The Path of Attainment

"Abrahadabra; the reward of Ra Hoor Khut."

- Liber AL vel Legis III:1

What does Attainment even entail?

Man is typically bludgeoned about by circumstance, unaware of a true locus of action within or without himself, unaware of his true identity.

This isn't inherently 'wrong' and certainly not 'evil:' it is the apparently typical human condition. But certain people are impelled to the Path of Attainment by their seemingly hopeless endeavor to find some lasting solace in the realm of multiplicity, or countless other reasons...

"I am the Hawk-Headed Lord of Silence & of Strength; my nemyss shrouds the night-blue sky."

- Liber AL vel Legis III:70

Attainment is two-fold:

1. Solve: the realizing of one's true Identity, the revealing of one's Self to oneself (Silence)
2. Coagula: the manifestation of that Identity in Motion, the performing of one's Will (Strength)

What man thinks is his 'self' and what he thinks is his 'will' are both ridiculously puny conceptions, based in nonsense. Attainment is therefore the identification of the self with the True Self and the aligning of the will with the True Will.

The mastery of Solve is the mastery of Mysticism, identification of Self with All. This is coterminous with understanding the Universe to be Continuous (0).

"I am the Lord of the Double Wand of Power; the wand of the Force of Coph Nia--but my left hand is empty, for I have crushed an Universe; & nought remains."
- Liber AL vel Legis III:72

The mastery of Coagula is the mastery of Magick, causing Change in conformity with Will. That is, Going one's natural & spontaneous Way. This is best done with a healthy, strong, and well-ordered body & mind.

"The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra. "
- Liber AL vel Legis III:75

θέλημά - the Will of God

θέλημά is the word used about 40 times in the Bible to designate most often the will of God.


θέλημα - Will

• Matthew 6:10, "Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth."
• Matthew 26:42, "Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cup can't pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.""
• Luke 22:42, "saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.""
• John 7:17, "If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself."
• John 9:31, "We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God, and does his will, he listens to him."
• Romans 2:18, "and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,"
• 2 Timothy 2:26, "and they may recover themselves out of the devil's snare, having been taken captive by him to his will."
• Hebrews 10:9, "then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first, that he may establish the second,"
• Hebrews 13:21, "make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
• 1 John 5:14, "This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us"

θέλημα του θεου ("Thelema ton Theon") - the Will of God

• Mark 3:35, "For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." [see Matthew 12:50 below]
• Acts 22:14, "He said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth."
• Romans 12:2, "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God."
• Galatians 1:4, "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father--"
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3, "For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,"
• 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you."
• Hebrews 10:7, "Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.'"
• Hebrew 10:36, "For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise."
• 1 Peter 2:15, "For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:"
• 1 Peter 3:17, "For it is better, if it is God's will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil."
• 1 Peter 4:19, "Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator."
• 1 John 2:17, "The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God's will remains forever"
• Revelation 4:11, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!""

θέλημα του πατρός ("Thelema ton Patros") - the Will of the Father

The Will conceived of as coming from the Father is a distinctly Judeo-Christian tradition. The father implies discipline on His part and obedience on Our part, the children of God. Our normal considerations of 'want,' our self-will, is nothing until merged with the Divine Will of Thelema. "The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!" (Liber AL I:45)

• Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
• Matthew 12:50, "For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother."
• Matthew 18:14, "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
• Matthew 21:31, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you."
• John 6:40, "This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
• Galatians 1:4, "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father--"

θέλημα του κυρίου ("Thelema ton Kurion") - The Will of the Lord

The Will's source conceived of as being a Lord is common in nearly every single tradition. The Lord is the common title of one who commands and controls, the true Divine Will being the true Lord, the true Charioteer.

• Luke 12:47, "That servant, who knew his lord's will, and didn't prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes,"
• Acts 21:14, "When he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The Lord's will be done.""
• Ephesians 5:17, "Therefore don't be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
• Ephesians 6:6, "not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;"

θέλημα του πέμψαντός ("Thelema ton Pemphantos") - the Will of Him who Sent Me

This is the Will understood as being the power of that which gives rise to all things and to which all return, the Source. The true Divine Will comes from the Source and we act as Divine emissaries, carrying the 'Good News.'

• John 4:34, "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work."
• John 5:30, "I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don't seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me."
• John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me."
• John 6:39, "This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day."

Every number is a mask of the Infinite

"I also am a Star in Space, unique and self-existent, an individual essence incorruptible; I also am one Soul; I am identical with All and None. I am in All and all in me; I am, apart from all and lord of all, and one with all. I am Omniciscient, for naught exists for me unless I know it. I am Omnipotent, for naught occurs save by Necessity, my soul's expression through my Will to be, to do, to suffer the symbols of itself. I am Omnipresent, for naught exists where I am not, who fashioned Space as a condition of my consciousness of myself, who am the centre of all, and my circumference the frame of mine own fancy." - Liber V vel Reguli

Liber AL I:2. The unveiling of the company of heaven.

The Book of the Law is an apocalypse in the sense that it is an unveiling of our true nature. We are stars in the company of heaven, or in other words, "The Book of the Law shows forth all things as God." (Djeridensis Working)

"I am the All, for all that exists for me is a necessary expression in thought of some tendency of my nature, and all my thoughts are only the letters of my Name. " - Liber V vel Reguli

Liber AL I:3. Every man and every woman is a star.

Every man and every woman represents a certain combination of elements - like gases, heat, gravity, and motion in a physical star - in the Body of Infinite Space.

We are viceregents of the Infinite, nonetheless, and we make our joys in earth and heaven.

"I am the One, for all that I am is not the absolute All, and all my all is mine and not another's; mine, who conceive of others like myself in essence and truth, yet unlike in expression and illusion. " - Liber V vel Reguli

Liber AL I:4. Every number is infinite; there is no difference.

Every star may be numbered, even as Master Therion was 666, yet each number is merely a mask of the Infinite... that omnipresent body of Limitless Light.

There is no ultimate difference between these numbers insofar as they all fallibly shadow forth the Infinite in various combinations, and there is no ultimate difference between each human being.

In the sense that we are men and women, centers of force and fire, we are certainly a unique but finite expression of Infinite Potential. "One thing is in the end like all the rest; the seeming not alike comes as a dream from choosing images after one’s own heart to worship them; thus each, though true as one of the All, is false if thought of as one apart from the rest. " (Djeridensis Working)

The formula for understanding there to be no difference is to "Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt." (AL I:22) The sign of success in this endeavor "shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body." (AL I:26)

"I am the None, for all that I am is the imperfect image of the perfect; each partial phantom must perish in the flasp of its counterpart, each form fulfil itself by finding its equated opposite, and satisfying its need to be the Absolute by the attainment of annihilation. " - Liber V vel Reguli

Ethics is complete bosh

"Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them." -David Hume, A Treatise on Human Nature

Kant's categorical imperative is a classic example of setting up Reason in the place of God as our Divine Dictator. To say there is one norm, whether we call it Religion or Reasonable, is to deny the inherent multiplicity of nature. It is to establish another code of conduct on the false edifice of a supposed absolute. Let's not be fooled if our absolute is cloaked in the jargon of reason, being called 'categorical' and our 'Thou shalts' and 'Thou shalt nots' are dressed up as an 'imperative.' The one categorical imperative is that there must be no categorical imperatives. No values, no morality, no set of ethics is absolute.

