Book of Law Study Group 1.10

Aeon418

The Book of Thoth p. 136 - 139, and also Lon DuQuette's chapter on Atu XI Lust, might be helpful on this point about the Hermit.

Note: The goddess Babalon is the finite, manifest aspect of the unamnifest, infinite Nuit.
 

Aeon418

My apologies if this seems off topic to some.

It's just occurred to me how intimately related this 10th-Malkuth verse is to Binah, the sephira of Babalon. Both are represented by the Hebrew letter Heh.

YHVH. The first Heh - Binah is the Supernal Mother. The second Heh - Malkuth is the Daughter. The Great Work is to set the Daughter on the throne of the Mother.

Most people who set foot on the path of initiation soon experience a strange phenomenon. No sooner does the Neophyte aspire upward to Binah, than Malkuth tries to hold them back. One of the first results of regular magical work is the sudden powerful energising of the Nephesch - the animal soul.

Note that my own experience of this is naturally from a male perspective. But at the time it was very obvious how my aspiration was being diverted away from the Goddess towards more earthly goddesses. ;);):laugh:

Kundry tries to seduce the Grail Knights away from the Grail Quest. ;)
 

Grigori

Aeon418 said:
Given? Given by who? Please sir, can I do my Will? ;)
Not all power is temporal, except in the vulgar sense of the word.

:laugh: Perhaps, "assumed" would have been a better word. I think the word "given" was more connected to the internal version, where you choose which parts of your mind direct the other parts. Which urges to give preference to. For external or temporal affairs, assumed may be better. Though as in your example, both versions are simplified by the idea that the one who has the power to lead, is the one who can see beyond "other".
 

Aeon418

similia said:
For external or temporal affairs, assumed may be better.
I'm having trouble reconciling "few and secret" with external and temporal. A visible ruler is a King. In Liber Legis, according to my understanding, King is a synonym for Adept. The Hermit is the invisible influence (hand/Yod) behind Kings.

Illuminati.... :laugh:

From Binah jump down to Chesed and give the King in Tiphareth a prod and a nudge via the 20th path. It's the "invisible hand" of the Third Order - A.'.A.'.. ;)
 

Grigori

Aeon418 said:
I'm having trouble reconciling "few and secret" with external and temporal. A visible ruler is a King. In Liber Legis, according to my understanding, King is a synonym for Adept. The Hermit is the invisible influence (hand/Yod) behind Kings.

This reminds me a little of the (old fashioned, sorry ladies) saying "the man is the head of the house, but the woman is the neck and she tells the head which way to go".
 

Aeon418

There's truth in that on other planes, as long as the gender symbols aren't interpreted literally.
THE OYSTER

The Brothers of A.'.A.'. are one with the Mother of
the Child.
The Many is as adorable to the One as the One is to
the Many. This is the Love of These; creation-
parturition is the Bliss of the One; coition-
dissolution is the Bliss of the Many.
The All, thus interwoven of These, is Bliss.
Naught is beyond Bliss.
The Man delights in uniting with the Woman; the
Woman in parting from the Child.
The Brothers of A.'.A.'. are Women: the Aspirants
to A.'.A.'. are Men
.

COMMENTARY Gamma

Gimel is the High Priestess of the Tarot. This
chapter gives the initiated feminine point of view; it is
therefore called the Oyster, a symbol of the Yoni. In
Equinox X, The Temple of Solomon the King, it is
explained how Masters of the Temple, or Brothers of
A.'.A.'. have changed the formula of their progress.
These two formulae, Solve et Coagula, are now ex-
plained, and the universe is exhibited as the interplay
between these two. This also explains the statement in
Liber Legis I, 28-30.
 

Grigori

Recently I've been quite fascinated with wolves. I had been having some problem behaviour from my dog (anxious aggression and biting), and started using a technique based on wolf pack structure to get a better handle on things. I was reading a bit about the method last night, and was reminded of this verse and the idea of roles of power in social structures. It also connected for me with the wolf being attributed to Mars, and hence the Tower card (as seen on the Via tarot, and the as yet unpublished Similia's Tarot, of which only the Fool and the Tower exist :D ) So it seems the wolf may also be seen as a symbol of Horus, or the HGA. Probably this will be more relevant when we get up to the later chapters of the book, but I wanted to write this down to look back on when we get up to there and see who what I understand from the current verse changes later.

