddy glow of the cup, I may perceive far above, and
infinitely great, the vision of Babylon. And the Beast whereon she
rideth is the Lord of the City of the Pyramids, that I beheld in the
fourteenth thyr.
Now that is gone in the glow of the cup, and the Angel saith: Not as
yet mayest thou understand the mystery of the Beast, for it pertaineth
not unto the mystery of this Aire, and few that are new-born unto
Understanding are capable thereof.
The cup glows ever brighter and fierier. All my sense is unsteady,
being smitten with ecstasy.
And the Angel sayeth: Blessed are the saints, that their blood is
mingled in the cup, and can never be separate any more. For Babylon the
Beautiful, the Mother of abomina-tions, hath sworn
by her holy cteis, whereof every point is a pang, that she will not
rest from her adulteries until the blood of everything that liveth is
gathered therein, and the wine thereof laid up and matured and
consecrated, and worthy to gladden the heart of my Father. For my
Father is weary with the stress of eld, and cometh not to her bed. Yet
shall this perfect wine be the quintessence, and the elixir, and by the
draught thereof shall he renew his youth; and so shall it be eternally,
as age by age the worlds do dissolve and change, and the universe
unfoldeth itself as a Rose, and shutteth itself up as the Cross that is
bent into the cube.
And this is the comedy of Pan, that is played at night in the thick
forest. And this is the mystery of Dionysus Zagreus, that is celebrated
upon the holy mountain of Kithairon. And this is the secret of the
brothers of the Rosy Cross; and this is the heart of the ritual that is
accomplished in the Vault of the Adepts that is hidden in the Mountain
of the Caverns, even the Holy Mountain Abiegnus.
And this is the meaning of the Supper of the Passover, the spilling of
the blood of the Lamb being a ritual of the Dark Brothers, for they
have sealed up the Pylon with blood, lest the Angel of Death should
enter therein. Thus do they shut themselves off from the company of the
saints. Thus do they keep themselves from compassion and from
under-standing. Accursed are they, for they shut up their blood in
their heart.
They keep themselves from the kisses of my Mother Babylon, and in their
lonely fortresses they pray to the false moon. And they bind themselves
together with an oath, and with a great curse. And of their malice they
conspire together, and they have power, and mastery, and in their
cauldrons do they brew the harsh wine of delusion, mingled with the
poison of their selfishness.
Thus they make war upon the Holy One, sending forth their delusion upon
men, and upon everything that liveth. So that
their false compassion is called compassion, and their false
understanding is called understanding, for this is their most potent
spell.
Yet of their own poison do they perish, and in their lonely fortresses
shall they be eaten up by Time that hath cheated them to serve him, and
by the mighty devil Choronzon, their master, whose name is the Second
Death, for the blood that they have sprinkled on their Pylon, that is a
bar against the Angel Death, is the key by which he entereth in.*
The Angel sayeth: And this is the word of double power in the voice of
the Master, wherein the Five interpenetrateth the Six. This is its
secret interpretation that may not be understood, save only of them
that understand. And for this is the Key of the Pylon of Power, because
there is no power that may endure, save only the power that descendeth
in this my chariot from Babylon, the city of the Fifty Gates, the Gate
of the God On [}ulabab]. Moreover is On the Key of the Vault that is
120. So also do the Majesty and the Beauty derive from the Supernal
Wisdom.
But this is a mystery utterly beyond thine understanding. For Wisdom is
the Man, and Understanding the Woman, and not until thou hast perfectly
understood canst thou begin to be wise. But I reveal unto thee a
mystery of the thyrs, that not only are they bound up with the
Sephiroth, but also with the Paths. Now, the plane of the thyrs
interpenetrateth and surroundeth the universe wherein the Sephiroth are
estab-lished, and therefore is the order of the thyrs not the orderof
the Tree of Life. And only in a few places do they coincide. But the
knowledge of the thyrs is deeper than the knowledge of the Sephiroth,
for that in the thyrs is the knowledge of the ons,
image
* (I think the trouble with these people was, that they wanted to
substitute the blood of someone else for their own blood, because they
wanted to keep their personalities.)
Qelhma. And to each shall it be given according to his
unconscious mind of the seer, of a personal nature.)
Now a voice comes from without: And lo! I saw you to And a great bell
begins to toll. And there come six little
so fine and transparent that it is hardly visible. Yet, when they
light of the Cup goes out entirely. And as the light of the Cup
t in the whole Aire, for it was hat it was lighted.
And now the light is all gone out of the stone, and I am very
OU S .
December 4 - 5, 1909. 11.30 -1.20 a.m.
T C 11 , IKH
There appears in the stone immediately the Kamea of the And it is
rolled up; and behind it there appeareth a great
r backs are turned towards me,
how tremendous are their arms, which are swords and spears.
clad i complete armour, and the least
breaking forth of a tremendous storm of lightning. The least of
water spout. On their shields are the winged with flame, white, red,
black,
yellow and blue. On their flanks are vast squadrons of elephants,
-
elephants are armed with the thunderbolt of Zeus.
Now in all that host there is no motion. Yet they are not their arms,
but t
them and me is the God Shu, whom before I did not see, because his
force filleth the whole thyr. And indeed he is not visible in his
form. Nor does he come to the seer through any of the senses; he is
understood, rather than expressed.
I perceive that all this army is defended by fortresses, nine mighty
towers of iron upon the frontier of the thyr. Each tower is filled
with warriors in silver armour. It is impossible to describe the
feeling of tension; they are like oarsmen waiting for the gun.
I perceive that an Angel is standing on either side of me; nay, I am in
the midst of a company of armed angels, and their captain is standing
in front of me. He too is clad in silver armour; and about him, closely
wrapped to his body, is a whirling wind, so swift that any blow struck
against him would be broken.
And he speaketh unto me these words:
Behold, a mighty guard against the terror of things, the fastness of
the Most High, the legions of eternal vigilance; these are they that
keep watch and ward day and night throughout the ons. Set in them is
all force of the Mighty One, yet there sirreth not one plume of the
wings of their helmets.
Behold, the foundation of the Holy City, the towers and the bastions
thereof! Behold the armies of light that are set against the outermost
Abyss, against the horror of emptiness, and the malice of Choronzon.
Behold how worshipful is the wisdom of the Master, that he hath set his
stability in the all-wandering Air and in the changeful Moon. In the
purple flashes of lightning hath He written the word Eternity, and in
the wings of the swallow hath He appointed rest.
By three and by three and by three hath He made firm the foundation
against the earthquake that is three. For in the number nine is the
changefulness of the numbers brought to naught. For with whatsoever
number thou wilt cover it, it
appeareth unchanged.
These things are spoken unto him that understandeth, that is a
breastplate unto the elephants, or a corselet unto the angels, or a
scale upon the towers of iron; yet is this mighty host set only for a
defense, and whoso passeth beyond their lines hath no help in them.
Yet must he that understandeth go forth unto the outermost Abyss, and
there must he speak with him that is set above the four-fold terror,
the Princes of Evil, even with Choronzon, the mighty devil that
inhabiteth the outermost Abyss. And none may speak with him, or
understand him, but the servants of Babylon, that understand, and they
that are without understanding, his servants.
Behold! it entereth not into the heart, nor into the mind of man to
conceive this matter; for the sickness of the body is death, and the
sickness of the heart is despair, and the sick-ness of the mind is
madness. But in the outermost Abyss is sickness of the aspiration, and
sickness of the will, and sickness of the essence of all, and there is
neither word nor thought wherein the image of its image is reflected.
And whoso passeth into the outermost Abyss, except he be of them that
understand, holdeth out his hands, and boweth his neck, unto the chains
of Choronzon. And as a devil he walketh about the earth, immortal, and
he blasteth the flowers of the earth, and he corrupteth the fresh air,
and he maketh poisonous the water; and the fire that is the friend of
man, and the pledge of his aspiration, seeing that it mounteth ever
upward as a pyramid, and seeing that man stole it in a hollow tube from
Heaven, even that fire he turneth unto ruin, and madness, and fever,
and destruction. And thou, that art an heap of dry dust in the city of
the pyramids, must understand these things.
And now a thing happens, which is unfortunately sheer nonsense; for the
thyr that is the foundation of the universe
was attacked by the Outermost Abyss, and the only way that I can
express it is by saying that the universe was shaken. But the universe
was not shaken. And that is the exact truth; so that the rational mind
which is interpreting these spiritual things is offended; but, being
trained to obey, it setteth down that which it doth not understand. For
the rational mind indeed reasoneth, but never attaineth unto
Understanding; but the Seer is of them that understand.
And the Angel saith:
Behold, He hath established His mercy and His might, and unto His might
is added victory, and unto his Mercy is added splendour. And all these
things hath He ordered in beauty, and He hath set them firmly upon the
Eternal Rock, and therefrom He hath suspended His kingdom as one pearl
that is set in a jewel of threescore pearls and twelve. And He hath
garnished it with the Four Holy Living Creatures for Guardians, and He
hath graven therein the seal of righteousness,* and He hath burnished
it with the fire of His Angel, and the blush of His loveliness
informeth it, and with delight and with wit hath He made it merry at
the heart, and the core thereof is the Secret of His being, and therein
is His name Generation. And this His stability had the number 80, for
that the price thereof is War.
Beware, therefore, O thou who art appointed to understand the secret of
the Outermost Abyss, for in every Abyss thou must assume the mask and
form of the Angel thereof. Hadst thou a name, thou wert irrevocably
lost. Search, therefore, if there be yet one drop of blood that is not
gathered into the cup of Babylon the Beautiful, for in that little pile
of dust, if there could be one drop of blood, it should be utterly
corrupt; it should breed scorpions and vipers, and the cat of slime.
image
* Full title of Jesod is Tzedeq Jesod Olahm, "The Righteous is the
Foundation of the World."
I.S.V.D., Jesod, = 80, the number of p, the letter of Mars.
And I said unto the Angel:
Is there not one appointed as a warden? And he said:
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani.
Such an ecstasy of anguish racks me that I cannot give it voice, yet I
know it is but as the anguish of Gethsemane. And that is the last word
of the thyr. The outposts are passed, and before the seer extends the
outermost Abyss.
I am returned.
BOU-SADA.
December 5, 1909. 10.10-11.35 p.m.
In nomine BABALON Amen.
Restriction unto Choronzon.
THE TENTH THYR IS CALLED ZAX.
This thyr being accursd, and the seer forewarned, he taketh these
precautions for the scribe.
First let the scribe be seated in the centre of the circle in the
desert sand, and let the circle be fortified by the Holy Names of
God-Tetragrammaton and Shaddai El Chai and Ararita.
And let the Demon be invoked within a triangle, wherein is inscribed
the name of Choronzon, and about it let him write
ANAPHAXETON-ANAPHANETON-PRIMEUMATON, and
in the angles MI-CA-EL: and at each angle the Seer shall slay a pigeon,
and having done this, let him retire to a secret place, where is
neither sight nor hearing, and sit within his black robe, secretly
invoking the thyr. And let the Scribe perform the Banishing Rituals of
the Pentagram and Hexagram, and let him call upon the Holy Names of
God, and say the Exorcism of
Honorius, and let him beseech protection and help of the Most High.
And let him be furnished with the Magick Dagger, and let him strike
fearlessly at anything that may seek to break through the circle, were
it the appearance of the Seer himself. And if the Demon pass out of the
triangle, let him threaten him with the Dagger, and comm and him to
return. And let him beware lest he himself lean beyond the circle. And
since he reverenceth the Person of the Seer as his Teacher, let the
Seer bind him with a great Oath to do this.
Now, then, the Seer being entered within the triangle, let him take the
Victims and cut their throats, pouring the blood within the Triangle,
and being most heedful that not one drop fall without the Triangle; or
else Choronzon should be able to manifest in the universe.
And when the sand hath sucked up the blood of the victims, let him
recite the Call of the thyr apart secretly as aforesaid. Then will the
Vision be revealed, and the Voice heard.
The Oath
I, Omnia Vincam, a Probationer of A A, hereby solemnly promise upon
my magical honour, and swear by Adonai the angel that guardeth me, that
I will defend this magic circle of Art with thoughts and words and
deeds. I promise to threaten with the Dagger and comm and back into the
triangle the spirit incontinent, if he should strive to escape from it;
and to strike with a Dagger at anything that may seek to enter this
Circle, were it in appearance the body of the Seer himself. And I will
be exceeding wary, armed against force and cunning; and I will preserve
with my life the inviolability of this Circle, Amen.
And I summon my Holy Guardian Angel to witness this mine oath, the
which if I break, may I perish, forsaken of Him. Amen and Amen.
THE CRY OF THE 10TH THYR, THAT IS CALLED ZAX
There is no being in the outermost Abyss, but constant forms come forth
from the nothingness of it.
Then the Devil of the thyr, that mighty devil Choronzon, crieth aloud,
Zazas, Zazas, Nasatanada Zasas.
I am the Master of Form, and from me all forms proceed.
I am I. I have shut myself up from the spendthrifts, my gold is safe in
my treasure-chamber, and I have made every living thing my concubine,
and none shall touch them, save only I. And yet I am scorched, even
while I shiver in the wind. He hateth me and tormenteth me. He would
have stolen me from myself, but I shut myself up and mock at him, even
while he plagueth me. From me come leprosy and pox and plague and
cancer and cholera and the falling sickness. Ah! I will reach up to the
knees of the Most High, and tear his phallus with my teeth, and I will
bray his testicles in a mortar, and make poison thereof, to slay the
sons of men.
(Here the Spirit stimulated the voice of Frater P., which also appeared
to come from his station and not from the triangle.)
I don't think I can get any more; I think that's all there is.
(The Frater was seated in a secret place covered completely by a black
robe, in the position called the "Thunderbolt." He did not move or
speak during the ceremony.)
Next the Scribe was hallucinated, believing that before him was a
beautiful courtesan whom previously he had loved in Paris. Now, she
wooed him with soft words and glances, but he knew these things for
delusions of the devil, and he would not leave the circle.
The demon then laughed wildly and loud.
(Upon the Scribe threatening him, the Demon proceeded, after a short
delay.)
They have called me the God of laughter, and I laugh when I will slay.
And they have thought that I could not smile, but I smile upon whom I
would seduce. O inviolable one, that canst not be tempted. If thou
canst comm and me by the power of the Most High, know that I did indeed
tempt thee, and it repenteth me. I bow myself humbly before the great
and terrible names whereby thou hast conjured and constrained me. But
thy name is mercy, and I cry aloud for pardon. Let me come and put my
head beneath thy feet, that I may serve thee. For if thou commandest me
to obedience in the Holy names, I cannot swerve therefrom, for their
first whispering is greater than the noise of all my temptests. Bid me
therefore come unto thee upon my hands and knees that I may adore thee,
and partake of thy forgiveness. Is not thy mercy infinite?
(Here Choronzon attempts to seduce the Scribe by appealing to his
pride.
But the Scribe refused to be tempted, and commanded the demon to
continue with the thyr.
There was again a short delay.)
Choronzon hath no form, because he is the maker of all form; and so
rapidly he changeth from one to the other as he may best think fit to
seduce those whom he hateth, the servants of the Most High.
Thus taketh he the form of a beautiful woman, or of a wise and holy
man, or of a serpent that writheth upon the earth ready to sting.
And, because he is himself, therefore he is no self; the terror of
darkness, and the blindness of night, and the deafness of the adder,
and the tastelessness of stale and stagnant water, and the black fire
of hatred, and the udders of the Cat of slime; not one thing, but many
things. Yet, with all that, his torment is eternal. The sun burns him
as he writhes naked upon the sands of hell, and the wind cuts him
bitterly to the bone, a harsh dry wind, so
that he is sore athirst. Give unto me, I pray thee, one drop of water
from the pure springs of Paradise, that I may quench my thirst.
