To Main Page Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE by The Master Therion Aleister Crowley {Based on the Castle Books edition of New York} HYMN TO PAN epsilon-phi-rho-iota-xi epsilon-rho-omega-tau-iota pi-epsilon-rho-iota-alp ha-rho-chi-eta-sigma delta alpha-nu-epsilon-pi-tau-omicron-mu-alpha-nu iota-omega iota-omega pi-alpha-nu pi-alpha-nu omega -pi-alpha-nu pi-alpha-nu alpha-lambda-iota-pi-lambda-alpha-gamma-chi -tau-epsilon, chi-upsilon-lambda-lambda-alpha-nu-iota-alpha-sigma chi-iota-om icron-nu-omicron-chi-tau-upsilon-pi-omicron-iota pi-epsilon-tau-rho-alpha-iota-alpha-sigma alpha-pi-omicron delta-epsilon-io ta-rho-alpha-delta-omicron-sigma phi-alpha-nu-eta-theta, omega theta-epsilon-omega-nu chi-omicron-rho-omicron-pi-omicron-iota alpha-nu-alp ha-xi SOPH. AJ. Thrill with lissome lust of the light, O man! My man! Come careering out of the night Of Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan! Come over the sea From Sicily and from Arcady! Roaming as Bacchus, with fauns and pards And nymphs and satyrs for thy guards, On a milk-white ass, come over the sea To me, to me, Come with Apollo in bridal dress (Shepherdess and pythoness) Come with Artemis, silken shod, And wash thy white thigh, beautiful God, In the moon of the woods, on the marble mount, The dimpled dawn of the amber fount! Dip the purple of passionate prayer In the crimson shrine, the scarlet snare, The soul that startles in eyes of blue {V} To watch thy wantonness weeping through The tangled grove, the gnarled bole Of the living tree that is spirit and soul And body and brain --- come over the sea, (Io Pan! Io Pan!) Devil or god, to me, to me, My man! my man! Come with trumpets sounding shrill Over the hill! Come with drums low muttering From the spring! Come with flute and come with pipe! Am I not ripe? I, who wait and writhe and wrestle With air that hath no boughs to nestle My body, weary of empty clasp, Strong as a lion and sharp as an asp --- Come, O come! I am numb With the lonely lust of devildom. Thrust the sword through the galling fetter, All-devourer, all-begetter; Give me the sign of the Open Eye, And the token erect of thorny thigh, And the word of madness and mystery, O Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan Pan! Pan, I am a man: Do as thou wilt, as a great god can, O Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! I am awake in the grip of the snake. The eagle slashes with beak and claw; The gods withdraw: The great beasts come, Io Pan! I am borne To death on the horn Of the Unicorn. I am Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! {VI} I am thy mate, I am thy man, Goat of thy flock, I am gold, I am god, Flesh to thy bone, flower to thy rod. With hoofs of steel I race on the rocks Through solstice stubborn to equinox. And I rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend Everlasting, world without end, Mannikin, maiden, Maenad, man, In the might of Pan. Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan! ------------- {VII} {Illustration on page VIII described: This is the set of photos originally published facing page 12 in EQUINOX I, 2 and titled there: "The Signs of the Grades." These are arranged as ten panels: * * * * * * * * * * In this re-publication, the original half-tones have been redone as line cop y. Each panel consists of an illustration of a single human in a black Tau rob e, barefoot with hood completely closed over the face. The hood displays a six -pointed figure on the forehead --- presumably the radiant eye of Horus of the A.'. A.'., but the rendition is too poor in detail. There is a cross pendant o ver the heart. The ten panels are numbered in black in the lower left corner. The panels are identified by two columns of numbered captions, 1 to 6 to the le ft and 7 to 10 to the right. The description is bottom to top and left to righ t: "1. Earth: the god Set fighting." Frontal figure. Rt. foot pointed to the fore and angled slightly outward with weight on ball of foot. Lf. heel almost touc hing Rt. heel and foot pointed left. Arms form a diagonal with body, right abo ve head and in line with left at waist height. Hands palmer and open with fing ers outstretched and together. Head erect. "2. Air: The god Shu supporting the sky." Frontal. Heels together and slightl y angled apart to the front, flat on floor. Head down. Arms angled up on eith er side of head about head 1.5 ft. from head to wrist and crooked as if support ing a ceiling just at head height with the finger tips. The palms face upward and the backs of the hands away from the head. Thumbs closed to side of palms. Fingers straight and together. "3. Water: the goddess Auramoth." Same body and foot position as #2, but head e rect. Arms are brought down over the chest so that the thumbs touch above the heart and the backs of the hands are to the front. The fingers meet below the heart, forming between thumbs and fingers the descending triangle of water. "4. Fire: the goddess Thoum-aesh-neith." Frontal. Head and body like #3. Arm s are angled so that the thumbs meet in a line over the brow. Palmer side faci ng. Fingers meet above head, forming between thumbs and fingers the ascending triangle of fire. "5,6. Spirit: the rending and closing of the veil." Head erect in both. #5 ha s the same body posture as #1, except that the left and right feet are counterc harged and flat on the floor with the heels in contact. Arms and hands are cro oked forward at shoulder level such that the hands appear to be clawing open a split veil --- hands have progressed to a point that the forearms are invisibl e, being directly pointed at the front. Lower arms are flat and horizontal in the plain of the image. #6. has the same body posture as #1, feet in same position as #5. The arms are elbow down against abdomen, with hands forward over heart in claws such that t he knuckles are touching. Passing from #5 to #6 or vice versa is done by motio n of shoulders and rotation of wrists. This is different from the other sign o f opening the veil, the Sign of the Enterer, which is done with hands flat palm to palm and then spread without rotation of wrists. "7-10. The L V X signs." "7. + Osiris slain --- the cross." Body and feet as in #2. Head bowed. Arms d irectly horizontal from the shoulders in the plane of the image. Hands with fi ngers together, thumbs to side of palm and palmer side forward. The tau shape of the robe dominates the image. "8. L Isis mourning --- the Svastica." The body is in semi-profile, head down slightly and facing right of photograph. The arms, hands, legs and feet are po sitioned to define a swastika. Left foot flat, carrying weight and angled towa rd the right of the photo. Right foot toe down behind the figure to the left i n the photo. Right upper arm due left in photo and forearm vertical with finge rs closed and pointing upward. Left arm smoothly canted down to the right of th e panel, with fingers closed and pointed down. "9. V Typhon --- the Trident." Figure frontal and standing on tip toe, toes fo rward and heels not touching. Head back. Arms angled in a "V" with the body t o the top and outward in the plain of the photo. Fingers and thumbs as #7, but continuing the lines of the arms. "10. X Osiris risen --- the Pentagram." Body and feet as in #7. Head directly frontal and level. Arms crossed over heart, right over left with hands extend ed, fingers closed and thumb on side such that the palms rest on the two opposi te shoulders.} INTRODUCTION "Epsilon-sigma-sigma-epsilon-alpha-iota alpha-theta-alpha-nu-alpha-tau-omicro n-sigma theta-epsilon-omicron-sigma, alpha-mu-beta-rho-omicron-tau-omicron-si gma, omicron-upsilon-chi epsilon-tau-iota theta-nu-eta-tau-omicron-sigma Pythagoras. "Magic is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge of Natural P hilosophy, advanced in its works and wonderful operations by a right understand ing of the inward and occult virtue of things; so that true Agents being applie d to proper Patients, strange and admirable effects will thereby be produced. Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an effect, the which to the vulgar shal l seem to be a miracle." "The Goetia of the Lemegeton of King Solomon." "Wherever sympathetic magic occurs in its pure unadulterated form, it is assum ed that in nature one event follows another necessarily and invariably without the intervention of any spiritual or personal agency. Thus its fundamental conception is identical with that of modern science; un derlying the whole system is a faith, implicit but real and firm, in the order and uniformity of nature. The magician does not doubt that the same causes wil l always produce the same effects, that the performance of the proper ceremony accompanied by the appropriate spell, will inevitably be attended by the desire d results, unless, indeed, his incantations should chance to be thwarted and fo iled by the more potent charms of another sorcerer. He supplicates no higher p ower: he sues the favour of no fickle and wayward being: he abases himself befo re no awful deity. Yet his power, great as he believes it to be, is by no mean s arbitrary and unlimited. He can wield it only so long as he strictly conform s to the rules of his art, or to what may be called the laws of nature as conce ived by {IX} him. To neglect these rules, to break these laws in the smallest particular is to incur failure, and may even expose the unskilful practitioner himself to the utmost peril. If he claims a sovereignty over nature, it is a c onstitutional sovereignty rigorously limited in its scope and exercised in exac t conformity with ancient usage. Thus the analogy between the magical and the scientific conceptions of the world is close. In both of them the succession o f events is perfectly regular and certain, being determined by immutable laws, the operation of which can be foreseen and calculated precisely; the elements o f caprice, of chance, and of accident are banished from the course of nature. Both of them open up a seemingly boundless vista of possibilities to him who kn ows the causes of things and can touch the secret springs that set in motion th e vast and intricate mechanism of the world. Hence the strong attraction which magic and science alike have exercised on the human mind; hence the powerful s timulus that both have given to the pursuit of knowledge. They lure the weary enquirer, the footsore seeker, on through the wilderness of disappointment in t he present by their endless promises of the future: they take him up to he top of an exceeding high mountain and shew him, beyond the dark clouds and rolling mists at his feet, a vision of the celestial city, far off, it may be, but radi ant with unearthly splendour, bathed in the light of dreams." Dr. J. G. FRAZER, "The Golden Bough"." "So far, therefore, as the public profession of magic has been one of the ro ads by which men have passed to supreme power, it has contributed to emancipate mankind from the thraldom of tradition and to elevate them into a larger, free r life, with a broader outlook on the world. This is no small service rendered to humanity. And when we remember further that in another direction magic has paved the way for science, we are forced to admit that if the black art has do ne much evil, it has also been the source of much good; that if it is the child of error, it has yet been the mother of freedom and truth." Ibid. {X} "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." St. Paul. "Also the mantras and spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of the wand a nd the work of the sword; these he shall learn and teach." "He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals." "The word of the Law is Theta-epsilon-lambda-eta-mu-alpha." LIBER AL vel xxxi: The Book of the Law. ------------- This book is for ALL: for every man, woman, and child. My former work has been misunderstood, and its scope limited, by my use of t echnical terms. It has attracted only too many dilettanti and eccentrics, weak lings seeking in "Magic" an escape from reality. I myself was first consciousl y drawn to the subject in this way. And it has repelled only too many scientif ic and practical minds, such as I most designed to influence. But MAGICK is for ALL. I have written this book to help the Banker, the Pugilist, the Biologist, th e Poet, the Navvy, the Grocer, the Factory Girl, the Mathematician, the Stenogr apher, the Golfer, the Wife, the Consul --- and all the rest --- to fulfil them selves perfectly, each in his or her own proper function. Let me explain in a few words how it came about that I blazoned the word MAGICK upon the Banner that I have borne before me all my life. Before I touched my teens, I was already aware that I was THE BEAST whose nu mber is 666. I did not understand in the least {XI} what that implied; it was a passionately ecstatic sense of identity. In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself consciously to the Great Wor k, understanding thereby the Work of becoming a Spiritual Being, free from the constraints, accidents, and deceptions of material existence. I found myself at a loss for a name to designate my work, just as H. P. Blav atsky some years earlier. "Theosophy", "Spiritualism", "Occultism", "Mysticism" , all involved undesirable connotations. I chose therefore the name. "MAGICK" as essentially the most sublime, and actually the most discredited, of all the available terms. I swore to rehabilitate MAGICK to identify it with my own career; and to compel mankind to respect, love, and trust that which they scorned, hated and feared. I have kept my Word. But the time is now come for me to carry my banner into the thick of the pre ss of human life. I must make MAGICK the essential factor in the life of ALL. In presenting this book to the world, I must then explain and justify my pos ition by formulating a definition of MAGICK and setting forth its main principles in such a way that ALL may understand instantly that their souls, their lives, in every relation with every other human being and every circumstance, depend upon MAGICK and the right comprehension and right application thereof. I. "DEFINITION." MAGICK is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will. {XII} (Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my knowledge. I therefore take "magical weapons", pen, ink, and paper; I write "i ncantations" --- these sentences --- in the "magical language" i.e. that which is understood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spirits", such as printers, publishers, booksellers, and so forth, and constrain them to convey my message to those people. The composition and distribution of this book is t hus an act of MAGICK by which I cause changes to take place in conformity with my Will>) II. "POSTULATE." ANY required Change may be effected by the application of the proper kind an d degree of force in the proper manner through the proper medium to the proper object. (Illustration: I wish to prepare an ounce of Chloride of Gold. I must take the right kind of acid, nitro-hydrochloric and no other, in sufficient quantity and of adequate strength, and place it, in a vessel which will not break, leak , or corrode, in such a manner as will not produce undesirable results, with th e necessary quantity of Gold: and so forth. Every Change has its own condition s. In the present state of our knowledge and power some changes are not possibl e in practice; we cannot cause eclipses, for instance, or transform lead into t in, or create men from mushrooms. But it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature; and the condi tions are covered by the above postulate.) III. "THEOREMS." (1) Every intentional act is a Magical Act.