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.