Yes, yes, ethical proscriptions are relative... I am sure everyone has heard this at some point and understood its implications to varying degrees. The problem that arises from denying the validity of the old forms of altruistic morality and ethical systems is the arising of various egocentric moralities. They are ethics nonetheless and therefore restrictions.

The problem with ethical egoism, that we ought to be motivated by self-interest, is that there are no objective 'oughts.' An 'ought' is only meaningful in relation to a relative standard of value. This also presupposes that the person knows their own self-interest. It most certainly smacks of the old forms of ethics with its 'ought'... implying some absolute standard of conduct.

The problem with rational egoism, that the rational thing to do is always in one's own self-interest, is manifold. It depends on an assumption that a certain line of conduct is 'more rational' than another, another assumption of an absolute standard. "‘Tis not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger. ‘Tis not contrary to reason for me to chuse my total ruin, to prevent the least uneasiness of an Indian or person wholly unknown to me. ‘Tis as little contrary to reason to prefer even my own acknowledg’d lesser good to my greater, and to have a more ardent affection for the former than the latter." (David Hume) It depends on an assumption that the person in question not only knows what their own self-interests truly are, but also that it is possible to know one's own interests completely in the first place. I suggest that our motives will forever lie in the indefinite reaches of the unconscious, with our awareness only being able to grasp the decision at the end of the process.

The problem with psychological egoism, the idea that we always act in accordance with our own self-interest, is not that we apparently perform acts of genuine altruism and therefore the proposition is untrue. Instead, the notion of a coherent ego, or self, to which we supposedly owe our locus of motives should instead be attacked. In the end, the most we can say is that each 'person' is a relatively coordinated, self-sustaining gestalt of impulses & impressions.

The actual motives behind all actions - those unconscious impulses that breach the threshold only after a long process of internal deliberation - do not distinguish between self and other, and most certainly have no rational 'purpose' in mind. The fact that they may intertwine & overlap to form the entities we know as people with their bodies and psyches simply show complex arrangements and interactions, not necessarily entirely selfish entities moving about. Further, each 'person' is an open system - they receive and give, consciously and unconsciously. For every breath we take in, we must breathe out, and for everything we eat and drink, we must excrete something. We always construe altruism in terms of human to human but we never think of how altruistic a person is to their cells, to the fungus which feed on their trash, to the plants fed by their fertilizer, etc. We never consider how even wiping out a human civilization might be considered altruistic to the surrounding flora and fauna.

Thought and Naught

"Thoughts are false." - Book of Lies, ch.5
All fluctuations of the mind have the potential towards being misleading. They often lead to identifications, e.g. "I am A" or "I am not-A." All thoughts have an implicit dualism and all dualism is false. The method for overcoming this handicap is the uniting of each thought to its opposite. This is the basis for koans, paradox, the apophatic Hindu practice of 'neti, neti' and the kataphatic invocations apparent in the writings of St Dionysus the Aeropagite, "Thunder: Perfect Mind" from the old Gnostic gospels, and practically every mystic of the world.

"Identity is perfect; therefore the = of Identity is but a lie. For there is no subject, and there is no predicate; nor is there the contradictory of either of these things." - Book of Lies, ch.11

All words break down, though the Chinese "conception of the tao is still unequaled for clarity on this point." (see Tao Teh Ching, ch.1 & 2)

These are the most nefarious dualisms, especially in learning about Mysticism with all of its talk of 'Unity:'

• I & not-I / self & not-self
• permanent & impermanent
• finite & infinite / limited & unlimited / bounded & unbounded
• imperfect & perfect
• true & false
• conditioned & unconditioned / non-absolute & absolute
• multiplicity & unity
• dualism & non-dualism

Logic depends on the fundamental proposition that A equals A, and A does not equal not-A. While this may be the basis of our dissection of the world, its utility does not mean it is necessarily founded in any sort of objective truth about the world.

"Language was made for men to eat and drink, make love, do barter, die. The wealth of a language consists in its Abstracts; the poorest tongues have wealth of Concretes. / Therefore have Adepts praised silence; at least it does not mislead as speech does." - Book of Lies, ch.24

We may, for convenience, call this view the 'conditioned' view as opposed to the 'unconditioned' view but this sets up an unhealthy dualism. In the 'end' (which is the beginning) both 'conditioned' and 'unconditioned' are 'views,' two sides of one coin. The words are meaningless without each other. This is the basis of viewing the world as "None... and Two" while they are simultaneously One in that Ultimate Naught.

This method of uniting each thought to its opposite appears in the culimination of the Master Therion's work with the Enochian Aethyrs where Horus the Crowned & Conquering Child proclaims,

"I am light, and I am night, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am speech, and I am silence, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am life, and I am death, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am war, and I am peace, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am weakness, and I am strength, and I am that which is beyond them.
Yet by none of these can man reach up to me. Yet by each of them must man reach up to me." - "The Vision & the Voice," 1st Aethyr

The Ineffable Experience: its attainment and qualities

There is a class of human experiences - certain emotions/feelings and correlated perceptions/paradigms - which do not have suitable metaphors in modern, scientific terminology. These are the experiences which are so powerful so as to dissolve the normal parameters of functioning including the most precious notions of time, space, causality, multiplicity of objects, distinction between self and other, or any one thing from any other thing. This experience is genuine 'Mysticism.'

It is a known fact that increased sensory activity lowers self-representational activity. IAO131 discussed this on his blog. This is known as "getting lost in the moment," "losing yourself," "being in the zone," "flow," etc. These are all more mild forms of this class of human experience mentioned above. It is plausible that this "losing yourself" is simply the same phenomenon except at a milder degree.

Often the degree of intensity of sensory activity/emotion necessary for having this 'Mystic Experience' is achieved through gradual means such as religious asceticism of all sorts including yoga, prayer, meditation, etc. It can also occur in short periods as with the use of drugs like the Hindu 'soma,' Native American 'peyote,' and LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, etc. in more modern times. It may also occur spontaneously as evidenced in the literature of Zen Buddhism. Yet most of these people have gone through previous rigorous training, like the previously mentioned ascetics, and only the actual illumination is sudden.

This illumination is often likened to a lightning flash for its power, intensity, destructiveness (to old notions & ideals), and its brightness. The words 'illumination' and 'enlightenment' show that the metaphor of light is naturally intertwined with this new perspective.

