Do what thou
wilt shall be the whole of the Law
The total number
of verses in this Holy Book looks rather interesting.
Prologue -- 16
1 -- 55
2 -- 53
3 -- 60
4 -- 59
5 -- 48
6 -- 51
7 -- 52
The total is 394. There are 378 in the Book proper, and 16 in the Prologue.
378 = 112000 in
base 3, or, the 14 Trigram above the Zero Trigram.
The 14 Trigram
represents Mercury, and thus the Tarot Trump of the Magician. Being poised over
the Zero Trigram is symbolic of the Mage passing beyond the Abyss. Also, since
this is ‘Book 7’, it is interesting that the number of verses totals 7 x 54.
In TQ, the 7
Trigram is Gemini, and thus the Lovers Atu of the Tarot. The path of this trump
on the Tree of Life is from Tiferet to Binah, thus crossing the Abyss. This
path is also attributed to Zain, which is the number 7 in Hebrew.
Note that Gemini is ruled by Mercury.
The following words only occur in Liber VII, and have the gematria value of the
number of verses in the chapters, in an attempt to create a seven word phrase
of some pertinence:
55 -- Gather
53 -- these
60 -- atoms
59 -- over
48 -- lapidis
51 -- lazuli
52 -- flame
It is difficult to do an analysis of a poem so complex as this one, and in some
respects it is neither necessary nor desirable, since the meaning will change
constantly, and no objectivity can ever be reached.
Be that as it may, there are so many referents in this work, that it is helpful
to understand some of the background, just as one needs a good grounding in the
Classics to understand T.S. Eliot's 'The Wasteland'.
I don't intend an exhaustive study of this work, but I will throw in remarks
that I think may be helpful. The major difficulty of 'understanding' a work
such as this is that the narrative, if I can call it that, is so diffuse, and
it changes subject matter virtually every couple of verses. This is partly why I
see little evidence of 'planetary' attributions given by Crowley. Why these
would be important is also a question to be addressed.
I have noted that the number 7 has an association with Gemini in both the TQ
and the Hebrew Qabalah, (at least in the Sefer Yetzirah), and this is a salient
feature for a couple of reasons. This path crosses the Abyss, and is attributed
to the sign ruled by Mercury. We may then presume that since Liber VII is
supposed to be involved with the Abyss, that this is the path taken by Crowley
in doing so.
Another reason that Gemini is important is the Mercury connection, because
Mercury/Hermes is the father of Pan, the deity whose influence is felt
throughout this Book. I quote the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Pan, in Greek
mythology, a fertility deity, more or less bestial in form; he was associated
by the Romans with Faunus. Originally an Arcadian deity, his name is a Doric
contraction of PAON (pasturer) but was commonly supposed in antiquity to be
connected with PAN ("all"). His father was generally said to be
Hermes; his mother, however, was often named Penelope.."
Although the
name Pan was not originally meant to signify this God as the ALL, it has become
blended with the meaning after the Hellenes absorbed this Arcadian deity. So, despite its lack of justification, the
meaning is now associated with the name, and is used in such a sense by Crowley
throughout his work. (When you think about it, a little goat-footed lecher is
hardly the most obvious symbol to represent the universe in its totality).
Another
tradition has it that after the birth of Pan, Hermes brought him before the
Gods of Olympus, and he pleased them all, thus his association with the All.
But this is probably apocryphal, as it seems a rather contrived explanation for
a name that wasn't really his to begin with.
In any event, for our purposes, PAN = ALL. I note that in TQ gematria, ALL =7,
and this is the number of the Book.
PROLOGUE OF THE UNBORN
I take the title of the prologue to be a reference to the 'Bornless One', which
is the title of the ritual that was later expanded into Liber Samekh, a ritual
designed to help achieve the K&C of the HGA. This Angel is now being abandoned in the crossing of the Abyss,
which would account for the loneliness of the very first line.
01. Into my loneliness comes -
02. The sound of a flute in dim groves
that haunt the uttermost hills.
The first event is the sound of a flute. We may interpret this flute as the
Syrinx, the Panpipe. The simplest form of this instrument would have seven
reeds, to make the seven notes of the diatonic scale. This may then be a symbol
of the seven chapters to come, as well as a metaphor of Pan being the All,
i.e., all the notes can be played on the panpipe.
Syrinx was a maiden chased by Pan. She turned into a reed in the marsh, and all
that was left of her was her voice, the sound produced by the panpipe made of
those reeds. The gematria of the Greek word Syrinx is 1313.
Other definitions of the word Syrinx include: a quill, anything like a pipe, a
spear-case, a hole in the nave of a wheel, the hollow part of a hinge,
subterranean passage, covered gallery or cloister, etc. It is noteworthy that the axle of the wheel,
Hadit, would necessarily fit though the hole of the wheel, the Syrinx. We may
then attribute her to Nuit, especially as regards her emptiness, which is the
essential part of the definition of these words listed.
In that sense, the Syrinx, or panpipe, is a symbol for the Abyss itself. Pan is
then the babe of this Abyss, the wanderer through this wilderness. Pan = 131 +
Syrinx = 1313 totals 1444.
03. Even from the brave river they
reach to the edge of the wilderness.
The 'dim groves' may be symbolic of the Trees of Eternity, since they haunt the
uttermost hills and reach the edge of this wilderness that is the Abyss.
Wilderness = 126 = Universe.
Dim groves = 129 = Io Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan!
The brave river is supposedly Phrath, the river in Eden related to Earth. In TQ
the element of Earth is the 6 Trigram, and the letter X. The verse for this
Trigram in Liber XXVII says "And the Cross was formulated in the Universe
that as yet was not." This river is then the place where the journey
through the wilderness begins, for onward from there are the dim groves
everywhere.
04. And I behold Pan.
05. The snows are eternal above, above
-
06. And their perfume smokes upward
into the nostrils of the stars.
07. But what have I to do with these?
The adept cannot see his relation to the Supernal Triad. Having not yet crossed
the Abyss, they are unconnected to him.
08. To me only the distant flute, the
abiding vision of Pan.
One wishes that this vision were described, unless the whole rest of the Book
can be considered as such.
09. On all sides Pan to the eye, to
the ear;
Presumably the vision of Pan and the sound of the flute.
10. The perfume of Pan pervading, the
taste of him utterly filling my mouth, so that the tongue breaks forth into a
weird and monstrous speech.
No description of this perfume is given, but 777 gives musk and civet.
11. The embrace of him intense on
every centre of pain and pleasure.
Since the letter I has no value in TQ, the word Pain has the same value as Pan.
Pain + pleasure
= Do what thou wilt = 123
12. The sixth interior sense aflame
with the inmost self of Him,
Pan seems to here be taken literally, that he is everywhere. This is in
contrast to the role held by Nuit in Liber AL, where She is omnipresent.
13. Myself flung down the precipice of
being
Just as all the senses report in about Pan, the adept is thrown from the side
of the mountain where Pan abides. Perhaps some of his mountain climbing
experiences had engendered in Crowley a healthy respect for, or fear of,
mountain crevasses and ledges. Perhaps this is also why he identifies so
readily with the goat-footed God.
