The Book of the Law
Friends and lovers, I am rather excited to begin this month’s book club meeting. So without further ado, let’s talk books.
You human beings and your religions. Do Gods have words? Some say,
“Yes they do”. Can you hear them? Some say, “Yes I can”. Can I hear
them? Some say, “Yes you can”. When can I hear them? Some say,
“Right now”. What if I can’t hear them? Some say, “Read the Bible”.
Which Bible? Some say, “All of them”. Ok, maybe they don’t say that.
But you will get a whole bunch of different answers from a whole bunch
of different people. It just so happens, that this one
particular religious tomb caught my eye the other day and I am rather
excited to share it with you.
Have you ever been interested in the Qabalah? Or fascinated by the use
of sex and erotica to perfect your ability to manipulate mystical powers
from the astral plane? Then maybe Thelema is the right
philosophy/religion for you. The Thelemic religion draws greatly from
the Egyptian pantheon. Specifically the deities Nut, Hadit and Ra-Hoo-
Khuit are considered to be Gods of particular importance. For they are
the heavenly authors of this month’s holy text.
Aleister Crowley, the founder of the Thelemic religion, was a mystic who
claimed to share a conversation with a higher being. Specifically, he
was contacted by his guardian angel, Aiwass, The Minister of
Hoor-paar-kraat (more commonly believed to be Horus, the centralized
deity of Thelema). Aiwass used Crowley’s fiancee’s body to speak to him
in order for Crowley to annotate the bible of his Theleman philosophy;
Liber Al vel Legis, or in English, The Book of the Law.
In the span of four days (April 1st, 7th, 8th and 9th)
between the hours of noon and 1 pm, Crowley and Aiwaas sat in the
drawing room of an apartment in Cairo, Egypt to dictate this magical
tomb.
The writing of the book is both overly complicated and significantly
cryptic. Depending on your desire to dig deep into the will of the
Thelemic pantheon or the mind of an insane wizardy-type (depending on
your point of view) you may either get a great deal of spiritual
awakening from reading this brief dictation, or a great deal pissed off
for reading something so indecipherable. Later in his life, Crowley
wrote The Comment, which spelled out the interpretation of his holy book
in a concise simple paragraph. In The Comment, Crowley strictly
prohibits any outside study or lecture of the book. He states that the
book must be interpreted privately by ones self only, without aid
outside of his own writings and analyses. He goes on to recommend you
destroy your copy as soon as you have read it for the first time. It
was in this brief paraphrase that Crowley defined the book in two simple
phrases,
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”
“love is the law, love under will”
The definition of “Do what thou wilt” is meant to focus more on one’s
spiritual destiny rather than one’s selfish desires. In thelema
everyone has a true will, which is considered to be one’s destiny one
must attain. It is not chosen, rather enlisted to an individual based
off of their inner self in relation to the universe. To attain one’s
true self is to attain enlightenment. A true Theleman’s actions are in
perfect harmony with nature, as they use magick (yes, with a K) to
attain one’s true will.
If you wish to read more on the subject of Thelema, I recommend starting
with The Book of the Law. You can read it online by clicking here.
If you’d like to read any more of Aleister Crowley’s work online, you can do so by clicking here.
I also recommend Crowley’s autobiographical experience as a drug user,
Diary of a Drug Fiend. At the very least it is worth a couple laughs.
For those of you who wish to read The Book of the Law and are easily
lost in Aiwass’ fancy and highly metaphorical prose, I have written up a
quick cheat sheet for you to become better acquainted with the meaning
behind some of the texts. Does that make me a sinner in the eyes of
your average Thelemic practitioner? I don’t care. I’m a horrible
monster who lives in a closet and eats people. However, as this is such
a complex piece of writing and I do have a great many babies to toss
off of tall buildings today, my cheat sheet does not go so in depth to
be a complete analysis, rather a modest glossary of Thelemic terms,
metaphors and meanings behind various phrases and reoccurring concepts
you will come across by reading The Book of the Law. If you are
interested in reading Crowley’s various essays and commentaries on the
book (which go significantly more in depth), I recommend reading his
other book, The Law is for All. You can purchase a copy at Amazon.com
by clicking here.
So without further ado, let us begin...
Chapter 1
Nuit
Heavenly speaker of the first chapter of the book.
She is the sky goddess, ever arching over her masculine counterpart Hadit, to kiss his “secret ardours”. (14)
“…and in his woman called the Scarlet Woman is all power given” (15)
The Scarlet Woman is the goddess Babylon, riding bare breasted on the
back of the great Beast, whose number is 666 (Aleister Crowley often
saved this title, The Great Beast, for himself. However in this case,
he is referring to another deity. Not Satanic in nature, but Thelemic).
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| Babylon |
-To her is the “stooping Starlight” as to Hadit is the “Winged secret flame” (16)
Nuit and Hadit are represented as female and male counterparts, Nuit the
feminine encompassing Hadit the masculine in her heavenly body.
Crowley is famous for his blatant and cryptic carnality, for sex is a
powerful tool in the Thelemic religion. Keep your peepers pealed. You
are bound to find a great deal of metaphorical soft-core porn in this
bible.
-“I am Nuit and my word is six and fifty. Divide, add, multiply, and understand” (24 – 25)
The use of numbers is very common in many pagan and spiritually based
religions. In Thelema, they are used to uncover many transcendental
secrets. 50 + 6 is 56, the number of Nuit. When broken apart and added
together, 5 + 6 = 11, the number of the Tree of Life. Take special
note of the importance of the numbers 5 and 6, for 5 is represented by
the Pentagram, the 5 pointed star and 6 is represented by the Hexagram,
the 6 pointed star. Both stars have their own magickal significance.
