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-
- The Book of the Law
- {Book 220}
-
- {technically called
- Liber AL vel Legis
- Sub Figurâ CCXX
- as delivered by XCIII=418
- to DCLXVI}
-
- {Chapter I}
-
-
- 1. Had! The manifestation of Nuit.
-
- 2. The unveiling of the company of heaven.
-
- 3. Every man and every woman is a star.
-
- 4. Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
-
- 5. Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the
- Children of men!
-
- 6. Be thou Hadit, my secret centre, my heart & my tongue!
-
- 7. Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of Hoor-paar-
- kraat.
-
- 8. The Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs.
-
- 9. Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light shed over you!
-
- 10. Let my servants be few & secret: they shall rule the many & the
- known.
-
- 11. These are fools that men adore; both their Gods & their men are
- fools.
-
- 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 gemm^ed azure is
- The naked splendour of Nuit;
- She bends in ecstasy to kiss
- The secret ardours of Hadit.
- The wing^ed 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 winged
- secret flame, and to her the stooping starlight.
-
- 17. But ye are not so chosen.
-
- 18. Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!
-
- 19. O azure-lidded woman, bend upon them!
-
- 20. The key of the rituals is in the secret word which I have given
- unto him.
-
- 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 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.
-
- 23. But whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!
-
- 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!
-
- 28. None, breathed the light, faint & faery, of the stars, and two.
-
- 29. For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union.
-
- 30. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is
- as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.
-
- 31. For these fools of men and their woes care not thou at all! They
- feel little; what is, is balanced by weak joys; but ye are my chosen
- ones.
-
- 32. Obey my prophet! follow out the ordeals of my knowledge! seek me
- only! Then the joys of my love will redeem ye from all pain. This is
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- so: I swear it by the vault of my body; by my sacred heart and tongue;
- by all I can give, by all I desire of ye all.
-
- 33. Then the priest fell into a deep trance or swoon, & said unto the
- Queen of Heaven; Write unto us the ordeals; write unto us the rituals;
- write unto us the law!
-
- 34. But she said: the ordeals I write not: the rituals shall be half
- known and half concealed: the Law is for all.
-
- 35. This that thou writest is the threefold book of Law.
-
- 36. My scribe Ankh-af-na-khonsu, the priest of the princes, shall not
- in one letter change this book; but lest there be folly, he shall
- comment thereupon by the wisdom of Ra-Hoor-Khu-it.
-
- 37. Also the mantras and spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of
- the wand and the work of the sword; these he shall learn and teach.
-
- 38. He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals.
-
- 39. The word of the Law is Velhma.
-
- 40. Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look but close
- into the word. For there are therein Three Grades, the Hermit, and the
- Lover, and the man of Earth. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of
- the Law.
-
- 41. The word of Sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not thy wife, if
- she will! O lover, if thou wilt, depart! There is no bond that can
- unite the divided but love: all else is a curse. Accursèd! Accursèd be
- it to the aeons! Hell.
-
- 42. Let it be that state of manyhood bound and loathing.So with thy
- all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.
-
- 43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.
-
- 44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of
- result, is every way perfect.
-
- 45. The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are
- none!
-
- 46. Nothing is a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the Jews call it;
- I call it eight, eighty, four hundred & eighteen.
-
- 47. But they have the half: unite by thine art so that all disappear.
-
- 48. My prophet is a fool with his one, one, one; are not they the Ox,
- and none by the Book?
-
- 49. Abrogate are all rituals, all ordeals, all words and signs. Ra-
- Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods;
- and let Asar be with Isa, who also are one. But they are not of me.
- Let Asar be the adorant, Isa the sufferer; Hoor in his secret name and
- splendour is the Lord initiating.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 50. There is a word to say about the Hierophantic task. Behold! there
- are three ordeals in one, and it may be given in three ways. The gross
- must pass through fire; let the fine be tried in intellect, and the
- lofty chosen ones in the highest. Thus ye have star & star, system &
- system; let not one know well the other!
