Book of Law Study Group 1.10

Grigori

Resurecting this thread post crash....

Crowley said:
The Old Comment
10. This is the rule of Thelema, that its adepts shall be invisible rulers. This, it may be remarked, has always been the case.

The New Comment
The nature of magical power is quite incomprehensible to the vulgar. The prophet Ezekiel besieging a tile in order to destroy Jerusalem, and the adventure of Hosea with Gomer, seem as absurd to the 'practical' man as do the researches of any other scientific man until the Sunday Newspapers have furnished him with a plausible explanation which explains nothing. ("Book 4", Part III, must be read in this connexion.)
"My servants"; not those of the Lord of the Aeon. "The Law is for all"; there can be no secrecy about that. The verse refers to specially chosen 'servants'; perhaps those who, worshipping the Khabs, have beheld Her light shed over them. Such persons indeed consummate the marriage of Nuit and Hadit in themselves; in that case they are aware of certain Ways to Power.

There is also a mystical sense in this verse. We are to organize our minds thoroughly, appointing few and secret chiefs, serving Nuit, to discipline the varied departments of the conscious thought.

This verse fascinates me, and the commentary in particular. Its striking to me that the "rulers" are not those that serve Hadit, Horus or Harpocrates or any of the more militant parts of the thelemic pantheon as I'd expect from a "ruler", but they are in fact the servants of Nuit (the all) the loving goddess. Thelema seems to be advocating that positions of authority be given to either the people, or the parts of the self, that serve the whole (rather than themselves as seperate components of Nuit). Leadership through service to the group. The Law of Hoor-Pa-Kraat (the individual) is for all, but the administration of that Law should be by those who serve Nuit (everyone else).
 

Aeon418

similia said:
Its striking to me that the "rulers" are not those that serve Hadit
Thinking back to the previous verse, it seems clear that those who identify with their inner self, the light of Khabs (the house of Hadit), are the ones who have the light of Nuit shed over them. They are the servants of Nuit.
similia said:
Thelema seems to be advocating that positions of authority be given to
Given? Given by who? Please sir, can I do my Will? ;)
Not all power is temporal, except in the vulgar sense of the word.
similia said:
Leadership through service to the group. The Law of Hoor-Pa-Kraat (the individual) is for all, but the administration of that Law should be by those who serve Nuit (everyone else).
I see this in a different light. It's almost the same, but there's a subtle difference.

As initiation progresses the sense of self begins to change and expand. The boundaries between Self and Other begin to blur. To a high initiate there is no sense of Other. There is only Self which is Selflessness.
And he says to me, quite disconnectedly: The man of earth is the adherent. The lover giveth his life unto the work among men. The hermit goeth solitary, and giveth only of his light unto men.

Liber 418 - 13th Aethyr
Take a look at the Hermit card. You can't see his face. His Light is not filtered through his life, it comes direct from the source.
I said, Let the darkness cover me; and behold, I am compassed about with the blackness that hath no name. O thou, who hast cast down the light into the earth, so must thou do for ever. And the light of the sun shall not shine upon thee, and the moon shall not lend thee of her lustre, and the stars shall be hidden, because thou art passed beyond these things, beyond the need of these things, beyond the desire of these things.

What I thought were shapes of rocks, rather felt than seen, now appear to be veiled Masters, sitting absolutely still and silent. Nor can any one be distinguished from the others.

And the Angel sayeth: Behold where thine Angel hath led thee! Thou didst ask fame, power and pleasure, health and wealth and love, and strength, and length of days. Thou didst hold life with eight tentacles, like an octopus. Thou didst seek the four powers and the seven delights and the twelve emancipations and the two and twenty Privileges and the nine and forty Manifestations, and lo! thou art become as one of These. Bowed are their backs, whereon resteth the universe. Veiled are their faces, that have beheld the glory Ineffable.

These adepts seem like Pyramids --- their hoods and robes are like Pyramids.

And the Angel sayeth: Verily is the Pyramid a Temple of Initiation. Verily also is it a tomb. Thinkest thou that there is life within the Masters of the Temple, that sit hooded, encamped upon the Sea? Verily, there is no life in them.

Their sandals were the pure light, and they have taken them from their feet and cast them down through the abyss, for this Aethyr is holy ground.

Liber 418 - 14th Aethyr
 

Aeon418

Let my servants be few & secret: they shall rule the many & the known.

The many - Man (or woman) of Earth - the adherent to Thelema.

The known - The Lover - the Adept in K&C with HGA.

The servant - The Hermit - the Master.
 

cardlady22

Just putting back my comments regarding the conductor (as in music) and the measuring tool as analogies for the Ruler.
 

Aeon418

An interesting tidbit...

An old and obsolete usage of the word serve was to be a suitor to, or to profess love to, a lady.
 

Always Wondering

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

How did you know I was sitting here trying to come to terms with the words servant and master? I was feeling very resistant. Thiis is helpful.


AW
 

Aeon418

In the Thelemic triad the Hermit corresponds to the Supernals above the Abyss. There contradiction is unity.

The Master is the Master only because he/she is a true Servant of the goddess. In Liber Cheth this is described as the draining of the individual life into the cup of universal life.
 

cardlady22

Very cool! Back when I was a teenager, I used to tell people that I saw myself as a down-and-dirty garden hose. The hose gets faded, mucky, etc. It's the water travelling through that does everything.

LAW > WILL > LOVE > SERVE
 

Aeon418

Always Wondering said:
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

How did you know I was sitting here trying to come to terms with the words servant and master?
I didn't. But I had a sudden urge to say something. :laugh: