Phrase search ignores case and repeated whitespace. All-words search finds whole words anywhere on the same page. OCR errors can affect results.
Contents Works Cited Foreword 7 Introduction 13 Commentary on Title 21 The First Chapter 23 The Second Chapter 87 The Third Chapter 155 The Stèle of Revealing 191 Liber AL vel Legis sub figura CCXX 195 Chapter I 197 Chapter II 203 Chapter III 210 AL (Liber Legis) sub figura XXXI The Comment 284 285 General Index 293 Index of Liber AL Citations 302 5
Index of AL Citations CHAPTER I Verse 22 111 Verse 26 99 Verse 28 94 Verse 29 13,14, 15, 17, 30, 34, 40, 49, 76, 87, 89, 92, 98, 99,101, 111,113, 114,115, 127, 130, 133, 144,146, 148, 150,158, 160, 171,173,176 CHAPTER III Verse 3 17, 87, 89,92, 114, 17: Verse 34 34,130 Verse 36 15 Verse 40 17,176 Verse 41 92 Verse 44 111,148,150 Verse 47 14 Verse 51 60, 100 Verse 53 63,76 Verse 54 133 Verse 57 40,49,114,133, 144 Verse 61 98 Verse 62 171 Verse 65 171 Verse 69 98 Verse 9 95 CHAPTER II Verse 11 13 Verse 12 98,99 Verse 15 87 Verse 16 87 Verse 21 11…
…on made heavy cuts, but his selection brought the work into better balance and focus.1 1 Based on the pagination of the present edition, Chapter I was cut from 114 to 64 pages, Chapter II from 79 to 67 pages, and Chapter III from 49 to 35 pages. 2 It was however uncirculated. See John Cowper Powys, Letters to Louis Wilkinson (London: Village Press, 1974), p. 192n. 3 An exemplary executor, Wilkinson managed the English side of Crow ley’s complex affairs virtually singlehandedly; his co-executor, John Symonds, was preoccupied with writing his ho…
Liber AL vel Legis subfigura CCXX — Chapter II 209 77. O be thou proud and mighty among men! 78. Lift up thyself! for there is none like unto thee among men or among Gods! Lift up thyself, o my prophet, thy stature shall surpass the stars. They shall worship thy name, foursquare, mystic, wonderful, the number of the man; and the name of thy house 418. 79. The end of the hiding of Hadit; and blessing & worship to the prophet of the lovely Star!
Chapter III * Verses 68-75 189 But apparently Ra-Hoor-Khuit had an Universe in his left hand, and crushed it so that naught remains. I think this “Universe” is that of monistic metaphysics; in one hand is the “Double Wand,” in the other “naught.” This seems to refer to the “none and two” ontology outlined in previous notes. 73. Paste the sheets from right to left and from top to bottom: then behold! 74. There is a splendour in my name hidden and glorious, as the sun of midnight is ever the son. 75. The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabr…
Chapter III & Verses 58-60 185 I have myself practiced constantly to prove the Law by many and divers modes in many and divers spheres of thought, until it has become absolutely fixed in me, so much so that it appears an “identical equation,” axiomatic indeed, and yet not a platitude, but a very sword of Truth to sunder every knot at a touch. As the practical ethics of the Law, I have formulated in words of one syllable my declaration of the RIGHTS OF MAN Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. There is no god but Man. Man has the righ…
Chapter II * Verses 7—9 95 8. Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me; ill, for I am the worshipper. Commentary: Harpocrates is also the Dwarf-Soul, the Secret Self of every man, the Serpent with the Lion’s Head. Now Hadit knows Nuit by virtue of his “Going” or “Love.” It is therefore wrong to worship Hadit; one is to be Hadit, and worship Her. This is clear even from His instruction “To worship me” in verse 22 of this chapter. Confer Cap. I, v. 9. We are exhorted to offer ourselves unto Nuit, pilgrims to all her temples. It is bad Mag…
Chapter III * Verses 19-20 161 But 718 is expressed openly; its nature is described sufficiently and unambiguously; and it meant nothing to anybody in the world, either then or for seventeen years after. And now the meaning falls so pat, so natural, so self-justified, so evidently the unique value of the “x” of the equation, that it is impossible to quibble. The law of probabilities excludes all theories but one. The simple Truth is what I have always asserted. There is a Being called Aiwaz, an intelligence discarnate, who wrote this Book of th…
Chapter II A Verses 11 — 13 99 13. for why? Because thou wast the knower, and me. Commentary: Hadit had to overcome the silly “knower,” who thought everything was Sorrow. Cf. “Who am I?”—“Thou knowest” in Chapter I. I am far from satisfied with the above interpretation of this verse. We shall see a little later, verses 27 sqq., a general objection to “Because” and “why”. Then how is it that Hadit does not dis dain to use those terms? It must be for the sake of my mind. Then, “for why” is detestably vulgar; and no straining of grammar excuses o…
Chapter I b Verse 52 65 love. All science, all art, every elaboration should emphasize and adorn the expression of the enthusiasm. All strength and all skill should be summoned to fulfil the frenzy, and life itself should be flung with a spendthrift gesture on the counter of the Merchant of Madness. On the steel of your helmet let there be gold inlaid with the motto “Excess.” The above indications are taken from a subsequent passage of the third chapter of this Book.1 1 [See Commentary to 111:55-56, pp. 170-181.] 2 [Yvette Guilbert (1868-1944) …
