56 נו‬ Nuit; the Stooping Starlight

Contents

• The Old Comment
• The New Comment
• The Djeridensis Comment
• Liber NV svb figvra XI
• Works Cited

Liber AL vel Legis

Chapter One

1. Had! the manifestation of Nuit.
2. The unveiling of the company of heaven.

12. Come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your fill of love!
13. I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.
14. Above the gemmèd azure is
    The naked splendour of Nuit;
    She bends in ecstasy to kiss
    The secret ardours of Hadit.
    The wingèd globe, the starry blue
    Are mine, O Ankh-ah-na-khonsu!

19. O azure-lidded woman, bend upon them!

21. With the God & the Adorer I am nothing: they do not see me. They are as upon the earth; I am Heaven, and there is no other God than me, and my lord Hadit.
22. Now, therefore, I am known to ye by my name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knoweth me. Since I am of Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof, do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.

24. I am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty.
25. Divide, add, multiply, and understand.
26. Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bending down, 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.
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!

58. I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.
59. My incense is of resinous woods & gums; and there is no blood therein: because of my hair the trees of Eternity.
60. My number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the circle is Red. My color is black to the blind, but the blue & gold are seen of the seeing. Also I have a secret glory for them that love me.
61. But to love me is better than all things: if under the night-stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the Serpent flame therein, thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in splendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich headdress. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me!
62. At all my meetings with you shall the priestess say--and her eyes shall burn with desire as she stands bare and rejoicing in my secret temple--To me! To me! calling forth the flame of the hearts of all in her love-chant.
63. Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you!
64. I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky.
65. To me! To me!
66. The Manifestation of Nuit is at an end.

    Djeridensis Comment: "Nuit Her veil again fallen upon Her. And thus she ends in Silence."

Chapter One

1. Compare II.1, the complement of this verse. In Nu is Had concealed; by Had is Nu manifested. Nu being 56 and Had 9, their conjunction results in 65, Adonai, the Holy Guardian Angel. Also Hoor, who combines the force of the Sun with that of Mars. Adonai is primarily Solar, but 65 is a number sacred to Mars.
   See the "Sepher Sephiroth" ,and "The Wake World" in "Know Om Pax" for further details on 65.
   Note moreover, the sixty-five pages of the MS. of Liber Legis.
   Or, counting NV 56, Had 10, we get 66, which is (1-11). Had is further the centre of the Key-Word ABRAHADABRA.
2. This book is a new revelation, or unveiling of the hold ones.

12. The Key of the worship of Nu. The uniting of consciousness with infinite space by the exercise of love, pastoral or pagan love. But vide infra.
13. This doctrine implies some mystic bond which I imagine is only to be understood by experience; this human ecstasy and that divine ecstasy interact. A similar doctrine is found in the Bhagavad Gita.
14. This verse is a direct translation of the first section of the stele. It conceals a certain secret ritual of the highest rank, connected with the two previous verses.

19. Nuit herself will overshadow them.

21. Refers to the actual picture on the stele. Nuit is a conception immeasurably beyond all men have even thought of the Divine. thus she is not the mere star-goddess, but a far higher thing, dimly veiled by that unutterable glory.
    This knowledge is also to be attained by adepts; the outer cannot reach to it.
22. A promise -- not yet fulfilled. P.S. since (An V) fulfilled) A charge to destroy the faculty of discriminating between illusions.

24. Nu HB:NV = 6 + 50 = 56.
25. Dividing 6/50 = 0.12.
    0 the circumference, Nuit.
    . the centre, Hadit.
    1 the Unity proceeding, Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
    2 = the Coptic H, whose shape closely resembles the Arabic figure 2, the Breath of Life, inspired and expired. Human consciousness. Thoth.
    Adding 50 + 6 = 56, Nu, and concentrating 5 + 6 = 11, Abrahadabra, etc.
    Multiplying 50 x 6 = 300, HB:Sh and Ruach Elohim, the Holy Spirit.
    I am inclined to believe that there is a further mystery concealed in this verse; possibly those of 418 and 666 again.
26. The prophet demanding a sign of his mission, it is promised: a Samadhi upon the Infinite.
    This promise was later fulfilled—see "The Temple of Solomon the King," which proposes to deal with the matter in its due season.
27. -31. Here is a profound philosophical dogma, in a sense possibly an explanation and illumination of the propositions in "Berashith."
    The dyad (or universe) is created with little pain in order to make the bliss of dissolution possible. Thus the pain of life may be atoned for by the bliss of death.
    This delight is, however, only for the chosen servants of Nu. Outsiders may be looked on much as the Cartesians looked on animals.

58. The Grace of our Lady of the Stars.
59. "Because," etc. This mystical phrase doubtless refers to some definite spiritual experience connected with the knowledge of Nuit.
60. Nu = 56 and 5 + 6 = 11.
    The Circle in the Pentagram? See Liber NV.
    The uninitiated perceive only darkness in Night: the wise perceive the golden stars in the vault of azure.
    Concerning that Secret Glory it is not here fitting to discourse.
61. Practical and literal, yet it may be doubted whether "to lose all in that hour" may not refer to the supreme attainment, and that therefore to give one particle of dust (perhaps the Ego, or the central atom Hadit her complement) is the act to achieve.
62. -63. Again practical and literal. Yet the "Secret Temple" refers also to a knowledge incommunicable—save by experience.
64. The supreme affirmation.
65. The supreme adjuration.

Chapter One

1. The theogony of our Law is entirely scientific, Nuit is Matter, Hadit is Motion, in their full physical sense. {The Proton and the Electron, in a metaphysical sense, suggest close analogies.} They are the Tao and Teh 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, notably "Berashith", my own Magical Diaries, especially those of 1919, 1920 and 1921, and "The Book of Wisdom or Folly". See also "The Soldier and the Hunchback". Further information concerning Nuit and Hadit is given in the course of this Book; but I must here mention that the Brother mentioned in connexion with the "Wizard Amalantrah" etc. (Samuel bar Aiwaz) identifies them with ANU and ADAD the supreme Mother and Father deities of the Sumerians. Taken in connexion with the AIWAZ identification, this is very striking indeed.
   It is also to be considered that Nu is connected with North, while Had is Sad, Set, Satan, Sat (equals "Being" in Sanskrit), South. He is then the Sun, one point concentring Space, as also is any other star. The word ABRAHADABRA is from Abrasax, Father Sun, which adds to 365. For the North-South antithesis see Fabre d'Olivet's "Hermeneutic Interpretation of the Origin of the Social State in Man". Note "Sax" also as a Rock, or Stone, whence the symbol of the Cubical Stone, the Mountain Abiegnus, and so forth. Nu is also reflected in Naus, Ship, etc., and that whole symbolism of Hollow Space which is familiar to all. There is also a question of identifying Nu with On, Noah, Oannes, Jonah, John, Dianus, Diana, and so on. But these identifications are all partial only, different facets of the Diamond Truth. We may neglect all these questions, and remain in the simplicity of this Her own Book.
2. This explains the general theme of this revelation: gives the Dramatis Personae, so to speak.
   It is cosmographically, the conception of the two Ultimate Ideas; Space, and That which occupies Space.
   It will however appear later that these two ideas may be resolved into one, that of Matter; with Space, its 'Condition' or 'form', included therein. This leaves the idea of 'Motion' for Hadit, whose interplay with Nuit makes the Universe.
   Time should perhaps be considered as a particular kind or dimension of Space.{In "Berashith" all qualities soever are considered as so many dimensions. I see no reason, 19 years later, for receding from this view.}
   Further, this verse is to be taken with the next. The 'company of heaven' is Mankind, and its 'unveiling' is the assertion of the independent godhead of every man and every woman!
   Further, as Khabs (see verse 8) is "Star", there is a further meaning; this Book is to reveal the Secret Self of a man, i.e. to initiate him.

12. The whole doctrine of 'love' is discussed in the Book "Aleph (Wisdom or Folly)" and should be studied therein. But note further how this Verse agrees with the comment above, how every Star is to come forth from its veils, that it may revel with the whole World of Stars. This is again also a call to unite or 'love', thus formulating the Equation 1 (-1) = 0 {The Hon. Bertrand Russell might prefer to write this: 1 (-1) = 0. For Initiates of the IXth degree of O.T.O. it could be expressed: Phi K - T = 0, where Phi - K = 0, and Phi and K are both positive integers.}, which is the general magical formula in our Cosmos.
    "Come forth"—from what are you hiding? "under the stars", that is, openly. Also, let love be 'under' or 'unto' the Body of Nuith. But above all, be open! What is this shame? Is Love Hideous, that men should cover him with lies? Is Love so sacred that others must not intrude? Nay, 'under the stars', at night, what eye but theirs may see? Or, if one see, should not your worship wake the cloisters of his soul to echo sanctity for that so lovely a deed and gracious you have done?
13. Note that Space is omnipresent{Perhaps I should have defined the word "Space". The task is far from easy. Space (including Time) is one of the conditions necessary to the illusion of duality. But when Nuith says "I am Infinite Space and the Infinite Stars thereof" (verse 22) there must be some other meaning. May I define it as "totality of the possibilities of giving Form to Being", and thus equivalent to "Matter", which manifests "Motion"? This at least suits the verse under present discussion; for the Feminine Idea is to take delight in enabling the Masculine Idea to express itself by its means. There should be no difficulty for the student of modern mathematical philosophy in conceiving Matter and Space as identical. He may find it less easy to assent to a personification capable of speech. But I shall not resent the interpretation of Her speech as being the rhetorical device of AIWAZ. Devotion to Her, Knowledge of Her, may perfectly well be understood as the process of extending the human consciousness to apprehend the supra-rational idea thus presented. It was obviously necessary, from a practical point of view, to phrase this Book in terms of common parlance, concealing the more recondite Arcana in in the numerical and literal cipher. When, then, I say "Space is omnipresent", it is almost the equivalent of "Anything is always liable to happen."} The cause of 'sorrow' is the 'imaginary' solutions of continuity in this substance. Ecstasy is produced by the resolution of these illusions. Observe well that to beings in a state of strain or sorrow the "Great Work" is bound to appear in the guise of a relief or joy. But this is not to assert Samadhi, that unity with the universe which brings relief and joy by "love", as an "absolute good". It is only good relatively to our present condition as beings divided by Illusion from Nuit. When one returns to the 'simple' state, one soon begins to think out a new route through the Universe, and devise new combinations in the Great Game called Seeing Life.
    In Nature few elements are lone wolves. Most of them are being thrown in and out of combination constantly; on suns this occurs with lordly vehemence.
    Note that Nuith, although She is Infinite Space, speaks as an individual might do, often enough. This is not that She is 'talking down to our level'; it is a fact. In the Cosmos almost any aggregation can think and act as an Ego. For instance, the cells of our bodies are each units, diverse in composition and character, living each a life of its own. Yet we think and act for them, and say "I". The stars are the cells of Her Body. Each one of us is such a cell; not less itself but more because of its secret function in Her.
    It should be evident that Nuith obtains the satisfaction of Her Nature when the parts of Her Body fulfil their own Nature. The sacrament of live is not only so from the point of view of the celebrants, but from that of the divinity invoked.
    It is said that for every step one takes towards one's Holy Guardian Angel, He takes two towards his client.
    What do I mean by "beings divided by Illusion from Nuith", in the first paragraph? This, that we are limited mentally, that we realize only an infinitesimal fraction of the possible forms of expression. We can hardly even imagine ourselves as living on another planet, or in the Sun; much less as apprehending the Universe by means of a totally different set of senses. Yet most of us who are not mere placental amnoites possess an instinct which persistently regrets our incapacities. It is bad enough to be dependent on scientific instruments for our knowledge of all but the grossest of the wonders and splendours of the Universe; but worse that we are aware of an infinite variety of order of phenomena, such as electricity, magnetism, chemical action, and a host of others, which we can explore only by indirect means, interpret only by obviously inadequate symbols, and understand only in terms of arbitrary relations with our animal-sense-perceptions. We know theoretically that every object must react to every other object; and it is evident that each type of reaction may be as overwhelmingly interesting as those which happen to affect us. What unimaginable rapture to be able to observe magnetic fields or molecular movements as directly as we do the Ocean and the Ant-heap! It is the task of the Initiate to adapt himself to the Totality of Existence, and to develop in himself the means of apprehending it wholly and fully.
14. This is a poetic description of the symbolism of the Stele. It is suitable fore such minds as approach Truth in this manner rather than by way of Science or Philosophy.
    It contains a Formula of Magick Art, connected with the Stele. Also, less ineffably, it boasts the consummation of the marriage of Hadit and Nuit in the priest. That is, he has freed Hadit, in the core of his Star, from the illusion-veils of the Khu, so that the two Infinities become one, and none; and create, in the manner shortly to be described, a new Finite.
    This Finite will evidently be an expression of the particular mood of its Father and Mother at the moment of its conception. Obviously, this "Child" cannot add to the Universe; it is therefore inevitably twin (Horus and Harpocrates, Osiris and Typhon, Jesus and Barabbas) in Nature, formed of equal and opposite elements. When the Operation is mystical in character, the "Child" does not appear at all in this manifested form as Two, but as Naught. In the consciousness of the Adept, this is called Samadhi. He has united himself with, and lost himself in, Nuit. When the "Child" appears as Two, it is Magick, as the other is Mysticism. This is the essential difference between these Arts.

19. These two verses 18, 19, seem to be interpolated by Aiwaz, invoking the Gods to The Beast and The Scarlet Woman, perhaps as a formal Consecration.

21. The importance of this verse lies in the assertion of the metaphysical entity of Our Lady, Her incomprehensibility to normal sense.
    The Method of invoking Nuit is given in Liber XI (see Equinox I, VII). Note the initials of God and Adorer GA, the Earth.
    Note that Heaven is not a place where Gods Live; Nuit is Heaven, itself. And "Heaven" is of course "a place wherein one may fulfil oneself", conformably to the definition of Nuit as Space previously offered.
    AL I,22: "Now, therefore, I am known to ye by my name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knoweth me. Since I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof, do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt."
22. We have here a further conception of the cosmographical scheme. Nuit is All that which exists, and the condition of that existence. Hadit is the Principle which causes modifications in this Being. This explains how one may call Nuit Matter, and Hadit Motion, in the highest physico-philosophical sense of those terms.
    We are asked to axquiesce in this Law of Nature. That is, we are not to oppose resistance to the perfect fluidity of the "Becoming" of Nature. Similarly, we are not to attach more importance to any one momentary appearance than to any other.
    For, the moment we do so, we confirm illusion of Duality. We assert Imperfection as absolute instead of as a device of Perfection for self-appreciation.
    The Secret name was revealed in the Sahara desert—see Liber 418, 12 Aethyr, Equinox I, V, Suppl. pp. 82-87.
    This question of making "no difference" as ordained is to regard the whole of the non-Ego or universe apparently external to the Self as a single phenomenon; Samadhi on any one thing becomes therefore Samadhi on The Whole. The mystic who "availeth in this" can then perform his Great Work of "love under will" in a single operation instead of being obliged to unite himself with the non-Ego piecemeal. But see also the Comment on verse 4, above.
    Notice the word "hurt", from he French "heurter", meaning to knock against an obstacle. There is thus a strictly technical accuracy in the choice of the term.
    (Insert quotations from Essay of AN XIX March 31 - April 11 showing how all is the same to Nuit, though not to partial views.)