> (Illustration: See "Definition" above.) {XIII} (2) Every successful act has conformed to the postulate. (3) Every failure proves that one or more requirements of the postulate have not been fulfilled. (Illustrations: There may be failure to understand the case; as when a doctor makes a wrong diagnosis, and his treatment injures his patient. There may be f ailure to apply the right kind of force, as when a rustic tries to blow out an electric light. There may be failure to apply the right degree of force, as wh en a wrestler has his hold broken. There may be failure to apply the force in the right manner, as when one presents a cheque at the wrong window of the Bank . There may be failure to employ the correct medium, as when Leonardo da Vinci found his masterpiece fade away. The force may be applied to an unsuitable ob ject, as when one tries to crack a stone, thinking it a nut.) (4) The first requisite for causing any change is through qualitative and qu antitative understanding of the conditions. (Illustration: The most common cause of failure in life is ignorance of one' s own True Will, or of the means by which to fulfil that Will. A man may fancy himself a painter, and waste his life trying to become one; or he may be reall y a painter, and yet fail to understand and to measure the difficulties peculia r to that career.) (5) The second requisite of causing any change is the practical ability to s et in right motion the necessary forces. (Illustration: A banker may have a perfect grasp of a given situation, yet l ack the quality of decision, or the assets, necessary to take advantage of it.) (6) "Every man and every woman is a star." That is to say, every human bein g is intrinsically an independent individual with his own proper character and proper motion. (7) Every man and every woman has a course, depending partly on the self, and partly on the environment which is natural and necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from his own course, either through not understanding himself, or thr ough external opposition, comes into conflict with the order of the Universe, a nd suffers accordingly. {XIV} (Illustration: A man may think it his duty to act in a certain way, through having made a fancy picture of himself, instead of investigating his actual nat ure. For example, a woman may make herself miserable for life by thinking that she prefers love to social consideration, or "vice versa". One woman may stay with an unsympathetic husband when she would really be happy in an attic with a lover, while another may fool herself into a romantic elopement when her only true pleasures are those of presiding at fashionable functions. Again, a boy' s instinct may tell him to go to sea, while his parents insists on his becoming a doctor. In such a case, he will be both unsuccessful and unhappy in medicin e.) (8) A Man whose conscious will is at odds with his True Will is wasting his strength. He cannot hope to influence his environment efficiently. (Illustration: When Civil War rages in a nation, it is in no condition to un dertake the invasion of other countries. A man with cancer employs his nourish ment alike to his own use and to that of the enemy which is part of himself. H e soon fails to resist the pressure of his environment. In practical life, a m an who is doing what his conscience tells him to be wrong will do it very clums ily. At first!) (9) A man who is doing this True Will has the inertia of the Universe to ass ist him. (Illustration: The first principle of success in evolution is that the indiv idual should be true to his own nature, and at the same time adapt himself to h is environment.) (10) Nature is a continuous phenomenon, though we do not know in all cases h ow things are connected. (Illustration: Human consciousness depends on the properties of protoplasm, the existence of which depends on innumerable physical conditions peculiar to t his planet; and this planet is determined by the mechanical balance of the whol e universe of matter. We may then say that our consciousness is causally conne cted with the remotest galaxies; yet we do not know even how it arises from --- or with --- the molecular changes in the brain.) (11) Science enables us to take advantage of the continuity of Nature by the empirical application of certain {XV} principles whose interplay involves diffe rent orders of idea connected with each other in a way beyond our present compr ehension. (Illustration: We are able to light cities by rule-of-thumb methods. We do not know what consciousness is, or how it is connected with muscular action; wh at electricity is or how it is connected with the machines that generate it; an d our methods depend on calculations involving mathematical ideas which have no correspondence in the Universe as we know it.>) (12) Man is ignorant of the nature of his own being and powers. Even his id ea of his limitations is based on experience of the past, and every step in his progress extends his empire. There is therefore no reason to assign theoretic al limits> to what he may be, or to what he may do. (Illustration: A generation ago it was supposed theoretically impossible tha t man should ever know the chemical composition of the fixed stars. It is know n that our senses are adapted to receive only an infinitesimal fraction of the possible rates of vibration. Modern instruments have enabled us to detect some of these suprasensibles by indirect methods, and even to use their peculiar qu alities in the service of man, as in the case of the rays of Hertz and Rontgen. As Tyndall said, man might at any moment learn to perceive and utilise vibrat ions of all conceivable and inconceivable kinds. The question of Magick is a q uestion of discovering and employing hitherto unknown forces in nature. We kno w that they exist, and we cannot doubt the possibility of mental or physical in struments capable of bringing us into relation with them.) (13) Every man is more or less aware that his individuality comprises sever al orders of existence, even when he maintains that his subtler principles are merely symptomatic of the changes in his gross vehicle. A similar order may be assumed to extend throughout nature. (Illustration: One does not confuse the pain of toothache with {XVI} the dec ay which causes it. Inanimate objects are sensitive to certain physical forces , such as electrical and thermal conductivity; but neither in us nor in them -- - so far as we know --- is there any direct conscious perception of these force s. Imperceptible influences are therefore associated with all material phenome na; and there is no reason why we should not work upon matter through those sub tle energies as we do through their material bases. In fact, we use magnetic f orce to move iron, and solar radiation to reproduce images.) (14) Man is capable of being, and using, anything which he perceives, for ev erything that he perceives is in a certain sense a part of his being. He may t hus subjugate the whole Universe of which he is conscious to his individual Wil l. (Illustration: Man has used the idea of God to dictate his personal conduct, to obtain power over his fellow, to excuse his crimes, and for innumerable oth er purposes, including that of realizing himself as God. He has used the irrat ional and unreal conceptions of mathematics to help him in the construction of mechanical devices. He has used his moral force to influence the actions even of wild animals. He has employed poetic genius for political purposes.) (15) Every force in the Universe is capable of being transformed into any ot her kind of force by using suitable means. There is thus an inexhaustible supp ly of any particular kind of force that we may need. (Illustration: Heat may be transformed into light and power by using it to d rive dynamos. The vibrations of the air may be used to kill men by so ordering them in speech as to inflame war-like passions. The hallucinations connected with the mysterious energies of sex result in the perpetuation of the species.) (16) The application of any given force affects all the orders of being whic h exist in the object to which it is applied, whichever of those orders is dire ctly affected. (Illustration: If I strike a man with a dagger, his consciousness, not his bod y only, is affected by my act; although the dagger, as such, has no direct rela tion therewith. Similarly, the power of {XVII} my thought may so work on the m ind of another person as to produce far-reaching physical changes in him, or in others through him.) (17) A man may learn to use any force so as to serve any purpose, by taking advantage of the above theorems. (Illustration: A man may use a razor to make himself vigilant over his speec h, but using it to cut himself whenever he unguardedly utters a chosen word. H e may serve the same purpose by resolving that every incident of his life shall remind him of a particular thing, making every impression the starting point o f a connected series of thoughts ending in that thing. He might also devote hi s whole energies to some one particular object, by resolving to do nothing at v ariance therewith, and to make every act turn to the advantage of that object.) (18) He may attract to himself any force of the Universe by making himself a fit receptacle for it, establishing a connection with it, and arranging condit ions so that its nature compels it to flow toward him. (Illustration: If I want pure water to drink, I dig a well in a place where there is underground water; I prevent it from leaking away; and I arrange to ta ke advantage of water's accordance with the laws of Hydrostatics to fill it.) (19) Man's sense of himself as separate from, and oppose to, the Universe is a bar to his conducting its currents. It insulates him. (Illustration: A popular leader is most successful when he forgets himself, and remembers only "The Cause". Self-seeking engenders jealousies and schism. When the organs of the body assert their presence otherwise than by silent sat isfaction, it is a sign that they are diseased. The single exception is the or gan of reproduction. Yet even in this case its self-assertion bears witness to its dissatisfaction with itself, since it cannot fulfil its function until com pleted by its counterpart in another organism. (20) Man can only attract and employ the forces for which he is really fitte d. (Illustration: You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. A {XVIII} tr ue man of science learns from every phenomenon. But Nature is dumb to the hypo crite; for in her there is nothing false.>) (21) There is no limit to the extent of the relations of any man with the Un iverse in essence; for as soon as man makes himself one with any idea the means of measurement cease to exist. But his power to utilize that force is limited by his mental power and capacity, and by the circumstances of his human enviro nment. (Illustration: When a man falls in love, the whole world becomes, to him, no thing but love boundless and immanent; but his mystical state is not contagious ; his fellow-men are either amused or annoyed. He can only extend to others th e effect which his love has had upon himself by means of his mental and physica l qualities. Thus, Catullus, Dante and Swinburn made their love a mighty mover of mankind by virtue of their power to put their thoughts on the subject in mu sical and eloquent language. Again, Cleopatra and other people in authority mo ulded the fortunes of many other people by allowing love to influence their pol itical actions. The Magician, however well he succeed in making contact with t he secret sources of energy in nature, can only use them to the extent permitte d by his intellectual and moral qualities. Mohammed's intercourse with Gabriel was only effective because of his statesmanship, soldiership, and the sublimit y of his command of Arabic. Hertz's discovery of the rays which we now use for wireless telegraphy was sterile until reflected through the minds and wills of the people who could take his truth, and transmit it to the world of action by means of mechanical and economic instruments.) (22) every individual is essentially sufficient to himself. But he is unsat isfactory to himself until he has established himself in his right relation wit h the Universe. (Illustration: A microscope, however perfect, is useless in the {XIX} hands of savages. A poet, however sublime, must impose himself upon his generation i f he is to enjoy (and even to understand) himself, as theoretically should be t he case.) (23) Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and one's conditions. I t is the Art of applying that understanding in action. (Illustration: A golf club is intended to move a special ball in a special w ay in special circumstances. A Niblick should rarely be used on the tee, or a Brassie under the bank of a bunker. But also, the use of any club demands skil l and experience.) (24) Every man has an indefeasible right to be what he is. (Illustration: To insist that any one else shall comply with one's own stand ards is to outrage, not only him, but oneself, since both parties are equally b orn of necessity.) (25) Every man must do Magick each time that he acts or even thinks, since a t hought is an internal act whose influence ultimately affects action, thought it may not do so at the time. (Illustration: The least gesture causes a change in a man's own body and in the air around him; it disturbs the balance of the entire Universe, and its eff ects continue eternally throughout all space. Every thought, however swiftly s uppressed, has its effect on the mind. It stands as one of the causes of every subsequent thought, and tends to influence every subsequent action. A golfer may lose a few yards on his drive, a few more with his second and third, he may lie on the green six bare inches too far from the hole; but the net result of these trifling mishaps is the difference of a whole stroke, and so probably bet ween halving and losing the hole.) (26) Every man has a right, the right of self-preservation, to fulfil himsel f to the utmost.