-
- 51. There are four gates to one palace; the floor of that palace is
- of silver and gold; lapis lazuli & jasper are there; and all rare
- scents; jasmine & rose, and the emblems of death. Let him enter in
- turn or at once the four gates; let him stand on the floor of the
- palace. Will he not sink? Amn. Ho! warrior, if thy servant sink? But
- there are means and means. Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine
- apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines that foam!
- Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with
- whom ye will! But always unto me.
-
- 52. If this be not aright; if ye confound the space-marks, saying:
- They are one; or saying, They are many; if the ritual be not ever unto
- me: then expect the direful judgments of Ra Hoor Khuit!
-
- 53. This shall regenerate the world, the little world my sister, my
- heart & my tongue, unto whom I send this kiss. Also, o scribe and
- prophet, though thou be of the princes, it shall not assuage thee nor
- absolve thee. But ecstasy be thine and joy of earth: ever To me! To
- me!
-
- 54. Change not as much as the style of a letter; for behold! thou, o
- prophet, shalt not behold all these mysteries hidden therein.
-
- 55. The child of thy bowels, he shall behold them.
-
- 56. Expect him not from the East, nor from the West; for from no
- expected house cometh that child. Aum! All words are sacred and all
- prophets true; save only that they understand a little; solve the
- first half of the equation, leave the second unattacked. But thou hast
- all in the clear light, and some, though not all, in the dark.
-
- 57. Invoke me under my stars! Love is the law, love under will. Nor
- let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the
- dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath
- chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the
- House of God.
-
- All these old letters of my Book are aright; but is not the
- Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise.
-
- 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
- colour 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
- spendour & 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.
-
- {Chapter II}
-
-
- 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
- circumference, 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 the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core
- of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is the
- knowledge of me the knowledge of death.
-
- 7. I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel,
- and the cube in the circle. ``Come unto me'' is a foolish word: for it
- is I that go.
-
- 8. Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me; ill, for I am
- the worshipper.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 9. Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows
- are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which
- remains.
-
- 10. O prophet! thou hast ill will to learn this writing.
-
- 11. I see thee hate the hand & the pen; but I am stronger.
-
- 12. Because of me in Thee which thou knewest not.
-
- 13. for why? Because thou wast the knower, and me.
-
- 14. Now let there be a veiling of this shrine: now let the light
- devour men and eat them up with blindness!
-
- 15. For I am perfect, being Not; and my number is nine by the fools;
- but with the just I am eight, and one in eight: Which is vital, for I
- am none indeed. The Empress and the King are not of me; for there is a
- further secret.
-
- 16. I am The Empress & the Hierophant. Thus eleven, as my bride is
- eleven.
-
- 17. Hear me, ye people of sighing!
- The sorrows of pain and regret
- Are left to the dead and the dying,
- The folk that not know me as yet.
-
- 18. These are dead, these fellows; they feel not. We are not for the
- poor and sad: the lords of the earth are our kinsfolk.
-
- 19. Is a God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of us. They
- shall rejoice, our chosen: who sorroweth is not of us.
-
- 20. Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious languor,
- force and fire, are of us.
-
- 21. We have nothing with the outcast and the unfit: let them die in
- their misery. For they feel not. Compassion is the vice of kings:
- stamp down the wretched & the weak: this is the law of the strong:
- this is our law and the joy of the world. Think not, o king, upon that
- lie: That Thou Must Die: verily thou shalt not die, but live. Now let
- it be understood: If the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain in
- pure ecstasy for ever. Nuit! Hadit! Ra-Hoor-Khuit! The Sun, Strength &
- Sight, Light; these are for the servants of the Star & the Snake.
-
- 22. I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory,
- and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine
- and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof!
- They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against self.
- The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all
- things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for
- this.
-
- 23. I am alone: there is no God where I am.