And the subjective qualities of this experience are:

1. Ineffability - The experience is beyond words in description, they do not do it justice.
2. Duality dismantling - This is connected with the ineffability of the situation because words work by dualities. The understanding of duality being in truth unity, that 2 is 1, that "Thou art that" (Tat tvam asi) leads inevitably to the realization of the fatuity of language in expressing this Condition.
3. Destruction - The experience is seen as subjectively destructive in the sense that all of our foundations for understanding the world - time, space, causality, separateness, and multiplicity - are seen to be false. All attachments to things external (things and people and places) and internal (ideals and memories), even your notion of 'self', are all stripped away. This is 'ego death.' This is why non-attachment is also counseled by many mystics, for it becomes less of a shock if attachments are discarded voluntarily. This is also the basis for all 'self-denial' for the same reasons.
4. Invigoration - There is always felt an infusing of energy as if from outside of oneself. A power infuses one's awareness that seems infinite and/or omnipotent. Psychologically, unconscious potencies have breached the threshold of consciouss awareness. Also, the apparent destructiveness gives away to a realization that this destruction was necessary for this new-found freedom. The destruction has cleared the obstructions and delusions which obscured our natural boundless potential.
5. Passivity - The highest attainment is always gotten by giving away absolutely everything. Only thereby do you gain everything. In this Mystic Experience, since one is felt subject to such an invigorating energy one feels oneself to be the passive receptacle of the forces. "I am not I; I am but an hollow tube to bring down / Fire from Heaven. / Mighty and marvelous is this Weakness, this / Heaven which draweth me into Her Womb, this / Dome which hideth, which absorbeth, Me. / This is The Night wherein I am lost, the Love / through which I am no longer I." - Book of Lies, ch.15

The Essentials of Yoga (starring Patanjali)

Patanjali was certainly a sage of the highest order, penetrating to the highest mysteries yet retaining a solid and concise intellect. It has been said, "Establish at thy Kaaba a clerk-house: all must be done well and with business way" (Liber AL III:41). Only through a sharply cut diamond (the mind of the aspirant) may the Word reverberate in its original purity. The very form of the text is evidence of the orderliness of his psyche.

We have the entire doctrine summarized in the first four lines:

1-1: Now, instruction in Union [Yoga].
1-2: Union is restraining of the mind-stuff from taking various forms.
1-3: Then the Seer dwells in His own nature [unmodified state].
1-4: Otherwise the Seer is identified with the modifications.

The whole method is contained in the second line, with the first line announcing its arrival and the third & fourth lines being a short explanation of this method. We see now that Yoga, or 'Union,' is accomplished when we restrain the mind from taking various forms, from identifying with various mental 'modifications.' These thoughts, or modifications, are often pictured as ripples in a body of water; Yoga consists in the body of water becoming calm without any ripples; that is, the mind-stuff does not take forms.

Patanjali goes on to list these modifications, or vritti, some painful and some not painful. He then instructs us:

1-12: These modifications [vrittis] are controlled by practice and non-attachment.

Our essential task is then (1) practice and (2) non-attachment. But what are these things? Delightfully, Patanjali concisely explains:

1-13: Continuous struggle to keep the modifications perfectly restrained is practice.
1-15: The subjugation of the thirst for objects seen or unseen is non-attachment.

Therefore we must restrain our mind-stuff from taking forms with persistence and we must subjugate our desires for all things. We must have persistence and remember:

1-21: Success is speedy for the extremely energetic.

Even as it is said, "But exceed! exceed! Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine -- and doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! -- death is the crown of all." (Liber AL I:71-72)

What are the various impediments to our practice and non-attachment? Patanjali enumerates these:

1-30: Disease, mental laziness (inertia), doubt, lack of enthusiasm, lethargy, clinging to sense enjoyments (sensuality), false perception (mind-wandering), non-attaining of concentration, and falling away from concentration when attained (instability) - these are the obstructing distractions.
1-31: Grief (pain), mental distress (despair), tremor of the body (nervousness), and irregular breathing accompany non-retention of concentration.
2-3: The pain-bearing obstructions are ignorance, egoity, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life.

("Of them, ignorance is the cause, and the other four are the effects." (Vivekananda))

Oh pain! despair! misery! It is said, "Hear me, ye people of sighing! / The sorrows of pain and regret / Are left to the dead and the dying, / The folk that not know me as yet." (Liber AL II:17) What are we to do?

1-32: For the prevention of these obstacles, one should practice on one object.
3-5: Through the attainment of that comes the light of knowledge.

That is, "making the mind take the form of one object for some time will destroy these obstacles" (Vivekananda). This is the practice of 'samyama,' the first stage of which is dharana, then dhyana, then samadhi. We are also counseled to the practice of pranayama, the controlling of prana (life-force) through control of breath. Many meditations and devotions are then given, but ultimately:

1-40: The yogi's mind, thus meditating, becomes unobstructed from the atomic to the infinite.

"My adepts stand upright; their head above the heavens, their feet below the hells." - Liber Tzaddi, line 40

"I am clothed with the body of flesh; I am one with the Eternal and Omnipotent God... Thou art the Lord of Glory, and the unclean dog." -Liber LXV, I:53; II:3

"For Perfection abideth not in the Pinnacles, or in the Foundations, but in the ordered Harmony of one with all." - Liber Causae, line 32

Images, representation, and Self

All we know of the world or the self are the things represented to the consciousness. In other words, only representations or images can be known and therefore consciousness consists of these representations. This perceptual field of representations, or 'consciousness,' is our world.

The faculties of representing cannot be known in themselves, only through their own representations. We say that our consciousness arises from the nervous system, that the nervous system is the system of 'faculties of representing.' But we only know anything about the nervous system through its own representations.

"[All forms are] determined by the structure of the nervous system & thus really a phantasm of it... One may begin again from that standpoint to enquire why the nervous system itself should be conceived as it is, from anatomical indications which themselves depend on the same sensory perceptions which in turn determine the form of the original vision. i.e. Having got "the Universe as I see it is an Image of my nervous system" ask; "Why do I see the nervous system as I do? What is the ultimate meaning of this conception? What does it imply, my imprisonment in this "circular argument'"?'" -Aleister Crowley, "Etyhl Oxide"

Our awareness of 'the world' and ourselves is the interaction and overlapping of several systems of representation; our 'world' is the apparently unified combination of representational maps.

What most people think of the 'self' is a partitioned 'entity' derived from this phenomenal field. An identification with any partial component of this perceptual field results in a world of multiplicity founded on the essential dichotomy of 'self' and 'other' or 'self' and 'environment.' This is 'illusion' - the Hindu 'maya' born of 'avidya,' the Judeo-Christian-Islamic 'sin,' etc. The 'self' and 'other' are both partial facets of the perceptual field, their distinction being a perspective or interpretation of the information of the perceptual field. That is, even the appearance of multiplicity is a device of the Unified Field.

Yoga, the art & science of Union, consists of relinquishing attachment to and identification with any partial image. 'The world,' as we know it, being full of 'things,' 'creatures,' 'entities,' 'substances,' - that is, full of multiplicity - must be shattered.

THAT which gives rise to all images (and consequently consumes them), THAT which cannot be fully defined by any one representation but is known in part through each of its infinite expressions, is the Soul, the True Self, God, Brahman, Tao. One who perceives this truth is the Sage, the Perfect Man, the Buddha, the yogi, the Thelemite. Such a one can proclaim, "I am the Magician and the Exorcist," being both the creator of forms & the destroyer of forms.

The Method of Mysticism

"This is the secret of the Holy Graal, that is the sacred vessel of our Lady the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, the bride of Chaos, that rideth upon our Lord the Beast." -Liber Cheth, line 1

The method of Mysticism is the systematic dismantling of all attachments and desires, to rest in the seer's natural, unconditioned state.