> (Illustration: A function imperfectly preformed injures, not {XX} only itsel f, but everything associated with it. If the heart is afraid to beat for fear of disturbing the liver, the liver is starved for blood, and avenges itself on the heart by upsetting digestion, which disorders respiration, on which cardiac welfare depends.) (27) Every man should make Magick the keynote of his life. He should learn its laws and live by them. (Illustration: The Banker should discover the real meaning of his existence, the real motive which led him to choose that profession. He should understand banking as a necessary factor in the economic existence of mankind, instead of as merely a business whose objects are independent of the general welfare. He should learn to distinguish false values from real, and to act not on accident al fluctuations but on considerations of essential importance. Such a banker w ill prove himself superior to others; because he will not be an individual limi ted by transitory things, but a force of Nature, as impersonal, impartial and e ternal as gravitation, as patient and irresistible as the tides. His system wi ll not be subject to panic, any more than the law of Inverse Squares is disturb ed by Elections. He will not be anxious about his affairs because they will no t be his; and for that reason he will be able to direct them with the calm, cle ar-headed confidence of an onlooker, with intelligence unclouded by self-intere st and power unimpaired by passion.) (28) Every man has a right to fulfil his own will without being afraid that it may interfere with that of others; for if he is in his proper place, it is t he fault of others if they interfere with him. (Illustration: If a man like Napoleon were actually appointed by destiny to co ntrol Europe, he should not be blamed for exercising his rights. To oppose him would be an error. Any one so doing would have made a mistake as to his own d estiny, except in so far as it might be necessary for him to learn to lessons o f defeat. The sun moves in space without interference. The order of Nature pr ovides an orbit for each star. A clash proves that one or the other has straye d from his course. But as to each man that keeps his true course, the more fir mly he acts, the less likely are others to get in his way. His example will he lp {XXI} them to find their own paths and pursue them. Every man that becomes a Magician helps others to do likewise. The more firmly and surely men move, a nd the more such action is accepted as the standard of morality, the less will conflict and confusion hamper humanity.) -------------- I hope that the above principles will demonstrate to ALL that their welfare, their very existence, is bound up in MAGICK. I trust that they will understand, not only the reasonableness, but the necessi ty of the fundamental truth which I was the means of giving to mankind: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." I trust that they will assert themselves as individually absolute, that they wi ll grasp the fact that it is their right to assert themselves, and to accomplis h the task for which their nature fits them. Yea, more, that this is their dut y, and that not only to themselves but to others, a duty founded upon universal necessity, and not to be shirked on account of any casual circumstances of the moment which may seem to put such conduct in the light of inconvenience or eve n of cruelty. I hope that the principles outlined above will help them to understand this book, and prevent them from being deterred from its study by the more or less t echnical language in which it is written. The essence of MAGICK is simple enough in all conscience. It is not otherwise with the art of govern ment. The Aim is simply prosperity; but the theory is tangled, and the practic e beset with briars. In the same way MAGICK is merely to be and to do. I should add: "to suffer". For Magick is the verb; and it is part of the Training to use the passive voice. This is, however, a matter of Initiation rather than of Magick in {XXII} its ordinary sense. It is not my fault if being is baffling, and doing desperate! Yet, once the above principles are firmly fixed in the mind, it is easy enou gh to sum up the situation very shortly. One must find out for oneself, and ma ke sure beyond doubt, "who" one is, "what" one is, "why" one is. This done, on e may put the will which is implicit in the "Why" into words, or rather into On e Word. Being thus conscious of the proper course to pursue, the next thing is to understand the conditions necessary to following it out. After that, one m ust eliminate from oneself every element alien or hostile to success, and devel op those parts of oneself which are specially needed to control the aforesaid c onditions. Let us make an analogy. A nation must become aware of its own character bef ore it can be said to exist. From that knowledge it must divine its destiny. It must then consider the political conditions of the world; how other countrie s may help it or hinder it. It must then destroy it itself any elements discor dant with its destiny. Lastly, it must develop in itself those qualities which will enable it to combat successfully the external conditions which threaten t o oppose is purpose. We have had a recent example in the case of the young Ger man Empire, which, knowing itself and its will, disciplined and trained itself so that it conquered the neighbours which had oppressed it for so many centurie s. But after 1866 and 1870, 1914! It mistook itself for superhuman, it willed a thing impossible, it failed to eliminate its own internal jealousies, it fai led to understand the conditions of victory,> it did not train itself to hold t he sea, and thus, having violated every principle of MAGICK, it was pulled down and broken into pieces by provincialism and democracy, so th at neither individual excellence nor civic virtue has yet availed to raise it a gain to that majestic unity which made so bold a bid for the mastery of the rac e of man. The sincere student will discover, behind the symbolic technicalities of his book, a practical method of making himself a {XXIII} Magician. The processes described will enable him to discriminate between what he actually is, and what he has fondly imagined himself to be>. He must behold his soul in all its awf ul nakedness, he must not fear to look on that appalling actuality. He must di scard the gaudy garments with which his shame has screened him; he must accept the fact that nothing can make him anything but what he is. He may lie to hims elf, drug himself, hide himself; but he is always there. Magick will teach him that his mind is playing him traitor. It is as if a man were told that tailor s' fashion-plates were the canon of human beauty, so that he tried to make hims elf formless and featureless like them, and shuddered with horror at the idea o f Holbein making a portrait of him. Magick will show him the beauty and majest y of the self which he has tried to suppress and disguise. Having discovered his identity, he will soon perceive his purpose. Another process will show him how to make that purpose pure and powerful. He may then learn how to estimate his environment, learn how to make allies, how to make hi mself prevail against all powers whose error has caused them to wander across h is path. In the course of this Training, he will learn to explore the Hidden Mysterie s of Nature, and to develop new senses and faculties in himself, whereby he may communicate with, and control, Beings and Forces pertaining to orders of exist ence which {XXIV} have been hitherto inaccessible to profane research, and avai lable only to that unscientific and empirical MAGICK (of tradition) which I came to destroy in order that I might fulfil. I send this book into the world that every man and woman may take hold of li fe in the proper manner. It does not matter of one's present house of flesh be the hut of a shepherd; by virtue of my MAGICK he shall be such a shepherd as David was. If it be the studio of a sculptor, h e shall so chisel from himself the marble that masks his idea that he shall be no less a master than Rodin. Witness mine hand: Tau-Omicron Mu-Epsilon-Gamma-Alpha Theta-Eta-Rho-Iota-Omicron-Nu (Taw-Res h-Yod-Vau-Nunfinal ): The Beast 666; MAGUS 9 Degree = 2Square A.'. A.'. who is The Word of the Aeon THELEMA; whose name is called V.V.V.V.V. 8 Degree = 3Squar e A.'. A.'. in the City of the Pyramids; OU MH 7 Degree = 4Square A.'. A.'.; OL SONUF VAORESAGI 6 Degree = 5Square, and ... ... 5 Degree = 6Square A.'. A.'. i n the Mountain of Abiegnus: but FRATER PERDURABO in the Outer Order or the A.'. A.'. and in the World of men upon the Earth, Aleister Crowley of Trinity Colle ge, Cambridge. ----------- {XXV} CONTENTS ------- (This portion of the Book should be studied in connection with its Parts I. an d II.) 0 The Magical Theory of the Universe. I The Principles of Ritual. II The Formulae of the Elemental Weapons. III The Formula of Tetragrammaton. IV The Formula of Alhim: also that of Alim. V The Formula of I. A. O. VI The Formula of the Neophyte. VII The Formula of the Holy Graal, of Abrahadabra, and of Certain Other Words; with some remarks on the Magical Memory. VIII Of Equilibrium: and of the General and Particular Method of Preparation of the Furniture of the Temple and the Instruments of Art. IX Of Silence and Secrecy: and of the Barbarous names of Evocation. X Of the Gestures. XI Of Our Lady BABALON and of The Beast whereon she rideth: also concerning Transformations. XII Of the Bloody Sacrifice and Matters Cognate. XIII Of the Banishings, and of the Purifications. XIV Of the Consecrations: with an Account of the Nature and Nurture of the Magical Link. XVI (1) Of the Oath. XV Of the Invocation. XVI (2) Of the Charge to the Spirit: with some Account of the Constrains and Curses occasionally necessary. XVII Of the License to Depart. XVIII Of Clairvoyance: and of the Body of Light, its Powers and its Development. Also concerning Divinations. XIX Of Dramatic Rituals. XX Of the Eucharist: and of the Art of Alchemy. XXI Of Black Magick: of the Main Types of the Operations of Magick Art: and of the Powers of the Sphinx. {XXVII} CHAPTER 0 THE MAGICAL THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE There are three main theories of the Universe; Dualism, Monism and Nihilism. It is impossible to enter into a discussion of their relative merits in a pop ular manual of this sort. They may be studied in Erdmann's "History of Philoso phy" and similar treatises. All are reconciled and unified in the theory which we shall now set forth. The basis of this Harmony is given in Crowley's "Berashith" --- to which reference should be made. Infinite space is called the goddess NUIT, while the infinitely small and at omic yet omnipresent point is called HADIT.> These are unmanifest. One conjun ction of these infinites is called RA-HOOR-KHUIT,> a unity which includes and h eads all things.> (There is also a particular Nature of Him, in certain condit ions, such as have obtained since the Spring of 1904, e.v.) This profoundly my stical conception {1} is based upon actual spiritual experience, but the traine d reason> can reach a reflection of this idea by the method of logical contradi ction which ends in reason transcending itself. The reader should consult "The Soldier and the Hunchback" in Equinox I, I, and Konx Om Pax. "Unity" transcends "consciousness". It is above all division. The Father o f thought --- the Word --- is called Chaos --- the dyad. The number Three, the Mother, is called Babalon. In connection with this the reader should study "T he Temple of Solomon the King" in Equinox I, V, and Liber 418. This first triad is essentially unity, in a manner transcending reason. The comprehension of this Trinity is a matter of spiritual experience. All true g ods are attributed to this Trinity.> An immeasurable abyss divides it from all manifestations of Reason or the lo wer qualities of man. In the ultimate analysis of Reason, we find all reason i dentified with this abyss. Yet this abyss is the crown of the mind. Purely in tellectual faculties all obtain here. This abyss has no number, for in it all is confusion. Below this abyss we find the moral qualities of Man, of which there are six. The highest is symbolised by the number Four. Its nature is fatherly>; Mercy and Authority are the attributes of its dignity. The number Five is balanced against it. The attributes of Five are Energy a nd Justice. Four and Five are again combined and harmonized in the number Six, whose nature is beauty and harmony, mortality and immortality. In the number Seven the feminine nature is again predominant, {2} but it is the masculine type of female, the Amazon, who is balanced in the number Eight b y the feminine type of male. In the number Nine we reach the last of the purely mental qualities. It ide ntifies change with stability. Pendant to this sixfold system is the number Ten> which includes the whole of Matter as we know it by the senses. It is impossible here to explain thoroughly the complete conception; for it cannot be too clearly understood that this is a "classification" of the Univers e, that there is nothing which is not comprehended therein. The Article on the Qabalah in Vol. I, No. V of the Equinox is the best which has been written on the subject. It should be deeply studied, in connection w ith the Qabalistic Diagrams in Nos. II and III: "The Temple of Solomon the King ". Such is a crude and elementary sketch of this system. The formula of Tetragrammaton is the most important for the practical magici an. Here Yod = 2, He = 3, Vau = 4 to 9, He final = 10. The Number Two represents Yod, the Divine or Archetypal World, and the Number One is only attained by the destruction of the God and the Magician in Samadhi. The world of Angels is under the numbers Four to Nine, and that of spirits un der the {3} number Ten.> All these numbers are of course parts of the magician himself considered as the microcosm. The microcosm is an exact image of the M acrocosm; the Great Work is the raising of the whole man in perfect balance to the power of Infinity. The reader will remark that all criticism directed against the Magical Hiera rchy is futile. One cannot call it incorrect --- the only line to take might b e that it was inconvenient. In the same way one cannot say that the Roman alph abet is better or worse than the Greek, since all required sounds can be more o r less satisfactorily represented by either; yet both these alphabets were foun d so little satisfactory when it came to an attempt at phonetic printing of Ori ental languages, that the alphabet had to be expanded by the use of italics and other diacritical marks. In the same way our magical alphabet of the Sephirot h and the Paths (thirty-two letters as it were) has been expanded into the four worlds corresponding to the four letters of the name Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh; and each Sephira is supposed to contain a Tree of Life of its own. Thus we obtain four hundred Sephiroth instead of the original ten, and the Paths being capable of similar multiplications, or rather of subdivision, the number is still further extended. Of course this process might be indefinitely continued without destr oying the original system. The Apologia for this System is that our purest conceptions {4} are symbolize d in Mathematics. "God is the Great Arithmetician." "God is the Grand Geomete r." It is best therefore to prepare to apprehend Him by formulating our minds according to these measures.