The Book of the Law Study Group 3.13
brightcrazystar
clearly, Crowley was not yet ready for the Eleventh degree...
Seriously, I think this is a verse which you could extrapolate a lot bug get very little out of it.
I think the neatest thing to note is this is the top of a page, and seems far more collected than the bottom of the previous page. It may have been that there was something heard but unwritten between these two verses, but that is just speculation. He did have to get a new piece of paper, ya know?
Now some considerations:
But not now.
These seven strokes of the pen and the stop being an 8th compose these 10 glyphs, 9 of which are letters.
The letters used are B, U, T, N, O, W and .
We see that the Not disappears when we reduce the sentence to its component letters. As "but" is regarded as a negative, and its root is "without, except, excluding" and "not" is a negative. We see the double negatives cancel each other out, and we are left with "Now."
The letters are interesting:
B - Beth
U and W are Vau
T - Tau (or Teth)
N - Nun
O - Ayin
So we see English there are 6 letters and in Hebrew, 5.
5 degree equals 6 square? The stop could confirm it.
The value of these are in hebrew, 528 if the T is a Tau (or 534 with two Vau, but Vau Vau is how we spell Vau, so we shall consider it one, besides 5=6 right?)
If the T is a Teth, we get 137. That is my past mentors number, Frater 137. I love that. Never saw it before now. (143 for the heathen who still demands 2 vaus!)
528 means nothing, besides, I can't self reference it.
137 means:
A wheel; one of the Auphanim
The belly, gullet
A pillar, monument (Gn. 28:22)
A receiving, tradition; the Qabalah
I just found a new love for this verse, lol.
And we see it contains Magus, Hierophant, Lust, Death, Devil.
Mercury is the only planet here, but we know Magus is more than Mercury.
Taurus
Leo
Scorpio
Capricorn?
Hmm, no air. What could be the reason?
Of course, the Child, little and big, Aleph, the fool. Sacrificed.
The Child Sacrificed was replaced by the Capricornus Emissarius, The Scapegoat. Crowley himself.
Again, quickly becomes an awesome verse with a little brainwork, a lot of poetic license, and a bit of tongue in cheek.
Eager to hear other thoughts!
Seriously, I think this is a verse which you could extrapolate a lot bug get very little out of it.
I think the neatest thing to note is this is the top of a page, and seems far more collected than the bottom of the previous page. It may have been that there was something heard but unwritten between these two verses, but that is just speculation. He did have to get a new piece of paper, ya know?
Now some considerations:
But not now.
These seven strokes of the pen and the stop being an 8th compose these 10 glyphs, 9 of which are letters.
The letters used are B, U, T, N, O, W and .
We see that the Not disappears when we reduce the sentence to its component letters. As "but" is regarded as a negative, and its root is "without, except, excluding" and "not" is a negative. We see the double negatives cancel each other out, and we are left with "Now."
The letters are interesting:
B - Beth
U and W are Vau
T - Tau (or Teth)
N - Nun
O - Ayin
So we see English there are 6 letters and in Hebrew, 5.
5 degree equals 6 square? The stop could confirm it.
The value of these are in hebrew, 528 if the T is a Tau (or 534 with two Vau, but Vau Vau is how we spell Vau, so we shall consider it one, besides 5=6 right?)
If the T is a Teth, we get 137. That is my past mentors number, Frater 137. I love that. Never saw it before now. (143 for the heathen who still demands 2 vaus!)
528 means nothing, besides, I can't self reference it.
137 means:
A wheel; one of the Auphanim
The belly, gullet
A pillar, monument (Gn. 28:22)
A receiving, tradition; the Qabalah
I just found a new love for this verse, lol.
And we see it contains Magus, Hierophant, Lust, Death, Devil.
Mercury is the only planet here, but we know Magus is more than Mercury.
Taurus
Leo
Scorpio
Capricorn?
Hmm, no air. What could be the reason?
Of course, the Child, little and big, Aleph, the fool. Sacrificed.
The Child Sacrificed was replaced by the Capricornus Emissarius, The Scapegoat. Crowley himself.
Again, quickly becomes an awesome verse with a little brainwork, a lot of poetic license, and a bit of tongue in cheek.
Eager to hear other thoughts!
Aeon418
According to the Hebrew letter sequence this verse is attributed to the letter, Mem - Water, and Atu XII The Hanged Man.
This verse contains 3 words of 3 letters each. 333. This could be an indicator why the "sacrifice" in the previous verse must be delayed. In verse 12 there were connections with focus on the Crown chakra and Equilibration. The untrained Ruach-Mind has neither the focus or balance required to be a proper vehicle of the Will.
The 9 letters suggest several things to me. 9 makes me think of the 9 in the number 696 - Lurk! There it coiled like a serpent between 696 and 666. But here it is plain old 9, drooping down it's head but unable to lift it up. As we saw in verse 9, this watery verse needs it's fiery complement in verse 18 to be able to Lurk properly.
