LIBER SAMEKH
Theurgia Goetia Summa
(CONGRESSUS CUM DAEMONE)
sub figura DCCC
being the Ritual employed by the Beast 666 for the Attainment of the
Knowledge and Conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel during the Semester
of His performance of the Operation of the Sacred Magick of ABRAMELIN THE
MAGE. (Prepared An XVII Sun in Virgo at the Abbey of Thelema in Cephalaedium
by the Beast 666 in service to FRATER PROGRADIOR.)
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION of A.'. A.'. Class D for the Grade
of Adeptus Minor.
{265}
POINT
I
EVANGELII TEXTUS REDACTUS
"The Invocation."
Magically restored, with the significance of the
BARBAROUS NAMES
Etymologically or Qabalistically determined and paraphrased in English.
Section A. The Oath.
1. Thee I invoke, the Bornless One.
2. Thee, that didst create the Earth and the Heavens.
3. Thee, that didst create the Night and the Day.
4. Thee, that didst create the darkness and the Light.
5. Thou art ASAR UN-NEFER ("Myself made Perfect"):
Whom no man hath seen at any time.
6. Thou art IA-BESZ ("the Truth in Matter").
7. Thou art IA-APOPHRASZ ("the Truth in Motion").
8. Thou hast distinguished between the Just and the Unjust.
9. Thou didst make the Female and the Male.
10. Thou didst produce the Seeds and the Fruit.
11. Thou didst form Men to love one another, and to hate one
another.
Section Aa.
1. I am ANKH - F - N - KHONSU thy Prophet, unto Whom
Thou didst commit Thy Mysteries,
the Ceremonies of
KHEM.
2. Thou didst produce the moist and the dry, and that which
nourisheth all created Life.
3. Hear Thou Me, for I am the Angel of PTAH - APO -
PHRASZ - RA (vide the Rubric): this
is Thy True Name,
handed down to the Prophets of KHEM.
{266}
Section B. Air.
Hear Me: ---
AR
"O breathing, flowing Sun!" ThIAF<>
"O Sun IAF! O Lion-Serpent Sun, The
Beast that whirlest forth, a thunder-
bolt, begetter of Life!"
RhEIBET
"Thou that flowest! Thou that goest!"
A-ThELE-BER-SET "Thou
Satan-Sun Hadith that goest
without Will!"
A
"Thou Air! Breath! Spirit! Thou
without bound or bond!"
BELAThA
"Thou Essence, Air Swift-streaming,
Elasticity!"
ABEU
"Thou Wanderer, Father of All!"
EBEU
"Thou Wanderer, Spirit of All!"
PhI-ThETA-SOE
"Thou Shining Force of Breath! Thou
Lion-Serpent Sun! Thou Saviour,
save!"
IB
"Thou Ibis, secret solitary Bird, inviolate
Wisdom, whose Word in Truth,
creating the World by its Magick!"
ThIAF
"O Sun IAF! O Lion-Serpent Sun, The
Beas that whirlest forth, a thunder-
bolt, begetter of Life!"
(The conception is of Air, glowing, inhabited by a Solar-Phallic Bird,
"the Holy Ghost", of a Mercurial Nature.)
Hear me, and make all Spirits subject unto Me; so that every Spirit
of the Firmament and of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth,
on dry land and in the water; of Whirling Air, and of rushing Fire, and
every Spell and Scourge of God may be obedient unto Me. {267}
Section C. Fire.
I invoke Thee, the Terrible and Invisible God: Who dwellest in the Void Place of the Spirit: ---
AR-O-GO-GO-RU-ABRAO "Thou spiritual Sun!
Satan, Thou
Eye, Thou Lust! Cry aloud! Cry
aloud! Whirl the Wheel, O my
Father, O Satan, O Sun!"
SOTOU
"Thou, the Saviour!"
MUDORIO
"Silence! Give me Thy Secret!"
PhALARThAO
"Give me suck, Thou Phallus, Thou
Sun!"
OOO
"Satan, thou Eye, thou Lust!"
"Satan, thou Eye, thou Lust!"
"Satan, thou Eye, thou Lust!"
AEPE
"Thou self-caused, self-determined,
exalted, Most High!"
The Bornless One. (Vide supra).
(The conception is of Fire, glowing, inhabited by a Solar-Phallic Lion
of a Uranian nature.)
Hear Me, and make all Spirits subject unto Me: so that every Spirit
of the Firmament and of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth:
on dry Land and in the Water: of Whirling Air, and of rushing Fire, and
every Spell and Scourge of God may be obedient unto Me.
Section D. Water.
Hear Me: ---
RU-ABRA-IAF<>
"Thou the Wheel, thou the Womb,
that containeth the Father IAF!"
MRIODOM
"Thou the Sea, the Abode!"
BABALON-BAL-BIN-ABAFT "Babalon! Thou Woman of Whoredom"
{268}
"Thou, Gate of the Great God ON!
Thou Lady of the Understanding of
the Ways!"
ASAL-ON-AI
"Hail Thou, the unstirred! Hail,
sister and bride of ON, of the God
that is all and is none, by the Power
of Eleven!"
APhEN-IAF
"Thou Treasure of IAO!"
I
"Thou Virgin twin-sexed! Thou Secret
Seed! Thou inviolate Wisdom!"
PhOTETh
"Abode of the Light .................
ABRASAX
"......of the Father, the Sun, of
Hadith, of the spell of the Aeon
of Horus!"
AEOOU
"Our Lady of the Western Gate of
Heaven!"
ISChURE
"Mighty art Thou!"
Mighty and Bornless One! (Vide Supra)
(The conception is of Water, glowing, inhabited by a Solar-Phallic
Dragon-Serpent, of a Neptunian nature.)
Hear Me: and make all Spirits subject unto Me: so that every Spirit
of the Firmament and of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth:
on dry Land and in the Water: of Whirling Air, and of rushing Fire: and
every Spell and Scourge of God may be obedient unto Me.
Section E. Earth.
I invoke Thee: ---
MA
"O Mother! O Truth!"
BARRAIO
"Thou Mass!"<<"Mass", in the sense of the word which is used by physicists.
The impossibility of defining it will not deter the intrepid initiate (in
view of the fact that the fundamental conception is beyond the normal categories
of reason.)>>
IOEL
"Hail, Thou that art!"