> To return, each letter of this alphabet may have its special magical sigil. The student must not expect to be given a cut-and-dried definition of what exa ctly is meant by any of all this. On the contrary, he must work backwards, put ting the whole of his mental and moral outfit into these pigeon-holes. You wou ld not expect to be able to buy a filing cabinet with the names of all your pas t, present and future correspondents ready indexed: your cabinet has a system o f letters and numbers meaningless in themselves, but ready to take on a meaning to you, as you fill up the files. As your business increased, each letter and number would receive fresh accessions of meaning for you; and by adopting this orderly arrangement you would be able to have a much more comprehensive grasp of your affairs than would otherwise be the case. By the use of this system th e magician is able ultimately to unify the whole of his knowledge --- to transm ute, even on the Intellectual Plane, the Many into the One. The Reader can now understand that the sketch given above of the magical Hie rarchy is hardly even an outline of the real theory of the Universe. This theo ry may indeed be studied in the article already referred to in No. V of the Equ inox, and, more deeply in the Book of the Law and the Commentaries thereon: but the true understanding depends entirely upon the work of the Magician himself. Without magical experience it will be meaningless. In this there is nothing peculiar. It is so with all scientific knowledge. A blind man might cram up astronomy for the purpose of passing examinations, b ut his knowledge would be {5} almost entirely unrelated to his experience, and it would certainly not give him sight. A similar phenomenon is observed when a gentleman who has taken an "honours degree" in modern languages at Cambridge a rrives in Paris, and is unable to order his dinner. To exclaim against the Mas ter Therion is to act like a person who, observing this, should attack both the professors of French and the inhabitants of Paris, and perhaps go on to deny t he existence of France. Let us say, once again, that the magical language is nothing but a convenien t system of classification to enable the magician to docket his experiences as he obtains them. Yet this is true also, that, once the language is mastered, one can divine t he unknown by study of the known, just as one's knowledge of Latin and Greek en ables one to understand some unfamiliar English word derived from those sources . Also, there is the similar case of the Periodic Law in Chemistry, which enab les Science to prophesy, and so in the end to discover, the existence of certai n previously unsuspected elements in nature. All discussions upon philosophy a re necessarily sterile, since truth is beyond language. They are, however, use ful if carried far enough --- if carried to the point when it become apparent t hat all arguments are arguments in a circle.> But discussions of the details o f purely imaginary qualities are frivolous and may be deadly. For the great da nger of this magical theory is that the student may mistake the alphabet for th e things which the words represent. An excellent man of great intelligence, a learned Qabalist, once amazed the Master Therion by stating that the Tree of Life was the framework of the Univer se. It was as if some one had seriously maintained that a cat was a creature c onstructed by placing the letters C. A. T. in that order. It is no wonder that Magick has excited the ridicule of the unintelligent, since even its {6} educa ted students can be guilty of so gross a violation of the first principles of c ommon sense.> A synopsis of the grades of the A.'. A.'. as illustrative of the Magical Hie rarchy in Man is given in Appendix 2 "One Star in Sight." This should be read before proceeding with the chapter. The subject is very difficult. To deal wi th it in full is entirely beyond the limits of this small treatise. "FURTHER CONCERNING THE MAGICAL UNIVERSE" All these letters of the magical alphabet --- referred to above --- are like so many names on a map. Man himself is a complete microcosm. Few other being s have this balanced perfection. Of course every sun, every planet, may have b eings similarly constituted.> But when we speak of dealing with the planets in Magick, {7} the reference is usually not to the actual planets, but to parts o f the earth which are of the nature attributed to these planets. Thus, when we say that Nakhiel is the "Intelligence" of the Sun, we do not mean that he live s in the Sun, but only that he has a certain rank and character; and although w e can invoke him, we do not necessarily mean that he exists in the same sense o f the word in which our butcher exists. When we "conjure Nakhiel to visible appearance," it may be that our process re sembles creation --- or, rather imagination --- more nearly than it does callin g-forth. The aura of a man is called the "magical mirror of the universe"; and , so far as any one can tell, nothing exists outside of this mirror. It is at least convenient to represent the whole as if it were subjective. It leads to less confusion. And, as a man is a perfect microcosm,> it is perfectly easy to re-model one's conception at any moment. Now there is a traditional correspondence, which modern experiment has shown to be fairly reliable. There is a certain natural connexion between certain l etters, words, numbers, gestures, shapes, perfumes and so on, so that any idea or (as we might call it) "spirit", may be composed or called forth by the use o f those things which are harmonious with it, and express particular parts of it s nature. These correspondences have been elaborately mapped in the Book 777 i n a very convenient and compendious form. It will be necessary for the student to make a careful study of this book in connexion with some actual rituals of Magick, for example, {8} that of the evocation of Taphtatharath printed in Equi nox I, III, pages 170-190, where he will see exactly why these things are to be used. Of course, as the student advances in knowledge by experience he will f ind a progressive subtlety in the magical universe corresponding to his own; fo r let it be said yet again! not only is his aura a magical mirror of the univer se, but the universe is a magical mirror of his aura. In this chapter we are only able to give a very thin outline of magical theo ry --- faint pencilling by weak and wavering fingers --- for this subject may a lmost be said to be co-extensive with one's whole knowledge. The knowledge of exoteric science is comically limited by the fact that we h ave no access, except in the most indirect way, to any other celestial body tha n our own. In the last few years, the semi-educated have got an idea that they know a great deal about the universe, and the principal ground for their fine opinion of themselves is usually the telephone or the airship. It is pitiful t o read the bombastic twaddle about progress, which journalists and others, who wish to prevent men from thinking, put out for consumption. We know infinitesi mally little of the material universe. Our detailed knowledge is so contemptib ly minute, that it is hardly worth reference, save that our shame may spur us t o increased endeavour. Such knowledge> as we have got is of a very general and abstruse, of a philosophical and almost magical character. This consists prin cipally of the conceptions of pure mathematics. It is, therefore, almost legit imate to say that pure mathematics is our link with the rest of the universe an d with "God". Now the conceptions of Magick are themselves profoundly mathematical. The w hole basis of our theory is the Qabalah, which corresponds to mathematics and g eometry. The method of operation in Magick is based on this, in very much the same way as the laws of mechanics are based on mathematics. So far, therefore as we can be said to possess a magical theory of the universe, it must be a mat ter solely of fundamental law, with a {9} few simple and comprehensive proposit ions stated in very general terms. I might expend a life-time in exploring the details of one plane, just as an explorer might give his life to one corner of Africa, or a chemist to one subg roup of compounds. Each such detailed piece of work may be very valuable, but it does not as a rule throw light on the main principles of the universe. Its truth is the truth of one angle. It might even lead to error, if some inferior person were to generalize from too few facts. Imagine an inhabitant of Mars who wished to philosophise about the earth, an d had nothing to go by but the diary of some man at the North Pole! But the wo rk of every explorer, on whatever branch of the Tree of Life the caterpillar he is after may happen to be crawling, is immensely helped by a grasp of general principles. Every magician, therefore, should study the Holy Qabalah. Once he has mastered the main principles, he will find his work grow easy. "Solvitur ambulando" which does not mean: "Call the Ambulance!" -------------- {10} CHAPTER I THE PRINCIPLES OF RITUAL. There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritu al is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel;> or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God.> All other magical Rituals are particular cases of this general principle, an d the only excuse for doing them is that it sometimes occurs that one particula r portion of the microcosm is so weak that its imperfection of impurity would v itiate the Macrocosm of which it is the image, Eidolon, or Reflexion. For exam ple, God is above sex; and therefore neither man nor woman as such can be said fully to understand, much less to represent, God. It is therefore incumbent on the male magician to cultivate those female virtues in which he is deficient, and this task he must of course accomplish without in any way impairing his vir ility. It will then be lawful for a magician to invoke Isis, and identify hims elf with her; if he fail to do this, his apprehension of the Universe when he a ttains Samadhi will lack the conception of maternity. The result will be a met aphysical and --- by corollary --- ethical limitation in the Religion which he founds. Judaism and Islam are striking example of this failure. To take another example, the ascetic life which devotion to {11} magick so o ften involves argues a poverty of nature, a narrowness, a lack of generosity. Nature is infinitely prodigal --- not one in a million seeds ever comes to frui tion. Whoso fails to recognise this, let him invoke Jupiter.> The danger of ceremonial magick --- the sublest and deepest danger --- is th is: that the magician will naturally tend to invoke that partial being which mo st strongly appeals to him, so that his natural excess in that direction will b e still further exaggerated. Let him, before beginning his Work, endeavour to map out his own being, and arrange his invocations in such a way as to redress the balance.> This, of course, should have been done in a preliminary fashion during the preparation of the weapons and furniture of the Temple. To consider in a more particular manner this question of the Nature of Ritua l, we may suppose that he finds himself lacking in that perception of the value of Life and Death, alike of individuals and of races, which is characteristic of Nature. He has perhaps a tendency to perceive the "first noble truth" utter ed by Buddha, that Everything is sorrow. Nature, it seems, is a tragedy. He h as perhaps even experienced the great trance called Sorrow. He should then con sider whether there is not some Deity who expresses this Cycle, and yet whose n ature is joy. He will find what he requires in Dionysus. There are three main methods of invoking any Deity. The "First Method" consists of devotion to that Deity, and, being mainly mys tical in character, need not be dealt with in this place, especially as a perfe ct instruction exists in Liber 175 ("See" Appendix). The "Second method"is the straight forward ceremonial invocation. It is the method which was usually employed in the Middle Ages. Its advantage is its di rectness, its disadvantage its {12} crudity. The "Goetia" gives clear instruct ion in this method, and so do many other rituals, white and black. We shall pr esently devote some space to a clear exposition of this Art. In the case of Bacchus, however, we may roughly outline the procedure. We f ind that the symbolism of Tiphareth expresses the nature of Bacchus. It is the n necessary to construct a Ritual of Tiphareth. Let us open the Book 777; we s hall find in line 6 of each column the various parts of our required apparatus. Having ordered everything duly, we shall exalt the mind by repeated prayers o r conjurations to the highest conception of the God, until, in one sense or ano ther of the word, He appears to us and floods our consciousness with the light of His divinity. The "Third Method is the Dramatic," perhaps the most attractive of all; cert ainly it is so to the artist's temperament, for it appeals to his imagination t hrough his aesthetic sense. Its disadvantage lies principally in the difficulty of its performance by a single person. But it has the sanction of the highest antiquity, and is probab ly the most useful for the foundation of a religion. It is the method of Catho lic Christianity, and consists in the dramatization of the legend of the God. The Bacchae of Euripides is a magnificent example of such a Ritual; so also, th rough in a less degree, is the Mass. We may also mention many of the degrees i n Freemasonry, particularly the third. The 5 Degree = 6Square Ritual published in No. III of the Equinox is another example. In the case of Bacchus, one commemorates firstly his birth of a mortal mothe r who has yielded her treasure-house to the Father of All, of the jealousy and rage excited by this incarnation, and of the heavenly protection afforded to th e infant. Next should be commemorated the journeying westward upon an ass. No w comes the great scene of the drama: the gentle, exquisite youth with his foll owing (chiefly composed of women) seems to threaten the established order of th ings, and that Established Order takes steps to put an end to the upstart. We find Dionysus confronting the angry King, not with defiance, but with meekness; yet with a subtle confidence, an underlying laughter. His forehead is wreathe d with vine tendrils. He is an effeminate figure with those broad leaves clust ered upon his brow? But those leaves hide {13} horns. King Pentheus, represen tative of respectability,> is destroyed by his pride. He goes out into the mou ntains to attack the women who have followed Bacchus, the youth whom he has moc ked, scourged, and put in chains, yet who has only smiled; and by those women, in their divine madness, he is torn to pieces. It has already seemed impertinent to say so much when Walter Pater has told the story with such sympathy and insight. We will not further transgress by dw elling upon the identity of this legend with the course of Nature, its madness, its prodigality, its intoxication, its joy, and above all its sublime persiste nce through the cycles of Life and Death. The pagan reader must labour to unde rstand this in Pater's "Greek Studies", and the Christian reader will recognise it, incident for incident, in the story of Christ. This legend is but the dra matization of Spring. The magician who wishes to invoke Bacchus by this method must therefore arra nge a ceremony in which he takes the part of Bacchus, undergoes all His trials, and emerges triumphant from beyond death. He must, however, be warned against mistaking the symbolism. In this case, for example, the doctrine of individua l immortality has been dragged in, to the destruction of truth. It is not that utterly worthless part of man, his individual consciousness as John Smith, whi ch defies death --- that consciousness which dies and is reborn in every though t. That which persists (if anything persist) is his real John Smithiness, a qu ality of which he was probably never conscious in his life.