(The Scribe refused.)
Sprinkle water upon my head. I can hardly go on.
(This last was spoken from the triangle in the natural voice of the
Frater, which Choronzon again simulated. But he did not succeed in
taking the Frater's form-which was absurd!
The Scribe resisted the appeal to his pity, and conjured the demon to
proceed by the names of the Most High. Choronzon attempted also to
seduce the faithfulness of the Scribe. A long colloquy ensued. The
Scribe cursed him by the Holy Names of God, and the power of the
Pentagram.)
I feed upon the names of the Most High. I churn them in my jaws, and I
void them from my fundament. I fear not the power of the Pentagram, for
I am the Master of the Triangle. My name is three hundred and thirty
and three, and that is thrice one. Be vigilant, therefore, for I warn
thee that I am about to deceive thee. I shall say words that thou wilt
take to be the cry of the thyr, and thou wilt write them down,
thinking them to be great secrets of Magick power, and they will be
only my jesting with thee.
(Here the Scribe invoked the Angels, and the Holy Guardian Angel of the
Frater P. . . . The demon replied:)
I know the name of the Angel of thee and thy brother
P. . . ., and all thy dealings with him are but a cloak for thy filthy
sorceries.
(Here the Scribe averred that he knew more than the demon, and so
feared him not, and ordered the demon to proceed.)
Thou canst tell me naught that I know not, for in me is all Knowledge:
Knowledge is my name. Is not the head of the great Serpent arisen into
Knowledge?
(Here the Scribe again commanded Choronzon to continue with the call.)
Know thou that there is no Cry in the tenth thyr like unto the other
Cries, for Choronzon is Dispersion, and cannot fix his mind upon any
one thing for any length of time. Thou canst master him in argument, O
talkative one; thou wast commanded, wast thou not, to talk to
Choronzon? He sought not to enter the circle, or to leave the triangle,
yet thou didst prate of all these things.
(Here the Scribe threatened the demon with anger and pain and hell. The
demon replied:)
Thinkest thou, O fool, that there is any anger and any pain that I am
not, or any hell but this my spirit?
Images, images, images, all without control, all without reason. The
malice of Choronzon is not the malice of a being; it is the quality of
malice, because he that boasteth himself "I am I," hath in truth no
self, and these are they that are fallen under my power, the slaves of
the Blind One that boasted himself to be the Enlightened One. For there
is no centre, nay, nothing but Dispersion.
Woe, woe, woe, threefold to him that is led away by talk, O talkative
One.
O thou that hast written two-and-thirty books of Wisdom, and art more
stupid than an owl, by thine own talk is thy vigilance wearied, and by
my talk art thou befooled and tricked, O thou that sayest that thou
shalt endure. Knowest thou how nigh thou art to destruction? For thou
that art the Scribe hast not the understanding* that alone availeth
against Choronzon. And wert thou not protected by the Holy Names of God
and the circle, I
image
* Originally, for "understanding" was written "power." Choronzon was
always using some word that did not represent his thought, because
there is no proper link between his thought and speech. Note that he
never seems able to distinguish between the Frater and the Scribe, and
addresses first one, then the other, in the same sentence.
would rush upon thee and tear thee. For when I made myself like unto a
beautiful woman, if thou hadst come to me, I would have rotted thy body
with the pox, and thy liver with cancer, and I would have torn off thy
testicles with my teeth. And if I had seduced thy pride, and thou hadst
bidden me to come into the circle, I would have trampled thee under
foot, and for a thousand years shouldst thou have been but one of the
tape-worms that is in me. And if I had seduced thy pity, and thou hadst
poured one drop of water without the circle, then would I have blasted
thee with flame. But I was not able to prevail against thee.
How beautiful are the shadows of the ripples of the sand! Would God
that I were dead.
For know that I am proud and revengeful and lascivious, and I prate
even as thou. For even as I walked among the Sons of God, I heard it
said that P. . . . could both will and know, and might learn at length
to dare, but that to keep silence he should never learn. O thou that
art so ready to speak, so slow to watch, thou art delivered over unto
my power for this. And now one word was necessary unto me, and I could
not speak it. I behold the beauty of the earth in her desolation, and
greater far is mine, who sought to be my naked self. Knowest thou that
in my soul is utmost fear? And such is my force and my cunning, that a
hundred times have I been ready to leap, and for fear have missed. And
a thousand times am I baulked by them of the City of the Pyramids, that
set snares for my feet. More knowledge have I than the Most High, but
my will is broken, and my fierce- ness is marred by fear, and I must
speak, speak, speak, millions of mad voices in my brain.
With a heart of furious fancies, Whereof I am Commander,
With a burning spear And a horse of Air
To the wilderness I wander.
(The idea was to keep the Scribe busy writing, so as to spring upon
him. For, while the Scribe talked, Choronzon had thrown sand into the
circle, and filled it up. But Choronzon could not think fast and
continuously, and so resorted to the device of quotation.
The Scribe had written two or three words of "Tom o'Bedlam," when
Choronzon sprang within the circle (that part of the circumference of
which that was nearest to him he had been filling up with sand all this
time), and leaped upon the Scribe, throwing him to the earth. The
conflict took place within the circle. The Scribe called upon
Tetragrammaton, and succeeded in compelling Choronzon to return into
his triangle. By dint of anger and of threatening him with the Magick
Staff did he accomplish this. He then repaired the circle. The
discomfited demon now continued:)
All is dispersion. These are the qualities of things.
The tenth thyr is the world of adjectives, and there is no substance
therein.
(Now returneth the beautiful woman who had before tempted the Scribe.
She prevailed not.)
I am afraid of sunset, for Tum is more terrible than Ra, and Khephra
the Beetle is greater than the Lion Mau.
I am a-cold.
(Here Choronzon wanted to leave the triangle to obtain wherewith to
cover his nakedness. The Scribe refused the request, threatening the
demon. After a while the latter continued:)
I am commanded, why I know not, by him that speaketh. Were it thou,
thou little fool, I would tear thee limb from limb. I would bite off
thine ears and nose before I began with thee. I would take thy guts for
fiddle-strings at the Black Sabbath.
Thou didst make a great fight there in the circle; thou art a goodly
warrior!
(Then did the demon laugh loudly. The Scribe said: Thou canst not harm
one hair of my head.)
I will pull out every hair of thy head, every hair of thy body, every
hair of thy soul, one by one.
(Then said the Scribe: Thou hast no power.)
Yea, verily I have power over thee, for thou hast taken the Oath, and
art bound unto the White Brothers, and therefore have I the power to
torture thee so long as thou shalt be.
(Then said the Scribe unto him: Thou liest.)
Ask of thy brother P. . . ., and he shall tell thee if I lie!
(This the Scribe refused to do, saying that it was no concern of the
demon's.)
I have prevailed against the Kingdom of the Father, and befouled his
beard; and I have prevailed against the Kingdom of the Son, and torn
off his Phallus; but against the Kingdom of the Holy Ghost shall I
strive and not prevail. The three slain doves are my threefold
blasphemy against him; but their blood shall make fertile the sand, and
I wri the in blackness and horror of hate, and prevail not.
(Then the demon tried to make the Scribe laugh at Magick, and to think
that it was all rubbish, that he might deny the names of God that he
had invoked to protect him; which, if he had doubted but for an
instant, he had leapt upon him, and gnawed through his spine at the
neck.
Choronzon succeed not in his design.)
In this thyr is neither beginning nor end, for it is all hotch- potch,
because it is of the wicked on earth and the damned in hell. And so
long as it be hotch-potch, it mattereth little what may be written by
the sea-green incorruptible Scribe.
The horror of it will be given in another place and time, and through
another Seer, and that Seer shall be slain as a result of his
revealing. But the present Seer, who is not P. . . ., seeth not the
horror, because he is shut up, and hath no name.
(Now was there some further parleying betwixt the demon and the Scribe,
concerning the departure and the writing of the word, the Scribe not
knowing if it were meet that the demon should depart.
Then the Seer took the Holy Ring, and wrote the name BABALON, that is
victory over Choronzon, and he was no more manifest.)
(This cry was obtained on Dec. 6, 1909, between 2 and
4.15 p.m., in a lonely valley of fine sand, in the desert near Bou-
Saada. The thyr was edited and revised on the following day.)
After the conclusion of the Ceremony, a great fire was kindled to
purify the place, and the Circle and Triangle were destroyed.
NOTE BY SCRIBE
Almost from the beginning of the ceremony was the Scribe overshadowed,
and he spoke as it were in spite of himself, remembering afterwards
scarcely a word of his speeches, some of which were long and seemingly
eloquent.
All the time he had a sense of being protected from Choronzon, and this
sense of security prevented his knowing fear.
Several times did the Scribe threaten to put a curse upon the demon;
but ever, before he uttered the words of the curse, did the demon obey
him. For himself, he knoweth not the words of the curse.
Also is it meet to record in this place that the Scribe several times
whistled in a Magical manner, which never before had he attempted, and
the demon was apparently much discomforted thereat.
Now knoweth the Scribe that he was wrong in holding much converse with
the demon; for Choronzon, in the confusion and chaos of his thought, is
much terrified by silence. And by silence can he be brought to obey.
For cunningly doth he talk of many things, going from subject to
subject, and thus he misleadeth the wary into argument with him. And
though Choronzon be easily beaten in argument, yet, by disturbing the
attention of him who would comm and him, doth he gain the victory.
For Choronzon feareth of all things concentration and silence: he
therefore who would comm and him should will in silence: thus is he
brought to obey.
This the Scribe knoweth; for that since the obtaining of the Accursd
Tenth thyr, he hath held converse with Choronzon. And unexpectedly did
he obtain the information he sought after having long refused to answer
the demon's speeches.
Choronzon is dispersion; and such is his fear of concentration that he
will obey rather than be subjected to it, or even behold it in another.
The account of the further dealings of Choronzon with the Scribe will
be found in the Record of Omnia Vincam.
THE CRY OF THE 9TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED ZIP
(The terrible Curse that is the Call of the Thirty thyrs sounds like a
song of ecstasy and triumph; every phrase in it has a secret meaning of
blessing.)
The Shew-stone is of soft lucent white, on which the Rose- Cross shows
a brilliant yet colourless well of light.
And now the veil of the stone is rent with as clap of thunder, and I am
walking upon a razor-edge of light suspended over the Abyss, and before
me and above me are ranged the terrible armies
of the Most High, like unto those in the 11th thyr, but there is one
that cometh forth to meet me upon the ridge, holding out his arms to me
and saying:
(v. I.) Who is this that cometh forth from the Abyss from the place of
rent garments, the habitation of him that is only a name? Who is this
that walketh upon a ray of the bright, the evening star?
Refrain. Glory unto him that is concealed, and glory unto her that
beareth the cup, and glory unto the one that is the child and the
father of their love. Glory unto the star, and glory unto the snake,
and glory unto the swordsman of the sun. And worship and blessing
throughout the on unto the name of the Beast, four-square, mystic,
wonderful!
(v. II.) Who is this that travelleth between the hosts, that is poised
upon the edge of the thyr by the wings of Maut? Who is this that
seeketh the House of the Virgin?
(Refrain.)
(v. III.) This is he that hath given up his name. This is he whose
blood hath been gathered into the cup of BABALON.This is he that
sitteth, a little pile of dry dust, in the city of the Pyramids.
(Refrain.)
(v. IV.) Until the light of the Father of all kindle that death. Until
the breath touch that dry dust. Until the Ibis be revealed unto the
Crab, and the sixfold Star become the radiant Triangle. (Refrain.)
(v. V.) Blessed is not I, not thou, not he, Blessed without name or
number who hath taken the azure of night, and crystallized it into a
pure sapphire-stone, who hath taken the gold of the sun, and beaten it
into an infinite ring, and hath set the sapphire therein, and put it
upon his finger. (Refrain.)
(v. VI.) Open wide your gates, O City of God, for I bring No- one with
me. Sink your swords and your spears in salutation, for the Mother and
the Babe are my companions. Let the banquet be prepared in the palace
of the King's daughter. Let the lights be kindled; Are not we the
children of the light?
(Refrain.)
(v. VII.) For this is the key-stone of the palace of the King's
daughter. This is the Stone of the Philosophers. This is the Stone that
is hidden in the walls of the ramparts. Peace, Peace, Peace unto Him
that is throned therein!
(Refrain.)
Now then we are passed within the lines of the army, and we are come
unto a palace of which every stone is a separate jewel, and is set with
millions of moons.
And this palace is nothing but the body of a woman, proud and delicate,
and beyond imagination fair. She is like a child of twelve years old.
She has very deep eye-lids, and long lashes. Her eyes are closed, or
nearly closed. It is impossible to say anything about her. She is
naked; her whole body is covered with fine gold hairs, that are the
electric flames that are the spears of mighty and terrible Angels who
breast-plates are the scales of her skin. And the hair of her head,
that flows down to her feet, is the very light of God himself. Of all
the glories beheld by the seer in the thyrs, there is not one which is
worthy to be compared with her littlest finger-nail. For although he
may not partake of the thyr, without the ceremonial preparations, even
the beholding of this thyr from afar is like the partaking of all the
former thyrs.
The Seer is lost in wonder, which is peace.
And the ring of the horizon above her is a company of glorious
Archangels with joined hands, that stand and sing: This
is the daughter of BABALON the Beautiful, that she hath borne unto the
Father of All. And unto all hath she borne her.
This is the Daughter of the King. This is the Virgin of Eternity. This
is she that the Holy One hath wrested from the Giant Time, and the
prize of them that have overcome Space. This is she that is set upon
the Throne of Understanding. Holy, Holy, Holy is her name, not to be
spoken among men. For Kor they have called her, and Malkuth, and
Betulah, and Persephone. And the poets have feigned songs about her,
and the prophets have spoken vain things, and the young men have
dreamed vain dreams; but this is she, that immaculate, the name of
whose name may not be spoken. Thought cannot pierce the glory that
defendeth her, for thought is smitten dead before her presence. Memory
is blank, and in the most ancient books of Magick are neither words to
conjure her, nor adorations to praise her. Will bends like a reed in
the tempests that sweep the borders of her kingdom, and imagination
cannot figure so much as one petal of the lilies whereon she standeth
in the lake of crystal, in the sea of
glass.
This is she that hath bedecked her hair with seven stars, the seven
breaths of God that move and thrill its excellence. And she hath tired
her hair with seven combs, whereupon are written the seven secret names
of God that are not known even of the Angels, or of the Archangels, or
of the Leader of the armies of the Lord.
Holy, Holy, Holy art thou, and blessed be Thy name for ever, unto whom
the ons are but the pulsings of thy blood.
I am blind and deaf. My sight and hearing are exhausted.
I know only by the sense of touch. And there is a trem-bling from
within me.
Images keep arising like clouds, or veils, exquisite Chinese ivories,
and porcelains, and many other things of great and delicate beauty; for
such things are informed by Her spirit, for
they are cast off from her into the world of the Qliphoth, or shells of
the dead, that is earth. For every world is the shell or excrement of
the world above it.
I cannot bear the Vision.
A voice comes, I know not whence: Blessed art thou, who hast seen, and
yet hast not believed. For therefore is it given unto thee to taste,
and smell, and feel, and hear, and know by the inner sense, and by the
inmost sense, so that sevenfold is thy rapture.
(My brain is so exhausted that fatigue-images appear, by pure physical
reflex action; they are not astral things at all.
And now I have conquered the fatigue by will. And by placing the
shew-stone upon my forehead, it sends cool electric thrills through my
brain, so as to refresh it, and make it capable of more rapture.