24. One must observe the special significance of these numbers, not only conjoined, but separate. For 6, Vau, is the Bull; and 50, Nun, the Scorpion. But 6 is also the number of the Sun, our Star. The N of Nu is therefore the Dragon—"Infinite Space"—and V is "the Infinite Stars" thereof. The ITH is the honorific termination representing Her fulfilment of Creative Force. "I" being the Inmost Force, and "Th" its Extension.
    The Dragon in current symbolism refers to the North or Hollow of Heaven; thus to the Womb of Space, which is the container and breeder of all that exists.
    Liber Aleph should be consulted for further information as to the magical import of Scorpio and Taurus.
25. See Qabalistic Appendix.
26. In the MSS., the last 5 words of this verse do not occur. The original reading is 'the unfragmentary non-atomic fact of my universality'.
    This phrase was totally beyond the comprehension of the scribe, and he said mentally—with characteristic self-conceit— "People will never be able to understand this." Aiwass then replied,
    "Write this in whiter words. But go forth on."
    He was willing that the phrase should be replaced by an equivalent, but did not wish the dictation to be interrupted by a discussion at the moment. it was therefore altered (a little later) to "the omnipresence of my body."
    It is extremely interesting to note that in the light of the cosmic theory explained in the notes to verse 3 and 4, the original phrase of Aiwass was exquisitely and exactly appropriate to his meaning.
    It take this opportunity of quoting from Professor Eddington, Op. Cit., a passage which should make it perfectly clear that the "mystical", "irrational", "paradoxical" conception of Nuit expressed in this chapter has a parallel in the sober calculations of a perfectly orthodox astronomer in the undeniably practical University—a poor thing, but mine own—of Cambridge:
    "Whenever there is matter there is action and therefore curvature; and it is interesting to notice that in ordinary matter the curvature of the space-time world is by no means insignificant. for example, in water of ordinary density the curvature is the same as that of space in the form of a sphere of radius 570,000,000 kilometers. The result is even more surprising if expressed in time unites; the radius is about half-an-hour.
    "It is difficult to picture quite what this means; but at least we can predict that a Globe of water 570,000,000 km. radius would have extraordinary properties. Presumably there must be an upper limit to the possible size of a globe of water. So far as I can make out a homogeneous mass of water of about this size (and no larger) could exist. It would have no centre, and no boundry, every point of it being in the same position with respect to the whole mass as every other point of it— like points ion the surface of a sphere with respect to the surface. Any ray of light after travelling for an hour or two would come back to the starting point. Nothing could enter or leave the mass, because there is no boundary to enter or leave by; in fact, it is coextensive with space. There could not be any other world anywhere else because there isn't an 'anywhere else'.
    "The mass of this volume of water is not so great as the most moderate estimates of the mass of the stellar system".
27. The physical description of the onset of this ecstasy refers to the actual facts at the period of receiving this knowledge.
    The attempt to resolve All into One is a philosophical blunder. It explains nothing; neither how One came to be, nor how Two came to be. The only sound conception is that of "Zero not extended" with a phase of "Something" ("0 degree = X") which makes the answer to both questions self-evident.
    The idea "One" is intelligible enough as the result of the resolutions of Two. But in itself it is meaningless because of the absence of any co-ordinates. A point can heave no qualities except as it is related to a second point. It is only 'high' if there be another which is 'low'. It cannot even be said to exist unless there be something which does not exist.
    Note the word 'continuous' repeated. It suggests the "continuum" of modern mathematical philosophy.
    On the other hand, the constitution of Nuit is 'atomic' (verse 26) or discontinuous. She is in fact the reconciliation of these contradictory ideas. It is important for us to grasp the philosophical situation formally; and this demands a some-what close analysis. The definitions of Cantorian and Dedekindian continuity should be sought in Bertrand Russell, Op. Cit.; it is sufficient here to explain that by the continuity of Nuit I conceive conditions similar to those of the sphere of water described in the quotation in the note to verse 25. Any point in this sphere would be indistinguishable from any other point in a certain sense; or at least the distinction might be considered as arbitrary and illusory. Yet there is no reason why we should not choose to fix our attention on any particular point or system of points for the purpose of amusing ourselves -- analogously to the explanation above put forward (notes on vv. 3 & 4) of incarnation. The constitution of our illusion will evidently be atomic. The facts that {...}, and that the subtraction of (a) the inductive numbers, (b) the inductive numbers greater than n, (c) the odd numbers, from {...} give respectively zero, n and {...} as the result, do not interfere with the finite character of the relation between n and n 1. The transfinite properties of {...} do not destroy the atomic character of the series of which it is the sum.
    Let us investigate the nature of existing ideas a little more closely. First of all, Nuit, being the totality of possibilities of Form, is not only one series, but the sum of all series. We are justified in conceiving any collection of ideas soever as a homologous series, for we have the right to choose the function which will serve to arrange them as our design requires. To protest that such a choice is arbitrary, fantastic or irrational is to assert the authority of some self-appointed "normal mind" as absolute in Nature. The failure of philosophers to transcend their own mental limitations has reduced all their systems to circular arguments, and all their ontologies to Solipsism, however elaborately they have endeavoured to to cloak the fact with sophistries. You cannot tie a true knot in a cord with a closed circuit. All knowledge is relative to the mind which contains it.
    Consider "incommensurable" numbers, such as 1 and 2. This coy surd is insensible to the fascinations of the deftest Dedekindian Cult. It may be approached within limits as narrow as we choose to appoint; yet there remains a "great gulf fixed" which is utterly impassable. The surd is simply not in the series; you might as well try to find Consciousness by making microtome sections of the brain. Yet the relation between 1 and 2 is perfectly clear and simple; there is no incommensurability about it at all. It is (for one thing) the ratio of the hypoteneuse of a right-angled isoceles triangle to one of the other sides, in Euclidian geometry. The difficulty of commensuration can exist only in minds obsessed by the atavistic necessity of counting cowries or wives on the fingers.
    Let me then maintain that such collections as "The thoughts of a man's lifetime" constitute a series in the same sense as the inductive numbers. This collection conforms perfectly with Peano's 'ideas' and 'proposition'. Every thought is a thing in itself; it is determined by its predecessors and determines its successors; it is concatenated with them by 'psychological time'. Briefly, it fulfils every condition required by the definition. (The 'recurrenee' of a thought is no objection, for the identity is superficial, like that of a digit in a long decimal. "My aunt", whom I now think of, is not the aunt I thought of last year, any more than the 4 in the second place of .0494 is the same as that in the fourth place.)
    Any thought in this series possesses a chain of sub-thoughts which connect it with its neighbours; these may be discovered by the proper psychological methods. "The Words of the insane are mountain-tops"; two successive thoughts may be compared to two snow summits rising above cloud-banks; they are not isolated, but joined by certain geologically necessary formations. But each pair of such sub-thoughts may be similarly investigated, and so on ad infinitum. Each thought is inevitably itself, although it is related to all other possible thoughts. There are not two thoughts of which we can say that one either merges into, or necessarily begets, the other. Any series of thoughts is therefore a true inductive series, exactly as the "natural numbers" are, with the added properties that it is real and omniform. It is atomic, its elements being intrinsically individual; and yet a continuum, since its intervals are susceptible of subdivision indefinitely prolonged without producing any diminution of these properties of the original series. The difference between successive thoughts and successive numbers is that by inserting r terms between p and q -- p:p : p 2 : --- p (2 -1) : q -- we apparently approximate the members, so that p-q (p 2)-(p ); while the sub-thoughts which intervene between my impression on waking "A fine frosty morning" and my reaction "I'll go skating" come to me from very various departments of my mind, and no two of them are in any way more closely connected than their culmination in consciousness is to its forerunner. But this difference is in reality an illusion born of the obsession already diagnosed; 2 is nearer to 1 and to 3 than 3 is to 1 only in respect of one particular function. Full comprehension of the true nature of number, as conceived by this Book, should enable the mind to transcend its "normal" trammels.