The most nefarious desires are:

* The desire to have influence in the world (material possessions and power)
* The desire to survive, propagate life
* The desire to attain, have 'enlightenment'

The most nefarious attachments are:

* The attachment to material objects (wealth)
* The attachment to other people, including friends and family (love)
* The attachment to intellectual maps of any sort - Theological, Moral, Ontological, Epistemological, etc. - though some are more useful than others (e.g. heliocentric > geocentric)
* The attachment to life (health), forms as they are (instead of in their naturally ever-changing, non-substantial state)
* The attachment to God
* The attachment to notions of 'self'

"Now therefore that thou mayest achieve this ritual of the Holy Graal, do thou divest thyself of all thy goods. Thou hast wealth; give it unto them that have need thereof, yet no desire toward it. Thou hast health; slay thyself in the fervour of thine abandonment unto Our Lady. Let thy flesh hang loose upon thy bones, and thine eyes glare with thy quenchless lust unto the Infinite, with thy passion for the Unknown, for Her that is beyond Knowledge the accursed one. Thou hast love; tear thy mother from thine heart, and spit in the face of thy father. Let thy foot trample the belly of thy wife, and let the babe at her breast be the prey of dogs and vultures." - Liber Cheth, lines 7-10

The primary method is meditation. Meditation is the focusing of the mind to 2: the seer and the seen... and nothing else. No other thought may intrude.

And behold! if by stealth thou keep unto thyself one thought of thine, then shalt thou be cast out into the abyss for ever; and thou shalt be the lonely one, the eater of dung, the afflicted in the Day of Be-with-Us." -Liber Cheth, line 12

This is the beginning stage which leads eventually, by various degrees, to the focusing of the mind to 1: seer and seen are one. Desires and attachments disintegrate if they have not already voluntary been stripped away through austerities.

"For if thou dost not this with thy will, then shall We do this despite thy will. So that thou attain to the Sacrament of the Graal in the Chapel of Abominations." - Liber Cheth, line 11

It is said that, "This Path is beyond Life and Death; it is also beyond Love; but that ye know not, for ye know not Love." (Liber Cheth, line 20) This is because "Life and Death" are One in the Serpent's Body which is a Ring; that is, from the annihilation of the self into the Impersonal Unity comes a recognition of the unity of life and death (and other dualities). This Path is also beyond Love because Love requires a 'lover' and a 'loved.' That is, it requires Two things just like Knowledge requires a 'knower' and a thing 'known.' But in this attainment We have annihilated all mutiplicity; therefore it is said, "It is not known if it be known." (Liber Cheth, line 21)

The result of this process is the annihilation of the old 'self' - the ego, everything we thought was our 'self' - and the 'arising' of the True Self, the Crowned & Conquering Child, beyond all dualities. Only when all elements of multiplicity, temporality, and distinction have been annihilated, the One - which is None for it is continuous (Liber AL I:27) - may be perceived. Therefore it is said, "Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt." (Liber AL I:22) Only when this is achieved does one become "chief of all," (Liber AL I:23) recognizing one's True Self as coterminous with the All. Then are all things seen as a joyful sacrament and we may proclaim "Existence is pure joy." (Liber AL II:9)

"Yea! verily this is the Truth, this is the Truth, this is the Truth. Unto thee shall be granted joy and health and wealth and wisdom when thou art no longer thou. Then shall every gain be a new sacrament, and it shall not defile thee; thou shalt revel with the wanton in the market-place, and the virgins shall fling roses upon thee, and the merchants bend their knees and bring thee gold and spices. Also young boys shall pour wonderful wines for thee, and the singers and the dancers shall sing and dance for thee." - Liber Cheth, lines 13-14

In this Path, having come to the End, one recognizes it is one with the Beginning.

" Wherefore I charge you that ye come unto me in the Beginning; for if ye take but one step in this Path, ye must arrive inevitably at the end thereof... Therefore unto Hadit and unto Nuit be the glory in the End and the Beginning; yea, in the End and the Beginning." - Liber Cheth, lines 19, 22

Dispersing the Clouds

The Sun of Truth and Unity shines eternally beyond spatial and temporal dimensions.

Certain types of thought are correlated with 'forgetting' this inherent perspective - ignorance, 'avidya' (Hinduism & Buddhism), or 'sin' (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).

These clouds of darkness should be dispersed:

* God as intelligence that intervenes with humans, judges them, is entirely 'Good' - the Judeo-Christian conception, not pantheistic

* morality as an absolutely condoned course of conduct, sin

* purpose, teleology

* reason (as royal road to Truth)

* free will/agency

* self, ego

* * * * *

God is already largely dying as an idea. Nietzsche proclaimed 'God is dead' about a century and a half ago, the French Revolution enshrined Reason as their Goddess, and the new-Atheist movement has taken hold in America & Europe. It has already been torn down, acknowledged to be a false idol... though we have erected Science in its turn.

Morality was destroyed, also, by Nietzsche again and again, though his flaming sword spoke concisely when it was written, "There are no moral phenomena at all, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena." This is how one steps beyond Good & Evil - rather, they then become the playthings of the Self. When we destroy the notion of absolute values, sin becomes nonsensical.

Setting goals may be economical and efficient but it is a false step to attribute any ultimate purpose to ourselves, let alone to various other animals' actions, the course of evolution, and all 'inanimate' objects like stones, mountains, hills, and rivers. If anything, they are all actualizing their inherent potential, which is simply another way of saying they are doing what they must do. A "law" isn't 'adhered to' by anything, it is simply a description of predictable movements of things. This is why teleology is doomed. Goals inherently limit us, and engender attachment to the intended results; one who can set (and re-set) goals but not be limited by or attached to them walks the Razor Edge.

Reason was erected as the new sacred edifice, the Royal Road to Truth. The problem is that Reason works with Language, and Language has implicit ideas lodged subtly in it that are not necessarily true in themselves. A subject distinct from its predicate; an object separate from a subject; a subject performing a deed distinct from a deed being done, etc. The commonality between the most nefarious presupposed truths in language is "distinction..." or duality. "Things" - or "creatures" in the Judeo-Christian sense - could not exist unless there was some faculty of distinction (the eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge & the naming of the animals in Genesis). Again, it may be useful to manipulate these arbitrary distinctions - as Science has shown clearly - but that does not mean there is any inherent truth in it. We create various useful but ultimately arbitrary distinctions - substances and forces, etc. - and manipulate their relations for utility's sake. Reason is only put in its rightful place when the 'self' is annihilated and the new Perspective is seen to be beyond the limitations of dualistic language (treated later). Reason leads to the false conclusions of teleology, free will, and self and therefore is a harsh master but a useful servant.

Our free will may be an extremely strong intuition from our subjective perspectives yet these are just strong affects arising and interacting. There is no 'free agency' in anything, let alone in your choices or behavior. In other terms, all conscious things are conditioned by unconscious factors. The real power of the psyche lies in its unconscious potency, and therefore all religions have counseled giving up the 'self-will' to the 'Lord,' which is simply that True Self beyond the ego-notions of self, including all things. This is why it was written that one who gives up everything, gains everything. People don't want to give up free will out of a strange pride in agency, but it is completely possible to continue functioning without entertaining this myth. It is a difficult balance between knowing oneself to be the receptacle of forces - no, the forces themselves - and yet using language which insists on implicitly asserting a subject distinct from its doing.