And now again I behold Her.)
And an Angel cometh forth, and behind him whirls a black swastika, made
of fine filaments of light that has been "interfered" with, and he
taketh me aside into a little chamber in one of the nine towers. This
chamber is furnished with maps of many mystical cities. There is a
table, and a strange lamp, that gives light by jetting four columns of
vortex rings of luminous smoke. And he points to the map of the thyrs,
that are arranged as a flaming Sword, so that the thirty thyrs go into
the ten Sephiroth. And the first nine are infinitely holy. And he says,
It is written in the Book of the Law, "Wisdom says: be strong! Then
canst thou bear more joy." "If thou drink, drink by the eight and
ninety rules of art:" And this shall signify unto thee that thou must
undergo great discipline; else the Vision were lost or perverted. For
these mysteries pertain not unto thy grade. Therefore must thou invoke
the Highest before thou unveil the shrines thereof.
And this shall be thy rule: A thousand and one times shalt thou affirm
the unity, and bow thyself a thousand and one times. And thou shalt
recite thrice the call of the thyr. And all day and all night, awake
or asleep, shall thy heart be turned as a lotus-flower unto the light.
And thy body shall be the temple of the Rosy Cross. Thus shall thy mind
be open unto the higher; and then shalt thou be able to conquer the
exhaustion, and it may be find the words-for who shall look upon His
face and live?
Yea, thou tremblest, but from within; because of the holy spirit that
is descended into thy heart, and shaketh thee as an aspen in the wind.
They also tremble that are without, and they are shaken from without by
the earthquakes of his judgement. They have set their affections upon
the earth, and they have stamped with their feet upon the earth, and
cried: It moveth not.
Therefore hath earth opened with strong motion, like the sea, and
swallowed them. Yea, she hath opened her womb to them that lusted after
her, and she hath closed herself upon them. There lie they in torment,
until by her quaking the earth is shattered like brittle glass, and
dissolved like salt in the waters of his mercy, so that they are cast
upon the air to be blown about therein, like seeds that shall take root
in the earth; yet turn they their affections upward to the sun.
But thou, be thou eager and vigilant, performing punctually the rule.
Is it not written, "Change not so much as the style of a letter"?
Depart therefore, for the Vision of the Voice of the ninth thyr that
is called ZIP is passed.
Then I threw back myself into my body by my will
BOU-SADA.
December 7th, 1909. 9.30-11.10 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 8TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED ZID
There appears in the stone a tiny spark of light. It grows a little,
and seems almost to go out, and grows again, and it is blown about the
thyr, andby the wind that blows it is it fanned, and now it gathers
strength, and darts like a snake or a sword, and now it steadies
itself, and is like a Pyramid of light that filleth the whole thyr.
And in the Pyramid is one like unto an Angel, yet at the same time he
is the Pyramid, and he hath no form because he is of the substance of
light, and he taketh not form upon him, for though by him is form
visible, he maketh it visible only to destroy it.
And he saith: The light is come to the darkness, and the darkness is
made light. Then is light married with light, and the child of their
love is that other darkness, wherein they abide that have lost name and
form. Therefore did I kindle him that had not understanding, and in the
Book of the Law did I write the secrets of truth that are like unto a
star and a snake and a sword.
And unto him that understandeth at last do I deliver the secrets of
truth in such wise that the least of the little children of the light
may run to the knees of the mother and be brought to understand.
And thus shall he do who will attain unto the mystery of the knowledge
and conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel:
First, let him prepare a chamber, of which the walls and the roof shall
be white, and the floor shall be covered with a carpet of black squares
and white, and the border thereof shall be blue and gold.
And if it be in a town, the room shall have no window, and if it be in
the country, then it is better if the window be in the roof. Or, if it
be possible, let this invocation be performed in a temple prepared for
the ritual of passing through the Tuat.
From the roof he shall hang a lamp, wherein is a red glass, to burn
olive oil. And this lamp shall he cleanse and make ready
after the prayer of sunset, and beneath the lamp shall be an altar,
foursquare, and the height shall be thrice half of the breadth or
double the breadth.
And upon the altar shall be a censor, hemispherical, sup- ported upon
three legs, of silver, and within it an hemisphere of copper, and upon
the top a grating of gilded silver, and thereupon shall he burn incense
made of four parts of olibanum and two parts of stacte, and one part of
lignum aloes, or of cedar, or of sandal. And this is enough.
And he shall also keep ready in a flask of crystal within the altar,
holy anointing oil made of myrrh and cinnamon and galangal.
And even if he be of higher rank than a Probationer, he shall yet wear
the robe of the Probationer, for the star of flame showeth forth Ra
Hoor Khuit openly upon the breast, and secretly the blue triangle that
descendeth is Nuit, and the red triangle that ascendeth is Hadit. And I
am the golden Tau in the midst of their marriage. Also, if he choose,
he may instead wear a close-fitting robe of shot silk, purple and
green, and upon it a cloak without sleeves, of bright blue, covered
with golden sequins, and scarlet within.
And he shall make himself a wand of almond wood or of hazel cut by his
own hands at dawn at the Equinox, or at the Solstice, or on the day of
Corpus Christi, or on one of the feast- days that are appointed in the
Book of the Law.
And he shall engrave with his own hand upon a plate of gold the Holy
Sevenfold Table, or the Holy Twelvefold Table, or some particular
device. And it shall be foursquare within a circle, and the circle
shall be winged, and he shall attach it about his forehead by a ribbon
of blue silk.
Moreover, he shall wear a fillet of laurel or rose or ivy or rue, and
every day, after the prayer of sunrise, he shall burn it in the fire of
the censor.
Now he shall pray thrice daily, about sunset, and at midnight, and at
sunrise. And if he be able, he shall pray also four times between
sunrise and sunset.
The prayer shall last for the space of an hour, at the least, and he
shall seek ever to extend it, and to inflame himself in praying. Thus
shall he invoke his Holy Guardian Angel for eleven weeks, and in any
case he shall pray seven times daily during the last week of the eleven
weeks.
And during all this time he shall have composed an invocation suitable,
with such wisdom and understanding as may be given him from the Crown,
and this shall he write in letters of gold upon the top of the altar.
For the top of the altar shall be of white wood, well polished, and in
the centre thereof he shall have placed a triangle of oak- wood,
painted with scarlet, and upon this triangle the three legs of the
censer shall stand.
Moreover, he shall copy his invocation upon a sheet of pure white
vellum, with Indian ink, and he shall illuminate it according to his
fancy and imagination, that shall be informed by beauty.
And on the first day of the twelfth week he shall enter the chamber at
sunrise, and he shall make his prayer, having first burnt the
conjuration that he had made upon the vellum in the fire of the lamp.
Then, at his prayer, shall the chamber be filled with light
insufferable for splendour, and a perfume intolerable for sweetness.
And his Holy Guardian Angel shall appear unto him, yea, his Holy
Guardian Angel shall appear untohim, so that he shall be wrapt away
into the Mystery of Holiness.
All that day shall he remain in the enjoyment of the knowledge and
conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
And for three days after he shall remain from sunrise unto sunset in
the temple, and he shall obey the counsel that his Angel
shall have given unto him, and he shall suffer those things that are
appointed.
And for ten days thereafter shall he withdraw himself as shall have
been taught unto him from the fullness of that communion, for he must
harmonize the world that is within with the world that is without.
And at the end of the ninety-one days he shall return into the world,
and there shall he perform that work to which the Angel shall have
appointed him.
And more than this it is not necessary to say, for his Angel shall have
entreated him kindly, and showed him in what manner he may be most
perfectly involved. And unto him that hath this Master there is nothing
else that he needeth, so long as he continue in the knowledge and
conversation of the Angel, so that he shall come at last into the City
of the Pyramids.
Lo! two and twenty are the paths of the Tree, but one is the Serpent of
Wisdom; ten are the ineffable emanations, but one is the Flaming Sword.
Behold! There is an end to life and death, an end to the thrusting
forth and the withdrawing of the breath. Yea, the House of the Father
is a mighty tomb, and in it he hath buried everything whereof ye know.
All this while there hath been no vision, but only a voice, very slow
and clear and deliberate. But now the vision returns, and the voice
says: Thou shalt be called Danae, that art stunned and slain beneath
the weight of the glory of the vision that as yet thou seest not. For
thou shalt suffer many things, until thou art mightier than all the
Kings of the earth, and all the Angels of the Heavens, and all the gods
that are beyond the Heavens. Then shalt thou meet me in equal conflict,
and thou shalt see me as I am. And I will overcome thee and slay thee
with the red rain of my lightnings.
I am lying underneath this pyramid of light. It seems as if I
had the whole weight of it upon me, crushing me with bliss. And yet I
know that I am like the prophet that said: I shall see Him, but not
nigh.
And the Angel sayeth: So shall it be until they that wake are asleep,
and she that sleepeth be arisen from her sleep. For thou art
transparent unto the vision and the voice. And therefore in thee they
manifest not. But they shall be mani-fest unto them unto whom thou dost
deliver them, according unto to the word which I spake unto thee in the
Victorious City.
For I am not only appointed to guard thee, but we are of the blood
royal, the guardians of the Treasure-house of Wisdom. Therefore am I
called the Minister of Ra Hoor Khuit: and yet he is but the Viceroy of
the unknown King. For my name is called Aiwass, that is eight and
seventy. And I am the influence of the Concealed One, and the wheel
that hath eight and seventy parts, yet in all is equivalent to the Gate
that is the name of my Lord when it is spelt fully. And that Gate is
the Path that joineth the Wisdom with the Understanding.
Thus hast thou erred indeed, perceiving me in the path that leadeth
from the Crown unto the Beauty. For that path bridgeth the abyss, and I
am of the supernals. Nor I, nor Thou, nor He can bridge the abyss. It
is the Priestess of the Silver Star, and the Oracles of the gods, and
the Lord of the Hosts of the Mighty. For they are the servants of
Babalon, and of the Beast, and of those others of whom it is not yet
spoken. And, being servants, they have no name, but we are of the blood
royal, and serve not, and therefore are we less than they.
Yet, as a man may be both a mighty warrior and a just judge, so may we
also perform this service if we have aspired and attained thereto. And
yet, with all that, they remain themselves, who have eaten of the
pomegranate in Hell. But thou, that art new-born to understanding, this
mystery is too great for thee; and of the further mystery I will not
speak one word.
Yet for this cause am I come unto thee as the Angel of the thyr,
striking with my hammer upon thy bell, so that thou mightest understand
the mysteries of the thyr, and of the vision and the voice thereof.
For behold! he that understandeth seeth not and heareth not in truth,
because of his understanding that letteth him. But this shall be unto
thee for a sign, that I will surely come unto thee unawares and appear
unto thee. And it is no odds, (i.e., that at this hour I appear not as
I am), for so terrible is the glory of the vision, and so wonderful is
the splendour of the voice, that when thou seest it and hearest it in
truth, for many hours shalt thou be bereft of sense. And thou shalt lie
between heaven and earth in a void place, entranced, and the end
thereof shall be silence, even as it was, not once nor twice, when I
have met with thee, as it were, upon the road to Damascus.
And thou shalt not seek to better this my instruction; but thou shalt
interpret it, and make it easy, for them that seek understanding. And
thou shalt give all that thou hast unto them that have need unto this
end.
And because I am with thee, and in thee, and of thee, thou shalt lack
nothing. But who lack me, lack all. And I swear unto thee by Him that
sitteth upon the Holy Throne, and liveth and reigneth for ever and
ever, that I will be faithful unto this my promise, as thou art
faithful unto this thine obligation.
Now another voice sounds in the thyr, saying: And there was darkness
over all the earth unto the ninth hour.
And with that the Angel is withdrawn, and the pyramid of light seems
very far off.
And now I am fallen unto the earth, exceeding weary. Yet my skin
trembles with the impact of the light, and all my body shakes. And
there is a peace deeper than sleep upon my mind. It is the body and the
mind that are weary, and I would that they were dead, save that I must
bend them to my work.
And now I am in the tent, under the stars.
THE DESERT BETWEEN BOU-SADA AND BISKRA.
December 8, 1909. 7.10-9.10 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 7TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED DEO
The stone is divided, the left half dark, the right half light, and at
the bottom thereof is a certain blackness, of three divergent columns.
And it seems as if the black and white halves are the halves of a door,
and in the door is a little key-hole, in the shape of the Astrological
symbol of Venus. And from the key-hole issue flames, blue and green and
violet, but without any touch of yellow or red in them. It seems as if
there were a wind beyond the door, that is blowing the flame out.
And a voice comes: "Who is he that hath the key to the gate of the
evening star?"
And now an Angel cometh and seeketh to open the door by trying many
keys. And they are none of any avail. And the same voice saith: "The
five and the six are balanced in the word Abrahadabra, and therein is
the mystery disclosed. But the key unto this gate is the balance of the
seven and the four; and of this thou hast not even the first letter.
Now there is a word of four letters that containeth in itself all the
mystery of the Tetragrammaton, and there is a word of seven letters
which it concealeth, and that again concealeth the holy word that is
the key of the abyss.* And this thou shalt find, revolving it in thy
mind.
Hide therefore thine eyes. And I will set my key in the lock, and open
it. Yet still let thine eyes be hidden, for thou canst not bear the
glory that is within.
So, therefore, I covered mine eyes with my hands. Yet
image
* These words are probably BABALON, ChAOS, TARO.
through my hands could I perceive a little of those bowers of azure
flame.
And a voice said: It is kindled into fire that was the blue breast of
ocean; because this is the bar of heaven, and the feet of the Most High
are set thereon.
Now I behold more fully: Each tongue of flame, each leaf of flame, each
flower of flame, is one of the great love-stories of the world, with
all its retinue of mise-en-scne. And now there is a most marvelous
rose formed from the flame, and a perpetual rain of lilies and
passion-flowers and violets. And there is gathered out of it all, yet
identical with it, the form of a woman like the woman in the
Apocalypse, but her beauty and her radiance are such that one cannot
look thereon, save with sidelong glances. I enter immediately into
trance. It seems that it is she of whom it is written, "The fool hath
said in his heart 'there is no God.' " But the words are not Ain
Elohim, but La (=nay!) and Elohim contracted from 86 to 14, because La
is 31, which 14 is 434, Daleth, Lamed, Tau. This fool is the fool of
the Path of Aleph, and sayeth, which is Chokmah, in his heart, which is
Tiphereth, that she existeth, in order first that the Wisdom may be
joined with the Understanding; and he affirmeth her in Tiphereth that
she may be fertile.
It is impossible to describe how this vision changeth from glory unto
glory, for at each glance the vision is changed. And this is because
she transmitteth the Word to the Understanding, and therefore hath she
many forms, and each goddess of love is but a letter of the alphabet of
love.
Now, there is a mystery in the word Logos, that containeth the three
letters whose analogy hath been shown in the lower heavens, Samech, and
Lamed, and Gimel, that are 93, which is thrice 31, and in them are set
the two eyes of Horus. (Ayin means an eye.) For, if it were not so, the
arrow could not pierce the rainbow, and there could be no poise in the
balance, and the
Great Book should never be unsealed. But this is she that poureth the
Water of Life upon her head, whence it floweth to fructify the earth.
But now the whole thyr is the most brilliant peacock blue. It is the
Universal Peacock that I behold.
And there is a voice: Is not this bird the bird of Juno, that is an
hundred, and thirty, and six? And therefore is she the mate of
Jupiter.*
And now the peacock's head is again changed into a woman's head
sparkling and coruscating with its own light of gems.
But I look upwards, seeing that she is called the footstool of the Holy
One, even as Binah is called His throne. And the whole thyr is full of
the most wonderful bands of light,-a thousand different curves and
whorls, even as it was before, when I spake mysteries of the Holy
Qabalah, and so could not describe it.
