Book of Law Study Group 1.5

cardlady22

Yygdrasilian said:
Now, what might 5 & 12 have in common with each other?

Combining this with the "warrior to help" gives me a mental image of an elaborate dance with swords where the warrior/dancer slices away the tips of the d20 and reveals the d12.

I have no clue what it might mean, or if it's even relevant.
 

Abrac

Across the Gulf is a story which first appeared in Equinox #I-7. It is written by Crowley as a series of recovered memories, in which he remembers himself as a priestess of the Veiled One (Isis) even though he is male. This is but one in a series of wonders and miracles that follow, including no less, the seduction of the Veiled One Herself (thousands of times!).

Subsequently, the reign of the Veiled One ends and a pronouncement is made by he "Magus of the Well" that a new era has begun, that of Osiris, and right away he makes him (Crowley) High Priest of Osiris. Ankh-f-n-Khonsu is not mentioned by name in the story but Crowley starts out the tale by saying:

"Therefore with faith and confidence do I, who was - in a certain mystical sense - the Priest of the Princes, Ankh-f-na-khonsu, child of Ta-nech, the holy and mighty one, and of Bes-na-Maut, priestess of the Starry One, set myself to tell myself the strange things that befell me in that life."

The implication of the story is that Ankh-f-n-Khonsu played key roles in the aeons of Isis and of Osiris and has now reappeared as Crowley to usher in the aeon of Horus.

It's hard to say if the story is meant to be taken literally, or figuratively as magical instruction. It's not presented as fiction and Crowley himself seems to have taken it literally (outwardly at least), signing the BoL "Ankh-n-f-Khonsu." Either way it does give some good insight into Crowley's way of thinking.
 

Abrac

1.Had! The manifestation of Nuit.

Nuit represents that which is veiled or hidden, the mysteries of nature. The Old and New Commentaries clarify that Had (Hadit) is Nuit's revelator.

"The recipient of this knowledge is to identify himself with Hadit, and thus fully express the thoughts of her heart in her very language." -Old Comment 1.6

"Nuit formulates me as Hadit, especially in the three centres of consciousness of her Being." -New Comment 1.6

Thus, Crowley is Hadit.


2.The unveiling of the company of heaven.

Hadit's manifestation of Nuit involves the unveiling of the company of heaven. I believe the phrase "unveiling of the company of heaven" is a way of saying "the revelation of the mysteries of creation."


3.Every man and every woman is a star.
4.Every number is infinite; there is no difference.

Here Nuit reveals two "mysteries" which seem to be at the top of her agenda.


5.Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men!

Nuit appeals to Crowley to be her representative and spokesperson. The capital C in children implies to me an elect group of initiates rather than humanity as a whole.
 

Aeon418

Abrac said:
It's hard to say if the story is meant to be taken literally, or figuratively as magical instruction. It's not presented as fiction and Crowley himself seems to have taken it literally (outwardly at least), signing the BoL "Ankh-n-f-Khonsu." Either way it does give some good insight into Crowley's way of thinking.
Liber 59's description in the A.'.A.'. syllabus.
LIBER LIX - Across the Gulf <Class C>

A fantastic account of a previous incarnation. Its principal interest is that it's story of the overthrowing of Isis by Osiris may help the reader to understand the meaning of the overthrowing of Osiris by Horus in the present AEon.
As indicated above, Liber LIX is a Class C text.
Class "C" consists of matter which is to be regarded rather as suggestive than anything else.
 

Aeon418

Abrac said:
1.Had! The manifestation of Nuit.

Nuit represents that which is veiled or hidden, the mysteries of nature. The Old and New Commentaries clarify that Had (Hadit) is Nuit's revelator.

"The recipient of this knowledge is to identify himself with Hadit, and thus fully express the thoughts of her heart in her very language." -Old Comment 1.6

"Nuit formulates me as Hadit, especially in the three centres of consciousness of her Being." -New Comment 1.6

Thus, Crowley is Hadit.


2.The unveiling of the company of heaven.

Hadit's manifestation of Nuit involves the unveiling of the company of heaven. I believe the phrase "unveiling of the company of heaven" is a way of saying "the revelation of the mysteries of creation."