And this sense of agency is also predicated on the fact that we all think we are an 'ego,' an 'I.' We include the body and mind (with its faculties of reason, memory, imagination, feeling, etc.) in this concatenation, but there is no point in claiming ownership beyond utility & economy... That is, there can be a body and thoughts but why claim "they are mine" because there is an awareness of them? Even if we reduce the sense of "I" to this awareness beyond thoughts and body, this consciousness is destroyed in the Mystic Trance of Unity where no difference made between one thing and any other thing. Only in this experience can we know that the old sense of self, the ego containing what we are consciously aware of and remember ourselves to be, is understood to be a small fraction of the new reality of the self, unhindered by duality and any of the above ignorances.

And this Steady Movement - the wheel of Dhamma... the Tao... this Sun of Truth and Unity - continues onward, unhindered by these clouds of ignorance. It is the Path of Power, it is Thelema.

Thelema is Zen

Thelema is a praxis, a way of life.

Thelema is a state of mind. It is Zen, the natural uprushing and outflowing of Will unhindered by Ego or Reason.

The word of the Law is Thelema. This is the Law of Dharma, the Law of the Tao, the Law of the Way-things-are. In this Aeon, we understand It as 'Thelema.'

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay. For there are no 'others' when absorbed in that state of Thelema, of pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from lust of result.

There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. But who is this "thou?"... Only when the self is entirely enwrapped in the arms of its beloved does the naked child of Thelema awake, arise and come forth.

An outflowing does not necessarily imply purpose - is there not joy ineffable in this aimless winging?

Thelema contains all purposefulness and all unpurposefulness. In each setting of a goal is the possibility of attachment; in each attachment is the seed of suffering, but 'pure will' is executed without 'lust of result.' One should remember that there is joy in the setting of the goal, in the striving towards the goal, in the achievement of the goal, and in the transcending of the goal.

Thelema: bind in your soul the watchwords of Will, Strength, Naturalness, Force, Fire, and Growth. Or rather: cast away the clouds of dispersion, duality, over-thinking, and attachment to allow the natural Joy of Love under Will emanate forth from one's being in all things, even one's death.

Therefore was it given to us to "Die daily," but I say "Die momentarily." That is, every moment is death of the old, it is also the birth of the new - the crest and trough of the undulating Serpent of Life, "for every step is a death and a birth." Hold steadfast, then, on the ever-changing, flowing river of Thelema.


"We attained to be starry grains of gold dust in the sands of a slow river. Yea, and that river was the river of space and time also. We parted thence; ever to the smaller, ever to the greater, until now, O sweet God, we are ourselves, the same... The beat of my heart is the pendulum of love. The songs of me are the soft sighs: The thoughts of me are very rapture: And my deeds are the myriads of Thy children, the stars and the atoms. Let there be nothing! Let all things drop into this ocean of love!"
-Liber Liberi vel Lapidus Lazuli V:17-19, 23-28

Religious Eclecticism in Thelema

Islam

* Liber AL I:49, "Abrogate are all rituals, all ordeals, all words and signs. Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods; and let Asar be with Isa, who also are one. But they are not of me. Let Asar be the adorant, Isa the sufferer; Hoor in his secret name and splendour is the Lord initiating." [Isa is the Muslim name for Jesus in the Quran]
* Liber AL III:10, "Get the stele of revealing itself; set it in thy secret temple -- and that temple is already aright disposed -- & it shall be your Kiblah for ever."
* Liber AL III:41, "Establish at thy Kaaba a clerk-house: all must be done well and with business way."

* Liber Ararita, "Qol: Hua Allahu achad; Allahu assamad: lam yalid walam yulad; walam yakun lahu kufwan achad.'" [this is in Arabic, and is from 'the Chapter of Unity' in the Quran, chapter 112]. Crowley mentions this in Book 4, Eight Lectures on Yoga, Confessions ch.66, and the Cry of the 9th Aethyr in Vision and the Voice. He translates this passage as, "Say: / He is God alone! / God the Eternal! / He begets not and is not begotten! / Nor is there like unto Him any one!"]

Christianity

* LIber AL I:15, "Now ye shall know that the chosen priest & apostle of infinite space is the prince-priest the Beast; and in his woman called the Scarlet Woman is all power given. They shall gather my children into their fold: they shall bring the glory of the stars into the hearts of men." [the Beast and the Scarlet Woman are images from Book of Revelations]
* Liber AL II:57, "He that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is filthy shall be filthy still." [a direct quote from Book of Revelations]
* Liber AL III:14, "Ye shall see that hour, o blessed Beast, and thou the Scarlet Concubine of his desire!"

* Liber Cheth line 1 "This is the secret of the Holy Graal, that is the sacred vessel of our Lady the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, the bride of Chaos, that rideth upon our Lord the Beast."
* Liber Cheth line 11, "For if thou dost not this with thy will, then shall We do this despite thy will. So that thou attain to the Sacrament of the Graal in the Chapel of Abominations."

Hinduism

* Liber AL I:18, "Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!" [a reference to the Ajna chakra between the eyebrows where the Kundalini, the sacred serpent power, arises and settles in enlightenment]
* Liber AL I:56, "Expect him not from the East, nor from the West; for from no expected house cometh that child. Aum! All words are sacred and all prophets true; save only that they understand a little; solve the first half of the equation, leave the second unattacked. But thou hast all in the clear light, and some, though not all, in the dark."
* Liber AL II:26, "I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one."
* Liber AL III:37, "...Appear on the throne of Ra! / Open the ways of the Khu! / Lighten the ways of the Ka! / The ways of the Khabs run through / To stir me or still me! / Aum! let it fill me!"
* Liber AL III:75. The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra. / The Book of the Law is Written / and Concealed. / Aum. Ha."

* Liber B vel Magi line 17, "Following which method, it shall be easy for Him to combine that rinity from its elements, and further to combine Sat-Chit-Ananda, and Light, Love, Life, three by three into nine that are one, in which meditation success shall be That which was first adumbrated to Him in the grade of Practicus (which reflecteth Mercury into the lowest world) in Liber XXVII, "Here is Nothing under its three forms." [Sat Chit Ananda are Being Consciousness and Bliss... three non-dual qualities of Brahman, the Godhead. Crowley often attributed them to Netzach Hod and Yesod on the Tree of Life]

* Liber A'ash line 17, "Also concerning vows. Be obstinate, and be not obstinate. Understand that the yielding of the Yoni is one with the lengthening of the Lingam. Thou art both these; and thy vow is but the rustling of the wind on Mount Meru." [the Lingam-Yoni is a Hindu symbol cognate with the Gnostic Father-Mother and many other symbols of the 2-in-1. Mount Meru is the central mountain, the Tree of Life, the World Tree, etc.]
* Liber A'ash lines 34-35, "Now therefore thou knowest when I am within Thee, when my hood is spread over thy skull, when my might is more than the penned Indus, and resistless as the Giant Glacier. / For as thou art before a lewd woman in Thy nakedness in the bazaar, sucked up by her slyness and smiles, so art thou wholly and no more in part before the symbol of the beloved, though it be but a Pisacha or a Yantra or a Deva." [the hood spreading over the skull is a reference to the Kundalini and perhaps Buddha's attainment. The Indus is the mighty river that runs through India. Pisacha, Yantras, and Devas are all sacred objects of worship/meditation]
* Liber A'ash line 40, "So therefore the beginning is delight, and the end is delight, and delight is in the midst, even as the Indus is water in the cavern of the glacier, and water among the greater hills and the lesser hills and through the ramparts of the hills and through the plains, and water at the mouth thereof when it leaps forth into the mighty sea, yea, into the mighty sea." [the Indus is taken as a symbol of the infinite]


