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.