3.Every man and every woman is a star.
4.Every number is infinite; there is no difference.

Here Nuit reveals two "mysteries" which seem to be at the top of her agenda.


5.Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men!

Nuit appeals to Crowley to be her representative and spokesperson. The capital C in children implies to me an elect group of initiates rather than humanity as a whole.
The links to this material have already been posted, Abrac. It's representative of Crowley's personal views and interpretations at particular points in time. But in no sense is it THE interpretation of Liber Legis.

What are your views on the meaning of the text, Abrac? What is the text saying to you beyond an intellectual nit-picking exercise?
 

Always Wondering

I think you both have good points.

Abrac said:
Nuit appeals to Crowley to be her representative and spokesperson. The capital C in children implies to me an elect group of initiates rather than humanity as a whole.

I can see this. I am always aware that Thelema is a graded system and I am uninitiated. At the rate I am going, I may forever be a student of the mysteries. But this is working for me right now.


Aeon418 said:
What are your views on the meaning of the text, Abrac?

You have obviously given this a lot of thought, Abrac, but I am never quite sure if you find it all useless, or find meaning in some of it.
I try to stay balanced and apply some skepticism as I tend to get carried away with myself. :| So I find value in your posts.
But I am curious . . .

AW
 

Grigori

Abrac said:
"Nuit formulates me as Hadit, especially in the three centres of consciousness of her Being." -New Comment 1.6

Thus, Crowley is Hadit.

.....5.Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men!

Nuit appeals to Crowley to be her representative and spokesperson. The capital C in children implies to me an elect group of initiates rather than humanity as a whole.

I read this slightly differently, though in a way perhaps the same. Rather than being directed at Crowley, and trying to understand how he read this, I am reading Liber Legis, and these lines in particular as being directed at me. So I am Hadit (as each of us are) and Nuit is appealing to me to evangelize on her behalf, to all the other Hadits.

Its possible this makes me as arrogant as Crowley :laugh: though in my defense I'm an aries with his mars in leo, so this is to be expected :joke:
 

Abrac

Yygdrasilian said:
A nearly identical passage is also found in the Scroll of Ani on Coming Forth by Day & Living After Death
This is true. From around the end of the 17th Dynasty onward almost all of the prayers found on funerary stelae and other artifacts associated with afterlife are standards from the so-called Book of the Dead.
 

Aeon418

similia said:
I read this slightly differently, though in a way perhaps the same. Rather than being directed at Crowley, and trying to understand how he read this, I am reading Liber Legis, and these lines in particular as being directed at me.
It's a very useful approach to the text because it forces you to be less literal and more intuitive, and that's important. Crowley tells us that the book was communicated to him by his HGA, Aiwass. The qabalistc level corresponding to the HGA is Briah. If a Briatic intelligence wishes to communicate via a book it creates a big problem. At the Briatic level of awareness, opposites are a unity. But a book is Yetziratic, the next lower level of diversity and contradictions.

So the problem is, how does super-consciousness communicate a single, unified message to normal human consciousness? One answer is to do it via contradictions. The normal rational mind gets pulled one way and then the other when faced with contradictions. But the intuition can leap between contradictions and grasp things that the rational mind can't.

Liber Legis contains passages of loving devotion at one end of the spectrum, and savage barbarism at the other end. How do you reconcile these contradictions? A strictly intellectual approach won't get you far. But listening to your intuition is the first step to engaging with the text on it's own level. An added bonus is that we are all tarot readers on this forum, so we are all supposed to be good at using our intuitions. ;) If you like you can regard Crowley's commentaries as the LWB for Liber Legis. It's not a full interpretation, but it is a place to start until you find your feet.
 

Grigori

Moderator Note

Hi all, I've copied a couple of the posts above, and split one of Abrac's off into a new thread. In response to the above posts a new topic has started, which would be good to develop in a thread of its own.

This thread is for ongoing conversation about BoL 1.5, the conversation about the similiarities between Thelema and other religions can be found at the new location http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=109981

Thanks Similia :)