LIBER PYRAMIDOS

A Ritual of Self-Initiation
Based on the Formula of the Neophyte

By Aleister Crowley

A∴A∴
Publication in Class D

The Building of the Pyramid (opening)
The Initiation
The Sealing of the Pyramid (closing)
Notes

000. The Building of the Pyramid

The Magus with Wand. On the Altar are Incense, Fire, Bread, Wine, the Chain, the Scourge, the Dagger, and the Oil. 1 In his left hand he taketh a Bell.

Two strokes on the bell.

Hail Asi! Hail, Hoor-Apep! Let
The silence speech beget!

Banishing spiral dance

The words against the Son of Night
Tahuti speaketh in the Light.
Knowledge and Power, twin warriors, shake
The Invisible, they roll asunder
The darkness; matter shines, a snake.
Sebek is smitten by the thunder-
The Light breaks forth from under.

He goes to the west, in the centre of the base of the triangle of Θωθ (Aleph),2 Asi (Mem) and Hoor (Shin).

O Thou, the Apex of the Plane
With Ibis head and Phoenix Wand
And wings of Night! Whose serpents strain
Their bodies, bounding the beyond.
Thou in the Light and in the Night
Art One, above their moving might!

He lays the wand etc on the altar, uses the scourge on the buttocks, cuts a cross with the dagger upon his breast and tightens the chain of the bell about his forehead, saying:

The Lustral Water! Smite thy flood
Through this breast of steel and blood!3
The scourge, the Dagger and the Chain
Cleanse body, breast and brain!4

Annointing the wounds, say:5

The Fire informing! Let the oil
Balance, assain, assoil.6

Invoking spiral dance.

So Life from Death takes fire, and runs
Whirling amid the Suns!
Hail Asi! Pace the Path, bind on
The girdle of the Starry One!

Make Sign of Enterer

Homage to Thee, Lord of the Word!

Make Sign of Silence

Lord of the Silence, homage to Thee!7

Repeat both signs

Lord, we adore Thee, still and stirred
Beyond Infinity.8

The Word M . . . . M (Blue, Orange, Yellow-Green, Yellow, Orange, Blue)9

For from the Silence of the Wand
Unto the Speaking of the Sword
And back again to the Beyond,
This is the toil and the reward.
This is the Path of HUA;—Ho!
This is the Path of ΙΑΩ

Bell

Hail Asi! hail, thou Wanded Wheel!
Alpha and Delta kissed and came
For Five that feed the Flame.

Bell

Hail, Hoor-Apep! thou Sword of Steel
Alpha and Delta and Epsilon
Met in the shadow of the Pylon
And in Iota did proclaim
That tenfold core and crown of flame
Hail Hoor-Apep! unspoken Name!

M . . . . M

Thus is the Great Pyramid builded.

1. Initiation

(The Candidate still, bound and hoodwinked)

The First Pylon

I know not who I am
I know not whence I come
I know not where I go10
I seek—but what I do not know

I am blind and bound, but I
Have heard one cry
Ring through eternity:
Arise and follow me!

Invokes in Sign of Apophis and Typhon:

Asar Un-nefer! I invoke
The Fourfold Horror of the Smoke.
Unloose the Pit! by the dread Word
Of Power—that Set-Typhon hath heard!11
Z.N.Z.Z.12

A pause.

The Fear of Darkness and of Death
The Fear of Water and of Fire
The Fear o'th'Chasm and the Chain
The Fear of Hell and the Dead Breath
The Fear of Him, the demon dire
That on the Threshold of the Inane
Stands with his dragon fear to slay
The Pilgrim of the way.
These I pass by with force and care,
Advance with fortitude and wit
In the straight path; or else their snare
Were surely infinite.

The Passing of the Second Pylon

Staggers and falls back to earth. Suit actions to words, using chain, scourge and dagger.

Asar! who clutches at my throat?
Who pins me down? Who stabs my heart?
I am unfit to pass within
This Pylon of the Hall of Maat13

Suit actions to words—rubric as before.

The Lustral Water! Let thy flood
Cleanse me—lymph marrow and blood!
The Scourge, the Dagger, and the Chain
Purge body, breast and brain!
The Fire Informing: let the Oil
Balance, assain, assoil.14

Still, in corpse-position:

For I am come with all this pain
To ask admission to the shrine.
I know not why—I ask in vain—
Unless—may be—that I am Thine!15

I am Mentu his truth-telling brother
Who was master of Thebes from my birth:—16
O heart of me! heart of my mother!
O heart that I had upon earth!
Stand thou not up against me a witness!
Oppose me not, judge, in my quest!
Accuse me not now of unfitness
Before the great God, the dread Lord of the West!