KOThA
"Thou hollow one!" {269}
AThOR-e-BAL-O
"Thou Goddess of Beauty and Love,
whom Satan, beholding, desireth!"
ABRAFT
"The Fathers, male-female, desire
Thee!"
(The conception is of Earth, glowing, inhabited by a Solar-Phallic Hippopotamus<>
of a Venereal nature.)
Hear Me: and make all Spirits subject unto Me: so that every Spirit
of the Firmament, and of the Ether: upon The Earth and under the Earth:
on dry land and in the Water: of Whirling Air, and of rushing Fire: and
every Spell and Scourge of God may be obedient unto Me.
Section F. Spirit.
Hear Me:
AFT
"Male-Female Spirits!"
ABAFT
"Male-Female Sires!"
BAS-AUMGN
"Ye that are Gods, going forth, uttering
AUMGN. (The Word that goeth
from
(A) Free Breath.
(U) through Willed Breath.
(M) and stopped Breath.
(GN) to Continuous Breath.
thus symbolizing the whole course of
spiritual life. A is the formless Hero;
U is the six-fold solar sound of physical
life, the triangle of Soul being
entwined with that of Body; M is the
silence of "death"; GN is the nasal
sound of generation & knowledge.
ISAK
"Identical Point!"
SA-BA-FT
"Nuith! Hadith! Ra-Hoor-Khuit!"
"Hail, Great Wild Beast!"
"Hail, IAO!" {270}
Section Ff.
1. This is the Lord of the Gods:
2. This is the Lord of the Universe:
3. This is He whom the Winds fear.
4. This is He, Who having made Voice by His commandment
is Lord of all Things; King, Ruler and Helper. Hear Me, and make
all Spirits subject unto Me: so that every Spirit of the Firmament and
of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth: on dry Land and in the
Water: of Whirling Air, and of rushing Fire: and every Spell and Scourge
of God may be obedient unto Me.
Section G. Spirit.
Hear Me:
IEOU
"Indwelling Sun of Myself"
PUR
"Thou Fire! Thou Sixfold Star initiator
compassed about with Force and Fire!"
IOU
"Indwelling Soul of Myself"
PUR
(Vide Supra)
IAFTh
"Sun-lion Serpent, hail! All Hail, thou
Great Wild Beast, thou I A O!"
IAEO
"Breaths of my soul, breaths of mine
Angel."
IOOU
"Lust of my soul, lust of mine Angel!"
ABRASAX
(Vide Supra).
SABRIAM
"Ho for the Sangraal! Ho for the Cup
of Babalon! Ho for mine Angel
pouring Himself forth within my
Soul!"
OO
"The Eye! Satan, my Lord! The Lust
of the goat!"
FF
"Mine Angel! Mine initiator! Thou
one with me --- the Sixfold Star!" {271}
AD-ON-A-I<>
"My Lord! My secret self beyond self,
Hadith, All Father! Hail, ON, thou
Sun, thou Life of Man, thou Fivefold
Sword of Flame! Thou Goat exalted
upon Earth in Lust, thou Snake
extended upon Earth in Life! Spirit
most holy! Seed most Wise! Innocent
Babe. Inviolate Maid! Begetter
of Being! Soul of all Souls! Word
of all Words, Come forth, most
hidden Light!"
EDE
"Devour thou me!"
EDU
"Thou dost devour Me!"
ANGELOS TON ThEON "Thou Angel of
the Gods!"
ANLALA
"Arise thou in Me, free flowing, Thou
who art Naught, who art Naught, and
utter thy Word!"
LAI
"I also am Naught! I Will Thee! I
behold Thee! My nothingness!"
GAIA
"Leap up, thou Earth!"
(This is also an agonising appeal to the
Earth, the Mother; for at this point
of the ceremony the Adept should be
torn from his mortal attachments, and {272}
die to himself in the orgasm of his
operation.<>)
AEPE
"Thou Exalted One! It (i.e. the spritual
'semen', the Adept's secret ideas,
drawn irresistibly from their "Hell"<>
by the love of his Angel) leaps up; it
leaps forth!<>
DIATHARNA THORON "Lo! the
out-splashing of the seeds of
Immortality"
Section Gg. The Attainment.
1. I am He! the Bornless Spirit! having sight in the feet:
Strong, and the Immortal Fire!
2. I am He! the Truth!
3. I am He! Who hate that evil should be wrought in the World!
4. I am He, that lighteneth and thundereth!
5. I am He, from whom is the Shower of the Life of Earth!
6. I am He, whose mouth ever flameth!
7. I am He, the Begetter and Manifester unto the Light!
8. I am He, The Grace of the Worlds!
9. "The Heart Girt with a Serpent" is my name!
Section H. The "Charge to the Spirit".
Come thou forth, and follow me: and make all Spirits subject unto Me so that every Spirit of the Firmament, and of the Ether, upon the Earth and under the Earth: on dry Land, or in the Water: of Whirling Air or of rushing Fire, and every Spell and scourge of God, may be obedient unto me!
Section J. The Proclamation of the Beast 666.
IAF: SABAF<>
Such are the Words! {273}
POINT
II
ARS CONGRESSUS CUM DAEMONE.
SECTION A Let the Adeptus Minor
be standing in this circle on the
square of Tiphereth, armed with his Wand and Cup; but let him
perform the Ritual throughout in his Body of Light. He may
burn the Cakes of Light, or the Incense of Abramelin; he may
be prepared by Liber CLXXV, the reading of Liber LXV, and by
the practices of Yoga. He may invoke Hadit by "... wine and
strange drugs" if he so will.<> He prepares
the circle by the usual formulae of Banishing and
Consecration, etc.
He recites Section A as a rehearsal before His Holy
Guardian Angel of the attributes of that Angel. Each phrase
must be realized with full concentration of force, so as to
make Samadhi as perfectly as possible upon the truth
proclaimed.
"Line 1" He identifies
his Angel with the Ain Soph, and the Kether
thereof; one formulation of Hadit in the boundless Body of
Nuith.
"Line 2,3,4" He asserts that His Angel
has created (for the purpose of
self-realization through projection in conditioned Form) three
pairs of opposites: (a) The Fixed and the Volatile; (b) The
Unmanifested and the Manifest; and (c) the Unmoved and the
Moved. Otherwise, the Negative and the Positive in respect of
Matter, Mind and Motion.