9 is the value of the letter, Teth - Serpent. It is also the number of the sephira, Yesod. Here I'm thinking Kundalini/sex force. Here there seems to be no lifting up, just drooping down and shooting forth venom. This energy can be utilized for purposes of spiritual development. But most people when they feel the coiling of the serpent seek to earth it out as quickly as possible. AL I:57 instructs us to Choose. But that assumes one is already in a position to make that choice. There's no freedom of choice in compulsive behaviour.
9 is also a number related to Saturn via it's kamea. Saturn(Kronos) ate all of his children so they could never depose him. Saturn is attributed to the letter Tav - Cross. This makes me think of the Cross of the Elements. The Hanged Man is nailed to those same elements. He doesn't look like a man with a Choice. His mouth-Peh is resolutely shut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_of_the_mouth_ceremony
(I once tried to make a Saturn-like kamea out of the letters of this verse. Nothing came of it though.)
As I've pointed out before the letter Mem spelt in full is 90. This is the value of Tzaddi - Atu IV The Emperor. He rules the 4 elements. I wonder if there is a Zeus connection? He didn't get eaten by Kronos and became King of the Gods.
Mem (40) + Tzaddi(90) = 130. This is the value of the letter Ayin spelt in full. Ayin is the Eye. As already pointed out the Hanged Man's mouth is resolutely shut. Maybe he needs to undergo an Eye opening Ordeal X.
But not now transliterated into Hebrew:
But - Beth, Vav, Teth. (17)
Not - Nun, Ayin, Teth. (129)
Now - Nun Ayin, Vav. (126)
Total = 272
777 gives:
272 - AROA, Earth.
272 - BOR, To consume, injure, brutish.
272 - ORB, The evening : 'Arab' i.e. a person living in the West.
I find the last one particularly intriguing. Horus is the god of both the East and the West. These are the direction of sunrise and sunset. Here we seem to have only half.
Only hearing the phrase, But not now, I want to remove the vowels when I transliterate it into Hebrew.
BT NT NW
The NT sounds like Nut - Nuit. She is divided for loves sake. BT N <----> T NW.
BT N = 61 Ain.
T NW = 65 Adonai
Another interesting way to look at it is:
BT = 11 = Hadit
NT = 59 = GVIM, Heathen
NW = 56 = Nuit.
The Heathen aspects of self separate Nuit and Hadit.
This verse contains 3 words of 3 letters each. 333. This could be an indicator why the "sacrifice" in the previous verse must be delayed. In verse 12 there were connections with focus on the Crown chakra and Equilibration. The untrained Ruach-Mind has neither the focus or balance required to be a proper vehicle of the Will.
The 9 letters suggest several things to me. 9 makes me think of the 9 in the number 696 - Lurk! There it coiled like a serpent between 696 and 666. But here it is plain old 9, drooping down it's head but unable to lift it up. As we saw in verse 9, this watery verse needs it's fiery complement in verse 18 to be able to Lurk properly.
9 is the value of the letter, Teth - Serpent. It is also the number of the sephira, Yesod. Here I'm thinking Kundalini/sex force. Here there seems to be no lifting up, just drooping down and shooting forth venom. This energy can be utilized for purposes of spiritual development. But most people when they feel the coiling of the serpent seek to earth it out as quickly as possible. AL I:57 instructs us to Choose. But that assumes one is already in a position to make that choice. There's no freedom of choice in compulsive behaviour.
9 is also a number related to Saturn via it's kamea. Saturn(Kronos) ate all of his children so they could never depose him. Saturn is attributed to the letter Tav - Cross. This makes me think of the Cross of the Elements. The Hanged Man is nailed to those same elements. He doesn't look like a man with a Choice. His mouth-Peh is resolutely shut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_of_the_mouth_ceremony
(I once tried to make a Saturn-like kamea out of the letters of this verse. Nothing came of it though.
)As I've pointed out before the letter Mem spelt in full is 90. This is the value of Tzaddi - Atu IV The Emperor. He rules the 4 elements. I wonder if there is a Zeus connection? He didn't get eaten by Kronos and became King of the Gods.
Mem (40) + Tzaddi(90) = 130. This is the value of the letter Ayin spelt in full. Ayin is the Eye. As already pointed out the Hanged Man's mouth is resolutely shut. Maybe he needs to undergo an Eye opening Ordeal X.
But not now transliterated into Hebrew:
But - Beth, Vav, Teth. (17)
Not - Nun, Ayin, Teth. (129)
Now - Nun Ayin, Vav. (126)
Total = 272
777 gives:
272 - AROA, Earth.
272 - BOR, To consume, injure, brutish.
272 - ORB, The evening : 'Arab' i.e. a person living in the West.
I find the last one particularly intriguing. Horus is the god of both the East and the West. These are the direction of sunrise and sunset. Here we seem to have only half.
Only hearing the phrase, But not now, I want to remove the vowels when I transliterate it into Hebrew.
BT NT NW
The NT sounds like Nut - Nuit. She is divided for loves sake. BT N <----> T NW.
BT N = 61 Ain.