(Change the next line to your own motto. Work the scansion accordingly.)

Speak fair words for OU MH.17 May he flourish
In the place of the weighing of hearts
By the marsh of the dead, where the crocodiles nourish
Their lives on the lost! where the Serpent upstarts—
For though I be joined to the Earth
In the innermost shrine of Heaven am I
I was master of Thebes from my birth
As a dog shall I die?  Thou shalt not let me die
But my Khu that the teeth of the crocodile sever
Shall be mighty in heaven for ever and ever!

Yea! but I am Fool, a Flutterer!
I am under the Shadow of the Wings!

Refrain “I am under &c” after each accusation.

I am a liar and a sorcerer
I am so fickle that I scorn the bridle
I am unchaste and voluptuous and idle
I am a bully and a tyrant crass—
I am as dull and stubborn as an ass18
I am untrusty, cruel and insane—
I am a fool and frivolous and vain
I am a weakling and a coward; I cringe
I am a catamite and cunnilinge—
I am a glutton, a besotted wight—19
I am a satyr and a sodomite—
I am as changeful and selfish as the sea
I am a thing of vice and vanity—
I am most violent and I vacillate—
I am a blind man and emasculate—
I am a raging fire of wrath – no wiser!
I am a blackguard, a spendthrift and a miser
I am obscure and devious and null—
I am ungenerous and base and dull
I am not marked with the white flame of Breath!
I am a traitor – die the traitor's death!

He is slain by the sword.20

I am under the Shadow of the Wings!

This last raises Candidate erect.

Invoking spiral dance. Rubric as before.

Now let me pace the Path, bind on
The girdle of the Starry One!

Come to barred Pylon in North West.

Asar! who clutches &c (rubric as before)
The Lustral Water! &c (rubric as before)
The Fire Informing! &c (rubric as before)

Bar in North.21>See Horus.

Soul-mastering terror is thy Name
Lord of the Gods! Dread Lord of Hell!
I come, I fear thee not. Thy flame
Is mine to weave my maiden spell!
I know thee and I pass Thee by
For more than Thou am I

Bar in S.E.

Asar! who clutches &c (rubric as before)
The Lustral Water! &c (rubric as before)
The Fire Informing! &c (rubric as before)

Bar in South.22 See Isis.

Sorrow that eateth up the Soul,
Dam of the Gods, the blue sky's queen
This is Thy name.  I come, control
And pass.  I know Thee, Lady of Teen.23
I know Thee, and I pass Thee by,
For more than Thou am I.

Bar in N.E.

Asar! who clutches &c (rubric as before)
The Lustral Water! &c (rubric as before)
The Fire Informing! &c (rubric as before)

In East. See Thoth. Silence.24

Bar in S.W.

Asar! who clutches &c (rubric as before)
The Lustral Water! &c (rubric as before)
The Fire Informing! &c (rubric as before)

In West. See Nature.25

I will not look upon Thee more
For Fatal is thy name. Begone!
False Phantom, Thou shalt pass before
The frowning forehead of the Sun!
I know Thee, and I pass Thee by
For more than Thou am I.

Formulating Hexagram.26

Now witness ye upon the earth
Spirit and water and red blood.
Witness above, Bright Babe of Birth
Spirit and Father – that are God!

As Babe in Egg, being born.27

For Silence duly is begot
And Darkness duly brought to bed,
The Shroud is figured in my thought,
The Inmost Light is on my head.

Unbind.

Sign of Enterer.

Attack! I eat up the strong Lions, I!
Fear is on Seb, on them that dwell therein.
Behold the radiant vigour of the Lord.

Sign of Silence.

Defence! I close the Mouth of Sebek, ply
My fear on Nile, Asar that held not in
Behold my radiant peace, ye things abhorred!