-
- 24. Behold! these be grave mysteries; for there are also of my
- friends who be hermits. Now think not to find them in the forest or on
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- the mountain; but in beds of purple, caressed by magnificent beasts of
- women with large limbs, and fire and light in their eyes, and masses
- of flaming hair about them; there shall ye find them. Ye shall see
- them at rule, at victorious armies, at all the joy; and there shall be
- in them a joy a million times greater than this. Beware lest any force
- another, King against King! Love one another with burning hearts; on
- the low men trample in the fierce lust of your pride, in the day of
- your wrath.
-
- 25. Ye are against the people, O my chosen!
-
- 26. I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling
- there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop
- down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth,
- and I and the earth are one.
-
- 27. There is great danger in me; for who doth not understand these
- runes shall make a great miss. He shall fall down into the pit called
- Because, and there he shall perish with the dogs of Reason.
-
- 28. Now a curse upon Because and his kin!
-
- 29. May Because be accurs^ed for ever!
-
- 30. If Will stops and cries Why, invoking Because, then Will stops &
- does nought.
-
- 31. If Power asks why, then is Power weakness.
-
- 32. Also reason is a lie; for there is a factor infinite & unknown; &
- all their words are skew-wise.
-
- 33. Enough of Because! Be he damned for a dog!
-
- 34. But ye, o my people, rise up & awake!
-
- 35. Let the rituals be rightly performed with joy & beauty!
-
- 36. There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the times.
-
- 37. A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride!
-
- 38. A feast for the three days of the writing of the Book of the Law.
-
- 39. A feast for Tahuti and the child of the Prophet--secret, O
- Prophet!
-
- 40. A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast for the Equinox of
- the Gods.
-
- 41. A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for life and a
- greater feast for death!
-
- 42. A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture!
-
- 43. A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost
- delight!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 44. Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread hereafter. There is the
- dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu.
-
- 45. There is death for the dogs.
-
- 46. Dost thou fail? Art thou sorry? Is fear in thine heart?
-
- 47. Where I am these are not.
-
- 48. Pity not the fallen! I never knew them. I am not for them. I
- console not: I hate the consoled & the consoler.
-
- 49. I am unique & conqueror. I am not of the slaves that perish. Be
- they damned & dead! Amen. (This is of the 4: there is a fifth who is
- invisible, & therein am I as a babe in an egg.)
-
- 50. Blue am I and gold in the light of my bride: but the red gleam is
- in my eyes; & my spangles are purple & green.
-
- 51. Purple beyond purple: it is the light higher than eyesight.
-
- 52. There is a veil: that veil is black. It is the veil of the modest
- woman; it is the veil of sorrow, & the pall of death: this is none of
- me. Tear down that lying spectre of the centuries: veil not your vices
- in virtuous words: these vices are my service; ye do well, & I will
- reward you here and hereafter.
-
- 53. Fear not, o prophet, when these words are said, thou shalt not be
- sorry. Thou art emphatically my chosen; and blessed are the eyes that
- thou shalt look upon with gladness. But I will hide thee in a mask of
- sorrow: they that see thee shall fear thou art fallen: but I lift thee
- up.
-
- 54. Nor shall they who cry aloud their folly that thou meanest nought
- avail; thou shall reveal it: thou availest: they are the slaves of
- because: They are not of me. The stops as thou wilt; the letters?
- change them not in style or value!
-
- 55. Thou shalt obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet; thou
- shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto.
-
- 56. Begone! ye mockers; even though ye laugh in my honour ye shall
- laugh not long: then when ye are sad know that I have forsaken you.
-
- 57. He that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is filthy
- shall be filthy still.
-
- 58. Yea! deem not of change: ye shall be as ye are, & not other.
- Therefore the kings of the earth shall be Kings for ever: the slaves
- shall serve. There is none that shall be cast down or lifted up: all
- is ever as it was. Yet there are masked ones my servants: it may be
- that yonder beggar is a King. A King may choose his garment as he
- will: there is no certain test: but a beggar cannot hide his poverty.
-
- 59. Beware therefore! Love all, lest perchance is a King concealed!
- Say you so? Fool! If he be a King, thou canst not hurt him.
-
- 60. Therefore strike hard & low, and to hell with them, master!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 61. There is a light before thine eyes, o prophet, a light undesired,
- most desirable.