14. Even to the abyss, annihilation.
A.C. insisted on this experience as ‘part of the deal’ when he accepted being
the Prophet of the Aeon. Perhaps this is why the next Book he 'received' from
Aiwass dealt with this matter of the Abyss.
ABYSS = 73 = Hebrew letter Gimel spelled in full = path from Tiferet to Keter,
through the Abyss.
15. An end to loneliness, as to all.
Could the Crossing have been so swift? Is all that follows merely the report
from one who is now Beyond?
16. Pan! Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan!
These are ‘the words of madness and mystery’ from Crowley’s Hymn to Pan.
Chapter One
01. My God, how I love Thee!
And who doesn't?
02. With the vehement appetite of a
beast I hunt Thee through the Universe.
Surprised that Beast is not capitalized. Already we see the diminution of the
ego-complex.
03. Thou art standing as it were upon
a pinnacle at the edge of some fortified city. I am a white bird, and perch
upon Thee.
Perhaps God is the sentinel at the City of the Pyramids?
Although I see
little extraordinary gematria in this Book, I do note that Fortified = 93.
But more
important perhaps is this recurring theme of whiteness.
33 = White = Fool = Pan
04. Thou art My Lover: I see Thee as a
nymph with her white limbs stretched by the spring.
05. She lies upon the moss; there is
none other but she:
Already the allegory is changing! Why no sooner do I have the swan, or pelican,
or pigeon in the sights, then it flitters off and god becomes a nymph, while
the bird becomes…a satyr? Or just Pan, dreaming that he actually caught up to
Syrinx?
06. Art Thou not Pan?
Now is he asking the nymph if she is Pan? No, must be the other way 'round.
07. I am He. Speak not, O my God! Let
the work be accomplished in silence.
So he affirms this and she tells him to remain silent. The work he must undergo
requires silence to defeat Choronzon.
08. Let my cry of pain be crystallized
into a little white fawn to run away into the forest!
What exactly caused this pain all of a sudden?
Could it be a misprint, and the cry was actually of Pan?
09. Thou art a centaur, O my God, from
the violet-blossoms that crown Thee to the hoofs of the horse.
Now we're back to the standard imagery, descriptive of the god as a centaur,
notorious for chasing nymphs, I believe.
10. Thou art harder than tempered
steel; there is no diamond beside Thee.
And the god did get excited. Almost like a line from a Quaker porn movie.
11. Did I not yield this body and
soul?
Of course he did.
12. I woo thee with a dagger drawn
across my throat.
13. Let the spout of blood quench Thy
blood-thirst, O my God!
Since when is Pan seduced by blood? Now we've gone into RHK territory, 'let
blood flow to my name'.
14. Thou art a little white rabbit in
the burrow Night.
Could be a description of a star in the body of Nuit.
15. I am greater than the fox and the
hole.
Always back and forth. My God's bigger than me. No wait, I'm bigger than my
God.
16. Give me Thy kisses, O Lord God!
And then he can be very direct when he wants to be.
17. The lightning came and licked up
the little flock of sheep.
Once again, psychedelic imagery without context.
18. There is a tongue and a flame; I
see that trident walking over the sea.
Could be a description of the Hebrew letter Shin.
19. A phoenix hath it for its head;
below are two prongs. They spear the wicked.
The Phoenix wand of the Adept? or of RHK on the Stele?
20. I will spear Thee, O Thou little
grey god, unless Thou beware!
Behave yourself God, or I'll turn that spear on you. But perhaps just a way of saying he will capture Malkut at the
end of his 'Middle Pillar'.
21. From the grey to the gold; from
the gold to that which is beyond the gold of Ophir.
I can last from Malkut, through Tiferet, all the way to Ratzon if I have to.
22. My God! but I love Thee!
A typical intermittent, sporadic, transient howl of pleasure.
23. Why hast Thou whispered so
ambiguous things? Wast Thou afraid, O goat-hoofed One, O horned One, O pillar
of lightning?
A god afraid? Well, I guess, if the trident is big enough.
24. From the lightning fall pearls;
from the pearls black specks of nothing.
Could be the lightning flash, from which fall the pearls of the Sefirot. From
these shells, which cannot hold the divine light, come the black specks of the
Kelippot.
25. I based all on one, one on naught.
All the Sefirot are based on Ratzon, which is rooted in the Ein Sof.
26. Afloat in the aether, O my God, my
God!
There's really no other way to describe the Beyond, is there?
27. O Thou great hooded sun of glory,
cut off these eyelids!
The adept wants what Moses wanted, to see God face to face.
28. Nature shall die out; she hideth
me, closing mine eyelids with fear, she hideth me from My destruction, O Thou
open eye.
Normal Malkut-consciousness is great for the hunter-gathering stage, but puts a
lot of filters in the way of the divine. One of the most compelling of these is
fear. I believe the great poet John Entwhistle said that 'fear is the key to
your soul'. The open eye is perhaps the
Eye of Siva, now opening as the adepts Ajna-cakkra and bringing about his
destruction.
29. O ever-weeping One!
Well, if a god can be afraid, I guess he can cry too.
30. Not Isis my mother, nor Osiris my
self; but the incestuous Horus given over to Typhon, so may I be!
A.C.'s own thoughts interject here.
31. There thought; and thought is
evil.
Go away, Thought, I'm being inspired by a praeter-human intelligence!
32. Pan! Pan! Io Pan! it is enough.
You just call out my name, and you know wherever I am, I'll come runnin'..
33. Fall not into death, O my soul!
Think that death is the bed into which you are falling!
It will be a nice soft landing on the king-sized visco-elastic mattress of
dissolution.
34. O how I love Thee, O my God!
Especially is there a vehement parallel light from infinity, vilely diffracted
in the haze of this mind.
This is curious. I can't understand how a light could be vehement, but in a
psychedelic haze, I suppose anything is possible.
35. I love Thee. I love Thee. I love
Thee.
36. Thou art a beautiful thing whiter
than a woman in the column of this vibration.
It would help to qualify this woman imagery. I know an awful lot of them that
are more like the Nubian. Could be back to a Ratzon reference, or to Nuit as
the Milky Way.
37. I shoot up vertically like an
arrow, and become that Above.
Yes, probably another Middle Pillar reference.
38. But it is death, and the flame of
the pyre.
But it is Daath, putting up roadblocks to the Pilgrim's Progress.
39. Ascend in the flame of the pyre, O
my soul! Thy God is like the cold emptiness of the utmost heaven, into which
thou radiatest thy little light.
One little soul-spark can make it out perhaps, but the rest shall be gathered
in a sheet that hath four corners and deposited in the city of the Pyramids.
40. When Thou shall know me, O empty
God, my flame shall utterly expire in Thy great N. O. X?
And then even the little spark will go out.
41. What shalt Thou be, my God, when I
have ceased to love Thee?