Chapter II a Verses 74-79 153 he is. He shams dead, like other vile insects, at the approach of danger; he tries to escape notice by assuming the colour and form of his surroundings, using “protective mimicry” like certain other invertebrates. He exudes stink or ink like the skunk or the cuttle-fish, calling the one Morality and the other Decency. He is slippery with Hypocrisy, like a slug; and, labelling the totality of his defects Perfection, defines God as Faeces so that he may flatter himself with the epithet divine. The whole manœuvre is d…
The Second Chapter 1. Nu! the hiding of Hadit. Commentary: We see again set forth the complementary character of Nuit and Hadit. Nu conceals Had because He is Everywhere in the Infinite, and She manifests Him for the same reason. (See verse 3.) Every Individual manifests the Whole; and the Whole conceals every Individual. The Soul interprets the Uni verse; and the Universe veils the Soul. Nature understands Herself by becoming self-conscious in Her units; and the Consciousness loses its sense of separateness by dissolution in Her. There has be…
The Third Chapter 1. Abrahadabra; the reward of Ra Hoor Khut. 2. There is division hither homeward; there is a word not known. Spelling is defunct; all is not aught. Beware! Hold! Raise the spell of Ra-Hoor-Khuit! 3. Now let it be first understood that I am a god of War and of Vengeance. I shall deal hardly with them. Commentary: The God of Vengeance is in Greek O AAAZTQP, Aleister. For some reason which I have not been able to trace, this God became Alastor, the Desert Daemon of the Rabbins, then later the “Spirit of Solitude” of Shelley.1 The…
Chapter III * Verses 23—37 165 31. There cometh a rich man from the West who shall pour his gold upon thee. 32. From gold forge steel! 33. Be ready to fly or to smite! 34. But your holy place shall be untouched throughout the centuries: though with fire and sword it be burnt down & shattered, yet an invisible house there standeth, and shall stand until the fall of the Great Equinox; when Hrumachis shall arise and the double-wanded one assume my throne and place. Another prophet shall arise, and bring fresh fever from the skies; another woman sh…
Liber AL vel Legis subfigura CCXX — Chapter III 213 36. Then said the prophet unto the God: 37. I adore thee in the song— I am the Lord of Thebes, and I The inspired forth-speaker of Mentu; For me unveils the veiled sky, The self-slain Ankh-af-na-khonsu Whose words are truth. I invoke, I greet Thy presence, O Ra-Hoor-Khuit! Unity uttermost showed! I adore the might of Thy breath, Supreme and terrible God, Who makest the gods and death To tremble before Thee:— I, I adore thee! Appear on the throne of Ra! Open the ways of the Khu! Lighten the way…
… dominated me and taught me ever since.1 1 [Crowley, Commentary to AL 111:19, p. 161 below.] 2 [Quotations from Liber Legis are cited by chapter and verse in the margins throughout this edition, except when occurring in that section of the Commentary where the verse quoted is the subject.] But the writer from this dictation was not, at the time, in sympathy with this “intelligence.” Aiwaz, in fact, was dictating to a hostile scribe; to one who was forced to write against his will. “I see thee hate the hand & the pen; but I am stronger.”1 2 To t…
The Tirst Chapter 1. Had! The manifestation of Nuit. Commentary: The theogony of our Law is entirely scientific. Nuit is Matter, Hadit is Motion, in their full physical sense.1 They are the tao and te of Chinese Philosophy; or, to put it very simply, the Noun and Verb in grammar. Our central Truth—beyond other philosophies—is that these two infinities cannot exist apart. This extensive subject must be studied in our other writings, nota bly Berashith, my own Magical Diaries, especially those of 1919, 1920 and 1921,1 2 and The Book of Wisdom or…
Liber AL vel Legis subjigura CCXX — Chapter II 203 1. Nu! the hiding of Hadit. 2. Come! all ye, and learn the secret that hath not yet been revealed. I, Hadit, am the complement of Nu, my bride. I am not extended, and Khabs is the name of my House. 3. In the sphere I am everywhere the centre, as she, the circum ference, is nowhere found. 4. Yet she shall be known & I never. 5. Behold! the rituals of the old time are black. Let the evil ones be cast away; let the good ones be purged by the prophet! Then shall this Knowledge go aright. 6. I am t…
Chapter III A Verses 61 — 67 187 Such Life and Mind may therefore be utterly different to any thing we know of; the “girders” of their souls in other spheres may be other than ours. The above argument is a case of a “girder”; we are bound mentally by our race-experience of the environment in which our own lives flourish. A pioneer choosing a camp must look for wood, water, perhaps shelter, perhaps game. In another planet he might not need any of these. The “girders” which determine the “form” of our souls are therefore limitations to our thoug…
Chapter I * Verses 10—26 35 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! 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. 16. For he is ever a sun, and she a moon. But to him is the …