> Even that does not persist unchanged. It is always growing. The Cross is a barren stick, and the petals of the Rose fall and decay; but in the union of t he Cross and the Rose is a constant {14} succession of new lives.> Without thi s union, and without this death of the individual, the cycle would be broken. A chapter will be consecrated to removing the practical difficulties of this method of Invocation. It will doubtless have been noted by the acumen of the reader that in the great essentials these three methods are one. In each case the magician identifies himself with the Deity invoked. To "invoke" is to "cal l in", just as to "evoke" is to "call forth". This is the essential difference between the two branches of Magick. In invocation, the macrocosm floods the c onsciousness. In evocation, the magician, having become the macrocosm, creates a microcosm. You "in"voke a God into the Circle. You "e"voke a Spirit into t he Triangle. In the first method identity with the God is attained by love and by surrender, by giving up or suppressing all irrelevant (and illusionary) par ts of yourself. It is the weeding of a garden. In the second method identity is attained by paying special attention to the desired part of yourself: positive, as the first method is negative. It is th e potting-out and watering of a particular flower in the garden, and the exposu re of it to the sun. In the third, identity is attained by sympathy. It is very difficult for th e ordinary man to lose himself completely in the subject of a play or of a nove l; but for those who can do so, this method is unquestionably the best. Observe: each element in this cycle is of equal value. It is wrong to say t riumphantly "Mors janua vitae", unless you add, with equal triumph, "Vita janua mortis". To one who understands this chain of the Aeons from the point of vie w alike of the sorrowing Isis and of the triumphant Osiris, not forgetting thei r link in the destroyer Apophis, there remains no secret veiled in Nature. He cries that name of God which throughout History has been echoed by one religion to another, the infinite swelling paean I.A.O.!> {15} CHAPTER II THE FORMULAE OF THE ELEMENTAL WEAPONS. Before discussing magical formulae in detail, one may observe that most ritu als are composite, and contain many formulae which must be harmonized into one. The first formula is that of the Wand. In the sphere of the principle which the magician wishes to invoke, he rises from point to point in a perpendicular line, and then descends; or else, beginning at the top, he comes directly down , "invoking" first the god of that sphere by "devout supplication"> that He may deign to send the appropriate Archangel. He then "beseeches" the Archangel to send the Angel or Angels of that sphere to his aid; he "conjures" this Angel o r Angels to send the intelligence in question, and this intelligence he will "c onjure with authority" to compel the obedience of the spirit and his manifestat ion. To this spirit he "issues commands". It will be seen that this is a formula rather of evocation than of invocatio n, and for the latter the procedure, though apparently the same, should be conc eived of in a different manner, which brings it under another formula, that of Tetragrammaton. The essence of the force invoked is one, but the "God" represe nts the germ or beginning of the force, the "Archangel" its development; and so on, until, with the "Spirit", we have the completion and perfection of that fo rce. {16} The formula of the Cup is not so well suited for Evocations, and the magical Hierarchy is not involved in the same way; for the Cup being passive rather th an active, it is not fitting for the magician to use it in respect of anything but the Highest. In practical working it consequently means little but prayer, and that prayer the "prayer of silence".> The formula of the dagger is again unsuitable for either purpose, since the na ture of the dagger is to criticise, to destroy, to disperse; and all true magic al ceremonies tend to concentration. The dagger will therefore appear principa lly in the banishings, preliminary to the ceremony proper. The formula of the pantacle is again of no particular use; for the pantacle is inert. In fine, the formula of the wand is the only one with which we need more particularly concern ourselves.> Now in order to invoke any being, it is said by Hermes Trismegistus that the magi employ three methods. The first, for the vulgar, is that of supplication . In this the crude objective theory is assumed as true. There is a god named A, whom you, B, proceed to petition, in exactly the same sense as a boy might ask his father for pocket-money. The second method involves a little more subtlety, inasmuch as the magician endeavours to harmonize himself with the nature of the god, and to a certain ex tent exalts himself, in the course of the ceremony; but the third method is the only one worthy of our consideration. This consists of a real identification of the magician and the god. Note th at to do this in perfection involves the attainment of a species of Samadhi: an d this fact alone suffices to link irrefragably magick with mysticism. Let us describe the magical method of identification. The symbolic form of the god is first studied with as much care as an artist would bestow upon his m odel, so that a perfectly clear and {17} unshakeable mental picture of the god is presented to the mind. Similarly, the attributes of the god are enshrined i n speech, and such speeches are committed perfectly to memory. The invocation will then begin with a prayer to the god, commemorating his physical attributes , always with profound understanding of their real meaning. In the "second par t" of the invocation, the voice of the god is heard, and His characteristic utt erance is recited. In the "third portion" of the invocation the magician asserts the identity o f himself with the god. In the "fourth portion" the god is again invoked, but as if by Himself, as if it were the utterance of the will of the god that He sh ould manifest in the magician. At the conclusion of this, the original object of the invocation is stated. Thus, in the invocation of Thoth which is to be found in the rite of Mercury (Equinox I, VI) and in Liber LXIV, the first part begins with the words "Majes ty of Godhead, wisdom-crowned TAHUTI, Thee, Thee I invoke. Oh Thou of the Ibis head, Thee, Thee I invoke"; and so on. At the conclusion of this a mental ima ge of the God, infinitely vast and infinitely splendid, should be perceived, in just the same sense as a man might see the Sun. The second part begins with the words: "Behold! I am yesterday, today, and the brother of tomorrow." The magician should imagine that he is hearing this voice, and at the same t ime that he is echoing it, that it is true also of himself. This thought shoul d so exalt him that he is able at its conclusion to utter the sublime words whi ch open the third part: "Behold! he is in me, and I am in him." At this moment , he loses consciousness of his mortal being; he is that mental image which he previously but saw. This consciousness is only complete as he goes on: "Mine i s the radiance wherein Ptah floateth over his firmament. I travel upon high. I tread upon the firmament of Nu. I raise a flashing flame with the lightnings of mine eye: ever rushing on in the splendour of the daily glorified Ra --- gi ving my life to the treaders of Earth!" This thought gives the relation of God and Man from the divine point of view. The magician is only recalled to himself at the conclusion of the {18} third p art; in which occur, almost as if by accident, the words: "Therefore do all thi ngs obey my word." Yet in the fourth part, which begins: "Therefore do thou co me forth unto me", it is not really the magician who is addressing the God; it is the God who hears the far-off utterance of the magician. If this invocation has been correctly performed, the words of the fourth part will sound distant and strange. It is surprising that a dummy (so the magus now appears to Himsel f) should be able to speak! The Egyptian Gods are so complete in their nature, so perfectly spiritual an d yet so perfectly material, that this one invocation is sufficient. The God b ethinks him that the spirit of Mercury should now appear to the magician; and i t is so. This Egyptian formula is therefore to be preferred to the Hierarchica l formula of the Hebrews with its tedious prayers, conjurations, and curses. It will be noted, however, that in this invocation of Thoth which we have su mmarized, there is another formula contained, the Reverberating or Reciprocatin g formula, which may be called the formula of Horus and Harpocrates. The magic ian addresses the God with an active projection of his will, and then becomes p assive while the God addresses the Universe. In the fourth part he remains sil ent, listening, to the prayer which arises therefrom. The formula of this invocation of Thoth may also be classed under Tetragramm aton. The first part is fire, the eager prayer of the magician, the second wat er, in which the magician listens to, or catches the reflection of, the god. T he third part is air, the marriage of fire and water; the god and the man have become one; while the fourth part corresponds to earth, the condensation or mat erialization of those three higher principles. With regard to the Hebrew formulae, it is doubtful whether most magicians wh o use them have ever properly grasped the principles underlying the method of i dentity. No passage which implies it occurs to mind, and the extant rituals ce rtainly give no hint of such a conception, or of any but the most personal and material views of the nature of things. They seem to have thought that there w as an Archangel named Ratziel in exactly the same sense as there was a statesma n named Richelieu, an individual being living in a definite place. He had poss ibly certain powers of a somewhat metaphysical order --- he might be {19} in tw o places at once,> for example, though even the possibility of so simple a feat (in the case of spirits) seems to be denied by certain passages in extant conj urations which tell the spirit that if he happens to be in chains in a particul ar place in Hell, or if some other magician is conjuring him so that he cannot come, then let him send a spirit of similar nature, or otherwise avoid the diff icultly. But of course so vulgar a conception would not occur to the student o f the Qabalah. It is just possible that the magi wrote their conjurations on this crude hypothesis in order to avoid the clouding of the mind by doubt and m etaphysical speculation. He who became the Master Therion was once confronted by this very difficulty . Being determined to instruct mankind, He sought a simple statement of his ob ject. His will was sufficiently informed by common sense to decide him to teac h man "The Next Step", the thing which was immediately above him. He might hav e called this "God", or "The Higher Self", or "The Augoeides", or "Adi-Buddha", or 61 other things --- but He had discovered that these were all one, yet that each one represented some theory of the Universe which would ultimately be sha ttered by criticism --- for He had already passed through the realm of Reason, and knew that every statement contained an absurdity. He therefore said: "Let me declare this Work under this title: 'The obtaining of the Knowledge and Conv ersation of the Holy Guardian Angel'", because the theory implied in these word s is so patently absurd that only simpletons would waste much time in analysing it. It would be accepted as a convention, and no one would incur the grave da nger of building a philosophical system upon it. With this understanding, we may rehabilitate the Hebrew system of invocations. The mind is the great enemy; so, by invoking enthusiastically a person whom w e know not to exist, we are rebuking that mind. Yet we should not refrain alto gether from philosophising in the light of the Holy Qabalah. We should accept the Magical Hierarchy as a more or less convenient classification of the facts of the Universe as they are {20} known to us; and as our knowledge and understa nding of those facts increase, so should we endeavour to adjust our idea of wha t we mean by any symbol. At the same time let us reflect that there is a certain definite consensus o f experience as to the correlation of the various beings of the hierarchy with the observed facts of Magick. In the simple matter of astral vision, for examp le, one striking case may be quoted. Without telling him what it was, the Master Therion once recited as an invoc ation Sappho's "Ode to Venus" before a Probationer of the A.'. A.'. who was ign orant of Greek, the language of the Ode. The disciple then went on an "astral journey," and everything seen by him was without exception harmonious with Venu s. This was true down to the smallest detail. He even obtained all the four c olour-scales of Venus with absolute correctness. Considering that he saw somet hing like one hundred symbols in all, the odds against coincidence are incalcul ably great. Such an experience (and the records of the A.'. A.'. contain dozen s of similar cases) affords proof as absolute as any proof can be in this world of Illusion that the correspondences in Liber 777 really represent facts in Na ture. It suggests itself that this "straightforward" system of magick was perhaps never really employed at all. One might maintain that the invocations which ha ve come down to us are but the ruins of the Temple of Magick. The exorcisms mi ght have been committed to writing for the purpose of memorising them, while it was forbidden to make any record of the really important parts of the ceremony . Such details of Ritual as we possess are meagre and unconvincing, and though much success has been attained in the quite conventional exoteric way both by FRATER PERDURABO and by many of his colleagues, yet ceremonies of this characte r have always remained tedious and difficult. It has seemed as if the success were obtained almost in spite of the ceremony. In any case, they are the more mysterious parts of the Ritual which have evoked the divine force. Such conjur ations as those of the "Goetia" leave one cold, although, notably in the second conjuration, there is a crude attempt to use that formula of Commemoration of which we spoke in the preceding Chapter. {21} CHAPTER III THE FORMULA OF TETRAGRAMMATON.> This formula is of most universal aspect, as all things are necessarily comp rehended in it; but its use in a magical ceremony is little understood. The climax of the formula is in one sense before even the formulation of the Yod. For the Yod is the most divine aspect of the Force --- the remaining let ters are but a solidification of the same thing. It must be understood that we are here speaking of the whole ceremony considered as a unity, not merely of t hat formula in which "Yod" is the god invoked, "He" the Archangel, and so on. In order to understand the ceremony under this formula, we must take a more ext ended view of the functions of the four weapons than we have hitherto done. The formation of the "Yod" is the formulation of the first creative force, o f that father who is called "self-begotten", and unto whom it is said: "Thou ha s formulated thy Father, and made fertile thy Mother". The adding of the "He" to the "Yod" is the marriage of that Father to the great co-equal Mother, who i s a reflection of Nuit as He is of Hadit. Their union brings forth the son "Va u" who is the heir. Finally the daughter "He" is produced. She is both the tw in sister and the daughter of "Vau".