"Line 5" He acclaims
his Angel as "Himself Made Perfect"; adding
that this Individuality is inscrutable in inviolable. In the
Neophyte Ritual of {274} G.'. D.'. (As it is printed in Equinox
I, II, for the old aeon) the Hierophant is the perfected
Osiris, who brings the candidate, the natural Osiris, to
identity with himself. But in the new Aeon the Hierophant is
Horus (Liber CCXX, I, 49) therefore the Candidate will be
Horus too. What then is the formula of the initiation of
Horus? It will no longer be that of the Man, through Death.
It will be the natural growth of the Child. His experiences
will no more be regarded as catastrophic. Their hieroglyph is
the Fool: the innocent and impotent Harpocrates Babe becomes
the Horus Adult by obtaining the Wand. "Der reine Thor"
seizes the Sacred Lance. Bacchus becomes Pan. The Holy
Guardian Angel is the Unconscious Creature Self --- the
Spiritual Phallus. His knowledge and conversation contributes
occult puberty. It is therefore advisable to replace the name
Asar Un-nefer by that of Ra-Hoor-Khuit at the outset, and by
that of one's own Holy Guardian Angel when it has been
communicated.
"Line 6" He hails
Him as BESZ, the Matter that destroys and devours
Godhead, for the purpose of the Incarnation of any God.
"Line 7" He hails
Him as APOPHRASZ, the Motion that destroys and
devours Godhead, for the purpose of the Incarnation of any
God. The combined action of these two DEVILS is to allow the
God upon whom they prey to enter into enjoyment of existence
through the Sacrament of dividual "Life" (Bread --- the flesh
of BESZ) and "Love" (Wine --- the blood or venom of AOPHRASZ).
"Line 8" He acclaims
His Angel as having "eaten of the Fruit of the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil"; otherwise, having become
wise (in the {275} Dyad, Chokmah) to apprehend the formula of
Equilibrium which is now His own, being able to apply Himself
accurately to His self-appointed environment.
"Line 9" He acclaims
His Angel as having laid down the Law of Love
as the Magical formula of the Universe, that He may resolve
the phenomenal again into its noumenal phase by uniting any
two opposites in ecstasic passion.
"Line 10" He acclaims
His Angel as having appointed that this formula
of Love should effect not only the dissolution of the
separateness of the Lovers into His own impersonal Godhead,
but their co-ordination in a "Child" quintessentialized from
its parents to constitute a higher order of Being than theirs,
so that each generation is an alchemical progress towards
perfection in the direction of successive complexities. As
Line 9 asserts Involution, Line 10 asserts Evolution.
"Line 11" He acclaims
His Angel as having devised this method of
self-realization; the object of Incarnation is to obtain its
reactions to its relations with other incarnated Beings and to
observe theirs with each other.
----------
Section Aa.
"Line 1" The Adept
asserts his right to enter into conscious
communication with His Angel, on the ground that that Angel
has Himself taught him the Secret Magick by which he may make
the proper link. "Mosheh" is M H, the formation in Jechidah,
Chiah, Neshamah, Ruach, --- The Sephiroth from Kether to Yesod
--- since 45 is GR:Sigma{=summation} 1-9 while Sh, 300, is
GR:Sigma{=summation} 1-24, which superadds to these Nine an extra
Fifteen numbers. (See in Liber D {276} the meanings an
correspondences of 9, 15, 24, 45, 300, 345.)
45 is moreover A D M, man. "Mosheh" is thus the name of
man as a God-concealing form. But in the Ritual let the Adept
replace this "Mosheh" by his own motto as Adeptus Minor. For
"Ishrael" let him prefer his own Magical Race, according to
the obligations of his Oaths to Our Holy Order! (The Beast
666 Himself used "Ankh-f-n-Khonsu" and "Khem" in this
section.)
"Line 2" The
Adept reminds his Angel that He has created That One
Substance of which Hermes hath written in the Table of
Emerald, whose virtue is to unite in itself all opposite modes
of Being, thereby to serve as a Talisman charged with the
Spiritual Energy of Existence, an Elixir or Stone composed of
the physical basis of Life. This Commemoration is placed
between the two personal appeals to the Angel, as if to claim
privilege to partake of this Eucharist which createth,
sustaineth and redeemeth all things.
"Line 3" He now
asserts that he is himself the "Angel" or messenger
of his Angel; that is, that he is a mind and body whose office
is to receive and transmit the Word of his Angel. He hails
his Angel not only as "un-nefer" the Perfection of "Asar"
himself as a man, but as Ptah-Apophrasz-Ra, the identity
(Hadit) wrapped in the Dragon (Nuit) and thereby manifested as
a Sun (Ra-Hoor-Khuit). The "Egg" (or Heart) "girt with a
Serpent" is a cognate symbol; the idea is thus expressed later
in the ritual. (See Liber LXV. which expands this to the
uttermost.)
Section B The Adept passes from
contemplation to action in the
sections now following B to Gg. He is to travel astrally
around the circle, making the appropriate pentagrams, sigils,
and signs. His direction {277} is widdershins. He thus makes
three curves, each covering three-fourths of the circle. He
should give the sign of the Enterer on passing the Kiblah, or
Direction of Boleskine. This picks up the force naturally
radiating from that point<> and projects it in the direction of
the path of the Magician. The sigils are those given
in the Equinox Vol. I, No. 7, Plate X outside the
square; the signs those shewn in Vol. I, No. 2, Plate "The
Signs of the Grades". In these invocations he should expand
his girth and his stature to the utmost<>, assuming the form and the
consciousness of the Elemental
God of the quarter. After this, he begins to vibrate the
"Barbarous Names" of the Ritual.
Now let him not only fill his whole being to the uttermost
with the force of the Names; but let him formulate his Will,
understood thoroughly as the dynamic aspect of his Creative
Self, in an appearance symbolically apt, I say not in the form
of a Ray of Light, of a Fiery Sword, or of aught save that
bodily Vehicle of the Holy Ghost which is sacred to BAPHOMET,
by its virtue that concealeth the Lion and the Serpent that
His Image may appear adorably upon the Earth for ever.