-
- 62. I am uplifted in thine heart; and the kisses of the stars rain
- hard upon thy body.
-
- 63. Thou art exhaust in the voluptuous fullness of the inspiration;
- the expiration is sweeter than death, more rapid and laughterful than
- a caress of Hell's own worm.
-
- 64. Oh! thou art overcome: we are upon thee; our delight is all over
- thee: hail! hail: prophet of Nu! prophet of Had! prophet of Ra-Hoor-
- Khu! Now rejoice! now come in our splendour & rapture! Come in our
- passionate peace, & write sweet words for the Kings!
-
- 65. I am the Master: thou art the Holy Chosen One.
-
- 66. Write, & find ecstasy in writing! Work, & be our bed in working!
- Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death shall be lovely:
- whoso seeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the
- promise of our agelong love. Come! lift up thine heart & rejoice! We
- are one; we are none.
-
- 67. Hold! Hold! Bear up in thy rapture; fall not in swoon of the
- excellent kisses!
-
- 68. Harder! Hold up thyself! Lift thine head! breathe not so deep--
- die!
-
- 69. Ah! Ah! What do I feel? Is the word exhausted?
-
- 70. There is help & hope in other spells. Wisdom says: be strong!
- Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture! If
- thou drink, drink by the eight and ninety rules of art: if thou love,
- exceed by delicacy; and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety
- therein!
-
- 71. But exceed! exceed!
-
- 72. Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine--and doubt it
- not, an if thou art ever joyous! --death is the crown of all.
-
- 73. Ah! Ah! Death! Death! thou shalt long for death. Death is
- forbidden, o man, unto thee.
-
- 74. The length of thy longing shall be the strength of its glory. He
- that lives long & desires death much is ever the King among the Kings.
-
- 75. Aye! listen to the numbers & the words:
-
- 76. 4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24 89 R P S T O V A L. What
- meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever.
- There cometh one to follow thee: he shall expound it. But remember, o
- chosen one, to be me; to follow the love of Nu in the star-lit heaven;
- to look forth upon men, to tell them this glad word.
-
- 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}
-
-
- 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.
-
- 4. Choose ye an island!
-
- 5. Fortify it!
-
- 6. Dung it about with enginery of war!
-
- 7. I will give you a war-engine.
-
- 8. With it ye shall smite the peoples; and none shall stand before
- you.
-
- 9. Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them! this is the Law of the Battle of
- Conquest: thus shall my worship be about my secret house.
-
- 10. Get the stèlè of revealing itself; set it in thy secret temple--
- and that temple is already aright disposed--& it shall be your Kiblah
- for ever. It shall not fade, but miraculous colour shall come back to
- it day after day. Close it in locked glass for a proof to the world.
-
- 11. This shall be your only proof. I forbid argument. Conquer! That
- is enough. I will make easy to you the abstruction from the ill-
- ordered house in the Victorious City. Thou shalt thyself convey it
- with
-
- worship, o prophet, though thou likest it not. Thou shalt have danger
- & trouble. Ra-Hoor-Khu is with thee. Worship me with fire & blood;
- worship me with swords & with spears. Let the woman be girt with a
- sword before me: let blood flow to my name. Trample down the Heathen;
- be upon them, o warrior, I will give you of their flesh to eat!
-
- 12. Sacrifice cattle, little and big: after a child.
-
- 13. But not now.
-
- 14. Ye shall see that hour, o bless^ed Beast, and thou the Scarlet
- Concubine of his desire!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 15. Ye shall be sad thereof.
-
- 16. Deem not too eagerly to catch the promises; fear not to undergo
- the curses. Ye, even ye, know not this meaning all.
-
- 17. Fear not at all; fear neither men nor Fates, nor gods, nor
- anything. Money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any
- other power in heaven or upon the earth or under the earth. Nu is your
- refuge as Hadit your light; and I am the strength, force, vigour, of
- your arms.
-
- 18. Mercy let be off; damn them who pity! Kill and torture; spare
- not; be upon them!