    It will no doubt be objected that these speculations, even if correct, are sterile; or, even worse, discouraging to that study of the relations between phenomena which has been the basis of all advance in knowledge.
    I might deny the reality of the progress, since it has only exposed the self-contradictions, and emphasized the mysteries, which beset us. But I prefer to take my stand on the ground that we have been totally wrong, hitherto, in our fundamental attitude to the Universe. The only possible issue from the vicious circle wherein we are penned is to refuse resolutely to allow ourselves to accept (1) the evidence of our senses, (2) the pleadings of our minds, (3) the reactions between phenomena as tokens of Truth. All objects are equally capable of conveying any given impression to us; it is merely a question of arranging the conditions of the experiments. We can add or subtract any conceivable quality at will. Thus, "there is no difference"; and each existence is inscrutably itself. We are only the more deceived as it multiplies its Protean projections.
    Our proper course is to destroy the instruments of perception which we at present possess, recognizing that they are no more than personal prejudices which limit and delude us in every way. Our senses assure us that the earth is flat, and that the Sun moves across it, until we amend their assertions by the aid of instruments, and of reason. Yet the astronomer with his telescope is no less arbitrary than the cave-man with his eye. We are like the Snark in the Barrister's dream, witnesses, lawyers, and judge in one. We have no standard independent or ourselves; and we know only too well that our witnesses, the senses, are neither competent, clear, trustworthy, intelligent, or even capable of giving evidence on the actual issues.
    The mid is in even worse plight. Obviously, its judgments must be based on its own laws, and we have no shadow of reason for supposing that these possess any authority beyond their own jurisdiction. We know that the Structure of the brain has been determined by the animal struggle to survive: it is adapted to the conditions of environment. It is the serf of brute passions, the ape of atavism, the dupe of sense, and the automaton of accident. We have no right to assert that its internal reactions correspond to the external world in any way whatever. Officially recognized thinkers are only just beginning to realize what mystics have known since the Morning Star glimmered through the haze on the horizon of History, that the Laws of Thought are only expressions of the bondage of the thinker. Apart from the dependence of mind upon the unreliable, symbolically communicated, and fragmentary affidavits of sense, apart from the imperfections inseparable from its origin, our judgments are necessarily no more than representations of the consistency of one part of our internal structure with another. We cannot lift ourselves by pulling at our toes. We now know that our most fixed axioms are as arbitrary as a madman's delusions. There is nothing to prevent a man from asserting that "Things which are both equal to the same thing are both greater than each other" and constructing a geometry conformable thereto: neither by reasoning nor by experience could it be proved that his system was not the "truth" of Nature. More, the word "truth" itself has proved on analysis to contain no intelligible significance, but to be an empirical symbol of what can only be described as symptoms of cerebral inadequacy.
    Still worse, even so far as the conclusions of reason express the relations of an animal with itself, they disclose not the consistency which is the test of the fulfilment of this limited function, but an inherent self-contradiction which shatters the validity of the entire process. For the "Law of Contradiction" is the Court of final Appeal which has been the authority for every step. I quote once more from the Hon. Bertrand Russell, Op. Cit.:
    "The comprehensive class we are considering, which is to embrace everything, must embrace itself as one of its members. In other words, if there is such a things as "everything", then "everything" is something, and is a member of the class "everything". But normally a class is not a member of itself. Mankind, for example, is not a man. Form now the assemblage of all classes which are not members of themselves. This is a class: is it a member of itself or not? If it is, it is one of those classes that are not members of themselves, i.e. it is a member of itself. Thus of the two hypotheses—that it is, and that it is not, a member of itself—each implies its contradictory. This is a contradiction, similar contradictions ad lib."
    This author, perhaps the mightiest mind of its type now living, proceeds gallantly to go "over the top". But he is always, sooner or later, drowned in the "blood" of a new contradiction, or the "mud" of mystery. He finds himself constantly compelled to assume some axiom which has been proved to be incapable of being proved, or crushed by the certainty that even in the event of his proving all his propositions, the sum of their statement amounts to this, that, so far as he is anybody or anything, he is himself.
    Professor Eddington, in the masterly exposition of modern thought already quoted, presents, clearly enough, the case against supposing that any phenomenon soever is a "fact" in any absolute sense.
    Each account of it must be incomplete, symbolic, and variable with the position and faculties of the observer.
    "By his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein has provoked a revolution of thought in physical science."
    "The achievement consists essentially in this:—Einstein has succeeded in separating far more completely than hitherto the share of the observer and the share of external nature in the things we see happen. The perception of an object by an observer depends on his own situation and circumstances; for example, distance will make it appear smaller and dimmer. We make allowance for this almost unconsciously in interpreting what we see. But it now appears that the allowance made for the motion of the observer has hitherto been too crude,—a fact overlooked because in practice all observers share nearly the same motion, that of the earth. Physical space and time are found to be closely bound up with this motion of the observer; and only an amorphous combination of the two is left inherent in the external world. When space and time are relegated to their proper source -- the observer -- the world of nature which remains appears strangely unfamiliar; but it is in reality simplified, and the underlying unity of the principal phenomena from this new outlook have, with one doubtful exception, been confirmed when tested by experiment."
    I must confess that I was amazed with every amazement when so the the eminent astronomer failed to follow up this brilliant outburst by turning the devastation of his artillery upon the ramparts of the citadel whose outlying defenses he had shattered with such stupendous thunderbolts. Now came it that the very act of detecting so subtly, and removing so skillfully, the mote in his neighbour's eye, did not suggest to him that he might be incommoded by the beam of his own? Aware of the errors introduced into his calculations by the comparatively steady, regular, and imperceptible motion of his earth-borne body, how not to be stricken aghast to contemplate the possible consequences of taking, as a fixed and absolute point for the base of his triangulations, and unknown and uncontrollable engine in violent, erratic and incalculable action, neither to be mastered nor measured, his mind? Who dare presume to set limits to the eccentricities of a brain which is the logical conclusion for a love-harried, witch-burning, god-fearing, fox-hunting, cannibal ape, spice with tubercle, syphilis, insanity and the rest of the poisons for one premise and an unintelligible and accidental environment for the other? Is not every thought determined, and its validity indeterminable, especially by its owner? Who then shall decide what "trustworthy reasoning" may mean?
    At the very least, we must eliminate as far as possible very obvious source of error, such as personality (in particular) involves. But further, we must regulate the motion of the mind, control it, bring it to a standstill. It may be -- I know that it is -- that as soon as thought is prevented from bewildering us with its torrential turmoil, we may become aware that we posses a subtler and steadier organ of apprehension. This is in fact one of the principal points of initiation.