42. A worm, a nothing, a niddering
knave!
God's divinity is based on our devotion to him, or her.
43. But Oh! I love Thee.
But don't worry, the devotion shall not falter.
44. I have thrown a million flowers
from the basket of the Beyond at Thy feet, I have anointed Thee and Thy Staff
with oil and blood and kisses.
This is so sycophantic. What exactly does this god have that you want so badly?
45. I have kindled Thy marble into
life - ay! into death.
Some sort of idolatry?
46. I have been smitten with the reek
of Thy mouth, that drinketh never wine but life.
Yes, he does like to be taken and swallowed up.
47. How the dew of the Universe
whitens the lips!
That's what they call the ‘money shot.'
48. Ah! trickling flow of the stars of
the mother Supernal, begone!
But this must be stopped before new life is created, and all the karma that
goes with it.
49. I Am She that should come, the
Virgin of all men.
And now a line from a more mainstream porn movie.
50. I am a boy before Thee, O Thou
satyr God.
51. Thou wilt inflict the punishment
of pleasure - Now! Now! Now!
And more lines from the same movie.
52. Io Pan! Io Pan! I love Thee. I
love Thee.
53. O my God, spare me!
And even more lines.
54. Now! It is done! Death.
And finally the climax.
55. I cried aloud the word - and it
was a mighty spell to bind the Invisible, an enchantment to unbind the bound;
yea, to unbind the bound.
I'm unsure which word is referenced here, but I would guess that it is Death.
This has a value of 53, which is the 1 Trigram over the 26 Trigram, or, the
completion of the house of the Fire Element. It can also be seen as the phallic
wand above Our Lady Babalon, which seems about right for the bulk of this
chapter.
Some nice poetry, but he hasn't really started cooking yet. Just as the
prologue sounded for all the world like the words of a man coming down from a
cocaine high, so this chapter sounds like he got another fat line and went to
work on the first chapter. Or else
these are just notes from his love-fest after he scored again.
As he proves elsewhere in his diaries, he can be awfully prolific when he's got
a good buzz going on. More power to him.
Chapter 1 is
very macho, and with the blood-thirst references and type of treatment that the
adept asked for and received, one could say that it had an overall Martial
tone. Having 700 words also helps, since this would be the 25 Trigram doubled,
or the Mars Trigram over the Mars Trigram: 122122
Supposedly Chapter Two has a Saturnine cast to it. One would expect that since
the sphere of Saturn is Binah, there may be some glimmerings here of life after
the Abyss.
Chapter Two
01. O my God! use Thou me again,
alway. For ever! For ever!
The adept liked what he got in the last chapter, and is back for more.
02. That which came fire from Thee
cometh water from me; let therefore Thy Spirit lay hold on me, so that my right
hand loose the lightning.
Could be a reference to the first three Trigrams of Liber XXVII. The 1 Trigram
is the Fire Element, and cometh from the divine. But by the Weak One is this
equilibrated, i.e., the 2 Trigram, which is the Water Element. These two are
locked together in an embrace that can only be mediated by the Zero Trigram,
which is Spirit.
To lay hold upon something is to obtain it.
03. Travelling through space, I saw
the onrush of two galaxies, butting each other and goring like bulls upon
earth. I was afraid.
Galaxies = 56. A possible alternative title for the XVII Atu. A collision
between galaxies would be an awesome thing, except that the distances between
stars is so great, one wonders if any contact would actually occur.
04. Thus they ceased fight, and turned
upon me, and I was sorely crushed and torn.
By this turn of events, perhaps the adept intends that the galaxies are the
'system and system' of Liber AL. These now turn on the adept, who must abandon
them or be crushed thereby.
05. I had rather have been trampled by
the World-Elephant.
It would be easier to be humiliated by an obviously flawed and metaphorical
idea that the world rests on an elephant than to be done in by a system one
holds dear.
06. O my God! Thou art my little pet
tortoise!
Once again, the adept is greater than his god.
07. Yet Thou sustainest the
World-Elephant.
Some Saturn references here, insofar as the Universe Atu is a correlate of the
Elephant. In TQ gematria, 'elephant' = 72, and could then refer to the
quinances of the Zodiac on the XXI Atu. The tortoise might then be the sphere
of the night sky.
Tortoise = 80 =
heaven.
08. I creep under Thy carapace, like a
lover into the bed of his beautiful; I creep in, and sit in Thine heart, as
cubby and cosy as may be.
09. Thou shelterest me, that I hear
not the trumpeting of that World-Elephant.
The adept takes his place in the center of the Atu, as Heru-ra-ha.
10. Thou art not worth an obol in the
agora; yet Thou art not to be bought at the ransom of the whole Universe.
An oblique reference to the 0 = 2 formula. The god is worth nothing, but the
whole universe, (which is divided for love's sake) can't buy him.
The whole Universe = 186 = Thou knowest not.
186 written in Trigrams is 020220, a glyph of the view down the Tree of Life
from Ratzon: from right to left, the zeroes are Ratzon, Tiferet, Yesod and
Malkut, the twos are the Sefirot of the side pillars.
11. Thou art like a beautiful Nubian
slave leaning her naked purple against the green pillars of marble that are
above the bath.
12. Wine jets from her black nipples.
Again, I think, references to the dancing maiden on the Universe Atu.
13. I drank wine awhile agone in the
house of Pertinax. The cup-boy favoured me, and gave me of the right sweet
Chian.
This is a much more beautiful segue, from the maiden to the wine to Pertinax,
etc.
Pertinax = 75 = centre = green = hermits
14. There was a Doric boy, skilled in
feats of strength, an athlete. The full moon fled away angrily down the wrack.
Ah! but we laughed.
No telling why this Doric boy appears, and what he did. But it must have been
funny.
15. I was pernicious drunk, O my God!
Yet Pertinax brought me to the bridal.
He was perhaps trapped in the stupor of one of the 'crapulous creeds', but his
persistence, i.e., perdurabo, brought him through to the sphere of Binah.
16. I had a crown of thorns for all my
dower.
Who would give away this bride/groom? Perhaps the Plymouth Brethren, who could
only offer the sufferings of Jesus as a dowry.
17. Thou art like a goat's horn from
Astor, O Thou God of mine, gnarl'd and crook'd and devilish strong.
Instead of the thorny crown, the god has a horn, whose description reminds one
of the 'gnarled oak' of Liber 370. Devilish strong would then be a reference to
the Devil Atu, which is Capricorn, the house of Saturn.
18. Colder than all the ice of all the
glaciers of the Naked Mountain was the wine it poured for me.
The glacier is also mentioned in Liber 370. Cold is a typical Saturnian
attribute.
19. A wild country and a waning moon =
333. Clouds scudding over the sky. =
333
More references to Liber 370, where the ruddy clouds of the storm appear.
23. Why should I go on?
Having so much fun, can't I just stop here on the path?
You're not going
to make me go on, are you?
24. Why? Why? comes the sudden cackle
of a million imps of hell.