Egyptian

* Liber AL I:7, "Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of Hoor-paar-kraat." [Hoor-paar-kraat is a form of Harpocrates or Harparkrat]
* Liber AL I:14. Above, the gemmed azure is / The naked splendour of Nuit; / She bends in ecstasy to kiss / The secret ardours of Hadit. / The winged globe, the starry blue, / Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!" [this is a poetic transcription of the hieroglyphs found on the Stele of Revealing, an Egyptian artifact. They depict the characters on the Stele]
* Liber AL I:49, "Abrogate are all rituals, all ordeals, all words and signs. Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods; and let Asar be with Isa, who also are one. But they are not of me. Let Asar be the adorant, Isa the sufferer; Hoor in his secret name and splendour is the Lord initiating." [Ra-Hoor-Khuit is the Egyptian Rahorakthy, found on the Stele of Revealing. Asar is a name of Osiris; Hoor is a name of Horus, especially in his form as a child]
etc. etc. etc.

* Liber A'ash line 1, "Gnarled Oak of God! In thy branches is the lightning nested! Above thee hangs the Eyeless Hawk." [The Hawk-headed god Horus]
* Liber A'ash line 8, "For two things are done and a third thing is begun. Isis and Osiris are given over to incest and adultery. Horus leaps up thrice armed from the womb of his mother. Harpocrates his twin is hidden within him. SET is his holy covenant, that he shall display in the great day of M.A.A.T., that is being interpreted the Master of the Temple of A.'. A.'., whose name is Truth." [Isis, Osiris, Horus, Harpocrates, Set, and Maat are all Egyptian symbols/deities. Isis, Osiris, and Horus/Harpocrates form a triad of Mother, Father, Child...]

* Liber Stella Rubeae line 1, "Apep deifieth Asar." [Apep is the destroyer Apophis, personification of darkness and chaos and the one who battled with Ra each day; Asar is Osiris]
* Liber Stella Rubeae line 38, "I, Apep the Serpent, am the heart of IAO. Isis shall await Asar, and I in the midst." [Apep is, again the serpent destroyer; Isis is the prototypical mother and Asar is again Osiris. This is formed into a symbolic word I [Isis] - A [Apophis] - O [Osiris]. Apep as the serpent should be understood in the context of the Heart and the Serpent of Liber LXV]
* Liber Stella Rubeae line 48, "I am Apep, O thou slain One. Thou shalt slay thyself upon mine altar: I will have thy blood to drink."

* Liber LXV I:1, "...On the corpse of Osiris afloat in the tomb! / O heart of my mother, my sister, mine own, / Thou art given to Nile, to the terror Typhon!... / Behold! we are one, and the tempest of years / Goes down to the dusk, and the Beetle appears. / O Beetle! the drone of Thy dolorous note / Be ever the trance of this tremulous throat!..." [Osiris is mentioned and 'the Beetle,' which refers to Keph-Ra, the Beetle which holds the sun in its mandibles. Typhon is equated with Apep/Apophis and the inundation of the Nile river]
* Liber LXV IV:24, "Arise, O serpent Apep, Thou art Adonai the beloved one! Thou art my darling and my lord, and Thy poison is sweeter than the kisses of Isis the mother of the Gods!" [Apep is identified with Adonai here, and the 'poison' or malefic aspect is understood as sweetness. Isis again appears and is understood to be 'the mother of the Gods']
* Liber LXV V:50, "Let not the priest of Isis uncover the nakedness of Nuit, for every step is a death and a birth. The priest of Isis lifted the veil of Isis, and was slain by the kisses of her mouth. Then was he the priest of Nuit, and drank of the milk of the stars."


Greek

*Liber Tzaddi line 23, "Only if ye are sorrowful, or weary, or angry, or discomforted; then ye may know that ye have lost the golden thread, the thread wherewith I guide you to the heart of the groves of Eleusis." [The Eleusinian Mysteries were a popular form of the Greek Mysteries]
* Liber Tzaddi line 32, "Only your mouths shall drink of a delicious wine --- the wine of Iacchus; they shall reach ever to the heavenly kiss of the Beautiful God." [Iacchus was part of the procession at Eleusis; Crowley sees him as Kether/Tiphareth, the highest Part of man]

* Liber LXV I:1, "Thou art given to Nile, to the terror Typhon!" [Typhon was the personification of chaos and powerful forces, being the enemy of the gods of Olympus]
* Liber LXV I:54, "Then said Adonai: Thou hast the Head of the Hawk, and thy Phallus is the Phallus of Asar. Thou knowest the white, and thou knowest the black, and thou knowest that these are one. But why seekest thou the knowledge of their equivalence?"

An interlude: Cacophonous euphony

THAT from which all arises, subsists, and returns is the brilliance of the Solar Hawk Horus.

The boundless space is Its nemyss, the flaming globe Its penetrating vigor.

Out of the dissonant solvent of chaos comes a coagulation of complementary concordance - a mirror to shadow forth a few possibilties.

That which is known are egocentric counterpositions with no subsistence in themselves.

Our world is a conditioned perceptual field by which THAT comes to separate and unify itself, one arbitrary fulfillment among infinite potentials.

Unity & multiplicity; absolute & conditioned are twin phases of the play of THAT.

The Mystic Interpretation of Liber AL vel Legis (pt.3)

Note: The Mystic Interpretation is always "All is One." It may be conceived in many forms - "Naught-One-Many-All" - but it always refers to the un-differentiated, non-dual substance that underlies and binds together all phenomena unto a Unity. As it is said in Liber Causae, "Now the Great Work is one, and the Initiation is one, and the Reward is one, however diverse are the symbols wherein the Unutterable is clothed." Also, it is said in Liber Ararita, "O my God! One is Thy Beginning! One is Thy Spirit, and Thy Permutation One!"


AL I:26 - Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bendingdown, a lambent flame of blue, all-touching, all penetrant, her lovely hands upon the black earth, & her lithe body arched for love, and her soft feet not hurting the little flowers: Thou knowest! And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body.

Here we have a description of Nuit as 'a lambent flame of blue, all-touching, all penetrant' - a sort of omnipresent blue flame, which is itself a 'complexio oppositorum;' that is, the calmness of blue complements the energy of the flame. Her 'sign' is the ecstasy that arises from 'the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body' - that is, the realization of infinity in the dissolution of boundaries, dualities, distinctions, etc.

AL I:27 - Then the priest answered & said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat: O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!