Let then the Adept extend his Will beyond the Circle in
this imagined Shape and let it radiate with the Light proper
to the element invoked, and let each Word issue along the
Shaft with passionate impulse, as if its voice gave command
thereto that it should thrust itself leapingly forward. Let
also each Word accumulate authority, so that the Head of the
Shaft may plunge twice as far for the Second Word as for the
First, and Four Times for {278} the Third as the Second, and
thus to the end. Moreover, let the Adept fling forth his
whole consciousness thither. Then at the final Word, let him
bring rushing back his Will within himself, steadily
streaming, and let him offer himself to its point, as Artemis
to PAN, that this perfectly pure concentration of the Element
purge him thoroughly, and possess him with its passion.
In this Sacrament being wholly at one with that Element,
let the Adept utter the Charge "Hear me, and make", etc. with
strong sense that this unity with that quarter of the Universe
confers upon him the fullest freedom and privilege appurtenant
thereto.
Let the Adept take note of the wording of the Charge. The
"Firmament" is the Ruach, the "mental plane"; it is the realm
of Shu, or Zeus, where revolves the Wheel of the Gunas, the
Three forms<> of Being. The Aethyr is the {279}
"akasha", the "Spirit", the Aethyr or physics, which is the
framework on which all forms are founded; it receives, records
and transmits all impulses without itself suffering mutation
thereby. The "Earth" is the sphere wherein the operation of
these "fundamental" and aethyric forces appears to perception.
"Under the Earth" is the world of those phenomena which inform
those perceived projections, and determine their particular
character. "Dry land" is the place of dead "material things",
dry (i.e. unknowable) because unable to act on our minds.
"Water" is the vehicle whereby we feel such things; "air"
their menstruum wherein these feelings are mentally
apprehended. It is called "whirling" because of the
instability of thought, and the fatuity of reason, on which we
are yet dependent for what we call "life". "Rushing Fire" is
the world in which wandering thought burns up to swift-darting
Will. These four stages explain how the non-Ego is transmuted
into the {280} Ego. A "Spell" of God is any form of
consciousness, and a "Scourge" any form of action.
The Charge, as a whole, demands for the Adept the control
of every detail of the Universe which His Angel has created as
a means of manifesting Himself to Himself. It covers command
of the primary projection of the Possible in individuality, in
the antithetical artifice which is the device of Mind, and in
a balanced triplicity of modes or states of being whose
combinations constitute the characteristics of Cosmos. It
includes also a standard of structure, a rigidity to make
reference possible. Upon these foundations of condition which
are not things in themselves, but the canon to which things
conform, is builded the Temple of Being, whose materials are
themselves perfectly mysterious, inscrutable as the Soul, and
like the Soul imagining themselves by symbols which we may
feel, perceive, and adapt to our use without ever knowing the
whole Truth about them. The Adept sums up all these items by
claiming authority over every form of expression possible to
Existence, whether it be a "spell" (idea) or a "scourge" (act)
of "God", that is, of himself. The Adept must accept every
"spirit", every "spell", every "scourge", as part of his
environment, and make them all "subject to" himself; that is,
consider them as contributory causes of himself. They have
made him what he is. They correspond exactly to his own
faculties. They are all --- ultimately --- of equal
importance. The fact that he is what he is proves that each
item is equilibrated. The impact of each new impression
affects the entire system in due measure. He must therefore
realize that every event is subject to him. It occurs because
he had need of it. Iron rusts because the molecules demand
oxygen for the satisfaction of {281} their tendencies. They
do not crave hydrogen; therefore combination with that gas is
an event which does not happen. All experiences contribute to
make us complete in ourselves. We feel ourselves subject to
them so long as we fail to recognise this; when we do, we
perceive that they are subject to us. And whenever we strive
to evade an experience, whatever it may be, we thereby do
wrong to ourselves. We thwart our own tendencies. To live is
to change; and to oppose change is to revolt against the law
which we have enacted to govern our lives. To resent destiny
is thus to abdicate our sovereignty, and to invoke death.
Indeed, we have decreed the doom of death for every breach of
the law of Life. And every failure to incorporate any
impression starves the particular faculty which stood in need
of it.
This Section B invokes Air in the East, with a shaft of
golden glory.
--------
Section C. The adept now invokes Fire
in the South; flame red are the
rays that burst from his Verendum.
--------
Section D. He invokes Water in the West,
his Wand billowing forth blue
radiance.
--------
Section E. He goes to the North to invoke
Earth; flowers of green
flame flash from his weapon. As practice makes the Adept
perfect in this Work, it becomes automatic to attach all these
complicated ideas and intentions to their correlated words and
acts. When this is attained he may go deeper into the formula
by amplifying its correspondences. Thus, he may invoke water
in the manner of water, extending {282} his will with majestic
and irresistible motion, mindful of its impulse gravitation,
yet with a suave and tranquil appearance of weakness. Again,
he may apply the formula of water to its peculiar purpose as
it surges back into his sphere, using it with conscious skill
for the cleansing and calming of the receptive and emotional
elements in his character, and for the solution or sweeping
away of those tangled weeds of prejudice which hamper him from
freedom to act as he will. Similar applications of the
remaining invocations will occur to the Adept who is ready to
use them.
--------
Section F. The Adept now returns to the
Tiphereth square of his Tau,
and invokes spirit, facing toward Boleskine, by the active
Pentagrams, the sigil called the Mark of the Beast, and the
Signs of L.V.X. (See plate as before). He then vibrates the
Names extending his will in the same way as before, but
vertically upward. At the same time he expands the Source of
that Will --- the secret symbol of Self --- both about him and
below, as if to affirm that Self, duplex as is its form,
reluctant to acquiesce in its failure to coincide with the
Sphere of Nuith. Let him now imagine, at the last Word, that
the Head of his will, where his consciousness is fixed, opens
its fissure (the Brahmarandra-Cakkra, at the junction of the
cranial sutures) and exudes a drop of clear crystalline dew,
and that this pearl is his Soul, a virgin offering to his
Angel, pressed forth from his being by the intensity of his
Aspiration.
--------
Section Ff. With these words the Adept does
not withdraw his will
within him as in the previous Sections. He thinks of them as
a reflection of Truth on the {283} surface of the dew, where
his Soul hides trembling. He takes them to be the first
formulation in his consciousness of the nature of His Holy
Guardian Angel.