The elementals find this funny, in a schadenfreude kind of way.
25. And the laughter runs.
26. But sickens not the Universe; but
shakes not the stars.
The Universe is unaffected by the impish outburst. I should hope so.
27. God! how I love Thee!
28. I am walking in an asylum; all the
men and women about me are
insane.
29. Oh madness! madness! madness!
desirable art thou!
30. But I love Thee, O God!
31. These men and women rave and howl;
they froth out folly.
32. I begin to be afraid. I have no
check; I am alone. Alone. Alone.
33. Think, O God, how I am happy in
Thy love.
You know, this place of insanity called Earth, where both their gods and their
men are fools, is a lonesome place. I think the buzz is wearing off. But I will
find solace in love for my god, and go on.
34. O marble Pan! O false leering
face! I love Thy dark kisses, bloody and stinking! O marble Pan! Thy kisses are
like sunlight on the blue Aegean; their blood is the blood of the sunset over
Athens; their stink is like a garden of Roses of Macedonia.
The 'marble' motif appears quite a lot
in this Book. I presume this is the same marble that was kindled into life,
etc., in Cap. 1.
35. I dreamt of
sunset and roses and vines; Thou wast there, O my God, Thou didst habit Thyself
as an Athenian courtesan, and I loved Thee.
36. Thou art no dream, O Thou too beautiful alike for sleep and waking!
This is all very lovely, sustained imagery, and would probably sound wonderful
in Greek translation. Maybe it was written long ago and burned in the library
at Alexandria.
37. I disperse the insane folk of the
earth; I walk alone with my little puppets in the garden.
His vision has gotten rid of the folk folly, although I don't know what the
puppets represent. Perhaps a prophecy of the garden he will tend as a Master of
the Temple?
38. I am Gargantuan great; yon galaxy
is but the smoke-ring of mine incense.
A direct reference to Rabelais, but apparently only as a typical usage of the
word Gargantuan. The adept is puffed up, literally.
39. Burn Thou strange herbs, O God!
That's what I'm talking about.
40. Brew me a magic liquor, boys, with
your glances!
Preferably of anhalonium lewinii. But peyote tea will do in a pinch.
41. The very soul is drunken.
Perhaps the drunkenness of the innermost sense mentioned by Nuit.
42. Thou art drunken, O my God, upon
my kisses.
Union with the divine creates a sympathetic effect, like a pregnant mother who
eats and drinks for two.
43. The Universe reels; Thou hast
looked upon it.
44. Twice, and all is done.
Another 0 = 2 reference.
52. Sleep, take me! Death, take me!
This life is too full; it pains, it
slays, it suffices.
53. Let me go back into the world;
yea, back into the world.
The union is not quite consummated, but gives hope that it will be fully
completed in the near future. Perhaps the idea of an ‘End’ that crept in here
delayed the crossing for the Adept.
At the finale, he seems to desire a return to normal consciousness, a typical
feeling for anyone on a sustained hallucinogenic high. After a while one
desires to just 'come down' despite knowing how boring the 'old grey land'
really is.
The last Saturn reference might be this 'going back into the world', slipping
back down the Saturnian 32nd path, the Tau, to Malkut, for a little break.
Chapter Three
Supposedly this
is the Juppiter chapter. Frater AMO says it has 910 words, and is thus the
manifestation (10) of Amn (91). Nice little cypher. In base 3, 910 becomes
1020201, a reversible Septagram.
Crowley noted that Amoun was the 'negative and concealed' one.
In TQ, Ammon =
81 = Nothing.
81 is the 3
Trigram over the zero Trigram; 010000
When the name Ra is appended, we add it's value, 19. Combining this 19 with the
3 and the 0, we have a total of 22, the value of the Juppiter Trigram.
The inspiration is really starting to come through in this chapter. The poetry
is beautiful and well sustained throughout. It makes it hard to comment on any
one specific verse.
12. Then I the priest beheld a steady
glitter in the heart of the
pearl.
13. So bright we could not look! But
behold!
428 = a blood-red rose upon a rood of glowing gold!
This could be a reference to the 'circle squared' and the grid-page of Liber
AL, since verse 3:47 has 428 letters.
29. Strange and mystic, like a yellow
priest invoking mighty flights of great grey birds from the North, so do I
stand and invoke Thee!
A description of a Taoist priest using a divination technique in Ancient
China. Since this relates to
divination, and since I've developed a system whereby one can create any of the
729 Hexagrams of Trigrammaton, I think the gematria of this sentence is
pertinent.
'a yellow priest invoking mighty flights of great grey birds from the North' =
676.
676 = 26 x 26 =
all 676 Hexagrams that have two English letters attributed to them.
(The other 53
Hexagrams have the 26 Trigram in either the upper or lower position, or both,
and this Trigram has no letter attributed to it).
A yellow priest = 111
39. I rear my Titan bulk into the
teeth of the gale, and I smite and prevail, and swing me out over the sea.
This has always been my favorite verse. Only for this commentary did I notice
that it is the 143rd verse of Liber VII, a number I'm always interested in.
Also, its gematria value is 913 = Hebrew 'Berashith'.
55. I am hard and strong and male; but
come Thou! I shall be soft and weak and feminine.
Since this verse employs the imagery of opposites I thought it a good test of my
Transitional Triad method:
I am hard and strong and male = 298
I shall be soft and weak and feminine = 358
298 = 102001
358 = 111021 (418 in reverse)
409 = 120011
The Hexagram
created by marrying these two phrases is 409, which is the value of verse 2:77
of AL: 'O be thou proud and mighty among men!'
Chapter Four
This chapter is
supposedly related to Sol, and at least there are a few overt solar references
in verses 2, 3, & 4.
Fr.AMO says
there are 1053 words.
There are 4
pairs of Antigrams that sum to the number 1053.
They are: 351
& 702; 378 & 675; 432 & 621; 459 & 594.
The importance
of these pairs is that they all have the Zero Trigram in lower position, while
the eight upper Trigrams are the eight I Ching Trigrams.
Since the TQ considers these Trigrams to be 'planetary' in nature, at least in
terms of the overall cabalistic scheme, one cannot say that this figure of 1053
definitely supports the Solar reference to the exclusion of the other planets,
but we might at least say that since this is the central chapter of the Book,
just as Sol is the center of the planetary scheme, then at least 1053 has some
importance to all the planets.
We might then single out the Sol/Luna Antigrams for consideration. These are
432 and 621, the Antigram pair that differs by 189. As it happens, 189 is the 7
Trigram over the Zero Trigram, which then brings us back to the number of the
Book and the influence of Gemini that I mentioned earlier. 189 is also the
value of the phrase 'menacing the sun.'
The 189th verse of the Book is verse 5 of this chapter:
5. My sword passes through and through
Thee; crystalline moons ooze out of Thy beautiful body that is hidden behind
the ovals of Thine eyes.
Note that the sword plays a key role in this verse. In Hebrew, the letter Zain
means a sword, and equals 7, and is related to Gemini.