-
- 19. That stèlè they shall call the Abomination of Desolation; count
- well its name, & it shall be to you as 718.
-
- 20. Why? Because of the fall of Because, that he is not there again.
-
- 21. Set up my image in the East: thou shalt buy thee an image which I
- will show thee, especial, not unlike the one thou knowest. And it
- shall be suddenly easy for thee to do this.
-
- 22. The other images group around me to support me: let all be
- worshipped, for they shall cluster to exalt me. I am the visible
- object of worship; the others are secret; for the Beast & his Bride
- are they: and for the winners of the Ordeal x. What is this? Thou
- shalt know.
-
- 23. For perfume mix meal & honey & thick leavings of red wine: then
- oil of Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward soften & smooth down
- with rich fresh blood.
-
- 24. The best blood is of the moon, monthly: then the fresh blood of a
- child, or dropping from the host of heaven: then of enemies; then of
- the priest or of the worshippers: last of some beast, no matter what.
-
- 25. This burn: of this make cakes & eat unto me. This hath also
- another use; let it be laid before me, and kept thick with perfumes of
- your orison: it shall become full of beetles as it were and creeping
- things sacred unto me.
-
- 26. These slay, naming your enemies; & they shall fall before you.
-
- 27. Also these shall breed lust & power of lust in you at the eating
- thereof.
-
- 28. Also ye shall be strong in war.
-
- 29. Moreover, be they long kept, it is better; for they swell with my
- force. All before me.
-
- 30. My altar is of open brass work: burn thereon in silver or gold!
-
- 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 shall awake the lust &
- worship of the Snake; another soul of God and beast shall mingle in
- the globèd priest; another sacrifice shall stain the tomb; another
- king shall reign; and blessing no longer be poured To the Hawk-headed
- mystical Lord!
-
- 35. The half of the word of Heru-ra-ha, called Hoor-pa-kraat and Ra-
- Hoor-Khut.
-
- 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 veil^ed 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 ways of the Ka!
- The ways of the Khabs run through
- To stir me or still me!
- Aum! let it fill me!
-
- 38. So that thy light is in me; & its red flame is as a sword in my
- hand to push thy order. There is a secret door that I shall make to
- establish thy way in all the quarters, (these are the adorations, as
- thou hast written), as it is said:
-
- The light is mine; its rays consume
- Me: I have made a secret door
- Into the House of Ra and Tum,
- Of Khephra and of Ahathoor.
- I am thy Theban, O Mentu,
- The prophet Ankh-af-na-khonsu!
-
- By Bes-na-Maut my breast I beat;
- By wise Ta-Nech I weave my spell.
- Show thy star-splendour, O Nuit!
- Bid me within thine House to dwell,
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- O wing^ed snake of light, Hadit!
- Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!
-
- 39. All this and a book to say how thou didst come hither and a
- reproduction of this ink and paper for ever--for in it is the word
- secret & not only in the English--and thy comment upon this the Book
- of the Law shall be printed beautifully in red ink and black upon
- beautiful paper made by hand; and to each man and woman that thou
- meetest, were it but to dine or to drink at them, it is the Law to
- give. Then they shall chance to abide in this bliss or no; it is no
- odds. Do this quickly!
-
- 40. But the work of the comment? That is easy; and Hadit burning in
- thy heart shall make swift and secure thy pen.
-
- 41. Establish at thy Kaaba a clerk-house: all must be done well and
- with business way.
-
- 42. The ordeals thou shalt oversee thyself, save only the blind ones.
- Refuse none, but thou shalt know & destroy the traitors. I am Ra-Hoor-
- Khuit; and I am powerful to protect my servant. Success is thy proof:
- argue not; convert not; talk not overmuch! Them that seek to entrap
- thee, to overthrow thee, them attack without pity or quarter; &
- destroy them utterly. Swift as a trodden serpent turn and strike! Be
- thou yet deadlier than he! Drag down their souls to awful torment:
- laugh at their fear: spit upon them!