For see! the Gods have loosed mine hands:
Asar unfettered stands!
Hail Asi, Hail! Hoor-Apep cries—
Now I the Son of Man arise
And follow—dead where Asar lies!28

Lie down in Sign of Hanged Man.29

I gild my left foot with the light
I gild my Phallus with the light
I gild my right knee with the light
I gild my right foot with the light
I gild my left knee with the light
I gild my Phallus with the light
I gild mine elbows with the light
I gild my navel with the light
I gild my heart wedge with the light
I gild my black throat with the light
I gild my forehead with the light
I gild my Phallus with the light
The threefold star cross-crowned, I rise
Partaker of the Mysteries.30

Rising in sign Mulier.31

Asar Un-nefer! I am Thine
Waiting Thy glory in the shrine,
Thy bride, thy virgin, ah, my Lord!
Smite through the Spirit with thy sword!
Asar Un-nefer! rise in me
The chosen catamite of thee.
Come ! Ah come now! I wait, I wait
Patient-impatient, slave of Fate
Bought by thy glance. Come now, come now
Touch and inform this burning brow.
Asar Un-nefer! in the shrine
Make Thou me wholly Thine

Remove hoodwink.32

I am Asar – worthy alone
To sit upon the Double Throne.
Attack is mine, and mine defence:
And these are one. Arise, go hence!33
For I am master of my Fate,
Wholly Initiate.

M . . . . M34

The words are spoken duly
The deeds are duly done.
My soul is risen newly
To greet the risen Sun.

Bell accordingly:

One! Four! Five! Hail!
One! Four! Five! Ten! All Hail!

Sign accordingly

I give the sign that rends the Veil (Sign of Enterer)
The sign that closes up the Veil (Sign of Silence)

(Some versions have the Word M . . . . M again here)

2. The Sealing of the Pyramid

(Proceed as in the Building, unto the word 'suns')

The Magus with Wand.[...] In his left hand he taketh a Bell.

Two strokes on the bell.

Hail Asi! Hail, Hoor-Apep! Let
The silence speech beget!

Banishing spiral dance

The words against the Son of Night &c

He goes to the west, in the centre of the base of the triangle of Thoth (Aleph), Asi (Mem) and Hoor (Shin).

O Thou, the Apex of the Plane &c

He lays the wand etc on the altar, uses the scourge on the buttocks, cuts a cross with the dagger upon his breast and tightens the chain of the bell about his forehead, saying:

The Lustral Water! &c

Annointing the wounds, say:

The Fire informing! &c

Invoking spiral dance

So Life from Death takes fire, and runs
Whirling amid the Suns!

Banishing spiral dance

Now let my hands unloose the sweet
And shining girdle of Nuit!

Make Sign of Enterer

Homage to Thee, Lord of the Word!

Make Sign of Silence

Lord of the Silence, homage to Thee!

Repeat both signs

Lord, we adore Thee, still and stirred
Beyond Infinity.
M . . . . M

Then, at the Altar

Behold! the Perfect One hath said
These are my body's Elements
Tried and found pure, a golden spoil
Incense and wine and fire and bread35
These I consume, true sacraments
For the perfection of the Oil.

Act accordingly

For I am clothed about with flesh
And I am the eternal Spirit
I am the Lord that riseth fresh
From death, whose glory I inherit
Since I partake with Him. I am36
The manifestor of the Unseen
Without me all the land of Khem
Is as it had not been.

(Proceed as in Building to end)

For from the Silence of the Wand
Unto the Speaking of the Sword
And back again to the Beyond,
This is the toil and the reward.
This is the Path of HUA; – Ho!
This is the Path of IAO.

Bell

Hail Asi! hail, thou Wanded Wheel!
Alpha and Delta kissed and came
For Five that feed the Flame.

Bell

Hail, Hoor-Apep! thou Sword of Steel
Alpha and Delta and Epsilon
Met in the shadow of the Pylon
And in Iota did proclaim
That tenfold core and crown of flame
Hail Hoor-Apep! unspoken Name!

Bell

Hail, Hoor! Hail, Asi! Hail, Tahuti! Hail,37
Asar Un-nefer! through the rended38 veil,
I am Thyself, with all thy brilliance decked.
Khabs Am Pekht

Notes and variant readings

Sources:
The following variant texts of this ritual are known to me and were consulted in preparing this edition
1. An illuminated manuscript, probably the one prepared in Crowley in October 1908 (as recorded in John St. John), in the collection of Northwestern University Library, Evanston, Illinois, published as a colour facsimile in Equinox IV, 1.
2. A duplicated typescript in the O.T.O. archives, prepared from a manuscript (not identical with the above) in the possession of a Dr. Kowal of Chicago (via C.S. Jones), itself noting some variant readings from another typescript. According to Yorke, this MS was either the original referred to in John St. John or a direct copy from it.  What appears to be a facsimile of one page from this MS was randomly inserted in O.T.O. Rituals and Sex Magick for no apparent reason and with no indication of its source.  The copy in the O.T.O. archives is missing the last 2 or 3 pages, including most of the Closing. Cited as “Kowal TS.”
3. Another duplicated typescript in the O.T.O. archives, this one from a copy prepared for Frank Bennett, and containing opening and closing sections only.
4. Text published in Sothis magazine (vol II no 1).
Other versions deriving from one or more of these, or possibly from other surviving manuscripts or typescripts, have been posted on the Internet. There are relatively few major variant readings, most of which are noted below. Variants in capitalisation and punctuation are not noted as these are probably mostly due to vagaries of transcription.