9. I am like a wounded bird flapping
in circles.
The total of this verse is 377, which is the 12th I Ching Hexagram, Adversity.
In Chinese terms this is Earth above Heaven, things are out of place, not
unlike a bird that cannot fly and is headed toward the ground.
17. Shall not mine incantations bring
around me the wonderful company of the wood-gods, ..
Incantations = 127 = English Alphabet
42. Also Vitriol and the hierophant's
name V.V.V.V.V.
VITRIOL = 56 = 8 x 7
Visita interiora terrae rectificando invenies occultum lapidem = 595 = 85 x 7
VVVVV = 110 = Ra-Hoor-Khuit
45. Eight times he cried aloud, and by
eight and by eight shall I count Thy favours, Oh Thou Elevenfold God 418!
46. Yea, and by many more; by the ten
in the twenty-two directions; even as the perpendicular of the Pyramid - so
shall Thy favours be.
Taking the values of the number words, we get 8 + 8 + 8 + 11 + 10 + 22 = 67 =
Zain = Sword = Gemini. But technically, 11 doesn't belong in this group, as it
is used for the title of the God. We are then left with 56, which refers back
to Vitriol.
Another way to look at the verses is that the ‘voice which shook the earth’
cried 8 times, and these were the 8 I Ching Trigrams. Expanding on this, the
adept counts the favors 'by eight and by eight', i.e., all the possible
combinations of these Trigrams, which result in the 64 Hexagrams of I Ching.
The adept then goes on further to enumerate the favors by the 10 Sefirot of the
Tree of Life, and by the 22 paths found therein. Thus the adept enumerates the
favors of the god by the major Eastern and Western occult systems.
In this sense, there are 8 + 64 + 32 = 104 entities. This is the summing of 2
to the 3rd, 6th, and 5th powers.
I'm curious to know what the value is of 'the perpendicular of the pyramid',
which I presume refers to the Giza plateau. Is this an oblique reference to Pi?
Khidr has a great deal of good information on this.
The original
‘eight’ is also an obvious reference to the Hebrew letter Cheth, which by
spelling in full gets the 418 reference, which is then cross- referenced to the
'elevenfold' word of Abrahadabra (or Makhashanah) which also totals 418.
But despite all these enumerations, the answer is always the same:
47. If I number them, they are One.
50. Yet they are but foolish folk
yonder. I see them on the yellow sand, all clad in Tyrian purple.
Yellow and purple are 'flashing' colours, opposite on the spectrum.
Amri maratza, maratza, atman deona
lastadza maratza maritza - maran!
This dreadful curse is probably best enumerated in Greek or Hebrew, but for the
record, in TQ it has the value of 637. This is the 23 Trigram (Luna) over the
16 Trigram (Sol), or the 63rd Hexagram of I Ching, After Completion.
637 is also 91 x
7, or 13 x 7 x 7, and is one of the nine Nuclear Hexagrams to which all the 729
Hexagrams reduce by the traditional method of finding Nuclear Hexagrams. All
nine of these are multiples of 91.
91 = Crucified
Chapter Five
AMO says there
are 737 words in this chapter.
By the TQ, 737
is the value of AL III:62, "To Me do ye reverence, to me come ye through
tribulation of ordeal, which is bliss."
737 is a
Septagram in base 3, the top line is Yang, over the 8 Hexagram. Since 8 is Cancer
in the TQ, I can make no correlation between this number and the alleged
Mercurial character of this chapter, (but some might say that at least the
Mercurial Sefira of Hod is number 8).
01. O my beautiful God! I swim in Thy
heart like a trout in the mountain torrent.
Torrent is a little used, and unusual, word. It has the value of 93. The
etymology is 'Latin torrere, to cause to become dry, especially to burn, to
consume with fire. Oblique stem torrent-, used as an adjective 'burning', hence
'roaring' (as a fire does) or 'boiling', whence the English adjective torrent
(obsolete) and the Old French- French noun torrent, adopted by English, a
violent stream (the origin of lava?)
I say the word is unusual in that its original meaning was to be dry or to
burn, and eventually was used to describe water, the exact opposite of its
original intention. This word reappears in verse 13, and what with the subject
matter of this chapter, I tend to think of this mountain torrent as actually a
flow of lava, or 'liquid stone'. True, brown trout are rarely found in lava
flows, but this is poetry, after all.
02. I leap from pool to pool in my
joy; I am goodly with brown and gold and silver.
Perhaps in his burning anguish, this brown trout is experiencing the tribulation
of ordeal, which is bliss. By TEG, 'brown trout' = 143. He may also be 'goodly'
with the brown of Malkut, the gold of Tiferet, and the silver of Yesod,
indicating that he is ascending on the Middle Pillar.
Brown + gold + silver = 186. A way of saying he is goodly with Love under Will.
03. Why, I am lovelier than the russet
autumn woods at the first snowfall.
04. And the crystal cave of my thought
is lovelier than I.
And I'll take anything lovelier than I, any day of the week.
05. Only one fish-hook can draw me
out; it is a woman kneeling by the bank of the stream. It is she that pours the
bright dew over herself, and into the sand so that the river gushes forth.
One could argue that this Class A text makes it very obvious that Tzaddi is still
the letter of the XVII Atu, (and that the imagery remains the same). It is the
name of the Atu that has to be changed to be in accord with AL I:57.
'a woman kneeling by the bank of the stream' = 419 = Teth spelled in full = Leo
= the polarity of Aquarius.
06. There is a bird on yonder myrtle;
only the song of that bird can draw me out of the pool of Thy heart, O my God!
07. Who is this Neapolitan boy that
laughs in his happiness?
Neapolitan boy = 143 = brown trout
His lover is the mighty crater of the
Mountain of Fire.
This phrase = 463 = value of the 3 paths of the Middle Pillar.
This reinforces my idea that the brown trout was swimming in lava. Poor little
143 = Thou knowest!, trying to make love to a volcano.
I saw his charred limbs borne down the
slopes in a stealthy tongue of liquid stone.
Once again proving how awfully difficult it is to incinerate a human carcass.
08. And Oh! the chirp of the cicada!
’Oh yeah, and I think I heard a chirping sound coming from somewhere’.
I must say I
don't take the reference here at all.
13. I remember how we drenched the
bitter lakes with our torrent of gold; how we sank the treasurable image in the
crater of Citlaltepetl.
Again with the torrent. Could this phrase be a reference to burning up
everything in the solar fire of Tiferet? Is the treasurable image a human
sacrifice, as was common in Pre-Columbian Meso-America?
14. How the good flame lifted us even
unto the lowlands, setting us down in the impenetrable forest.
Seque out of the volcano motif. Temporarily.
15. Yea, Thou wast a strange scarlet
bird with a bill of gold. I was Thy mate in the forests of the lowland; and
ever we heard from afar the shrill chant of mutilated priests and the insane
clamour of the Sacrifice of Maidens.
Perhaps these are the young ones being sacrificed in the volcano crater?