58. These joys are principally (1) the Beatific Vision, in which Beauty is constantly present to the recipient of Her grace, together with a calm and unutterable joy; (2) the Vision of Wonder, in which the whole Mystery of the Universe is constantly understood and admired for its Ingenium and Wisdom. (1) is referred to Tiphereth, the Grade of Adept; (2) to Binah, the grade of Master of the Temple.
    The certainty concerning death is conferred by the Magical Memory, and various Experiences without which Life is unintelligible.
    "Peace unutterable" is given by the Trance in which Matter is destroyed; "rest" by that which finally equilibrates Motion.
    "Ecstasy" refers to a Trance which combines these.
    "Nor do I demand aught in sacrifice" -- The ritual of worship is Samadhi. But see later, verse 61.
59. It seems possible that Our Lady describes Her hair as "the trees of Eternity" because of the tree-like structure of the Cosmos. This is observed in the 'Star-Sponge' Vision. I must explain this by giving a comparatively full account of this vision.
    The 'Star-Sponge' Vision.
    There is a vision of a peculiar character which has been of cardinal importance in my interior life, and to which constant reference is made in my magical diaries. So far as I know, there is no extant description of this vision anywhere, and I was surprised on looking through my records to find that I had given no clear account of it myself. The reason apparently is that it is so necessary a part of myself that I unconsciously assume it to be a matter of common knowledge, just as one assumes that everybody knows that one possesses a pair of lungs, and therefore abstains from mentioning the fact directly, although perhaps alluding to the matter often enough.
    It appears very essential to describe this vision as well as is possible, considering the difficulty of language, and the fact that the phenomena involve logical contradictions, the conditions of consciousness being other than those obtaining normally.
    The vision developed gradually. It was repeated on so many occasions that I am unable to say at what period it may be called complete. The beginning, however, is clear enough in my memory.
    I was on a retirement in a cottage overlooking Lake Pasquaney in New Hampshire. I lost consciousness of everything but an universal space in which were innumerable bright points, and I realized this as a physical representation of the Universe, in what I may call its essential structure. I exclaimed: "Nothingness, with twinkles!" I concentrated upon this vision, with the result that the void space which had been the principal element of it diminished in importance; space appeared to be ablaze, yet the radiant points were not confused, and I thereupon completed my sentence with the exclamation "But what Twinkles!"
    The next stage of this vision led to an identification of the blazing points with the stars of the firmament, with ideas, souls, etc. I perceived also that each star was connected by a ray of light with each other star. In the world of ideas, each thought possessed a necessary relation with each other thought; each such relation is of course a thought in itself; each such ray is itself a star. It is here that logical difficulty first presents itself. The seer has a direct perception of infinite series. Logically, therefore, it would appear as if the entire space must be filled up with a homogeneous blaze of light. This however is not the case. The space is completely full; yet the monads which fill it are perfectly distinct. The ordinary reader might well exclaim that such statements exhibit symptoms of mental confusion. The subject demands more than cursory examination. I can do no more than refer the critic to the Hon. Bertrand Russell's "Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy", where the above position is thoroughly justified, as also certain positions which follow. At the time I had not read this book; and I regard it as a striking proof of the value of mystical attainment, that its results should have led a mind such as mine, whose mathematical training was of the most elementary character, to the immediate consciousness of some of the most profound and important mathematical truths; to the acquisition of the power to think in a manner totally foreign to the normal mind, the rare possession of the greatest thinkers in the world.
    A further development of the vision brought the consciousness that the structure of the universe was highly organized, that certain stars were of greater magnitude and brilliancy than the rest. I began to seek similes to help me to explain myself. Several such attempts are mentioned later in this note. Here again are certain analogies with some of the properties of infinite series. The reader must not be shocked at the idea of a number which is not increased by addition or multiplication, a series of infinite series, each one of which may be twice as long as its predecessor, and so on. There is no "mystical humbug" about this. As Mr. Russell shows, truths of this order are more certain than the most universally accepted axioms; in fact, many axioms accepted by the intellect of the average man are not true at all. But in order to appreciate these truths, it is necessary to educate the mind to thought of an order which is at first sight incompatible with rationality.
    I may here digress for a moment in order to demonstrate how this vision led directly to the understanding of the mechanism of certain phenomena which have hitherto been dismissed with a shrug of the shoulders as incomprehensible.
    "Example No. 1". I began to become aware of my own mental processes; I thought of my consciousness as the Commander-in-Chief of an army. There existed a staff of specialists to deal with various contingencies. There was an intelligence department to inform me of my environment. There was a council which determined the relative importance of the data presented to them -- it required only a slight effort of imagination to think of this council as in debate; I could picture to myself some tactically brilliant proposal being vetoed by the Quarter-Master-General. It was only one step to dramatize the scene, and it flashed upon me in a moment that here was the explanation of 'double personality': that illusion was no more than a natural personification of internal conflict, just as the savage attributes consciousness to trees and rocks.
    "Example No. 2." While at Montauk I had put my sleeping bag to dry in the sun. When I went to take it in, I remarked, laughingly, "Your bedtime, Master Bag," as if it were a small boy and I its nurse. This was entirely frivolous, but the thought flashed into my mind that after all the bag was in one sense a part of myself. The two ideas came together with a snap, and I understood the machinery of a man's delusion that he is a teapot.
    These two examples may give some idea to the reader of the light which mystical attainment throws upon the details of the working of the human mind.
    Further developments of this vision emphasized the identity between the Universe and the mind. The search for similes deepened. I had a curious impression that the thing I was looking for was somehow obvious and familiar. Ultimately it burst upon me with fulminating conviction that the simile for which I was seeking was the nervous system. I exclaimed: "The mind is the nervous system," with all the enthusiasm of Archimedes, and it only dawned on me later, with a curious burst of laughter at my naivete, that my great discovery amounted to a platitude.
    From this I came to another discovery: I perceived why platitudes were stupid. The reason was that they represented the summing up of trains of thought, each of which was superb in every detail at one time. A platitude was like a wife after a few years; she has lost none of her charms, and yet one prefers some perfectly worthless woman.
    I now found myself able to retrace the paths of thought which ultimately come together in a platitude. I would start with some few simple ideas and develop them. Each stage in the process was like the joy of a young eagle soaring from height to height in ever increasing sunlight as dawn breaks, foaming, over the purple hem of the garment of ocean, and, when the many coloured rays of rose and gold and green gathered themselves together and melted into the orbed glory of the sun, with a rapture that shook the soul with unimaginable ecstasy, that sphere of rushing light was recognized as a common-place idea, accepted unquestioningly and treated with drab indifference because it had so long been assimilated as a natural and necessary part of the order of Nature. At first I was shocked and disgusted to discover that a series of brilliant researches should culminate in a commonplace. But I soon understood that what I had done was to live over again the triumphant career of conquering humanity; that I had experienced in my own person the succession of winged victories that had been sealed by a treaty of peace whose clauses might be summed up in some such trite expression as "Beauty depends upon form".
    It would be quite impracticable to go fully into the subject of this vision of the Star-Sponge, if only because its ramifications are omniform. It must suffice to reiterate that it has been the basis of most of my work for the last five years, and to remind the reader that the essential form of it is "Nothingness with twinkles".
    I conclude this note, therefore, by quoting certain chapters of Liber Aleph, in which I have described various cognate forms of the vision.
    "De Gramine Sanctissimo Arabico."
    "Recall, o my Son, the Fable of the Hebrews, which they brought from the City of Babylon, how Nebuchadnezzar the Great King, being afflicted in his Spirit, did depart from among Men for Seven Years' Space, eating Grass as doth an Ox. Now this Ox is the Letter Aleph, and is that Atu of Thoth whose Number is Zero, and whose Name is Maat, Truth, or Maut, the Vulture, the All-Mother, being an image of Our Lady Nuith, but also it is called the Fool, who is Parsifal, 'der reine Thor', and so referreth to him that walketh in the Way of the Tao. Also, he is Harpocrates, the Child Horus, walking (as saith David, the Badawi that became King, in his Psalms) upon the Lion and the Dragon; that is, he is in Unity with his own Secret Nature, as I have shewn thee in my Word concerning the Sphinx. O my Son, yester Eve came the Spirit upon me that I also should eat the Grass of the Arabs, and by virtue of the Bewitchment thereof behold that which might be appointed for the Enlightenment of mine Eyes. Now then of this may I not speak, seeing that it involveth the Mystery of the Transcending of Time, so that in One hour of our Terrestrial Measure did I gather the Harvest of an Aeon, and in Ten Lives I could not declare it."
    "De quibusdam Mysteriis, quae vidi."
    "Yet even as a Man may set up a Memorial or Symbol to import Ten thousand Times Ten Thousand, so may I strive to inform thine Understanding by Hieroglyph. And here shall thine own Experience serve us, because a Token of Remembrance sufficeth him that is familiar with a Matter, which to him that knoweth it not should not be made manifest, no, not in an Year of Instruction. Here first then is one amid the Uncounted Wonders of that Vision: upon a Field Blacker and Richer than Velvet was the Sun of all Being, alone. Then about Him were little Crosses, Greek, overrunning the Heaven. These changed from Form to Form geometrical, Marvel devouring Marvel, a Thousand Times a Thousand in their Course and Sequence, until by their Movement was the Universe churned into the Quintessence of Light. Moreover at another Time did I behold All Things as Bubbles, iridescent and luminous, self-shining in every Colour and every Combination of Colour, Myriad pursuing Myriad until by their perpetual Beauty they exhausted the Virtue of my Mind to receive them, and whelmed it, so that I was fain to withdraw myself from the Burden of that Brilliance. Yet, o my Son, the Sum of all this ammounteth not to the Worth of one Dawn-Glimmer of Our True Vision of Holiness."