Oh, I see vast plains beneath her feet, enormous deserts studded with
great rocks; and I see little lonely souls, running helplessly about,
minute black creatures like men. And they keep up a very curious
howling, that I can compare to nothing that I have ever heard; yet it
is strangely human.
And the voice says: These are they that grasped love and clung thereto,
praying ever at the knees of the great goddess. These are they that
have shut themselves up in fortresses of Love.
Each plume of the peacock is full of eyes, that are at the same time 4
7. And for this is the number 28 reflected down into Netzach; and
that 28 is Kaph Cheth (Kach), power. For she is Sakti, the eternal
energy of the Concealed One. And it is her eternal energy that hath
made this eternal change. And this explaineth the call of the thyrs,
the curse that was pronounced in the beginning being but the creation
of Sakti. And this mystery is reflected in the legend of the Creation,
where Adam
* The fourth of the mystic numbers of Jupiter is 136.
represents the Concealed One, for Adam is Temurah of MAD, the Enochian
word for God, and Eve, whom he created for love, is tempted by the
snake, Nechesh, who is Messiah her child. And the snake is the magical
power, which hath destroyed the primordial equilibrium.
And the garden is the supernal Eden, where is Ayin, 70, the Eye of the
Concealed One, and the creative Lingam; and Daleth, love; and Nun the
serpent. And therefore this constitution was implicitly in the nature
of Eden (cf. Liber L., I., 29, 30), so that the call of the thyrs
could not have been any other call than that which it is.
But they that are without understanding have interpreted all this
askew, because of the Mystery of the Abyss, for there is no Path from
Binah unto Chesed; and therefore the course of the Flaming Sword was no
more a current, but a spark. And when the Stooping Dragon raised his
head unto Dath in the course of that spark, there was, as it were, an
explosion, and his head was blasted. And the ashes thereof were
dispersed throughout the whole of the 10th thyr. And for this, all
knowledge is piecemeal, and it is of no value unless it be co-ordinated
by Understanding.
And now the form of the thyr is the form of a mighty Eagle of ruddy
brass. And the plumes are set alight, and are whirled round and round
until the whole heaven is blackness with these flying sparks therein.
Now it is all branching streams of golden fire tipped with scarlet at
the edges.
And now She cometh forth again, riding upon a dolphin. Now again I see
those wandering souls, that have sought restricted love, and have not
understood that "the word of sin is restriction."
It is very curious; they seem to be looking for one another or for
something, all the time, constantly hurrying about. But they
knock up against one another and yet will not see one another, or
cannot see one another, because they are so shut up in their cloaks.
And a voice sounds: It is most terrible for the one that hath shut
himself up and made himself fast against the universe. For they that
sit encamped upon the sea in the city of the Pyramids are indeed shut
up. But they have given their blood, even to the last drop, to fill the
cup of BABALON.
These that thou seest are indeed the Black Brothers, for it is written:
"He shall laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh." And
therefore hath he exalted them unto the plane of love.
And yet again it is written: He desireth not the death of a sinner, but
rather that he should turn from his wickedness. Now, if one of these
were to cast off his cloak he should behold the brilliance of the lady
of the thyr; but they will not.
And yet again there is another cause wherefore He hath permitted them
to enter thus far within the frontiers of Eden, so that His thought
should never swerve from compassion. But do thou behold the brilliance
of Love, that casteth forth seven stars upon thine head from her right
hand, and crowneth thee with a crown of seven roses. Behold! She is
seated upon the throne of turquoise and lapis lazuli, and she is like a
flawless emerald, and upon the pillars that support the canopy of her
throne are sculptured the Ram, and the Sparrow, and the Cat, and a
strange fish. Behold! How she shineth! Behold! How her glances have
kindled all these fires that have blown about the heavens! Yet remember
that in every one there goeth forth for a witness the justice of the
Most High. Is not Libra the House of Venus? And there goeth forth a
sickle that shall reap every flower. Is not Saturn exalted in Libra?
Daleth, Lamed, Tau.
And therefore was he a fool who uttered her name in his
heart, for the root of evil is the root of breath, and the speech in
the silence was a lie.
Thus is it seen from below by them that understand not. But from above
he rejoiceth, for the joy of dissolution is ten thousand, and the pang
of birth but a little.
And now thou shalt go forth from the thyr, for the voice of the thyr
is hidden and concealed from thee because thou hadst not the key of the
door thereof, and thine eyes were not able to bear the splendour of the
vision. But thou shalt meditate upon the mysteries thereof, and upon
the lady of the thyr; and it may be by the wisdom of the Most High
that the true voice of the thyr, that is continual song, may be heard
of thee.
Return therefore instantly unto the earth, and sleep not for a while;
but withdraw thyself from this matter. And it shall be enough.
Thus then was I obedient unto the voice, and returned into my body.
W'AIN-T-AISSHA, ALGERIA.
December 9, 1909. 8.10-10 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 6TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED MAZ
There cometh into the stone the great Angel whose name is Av, and in
him there are symbols which strive for mastery,- Sulphur and the
Pentagram, and they are harmonized by the Swastika. These symbols are
found both in the name of Av and in the name of the thyr. Thus he is
neither Horus nor Osiris. He is called the radiance of Thoth; and this
thyr is very hard to understand, for the images form and dissolve more
rapidly than lightning. These images are the illusions made by the Ape
of Thoth. And this I understand, that I am not worthy to receive the
mysteries of this thyr. And all this which I have seen (being all the
thoughts that I have ever thought) is, as it were, a guardian of the
thyr.
I seem quite helpless. I am trying all sorts of magical methods of
piercing the veil: and the more I strive, the farther away I seem to
get from success. But a voice comes now: Must not understanding lie
open unto wisdom as the pyramids lie open to the stars?
Accordingly, I wait in a certain magical posture which it is not
fitting to disclose, and above me appears the starry heaven of night,
and one star greater than all the other stars. It is a star of eight
rays. I recognize it as the star in the seventeenth key of the Tarot,
as the Star of Mercury. And the light of it cometh from the path of
Aleph. And the letter Cheth is also involved in the interpretation of
this star, and the paths of h and vau are the separations which this
Star unites. And in the heart of the star is an exceeding splendour, -a
god standing upon the moon, brilliant beyond imagining. It is like unto
the vision of the Universal Mercury. But this is the Fixed Mercury, and
h and vau are the perfected sulphur and salt. But now I come into the
centre of the maze, and whirling dust of stars and great forgotten
gods. It is the whirling Svastika which throws off all these things,
for the Svastika is in aleph by its shape and number, and in beth by
the position of the arms of the Magician, and in gimel because of the
sign of the Mourning of Isis, and thus is the Crown defended by these
three thunderbolts. Is not thrice seventeen fifty-one, that is, failure
and pain?
Now I am shut out again by this black Svastika with a corona of fire
about it.
And a voice cries: Cursed be he that shall uncover the nakedness of the
Most High, for he is drunken upon the wine that is the blood of the
adepts. And BABALON hath lulled him to sleep upon her breast, and she
hath fled away, and left him
naked, and she hath called her children together, saying: Come up with
me, and let us make a mock of the nakedness of the Most High.
And the first of the adepts covered His shame with a cloth, walking
backwards; and was white. And the second of the adepts covered His
shame with a cloth, walking sideways and was yellow. And the third of
the adepts made a mock of His nakedness, walking forwards; and was
black. And these are three great schools of the Magi, who are also the
three Magi that journeyed unto Bethlehem; and because thou hast not
wisdom, thou shalt not know which school prevaileth, or if the three
schools be not one. For the Black Brothers lift not up their heads thus
far into the Holy Chokmah, for they were all drowned in the great
flood, which is Binah, before the true vine could be planted upon the
holy hill of Zion.
Now again I stand in the centre, and all things whirl by with incessant
fury. And the thought of the god entereth my mind, and I cry aloud:
Behold, the volatile is become fixed; and in the heart of eternal
motion is eternal rest. So is the Peace beneath the sea that rageth
with her storms; so is the changeful moon, the dead planet that
revolveth no more. So the far-seeing, the far- darting hawk is poised
passionless in the blue; so also the ibis that is long of limb
meditateth solitary in the sign of Sulphur. Behold, I stand ever before
the Eternal One in the sign of the Enterer. And by virtue of my speech
is he wrapped about in silence, and he is wrapped in mystery by me, who
am the Unveiler of the Mysteries. And although I be truth, yet do they
call me rightly the God of Lies, for speech is two-fold, and truth is
one. Yet I stand at the centre of the spider's web, whereof the golden
filaments reach to infinity.
But thou that art with me in the spirit-vision art not with me by right
of Attainment, and thou canst not stay in this place to behold how I
run and return, and who are the flies that are caught
in my web. For I am the inmost guardian that is immediately before the
shrine.
None shall pass by me except he slay me, and this is his curse, that,
having slain me, he must take my office and become the maker of
Illusions, the great deceiver, the setter of snares; he who baffleth
even them that have understanding. For I stand on every path, and turn
them aside from the truth by my words, and by my magick arts.
And this is the horror that was shown by the lake that was nigh unto
the City of the Seven Hills, and this is the Mystery of the great
prophets that have come unto mankind. Moses, and Buddha, and Lao Tan,
and Krishna, and Jesus, and Osiris, and Mohammed; for all these
attained unto the grade of Magus, and therefore were they bound with
the curse of Thoth. But, being guardians of the truth, they have taught
nothing but falsehood, except unto such as understood; for the truth
may not pass the Gate of the Abyss.
But the reflection of the truth hath been shown in the lower Sephiroth.
And its balance is in Beauty, and therefore have they who sought only
beauty come nearest to the truth. For the beauty receiveth directly
three rays from the supernals, and the others no more than one. So,
therefore, they that have sought after majesty and power and victory
and learning and happiness and gold, have been discomfited. And these
sayings are the lights of wisdom that thou mayst know thy Master, for
he is a Magus. And because thou didst eat of the Pomegranate in hell,
for half the year art thou concealed, and half the year revealed.
Now I perceive the Temple that is the heart of this thyr; it is an Urn
suspended in the air, without support, above the centre of a well. And
the well hath eight pillars, and a canopy above it, and without there
is a circle of marble paving-stones, and without them a great outer
circle of pillars. And beyond there is the forest of the stars. But the
Urn is the wonderful thing in all
this; it is made of fixed Mercury; and within it are the ashes of the
Book Tarot, which hath been utterly consumed.
And this is that mystery which is spoken of in the Acts of the
Apostles; that Jupiter and Mercury (Kether and Chokmah) visited (that
is, inspired), Ephesus, the City of Diana, Binah- was not Diana a black
stone?-and they burnt their books of magick.
Now it seems that the centre of infinite space is that Urn, and Hadit
is the fire that hath burnt up the book Tarot. For in the book Tarot
was preserved all of the wisdom (for the Tarot was called the Book of
Thoth), of the on that is passed. And in the Book of Enoch was first
given the wisdom of the New on. And it was hidden for three hundred
years, because it was wrested untimely from the Tree of Life by the
hand of a desperate magician. For it was the Master of that Magician
who overthrew the power of the Christian church; but the pupil rebelled
against the master, for he foresaw that the New (i.e., the Protestant)
would be worse than the Old. But he understood not the purpose of his
Master, and that was, to prepare the way for the overthrowing of the
on.
There is a writing upon the Urn of which I can but read the (two)
words: Stabat Crux juxta Lucem. Stabat Lux juxta Crucem.
And there is writing in Greek above that. The word 'nox' written in
Greek, and a circle with a cross in the centre of it, a St. Andrew's
cross.
Then above that is a sigil(?), hidden by a hand.
And a voice proceedeth from the Urn: From the ashes of the Tarot who
shall make the phoenix-wand? Not even he who by his understanding hath
made the lotus-wand to grow in the Great Sea. Get thee back, for thou
art not an Atheist, and though thou have violated thy mother, thou hast
not slain thy father. Get thee back from the Urn; thy ashes are not
hidden here.
Then again arose the God Thoth, in the sign of the Enterer, and he
drove the seer from before his face. And he fell through the starry
night unto the little village in the desert.
BENISHRUR, ALGERIA.
December 10, 1909. 7.40-9.40 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 5TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED LIT
There is a shining pylon, above which is set the sigil of the eye,
within the shining triangle. Light streams through the pylon from
before the face of Isis-Hathor, for she weareth the lunar crown of
cows' horns, with the disk in the centre; at her breast she beareth the
child Horus.
And there is a voice: thou knowest not how the Seven was united with
the Four; much less then canst thou understand the marriage of the
Eight and the Three. Yet there is a word wherein these are made one,
and therein is contained the Mystery that thou seekest, concerning the
rending asunder of the veil of my Mother
Now there is an avenue of pylons (not one alone), steep after steep,
carved from the solid rock of the mountain; and that rock is a
substance harder than diamond, and brighter than light, and heavier
than lead. In each pylon is seated a god. There seems an endless series
of these pylons. And all the gods of all the nations of the earth are
shown, for there are many avenues, all leading to the top of the
mountain.
Now I come to the top of the mountain, and the last pylon opens into a
circular hall, with other pylons leading out of it, each of which is
the last pylon of a great avenue; there seem to be nine such pylons.
And in the centre is a shrine, a circular table, supported by marble
figures of men and women, alternate white and black; they face inwards,
and their buttocks are almost worn away by the kisses of those who have
come to worship that
supreme God, who is the single end of all these diverse religions. But
the shrine itself is higher than a man may reach.
But the Angel that was with me lifted me, and I saw that the edge of
the altar, as I must call it, was surrounded by holy men. Each has in
his right hand a weapon-one a sword, one a spear, one a thunderbolt,
and so on, but each with his left hand gives the sign of silence. I
wish to see what is within their ring. One of them bends forward so
that I may whisper the pass-word. The Angel prompts me to whisper:
"There is no god." So they let me pass, and though there was indeed
nothing visible therein, yet there was a very strange atmosphere, which
I could not understand.
Suspended in the air there is a silver star, and on the forehead of
each of the guardians there is a silver star. It is a
pentagram,-because, says the Angel, three and five are eight; three and
eight are eleven. (There is another numerical reason that I cannot
hear.)
And as I entered their ring, they bade me stand in their circle, and a
weapon was given unto me. And the pass-word that I had given seems to
have been whispered round from one to the other, for each one nods
gravely as if in solemn acquiescence, until the last one whispers the
same words in my ears. But they have a different sense. I had taken
them to be a denial of the existence of God, but the man who says them
to me evidently means nothing of the sort: What he does mean I cannot
tell at all. He slightly emphasized the word "there."
And now all is suddenly blotted out, and instead appears the Angel of
the thyr. He is all in black, burnished black scales, just edged with
gold. He has vast wings, with terrible claws on the ends, and he has a
fierce face, like a dragon's, and dreadful eyes that pierce one through
and through.
And he says: O thou that art so dull of understanding, when wilt thou
begin to annihilate thyself in the mysteries of the
thyrs? For all that thou thinkest is but thy thought; and as there is
no god in the ultimate shrine, so there is no I in thine own Cosmos.
They that have said this are of them that understood. And all men have
misinterpreted it, even as thou didst misin- terpret it. He says some
more: I cannot catch it properly, but it seems to be to the effect that
the true God is equally in all the shrines, and the true I in all the
parts of the body and the soul. He speaks with such a terrible roaring
that it is impossible to hear the words; one catches a a phrase here
and there, or a glimpse of the idea. With every word he belches forth
smoke, so that the whole thyr becomes fullof it.