I have also had the opportunity to consult a copy of a typescript of Liber 671 vel ThROA, the early version of this ritual with officers.  However, in accordance with a scribbled note by Crowley on the cover sheet of the TS, the earlier ritual is deemed “not for publication” and is therefore here omitted.

Footnotes

1: The Frank Bennet typescript gives a rather more detailed description of the altar, thus:

The Bennett typescripts give other extra details of the opening. It is noted that “East” is to be taken as the direction of Boleskine.  “Hail, Asi!” is spoken in the Southwest, followed by a stroke on the bell, to establish Demeter in S.W.; “Hail, Hoor-Apep” in the Northwest, followed by a stroke on the bell, to establish Hades in N.W.  “The Words against the Son of Night (etc)” (a poetic paraphrase of the General Exordium of Z1) is spoken from the Throne of the East to establish Hermes in E., and the speech “O Thou! the Apex of the Plane (etc)” from the West, invoking Hermes (I am not clear why the Egyptian and Greek versions of the god-forms were mixed here).

2: Thoth in Greek.

3: Other versions have “Through me – lymph, marrow and blood!” The reading here is from the Kowal TS.

4: Some versions omit these two lines.

5: The Kowal TS has “He oils the three centres.”

6: “Assain” is a loan-word from French, meaning approximately to clean, purify or disinfect.  “Assoil” is an archaic English word, meaning variously to absolve, to release from a debt or obligation, acquit of a criminal charge, etc.

7: The Kowal TS has here

Lord of the Silence, sink the Sword
And Wand, that through all heaven be heard
That we adore the Lord

8: Some versions have “Eternity.”

9: The Word of a Neophyte, usually glyphed “M . . . . M” or something of the kind, is (according to a letter from Achad to Frank Bennet), MUAUM or MWAWM, a modification of the formula of AUM, which adds to 93 counting the U as Hebrew Vau, almost matches the colours but has the “wrong” number of letters; the sixth coloured band represents the traditional Qabalistic fudge of a concealed Yod which is not pronounced or counted in the numeration.  The Word is said to represent the entire Course of the Breath.  The actual pronunciation as used in the A∴A∴ is taught privately to Neophytes.

The illuminated MS in Equinox IV (1) glyphs the word by a diamond with six coloured bands, almost in the colours given except the second and fifth look red rather than orange.

10: Some versions have “whither I go.”

11: The Kowal TS omits the first two words of this line.

12: Thus in Kowal TS. Other versions have “Sazaz Sazaz Adnatsan SazaZ (Pronounce this backwards. But it is very dangerous. It opens the Gates of Hell.)”  I am unsure of the origin of the “Zazas” formula; in The Vision and the Voice it is given slightly differently, and Crowley in a note refers the words to “some vision of old time.”  The most likely source is one of the Gnostic texts; certainly the style is right.

13: Some versions posted on the Internet repeat the verse “The fear of darkness and of death ... were surely infinte” here and at the other 'barrings.' In my opinion this is an erroneous reading.

14: The Kowal typescript has after this speech “Passes the First Pylon, the Gate into the Pyramid.”

15: Thus in Kowal TS. Later versions have “Unless it be that I am Thine.”

16: Kowal TS has “from his birth.”

17: ’OU MH in Greek; Crowley's Adeptus Exemptus motto. Actually it isn’t pronounced “Who, me?” as it’s a smooth breathing on the first word.

18: Kowal TS has “as dense and stubborn &c.”

19: Kowal TS has “a glutton and a bastard wight.”

20: Some versions omit this line.

21: Some versions have NW here.

22: Some versions have SW here.

23: Some versions have “Lady of Teeu” which does not rhyme. It is not clear from the MS which is correct.

24: Kowal TS has: “Bar in East. Thoth veiled. The silent interview.” The illuminated MS simply has a blank space between the drawing of pylon marked 'E' and a drawing of the god-form of Thoth.

25: Kowal TS has: “Bar in West. C. contemplates himself, in silence.”