    "De quodam Modo Meditationis."
    "Now for the Chief of that which was granted unto me, it was the Apprehension of those willed Changes or Transmutations of the Mind which lead into Truth, being as Ladders unto Heaven, or so I called them at that Time, seeking for a Phrase to admonish the Scribe that attended on my Words, to grave a Balustre upon the Stele of my Working. But I make Effort in vein, o My Son, to record this Matter in Detail; for it is the Quality of the Grass to quicken the Operation of Thought it may be a Thousandfold, and moreover to figure each Step in Images complex and overpowering in Beauty, so that one hath not Time wherein to conceive, much less to utter, any Word for a Name of any one of them. Also, such was the Multiplicity of these Ladders, and their Equivalence, that the Memory holdeth no more any one of them, but only a certain Comprehension of the Method, wordless by Reason of its Subtility. Now therefore must I make by my Will a Concentration mighty and terrible of my Thought that I may bring forth this Mystery in Expression. For this Method is of Virtue and Profit; by it mayst thou come easily and with Delight to the Perfection of Truth, it is no Odds from what Thought thou makest the first Leap in thy Meditation, so that thou mayst know how every Road endeth in Monsalvat, and the Temple of the Sangraal."
    "Sequitur de hac re."
    "I believe generally, on Ground both of Theory and Experience, so little as I have, that a Man must first be Initiate, and established in Our Law, before he may use this Method. For in it is an Implication of our Secret Enlightenment, concerning the Universe, how its Nature is utterly Perfection. Now every Thought is a Separation, and the Medicine of that is to marry Each one with its Contradiction, as I have showed formerly in many Writings. And thou shalt clasp the one to the other with Vehemence of Spirit, swiftly as Light itself, that the Ecstasy be Spontaneous. So therefore it is expedient that thou have travelled already in this Path of Antithesis, knowning perfectly the Answer to every Griph or Problem, and thy Mind ready therewith. For by the Property of the Grass all passeth with Speed incalculable of Wit, and an Hesitation should confound thee, breaking down thy Ladder, and throwing back thy Mind to receive Impression from Environment, as at thy first Beginning. Verily, the Nature of this Method is Solution, and the Destruction of every Complexity by Explosion of Ecstasy, as every Element thereof is fulfilled by its Correlative, and is annihilated (since it loseth Separate Existence) in the Orgasm that is consummated within the Bed of thy Mind."
    "Sequitur de hac re."
    "Thou knowest right well, o my Son, how a Thought is imperfect in two Dimensions, being separate from its Contradiction, but also constrained in its Scope, because by that Contradiction we do not (commonly) complete the Universe, save only that of its Discourse. Thus if we contrast Health with Sickness, we include in their Sphere of Union no more than one Quality that may be predicted of all Things. Furthermore, it is for the most Part not easy to find or to formulate the True Contradiction of any Thought as a positive Idea, but only as a Formal Negation in vague Terms, so that the ready Answer is but Antithesis. Thus to White one putteth not the phrase "All that which is not White," for this is void, formless, and not clear, simple, and positive in Conception. But one answereth Black, for this hath an Image of his Significance. So then the Cohesion of Antitheticals destroyeth them only in Part, and one becometh instantly conscious of the Residue that is unsatisfied or unbalanced, whose Eidolon leapeth in thy Mind with Splendour and Joy unspeakable. Let not this deceive thee, for its Existence proveth its Imperfection, and thou must call forth its Mate, and destroy them by Love, as with the former. This Method is continuous, and proceedeth ever from the Gross to the Fine, and from the Particular to the General, dissolving all Things into the One Substance of Light."
    "Conclusio de hoc Modo Sanctitatis."
    "Learn now that Impressions of Sense have Opposites readily conceived, as long to short, or light to dark; and so with Emotions and Perceptions, as love to hate, or false to true; but the more Violent is the Antagonism, the more is it bound in Illusion, determined by Relation. Thus, the Word "long" hath no Meaning save it be referred to a Standard; but Love is not thus obscure, because Hate is its twin, partaking bountifully of a Common Nature therewith. Now, hear this: it was given unto me in my Visions of the Aethyrs, when I was in the Desert of Sahara, by Tolga, that above the Abyss, Contradiction is Unity, and that nothing could be true save by Virtue of the Contradiction that is contained in itself. Behold therefore, in this Method thou shalt come presently to Ideas of this Order, that include in themselves their own Contradiction, and have no Antithesis. Here then is thy Lever of Antinomy broken in thine Hand; yet, being in true Balance, thou mayst soar, passionate and eager, from Heaven to Heaven, by the Expansion of thine Idea, and its Exaltation, or Concentration as thou understandest by thy Studies in the Book of the Law, the Word thereof concerning Our Lady Nuith, and Hadith that is the Core of every Star. And this last Going upon thy Ladder is easy, if thou be truly Initiate, for the Momentum of thy Force in Transcendental Antithesis serveth to propel thee, and the Emancipation from the Fetters of Thought that thou hast won in that Praxis of Art maketh the Whirlpool and Gravitation of Truth of Competence to draw thee unto itself."
60. The general significance of the number 11 is Magick, particularly that form of it which is Love under Will; for it unites the 5 and the 6. Thus Abrahadabra has 11 letters; and 418 = 11 x 38.
    This number must be thoroughly studied by the Qabalah. See Appendix.
    In the original MSS. the second paragraph begins "The shape of my star is"—and then breaks off—the Scribe was unable to hear what was being said. This was presumably because his mind was so full of preconceived ideas about the different kinds of stars appropriate to various ideas. An alternate phrase was subsequently dictated to the Scarlet Woman, and inserted in the manuscript by her own hand.
    This star is the pentagram, with the single point at the top. The points touch the parts of Nuith's body as shown in the Stele. The earth-point marks the position of her feet, the fire-point, that of her hands, the other three points—air, spirit, and water respectively—refer to "my secret centre, my heart, and my tongue."
61. This ritual has been thoroughly worked out as an Official Instruction of A.'.A.'. Liber NV, sub figura XI, see Equinox I, VII, page 11.
62. It is evident that Our Lady, in her Personality, contemplates some more or less open form of worship suited for the laity. With the establishment of the Law something of this sort may become possible. It is only necessary to kill out the sense of 'sin', with its false shame and its fear of nature. P.S. The Gnostic Mass is intended to supply this need. "Liber XV". It has been said continuously in California for some years.
63. All those acts which excite the divine in man are proper to the Rite of Invocation.
    Religion, as understood by the vile Puritan, is the very opposite of all this. He—it—seems to wish to kill his—its —soul by forbidding every expression of it, and every practice which might awaken it to expression. To hell with this Verbotenism!
    In particular, let me exhort all men and all women, for they are Stars! Heed well this holy Verse!
    True Religion is intoxication, in a sense. We are told elsewhere to intoxicate the innermost, not the outermost; but I think that the word "wine" should be taken in its widest sense as meaning that which brings out the soul. Climate, soil, and race change conditions; each man or woman must find and choose the fit intoxicant. Thus hashish in one or the other of its forms seems to suit the Moslem, to go with dry heat; opium is right for the Mongol; whiskey for the dour temperament and damp cold climate of the Scot.
    Sex-expression, too, depends on climate and so on, so that we must interpret the Law to suit a Socrates, a Jesus, and a Burton, or a Marie Antoinette and a de Lamballe, as well as our own Don Juans and Faustines.
    With this expansion, to the honour and glory of Them, of Their Natures, we acclaim therefore our helpers, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Wine, Woman, and song.
    Intoxication, that is, ecstasy, is the key to Reality. It is explained in "Energized Enthusiasm" "The Equinox" I(9)) that there are three Gods whose function is to bring the Soul to the Realization of its own glory: Dionysus, Aphrodite, Apollo; Wine, Woman, and Song.
    The ancients, both in the highest civilizations, as in Greece and Egypt, and in the most primitive savagery, as among the Buriats and the Papuans, were well aware of this, and made their religious ceremonies 'orgia', "Works". Puritan foulness, failing to understand what was happening, degraded the word 'orgies' to mean debauches. It is the old story of the Fox who lost his tail. If you cannot do anything, call it impossible; or, if that be evidently absurd, call it wicked!
    It is critics who deny poetry, people without capacity for Ecstasy and Will who call Mysticism moonshine and Magick delusion. It is manless old cats, geldings, and psychopaths, who pretend to detest Love, and persecute Free Women and Free Men.
    Verbotenism has gone so far in certain slave-communities that the use of wine is actually prohibited by law!
    I wish here to emphasise that the Law of Thelema definitely enjoins us, as a necessary act of religion, to "drink sweet wines and wines that foam". Any free man or woman who resides in any community where this is verboten has a choice between two duties: insurrection and emigration.
    The furtive disregard of Restriction is not Freedom. It tends to make men slaves and hypocrites, and to destroy respect for Law.
    Have no fear: two years after Vodka was verboten, Russia, which had endured a thousand lesser tyrannies with patience, rose in Revolution.
    Religious ecstasy is necessary to man's soul. Where this is attained by mystical practices, directly, as it should be, people need no substitutes. Thus the Hindus remain contentedly sober, and care nothing for the series of Invaders who have occupied their country from time to time and governed them. But where the only means of obtaining this ecstasy, or a simulacrum of it, known to the people, is alcohol, they must have alcohol. Deprive them of wine, or beer, or whatever their natural drink may be, and they replace it by morphia, cocaine, or something easier to conceal, and to take without detection.
    Stop that, and it is Revolution. As long as a man can get rid of his surplus Energy in enjoyment, he finds life easy, and submits. Deprive him of Pleasure, of Ecstasy, and his mind begins to worry about the way in which he is exploited and oppressed. Very soon he begins furtively to throw bombs; and, gathering strength, to send his tyrants to the gallows.