The Pentagram represents the Microcosm, the four elements Earth, Fire,
Wind and Water crowned together with the fifth point, the spirit. The
Hexagram represents the Macrocosm, the points of the star are granted to
the planetary bodies Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, The Sun and
The Moon. Put together, the Pentagram and the Hexagram become a very
powerful and all encompassing symbol. As you can see, there is already
much to dive into with this mystical text.
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| The Tree of Life |
-“My scribe Ankh-af-na-khonsu, the priest of the princes, shall not in
one letter change this book; but lest there be folly, he shall comment
thereupon by the wisdom of Ra-Hoor-Khuit” (36)
Interesting tidbit, Cowley actually did make changes to the original
manuscript (such as inserting summed up excerpts from his previous work,
The Stele of Revealing and various other spelling and grammatical
changes).
-“Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look but close into
the word. For there are therein Three Grades, The Hermit, and the
Lover, and the man of Earth” (40)
The Thelemic Order System has three levels of initiation.
The Man of Earth is the first level of enlightenment, in which the lesser magicks of nature are taught to the novice Thelemite.
The Lover is the second level of enlightenment, in which lessons
of the first level are expanded upon with more emphasis on the pursuit
of knowledge of the greater magicks of nature.
The Hermit is the third level of enlightenment, in which the
Theemic student must follow the pursuit of light and knowledge. It is
where one finds inner and personal enlightenment. To achieve this is to
achieve the highest form of existence and become a Master of the
Universe.
Chapter 2
Hadit
Heavenly speaker of the second chapter of the book
The spirit within all humans. The masculine counterpart to Nuit.
-“With the just I am eight, and one in eight”
Numbers again. You can read more about the Thelemic meaning of numbers by clicking here.
-“Now a curse on because and his kin!” (28)
“If will stops and cries Why, invoking Because, the Will stops & does nought” (29)
“If power asks why, then is Power weakness” (30)
“Because” is a rebellious word. The answer to the question “because”
defines reason, and in Thelema, reason is acquiescent to Will. Crowley
states in his later work, The Law Is For All, “It is ridiculous to ask a
dog why it barks. One must fulfill one’s true nature, one must do
one’s will”, emphasizing this Thelemic school of thought.
-“A Feast…Aye! Feast! Rejoice! There is no dread hereafter. There is
the dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu” (34 – 44)
Hadit commands you to rejoice on the path of your true will.
-“There is light before thine eyes, o prophet, a light undesired, most desirable…I am the master: thou art the Holy Chosen One” (61 – 65)
Hadit’s message seems to be directed toward Crowley himself, as Hadit
depicts the joyous rapture which comes with the service of dictating
this heavenly prophecy. Crowley would later describe in his piece the
old Comment as feeling “swallowed up in ecstacy” while writing this.
-"4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24 89 R P S T O V A L…There cometh one to follow the: he shall expound it” (76)
Some magicians believe this to be a Cipher, a code, which can be easily solved through a mysterious process.
A wonderful author, G. M. Kelly attempts to decipher this crypic code
through several notes and works of Crowley. You can read his article by
clicking here.
Chapter 3
Ra-Hoor-Khuit
Heavenly speaker of the third chapter of the book of the law
God of war and vengeance (pay close attention to his words, for they are very war mongering)
Lord of the Aeon
-"Abrahadabra, the reward of a Hoor Khut” (1)
The word Abrahadabra (with an H, not a C) is, according to Crowley in
The Law is for All, the mystical formula for this new Aeon, The Aeon of
Horus. The reason is broken down in said book.
-“Sacrifice cattle, little and big: after a child. But not now” (12 – 13)
Interesting tidbit, Crowley had many children with many different women. A good portion of his children died in his lifetime.
-“There cometh a rich man from the West who shall pour gold upon
thee…and blessing no longer be poured to the Hawk-headed mystical lord!”
(31 - 34)
This is a prophesy of the future, involving the formation of the Thelemic church and the oncoming battle that will ensue.
-Hrumachis – The double lion headed form of Horus. It is an inverted
form of the Sphinx, the body of a lion and the head of a man for
Hrumachis has the body of a woman and the head(s) of a lioness.
-Mentu – Egyptian war God, lord of Thebes.
-Ankh-af-na-khonsu – a Thebian priest of Mentu from the 26th dynasty in Egypt.
-Ra, Tum, Khephra, Ahathoor Bes-na-Maut and Ta-Nech – Egyptian Gods.
Ahathoor is better known from history as Hathor, Egyptian Goddess of
fertility and love.
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| Hrumachis |
-“...and thy comment upon this the Book of the Law shall be printed
beautifully in red ink and black upon beautiful paper made by hand” (39)
You can buy a copy of the Book of the Law by clicking here.
made with crappy printer paper and inked with equally crappy printer ink.
-“…let her be shameless before all men” (44)
more metaphorical and literal allusions to sexuality as a powerful tool of magic.
-“With my Hawk’s head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the
cross…For her sake let all chaste women be utterly despised among you”
(51 – 55)
Here, Ra-Hoor-Khuit condemns all other religious philosophies, cursing the oppression of all other schools of thought.
-“The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra” (75)
And with this, Ra-Hoor-Khuit ends his dictation as he begun it.
Aeon of isis
Pre history
Mankind worshipped a great goddess (Isis)
Mother earth took care of her children - pagan worship
Aeon of Osiris
Classical to medieval centuries
Mankind worships a single male god (Osiris)
Patriarchal values – Christian values are the priority
Aeon of Horus
1904 –
controlled by the child god, Horus
humanity will enter self realization and self actualization
Did this prophesy actually come to pass? You tell me, Led Zeppelin.