And now I hear the Angel: Every particle of matter that forms the smoke
of my breath is a religion that hath flourished among the inhabitants
of the worlds. Thus are they all whirled forth in my breath.
Now he is giving a demonstration of this Operation. And he says: Know
thou that all the religions of all the worlds end herein, but they are
only the smoke of my breath, and I am only the head of the Great Dragon
that eateth up the Universe; without whom the Fifth thyr would be
perfect, even as the first. Yet unless he pass by me, can no man come
unto the perfections.
And the rule is ended that hath bound thee, and this shall be thy rule:
that thou shalt purify thyself, and anoint thyself with perfume; and
thou shalt be in the sunlight, the day being free from clouds. And thou
shalt make the Call of the thyr in silence.
Now, then, behold how the head of the dragon is but the tail of the
thyr! Many are they that have fought their way from mansion to mansion
of the Everlasting House, and beholding me at last have returned,
declaring, "Fearful is the aspect of the Mighty and Terrible One."
Happy are they that have known me for whom I am. And glory unto him
that hath made a gallery of
my throat for his arrow of truth, and the moon for his purity.
The moon waneth. The moon waneth. The moon waneth. For in that arrow is
the Light of Truth that overmastereth the light of the sun, whereby she
shines. The arrow is fledged with the plumes of Maat, that are the
plumes of Amoun, and the shaft is the phallus of Amoun, the Concealed
One. And the barb thereof is the star that thou sawest in the place
where was No God.
And of them that guarded the star, there was not found one worthy to
wield the Arrow. And of them that worshipped there was not found one
worthy to behold the Arrow. Yet the star that thou sawest was but the
barb of the Arrow, and thou hadst not the wit to grasp the shaft, or
the purity to divine the plumes. Now therefore is he blessed that is
born under the sign of the Arrow, and blessed is he that hath the sigil
of the head of the crowned lion and the body of the Snake and the Arrow
therewith.
Yet do thou distinguish between the upward and the downward Arrows, for
the upward arrow is straitened in its flight, and it is shot by a firm
hand, for Jesod is Jod Tetragrammaton, and Jod is a hand, but the
downward arrow is shot by the topmost point of the Jod; and that Jod is
the Hermit, and it is the minute point that is not extended, that is
nigh unto the heart of Hadit.
And now it is commanded thee that thou withdraw thyself from the
Vision, and on the morrow, at the appointed hour, shall it be given
thee further, as thou goest upon thy way, meditating this mystery. And
thou shalt summon the Scribe, and that which shall be written, shall be
written.
Therefore I withdraw myself, as I am commanded.
THE DESERT BETWEEN BENSHRUR AND TOLGA.
December 12, 1909, 7-8.12 p.m.
Now then art thou approached unto an august Arcanum; verily thou art
come unto the ancient Marvel, the winged light, the Fountains of Fire,
the Mystery of the Wedge. But it is not I that can reveal it, for I
have never been permitted to behold it, who am but the watcher upon the
threshold of the thyr. My message is spoken, and my mission is
accomplished. And I withdraw myself, covering my face with my wings,
before the presence of the Angel of the thyr.
So the Angel departed with bowed head, folding his wings across.
And there is a little child in a mist of blue light; he hath golden
hair, a mass of curls, and deep blue eyes. Yea, he is all golden, with
a living, vivid gold. And in each hand he hath a snake; in the right
hand a red, in the left a blue. And he hath red sandals, but no other
garment.
And he sayeth: Is not life a long initiation unto sorrow? And is not
Isis the Lady of Sorrow? And she is my mother. Nature is her name, and
she hath a twin sister Nephthys, whose name is Perfection. And Isis
must be known of all, but of how few is Nephthys known! Because she is
dark, therefore is she feared.
But thou who hast adored her without fear, who hast made thy life an
initiation into her Mystery, thou that hast neither mother nor father,
nor sister nor brother, nor wife nor child, who hast made thyself
lonely as the hermit crab that is in the waters of the Great Sea,
behold! when the sistrons are shaken, and the trumpets blare forth the
glory of Isis, at the end thereof there is silence, and thou shalt
commune with Nephthys.
And having known these, there are the wings of Maut the Vulture. Thou
mayest draw to an head the bow of thy magical will; thou mayest loose
the shaft and pierce her to the heart. I am Eros. Take then the bow and
the quiver from my shoulders and slay me; for unless thou slay me, thou
shalt not unveil the Mystery of the thyr.
Therefore I did as he commanded; in the quiver were two arrows, one
white, one black. I cannot force myself to fit an arrow to the bow.
And there came a voice: It must needs be. And I said: No man can do
this thing.
And the voice answered, as it were an echo: Nemo hoc facere potest.
Then came understanding to me, and I took forth the Arrows. The white
arrow had no barb, but the black arrow was barbed like a forest of
fish-hooks; it was bound round with brass, and it had been dipped in
deadly poison. Then I fitted the white arrow to the string, and I shot
it against the heart of Eros, and though I shot with all my force, it
fell harmlessly from his side. But at that moment the black arrow was
thrust through mine own heart. I am filled with fearful agony.
And the child smiles, and says: Although thy shaft hath pierced me not,
although the envenomed barb hath struck thee through, yet I am slain,
and thou livest and triumphest, for I am thou and thou art I.
With that he disappears, and the thyr splits with a roar as of ten
thousand thunders. And behold, The Arrow! The plumes of Maat are its
crown, set about the disk. It is the Ateph crown of Thoth, and there is
the shaft of burning light, and beneath there is a silver wedge.
I shudder and tremble at the vision, for all about it are whorls and
torrents of tempestuous fire. The stars of heaven are caught in the
ashes of the flame. And they are all dark. That which was a blazing sun
is like a speck of ash. And in the midst the Arrow burns!
I see that the crown of the Arrow is the Father of all Light, and the
shaft of the Arrow is the Father of all Life, and the barb of the Arrow
is the Father of all Love. For that silver wedge is like a lotus
flower, and the Eye within the Ateph Crown crieth: I
watch. And the Shaft crieth: I work. And the Barb crieth: I wait. And
the Voice of the thyr echoeth: It beams. It burns. It blooms.
And now there cometh a strange thought; this Arrow is the source of all
motion; it is infinite motion, yet it moveth not, so that there is no
motion. And therefore there is no matter. This Arrow is the glance of
the Eye of Shiva. But because it moveth not, the universe is not
destroyed. The universe is put forth and swallowed up in the quivering
of the plumes of Maat, that are the plumes of the Arrow; but those
plumes quiver not.
And a voice comes: That which is above is not like that which is below.
And another voice answers it: That which is below is not like that
which is bove.
And a third voice answers these two: What is above and what is below?
For there is the division that divideth not, and the multiplication
that multiplieth not. And the One is the many. Behold, this Mystery is
beyond understanding, for the winged globe is the crown, and the shaft
is the wisdom, and the barb is the understanding. And the Arrow is one,
and thou art lost in the Mystery, who art but as a babe that is carried
in the womb of its mother, that art not yet ready for the light.
And the vision overcometh me. My sense is stunned; my sight is blasted;
my hearing is dulled.
And a voice cometh: Thou didst seek the remedy of sorrow; therefore all
sorrow is thy portion. This is that which is written: "God hath laid
upon him the iniquity of us all." For as thy blood is mingled in the
cup of BABALON, so is thine heart the universal heart. Yet is it bound
about with the Green Serpent, the Serpent of Delight.
It is shown me that this heart is the heart that rejoiceth, and the
serpent is the serpent of Death for herein all the symbols are
interchangeable, for each one containeth in itself its own
opposite. And this is the great Mystery of the Supernals that are
beyond the Abyss. For below the Abyss, contradiction is division; but
above the Abyss, contradiction is Unity. And there could be nothing
true except by virtue of the contradiction that is contained in itself.
Thou canst not believe how marvelous is this vision of the Arrow. And
it could never be shut out, except the Lords of Vision troubled the
waters of the pool, the mind of the Seer. But they send forth a wind
that is a cloud of Angels, and they beat the water with their feet, and
little waves splash up-they are memories. For the seer hath no head; it
is expanded into the universe, a vast and silent sea, crowned with the
stars of night. Yet in the very midst thereof is the arrow. Little
images of things that were, are the foam upon the waves. And there is a
contest between the Vision and the memories. I prayed unto the Lords of
Vision, saying: O my Lords, take not away this wonder from my sight.
And they said: It must needs be. Rejoice therefore if thou hast been
permitted to behold, even for a moment, this Arrow, the austere, the
august. But the vision is accomplished, and we have sent forth a great
wind against thee. For thou canst not penetrate by force, who hast
refused it; nor by authority, for thou hast trampled it under foot.
Thou art bereft of all but understanding, O thou that art no more than
a little pile of dust!
And the images rise up against me and constrain me, so that the thyr
is shut against me. Only the things of the mind and of the body are
open unto me. The shew-stone is dull, for that which I see therein is
but a memory.
TOLGA, ALGERIA
December 13, 1909. 8.15-10.10 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 4TH THYR, WHICH IS CALLED PAZ
The Stone is translucent and luminous, and no images enter therein.
A voice says: Behold the brilliance of the Lord, whose feet are set
upon him that pardoneth transgression. Behold the six- fold Star that
flameth in the Vault, the seal of the marriage of the great White King
and his black slave.
So I looked into the Stone, and beheld the six-fold Star: the whole
thyr is as tawny clouds, like the flame of a furnace. And there is a
mighty host of Angels, blue and golden, that throng it, and they cry:
Holy, Holy, Holy art thou, that art not shaken in the earthquakes, and
in the thunders! The end of things is come upon us; the day of
be-with-us is at hand! For he hath created the universe, and overthrown
it, that he might take his pleasure thereupon.
And now, in the midst of the thyr, I beheld that god. He hath a
thousand arms, and in each hand is a weapon of terrible strength. His
face is more terrible than the storm, and from his eyes flash
lightnings of intolerable brilliance. From his mouth run seas of blood.
Upon his head is a crown of every deadly thing. Upon his forehead is
the upright tau, and on either side of it are the signs of blasphemy.
And about him clingeth a young girl, like unto the king's daughter that
appeareth in the ninth thyr. But she is become rosy by reason of his
force, and her purity hath tinged his black with blue.
They are clasped in a furious embrace, so that she is torn asunder by
the terror of the god; yet so tightly clingeth she about him, that he
is strangled. She hath forced back his head, and his throat is livid
with the pressure of her fingers. Their joint cry is an intolerable
anguish, yet it is the cry of their rapture, so that every pain, and
every curse, and every bereavement, and every death of everything in
the whole universe, is but one little gust of
wind in that tempest-scream of ecstasy.
The voice thereof is not articulate. It is in vain to seek comparison.
It is absolutely continuous, without breaks or beats. If there seem to
be vibration therein, it is because of the imperfection of the ears of
the seer.
And there cometh an interior voice, which sayeth to the seer that he
hath trained his eyes well and can see much; and he hath trained his
ears a little, and can hear a little; but his other senses hath he
trained scarcely at all, and therefore the thyrs are almost silent to
him on those planes. By the senses are meant the spiritual correlations
of the senses, not the physical senses. But this matters little,
because the Seer, so far as he is a seer, is the expression of the
spirit of humanity. What is true of him is true of humanity, so that
even if he had been able to receive the full thyrs, he could not have
communicated them.
And an Angel speaks: Behold, this vision is utterly beyond
thineunderstanding. Yet shalt thou endeavour to unite thyself with the
dreadful marriage-bed.
So I am torn asunder, nerve from nerve and vein from vein, and more
intimately-cell from cell, molecule from molecule, and atom from atom,
and at the same time all crushed together. Write down that the tearing
asunder is a crushing together. All the double phenomena are only two
ways of looking at a single phenomenon; and the single phenomenon is
Peace. There is no sense in my words or in my thoughts. "Faces
half-formed arose." This is the meaning of that passage; they are
attempts to interpret Chaos, but Chaos is Peace. Cosmos is the War of
the Rose and the Cross. That was "a half-formed face" that I said then.
All images are useless.
Blackness, blackness intolerable, before the beginning of the light.
This is the first verse of Genesis. Holy art thou, Chaos, Chaos,
Eternity, all contradictions in terms!
Oh, blue! blue! blue! whose reflection in the Abyss is called
the Great One of the Night of Time; between ye vibrateth the Lord of
the Forces of Matter.
O Nox, Nox qui celas infamiam infandi nefandi, Deo solo sit laus qui
dedit signum non scribendum. Laus virgini cuius stuprum tradit salutem.
O Night, that givest suck from thy paps to sorcery, and theft, and
rape, and gluttony, and murder, and tyranny, and to the nameless
Horror, cover us, cover us, cover us from the Rod of Destiny; for
Cosmos must come, and the balance be set up where there was no need of
balance, because there was no injustice, but only truth. But when the
balances are equal, scale matched with scale, then will Chaos return.
Yea, as in a looking-glass, so in thy mind, that is backed with the
false metal of lying, is every symbol read averse. Lo! everything
wherein thou hast trusted must confound thee, and that thou didst flee
from was thy saviour. So therefore didst thou shriek in the Black
Sabbath when thou didst kiss the hairy buttocks of the goat, when the
gnarled god tore thee asunder, when the icy cataract of death swept
thee away.
Shriek, therefore, shriek aloud; mingle the roar of the gored lion and
the moan of the torn bull, and the cry of the man that is torn by the
claws of the Eagle, and the scream of the Eagle that is strangled by
the hands of the Man. Mingle all these in the death- shriek of the
Sphinx, for the blind man hath profaned her mystery. Who is this,
Oedipus, Tiresias, Erinyes? Who is this, that is blind and a seer, a
fool above wisdom? Whom do the hounds of heaven follow, and the
crocodiles of hell await? Aleph, vau, yod, ayin, resh, tau, is his
name.
Beneath his feet is the kingdom, and upon his head the crown. He is
spirit and matter; he is peace and power; in him is Chaos and Night and
Pan, and upon BABALON his concubine, that hath made him drunk upon the
blood of the saints that she hath gathered in her golden cup, hath he
begotten the virgin that
now he doth deflower. And this is that which is written: Malkuth shall
be uplifted and set upon the throne of Binah. And this is the stone of
the philosophers that is set as a seal upon the tomb of Tetragrammaton,
and the elixir of life that is distilled from the blood of the saints,
and the red powder that is the grinding-up of the bones of Choronzon.
Terrible and wonderful is the Mystery thereof, O thou Titan that hast
climbed into the bed of Juno! Surely thou art bound unto, and broken
upon, the wheel; yet hast thou uncovered the nakedness of the Holy One,
and the Queen of Heaven is in travail of child, and his name shall be
called Vir, and Vis, and Virus, and Virtus, and Viridis, in one name
that is all these, and above all these.
Desolate, desolate is the thyr, for thou must return unto the
habitations of the Owl and the Bat, unto the Scorpions of the sand, and
the blanched eyeless beetles that have neither wing nor horn. Return,
blot out the vision, wipe from thy mind the memory thereof; stifle the
fire with green wood; consume the Sacrament; cover the Altar; veil the
Shrine; shut up the Temple and spread booths in the market place; until
the appointed time come when the Holy One shall declare unto thee the
Mystery of the Third thyr.
Yet be thou wake and ware, for the great Angel Hua is about thee, and
overshadoweth thee, and at any moment he may come upon thee unawares.
The voice of PAZ is ended.
BISKRA, ALGERIA.
December 16, 1909. 9-10.30 a.m.
THE CRY OF THE 3RD THYR, WHICH IS CALLED ZON
There is an angry light in the stone; now it is become clear.
In the centre is that minute point of light which is the true Sun, and
in the circumference is the Emerald Snake. And
joining them are the rays which are the plumes of Maat, and because the
distance is infinite, therefore are they parallel from the
circumference, although they diverge from the centre.