26: Kowal TS has “At Altar.  Formulating Hexagram.  Pyramid of hands.”  The illuminated MS shows a figure standing at an altar with wand extended and touching the bottom point of a hexagram composed of interlaced red (point up) and blue (point down) triangles, with a sunblaze in the middle of the figure.

27: Kowal TS has “Hoor and H.P.K. in Egg.”

28: Kowal TS has “where dead Asar lies!” It appears in the illuminated MS that this reading has been amended to the one given.

29: MS has a sketch of a figure in the “Hanged Man” position, with the named points marked.  The points form an approximate to the cross and triangle emblem of the G.D.

30: The last two lines appear in the Kowal TS (and on the page of facsimile MS of unknown provenance in OTO Rituals and Sex Magick) but are omitted by most later versions.

31: Some versions omit this line.

32: At this point in the MS is drawn a Vesica in the centre of a blaze of radiating lines – red, yellow, and blue. Next to the ensuing speech is drawn the God-form of Asar Un-Nefer enthroned.

33: Kowal TS has “Let us go hence.”

34: Kowal TS has “M----M + and + in silence.” The illuminated MS has – below the coloured diamond used to glyph the Secret Word – the symbols of sulphur, salt and mercury. Elsewhere in that manuscript those symbols are used to glyph the rigmarole with the scourge, dagger and chain (see Book 4 part 2).

35: Some versions reverse the order of these two lines, which disrupts the rhyme scheme slightly. Both the Frank Bennett TS and the illuminated MS have them in the order given.

For the scent of the Dying Rose is as the repressed Sigh of my suffering.
And the flame-red Fire is as the Energy of mine Undaunted Will:
And the Cup of Wine is the pouring out of the Blood of my Heart:
Sacrificed unto Regeneration, unto the Newer Life:
And the bread and Salt are as the Foundations of my Body,
Which I destroy in order that they may be renewed.

whereas the equivalent passage in ThROA reads:

For the Scent of the Oil is the Joy of my Passion (Incense)
The Heat of the Oil is the Might of my Will (Fire)
The Flux of the Oil is the Life of my Blood (Wine)
The Substance of the Oil is the Foundation, my Body (Wafer)
which things I consume for the Perfection of the Oil.

36: The Frank Bennett TS has:

From death; my glories they inherit
Who shall abide with me. I am

37: The Frank Bennett TS has a bell after each 'hail.'

38: The Frank Bennett TS has “rendered.”.

A note re the batteries of knocks / bells (1, 4, 5, etc): The letters Α, Δ, Ε are the initials of the Greek god-forms of the earlier form of this ritual – Hades (‘Αδες now Horus / Hoor-Apep), Demeter (Δημτηρ, now Isis) and Hermes (‘Ερμης, now Thoth).  1, 4 and 5 are the numbers of these three letters respectively.  Also note that the numbers form an equilateral triangle plotted on the Tree of Life.  This isn't entirely satifactory since this puts Hades / Horus in Kether and Hermes / Thoth in Geburah – it should really be the other way round (see the Golden Dawn Z documents for this ascription of the highest form of Hermes).  I = 10 may refer to the Candidate, in Malkuth, to which this grade is ascribed; or it may be the initial of Iacchus, who “appears uninvoked” according to the description of the ritual in John St. John (as the apex of the triangular pyramid whose base is marked by the previous three god-forms)  There is also a reference to these god-forms of the ritual in Crowley's published diaries from 1923 (6th July), where Iacchus is identified with '93' (possibly by the horrible fudge IAChChVS (Hebrew) = 93).
1+4+5 = 10; in all, 30 knocks, referred to as “30 voices” (also in John St. John) which immediately brings to mind the 30 Æthyrs, although this may just be coincidence.  Also, if we use Aiq Bkr and count 5=50, this sequence gives us 1, 4, 50, 10, ADNI (Adonai), which of course spelt in full (not counting finals) i.e. ALP DLT NVN YVD = 111 + 434 + 106 + 20 = 671, the number of this ritual; hence the reference to “The spelling of the name of Adonai” in the subtitle of Liber ThROA.  (P.S.: Stirling in The Canon has much on 671, in particular he notes that “Masonry” can be equated to 671 by transliterating into Hebrew, which again connects with the building symbolism.)

Text © Ordo Templi Orientis. Copies and printouts may be made for personal use and research and may be distributed to others provided no charge apart from reasonable costs of copying and postage is made and this notice or an equivalent is included.

Key entry, HTML coding and remorselessly pedantic footnotes by Frater T.S.

Return to index of documents.

Return to no-frames index.