"Line 1." The "Gods"
include all the conscious elements of his
nature.
"Line 2." The "Universe"
includes all possible phenomena of which he
can be aware.
"Line 3." The "Winds"
are his thoughts, which have prevented him from
attaining to his Angel.
"Line 4." His Angel
has made "Voice", the magical weapon which
produces "Words", and these words have been the wisdom by
which He hath created all things. The "Voice" is necessary as
the link between the Adept and his Angel. The Angel is
"King", the One who "can", the "source of authority and the
fount of honour"; also the King (or King's Son) who delivers
the Enchanted Princess, and makes her his Queen. He is
"Ruler", the "unconscious Will"; to be thwarted no more by the
ignorant and capricious false will of the conscious man. And
He is "Helper", the author of the infallible impulse that
sends the Soul sweeping along the skies on its proper path
with such impetus that the attraction of alien orbs is no
longer sufficient to swerve it. The "Hear me" clause is now
uttered by the normal human consciousness, withdrawn to the
physical body; the Adept must deliberately abandon his
attainment, because it is not yet his whole being which burns
up before the Beloved.
--------
Section G. The Adept, though withdrawn,
shall have maintained the
Extension of his Symbol. He now repeats the signs as before,
save that he makes the Passive Invoking Pentagram of Spirit.
He concentrates {284} his consciousness within his Twin-Symbol
of Self, and endeavours to send it to sleep. But if the
operation be performed properly, his Angel shall have accepted
the offering of Dew, and seized with fervour upon the extended
symbol of Will towards Himself. This then shall He shake
vehemently with vibrations of love reverberating with the
Words of the Section. Even in the physical ears of the adept
there shall resound an echo thereof, yet he shall not be able
to describe it. It shall seem both louder than thunder, and
softer than the whisper of the night-wind. It shall at once
be inarticulate, and mean more than he hath ever heard.
Now let him strive with all the strength of his Soul to
withstand the Will of his Angel, concealing himself in the
closest cell of the citadel of consciousness. Let him
consecrate himself to resist the assault of the Voice and the
Vibration until his consciousness faint away into Nothing.
For if there abide unabsorbed even one single atom of the
false Ego, that atom should stain the virginity of the True
Self and profane the Oath; then that atom should be so
inflamed by the approach of the Angel that it should overwhelm
the rest of the mind, tyrannize over it, and become an insane
despot to the total ruin of the realm.
But, all being dead to sense, who then is able to strive
against the Angel? He shall intensify the stress of His
Spirit so that His loyal legions of Lion-Serpents leap from
the ambush, awakening the adept to witness their Will and
sweep him with them in their enthusiasm, so that he
consciously partakes their purpose, and sees in its simplicity
the solution of all his perplexities. Thus then shall the
Adept be aware that he is being swept away through the column
of his Will Symbol, {285} and that His Angel is indeed
himself, with intimacy so intense as to become identity, and
that not in a single Ego, but in every unconscious element
that shares in that manifold uprush.
This rapture is accompanied by a tempest of brilliant
light, almost always, and also in many cases by an outburst of
sound, stupendous and sublime in all cases, though its
character may vary within wide limits.<>
The spate of stars shoots from the head of the Will-Symbol,
and is scattered over the sky in glittering galaxies. This
dispersion destroys the concentration of the adept, whose mind
cannot master such multiplicity of majesty; as a rule, he
simply sinks stunned into normality, to recall nothing of his
experience but a vague though vivid impression of complete
release and ineffable rapture. Repetition fortifies him to
realise the nature of his attainment; and his Angel, the link
once made, frequents him, and trains him subtly to be
sensitive to his Holy presence, and persuasion. But it may
occur, especially after repeated success, that the Adept is
not flung back into his mortality by the explosion of the
Star-spate, but identified with one particular "Lion-Serpent",
continuing conscious thereof until it finds its proper place
in Space, when its secret self flowers forth as a truth, which
the Adept may then take back to earth with him.
This is but a side issue. The main purpose of the Ritual
is to establish the relation of the subconscious self with the
Angel in such a way that the Adept is aware that his Angel is
the Unity which expresses the sum of the Elements of that
Self, that his normal consciousness contains alien enemies
286} introduced by the accidents of environment, and that his
Knowledge and Conversation of His Holy Guardian Angel destroys
all doubts and delusions, confers all blessings, teaches all
truth, and contains all delights. But it is important that
the Adept should not rest in mere inexpressible realization of
his rapture, but rouse himself to make the relation submit to
analysis, to render it in rational terms, and thereby
enlighten his mind and heart in a sense as superior to
fanatical enthusiasm as Beethoven's music is to West African
war-drums.
--------
Section Gg. The adept should have realised that
his Act of Union with
the angel implies (1) the death of his old mind save in so far
as his unconscious elements preserve its memory when they
absorb it, and (2) the death of his unconscious elements
themselves. But their death is rather a going forth to renew
their life through love. He then, by conscious comprehension
of them separately and together, becomes the "Angel" of his
Angel, as Hermes is the Word of Zeus, whose own voice is
Thunder. Thus in this section the adept utters articulately
so far as words may, what his Angel is to Himself. He says
this, with his Scin-Laeca wholly withdrawn into his physical
body, constraining His Angel to indwell his heart.
"Line 1." "I am He"
asserts the destruction of the sense of
separateness between self and Self. It affirms existence, but
of the third person only. "The Bornless Spirit" is free of
all space, "having sight in the feet", that they may choose
their own path. "Strong" is G B R, The Magician escorted by
the Sun and the Moon (See Liber D and Liber 777). The
"Immortal Fire" is the creative Self; impersonal energy cannot
perish, no matter what forms it assumes. Combustion is Love.
287
"Line 2." "Truth" is
the necessary relation of any two things;
therefore, although it implies duality, it enables us to
conceive of two things as being one thing such that it demands
to be defined by complementals. Thus, an hyperbola is a
simple idea, but its construction exacts two curves.