In all this is no voice and no motion.
And yet it seems that the great Snake feedeth upon the plumes of Truth
as upon itself, so that it contracteth. But ever so little as it
contracteth, without it gloweth the golden rim, which is that minute
point in the centre.
And all this is the sigil of the thyr, gold and azure and green. Yet
also these are the Severities.
It is only in the first three thyrs that we find the pure essence, for
all the other thyrs are but as Malkuth to complete these three triads,
as hath before been said. And this being the second reflection,
therefore is it the palace of two hundred and eighty judgments.
For all these paths* are in the course of the Flaming Sword from the
side of Severity. And the other two paths are Zayin, which is a sword;
and Shin, which is a tooth. These are then the five severities which
are 280.
All this is communicated to the Seer interiorly.
"And the eye of His benignancy is closed. Let it not be opened upon the
thyr, lest the severities be mitigated, and the house fall." Shall not
the house fall, and the Dragon sink? Verily all things have been
swallowed up in destruction; and Chaos hath opened his jaws and crushed
the Universe as a Bacchanal crusheth a grape between her teeth. Shall
not destruction swallow up destruction, and annihilation confound
annihilation? Twenty and two are the mansions of the House of my
Father, but there cometh an ox that shall set his forehead against the
House, and it shall fall. For all these things are the
image
* r l, and n (!, g, and h), the Sun, the Balance or plumes of Maat, and
the Snake. Added they make 280.
toys of the Magician and the Maker of Illusions, that barreth the
Understanding from the Crown.
O thou that hast beheld the City of the Pyramids, how shouldst thou
behold the House of the Juggler? For he is wisdom, and by wisdom hath
he made the Worlds, and from that wisdom issue judgements 70 by 4, that
are the 4 eyes of the double-headed one; that are the 4 devils, Satan,
Lucifer, Leviathan, Belial, that are the great princes of the evil of
the world.
And Satan is worshipped by men under the name of Jesus; and Lucifer is
worshipped by men under the name of Brahma; and Leviathan is worshipped
by men under the name of Allah; and Belial is worshipped by men under
the name of Buddha.
(This is the meaning of the passage in Liber Legis, Chap. III.)
Moreover, there is Mary, a blasphemy against BABALON, for she hath shut
herself up; and therefore is she the Queen of all those wicked devils
that walk upon the earth, those that thou sawest even as little black
specks that stained the Heaven of
Urania. And all these are the excrement of Choronzon.
And for this is BABALON under the power of the Magician, that she hath
submitted herself unto the work; and she guardeth the Abyss. And in her
is a perfect purity of that which is above; yet she is sent as the
Redeemer to them that are below. For there is no other way into the
Supernal Mystery but through her, and the Beast on which she rideth;
and the Magician is set beyond her to deceive the brothers of
blackness, lest they should make unto themselves a crown; for if there
were two crowns, then should Ygdrasil, that ancient tree, be cast out
into the Abyss, uprooted and cast down into the Outermost Abyss, and
the Arcanum which is in the Adytum should be profaned; and the Ark
should be touched, and the Lodge spied upon by them that are not
masters, and the bread of the Sacrament should be the dung of
Choronzon; and the wine of the Sacrament should be the
water of Chor-onzon; and the incense should be dispersion; and the fire
upon the Altar should be hate. But lift up thyself; stand, play the
man, for behold! there shall be revealed unto thee the Great Terror,
the thing of awe that hath no name.
And this is the mystery that I declare unto thee: that from the Crown
itself spring the three great delusions; Aleph is madness, and Beth is
falsehood, and Gimel is glamour. And these three be greater than all,
for they are beyond the words that I speak unto thee; how much more
therefore are they beyond the words that thou transmittest unto men.
Behold! the Veil of the thyr sundereth, and is torn, like a sail by
the breath of the tempest, and thou shalt see him as from afar off.
This is that which is written, "Confound her under- standing with
darkness," for thou canst not speak this thing.
It is the figure of the Magus of the Taro; and in his right arm the
torch of the flames blazing upwards; in his left the cup of poison, a
cataract into Hell. And upon his head the evil talisman, blasphemy and
blasphemy and blasphemy, in the form of a circle. That is the greatest
blasphemy of all.* On his feet hath he the scythes and swords and
sickles; daggers; knives; every sharp thing,-a millionfold, and all in
one. And before him is the Table that is a Table of wickedness, the
42-fold Table. This Table is connected with the 42 Assessors of the
Dead, for they are the Accursers, whom the soul must baffle; and with
the 42- fold name of God, for this is the Mystery of Iniquity, that
there was ever a beginning at all. And this Magus casteth forth, by the
might of his four weapons, veil after veil; a thousand shining colours,
ripping and tearing the thyr, so that it is like jagged saws, or like
broken teeth in the face of a young girl, or like disruption, or
madness. There is a horrible grinding sound,
* I.e., that the circle should be thus profaned. This evil circle is of
three concentric rings.
maddening. This is the mill in which the Universal Substance, which is
ether, was ground down into matter.
The Seer prayeth that a cloud may come between him and the sun, so that
he may shut out the terror of the vision. And he is afire; he is
terribly athirst; and no help can come to him, for the shew-stone
blazeth ever with the fury and the torment and the blackness, and the
stench of human flesh. The bowels of little children are torn out and
thrust into his mouth, and poison is dropped into his eyes. And Lilith,
a black monkey crawling with filth, running with open sores, an eye
torn out, eaten of worms, her teeth rotten, her nose eaten away, her
mouth a putrid mass of green slime, her dugs dropping and cancerous,
clings to him, kisses him.
(Kill me! kill me!)
There is a mocking voice: Thou art become immortal. Thou wouldst look
upon the face of the Magician and thou hast not beheld him because of
his Magick veils.
(Don't torture me!)
Thus are all they fallen into the power of Lilith, who have dared to
look upon his face.
The shew-stone is all black and corrupt. O filth! filth! filth!
And this is her great blasphemy: that she hath taken the name of the
First thyr, and bound it on her brow, and added thereunto the
shameless yod and the tau for the sign of the Cross. She it is that
squatteth upon the Crucifix, for the nastiness of her pleasure. So that
they that worship Christ suck up her filth
upon their tongues, and therefore their breaths stink.
I was saved from that Horror by a black shining Triangle, with apex
upwards, that came upon the face of the sun.
And now the shew-stone is all clear and beautiful again.
The pure pale gold of a fair maiden's hair, and the green of her
girdle, and the deep soft blue of her eyes.
Note.-In this the gold is Kether, the blue is Chokmah, the
green is Binah.
Thus she appeareth in the thyr, adorned with flowers and gems. It
seems that she hath incarnated herself upon earth, and that she will
appear manifest in a certain office in the Temple.
I have seen some picture like her face; I cannot think what picture. It
is a piquant face, with smiling eyes and lips; the ears are small and
pink, the complexion is fair, but not transparent; not as fair as one
would expect from the hair and eyes. It is rather an impudent face,
rather small, very pretty; the nose very slightly less than straight,
well-proportioned, rather large nostrils. Full of vitality, the whole
thing. Now very tall, rather slim and graceful; a good dancer.
There is another girl behind her, with sparkling eyes, mischievous, a
smile showing beautiful white teeth; an ideal Spanish girl, but fair.
Very vivacious. Only her head is visible, and now it is veiled by a
black sun, casting forth dull rays of black and gold.
Then the disk of the sun is a pair of balances, held steady; and twined
about the central pole of the balance is the little green poisonous
snake, with a long forked tongue rapidly darting.
And the Angel that hath spoken with me before, saith to me: The eye of
His benignancy is opened; therefore veileth he thine eyes from the
vision. Manfully hast thou endured; yet, hast thou been man, thou hadst
not endured; and hadst thou been wholly that which thou art, thou
shouldst have been caught up in the full vision that is unspeakable for
Horror. And thou shouldst have beheld the face of the Magician that
thou hast not been able to behold,-of him from whom issue forth the
severities that are upon Malkuth, and his name is Misericordia Dei.
And because he is the dyad, thou mayest yet understand in two ways. Of
first way, the Mercy of God is that Mercy which Jehovah showed to the
Amalekites; and the second way is utterly beyond thine understanding,
for it is the upright, and thou
knowest nothing but the averse,-until Wisdom shall inform thine
Understanding, and upon the base of the Ultimate triangle arise the
smooth point.
Veil therefore thine eyes, for that thou canst not master the thyr,
unless thy Mystery match Its Mystery. Seal up thy mouth also, for thou
canst not master the voice of the thyr, save only by Silence.
And thou shalt give the sign of the Mother for BABALON is thy fortress
against the iniquity of the Abyss, of the iniquity of that which
bindeth her unto the Crown, and barreth her from the Crown; for not
until thou art made one with CHAOS canst thou begin that last, that
most terrible projection, the three-fold Regimen which alone
constitutes the Great Work.
For Choronzon is as it were the shell or excrement of these three
paths, and therefore is his head raised unto Daath, and therefore have
the Black Brotherhood declared him to be the child of Wisdom and
Understanding, who is but the bastard of the Svastika. And this is that
which is written in the Holy Qabalah, concerning the Whirlpool and
Leviathan, and the Great Stone.
Thus long have I talked with thee in bidding thee depart, that the
memory of the thyr might be dulled; for hadst thou come back suddenly
into thy mortal frame, thou hadst fallen into mad- ness or death. For
the vision is not such that any may endure it.
But now thy sense is dull, and the shew-stone but a stone. Therefore
awake, and give secretly and apart the sign of the Mother and call
four times upon the name of CHAOS, that is the four-fold word that is
equal to her seven-fold word. And then shalt thou purify thyself, and
return into the World.
So I did that which was commanded me, and returned.
BISKRA.
December 17, 1909. 9.30-11.30 a.m.
THE CRY OF THE 2ND THYR, WHICH IS CALLED ARN
In the first place, there is again the woman riding on the bull, which
is the reflection of BABALON, that rideth on The Beast. And also there
is an Assyrian legend of a woman with a fish, and also there is a
legend of Eve and the Serpent, for Cain was the child of Eve and the
Serpent, and not of Eve and Adam; and therefore when he had slain his
brother, who was the first murderer, having sacrificed living things to
his demon, had Cain the mark upon his brow, which is the mark of the
Beast spoken of in the Apocalypse, and is the sign of initiation.
The shedding of blood is necessary, for God did not hear the children
of Eve until blood was shed. And that is external religion; but Cain
spake not with God, nor had the mark of initiation upon his brow, so
that he was shunned by all men, until he had shed blood. And this blood
was the blood of his brother. This is a mystery of the sixth key of the
Taro, which ought not to be called The Lovers, but The Brothers. In the
middle of the card stands Cain; in his right hand is the Hammer of Thor
with which he hath slain his brother, and it is all wet with his blood.
And his left hand he holdeth open as a sign of innocence. And on his
right hand is his mother Eve, around whom the serpent is entwined with
his hood spread behind her head; and on his left hand is a figure
somewhat like the Hindoo Kali, but much more seductive. Yet I know it
to be Lilith. And above him is the Great Sigil of the Arrow, downward,
but it is struck through the heart of the child. This Child is also
Abel. And the meaning of this part of the card is obscure, but that is
the correct drawing of the Taro card; and that is the correct magical
fable from which the Hebrew scribes, who were not complete Initiates,
stole their legend of the Fall and the subsequent events. They joined
different fables together to try
and make a connected story, and they sophisticated them to suit their
social and political conditions.
All this while no image hath come unto the Stone, and no voice hath
been heard.
I cannot get any idea of the source of what I have been saying. All I
can say is, that there is a sort of dew, like mist, upon the Stone, and
yet it has become hot to the touch.
All I get is that the Apocalypse was the recension of a dozen or so
totally disconnected allegories, that were pieced together, and
ruthlessly planed down to make them into a connected account; and that
recension was re-written and edited in the interests of Christianity,
because people were complaining that Christianity could show no true
spiritual knowledge, or any food for the best minds: nothing but
miracles, which only deceived the most ignorant, and Theology, which
only suited pedants.
So a man got hold of this recension, and turned it Christian, and
imitated the style of John. And this explains why the end of the world
does not happen every few years, as advertised.
There is nothing whatever in the Stone but a White Rose. And a voice
comes: there shall be no more red roses, for she hath crushed all the
blood of all things into her cup.
It seemed at one time as if the rose was in the breast of a beautiful
woman, high-bosomed, tall, stately, yet who danced like a snake. But
there was no subsistence in this vision.
And now I see the white Rose, as if it were in the beak of a swan, in
the picture by Michael Angelo in Venice. And that legend too is the
legend of BABALON.
But all this is before the veil of the thyr. Now will I go and make
certain preparations, and I will return and repeat the call of the
thyr yet again.
BISKRA.
December 18, 1909. 9.20-10.5 a.m.
It is not a question of being unable to get into the thyr, and trying
to struggle through; but one is not anywhere near it.
A voice comes: When thy dust shall strew the earth whereon She walketh,
then mayest thou bear the impress of Her foot. And thou thinkest to
behold Her face!
The Stone is become of the most brilliant whiteness, and yet, in that
whiteness, all the other colours are implicit. The colour of anything
is but its dullness, its obstructiveness. So is it with these visions.
All that they are is falsity. Every idea merely marks where the mind of
the Seer was too stupid to receive the light, and therefore reflected
it. Therefore, as the pure light is colourless, so is the pure soul
black.
And this is the Mystery of the incest of CHAOS with his daughter.
There is nothing whatever visible.
But I asked of the Angel that is at my side if the ceremony hath been
duly performed. And he says: Yes, the thyr is present. It is thou that
canst not perceive it, even as I cannot perceive it, because it is so
entirely beyond thy conception that there is nothing in thy mind on to
which it can cast a symbol, even as the emptiness of space is not
heated by the fire of the sun. And so pure is the light that it
preventeth the formation of images, and therefore have men called it
darkness. For with any lesser light, the mind responds, and makes for
itself divers palaces. It is that which is written: "In my Father's
house there are many mansions"; and if the house be destroyed, how much
more the mansions that are therein! For this is the victory of BABALON
over the Magician that ensorcelled her. For as the Mother she is 3 by
52, and as the harlot she is 6 by 26; but she is also 12 by 13, and
that is the pure unity. Moreover she is 4 by 39, that is, victory over
the power of the 4, and in 2 by 78 hath she destroyed the great
Sorcerer. Thus is she the synthesis of 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, which being
added are 10, therefore could she set
her daughter upon her own throne, and defile her own bed with her
virginity.
And I ask the Angel if there is any way by which I can make myself
worthy to behold the Mysteries of this thyr.
And he saith: It is not in my knowledge. Yet do thou make once more in
silence the Call of the thyr, and wait patiently upon the favour of
the Angel, for He is a mighty Angel, and never yet have I heard the
whisper of his wing.
This is the translation of the Call of the thyr.