Here is an answer of the priest himself in a sort of inspired state. He recognizes that because 'Nuit' is 'continuous' we should speak not of one but as 'None.' It is of note that the glyph of None, the number zero (0), is a continuous circle. In the end we are not to speak at all because 'Unity'/Nothing/None is Ineffable. Crowley writes, "If we in any way shadow forth the Ineffable, it must be by a degradation. Every symbol is a blasphemy agains the Truth that it indicates. A painter to remind us of the sunset has no better material than dull ochre. So we need not be surprised if the Unity of Subject and Object in Consciousness which is Samadhi, the uniting of the Bride and the Lamb which is Heaven, the uniting of the Magus and the God which is Evocation, the uniting of the Man and his Holy Guardian Angel which is the seal upon the work of the Adeptus Minor, is symbolized by the geometrical unity of the circle and the square, the arithmetical unity of the 5 and the 6, and (for more universality of comprehension) the uniting of the Lingam and Yoni, the Cross and the Rose. For as in earth-life the sexual ecstasy is the loss of self in the Beloved, the creation of a third consciousness treanscending its parents, which is again reflected into matter as a child; so, immeasurably higher, upon the Plane of Spirit, Subject and Object join to disappear, leaving a transcendent unity. This third is ecstasy and death; as above, so below."

AL I:28 - None, breathed the light, faint & faery, of the stars, and two.

This line is essentially saying "None... and two." A prime doctrine of the Book of the Law is this understanding of None and Two being 'phases' of Unity/the absolute Naught. "Breath[ing of] the light" signifies 'aleph'/ruach/prana/breath and the creation of motion and energy (light) in the form of duality (two). This is then followed by a description of 2 coming from 0...

AL I:29 - For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union.

"I," the continuous Nuit, is divided into '2' or 'Many' for love's sake, which is understood as 'the chance of union.' This relates back to the 12th line were we are bidden to "Come forth" and take our fill of love. The creation of the world does not bring a degradation - Original Sin or a Fall or Great Suffering or some kind of corruption - but rather it brings about the possibility of rapture through uniting of disparate elements. This relates to a later line "Existence is pure joy," because all existence is made possible through the division of the continuous for union's sake.

AL I:30 - This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.

This process of the continuous dividing for love's sake is an understanding of 'the creation of the world;' that is, the world as we know it through our dualistic consciousness. It is a sort of 'Dialectical Monism' where the "One" is only understood through duality and division. Here the joy of dissolution in union/love is seen to far outweigh the supposed 'pain of division.' Even so, there could be no joy of dissolution without a pain of division, c.f. Tao Teh Ching ch.2

AL I:31 - For these fools of men and their woes care not thou at all! They feel little; what is, is balanced by weak joys; but ye are my chosen ones.

The "fools of men" again come up and we are bidden not to worry about them. We are told that they only feel 'weak joys' and we are reassured as 'my chosen ones' (in contrast to the apparent literal reading of the 17th line in this chapter).

AL I:32 - Obey my prophet! follow out the ordeals of my knowledge! seek me only! Then the joys of my love will redeem ye from all pain. This is so: I swear it by the vault of my body; by my sacred heart and tongue; by all I can give, by all I desire of ye all.

A common to obey and perform various tasks. The 'ordeals of my knowledge' are the processes by which one attains to perception to the continuity of existence & the omnipresence of Nuit's body, i.e. the apprehension of unity. We are told to seek only Nuit, that continuous unfragmentary reality that lies 'behind' our perception of differences. This injunction is repeated later in the form 'To me!' which Qabalistically is equal to 418, the number of Abrahadabra, the 11-fold word of Union between Microcosm & Macrocosm.

AL I:33 - Then the priest fell into a deep trance or swoon, & said unto the Queen of Heaven; Write unto us the ordeals; write unto us the rituals; write unto us the law!

The priest assumes a passive role and asks for the ordeals, rituals, and law. Nuit is again referred to as "Queen of Heaven," a well-known epithet of the Egyptian Isis, the Sumerian Inanna, the Akkadian Ishtar, and the Christian Virgin Mary. That is, She is Form itself - making Motion possible.

The Mystic Interpretation of Liber AL vel Legis (pt.2)

Note: The Mystic Interpretation is always "All is One." It may be conceived in many forms - "Naught-One-Many-All" - but it always refers to the un-differentiated, non-dual substance that underlies and binds together all phenomena unto a Unity. As it is said in Liber Causae, "Now the Great Work is one, and the Initiation is one, and the Reward is one, however diverse are the symbols wherein the Unutterable is clothed." Also, it is said in Liber Ararita, "O my God! One is Thy Beginning! One is Thy Spirit, and Thy Permutation One!"


AL I:11 - These are fools that men adore; both their Gods & their men are fools.

This can be taken two ways. The most obvious way is that this is an injunction against the ideals man has set up and adored. The less obvious way is that these 'fools' refer to the mystic Fool who has annihilated opposites and goes his Way freely as the Air. In this sense, all things, especially separateness between 'God & their men' are manifestations of this Fool - the non-dual un-differentiated potential from which all springs.

AL I:12 - Come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your fill of love!

An injunction to fulfill our utmost potential. We are addressed as children - we are buds of plants waiting to actualize and fulfill our Wills; also we have destroyed the bonds of ignorance and so the Crowned & Conquering Child spring freely among us 'children' - and we are under the stars... That is, we are within the womb of Nuit, under the canopy of stars that forms our company in heaven.

AL I:13 - I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.

This is the mystic proclamation of identity with the All, with 'divinity.' The common concepts of the divine as 'above' and 'within' are both mentioned here. This conception shows that the 'higher' (the united) enjoys the toils of the 'lower' (the divided), for in reality they are One.

AL I:14 - Above, the gemmed azure is / The naked splendour of Nuit; / She bends in ecstasy to kiss / The secret ardours of Hadit. / The winged globe, the starry blue, / Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!

A poetic paraphrase of the Stele of Revealing which describes a mystic union between the naked splendour of the night sky and the secret ardours of the winged globe. All these things 'are mine' when we attain to identification with the All.

AL I:15 - Now ye shall know that the chosen priest & apostle of infinite space is the prince-priest the Beast; and in his woman called the Scarlet Woman is all power given. They shall gather my children into their fold: they shall bring the glory of the stars into the hearts of men.

This is often taken as an exoteric account of the title of the Beast given to Aleister Crowley, the scribe of this work, and the Scarlet Woman referring to his various concubines, but it is obvious that these figures conceal more esoteric formulae. The ideal which we unite ourselves to is 'the prince-priest the Beast,' which is coterminous with Hadit and extremely similar to the Hindu concept of Shiva. The Scarlet Woman is extremely similar to the Hindu concept of Shakti (which literally means 'power'). The Beast is the sacred messenger (priest & apostle) of Nuit. Through the Scarlet Woman is the Beast manifested, even as the Sun proliferates its rays to the Earth 'through' the Moon, and Hoor-paar-kraat sends his message through Aiwass. The 'children' are the acts of their Love, the various Changes that we know as Experience which make up our life. Their 'fold' is the boundaries of their love; that is; the contents of the consciousness of the aspirant.

AL I:16 - For he is ever a sun, and she a moon. But to him is the winged secret flame, and to her the stooping starlight.

The Masculine:Feminine :: Sun:Moon :: Hadit:Nuit symbolic analogy arises here. Crowley writes "That which is beneath is like that which is above. The Beast and the Scarlet Woman are avatars of Tao and Teh, Shiva and Sakti. This Law is then an exact image of the Great Law of the Cosmos; this is an assurance of its Perfection."