16. There was a weird winged God that
told us of his wisdom.
Could well be Quetzlcoatl, the feathered-serpent deity.
34. Then, O my God, the breath of the
Garden of Spices. All these have a savour averse.
the garden of Spices = 186 = agape + thelema.
35. The cone is cut with an infinite
ray; the curve of hyperbolic life springs into being.
cone = 49 = Nu
infinite ray = 129 = regenerate
curve = 76 = bosom = breast
hyberbolic life = 111 = space-marks
being = 68 = Magician
The gematria of the main words in this verse indicate the birth of a star out
of the body of Nuit.
The two halves of the verse total 293 and 428. Since this is a process and a
result being described, I once again use a Transitional Triad to find out what
is being created from the process.
293 = 101212 = The cone is cut with an infinite ray;
428 = 120212 = the curve of hyperbolic life springs into being.
401 = 112212 = Mercury over Luna = first and last letters of Hebrew = ATh =
Essence
Since the 23 Trigram is below in both of the first two numbers, it remains the
same in the third. But the resulting upper Trigram is 14, which is attributed
to Mercury, who is the planet of the Magician Atu, whose title = 68 = Being.
Thus the verse is a concise ontological statement.
40. Smiling we greet him with the
secret signs.
41. He leads us into the Inverted
Palace.
We might as well take the gematria of ‘inverted palace’ and invert the
Hexagram:
Inverted Palace = 148 = 012111, the reversal is 111210 = 372 = 4 x 93.
42. There is the Heart of Blood, a
pyramid reaching its apex down beyond the Wrong of the Beginning.
Obviously, inversion relates to "a pyramid reaching its apex down",
since the apex should properly be 'up'. This phrase = 279 = 3 x 93
47. He shall await the sword of the
Beloved and bare his throat for the stroke.
Something very similar is mentioned in Liber Tzaddi, v. 16: "With courage
conquering fear shall ye approach me: ye shall lay down your heads upon mine
altar, expecting the sweep of the sword."
48. Then shall his blood leap out and
write me runes in the sky; yea, write me runes in the sky.
Total of the last verse is 847 = 1011101, a lovely reversible Septagram.
Chapter Six
AMO says there
are 677 words in this chapter.
Rather interesting that the word-total of the Lunar chapter would equate to a
likely solar reference.
677 is the value
of Liber AL verse 2:43 "A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of
uttermost delight", which is very in keeping with the subject matter of
the early part of this chapter.
Since Nuit is a star-goddess, and not exactly a Lunar deity, it may be fair to
say that at the time of the New Moon, the only light in the night sky is her
body of stars, undisturbed by moonlight. Perhaps this is why the work is done
‘by the waning moon’, as it represents the approach of the fullness of the
star-goddess.
01. Thou wast a priestess, O my God,
among the Druids; and we knew the powers of the oak.
This could also refer to the 'Gnarled Oak of God' found in Liber 370.
04. By the waning moon did we work.
= 616
616 = 11 x 56, and may indicate a work or magick oriented toward Nu.
22. The night falls like a spangled
cloak from the shoulders of a prince upon a slave.
23. He rises a free man!
Could be describing the process whereby the Night of Pan, or the experience of
Binah, falls upon one enslaved (by any number of psychic distresses), and it
then frees them from slavery. It could
also be, in a more general sense, the effect of nightfall: the goddess is
brought into the open, the prince is Horus, and the slave is the earth itself.
24. Cast thou, O prophet, the cloak
upon these slaves!
Total of this verse is 392 = 112112, the doubling of the 14 Trigram, attributed
to Mercury. This may portend the eventual grade of Magus, and may also
symbolize the methods of Magick that he will give to the slaves. Reversing 392
becomes 211211 = 616 = see note above.
26. So also I went down into the great
sad city.
The city is apparently Rome.
28. Who wast Thou, O Caesar, that
Thou knewest God in an horse?
29. For lo! we beheld the White
Horse of the Saxon engraven uponthe earth;
Just amazing that he can go from Ancient Rome to the Uffington Horse in the
same breath.
and we beheld the Horses of the Sea that flame about the old grey land, and the
foam from their nostrils enlightens us!
Even more amazing that he can ingest all that cocaine
38. There is value in our tincture
for a world of Spice and gold.
This reminds me of 'ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices'. Is he
saying that the tincture will bring about such a 'land of plenty'? Obviously, there’s an alchemical symbolism
here, and Spice is capitalized for no apparent reason.
39. For our red powder of projection
is beyond all possibilities.
tincture = 96
red powder of projection = 237
total is 333
mutating them into each other:
96 = 010120
237 = 022210
27 = 001000
So any word with a gematria of 27 would serve as the link between these two
substances. I prefer the word MIX = 27.
44. Taste of the wines and the cakes
and the splendid meats!
The 1983 Weiser edition of the Holy Books has the word cakes spelled as CATES.
Is this a typo? The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘Cate’ as 'usually in
plural, cates; aphetized form of acate, the original sense being to purchase.’
The definition
is 'Provisions or victuals bought (as distinguished from, and usually more
delicate or dainty than, those of home production).'
I'm willing to
bet that "cakes" is wrong.
47. Let the Invisible inform all the
devouring Light of its disruptive vigour!
This verse total 675 = 221000 = The Mars Trigram over the Zero Trigram, which
is very apt in the context of the verse.
50. Thou, O my darling, O my
ceaseless Sparrow-God, my delight, my desire, my deceiver, come Thou and chirp
at my right hand!
Interesting that the Book began with the adept perched as a bird on the
shoulder of the God. Now the roles are reversed.
51. This was the tale of the memory
of Al A'in the priest; yea, of Al A'in the priest.
In Hebrew, this name might be spelled Alef, Lamed; Ayin ,Yod, Nun.
Total is 161;
the meaning could be 'The Eye of God'
Or else it could be Alef-Lamed, and Alef-Yod-Nun. 31 and 61, the two important
numbers of Nothing in the Hebrew system.
Chapter Seven
869 words there
are in this chapter.
869 = 1012012.
This is a Yang
line over the 140 Hexagram, (which is the 5 Trigram doubled). The 5 Trigram is
attributed to Taurus, the rulership of Venus, the planet of this chapter.
1. By the burning of the incense was the Word revealed, and by the distant
drug.
distant = 85, drug = 73
jasmine = 85, flowers = 73
total is 158 = unutterable
This is a curious gematria, because the Word is revealed by that which is
unutterable.
Considering the meaning of the terms, if the incense is equated with the drug,
then we must be talking about a flammable substance such as hashish or opium.
I'm not sure if A.C. ever smoked hash, and I'm pretty certain he never did
freebase, but he definitely had opium, and this drug is well known for its
displacement of time and especially of space. This may qualify opium as a
'distant drug', because one feels that one is in a panoramic landscape while
under its effects. On the other hand, Crowley writing furiously under the
effects of cocaine is also likely, and this would be the drug that revealed the
Word. What makes this distant is unclear.