Chapter One

1. Nuit defined. Nuit is all that may be, and is shewn by means of any one that is.
2. Pantheism of AL. The Book of the Law shows forth all things as God.

12. The Nature of an Act: its virtue. All acts are in truth acts of Love. Fulfil all Loves that may be, to the full. Be this in Light, before all Stars, that all may see and rejoice.
13. Nuit expressed in an Eidolon. Nuit is formed into an Image of a Woman, that She may be the symbol of all ways of going in Love.
Her relation to Mankind. She is our Goal and our own heart's essence of Will.
Her Mother-Joy as Nature. She is Nature, who is glad of the birth of all that cometh forth.

14. The Secret of Joy. The Soul of Man flameth forth in Love unto the utmost Spaces of the Stars, and hath his joy of all of them.
    All events are children of Nuit. Every event doth fulfil some Love, and each is thenceforth of the Body of Nuit, which is event as Her Soul is Lust to bring forth, and the chance so to do.

19. On us the Soul of Space is bent, so that to all alike we may show all things as the Way of Joy.

21. Nuit further defined Her relation to Gods, Men, Heaven, Earth, to Her Lord Hadit. Nuit is not beheld of any God or Man; for they are fixed Event, they are Facts, and while She is the ever-to-be. She therefore is to be held worthy, she and that Self which may enjoy her Love; seek not those joys which, being actual, cease to exhale rapture.
22. Her Name: 666 is taught a name more sacred yet. Nuit is the name by which this Starlight Yearning is to be known of men; to me the Beast she hath given a secret Name in that Great Night wherein I came to perfect Oneness with All things that might be ever.
    Nuit further defined. Reality and illusion: the None, the One, Many & the All, identified through Her. Nuit is Space beyond the idea of Limit or Measure; She is also All Points of the View no less than All Vistas seen therefrom. Bind nothing, for all things alike pertain to her, and her Nature is to compose All in One and Naught. One thing is in the end like all the rest; the seeming not alike comes as a dream from choosing images after one's own heart to worship them; thus each, though true as one of the All, is false if thought of as one apart from the rest.

24. Nuit: in Her Name are hidden secrets of Truth. Nuit is known by the Word of a Riddle of Letter and Number: this also will I make plain in other writings.
25. - 26. Nuit proves to Aleister Crowley that he is in truth 666 by means of a riddle and a Sign. I, asking Nuit: Who am I? and: What shall be the sign? (that I am who I am) was told by means of a Riddle, so that I might be sure that the answer came from Her and not from mind own mind, that I was 666. Also the sign was shewn me in a Riddle, as well as in the English of the Text. These matters will I set forth elsewhere.
27. 666 asks Nuit to reveal Herself to Men. I called Her "O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven" – which is a marvel of the Inmost Nature of Number as I shew in my other Comment – and prayed that men might come to think of Her not as One, which implies the idea of Limit, but as None which is beyond bound.

59. Nuit: Her cult. Nuit declares the fit form of Her cult as a Rite. Her incense is of `resinous woods and gums' – sacred to Her as scented, fluid, and vital. There is no blood therein; for Her worship involves neither life nor death; it is a Growth in all ways, the primal mode of Being. Her hair: this phrase is to be studied side by side with my account of my Visions of Her: it will be clear to those who may attain thereto.
60. Nuit: Her symbolic Figure. Nuit declares her Nature in a Riddle of Number and Colour and Form: this also is elsewhere explained being a matter of Magick and Wisdom proper to vowed Students rather than to the profane.
61. Nuit: to love Her the Supreme Wisdom. Love being the law of all Life, to love Nuit is to love the Essence itself of the sum of all objects of Love in the figure of one single Image of Beauty: it thus the Drawing-to-a-Point of the Will, which might else seem diverse; thus it is "better than all things."
    Nuit: the Mode of Union with Her. Follows a Method whereby to unite the Soul with Her; to me, Alastor the Spirit of Solitude, the command is plain; and to be taken at the letter, as I have done, and now am doing, even at this hour, as I write this "under the night-stars in the desert" in the Oasis of Nefta in Tunisia. Yet also there is a hidden meaning, so that the dwellers in cities may invoke Nuit: and this will I set forth, not only as in Liber XI but in simple and easy words; in a fit time and place.
    Nuit: ways of worship. This verse contains very many marvels in other matters also: in concerns the Crossing of the Abyss, as I have described in The Vision and the Voice: also, such ways of worship are prescribed as define Her inmost Nature: this also I shall write elsewhere. Note most of all that She, the Sum and Essence of All Things that may be, fulfils Herself as these are all fulfilled by each Star in any Event. Indeed, she is not whole while aught remain latent, a phantom of desire; thus doth each act of Love under Will not only perfect him that doeth it, but also Her of whom it is one jewel.
62. - 63. Nuit: Her public Cult. Now lastly she ordains her public cult. Her image, she being All-Desired, shall be a living Woman, calling to her that Spirit which shall make her perfect in Event. Of all this Rite I have written in another place.
64. - 65. Nuit: Her final shewing-forth of Herself in an Outburst of lyric Rapture. Now in one lyric blaze of music Nuit declares Herself the daughter of Sunset and the Shining Truth Night, calling all Souls to their supreme Goal of Joy to Fulfil Themselves in Her.

A∴ A∴
Publication in Class D
(for Winners of the Ordeal X.).
Imprimatur:
𓊹𓊹𓊹 …
V.V.V.V.V. …
N. Fra A∴ A∴
O.M. 7°=4^▫.

10545. This is the Book of the Cult of the Infinite Without.
405. The Aspirant is Hadit. Nuit is the infinite expansion of the Rose; Hadit is the infinite concentration of the Rood. (Instruction of V.V.V.V.V.)
15. First let the Aspirant learn in his heart the First Chapter of the Book of the Law. (Instruction of V.V.V.V.V.)
1. Worship, i.e. identify thyself with, the Khabs, the secret Light within the Heart. Within this, again, unextended, is Hadit.
   This is the first practice of Meditation (ccxx. I. 6 and 21).
2. Adore and understand the Rim of the Stele of Revealing.

   "Above, the gemmed azure is
     The naked splendour of Nuit;
   She bends in ecstasy to kiss
     The secret ardours of Hadit."