AL I:17 - But ye are not so chosen.

This can be taken as a cipher. Ye is Yod + Heh, which is the Father (Hadit/Sun) & the Mother (Nuit/Moon) conjoined in the Child (Horus). "Ye" are "not," the cipher for the Unity and that which is beyond all description (even 'unity' betrays its nature).

AL I:18 - Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!

This is Hindu symbolism of the Kundalini being invoked and resting in the Ajna chakra between the eyebrows, signaling illumination. The 'burning' is especially significant as it symbolizes force & fire, and the serpent reappears as Hadit in the next chapter. The serpent is a symbol of power (by its venom), wisdom, duality (by its writhing), immortality (by its constant shedding of skin and its undulating movements), and royalty. The Uraeus serpent crowned the Egyptian pharaohs in a similar symbol of physical & spiritual dominance. Crowley writes, "The Serpent is the Uraeus, with the powers of Life and Death, wise, ecstatic, immortal; winged and hooded, that he may go as a god swiftly and silently." This is an invocation of that primordial energy which is the ground behind all things, the Tao/Teh, Kundalini, Buddha-dhatu (whatever metaphor you will), etc.

AL I:19 - O azure-lidded woman, bend upon them!

This line interestingly complements the last line. In the 18th verse we assume a sort of passive role to the burning of the brow, and in this verse we assume an active role as something bends upon us.

AL I:20 - The key of the rituals is in the secret word which I have given unto him.

This word most likely refers to ABRAHADABRA, a symbol of the 5 (Microcosm) & 6 (Macrocosm) conjoined in the 11; a symbol of the Great Work accomplished and the purpose of all rituals as Crowley describes in Magick in Theory & Practice, ch.1. Crowley writes, "ABRAHADABRA is "The key of the rituals" because it expresses the Magical Formulae of uniting various complementary ideas; especially the Five of the Microcosm with the Six of the Macrocosm."

AL I:21 - With the God & the Adorer I am nothing: they do not see me. They are as upon the earth; I am Heaven, and there is no other God than me, and my lord Hadit.

This line could have multifaceted levels of meaning. One reading could say: With God & the Adorer, i.e. with two things connected by an ampersand instead of one, I am nothing and they do not see me. Nuit proclaims herself to be Heaven itself, not some entity in heaven, and there is no other God other than her... That is, there is nothing but Heaven, which is God and all is one. Having a God & an Adorer obscures this fact by thinking them separate.

Another reading could be that with God & the Adorer, in the act of Love under Will, "I am nothing." That is, one becomes identified with unity, of which nothing may be said - the Qabalistic zero or Naught. "They do not see me" for there is no "they" or multiplicity and "seeing" is not possible for seer and the thing seen are one.

AL I:22 - Now, therefore, I am known to ye by my name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knoweth me. Since I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof, do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.

The speaker is self-proclaimed as 'Nuit' and promises a secret name 'when at last he knoweth me;' that is, when one has annihilated their selves to know their Selves. She also proclaims herself as "Infinite Space and the Infinite Stars thereof" (the acronym of these capital letters is, remarkably, I.S.I.S., the Heavenly Mother of the Egyptians); that is, all the matter & energy in the universe.

Since she is Infinite we are told to "Bind nothing!" An injunction that comes up in another form as "The word of Sin is Restriction." We are told that "hurt" comes from making a difference. This injunction is therefore to go beyond all differences and dualities and attain to Unity.

AL I:23 - But whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!

Who succeeds in this method of "Bind[ing] nothing" will be the "chief" or master of "all," referring back to the Unity. We must always remember that "Naught-One-All-Many" are all ways of conceiving the universe and they all refer back to the ultimate nameless undifferentiated substance.

AL I:24 - I am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty.

'She' again proclaims herself as Nuit. Her word, her message or mode of being (logos), is "six and fifty." This means "life" and "death" insofar as it refers to Taurus and Scorpio; interestingly, these two signs are opposites on the zodiac and so Nuit therefore encompasses the entire zodiac. This line also means she is 56, an emblem of the five (microcosm) & six (macrocosm) together; it is of note that "NU" in Hebrew enumerates to 56.

AL I:25 - Divide, add, multiply, and understand.

This line could also have innumerable layers of meaning. "Divide, add, multiply" could correspond to the three words in "six and fifty," giving a sort of interpretation of her '"word." It could also be an injunction to divide these numbers, add these numbers, multiply these numbers and somehow they will reveal Her nature so we may understand better. It is of note that "Understanding" is Binah, that Sephirah beyond the Abyss in Qabalah where one's sense of 'self' or ego is annihilated in the 'Beloved.'

If we divide, we get 0.12, a glyph of the 0 becoming 2 as described in Liber AL I:28-30. If we add, we get 56 which is equivalent to 'Nu';' it is a glyph of the 5 & 6, Microcosm & Macrocosm, united. If we multiply, we get 300, the number of the letter Shin, the Spirit/Fire, which relates to the Stele of Revealing (Aeon card in Thoth Tarot). It refers to the Holy Spirit (Ruach Elohim = 300), and the all-consuming flame of Unity.

Using LSD to imprint the Thelemic experience (introductory outline)

* Introduction
- LSD can be used as an imprinter
- Leary's work with 8-circuits, etc.
-Jung's theories of unconscious, LSD as something that releases unconscious contents
- A sort of Thelemic syntax or map can be used to both 'navigate' through this experience and to 'imprint' a certain perspective/attitude to life
- This is done by unifying the universal physiological and psychological occurences during the LSD experience to various symbols and passages from Thelemic texts

* LSD as imprinter
-What does it mean for LSD to 'imprint'?
-What are the various 'stages' - significant portions of time characterized by various subjective effects as the substance runs its course through the body - of the LSD experience?
-What are some major realizations and perceptions that appear to occur somewhat universally?

* Thelema as a map
-The imagery and passages may be used to give a viable interpretation to the entheogenic experience & concretize the importance of Thelema in one's life
-Symbology: Symbols of especial importance to Thelema must be attributed to various 'perspectives' and 'feelings' during the experience
1) Nuit: infinite possibilities
2) Hadit: flame burning in the heart/consciousness
3) Horus: the whole system; homo totus
4) The child (Hoor)
-Passages: Passages also use symbology but allow for words to describe understandings & notions

-images of power
1) Gnarled oak of God (A'ash)
2) Hair of nuit (AL; 418)
3) Hadit/flame in the heart (AL)
4) RHK as warrior (AL; Tzaddi; A'ash)

-ultimate aimlessness
-Liber LXV ch.II
-Liber AL ch.II

-revaluation of values
-Do what thou wilt (AL)
-All things lawful (A'ash; VII)

-All things as acts of love & joyful
- AL; VII; A'ash, etc.

- Solve et Coagula/IAO/0 and 2
-The 'creation of the world' from undifferentiated-ness (AL I:28-30)
-Liber LXV (ch.2)

* The 'Psychedelic Experience' by Leary et al. using the Tibetan Book of the Dead should be used as a model, except substituting Thelemic terms. It is of note that the phrase 'clear light' appears in Liber AL. ("But thou hast all in the clear light, and some, though not all, in the dark.") I:56