2. O meal and honey and oil! O
beautiful flag of the moon, that she hangs out in the centre of bliss!
Meal and honey and oil are constituents of the Abramelin incense whose recipe
is given in Liber AL. Taken in conjunction with the first verse, this may be
the incense that was burned, while consuming some drug.
'flag of the moon' is an obscure reference, and who is 'she' that hangs it out?
Perhaps he means, 'the moon is like a beautiful flag, and hangs out there in
the centre of bliss (the body of Nuit).'
3. These loosen the swathings of the
corpse; these unbind the feet of Osiris, so that the flaming God may rage
through the firmament with his fantastic spear.
4. But of pure black marble is the
sorry statue, and the changeless pain of the eyes is bitter to the blind.
It would seem that the statue is one of Osiris, the 'black God'.
5. We understand the rapture of that
shaken marble, torn by the throes of the crowned child, the golden rod of the
golden God.
This marble would then be 'shaken' by the coming of the new Aeon, and the
Crowned Child.
6. We know why all is hidden in the
stone, within the coffin, within the mighty sepulchre,
Since these are
separate things listed, I would go along with the Russian-doll interpretation.
The stone (of the Wise?) is hidden within the coffin, which is hidden within
the sepulchre. Since the pharaohs were
usually buried in nested coffins, this seems the most reasonable answer.
the stone, the coffin, the mighty sepulchre = 358 = messiah, etc., as well as
being the reversal of the 418 Hexagram.
and we too answer Olalam! Imal!
Tutulu! as it is written in the ancient book.
It is difficult to tell if this Book is Liber VII or not. If it is, this
becomes a curious, self-referential phrase.
7. Three words of that book are as
life to a new aeon; no god has read the whole.
If the Book is the present one, then presumably the three words are the ones
from the previous verse: Olalam, Imal, Tutulu. Since these are not really
English words, I don't think we can expect much from an English gematria.
For the record,
the TQ enumerates them as 43, 27, 94 = NOT THIS EQUINOX
This total of 164 is the Antigram of 82, the value of 'Heru-ra-ha'
A Hebrew transliteration might render these three words as:
Olalam = 172, Imal = 81, Tutulu = 66, (or 457, or 848).
The total of the three would then be 319, or 710, or 1101.
Hebrew equivalents would be:
319 = Sarton =
Crab = Cancer (= Cheth = 418).
710 = Nisetar =
hidden, secret.
1101 = Aretz =
Earth as an Element, (a very common Hebrew word, spelled with a Tzaddi final).
Of all these possibilities, I would lean toward the smallest number, and the
simplest explanation. Given the prominence of the number 418 in the Thelemic
qabalah, and given the fact that the Word of the Aeon, Machashanah, has this
value, then the equality of the three words with the name of the sign Cancer is
a tenable interpretation.
8. But thou and I, O God, have written
it page by page.
Maybe it would be more correct to say that they wrote it 'line by line' ;-)
9. Ours is the elevenfold reading of
the Elevenfold word.
Machashanah is spelled with eleven letters in English, and Abrahadabra is
spelled with eleven letters in Hebrew and English. Of course, both words total
418. Curiously, elevenfold is only capitalized once. This may indicate that the
Elevenfold word is a Notarikon, and contains eleven words within it.
10. These seven letters together make
seven diverse words; each word is divine, and seven sentences are hidden
therein.
But then the subject turns to seven letters, instead of eleven. There are of
course, a large variety of ways to interpret this verse. One that grows out of the interpretation I
gave above is that the seven letters are the seven different ones contained in
the three words Olalam, Imal, Tutulu.
These leters
are:
Ayin, Lamed, Alef, Mem, Yod, Tet, Vav.
The total of these is 166 = Heb. 'ELYON' = The Most High, which is a title of
Ratzon.
The really interesting thing about this total is that the Antigram of 166 = 89,
and this is the pair that differs by 77. Thus the elevenfold and the sevenfold
(11 x 7 = 77), are the shadowy background to the total of these 7 letters.
It would seem from the text that these seven letters could be rearranged in
seven different ways to make words, (possibly with the AL termination on all of
them?). Each of these words would then be a notariqon such as VITRIOL. Good
luck finding them all.
Lest we forget, there are 18 letters in total in the three words. We removed
the 7 distinct letters, which leaves 11 repeated letters, and these may be, on
their own, the Elevenfold word. The total of the remaining letters is 153 = Sum
of the numbers from 1 to 17, thus the ‘mystic number’ of the 17th path on the
Tree of Life. This path is from Tiferet
to Binah, and corresponds to Gemini. This supports my thesis that Gemini was
the likely path A.C. used to cross the Abyss, at least in the context of this
book, since this Book is numbered 7, the value of Zain, the letter of Gemini.
11. Thou art the Word, O my darling,
my lord, my master!
If the darling, lord, master is the Most High, as he is called by name in verse
36, this would support the Elyon interpretation above. Adonai may technically
be the Lord, but I tend to think that is the designation of the Holy Guardian
Angel, so entwined with Liber 65, and not the name of the Most High God. The
Hebrew tradition might disagree with this, but it just seems to fit better in
the Thelemic cosmogony.
When reading the Torah, the name Adonai is pronounced when the Tetragrammaton
is encountered in the text. This avoids actually pronouncing the unutterable
name.
12. O come to me, mix the fire and the
water, all shall dissolve.
Again, I'll ‘mix’ by using a Transitional Triad:
fire = 39 = 001110
water = 49 = 001211
circle = 32 = 001012
Combining Fire and Water, the two primary Elements, produces the Circle!
13. I await Thee in sleeping, in
waking. I invoke Thee no more; for Thou art in me, O Thou who hast made me a
beautiful instrument tuned to Thy rapture.
14. Yet art Thou ever apart, even as
I.
15. I remember a certain holy day in
the dusk of the year, in the dusk of the Equinox of Osiris, when first I beheld
Thee visibly; when first the dreadful issue was fought out; when the
Ibis-headed One charmed away the strife.
Frater AMO has postulated that this day was November 18, 1898. This possibility
presents a test of the Thelemic Calendar that I have proposed, using the
Hexagrams of Trigrammaton.
Essentially, there are 364 pairs of Antigrams, each differing by a distinct
number from 1 to 364. If we postulate that the Zero Hexagram, which has no
Antigram, is the beginning of the year, and that this date is March 20, the
Feast of the Supreme Ritual, then the Antigram pairs can be attributed to the
consecutive days of the year based on their differences.
This process
would make November 18 become day 243 of the Thelemic Year.
Day 243
coincides with the Hexagram pair that differs by 243.
This pair is the
Hexagrams 243 and 486.
A couple very
interesting facts about this pair are evident:
They are the
only pair of Antigrams whose sum is 729, (the total number of possible
Hexagrams)
243 = 100000, while 486 = 200000.
They are the 9
Trigram over the zero Trigram, paired with the 18 Trigram over the zero
Trigram.