   This is the first practice of intelligence (ccxx. I. 14).
3. Avoid any act of choice or discrimination.
   This is the first practice of Ethics (ccxx. I. 22).
4. Consider of six and fifty that 50÷6=0.12.
   • 0 the circumference, Nuit.
   • . the centre, Hadit.
   • 1 the unity proceeding, Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
   • 2 the world of illusion.
   • Nuit thus comprehends All in None.
   • Also 50+6=56=5+6+11, the key of all Rituals.
   • And 50x6=300, the Spirit of the Child within.
   (Note ΝϜιϛ=72, the Shemhamphorash and the Quinaries of the Zodiac, etc.)
   This is the second practice of Intelligence (ccxx. I. 24, 25).
5. The Result of this Practice is the Consciousness of the Continuity of Existence, the Omnipresence of the Body of Nuit. In other words, the Aspirant is conscious only of the Infinite Universe as a single Being. (Note for this the importance of Paragraph 3. ED.)
   This is the first Indication of the Nature of the Result (ccxx. I. 26).
6. Meditate upon Nuit as the Continuous One resolved into None and Two as the phases of her being.
   [For the Universe being self-contained must be capable of expression by the formula n-n=o. For if not, let it be expressed by the formula n-m=p. That is, the Infinite moves otherwise than within itself, which is absurd. ED.]
   This is the second practice of Meditation (ccxx. I. 27).
7. Meditate upon the facts of Samadhi on all planes, the liberation of heat in chemistry, joy in natural history, Ananda in religion, when two things join to lose themselves in a third.
   This is the third practice of Meditation (ccxx. I. 28, 29, 30).
8. Let the Aspirant pay utmost reverence to the Authority of the A∴ A∴ and follow Its instructions, and let him swear a great Oath of Devotion unto Nuit.
   This is the second practice of Ethics (ccxx. I. 32).
9. Let the Aspirant beware of the slightest exercise of his will against another being. Thus, lying is a better posture than sitting or standing, as it opposes less resistance to gravitation. Yet his first duty is to the force nearest and most potent; e.g. he may rise to greet a friend.
   This is the third practice of Ethics (ccxx. I. 41).
10. Let the Aspirant exercise his will without the least consideration for any other being. This direction cannot be understood, much less accomplished, until the previous practice has been perfected.
    This is the fourth practice of Ethics (ccxx. I. 42, 43, 44).
11. Let the Aspirant comprehend that these two practices are identical.
    This is the third practice of Intelligence (ccxx. I. 45).
12. Let the Aspirant live the Life Beautiful and Pleasant. For this freedom hath he won. But let each act, especially of love, be devoted wholly to his true mistress, Nuit.
    This is the fifth practice of Ethics (ccxx. I. 51, 52, 61, 63).
13. Let the Aspirant yearn toward Nuit under the stars of Night, with a love directed by his Magical Will, not merely proceeding from the heart.
    This is the first practice of Magick Art (ccxx. I. 57).
14. The Result of this Practice in the subsequent life of the Aspirant is to fill him with unimaginable joys: to give him certainty concerning the nature of the phenomenon called death; to give him peace unalterable, rest, and ecstasy.
    This is the second Indication of the Nature of the Result (ccxx. I. 58).
15. Let the Aspirant prepare a perfume of resinous woods and gums, according to his inspiration.
    This is the second practice of Magick Art (ccxx. I. 59).
16. Let the Aspirant prepare a Pantacle, as follows.
    Inscribe a circle within a Pentagram, upon a ground square or of such other convenient shape as he may choose. Let the circle be scarlet, the Pentagram black, the ground royal blue studded with golden stars.
    Within the circle, at its centre, shall be painted a sigil that shall be revealed to the Aspirant by Nuit Herself.
    And this Pentacle shall serve for a Telismatic Image, or as an Eidolon, or as a Focus for the mind.
    This is the third practice of Magick Art (ccxx. I. 60).
17. Let the Aspirant find a lonely place, if possible a place in the Desert of Sand, or if not, a place unfrequented, and without objects to disturb the view. Such are moorlands, fens, the open sea, broad rivers, and open fields. Also, and especially, the summits of mountains.
    There let him invoke the Goddess as he hath Wisdom and Understanding so to do. But let this Invocation be that of a pure heart, i.e. a heart wholly devoted to Her, and let him remember that it is Hadit Himself in the most secret place thereof that invoketh. Then let this serpent Hadit burst into flame.
    This is the forth practice of Magick Art (ccxx. i. 61).
18. Then shall the Aspirant come a little to lie in Her bosom.
    This is the third Indication of the Nature of the Result (ccxx. I. 61).
19. Let the Aspirant stand upon the edge of a precipice in act or in imagination. And let him imagine and suffer the fear of falling.
    Next let him imagine with this aid that the Earth is falling, and he with it, or he from it; and considering the infinity of space, let him excite the fear within him to the point of ecstasy, so that the most dreadful dream of falling that he hath ever suffered be as nothing in comparison.
    This is the fourth practice of Meditation. (Instruction of V.V.V.V.V.)
20. Thus having understood the nature of this Third Indication, let him in his Magick Rite fall from himself into Nuit, or expand into Her, as his imagination may compel him.
    And at that moment, desiring earnestly the Kiss of Nuit, let him give one particle of dust, i.e. let Hadit give himself up utterly to Her.
    This is the fifth practice of Magick Art (ccxx. I. 61).
21. Then shall he lose all in that hour.
    This is the fourth Indication of the Nature of the Result (ccxx. I. 61).
22. Let the Aspirant prepare a lovesong of rapture unto the Goddess, or let him be inspired by Her unto this.
    This is the sixth practice of Magick Art (ccxx. 63).
23. Let the Aspirant be clad in a single robe. An "abbai" of scarlet wrought with gold is most suitable. (The abbai is not unlike the Japanese Kimono. It must fold simply over the breast without belt or other fastening. ED.)
    This is the seventh practice of Magick Art (ccxx. I. 61).
24. Let the Aspirant wear a rich head-dress. A crown of gold adorned with sapphires or diamonds with a royal blue cap of maintenance, or nemmes, is most suitable.
    This is the eighth practice of Magick Art (ccxx. I. 61).
25. Let the Aspirant wear many jewels such as he may possess.
    This is the ninth practice of Magical Art (ccxx. I. 63).
26. Let the Aspirant prepare an Elixir or libation as he may have wit to do.
    This is the tenth practice of Magick Art (ccxx. I. 63).
27. Let the Aspirant invoke, lying supine, his robe spread out as it were a carpet.
    This is the eleventh practice of Magical Art. (Instruction of V.V.V.V.V.)
28. Summary. Preliminaries.
    These are the necessary possessions.
    1. The Crown or head-dress.
    2. The Jewels.
    3. The Pantacle.
    4. The Robe.
    5. The Song or Incantation.
    6. The Place of Invocation.
    7. The Perfume.
    8. The Elixir.
29. Summary continued. Preliminaries.
    These are the necessary comprehensions.
    
    1. The Natures of Nuit and Hadit, and their relation.
    2. The Mystery of the Individual Will.
30. Summary continued. Preliminaries.
    These are the meditations necessary to be accomplished.
    
    1. The discovery of Hadit in the Aspirant, and identification with him.
    2. The continuous One.
    3. The value of the Equation n+(-n).
    4. Cremnophobia.
31. Summary continued. Preliminaries.
    These are the Ethical Practices to be accomplished.
    
    1. Assertion of Kether-point-of-view.
    2. Reverence to the Order.
    3. Abolition of human will.
    4. Exercise of true will.
    5. Devotion to Nuit throughout a beautified life.
32. Summary continued. The Actual Rite.
    1. Retire to desert with crown and other insignia and implements.
    2. Burn perfume.
    3. Chant incantation.
    4. Drink unto Nuit of the Elixir.
    5. Lying supine, with eyes fixed on the stars, practice the sensation of falling into nothingness.
    6. Being actually within the bosom of Nuit, let Hadit surrender Himself.
33. Summary concluded. The Results.
    1. Expansion of consciousness to that of the Infinite.
    2. Loss of all the highest mystical attainment.
    3. True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.

• Crowley, Aleister, and Israel Regardie. Gems from the Equinox. WeiserBooks, 2007.
• “Liber Legis - The Book of the Law.” Hermetic Library, hermetic.com/legis/.