-
- 43. Let the Scarlet Woman beware! If pity and compassion and
- tenderness visit her heart; if she leave my work to toy with old
- sweetnesses; then shall my vengeance be known. I will slay me her
- child: I will alienate her heart: I will cast her out from men: as a
- shrinking and despised harlot shall she crawl through dusk wet
- streets, and die cold and an-hungered.
-
- 44. But let her raise herself in pride! Let her follow me in my way!
- Let her work the work of wickedness! Let her kill her heart! Let her
- be loud and adulterous! Let her be covered with jewels, and rich
- garments, and let her be shameless before all men!
-
- 45. Then will I lift her to pinnacles of power: then will I breed
- from her a child mightier than all the kings of the earth. I will fill
- her with joy: with my force shall she see & strike at the worship of
- Nu: she shall achieve Hadit.
-
- 46. I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before
- me, & are abased. I will bring you to victory & joy: I will be at your
- arms in battle & ye shall delight to slay. Success is your proof;
- courage is your armour; go on, go on, in my strength; & ye shall turn
- not back for any!
-
- 47. This book shall be translated into all tongues: but always with
- the original in the writing of the Beast; for in the chance shape of
- the letters and their position to one another: in these are mysteries
- that no Beast shall divine. Let him not seek to try: but one cometh
- after him, whence I say not, who shall discover the Key of it all.
- Then this line drawn is a key: then this circle squared in its failure
- is a key also. And Abrahadabra. It shall be his child & that
- strangely. Let him not seek after this; for thereby alone can he fall
- from it.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 48. Now this mystery of the letters is done, and I want to go on to
- the holier place.
-
- 49. I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all gods of
- men.
-
- 50. Curse them! Curse them! Curse them!
-
- 51. With my Hawk's head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon
- the cross.
-
- 52. I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed & blind him.
-
- 53. With my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and the
- Buddhist, Mongol and Din.
-
- 54. Bahlasti! Ompehda! I spit on your crapulous creeds.
-
- 55. Let Mary inviolate be torn upon wheels: for her sake let all
- chaste women be utterly despised among you!
-
- 56. Also for beauty's sake and love's!
-
- 57. Despise also all cowards; professional soldiers who dare not
- fight, but play; all fools despise!
-
- 58. But the keen and the proud, the royal and the lofty; ye are
- brothers!
-
- 59. As brothers fight ye!
-
- 60. There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
-
- 61. There is an end of the word of the God enthroned in Ra's seat,
- lightening the girders of the soul.
-
- 62. To Me do ye reverence! to me come ye through tribulation of
- ordeal, which is bliss.
-
- 63. The fool readeth this Book of the Law, and its comment; & he
- understandeth it not.
-
- 64. Let him come through the first ordeal, & it will be to him as
- silver.
-
- 65. Through the second, gold.
-
- 66. Through the third, stones of precious water.
-
- 67. Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of the intimate fire.
-
- 68. Yet to all it shall seem beautiful. Its enemies who say not so,
- are mere liars.
-
- 69. There is success.
-
- 70. I am the Hawk-Headed Lord of Silence & of Strength; my nemyss
- shrouds the night-blue sky.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 71. Hail! ye twin warriors about the pillars of the world! for your
- time is nigh at hand.
-
- 72. I am the Lord of the Double Wand of Power; the wand of the Force
- of Coph Nia--but my left hand is empty, for I have crushed an
- Universe; & nought remains.
-
- 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 Abrahadabra.
-
- The Book of the Law is Written
-
-
- and Concealed.
-
-
- Aum. Ha.
-
-
- THE COMMENT.
-
-
- Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
-
- The study of this Book is forbidden. It is wise to destroy this copy
- after the first reading.
-
- Whosoever disregards this does so at his own risk and peril. These are
- most dire.
-
- Those who discuss the contents of this Book are to be shunned by all,
- as centres of pestilence.
-
- All questions of the Law are to be decided only by appeal to my
- writings, each for himself.
-
- There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
-
- Love is the law, love under will.
-
- The priest of the princes,
-
-
- ANKH-F-N-KHONSU
-