In the TQ, the 9 and 18 Trigrams are the neutral poles of the system, and can
be attributed to any pair of opposites, such as the Lunar Nodes, Spirit Active
and Passive, etc. For the purposes of the Tarot, they are attributed to the
Aeon, and the Hanged Man, respectively.
The pairing of Atus XX and XII make a very explicit symbolism of the New Aeon
and the Old. The clash of these two Aeons would be exactly what is described by
these two Trumps, which are in turn two Hexagrams, which are the pair
attributed to the very day this "dreadful issue was fought out."
As a final note, the Reversed Hexagrams of the 243 and 486 Hexagrams are the 1
and 2 Hexagrams. These are attributed to the Elements of Fire and Water, which
were not only mentioned in the previous verse, but are indicative of the New
and Old Aeons. Since Hexagrams 1 and 2 differ by the number 1, they are
attributed to Day 1 of the Thelemic Calendar, and this occurs on March 21,
which is usually the day of the Vernal Equinox. This again ties in perfectly
with the subject of the verse.
19. Thou beautiful bull of Apis! Thou
beautiful serpent of Apep! Thou beautiful child of the Pregnant Goddess!
Could the pregnant goddess be Malkut? The serpent would then be the lightning
flash ascending on the Tree of Life.
20. Thou hast stirred in Thy sleep, O
ancient sorrow of years! Thou hast raised Thine head to strike, and all is
dissolved into the Abyss of Glory.
The serpent makes it to the Abyss, and no further.
21. An end to the letters of the
words! An end to the sevenfold speech.
This seems to come in out of nowhere. Could it allude to the letters AL being
the termination of the words given above?
22. Resolve me the wonder of it all
into the figure of a gaunt swift camel striding over the sand.
a gaunt swift camel = 165 = NEMO (in Heb.)
23. Lonely is he, and abominable; yet
hath he gained the crown.
This is the one reference in the Book to crossing the Abyss by the Path of
Gimel, instead of Zain. But this would make one an Ipssissimus immediately, and
Crowley had to go through the grades of Magister Templi and Magus first. So I
take the allusion to the general crossing of the Abyss, and not the specific
path taken.
24. Oh rejoice! rejoice!
25. My God! O my God! I am but a speck
in the star-dust of ages;
I am the Master of the Secret of Things = 325 = sum of 1 to 25.
325 = the sum of the numbers on the Mars Kamea.
Note that this is verse 25.
Also, since Crowley attributed no letter to the final Trigram (26), the sum of
his Alphabet of Trigrams is 325.
Mars = XVI = the Tower = the Eye of Shiva opening, an apt description of the
psychic explosion of Enlightenment.
26. I am the Revealer and the
Preparer. Mine is the Sword – and the Mitre and the Winged Wand!
Sum of this verse is 822 = 1010110 = a Septagram with a Yang line over the 93
Hexagram.
27. I am the Initiator and the Destroyer. Mine is the Globe - and
the Bennu bird and the Lotus of Isis my daughter!
Total of this verse is 724 = 222211 = 19th Hexagram of the I Ching:
Approach. The image of this Hexagram says: "The earth above the lake: the
image of Approach. Thus the adept is inexhaustible in his will to teach, and
without limits in his tolerance and protection of the people."
Another translation has it as: "The superior man is inspired thereby to
pursue ceaselessly his teaching profession and to be patient in guarding the
people forever and forever."
This interpretation clearly shows the role of NEMO, (a gaunt swift camel), as
the teacher and tender of the garden of Aspirants, and this is the proper
function of the Magister Templi.
28. I am the One beyond these all; and I bear the symbols of the
mighty darkness.
Total of this verse is 730, an reversible Septagram: 1000001. Thus he is the
One beyond these all. Ratzon is in
Malkut, etc., when one sees this Septagram as a glyph of the seven levels of
the Tree of Life.
730 is also the value of AL I:48; "My prophet is a fool with his one, one,
one. Are not they the Ox and none by the Book?"
29. There shall be a sigil as of a
vast black brooding ocean of death and the central blaze of darkness, radiating
its night upon all.
Master of the secret of things = 274
central blaze of darkness = 274
Nemo is the latest citizen of the City of the Pyramids.
35. O lonely woods of the world! In
what recesses will ye hide our love?
There has been little overt reference to Venus in this chapter. Perhaps this
verse is alluding to the path of Dalet, beyond the Abyss, the course he must
take to become Magus.
36. The forest of the spears of the
Most High is called Night, and Hades, and the Day of Wrath; but I am His
captain, and I bear His cup.
Most High = Hebrew Elyon = 166
Night = Hebrew Leilah = 75
Hades = Greeek Aides = 223
Day of Wrath = ?
Ganymede was the cup-bearer of the Olympian Gods, and a name of a satellite of
the planet Juppiter. This could be an allusion to Crowley being cast out into
the sphere of Juppiter, (Chesed), upon crossing the Abyss.
42. In the silence of Things, in the
Night of Forces, beyond the accursed domain of the Three, let us enjoy our
love!
This is perhaps another allusion to continuance beyond the domain of the 3,
i.e. the third Sefira, Binah.
43. My darling! My darling! away, away
beyond the Assembly and the Law and the Enlightenment unto an Anarchy of
solitude and Darkness!
I think Anarchy makes a pair with Law,
while Enlightenment pairs with Darkness. This would pair the Assembly with
solitude.
44. For even thus must we veil the
brilliance of our Self.
By merging opposites, we accomplish the destruction of the ego.
45. My darling! My darling!
46. O my God, but the love in Me
bursts over the bonds of Space
and Time; my love is spilt among them that love not love.
47. My wine is poured out for them
that never tasted wine.
48. The fumes thereof shall intoxicate
them and the vigour of my
love shall breed mighty children from their maidens.
49. Yea! without draught, without
embrace: - and the Voice
answered Yea! these things shall be.
They smell the fumes, but drink not the wine. They feel his potency but do not
embrace their lover. Is he going to use chloroform to subdue an unwilling
virgin?
50. Then I sought a Word for Myself;
nay, for myself.
At first he capitalizes his nom de plume, then corrects it to a small ‘m’, in
order to show the loss of self in the Abyss.
a Word for Myself = 166 = ELYON. See above.
51. And the Word came: O Thou! it is
well. Heed naught! I love Thee! I love Thee!
One wonders if the word that is received is indeed "O Thou."
52. Therefore had I faith unto the end
of all; yea, unto the end of all.
ALL is the final word of Liber VII.
ALL = 7.
According to
Frater AMO, the total number of words in the seven chapters of Liber VII is
5646. Adding the 153 words in the prologue, as well as its title 'Prologue of
the Unborn', brings the total of words in the Book to 5803.
5803 = 829 x 7
These are the only factors of 5803, and both are prime, so the sum of its prime
factors is:
829 + 7 = 836 =
2 x 418.
In Greek, 829 is the value of 'Lamprotes', which means Splendour, or
Glory. So 829 x 7 could be interpreted
as “The Glory of 7”.
Love is the law,
love under will.
R. Leo Gillis