"Line 3." The Angel,
as the adept knows him, is a being Tiphereth,
which obscures Kether. The Adept is not officially aware of
the higher Sephiroth. He cannot perceive, like the
Ipsissimus, that all things soever are equally illusion and
equally Absolute. He is in Tiphereth, whose office is
Redemption, and he deplores the events which have caused the
apparent Sorrow from which he has just escaped. He is also
aware, even in the height of his ecstasy, of the limits and
defects of his Attainment.
"Line 4." This refers
to the phenomena which accompany his
Attainment.
"Line 5." This means
the recognition of the Angel as the True Self of
his subconscious self, the hidden Life of his physical life.
"Line 6." The Adept
realises every breath, every word of his Angel as
charged with creative fire. Tiphereth is the Sun, and the
Angel is the spiritual Sun of the Soul of the Adept.
"Line 7." Here is summed
the entire process of bringing the
conditioned Universe to knowledge of itself through the
formula of generation<>;
a soul implants itself in sense-hoodwinked body and reason-
fettered mind, makes them aware of their Inmate, and thus to
partake of its own consciousness of the Light.
"Line 8." "Grace" has
here its proper sense of "Pleasantness". {288}
The existence of the Angel is the justification of the device
of creation.<>
"Line 9." This line
must be studied in the light of Liber LXV
(Equinox XI. p. 65).
Section H. This recapitulation demands
the going forth together of the
Adept and his Angel "to do their pleasure on the Earth among
the living."
Section J. The Beast 666 having devised
the present method of using
this Ritual, having proved it by his own practice to be of
infallible puissance when properly performed, and now having
written it down for the world, it shall be an ornament for the
Adept who adopts it to cry Hail to His name at the end of his
work. This shall moreover encourage him in Magick, to recall
that indeed there was One who attained by its use to the
Knowledge and Conversation of His Holy Guardian Angel, the
which forsook him no more, but made Him a Magus, the Word of
the Aeon of Horus!
For know this, that the Name IAF in its most secret and
mighty sense declareth the Formula of the Magick of the BEAST
whereby he wrought many wonders. And because he doth will
that the whole world shall attain to this Art, He now hideth
it herein so that the worthy may win to His Wisdom.
Let I and F face all;<> yet ward their A from attack. The
Hermit to himself, the Fool to foes, {289} The Hierophant to
friends, Nine by nature, Naught by attainment, Five by
function. In speech swift, subtle and secret; in thought
creative, unbiassed, unbounded; in act gentle, patient and
persistent. Hermes to hear, Dionysus to touch, Pan to behold.
A Virgin, A Babe, and a Beast!
A Liar, an Idiot, and a Master of Men!
A kiss, a guffaw, and a bellow; he that hath ears to hear,
let him hear!
Take ten that be one, and one that is one in three, to
conceal them in six!
Thy wand to all Cups, and thy Disk to all Swords, but
betray not thine Egg!
Moreover also is IAF verily 666 by virtue of Number; and
this is a Mystery of Mysteries; Who knoweth it, he is adept of
adepts, and Mighty among Magicians!
Now this word SABAF, being by number Three score and Ten,<> is a name
of Ayin, the
Eye, and the Devil our Lord, and the Goat of Mendes. He is
the Lord of the Sabbath of the Adepts, and is Satan, therefore
also the Sun, whose number of Magick is 666, the seal of His
servant the BEAST.
But again SA is 61, AIN, the Naught of Nuith; BA means go,
for Hadit; and F is their Son the Sun who is Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
So then let the Adept set his sigil upon all the words he
hath writ in the Book of the Works of his Will. {290}
And let him then end all, saying, Such are the Words!<> For by
this he maketh proclamation
before all them that be about his Circle that these
Words are true and puissant, binding what he
would bind, and loosing what he would loose.
Let the Adept perform this Ritual aright, perfect in every
part thereof, once daily for one moon, then twice, at dawn and
dusk, for two moons, next, thrice, noon added, for three
moons, afterwards, midnight making up his course, for four
moons four times every day. Then let the Eleventh Moon be
consecrated wholly to this Work; let him be instant in
continual ardour, dismissing all but his sheer needs to eat
and sleep.<> For know that the true
Formula<> whose virtue sufficed the
Beast in this Attainment, was thus:
INVOKE OFTEN<>
So may all men come at last to the Knowledge and
Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel: thus sayeth the
Beast, and prayeth His own Angel that this book be as a
burning Lamp, and as a living Spring, for Light and Life to
them that read therein.
666
{291}
(Note to page 291)
The Oracles of Zoroaster utter this:
"And when, by often invoking, all the phantasms are vanished,
thou shalt see that Holy and Formless Fire, that Fire which darts and flashes
through all the Depths of the Universe; hear thou the Voice of the Fire!
"A similar Fire flashingly extending through the rushings
of Air, or a Fire formless whence cometh the Image of a voice, or even
a flashing Light abounding, revolving, whirling forth, crying aloud.
Also there is the vision of the fire-flashing Courser of Light, or also
a Child, borne aloft on the shoulders of the Celestial Steed, fiery, or
clothed with gold, or naked, or shooting with the bow shafts or light,
and standing on the shoulders of the horse, then if thy meditation prolongeth
itself, thou shalt unite all these symbols into the form of a Lion."
This passage --- combined with several others --- is paraphased
in poetry by Aleister Crowley in his "Tannhauser".
"And when, "invoking often,"
thou shalt see
That formless Fire; when
all the earth is shaken,
The stars abide not, and
the moon is gone,
All Time crushed back into
Eternity,
The Universe by earthquake
overtaken;
Light is not, and the thunders
roll,
The World is done:
When in the darkness Chaos
rolls again
In the excited brain:
Then, O then call not to
thy view that visible
Image of Nature; fatal is
her name!
It fitteth not thy Body
to behold
That living light of Hell,
The unluminous, dead flame,
Until that body from the
crucible
Hath passed, pure gold!
For, from the confines of
material space,
The twilight-moving place,
The gates of matter, and
the dark threshold,
Before the faces of the
Things that dwell
In the Abodes of Night,
Spring into sight
Demons, dog-faced, that
show no mortal sign
Of Truth, but desecrate
the Light Divine,
Seducing from the sacred
mysteries.