In the wolf pack, the leaders (alpha pair) are the first to eat, usually the only ones who get to breed, and have their own personal space separated from the pack. The make the decisions, and have absolute power over the rest of the group. If you displease them, they can kill you, or cast you out of the pack. In a sense, they can be seen as the autocratic rulers.

In exchange, they are the first to go into harms way, first to fight to defend the pack, and often the first killed. The ones who serve/lead the many. They are considered to have the best DNA, being the smartest, strongest, fastest, and so assume the role of leader, and also its included responsibilities and burdens. As long as they do their job they stay in that role, but if they slip another pack member might challenge and steal their leadership position. So not really a democracy, but they are in their role at the preference of the group, and only with the group's support. Natural selection I guess is a better term than any other.

It all sounds very violent and war-like, but in actual fact the best alpha pair are apparently the most gentle. They are calm and relaxed, and don't inforce their rule by violence within their pack. Its the calmness that justifies their credentials as leader.

The problems my dog has been having, are because it thinks it is the pack leader, despite being underqualified to fill that role in human society. But the pack structure requires someone to fill that job and look after the group, and since he doesn't see me doing it, my pup nominated himself. There is something ambitious in that also, which reminds me of the Tower itself, the urge to grow and build upwards. And the lightening moment that comes when you've over-extended your abilities.

The whole thing reminded me of the Thelemic idea of everyone having a set of natural preferences (Will) and it being our responsibility to find the place in society that lets us fulfil that role, for some of us that is a role about temporal power. For others, the role of leader is foreign and being forced into that role is contrary to our Will and best interest. I'm not entirely sure how I view this, or the benefit really, but it was interesting to think of the idea of the individual being the guiding principle, and how that manifests in a society (that like ours) is based on social structures and the pack (Nuit?).
 

Always Wondering

We have lots of animals so I have had moments like this too. My daughter played the role of alpha with our Rottweiler and when she moved out I had to step up. I am not near as comfortable with it as she was. There is just something I don't project as well. I too have thought there's a certain calm I lack, and intent. I find it more enjoyable to play and love on animals. I am a softie. :| Even so, my daughter has more love and connection with them, I think, than I do.

This is even more pronounced with our two horses. The male is much more dominate. He makes the female wait until he's satisfied with his lot of food, though she always gets enough, just him first. He chases her around and nips at her all the time. He keeps her in line, sometimes I thought, out of just plain meanness. Then last year we put up new, stronger, hot wire for fencing. The filly had to test that fence over and over no matter how big a shock it gave her. So alpha male kept putting himself between her and the fence to save her from herself, he guarded her thus all day. He didn't seem so mean after all.

I always think it is interesting to observe this natural behavior because we have gotten so politically correct, especially with the male female roles. Every time I feed the horses I get that I am neither very political, nor very alpha. Most of the time I am perfectly fine with this. Though I have never admitted it out loud. :laugh:

You have given me a new way to relate to this study.
Thank-you.

AW
 

Beira

The idea of the few and secret running the world from behind the scene looks scary at first sight, but if you think of it, maybe decisions would be better made by people that have attained so high a degree of initiation...
As for inside ourselves, certainly the worship and full expression of our Khabs is a great step on our spiritual path. We should then let the parts of us that more readily let the Khab shine take the other parts along, so that we attain full splendour of the Khab.
But this implies the "death" of our ego/personality, the Khu we built to get the illusion of separateness from Nuit at the beginning of time. To cross the Abyss is going beyond all this, attaining unity of briatic level, where there is no more separation.
On the other side of the Abyss Babalon beacons us with the cup in her hand, where the "life" of all the others who have crossed are mingled, where our own life shall mingle after the crossing, and the consents of the cup will be used to awake Father All Chaos to mate with his queen and beget the Conquering Child.
I have not much clear how it is that the hermit's life gets in the cup (does it get there?) diffdrently from anyone else.