> His mission is to redeem her by making her his bride; the result of this is to set her upon the throne of her mother, and it is only she whose youthful emb race can reawaken the eld of the {22} All-Father. In this complex family relat ionship> is symbolised the whole course of the Universe. It will be seen that (after all) the Climax is at the end. It is the second half of the formula whi ch symbolises the Great Work which we are pledged to accomplish. The first ste p of this is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guard ian Angel, which constitutes the Adept of the Inner Order. The re-entry of these twin spouses into the womb of the mother is that initi ation described in Liber 418, which gives admission to the Inmost Order of the A.'. A.'. Of the last step we cannot speak. It will now be recognised that to devise a practical magical ceremony to cor respond to Tetragrammaton in this exalted sense might be difficult if not impos sible. In such a ceremony the Rituals of purification alone might occupy many incarnations. It will be necessary, therefore, to revert to the simpler view of Tetragramm aton, remembering only that the "He" final is the Throne of the Spirit, of the Shin of Pentagrammaton. The Yod will represent a swift and violent creative energy; following this w ill be a calmer and more reflective but even more powerful flow of will, the ir resistible force of a mighty river. This state of mind will be followed by an expansion of the consciousness; it will penetrate all space, and this will fina lly undergo a crystallization resplendent with interior light. Such modificati ons of the original Will may be observed in the course of the invocations when they are properly performed. The peculiar dangers of each are obvious --- that of the first is a flash in the pan --- a misfire; that of the second, a falling into dreaminess or reveri e; that of the third, loss of concentration. A mistake in any of these points will prevent, or injure the proper formation of, the fourth. In the expression which will be used in Chapter XV: "Enflame thyself", etc., only the first stage is specified; but if that is properly done the other stag es will follow as if by necessity. So far is it written concerning the formul a of Tetragrammaton. {23} CHAPTER IV. THE FORMULA OF ALHIM, AND THAT OF ALIM. "ALHIM", (Elohim) is the exoteric word for Gods.> It is the masculine plural of a feminine noun, but its nature is principally feminine.> It is a perfect h ieroglyph of the number 5. This should be studied in "A Note on Genesis" (Equi nox I, II). The Elements are all represented, as in Tetragrammaton, but there is no deve lopment from one into the others. They are, as it were, thrown together --- un tamed, only sympathising by virtue of their wild and stormy but elastically re sistless energy. The Central letter is "He" --- the letter of breath --- and r epresents Spirit. The first letter "Aleph" is the natural letter of Air, and t he Final "Mem" is the natural letter of Water. Together, "Aleph" and "Mem" mak e "Am" --- the mother within whose womb the Cosmos is conceived. But "Yod" is not the natural letter of Fire. Its juxtaposition with "He" sanctifies that fi re to the "Yod" of Tetragrammaton. Similarly we find "Lamed" for Earth, where we should expect Tau --- in order to emphasize the influence of Venus, who rule s Libra. "ALHIM", therefore, represents rather the formula of Consecration than that of a complete ceremony. It is the breath of benediction, yet so potent that it can give life to clay and light to darkness. In consecrating a weapon, "Aleph" is the whirling force of the thunderbolt, the lightning which flameth out of the East even {24} into the West. This is t he gift of the wielding of the thunderbolt of Zeus or Indra, the god of Air. " Lamed" is the Ox-goad, the driving force; and it is also the Balance, represent ing the truth and love of the Magician. It is the loving care which he bestows upon perfecting his instruments, and the equilibration of that fierce force wh ich initiates the ceremony.> "Yod" is the creative energy -- the procreative power: and yet "Yod" is the solitude and silence of the hermitage into which the Magician has shut himself. "Mem" is the letter of water, and it is the Mem final, whose long flat lines suggest the Sea at Peace HB:Mem-final ; not the ordinary (initial and medial) M em whose hieroglyph is a wave HB:Mem.> And then, in the Centre of all, broods Spirit, which combines the mildness of the Lamb with the horns of the Ram, and is the letter of Bacchus or "Christ".> After the magician has created his instrument, and balanced it truly, and fill ed it with the lightnings of his Will, then is the weapon laid away to rest; and in this Silence, a true Consecration comes. THE FORMULA OF ALIM It is extremely interesting to contrast with the above the formula of the el emental Gods deprived of the creative spirit. One {25} might suppose that as A LIM, is the masculine plural of the masculine noun AL, its formula would be mor e virile than that of ALHIM, which is the masculine plural of the feminine noun ALH. A moment's investigation is sufficient to dissipate the illusion. The w ord masculine has no meaning except in relation to some feminine correlative. The word ALIM may in fact be considered as neuter. By a rather absurd conve ntion, neuter objects are treated as feminine on account of their superficial r esemblance in passivity and inertness with the unfertilized female. But the fe male produces life by the intervention of the male, while the neuter does so on ly when impregnated by Spirit. Thus we find the feminine AMA, becoming AIMA>, through the operation of the phallic Yod, while ALIM, the congress of dead elem ents, only fructifies by the brooding of Spirit. This being so, how can we describe ALIM as containing a Magical Formula? Inqui ry discloses the fact that this formula is of a very special kind. The word adds up to 81, which is a number of the moon. It is thus the formula of witchcraft, which is under Hecate.> It is only the romantic mediaeval perv ersion of science that represents young women as partaking in witchcraft, which is, properly speaking, restricted to the use of such women as are no longer wo men in the Magical sense of the word, because thy are no longer capable of corr esponding to the formula of the male, and are therefore neuter rather than femi nine. It is for this reason that their method has always been referred to the moon, in that sense of the term in which she appears, not as the feminine corre lative of the sun, but as the burnt-out, dead, airless satellite of earth. No true Magical operation can be performed by the formula of ALIM. All the works of witchcraft are illusory; and their apparent effects depend on the idea that it is possible to alter things by the mere rearrangement of them. One {2 6} must not rely upon the false analogy of the Xylenes to rebut this argument. It is quite true that geometrical isomers act in different manners towards the substance to which they are brought into relation. And it is of course necess ary sometimes to rearrange the elements of a molecule before that molecule can form either the masculine or the feminine element in a true Magical combination with some other molecule. It is therefore occasionally inevitable for a Magician to reorganize the str ucture of certain elements before proceeding to his operation proper. Although such work is technically witchcraft, it must not be regarded as undesirable on that ground, for all operations which do not transmute matter fall strictly sp eaking under this heading. The real objection to this formula is not inherent in its own nature. Witch craft consists in treating it as the exclusive preoccupation of Magick, and esp ecially in denying to the Holy Spirit his right to indwell His Temple.> {27} CHAPTER V The Formula of I.A.O. This formula is the principal and most characteristic formula of Osiris, of the Redemption of Mankind. "I" is Isis, Nature, ruined by "A", Apophis the De stroyer, and restored to life by the Redeemer Osiris.> The same idea is expres sed by the Rosicrucian formula of the Trinity: "Ex Deo nascimur. In Jesu Morimur Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus." This is also identical with the Word Lux, L.V.X., which is formed by the arms of a cross. It is this formula which is implied in those ancient and modern mo numents in which the phallus is worshipped as the Saviour of the World. The doctrine of resurrection as vulgarly understood is false and absurd. It is not even "Scriptural". St. Paul does not identify the glorified body which rises with the mortal body which dies. On the contrary, he repeatedly insists on the distinction. The same is true of a magical ceremony. The magician who is destroyed by ab sorption in the Godhead is really destroyed. The {28} miserable mortal automat on remains in the Circle. It is of no more consequence to Him that the dust of the floor.> But before entering into the details of "I.A.O." as a magick formula it shou ld be remarked that it is essentially the formula of Yoga or meditation; in fac t, of elementary mysticism in all its branches. In beginning a meditation practice, there is always> a quiet pleasure, a gentl e natural growth; one takes a lively interest in the work; it seems easy; one i s quite pleased to have started. This stage represents Isis. Sooner or later it is succeeded by depression --- the Dark Night of the Soul, an infinite weari ness and detestation of the work. The simplest and easiest acts become almost impossible to perform. Such impotence fills the mind with apprehension and des pair. The intensity of this loathing can hardly be understood by any person wh o has not experienced it. This is the period of Apophis. It is followed by the arising not of Isis, but of Osiris. The ancient condi tion is not restored, but a new and superior condition is created, a condition only rendered possible by the process of death. The Alchemists themselves taught this same truth. The first matter of the w ork was base and primitive, though "natural". After passing through various st ages the "black dragon" appeared; but from this arose the pure and perfect gold . Even in the legend of Prometheus we find an identical formula concealed; and a similar remark applies to those of Jesus Christ, and of many other mythical go d-men worshipped in different countries.> A magical ceremony constructed on this formula is thus in close essential ha rmony with the natural mystic process. We find it the {29} basis of many impor tant initiations, notably the Third Degree in Masonry, and the 5 Degree = 6Squa re ceremony of the G.'. D.'. described in Equinox I, III. A ceremonial self-in itiation may be constructed with advantage on this formula. The essence of it consists in robing yourself as a king, then stripping and slaying yourself, and rising from that death to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel>. There is an etymological identity between Tetragrammaton and "I A O", but the magical formulae are entirely different, as the descriptions here given have schewn. Professor William James, in his "Varieties of Religious Experience," has wel l classified religion as the "once-born" and the "twice-born"; but the religion now proclaimed in Liber Legis harmonizes these by transcending them. There is no attempt to get rid of death by denying it, as among the once-born; nor to a ccept death as the gate of a new life, as among the twice-born. With the A.'. A.'. life and death are equally incidents in a career, very much like day and n ight in the history of a planet. But, to pursue the simile, we regard this pla net from afar. A Brother of A.'. A.'. looks at (what another person would call ) "himself", as one --- or, rather, some --- among a group of phenomena. He is that "nothing" whose consciousness is in one sense the universe considered as a single phenomenon in time and space, and in another sense is the negation of that consciousness. The body and mind of the man are only important (if at all ) as the telescope of the astronomer to him. If the telescope were destroyed i t would make no appreciable difference to the Universe which that telescope rev eals. It will now be understood that this formula of I A O is a formula of Tiphare th. The magician who employs it is conscious of himself as a man liable to suf fering, and anxious to transcend that state by becoming one with god. It will appear to him as the Supreme Ritual, as the final step; but, as has already bee n {30} pointed out, it is but a preliminary. For the normal man today, however , it represents considerable attainment; and there is a much earlier formula wh ose investigation will occupy Chapter VI. THE MASTER THERION, in the Seventeenth year of the Aeon, has reconstructed t he Word I A O to satisfy the new conditions of Magick imposed by progress. The Word of the Law being Thelema, whose number is 93, this number should be the c anon of a corresponding Mass. Accordingly, he has expanded I A O by treating t he O as an Ayin, and then adding Vau as prefix and affix. The full word is the n Vau Yod Aleph Ayin Vau whose number is 93. We may analyse this new Word in detail and demonstrate tha t it is a proper hieroglyph of the Ritual of Self-Initiation in this Aeon of Ho rus. For the correspondence in the following note, see Liber 777. The princip al points are these: {31} --------------.---.-------------.---.--------------.------------------------ : : : : : Atu :No.: Hebrew :No.:Correspondence: Other :of : :of : : (Tarot Trump) :Atu: letters :let: in Nature : Correspondences : : :ter: : --------------+---+-------------+---+--------------+------------------------ : : : : : : : : : : The Hiero- : V :Vau (a nail) : 6 :Taurus (An :The Sun. The son in Te- phant. (Osi-: : English V, : : earthy sign : tragrammaton. (See Cap. ris throned : : W, or vo- : : ruled by : III). The Pentagram & crowned, : : wel between : : Venus; the : which shows Spirit with Wand. : : O and U- : : Moon exalt- : master & reconciler of : : ma'ajab and : : ed therein. : the Four Elements. : : ma'aruf. : : but male.) : Four Wor- : : : : Liberty,i.e.:The Hexagram which un- shippers;the: : : : free will. : God and Man. The cons- four ele- : : : : : sciousness or Ruach. ments. : : : : : : : : : :Parzival as the Child in : : : : : his widowed mother's : : : : : care: Horus, son of : : : : : Isis and the slain : : : : : Osiris. : : : : : : : : : :Parzival as King & : : : : : Priest in Montsalvat : : : : : performing the mir- : : : : : acle of redemption; : : : : : Horus crowned and : : : : : conquering, taking the : : : : : place of his father. : : : : : : : : : :Christ-Bacchus in Hea- : : : : : ven-Olympus saving the : : : : : world. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : The Hermit :IX :Yod (a hand) : 10:Virgo (an :The root of the Alphabet (Hermes : : English I : : earthy sign : The Spermatozoon. The with Lamp, : : or Y. : : ruled by : youth setting out on Wings, : : : : Mercury : his adventures after Wand, : : : : exalted : receiving the Wand. Cloak, and : : : : therein; : Parzival in the desert Serpent). : : : : sexually : Christ taking refuge : : : : ambivalent) : in Egypt, and on : : : : Light, i.e. : the Mount tempted by : : : : of Wisdom, : the Devil. The uncon- : : : : the Inmost. : scious Will, or Word. {32} --------------.---.-------------.---.--------------.------------------------ : : : : : Atu :No.: Hebrew :No.:Correspondence: Other :of : : of: : (Tarot Trump) :Atu: letters :let: in Nature : Correspondences : : :ter: : --------------+---+-------------+---+--------------+------------------------ : : : : : : : : : : The Fool : O :Aleph (an ox): 1 :Air (The con- :The free breath. The (The Babe : : English A, : : dition of : Svastika. The Holy in the Egg : : more or : : all Life, : Ghost. The Virgin's on the Lo- : : less : : the impar- : Womb. Parzial as "der tus, Bacchus: : : : tial vehicle: reine Thor" who knows Diphues, : : : : Sexually : nothing. Horus. etc. : : : : undevelop- : Christ-Bacchus as the : : : : ed). Life; : innocent babe, pursued : : : : i.e. the : by Herod-Here. : : : : organ of : Hercules strangling : : : : possible : the serpents. The : : : : expression. : Unconscious Self not : : : : : yet determined in any : : : : : direction. : : : : : : : : : : The Devil :XV :Ayin (an : 70:Capricornus :Parzival in Black Armour, (Baphomet : : eye) En- : : (an earthy : ready to return to throned & : : glish A, or: : sign ruled : Montsalvat as Redeemer- adored by : : O more or : : by Saturn; : King: Horus come to Male & Fe- : : less: the : : Mars exalt- : full growth. Christ- male. See : : bleat of a : : ed therein. : Bacchus with Calvary- Eliphas : : goat, A'a. : : Sexually : Cross Kithairon --- Levi's de- : : : : male) : Thyrsus. sign.) : : : : love: i.e. : : : : : the instinct: : : : : to satisfy : : : : : Godhead by : : : : : uniting it : : : : : with the : : : : : Universe. : : : : : : Iota-Alpha-Digamma varies in significance with successive Aeons. {33} "Aeon of Isis." Matriarchal Age. The Great Work conceived as a straightforw ard simple affair. We find the theory reflected in the customs of Matriarchy. Parthenogenesis is supposed to be true. The Virgin (Yod-Virgo) contains in herself the Princip le of Growth --- the epicene Hermetic seed. It becomes the Babe in the Egg (A --- Harpocrates) by virtue of the Spirit (A = Air, impregnating the Mother---Vu lture) and this becomes the Sun or Son ( Digamma = the letter of Tiphareth, 6, even when spelt as Omega, in Coptic. See 777). "Aeon of Osiris." Patriarchal age. Two sexes. I conceived as the Father-W and. (Yod in Tetragrammaton). A the Babe is pursued by the Dragon, who casts a flood from his mouth to swallow it. See "Rev." VII. The Dragon is also the Mother --- the "Evil Mother" of Freud. It is Harpocrates, threatened by the cr ocodile in the Nile. We find the symbolism of the Ark, the Coffin of Osiris, e tc. The Lotus is the Yoni; the Water the Amniotic Fluid. In order to live his own life, the child must leave the Mother, and overcome the temptation to retu rn to her for refuge. Kundry, Armida, Jocasta, Circe, etc., are symbols of thi s force which tempts the Hero. He may take her as his servant> when he has mas tered her, so as to heal his father (Amfortas), avenge him (Osiris), or pacify him (Jehovah). But in order to grow to manhood, he must cease to depend on her , earning the Lance (Parzival), claiming his arms (Achilles), or making his clu b (Hercules)>, and wander in the waterless wilderness like Krishna, Jesus, Oedi pus, chi. tau. lambda. --- until the hour when, as the "King's Son" or knigh t-errant, he must win the Princess, and set himself upon a strange throne. Alm ost all the legends of heroes imply this formula in strikingly similar symbols. Digamma. Vau the Sun --- Son. He is supposed to be mortal; but how is this shewn? It seems an absolute perversion of truth: the sacred symbols have no h int of it. This lie is the essence of the Great Sorcery. Osirian religion is a Freudian phantasy fashioned of man's dread of death and ignorance of nature. The parthenogenesis-idea {34} persists, but is now the formula for incarnating demi-gods, or divine kings; these must be slain and raised from the dead in on e way or another.> "Aeon of Horus." Two sexes in one person. Digamma Iota Alpha Omicron Digamma: 93, the full formula, recognizing the Sun as the Son (Star), as the pre-existent manifested Unit from which all springs and to which all returns. The Great Work is to make the initial Digamma Digam ma of Assiah (The world of material illusion) into the final Digamma Iota Diga mma of Atziluth,> the world of pure reality. Spelling the Name in full, Digamma Digamma + Iota Digamma Delta + Alpha Lamb da Pi + Omicron Iota Nu + Digamma Iota = 309 = Sh T = XX + XI = 31 the secret Key of the Law. Digamma is the manifested Star. Iota is the secret Life .............. Serpent --- Light ............. Lamp --- Love .............. Wand --- Liberty ........... Wings --- Silence ........... Cloak These symbols are all shewn in the Atu "The Hermit". They are the powers of the Yod, whose extension is the Vau. Yod is the Hand wherewith man does his Will. It is also The Virgin; his essence is inviolate. Alpha is the Babe "who has formulated his Father, and made fertile his Mother" --- Harpocrates, etc., as before; but he develops to Omicron The exalted "Devil" (also the "other" secret Eye) by the formula of the Initiation of Horus elsewhere described in detail. This "Devil" is called Satan or Shaitan, and regarded with ho rror by people who are ignorant of his formula, and, imagining themselves to be evil, accuse Nature herself of their own phantasmal crime. Satan is Saturn, S et, Abrasax, Adad, Adonis, Attis, Adam, Adonai, etc. The most serious charge a gainst him is that he is the Sun in the South. The Ancient Initiates, {35} dwe lling as they did in lands whose blood was the water of the Nile or the Euphrat es, connected the South with life-withering heat, and cursed that quarter where the solar darts were deadliest. Even in the legend of Hiram, it is at high no on that he is stricken down and slain. Capricornus is moreover the sign which the sun enterers when he reaches his extreme Southern declination at the Winter Solstice, the season of the death of vegetation, for the folk of the Northern hemisphere. This gave them a second cause for cursing the south. A third; the tyranny of hot, dry, poisonous winds; the menace of deserts or oceans dreadful because mysterious and impassable; these also were connected in their minds wi th the South. But to us, aware of astronomical facts, this antagonism to the S outh is a silly superstition which the accidents of their local conditions sugg ested to our animistic ancestors. We see no enmity between Right and Left, Up and Down, and similar pairs of opposites. These antitheses are real only as a statement of relation; they are the conventions of an arbitrary device for repr esenting our ideas in a pluralistic symbolism based on duality. "Good" must be defined in terms of human ideals and instincts. "East" has no meaning except with reference to the earth's internal affairs; as an absolute direction in spa ce it changes a degree every four minutes. "Up" is the same for no two men, un less one chance to be in the line joining the other with the centre of the eart h. "Hard" is the private opinion of our muscles. "True" is an utterly unintel ligible epithet which has proved refractory to the analysis of our ablest philo sophers. We have therefore no scruple in restoring the "devil-worship" of such ideas as those which the laws of sound, and the phenomena of speech and hearing, comp el us to connect with the group of "Gods" whose names are based upon Sht, or D, vocalized by the free breath A. For these Names imply the qualities of courag e, frankness, energy, pride, power and triumph; they are the words which expres s the creative and paternal will. Thus "the Devil" is Capricornus, the Goat who leaps upon the loftiest mountain s, the Godhead which, if it become manifest in man, makes him Aegipan, the All. The Sun enters this sign when he turns to renew the year in the North. He i s also the vowel O, proper to roar, to boom, and {36} to command, being a forci ble breath controlled by the firm circle of the mouth. He is the Open Eye of the exalted Sun, before whom all shadows flee away: al so that Secret Eye which makes an image of its God, the Light, and gives it pow er to utter oracles, enlightening the mind. Thus, he is Man made God, exalted, eager; he has come consciously to his full stature, and so is ready to set out on his journey to redeem the world. But he may not appear in this true form; the Vision of Pan would drive men mad with f ear. He must conceal Himself in his original guise. He therefore becomes apparently the man that he was at the beginning; he lives the life of a man; indeed, he is wholly man. But his initiation has made him master of the Event by giving him the understanding that whatever happens to hi m is the execution of this true will. Thus the last stage of his initiation is expressed in our formula as the final: Digamma --- The series of transformations has not affected his identity; but it has explained him to himself. Similarly, Copper is still Copper after Cu+O = CuO:+H SO =CuS O(H O):+K S=CuS(K SO ): 2 4 4 2 2 2 4 + blowpipe and reducing agent = Cu(S). It is the same copper, but we have learnt some of its properties. We observ e especially that it is indestructible, inviolably itself throughout all its ad ventures, and in all its disguises. We see moreover that it can only make use of its powers, fulfill the possibilities of its nature, and satisfy its equatio ns, by thus combining with its counterparts. Its existence as a separate subst ance is evidence of its subjection to stress; and this is felt as the ache of a n incomprehensible yearning until it realises that every experience is a relief , an expression of itself; and that it cannot be injured by aught that may befa ll it. In the Aeon of Osiris it was indeed realised that Man must die in order to live. But now in the Aeon of Horus we know that every event is a death; su bject and object slay each other in "love under will"; each such death is itsel f life, the means by which one realises oneself in a series of episodes. The second main point is the completion of the A babe Bacchus by the O Pan ( Parzival wins the Lance, etc.). {37} The first process is to find the I in the V --- initiation, purification, fi nding the Secret Root of oneself, the epicene Virgin who is 10 (Malkuth) but sp elt in full 20 (Jupiter). This Yod in the "Virgin" expands to the Babe in the Egg by formulating the S ecret Wisdom of Truth of Hermes in the Silence of the Fool. He acquires the Ey e-Wand, beholding the acting and being adored. The Inverted Pentagram --- Baph omet --- the Hermaphrodite fully grown --- begets himself on himself as V again . Note that there are now two sexes in one person throughout, so that each ind ividual is self-procreative sexually, whereas Isis knew only one sex, and Osiri s thought the two sexes opposed. Also the formula is now Love in all cases; an d the end is the beginning, on a higher plane. The I is formed from the V by removing its tail, the A by balancing 4 Yods, the O by making an inverted triangle of Yods, which suggests the formula of Nui t --- Hadit --- Ra-Hoor-Khuit. A is the elements whirling as a Svastika --- th e creative Energy in equilibrated action.> -------------- {38} CHAPTER VI THE FORMULA OF THE NEOPHYTE>. This formula has for its "first matter" the ordinary man entirely ignorant o f everything and incapable of anything. He is therefore represented as blindfo lded and bound. His only aid is his aspiration, represented by the officer who is to lead him into the Temple. Before entering, he must be purified and cons ecrated. Once within the Temple, he is required to bind himself by an oath. H is aspiration is now formulated as Will. He makes the mystic circumambulation of the Temple for the reasons to be described in the Chapter on "Gesture". Aft er further purification and consecration, he is allowed for one moment to see t he Lord of the West, and gains courage> to persist. For the third time he is p urified and consecrated, and he sees the Lord of the East, who holds the balanc e, keeping him in a straight line. In the West he gains energy. In the East h e is prevented from dissipating the same. So fortified, he may be received int o the Order as a neophyte by the three principal officers, thus uniting the Cro ss with the Triangle. He may then be placed between the pillars of the Temple, to receive the fourth and final consecration. In this position the secrets of the grade are communicated to him, and the last of his fetters is removed. Al l this is sealed by the sacrament of the Four Elements. It will be seen that the effect of this whole ceremony is to endow a thing i nert and impotent with balanced motion in a given direction. Numerous example of this formula are given {39} in Equinox I, Nos. II and III. It is the formul a of the Neophyte Ceremony of G.'. D.'. It should be employed in the consecrat ion of the actual weapons used by the magician, and may also be used as the fir st formula of initiation. In the book called Z 2> (Equinox I, III) are given full details of this form ula, which cannot be too carefully studied and practised. It is unfortunately, the most complex of all of them. But this is the fault of the first matter of the work, which is so muddled that many operations are required to unify it. ------------ {40} CHAPTER VII THE FORMULA OF THE HOLY GRAAL: OF ABRAHADABRA: "and of certain other Words." Also: THE MAGICAL MEMORY. The Hieroglyph shewn in the Seventh Key of the Tarot (described in the 12th Aethyr, Liber 418, Equinox I, V) is the Charioteer of OUR LADY BABALON, whose C up or Graal he hears. Now this is an important formula. It is the First of the Formulae, in a sen se, for it is the formula of Renunciation.