But, after all these Folk
of Fear are driven
Before the avenging levin
That rives the opening skies,
Behold that formless and
that Holy Flame {292}
That hath no name;
The Fire that darts and
flashes, writhes and creeps
Snake-wise in royal robe
Wound round that vanished
glory of the globe,
Unto that sky beyond the
starry deeps,
Beyond the Toils of Time,
--- then formulate
In thine own mind, luminous,
concentrate,
The Lion of the Light, a
child that stands
On the vast shoulders of
the Steed of God:
Or winged, or shooting flying
shafts, or shod
With the flame-sandals.
Then, lift up thine hands!
Centre thee in thine heart
one scarlet thought
Limpid with brilliance of
the Light above!
Drawn into naught
All life, death, hatred,
love:
All self concentred in the
sole desire ---
Hear thou the Voice of Fire!"
-----------
{293}
POINT
III
SCHOLION ON SECTIONS G & Gg.
The Adept who has mastered this Ritual, successfully realising
the full import of this controlled rapture, ought not to allow his mind
to loosen its grip on the astral imagery of the Star-spate, Will-Symbol,
or Soul-symbol, or even to forget its duty to the body and the sensible
surroundings. Nor should he omit to keep his Body of Light in close
touch with the phenomena of its own plane, so that its privy consciousness
may fulfil its proper functions of protecting his scattered ideals from
obsession.
But he should have acquired, by previous practice, the
faculty of detaching these elements of his consciousness from their articulate
centre, so that they become (temporarily) independent responsible units,
capable of receiving communications from headquarters at will, but perfectly
able (1) to take care of themselves without troubling their chief, and
(2) to report to him at the proper time. In a figure, they must be
like subordinate officers, expected to display self-reliance, initiative,
and integrity in the execution of the Orders of the Day.
The Adept should therefore be able to rely on these individual
minds of his to control their own conditions without interference from
himself for the time required, and to recall them in due course, receiving
an accurate report of their adventures.
This being so, the Adept will be free to concentrate his
deepest self, that part of him which unconsciously orders his true Will,
upon the realization of his Holy Guardian Angel. The absence of his
bodily, mental and astral consciousness is indeed cardinal to success,
for it is their usurpation of his attention which has made him deaf to
his Soul, and his preoccupation with their affairs that has prevented him
from perceiving that Soul. {294}
The effect of the Ritual has been
(a) to keep them so busy with their own work that they
cease to distract him;
(b) to separate them so completely that his soul is stripped
of its sheaths;
(c) to arouse in him an enthusiasm so intense as to intoxicate
and anaesthetize him, that he may not feel and resent the agony of this
spiritual vivisection, just as bashful lovers get drunk on the wedding
night, in order to brazen out the intensity of shame which so mysteriously
coexists with their desire;
(d) to concentrate the necessary spiritual forces from
every element, and fling them simultaneously into the aspiration towards
the Holy Guardian Angel; and
(e) to attract the Angel by the vibration of the magical
voice which invokes Him.
The method of the Ritual is thus manifold.
There is firstly an analysis of the Adept, which enables
him to calculate his course of action. He can decide what must be
banished, what purified, what concentrated. He can then concentrate
his will upon its one essential element, over-coming its resistance ---
which is automatic, like a physiological reflex --- by destroying inhibitions
through his ego-overwhelming enthusiasm.<> The other half of the
work needs no such complex effort; for his Angel is simple and unperplexed,
ready at all times to respond to rightly ordered approach. {295}
But the results of the Ritual are too various to permit
of rigid description. One may say that, presuming the union to be
perfect, the Adept need not retain any memory soever of what has occurred.
He may be merely aware of a gap in his conscious life, and judge of its
contents by observing that his nature has been subtly transfigured.
Such an experience might indeed be the proof of perfection.
If the Adept is to be any wise conscious of his Angel
it must be that some part of his mind is prepared to realise the rapture,
and to express it to itself in one way or another. This involves
the perfection of that part, its freedom from prejudice and the limitations
of rationality so-called. For instance: one could not receive the
illumination as to the nature of life which the doctrine of evolution should
shed, if one is passionately persuaded that humanity is essentially not
animal, or convinced that causality is repugnant to reason. The Adept
must be ready for the utter destruction of his point of view on any subject,
and even that of his innate conception of the forms and laws of thought.<>
Thus he may find that his Angel consider his "business" or his "love" to
be absurd trifles; also that human ideas of "time" are invalid, and human
"laws" of logic applicable only to the relations between illusions.
Now the Angel will make contact with the Adept at any
point that is sensitive to His influence. Such a point will naturally
be one that is salient in the Adept's character, and also one that is,
in the proper sense of the word, pure<>.
Thus an artist, attuned to appreciate plastic beauty is
likely to {296} receive a visual impression of his Angel in a physical
form which is sublimely quintessential of his ideal. A musician may
be rapt away by majestic melodies such as he never hoped to hear.
A philosopher may attain apprehension of tremendous truths, the solution
of problems that had baffled him all his life.
Conformably with this doctrine, we read of illuminations
experienced by simple-minded men, such as a workman who "saw God" and likened
Him to "a quantity of little pears". Again, we know that ecstasy,
impinging upon unbalanced minds, inflames the idolised idea, and produces
fanatical faith fierce even to frenzy, with intolerance and insanely disordered
energy which is yet so powerful as to effect the destinies of empires.
But the phenomena of the Knowledge and Conversation of
the Holy Guardian Angel are a side issue; the essence of the Union is the
intimacy. Their intimacy (or rather identity) is independent of all
partial forms of expression; at its best it is therefore as inarticulate
as Love.
The intensity of the consummation will more probably compel
a sob or a cry, some natural physical gesture of animal sympathy with the
spiritual spasm. This is to be criticised as incomplete self-control.
Silence is nobler.
In any case the Adept must be in communion with his Angel,
so that his Soul is suffused with sublimity, whether intelligible or not
in terms of intellect. It is evident that the stress of such spiritual
possession must tend to overwhelm the soul, especially at first.
It actually suffers from the excess of its ecstasy, just as extreme love
produces vertigo. The soul sinks and swoons. Such weakness
is fatal alike to its enjoyment and its apprehension. "Be strong!
then canst thou bear more rapture!" sayeth the Book of the Law.<>
The Adept must therefore play the man, arousing himself
to harden his soul.