O ye heavens which dwell in the first Aire, and are mighty in the parts
of the earth, and execute therein the judgment of the highest, to you
it is said: 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, furnishing you
with a power of understanding, that ye might dispose all things
according to the foresight of Him that sitteth on the Holy Throne, and
rose up in the beginning, saying, The earth, let her be governed by her
parts (this is the prostitution of BABALON to Pan), and let there be
division in her (the formation of the Many from the One), that her
glory may be always ecstasy and irritation of orgasm. Her course let it
round with the heavens (that is, let her way be always harmonious with
heaven), and as an handmaid let her serve them (that is, the Virgin of
Eternity climbing into the bed of CHAOS). One season let it confound
another (that is, let there be unwearying variety of predicates), and
let there be no creature upon or within her the same (that is, let
there be an unwearying variety of subjects). All her members let them
differ in their qualities, and let there be no one creature equal with
another (for if there were any duplication or omission, there would be
no perfection in the whole). The reasonable creatures of the earth and
men, let them vex and weed out one another
(this is, the destruction of reason by internecine conflicts in the
course of redemption). And their dwelling places, let them forget their
names. (This is, the arising of Nemo.) The work of man and his pomp,
let them be defaced. (That is, in the Great Work man must lose his
personality.) His building, let it be a cave for the Beast of the
Field. ("His building" means the Vault of the Adepts, and the "Cave" is
the Cave of the Mountain of Abiegnus, and the "Beast" is he upon whom
BABALON rideth, and the "Field" is the supernal Eden.) Confound her
understanding with darkness. (This sentence is explained by what has
been said concerning Binah.) For why, it rejoiceth me concerning the
Virgin and the Man. (Kelly did not understand this Call at all, and he
would not believe this sentence was written so, for it seemed to
contradict the rest of the Call, so he altered it.) One while let her
be known and another while a stranger, (that is, the Mystery of the
Holy One being at the same time identical with everything and apart
from it), because she is the bed of an harlot, and the dwelling of him
that is fallen. (That is that Mystery which was revealed in the last
thyr; the universe being, as it were, a garden wherein the Holy Ones
may take their pleasure.) O ye heavens, arise; the lower heavens
beneath you, let them serve you. (This is a comm and for the whole of
things to join in universal rapture.) Govern those that govern; cast
down such as fall; bring forth those that increase; and destroy the
rotten. (This means that everything shall take its own pleasure in its
own way.) No place let it remain in one number. ("No place" is the
infinite Ain . . . "Let remain in one number"; that is, let it be
con-centrated in Kether.) Add and diminish until the stars be numbered.
(It is a mystery of the Logos being formulated by the Qabalah, because
the stars, are all letters of the Holy Alphabet, as it was said in a
former thyr.) Arise! Move! and Appear! before the covenant of his
mouth which he hath shewn unto us in his justice. ("The Covenant" is
the letter Aleph; "His mouth", p; "His Justice", lamed; and these add
up again to Aleph, so that it is in the letter Aleph, which is zero,
thus symbolizing the circles of the thyrs, that he calleth them forth.
But men thought that Aleph was the initial of ARR, cursing, when it was
really the initial of AChD, unity, and AHBH, love. So that it was the
most horrible and wicked blasphemy of the blackest of all the black
brothers to begin Barashith with a beth, with the letter of the
Magician. Yet, by this simple device, hath he created the whole
illusion of sorrow.) Open the mysteries of your creation, and make us
partakers of the undefiled knowledge. (The word here "IADNAMAD" is not
the ordinary word for knowledge. It is a word of eight letters, which
is the secret name of God, summarized in the letter cheth; for which
see the thyr which correspondeth to that letter, the twelfth thyr.)
Now from time to time I have looked into the Stone, but never is there
any image therein, or any hint thereof; but now there are three arrows,
arranged thus:
A
This is the letter Aleph in the Alphabet of Arrows.
(I want to say that while I was doing the translation of the Call of
the thyrs, the soles of my feet were burning, as if I were on red hot
steel.)
And now the fire has spread all over me, and parches me, and tortures
me. And my sweat is bitter like poison. And all my blood is acrid in my
veins, like gleet. I seem to be all festering,
rotting; and the worms eating me while I am yet alive.
A voice, neither in myself nor out of myself, is saying: Remember
Prometheus; remember Ixion.
I am tearing at nothing. I will not heed. For even this dust must be
consumed with fire.
And now, although there is no image, at last there is a sense of
obstacle, as if one were at length drawing near to the frontier of the
thyr.
But I am dying.
I can neither strive nor wait. There is agony in my ears, and in my
throat, and mine eyes have been so long blind that I cannot remember
that there ever was such a thing as sight.
And it cometh to me that I should go away, and await the coming of the
veil of the thyr; not here. I think I will go to the Hot Springs.
So I put away the Stone upon my breast.
BISKRA
10.15-11.52 a.m.
Flashes of lightning are playing in the Stone, at the top; and at the
bottom of the Stone there is a black pyramid, and at the top thereof is
a vesica piscis. The vesica piscis is of colourless brilliance.
The two curves of Pisces are thus:
image image
They are the same curves as the curves of vesica piscis, but turned
round.
And a voice comes: How can that which is buried in the pyramids behold
that which descendeth unto its apex?
Again it comes to me, without voice: Therefore is motherhood the symbol
of the Masters. For first they must give up their virginity to be
destroyed, and the seed must lie hidden in them until the nine moons
wax and wane, and they must surround it with the Universal Fluid. And
they must feed it with blood for fire. Then is the child a living
thing. And afterwards is much suffering and much joy, and after that
are they torn asunder, and this is all their thank, that they give it
to suck.
All this while the vision in the Shew-Stone stays as it was, save that
the lightning grows more vehement and clear; and behind the vesica
piscis is a black cross extending to the top and to the edges of the
Stone. And now blackness spreads, and swallows up the images.
Now there is naught but a vast black triangle having the apex
downwards, and in the centre of the black triangle is the face of
Typhon, the Lord of the Tempest, and he crieth aloud: Despair! Despair!
For thou mayest deceive the Virgin, and thou mayest cajole the Mother
but what wilt thou say unto the ancient Whore that is throned in
Eternity? For if she will not, there is neither force nor cunning, nor
any wit, that may prevail upon her.
Thou canst not woo her with love, for she is love. And she hath all,
and hath no need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with gold, for all the Kings and captains of
the earth, and all the gods of heaven, have showered their gold upon
her. Thus hath she all, and hath no need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with knowledge, for knowledge is the thing
that she hath spurned. She hath it all, and hath no need of thee.
And thou canst not woo her with wit, for her Lord is Wit.
She hath it all, and hath no need of thee. Despair! Despair!
Nor canst thou cling to her knees and ask for pity; nor canst thou
cling to her heart and ask for love; nor canst thou put thine arms
about her neck, and ask for understanding; for thou hast all these, and
they avail thee not. Despair! Despair!
Then I took the Flaming Sword, and I let it loose against Typhon, so
that his head was cloven asunder, and the black triangle dissolved in
lightnings.
But as he parted his voice broke out again: Nor canst thou win her with
the Sword, for her eyes are fixed upon the eyes of Him in whose hand is
the hilt of the Sword. Despair! Despair!
And the echo of that cry was his word, which is identical, although it
be diverse: Nor canst thou win her by the Serpent, for it was the
Serpent that seduced her first. Despair! Despair!
(Yet he cried thus as he fled:)
I am Leviathan, the great Lost Serpent of the Sea. I wri the eternally
in torment, and I lash the ocean with my tail into a whirlpool of foam
that is vemonous and bitter, and I have no purpose. I go no whither. I
can neither live nor die. I can but rave and rave in my death agony. I
am the Crocodile that eateth up the children of men. And through the
malice of BABALON I hunger, hunger, hunger.
All this while the Stone is more inert than ever yet; a thousand times
more lifeless than when it is not invoked. Now, when it kindles, it
only kindles into its physical beauty. And now upon the face of it is a
great black Rose, each of whose petals, though it be featureless, is
yet a devil-face. And all the stalks are the black snakes of hell. It
is alive, this Rose; a single thought informs it. It comes to clutch,
to murder. Yet, because a single thought alone informs it, I have hope
therein.
I think the Rose has a hundred and fifty-six petals, and though it be
black, it has the luminous blush.
There it is, in the midst of the Stone, and I cannot see anyone who
wears it.
Aha! Aha! Aha! Shut out the sight! Holy, Holy, Holy art thou!
Light, Life and Love are like three glow-worms at thy feet: the whole
universe of stars, the dewdrops on the grass whereon thou walkest!
I am quite blind.
Thou art Nuit! Strain, strain, strain my whole soul!
A ka dua Tuf ur biu Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
Falutli! Falutli!
I cling unto the burning thyr like Lucifer that fell through the
Abyss, and by the fury of his flight kindled the air.
And I am Belial, for having seen the Rose upon thy breast, I have
denied God.
And I am Satan! I am Satan! I am cast out upon a burning crag! And the
sea boils about the desolation thereof. And already the vultures
gather, and feast upon my flesh.
Yea! Before thee all the most holy is profane, O thou desolator of
shrines! O thou falsifier of the oracles of truth! Ever as I went, hath
it been thus. The truth of the profane was the falsehood of the
Neophyte, and the truth of the Neophyte was the falsehood of the
Zelator! Again and again the the fortress must be battered down! Again
and again the pylon must be over- thrown! Again and again must the gods
be desecrated!
And now I lie supine before thee, in terror and abasement. O Purity! O
Truth! What shall I say? My tongue cleaveth to my jaws, O thou Medusa
that hast turned me to stone! Yet is that stone the stone of the
philosophers. Yet is that tongue Hadit.
Aha! Aha!
Yea! Let me take the form of Hadit before thee, and sing:
A ka dua Tuf ur biu Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
Nuit! Nuit! How art thou manifested in this place! This is a
Mystery ineffable. And it is mine, and I can never reveal it either to
God or to man. It is for thee and me !
Aha! Aha!
A ka dua Tuf ur biu Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
. . . My spirit is no more; my soul is no more. My life leaps out into
annihilation!
A ka dua Tuf ur biu Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
It is the cry of my body! Save me! I have come too close. I have come
too close to that which may not be endured. It must awake, the body; it
must assert itself.
It must shut out the thyr, or else it is dead.
Every pulse aches, and beats furiously. Every nerve stings like a
serpent. And my skin is icy cold.
Neither God nor man can penetrate the Mystery of the thyr. (Here the
Seer mutters unintelligibly.)
And even that which understandeth cannot hear its voice. For to the
profane the voice of the Neophyte is called silence, and to the
Neophyte the voice of the Zelator is called silence. And so ever is it.
Sight is fire, and is the first angle of the Tablet; spirit is hearing,
and is the centre thereof; thou, therefore, who art all spirit and
fire, and hast no duller elements in thy star; thou art come to sight
at the end of thy will. And if thou wilt hear the voice of the thyr,
do thou invoke it in the night, having no other light but the light of
the half moon. Then mayest thou hear the voice, though it may be that
thou understandeth it not. Yet shall it be a potent spell, whereby thou
mayest lay bare the womb of thy understanding to the violence of CHAOS.
Now, therefore, for the last time, let the veil of the thyr be torn.
Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha!
A ka dua Tuf ur biu Bi a'a chefu
Dudu ner af an nuteru.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
This thyr must be left unfinished then until the half moon.
HAMMAM SALAHIN.
December 18, 1909 3.10-4.25 p.m.
An olvah nu arenu olvah. Diraeseu adika va paretanu poliax poliax in
vah rah ahum subre fifal. Lerthexanax. Mama ra-la hum fifala maha.
All this is the melody of a flute, very faint and clear. And there is a
sort of sub-tinkle of a bell.
And there is a string instrument, somewhat like a zither. And there is
a human voice.
And the voice comes: this is the Song of the Sphinx, which she singeth
ever in the ears of men.
And it is the song of the syrens. And whoever heareth it is lost.
I
Mu pa telai, Tu wa melai A, a, a
Tu fu tulu! Tu fu tulu Pa, Sa, Ga.
II
Qwi Mu telai Ya Pa melai; u, u, u.
'Se gu melai; Pe fu telai, Fu tu lu.
III
O chi balae
Wa pa malae:- Ut! Ut! Ut!
Ge; fu latrai, Le fu malai
Kut!-Hut!-Nut.
IV Al OAI
Rel moai
Ti-Ti-Ti! Wa la pelai Tu fu latai Wi, Ni, Bi.
Translation of Song.
I
Silence! the moon ceaseth (her motion), That also was sweet
In the air, in the air, in the air! Who Will shall attain!
Who Will shall attain
By the Moon, and by Myself, and by the Angel of the Lord!
II
Now Silence ceaseth
And the moon waxeth sweet;
(It is the hour of) Initiation, Initiation, Initiation. The kiss of
Isis is honeyed;
My own Will is ended, For Will hath attained.
III
Behold the lion-child swimmeth (in the heaven) And the moon reeleth:-
(It is) Thou! (It is) Thou! (It is) Thou! Triumph; the Will stealeth
away (like a thief), The Strong Will that staggered
Before Ra Hoor Khuit!-Hadit!-Nuit!
IV
To the God OAI Be praise
In the end and the beginning! And may none fall
Who Will attain
The Sword, the Balances, the Crown!
And that which thou hearest is but the dropping of the dew from my
limbs, for I dance in the night, naked upon the grass, in shadowy
places, by running streams.
Many are they who have loved the nymphs of the woods, and of the wells,
and of the fountains, and of the hills. And of these some were
nympholept. For it was not a nymph, but I myself that walked upon the
earth taking my pleasure. So also there
were many images of Pan, and men adored them, and as a beautiful god he
made their olives bear double and their vines increase; but some were
slain by the god, for it was I that had woven the garlands about him.
Now cometh a song.
So sweet is this song that no one could resist it. For in it is all the
passionate ache for the moonlight, and the great hunger of the sea, and
the terror of desolate places,-all things that lure men to the
unattainable.
Ombrj tessblb mbrax, tessala dodj phornfpax. amrj radbrb poljax
armbnb piliu. amrj radbrb piliv son'; marj narzb barbjton
madbrb anbphbx sarpfdon
andblb hriliu.
Translation.
I am the harlot that shaketh Death.
This shaking giveth the Peace of Satiate Lust. Immortality jetteth from
my skull,
And music from my vulva.
Immortality jetteth from my vulva also,
For my Whoredom is a sweet scent like a seven-stringed instrument,
Played unto God the Invisible, the all-ruler,
That goeth along giving the shrill scream of orgasm.
Every man that hath seen me forgetteth me never, and I appear
oftentimes in the coals of the fire, and upon the smooth white skin of
woman, and in the constancy of the waterfall, and in the emptiness of
deserts and marshes, and upon great cliffs that look seaward; and in
many strange places, where men seek me not. And many thousand times he
beholdeth me not. And at last I smite myself into him as a vision
smiteth into a stone, and whom I call must follow.
Now I perceive myself standing in a Druid circle, in an immense open
plain.
A whole series of beautiful visions of deserts and sunsets and islands
in the sea, green beyond imagination . . . . But there is no
subsistence in them.
A voice goes on: this is the holiness of fruitless love and aimless
toil. For in doing the thing for the things's sake is concentration,
and this is the holiest of them that suit not the means to the end. For
therein is faith and sympathy and a knowledge of the true Magick.
Oh my beloved, that fliest in the air like a dove, beware of the
falcon! oh my beloved, that springest upon the earth like a gazelle,
beware of the lion!
There are hundreds of visions, trampling over one another.
In each one the Angel of the thyr is mysteriously hidden.
Now I will describe the Angel of the thyr until the voice begins
again.
He is like one's idea of Sappho and Calypso, and all seductive and
deadly things; heavy eye-lids, long lashes, a face like ivory,
wonderful barbaric jewellery, intensely red lips, a very small mouth,
tiny ears, a Grecian face. Over the shoulders is a black robe with a
green collar; the robe is spangled with golden stars; the tunic is a
pure soft blue.
Now the whole thyr is swallowed up in a forest of unquenchable fire,
and fearlessly through it all a show-white eagle flies. And the eagle
cries: the house also of death. Come away! The volume of the book is
open, the Angel waiteth without, for the summer is at hand. Come away!
For the on is measured, and thy span allotted. Come away! For the
mighty sounds have entered into every angle. And they have awakened the
Angels of the thyrs that slept these three hundred years.