> It is also the Last! This Cup is said to be full of the Blood of the Saints; that is, every "sain t" or magician must give the last drop of his life's blood to that cup. It is the original price paid for magick power. And if by magick power we mean the t rue power, the assimilation of all force with the Ultimate Light, the true Brid al of the Rosy Cross, then is that blood the offering of Virginity, the sole sa crifice well-pleasing to the Master, the sacrifice whose only reward is the pai n of child-bearing unto him. But "to sell one's soul to the devil", to renounce no matter what for an equiv alent in personal gain>, is black magic. You are no longer a noble giver of yo ur all, but a mean huckster. {41} This formula is, however, a little different in symbolism, since it is a Wom an whose Cup must be filled. It is rather the sacrifice of the Man, who transf ers life to his descendants. For a woman does not carry in herself the princip le of new life, except temporarily, when it is given her. But here the formula implies much more even than this. For it is his whole life that the Magus offers to OUR LADY. The Cross is both Death and Generation , and it is on the Cross that the Rose blooms. The full significance of these symbols is so lofty that it is hardly fitted for an elementary treatise of this type. One must be an Exempt Adept, and have become ready to pass on, before o ne can see the symbols even from the lower plane. Only a Master of the Temple can fully understand them. (However, the reader may study Liber CLVI, in Equinox I, VI, the 12th and 2n d Aethyrs in Liber 418 in Equinox I, V, and the Symbolism of the V Degree and V I Degree in O.T.O.) Of the preservation of this blood which OUR LADY offers to the ANCIENT ONE, CHAOS> the All-Father, to revive him, and of how his divine Essence fills the D aughter (the soul of Man) and places her upon the Throne of the Mother, fulfill ing the Economy of the Universe, and thus ultimately rewarding the Magician (th e Son) ten thousandfold, it would be still more improper to speak in this place . So holy a mystery is the Arcanum of the Masters of the Temple, that it is he re hinted at in order to blind the presumptuous who may, unworthy, seek to lift the veil, and at the same time to lighten the darkness of such as may be requi ring only one ray of the Sun in order to spring into life and light. II ABRAHADABRA is a word to be studied in Equinox I, V., "The Temple of Solomon the King". It represents the Great Work complete, and it is therefore an arch etype of all lesser magical operations. It is in a way too perfect to be appli ed in {42} advance to any of them. But an example of such an operation may be studied in Equinox I, VII, "The Temple of Solomon the King", where an invocatio n of Horus on this formula is given in full. Note the reverberation of the ide as one against another. The formula of Horus has not yet been so fully worked out in details as to justify a treatise upon its exoteric theory and practice; but one may say that it is, to the formula of Osiris, what the turbine is to th e reciprocating engine. III There are many other sacred words which enshrine formulae of great efficacit y in particular operations. For example, V.I.T.R.I.O.L. gives a certain Regimen of the Planets useful in Alchemical work. Ararita is a formula of the macrocosm potent in certain very lofty Operations of the Magick of the Inmost Light. (See Liber 813.) The formula of Thelema may be summarized thus: Theta "Babalon and the Beast conjoined" --- epsilon unto Nuith (CCXX, I, 51) --- lambda The Work accomplishe d in Justice --- eta The Holy Graal --- mu The Water therein --- alpha The Babe in the Egg (Harpocrates on the Lotus.) That of "Agape" is as follows: Dionysus (Capital Alpha) --- The Virgin Earth gamma --- The Babe in the Egg (small alpha --- the image of the Father) --- The Massacre of the Innocents, pi (winepress) --- The Draught of Ecstasy, eta. The student will find it well worth his while to seek out these ideas in det ail, and develop the technique of their application. There is also the Gnostic Name of the Seven Vowels, which gives a musical fo rmula most puissant in evocations of the Soul of Nature. There is moreover ABR AXAS; there is XNOUBIS; there is MEITHRAS; and indeed it may briefly be stated that every true name of God gives the formula of the invocation of that God.> It would therefore be impossible, even were it desirable, to analyse all such n ames. The general method of doing so has been {43} given, and the magician mus t himself work out his own formula for particular cases.> IV. It should also be remarked that every grade has its peculiar magical formula . Thus, the formula of Abrahadabra concerns us, as men, principally because ea ch of us represents the pentagram or microcosm; and our equilibration must ther efore be with the hexagram or macrocosm. In other words, 5 Degree = 6Square is the formula of the Solar operation; but then 6 Degree = 5Square is the formula of the Martial operation, and this reversal of the figures implies a very diff erent Work. In the former instance the problem was to dissolve the microcosm i n the macrocosm; but this other problem is to separate a particular force from the macrocosm, just as a savage might hew out a flint axe from the deposits in a chalk cliff. Similarly, an operation of Jupiter will be of the nature of the equilibration of him with Venus. Its graphic formula will be 7 Degree = 4Squa re, and there will be a word in which the character of this operation is descri bed, just as Abrahadabra describes the Operation of the Great Work. It may be stated without unfairness, as a rough general principle, that the farther from original equality are the two sides of the equation, the more diff icult is the operation to perform. Thus, to take the case of the personal operation symbolized by the grades, i t is harder to become a Neophyte, 1 Degree = 10Square, than to pass from that g rade to Zelator, 2 Degree = 9Square. Initiation is, therefore, progressively easier, in a certain sense, after th e first step is taken. But (especially after the passing of Tiphareth) the dis tance between grade and grade increases as it were by a geometrical progression with an enormously high factor, which itself progresses.> {44} It is evidently impossible to give details of all these formulae. Before be ginning any operation soever the magician must make a through Qabalistic study of it so as to work out its theory in symmetry of perfection. Preparedness in Magick is as important as it is in War. V It should be profitable to make a somewhat detailed study of the strange-looki ng word AUMGN, for its analysis affords an excellent illustration of the princi ples on which the Practicus may construct his own Sacred Words. This word has been uttered by the MASTER THERION himself, as a means of declar ing his own personal work as the Beast, the Logos of the Aeon. To understand i t, we must make a preliminary consideration of the word which it replaces and f rom which it was developed: the word AUM. The word AUM is the sacred Hindu mantra which was the supreme hieroglyph of Truth, a compendium of the Sacred Knowledge. Many volumes have been written wi th regard to it; but, for our present purpose, it will be necessary only to exp lain how it came to serve for the representation of the principal philosophical tenets of the Rishis. {45} Firstly, it represents the complete course of sound. It is pronounced by fo rcing the breath from the back of the throat with the mouth wide open, through the buccal cavity with the lips so shaped as to modify the sound from A to O (o r U), to the closed lips, when it becomes M. Symbolically, this announces the course of Nature as proceeding from free and formless creation through controll ed and formed preservation to the silence of destruction. The three sounds are harmonized into one; and thus the word represents the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; and the operations in the Universe of their triune energy. It is thus the formula of a Manvantara, or period of manifested existence, whi ch alternates with a Pralaya, during which creation is latent. Analysed Qabalistically, the word is found to possess similar properties. A is the negative, and also the unity which concentrates it into a positive form . A is the Holy Spirit who begets God in flesh upon the Virgin, according to t he formula familiar to students of "The Golden Bough". A is also the "babe in the Egg" thus produced. The quality of A is thus bisexual. It is the original being --- Zeus Arrhenothelus, Bacchus Diphues, or Baphomet. U or V is the manifested son himself. Its number is 6. It refers therefore , to the dual nature of the Logos as divine and human; the interlacing of the u pright and averse triangles in the hexagram. It is the first number of the Sun , whose last number> is 666, "the number of a man". The letter M exhibits the termination of this process. It is the Hanged Man of the Tarot; the formation of the individual from the absolute is closed by h is death. We see accordingly how AUM is, on either system, the expression of a dogma w hich implies catastrophe in nature. It is cognate with the formula of the Slai n God. The "resurrection" and "ascension" are not implied in it. They are lat er inventions without basis in necessity; they may be described indeed as Freud ian phantasms conjured up by the fear of facing reality. To {46} the Hindu, in deed, they are still less respectable. in his view, existence is essentially o bjectionable>; and his principle concern is to invoke Shiva> to destroy the ill usion whose thrall is the curse of the Manvantara. The cardinal revelation of the Great Aeon of Horus is that this formula AUM does not represent the facts of nature. The point of view is based upon misapp rehension of the character of existence. It soon became obvious to The Master Therion that AUM was an inadequate and misleading hieroglyph. It stated only p art of the truth, and it implied a fundamental falsehood. He consequently dete rmined to modify the word in such a manner as to fit it to represent the Arcana unveiled by the Aeon of which He had attained to be the Logos. The essential task was to emphasize the fact that nature is not catastrophic, but proceeds by means of undulations. It might be suggested that Manvantara an d Pralaya are in reality complementary curves; but the Hindu doctrine insists s trongly on denying continuity to the successive phases. It was nevertheless im portant to avoid disturbing the Trinitarian arrangement of the word, as would b e done by the addition of other letters. It was equally desirable to make it c lear that the letter M represents an operation which does not actually occur in nature except as the withdrawal of phenomena into the absolute; which process, even when so understood, is not a true destruction, but, on the contrary, the emancipation of anything from the modifications which it had mistaken for itsel f. It occurred to him that the true nature of Silence was to permit the uninte rrupted vibration of the undulatory energy, free from the false conceptions att ached to it by the Ahamkara or Ego-making facility, whose assumption that consc ious individuality constitutes existence let it to consider its own apparently catastrophic character as pertaining to the order of nature. {47} The undulatory formula of putrefaction is represented in the Qabalah by the letter N, which refers to Scorpio, whose triune nature combines the Eagle, Snak e and Scorpion. These hieroglyphs themselves indicate the spiritual formulae o f incarnation. He was also anxious to use the letter G, another triune formula expressive of the aspects of the moon, which further declares the nature of hu man existence in the following manner. The moon is in itself a dark orb; but a n appearance of light is communicated to it by the sun; and it is exactly in th is way that successive incarnations create the appearance, just as the individu al star, which every man is, remains itself, irrespective of whether earth perc eives it or not. Now it so happens that the root GN signifies both knowledge and generation c ombined in a single idea, in an absolute form independent of personality. The G is a silent letter, as in our word Gnosis; and the sound GN is nasal, suggest ing therefore the breath of life as opposed to that of speech. Impelled by the se considerations, the Master Therion proposed to replace the M of AUM by a com pound letter MGN, symbolizing thereby the subtle transformation of the apparent silence and death which terminates the manifested life of Vau by a continuous vibration of an impersonal energy of the nature of generation and knowledge, th e Virgin Moon and the Serpent furthermore operating to include in the idea a co mmemoration of the legend so grossly deformed in the Hebrew legend of the Garde n of Eden, and its even more malignantly debased falsification in that bitterly sectarian broadside, the Apocalypse. Sound work invariable vindicates itself by furnishing confirmatory corollari es not contemplated by the Qabalist. In the present instance, the Master Theri on was delighted to remark that his compound letter MGN, constructed on theoret ical principles with the idea of incorporating the new knowledge of the Aeon, h ad the value of 93 (M = 40, G = 3, N = 50). 93 is the number of the word of th e Law --- Thelema --- Will, and of Agape --- Love, which indicates the nature o f Will. It is furthermore the number of the Word which overcomes death, as mem bers of the degree of M M of the O.T.O. are well aware;> and it is also that of the complete formula of existence as expressed in the {48} True Word of the Ne ophyte,> where existence is taken to import that phase of the whole which is th e finite resolution of the Qabalistic Zero. Finally, the total numeration of the Word AUMGN is 100, which, as initiates of the Sanctuary of the Gnosis of the O.T.O.> are taught, expresses the unity u nder the form of complete manifestation by the symbolism of pure number, being Kether by Aiq Bkr>; also Malkuth multiplied by itself>, and thus established in the phenomenal universe. But, moreover, this number 100 mysteriously indicate s the Magical formula of the Universe as a reverberatory engine for the extensi on of Nothingness through the device of equilibrated opposites.> It is moreover the value of the letter Qoph, which means "the back of the he ad", the cerebellum, where the creative or reproductive force is primarily situ ated. Qoph in the Tarot is "the Moon", a card suggesting illusion, yet shewing counterpartal forces operating in darkness, and the Winged Beetle or Midnight Sun in his Bark travelling through the Nadir. Its Yetziratic attribution is Pi sces, symbolic of the positive and negative currents of fluidic energy, the mal e Ichthus or "Pesce" and the female Vesica, seeking respectively the anode and kathode. The number 100 is therefore a synthetic glyph of the subtle energies employed in creating the Illusion, or Reflection of Reality, which we call mani fested existence. The above are the principal considerations in the matter of AUMGN. They sho uld suffice to illustrate to the student the methods employed in the constructi on of the hieroglyphics of Magick, and to arm him with a mantra of terrific pow er by virtue whereof he may apprehend the Universe, and control in himself i ts Karmic consequences. {49} VI THE MAGICAL MEMORY.> I There is no more important task than the exploration of one's previous incarna tions>. As Zoroaster says: "Explore the river of the soul; whence and in what order thou has come." One cannot do one's True Will intelligently unless one kn ows what it is. Liber Thisarb, Equinox I, VII, give instructions for determini ng this by calculating the resultant of the forces which have made one what one is. But this practice is confined to one's present incarnation. If one were to wake up in a boat on a strange river, it would be rash to con clude that the direction of the one reach visible was that of the whole stream. It would help very much if one remembered the bearings of previous reaches tr aversed before one's nap. It would further relieve one's anxiety when one beca me aware that a uniform and constant force was the single determinant of all th e findings of the stream: gravitation. We could rejoice "that even the wearies t river winds somewhere safe to sea." Liber Thisarb describes a method of obtaining the Magical Memory by learn