To this end, I, the Beast, have made trial and proof of
divers devices. Of these the most potent is to set the body to strive
with {297} the soul. Let the muscles take grip on themselves as if
one were wrestling. Let the jaw and mouth, in particular, be tightened
to the utmost. Breathe deeply, slowly, yet strongly. Keep mastery
over the mind by muttering forcibly and audibly. But lest such muttering
tend to disturb communion with the Angel, speak only His Name. Until
the Adept have heard that Name, therefore, he may not abide in the perfect
possession of his Beloved. His most important task is thus to open
his ears to the voice of his Angel, that he may know him, how he is called.
For hearken! this Name, understood rightly and fully, declareth the nature
of the Angel in every point, wherefore also that Name is the formula of
the perfection to which the Adept must aspire, and also of the power of
Magick by virtue whereof he must work.
He then that is as yet ignorant of that Name, let him
repeat a word worthy of this particular Ritual. Such are Abrahadabra,
the Word of the Aeon, which signifieth "The Great Work accomplished"; and
Aumgn interpreted in Part III of Book 4<>; and the name of THE BEAST,
for that His number showeth forth this Union with the Angel, and His Work
is no other than to make all men partakers of this Mystery of the Mysteries
of Magick.
So then saying this word or that, let the Adept wrestle
with his Angel and withstand Him, that he may constrain Him to consent
to continue in communion until the consciousness becomes capable of clear
comprehension, and of accurate transmission<> of the {298} transcendent
Truth of the Beloved to the heart that holds him.
The firm repetition of one of these Words ought to enable
the Adept to maintain the state of Union for several minutes, even at first.
In any case he must rekindle his ardour, esteeming his
success rather as an encouragement to more ardent aspiration than as a
triumph. He should increase his efforts.
Let him beware of the "lust of result", of expecting too
much, of losing courage if his first success is followed by a series of
failures.
For success makes success seem so incredible that one
is apt to create an inhibition fatal to subsequent attempts. One
fears to fail; the fear intrudes upon the concentration and so fulfils
its own prophecy. We know how too much pleasure in a love affair
makes one afraid to disgrace oneself on the next few occasions; indeed,
until familiarity has accustomed one to the idea that one's lover has never
supposed one to be more than human. Confidence returns gradually.
Inarticulate ecstasy is replaced by a more sober enjoyment of the elements
of the fascination.
Just so one's first dazzled delight in a new landscape
turns, as one continues to gaze, to the appreciation of exquisite details
of the view. At first they were blurred by the blinding rush of general
beauty; they emerge one by one as the shock subsides, and passionate rapture
yields to intelligent interest.
In the same way the Adept almost always begins by torrential
lyrics painting out mystical extravagances about "ineffable love", "unimaginable
bliss", "inexpressible infinities of illimitable utterness".<>
He usually loses his sense of proportion, of humour, of reality, and of
sound judgment. His ego is often inflated to the bursting point,
till he would be abjectly ridiculous if he were not so pitifully dangerous
to himself and others. He also tends to take his new-found "truths
of illumination" for the entire body of truth, and insists that they must
be as valid an vital for all men as they happen to be for himself.
{299}
It is wise to keep silence about those things "unlawful
to utter" which one may have heard "in the seventh heaven". This
may not apply to the sixth.
The Adept must keep himself in hand, however tempted to
make a new heaven and a new earth in the next few days by trumpeting his
triumphs. He must give time a chance to redress his balance, sore
shaken by the impact of the Infinite.
As he becomes adjusted to intercourse with his Angel,
he will find his passionate ecstasy develop a quality of peace and intelligibility
which adds power, while it informs and fortifies his mental and moral qualities
instead of obscuring and upsetting them. He will by now have become
able to converse with his Angel, impossible as it once seemed; for he now
knows that the storm of sound which he supposed to be the Voice was only
the clamour of his own confusions. The "infinity" nonsense was born
of his own inability to think clearly beyond his limits, just as a Bushman,
confronted by numbers above five, can only call them "many".
The truth told by the Angel, immensely as it extends the
horizon of the Adept, is perfectly definite and precise. It does
not deal in ambiguities and abstractions. It possesses form, and
confesses law, in exactly the same way and degree as any other body of
truth. It is to the truth of the material and intellectual spheres
of man very much what the Mathematics of Philosophy with its "infinite
series" and "Cantorian continuity" is to schoolboy arithmetic. Each
implies the other, though by that one may explore the essential nature
of existence, and by this a pawnbroker's profits.
This then is the true aim of the Adept in this whole operation,
to assimilate himself to his Angel by continual conscious communion.
For his Angel is an intelligible image of his own true Will, to do which
is the whole of the law of his Being.
Also the Angel appeareth in Tiphereth, which is the heart
of the Ruach, and thus the Centre of Gravity of the Mind. It is also
directly inspired from Kether, the ultimate Self, through the Path of the
High Priestess, or initiated intuition. Hence the Angel is in truth
the Logos or articulate expression of the whole Being of the Adept, so
that as he increases in the perfect understanding of {300} His name, he
approaches the solution of the ultimate problem, Who he himself truly is.
Unto this final statement the Adept may trust his Angel
to lead him; for the Tiphereth-consciousness alone is connected by paths
with the various parts of his mind.<> None therefore save He hath
the knowledge requisite for calculating the combinations of conduct which
will organise and equilibrate the forces of the Adept, against the moment
when it becomes necessary to confront the Abyss. The Adept must control
a compact and coherent mass if he is to make sure of hurling it from him
with a clean-cut gesture.
I, The Beast 666, lift up my voice and swear that I myself
have been brought hither by mine Angel. After that I had attained
unto the Knowledge and Conversation of Him by virtue of mine ardour towards
Him, and of this Ritual that I bestow upon men my fellows, and most of
His great Love that He beareth to me, yea, verily, He led me to the Abyss;
He bade me fling away all that I had and all that I was; and He forsook
me in that Hour. But when I came beyond the Abyss, to be reborn within
the womb of BABALON, then came he unto me abiding in my virgin heart, its
Lord and Lover!
Also He made me a Magus, speaking through His Law, the
Word of the new Aeon, the Aeon of the Crowned and Conquering Child.<>
Thus he fulfilled my will to bring full freedom to the race of Men.
Yea, he wrought also in me a Work of wonder beyond this,
but in this matter I am sworn to hold my peace.
{301}