Liber XXV

THE STAR RUBY

(Seal of A.'.A.'.)

A∴A∴
Publication in Class D

Facing East, in the centre, draw deep deep deep thy breath closing thy mouth with the right forefinger against the lower lip. Then dashing down the hand with a great sweep back and out, expelling forcibly thy breath, cry APO PANTOS KAKODAIMONOS1.

With the same forefinger touch thy forehead, and say SOI2, thy member, and say O PHALLE3, thy right shoulder, and say ISCHUROS4, thy left shoulder, and say EUCHARISTOS5; then clasp thine hands, locking the fingers, and cry IAO.

Advance to the East. Imagine strongly a Pentagram, aright, in thy forehead. Drawing the hands to the eyes, fling it forth, making the sign of Horus, and roar THERION6. Retire thine hand in the sign of Hoor-paar-Kraat.7

Go round to the North and repeat; but say NUIT.8

Go round to the West and repeat; but whisper BABALON.9

Go round to the South and repeat; but bellow HADIT.10

Completing the circle widdershins, retire to the centre and raise thy voice in the Paian, with these words IO PAN, with the signs of N.O.X.11

Extend the arms in the form of a Tau and say low but clear:

PRO MOU IUNGES OPISO MOU TELETARCHAI EPI DEXIA SUNOCHES EPARISTERA DAIMONES FLEGEI GAR PERI MOU HO ASTER TON PENTE KAI EN TEI STELE HO ASTER TON HEX ESTEKE.12

Repeat the Cross Qabalistic, as above, and end as thou didst begin.

Notes

Greek text is all transliterated. If your browser supports Greek characters as part of the HTML 4 extended character set, click here for the version with Greek text.

This ritual was first published as Chapter 25 of The Book of Lies. The form given here is taken from Appendix VI of Magick in Theory and Practice which introduced a number of variant readings.

1: Literally, "away all evil spirits." Approximately the Greek equivalent of "Vade retro Satanas!" Allegedly a formula of exorcism used in the Eastern Orthodox church. Crowley is on record as recommending that it be used when encountering Christians in public, but was apparently hideously embarrassed when a young and enthusiastic Kenneth Grant took this reccomendation seriously, and yelled it at a group of nuns in Hastings while walking with Crowley.
2: "Thy"
3: "O phallus." A note to this line in The Book of Lies states "The secret sense of these words is to be sought in the enumeration thereof." By Greek numerology, O PhALLE = 1366 = 831 + 535 = PhALLOS + KTEIS.
4: "Mighty"
5: "Beneficient"
6: The Book of Lies has "roar CHAOS."
7: The Book of Lies has "Hoor pa Kraat."
8: The Book of Lies has "scream BABALON."
9: The Book of Lies has " say EROS."
10: The Book of Lies has "bellow PSYCHE." CHAOS, BABALON, Eros and Psyche probably represent the formula of Tetragrammaton in this case. The names of the quarters in the later version match those in Liber V vel Reguli although the order differs.
11: The signs of N.O.X. are called Puer, Vir, Puella, Mulier and Mater Triumphans and are described in Liber V vel Reguli (see appendix VI of Magick in Theory and Practice). There is no general agreement on which order they should be given in this instance, although in the order given they symbolically represent a progression through the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life from Geburah through Chesed and across the Abyss to Binah. But there are other readings possible. For example in some rituals, Puella is answered with Puer and becomes Mulier, and the signs of Vir and Mater Triumphans (or Isis Rejoicing) represent a continuation from then on.
12: "Before me the Iynges, behind me the Teletarchs, on my right hand the Synoches, on my left the daimons, for about me flames the Star of Five and in the column stands the Star of Six." The Iunges, Synoches and Teletarchs comprise the "Intelligible and Intellectual Triad" in the Empyræan World according to some formulations of Neoplatonic mysticism – specifically, Proclus' interpretation of the Chaldæan Oracles, where they are first mentioned, albeit briefly. See for example Chaldæan Oracles and Theurgy by Hans Lewy.
The Iynges (pl. of Iynx) appear to have been a group of ministering powers serving as intermediaries between the theurgist and the Supreme God. The name also appears to have been applied to some kind of "spinning top" used in magical rituals (apparently it consisted of a disc on the end of a leather thong which was whirled round the operator's head).
The Teletarchs were considered "Rulers of the Mysteries"; there were three of them, assigned to the three worlds (intellegible, celestial and material); they are also referred, in one cryptic fragment, to three "virtues", Truth, Faith (which Proclus suggested should be understood as referring to the oath of silence concerning the mysteries) and Love (Grk., Eros) There is probably no connection between these and Paul of Tarsus' triad of virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity (Grk., Agapé), as mentioned in the Rose-Croix degree of Freemasonry.
The Synoches are literally the "connectives" or binding powers of the Universe; possibly they should be identified with the Platonic Ideas in a certain aspect.  All this is very tentative.

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