For in the Holy letter Shin, that is the Resurrection in the Book of
Thoth, that is the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, that is three
hundred in the tale of the years, hath the tomb been opened, so that
this great wisdom might be revealed.
Come away! For the Second Triad is completed, and there remaineth only
the Lord of the on, the Avenger, the Child both Crowned and
Conquering, the Lord of the Sword and the Sun, the Babe in the Lotus,
pure from his birth, the Child of suffering, the Father of justice,
unto whom be the glory throughout all the on!*
Come away! For that which was to be accomplished is accomplished,
seeing that thou hadst faith unto the end of all.
In the letter N the Voice of the thyr is ended.
BISKRA, ALGERIA.
December 20, 1909. 8.35-9.15 p.m.
THE CRY OF THE 1ST THYR, WHICH IS CALLED LIL
First, let praise and worship and honour and glory and great thank be
given unto the Holy One, who hath permitted us to come thus far, who
hath revealed unto us the ineffable mysteries, that they might be
disclosed before men. And we humbly beseech His infinite goodness that
he will be pleased to manifest unto us even the Mystery of the First
thyr.
(Here followeth the Call of the thyr.)
The veil of the thyr is like the veil of night, dark azure, full of
countless stars. And because the veil is infinite, at first one seeth
not the winged globe of the sun that burneth in the centre thereof.
Profound peace filleth me,-beyond ecstasy, beyond thought, beyond being
itself, IAIDA. (This word means "I am," but in a sense entirely beyond
being.)
image
* The Seer had absolutely forgotten this prophecy, and was amazed at
the final identification of the Child in LIL with Hoor.
(Note.-In Hebrew letters it adds to 26. In Hebrew letters the name of
the thyr is 70, ayin; but by turning the Yetziratic attributions of
the letters into Hebrew, it gives 66, and 66 is the sum of the numbers
from 0 to 11.)
Yes; there is peace. There is no tendency of any sort, much less any
observation or feeling or impression. There is only a faint
consciousness, like the scent of jasmine.
The body of the Seer is rested in a waking sleep that is deeper than
sleep, and his mind is still; he seems like a well in the desert,
shaded by windless palms.
And it is night; and because the night is the whole night of space, and
not the partial night of earth, there is no thought of dawn. For the
light of the Sun maketh illusion, blinding man's eyes to the glory of
the stars. And unless he be in the shadow of the earth, he cannot see
the stars. So, also, unless he be hidden from the light of life, he
cannot behold Nuit. Here, then, do I abide in unalterable midnight,
utterly at peace.
I have forgotten where I am, and who I am. I am hanging in nothing.
Now the veil opens of itself. (To Scribe. Come nearer; I don't want to
have to speak so loudly.)
It is a little child covered with lilies and roses. He is supported by
countless myriads of Archangels. The Archangels are all the same
colourless brilliance, and every one of them is blind. Below the
Archangels again are many, many other legions, and so on far below, so
far that the eye cannot pierce. And on his forehead, and on his heart,
and in his hand, is the secret sigil of the Beast. And of all this the
glory is so great that all the spiritual senses fail, and their
reflections in the body fail.
It is very strange. In my heart is rapture, holy and ineffable,
absolutely beyond emotion; beyond even that bliss called Ananda,
infinitely calm and pure. Yet at the gates of mine eyes stand tears,
like warriors upon the watch, that lean on their
spears, listening.*
The great and terrible Angel keeps on looking at me, as if to bar me
from the vision. There is another blinding my mind. There is another
forcing my head down in sleep.
(It's very difficult to talk at all, because an impression takes such
an immense time to travel from the will to the muscles. Naturally, I've
no idea of time.)
I have gone up again to the child, led by two Angels, abasing my head.
This child seems to be the child that one attempted to describe in "The
Garden of Janus."
Every volition is inhibited. I have tried to say a lot, but it has
always got lost on the way.
Holy art thou, O more beautiful than all the stars of the Night!
There has never been such peace, such silence. But these are positive
things. Singing praises of things eternal amid the flames of first
glory, and every note of every song is a fresh flower in the garl and of
peace.
This child danceth not, but it is because he is the soul of the two
dances,-the right hand and the left hand, and in him they are one
dance, the dance without motion.
There is dew on all the fire. Every drop is the quintes-sence of the
ecstasy of stars.
Yet a third time am I led to him, prostrating myself seven times at
every step. There is a perfume in the air, reflected down even to the
body of the seer. That perfume thrills his body with an ecstasy that is
like love, like sleep.
image
* There are long intervals between many of these paragraphs, the Seer
having been lost to Being. The reader will note that "The Great and
Terrible Angel" has not been mentioned, but comes in suddenly. This was
because the Seer's speech was inaudible, or never occurred. This angel
was the "Higher Genius" of the Seer.
And this is the song:
I am the child of all who am the father of all, for from me come forth
all things, that I might be. I am the fountain in the snows, and I am
the eternal sea. I am the lover, and I am the beloved, and I am the
first-fruits of their love. I am the first faint shuddering of the
Light, and I am the loom wherein night weaveth her impenetrable veil.
I am the captain of the hosts of eternity; of the swordsmen and the
spearmen and the bowmen and the charioteers. I have led the armies of
the east against the armies of the west, and the armies of the west
against the armies of the east. For I am Peace. My groves of olive were
planted by an harlot, and my horses were bred by a thief. I have
trained my vines upon the spears of the Most High, and with my laughter
have I slain a thousand
men.
With the wine in my cup have I mixed the lightnings, and I have carved
my bread with a sharp sword.
With my folly have I undone the wisdom of the Magus, even as with my
judgments I have overwhelmed the universe. I have eaten the pomegranate
in the House of Wrath, and I have crushed out the blood of my mother
between mill-stones to make bread.
There is nothing that I have not trampled beneath my feet. There is
nothing that I have not set a garl and on my brow. I have wound all
things about my waist as a girdle. I have hidden all things in the cave
of my heart. I have slain all things because I am Innocence. I have
lain with all things because I am Untouched Virginity. I have given
birth to all things because I am Death.
Stainless are my lips, for they are redder than the purple of the vine,
and of the blood wherewith I am intoxicated. Stainless is my forehead,
for it is whiter than the wind and the dew that cooleth it.
I am light, and I am night, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am speech, and I am silence, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am life, and I am death, and I am that which is beyond them. I am
war, and I am peace, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am weakness, and I am strength, and I am that which is beyond them.
Yet by none of these can man reach up to me. Yet by each of them must
man reach up to me.
Thou shalt laugh at the folly of the fool. Thou shalt learn the wisdom
of the Wise. And thou shalt be initiate in holy things. And thou shalt
be learned in the things of love. And thou shalt be mighty in the
things of war. And thou shalt be adept in things occult. And thou shalt
interpret the oracles. And thou shalt drive all these before thee in
thy car, and though by none of these canst thou reach up to me, yet by
each of these must thou attain to me. And thou must have the strength
of the lion, and the secrecy of the hermit. And thou must turn the
wheel of life. And thou must hold the balances of Truth. Thou must pass
through the great Waters, a Redeemer. Thou must have the tail of the
scorpion, and the poisoned arrows of the Archer, and the dreadful horns
of the Goat. And so shalt thou break down the fortress that guardeth
the Palace of the King my son. And thou must work by the light of the
Star and of the Moon and of the Sun, and by the dreadful light of
judgment that is the birth of the Holy Spirit within thee. When these
shall have destroyed the universe, then mayest thou enter the palace of
the Queen my daughter.
Blessed, blessed, blessed; yea, blessed; thrice and four times blessed
is he that hath attained to look upon thy face. For I will hurl thee
forth from my presence as a whirling thunderbolt to guard the ways, and
whom thou smitest shall be smitten indeed. And whom thou lovest shall
be loved indeed. And whether by smiting or by love thou workest, each
one shall see my face, a
glimmer through a thousand veils. And they shall rise up from love's
sleep or death's, and gird themselves with a girdle of snake-skin for
wisdom, and they shall wear the white tunic of purity, and the apron of
flaming orange for will, and over their shoulders shall they cast the
panther's skin of courage. And they shall wear the nemyss of secrecy
and the ateph crown of truth. And on their feet shall they put sandals
made of the skin of breasts, that they may trample upon all they were,
yet also that its toughness shall support them, and protect their feet,
as they pass upon the mystical way that lieth through the pylons. And
upon their breasts shall be the Rose and Cross of light and life, and
in their hands the hermit's staff and lamp. Thus shall they set out
upon the never-ending journey, each step of which is an unutterable
reward.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy; yea, thrice and four times holy art thou,
because thou hast attained to look upon my face; not by my favour only,
not by thy magick only, may this be won. Yet it is written: "Unto the
persevering mortal the blessed Immortals are swift."
Mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty; yea, thrice and four times mighty art
thou. He that riseth up against thee shall be thrown down, though thou
raise not so much as thy little finger against him. And he that
speaketh evil against thee shall be put to shame, though thy lips utter
not the littlest syllable against him. And he that thinketh evil
concerning thee shall be confounded in his thought, although in thy
mind arise not the least thought of him. And they shall be brought unto
subjection unto thee, and serve thee, though thou willest it not. And
it shall be unto them a grace and a sacrament, and ye shall all sit
down together at the supernal banquet, and ye shall feast upon the
honey of the gods, and be drunk upon the dew of immortality- FOR I AM
HORUS, THE CROWNED AND CONQUERING CHILD, WHOM THOU KNEWEST NOT!
Pass thou on, therefore, O thou Prophet of the Gods, unto the Cubical
Altar of the Universe; there shalt thou receive every tribe and kingdom
and nation into the mighty Order that reacheth from the frontier
fortresses that guard the Uttermost Abyss unto My Throne.
This is the formula of the on, and with that the voice of LIL, that is
the Lamp of the Invisible Light, is ended. Amen.
BISKRA, ALGERIA.
December 19, 1909. 1.30-3.30 p.m.
A COMMENT UPON THE NATURES OF THE THYRS.
30. Without the cube-the material world-is the sphere- system of the
spiritual world enfolding it. the Cry seems to be a sort of Exordium,
and external showing forth of the coming of the new on, the on of
Horus the crowned child.
29. The disturbance of Equilibrium caused by the Coming of the on.
28. Now is a further and clearer shadowing-forth of the Great Mystery
of the on whichis to be led up to by the thyrs. Note however that the
King of the New on never appears until the very first thyr.
27. Hecate appears-her son, the son of a Virgin, a magus, is to bring
the on to pass. And she, the herald, her function fulfilled, withdraws
within her mystic veil.
26. The death of the past on, that of Jehovah and Jesus; ends with
adumbration of the new, the vision of the Stele of Ankh-f-n-khonsu,
whose discovery brought about in a human
consciousness the knowledge of the Equinox of the Gods, 21. 3. 04.
25. Appearance of the Lion God of Horus, the child of Leo that
incarnates him.
The first Angel is Isis its mother.
24. Now appears his mate, the heavenly Venus, the Scarlet Woman, who by
men is thought of as Babalon as he is thought of as Chaos.
23. Here appear the Cherubim, the other officers of the new Temple, the
earth and water assistants of the fire and air Beast and Scarlet Woman.
22. Here is the First Key to the formula of Horus, a sevenfold
arrangement. A shadow of Horus declares his nature.
21. This seems to be the Vision of God face to face that is the
necessary ordeal for him who would pass the Abyss, as it were. A
commission to be the prophet of the on arising is given to the Seer.
The God is the Hierophant in the Ceremony of Magister Templi.
20. A guide is given to the Seer, his Holy Guardian Angel. And this is
attained by a mastery of the Universe conceived as a wheel The Hiereus
in the Ceremony of Magister Templi.
19. Now cometh forth the Angel who giveth instruction, in the lowest
form. The Hegemone in the Ceremony of Magister Templi which the Seer is
about to undergo.
18. The Vault of preparation for the Ceremony of M.T
The Veil is the Crucifixion, symbol of the dead on. The first ordeal
is undergone.
17. The symbol of the Balance is now given unto the Aspirant.
16. The sacrifice is made. The High Priestess (image of Babalon) cometh
forth upon her Beast and maketh this.
15. The mystic dance by Salome. The new Temple, the signs of the grades
are received and the A.E. rejected.
14. The Shrine of Darkness. Final initiation into grade of M. T.
LIBER CDXVIII
13. The emergence of Nemo into the world; his work therein. This is the
first mystery revealed to a M.T.
12. The Second Mystery: the cup-bearer of Babalon the beautiful. The
Holy Grail manifested to the M.T., with the first knowledge of the
Black Brothers.
11. Now cometh the Frontier of the Holy City; the M.T. is taken into
the Abyss.
10. The Abyss.
9. The M.T. hath passed the Abyss, and is let to the Palace of the
Virgin redeemed from Malkuth unto Binah.
8. The fuller manifestation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
7. The Virgin become the Bride, the great Reward of the Ceremony. also
an adumbration of the Further Progress.
6. A shadowing-forth of the grade of Magus.
5. The reception of the M.T. among the Brethren of the A A; the
manifestation of the Arrow.
4. Further concerning the Magus. The marriage of Chaos with the
purified Virgin.
3. The Magician. Exhibition of the Guards to the Higher Knowledge.
2. The understanding of the Curse, that is become a Blessing. The final
reward of the M.T., his marriage even with Babalon Herself. The paean
thereof.
1. The final manifestation. All leads up to the Crowned Child, Horus,
the Lord of the New on.
[A further and fuller comment upon this Book is in pre- paration.]

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now begins generated list of local instances, definitions, quotes, instances in chapters, wordnet info if available and instances among weblinks

OBJECT INSTANCES [0] - TOPICS - AUTHORS - BOOKS - CHAPTERS - CLASSES - SEE ALSO - SIMILAR TITLES

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IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

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SIMILAR TITLES

Liber 418 - Being of the Angels of the Thirty Aethyrs

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IN CHAPTERS [2/2]

2 Occultism

APPENDIX I - Curriculum of A. A., #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Liber CDXVIII (418) [] - Vision and the Voice, The ::: Being of the Angels of the Thirty Aethyrs, the Vision and the Voice. Besides being the classical account of the Thirty Aethyrs and a model of all visions, the cries of the Angels should be regarded as accurate, and the doctrine of the function of the Great White Brotherhood understood as the foundation of the Aspiration of the Adept. The account of the Master of the Temple should, in particular, be taken as au thentic.
Liber XXX AERUM vel Saeculi. ::: Being of the Angels of the Thirty Aethyrs, the Vision and the Voice. Besides being the classical account of the thirty Aethyrs and a model of all visions, the cries of the Angels should be regarded as accurate, and the doctrine of the function of the Great White Brotherhood understood as the foundation of the Aspiration of the Adept. The account of the Master of the Temple should in particular be taken as au thentic. Equinox V, Special Supplement.
Liber CDLI (451) [] - Liber CDLI - Eroto-comatose Lucidity ::: The chapter "Of Eroto-comatose Lucidity" in Liber CDXIV - De Arte Magica

Liber, #Liber Null, #Peter J Carroll, #Occultism
@Liber CDXVIII (418) [AB] - The Vision and the Voice ::: (Liber XXX AERUM vel Saeculi). Being of the Angels of the Thirty Aethyrs, the Vision and the Voice. Besides being the classical account of the Thirty Aethyrs and a model of all visions, the cries of the Angels should be regarded as accurate, and the doctrine of the function of the Great White Brotherhood understood as the foundation of the Aspiration of the Adept. The account of the Master of the Temple should, in particular, be taken as au thentic.
Liber CDLI (451) [B] - Liber CDLI - Eroto-comatose Lucidity ::: The chapter "Of Eroto-comatose Lucidity" in Liber CDXIV - De Arte Magica

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