T NW = 65 Adonai
Another interesting way to look at it is:
BT = 11 = Hadit
NT = 59 = GVIM, Heathen
NW = 56 = Nuit.
The Heathen aspects of self separate Nuit and Hadit.
Aeon418
Just thinking out loud....
The previous verse (III:12) could be a reference to the Weighing of the Heart by Maat in the Hall of Two Truths. After all that verse was Atu VIII Adjustment. This present verse and the verses that follow may be a symbolic journey through the watery underworld.
As Gunther states in chapter 2 of his book, the seeker is symbolically the dead Osiris seeking resurrection from the death that the world calls life.
The previous verse (III:12) could be a reference to the Weighing of the Heart by Maat in the Hall of Two Truths. After all that verse was Atu VIII Adjustment. This present verse and the verses that follow may be a symbolic journey through the watery underworld.
As Gunther states in chapter 2 of his book, the seeker is symbolically the dead Osiris seeking resurrection from the death that the world calls life.
Grigori
"But not now" seems a funny kind of thing to come in the RHK chapter. Waiting doesn't seem like something that RHK would be very good at. Even less something that he would be encouraging others to do. My conception of RHK is more like the guy saying "just hurry the **** up and go do it now you pathetic procrastinating looser!" 
And of course if someone says "not now" I immediately resort to the same reply my poor mother got every-time she told me "maybe later"....
Maybe this is a bit of reverse psychology happening. I'm feeling very unstabilized. We're told to go sacrifice ourselves a couple of cows and a child, recoil in horror of course, but then are told we should wait anyway. I don't know about you, but as soon as someone tells me I can't do something, or I have to wait, I immediately want to do it, even if I had no interest before.
There are cows in the field opposite where I am today.... They should be afraid, very afraid
And of course if someone says "not now" I immediately resort to the same reply my poor mother got every-time she told me "maybe later"....
Little Grigori said:WHEN THEN!?!?!
Maybe this is a bit of reverse psychology happening. I'm feeling very unstabilized. We're told to go sacrifice ourselves a couple of cows and a child, recoil in horror of course, but then are told we should wait anyway. I don't know about you, but as soon as someone tells me I can't do something, or I have to wait, I immediately want to do it, even if I had no interest before.
There are cows in the field opposite where I am today.... They should be afraid, very afraid
brightcrazystar
I don't see what the big deal is. I am from the south, and we had very little money (especially after construction dried up in Louisiana!). If we were afraid to kill, we were vegetarians. I have sacrificed cattle, little and big, and deer and chickens and all kinds of fish, and gators and birds and rabbits and ... I have even, yes, killed a Goat. My papaw loved goat.
you get the point. You don't want to talk about how many crawfish we ate.
I have cut them, read their entrails for health, flayed them, and made them Food for the Gods, offered to our bodies for that same health of the animal we claimed as our own. That and our garden was how we ate, and fed our four main families of my mom's side. If my family had not been willing and able to do that, we'd probably been eating refined junk on food stamps. Mom's probably hunting this weekend.
Maybe the verse and the one before it was telling him there isn't very good hunting in Egypt. B)
you get the point. You don't want to talk about how many crawfish we ate.
I have cut them, read their entrails for health, flayed them, and made them Food for the Gods, offered to our bodies for that same health of the animal we claimed as our own. That and our garden was how we ate, and fed our four main families of my mom's side. If my family had not been willing and able to do that, we'd probably been eating refined junk on food stamps. Mom's probably hunting this weekend.
Maybe the verse and the one before it was telling him there isn't very good hunting in Egypt. B)
Aeon418
I don't see what the big deal is either. But so far I've seen nothing to suggest a literal interpretation is intended.
The next verse tells us that the Beast and his Scarlet Concubine will know when to carry out the instructions in verse 12. But seeing how I am "literally" neither of those individuals, it lets me off the hook and I can forget all about it. Unless it is meant to be interpreted on a different level.
But before that attainment there is a gradual process of opening up to a Silver/Lunar intuitive interpretation. And yet the the symbolism used in this third chapter is often very earthy and tends to pull interpretation down to a literal level. I wonder why...
The next verse tells us that the Beast and his Scarlet Concubine will know when to carry out the instructions in verse 12. But seeing how I am "literally" neither of those individuals, it lets me off the hook and I can forget all about it. Unless it is meant to be interpreted on a different level.
One interpretation of this verse is that literal, shallow, or surface readings of Liber AL reveal nothing. They may even be highly misleading.
I interpret this as the first round of Ordeal X and the attainment of Yesod/Zelator 2=9 in the A.'.A.'. sense. (Not Golden Dawn!)
But before that attainment there is a gradual process of opening up to a Silver/Lunar intuitive interpretation. And yet the the symbolism used in this third chapter is often very earthy and tends to pull interpretation down to a literal level. I wonder why...
Grigori
Aeon418 said:
I'm somewhat of a moralist when it comes to animal farming. I prefer to buy meat that was raised and killed humanely, and prefer organic and freerange. But it's not actually an animal rights issue that makes me uncomfortable with the idea of ritual sacrifice.
The idea of ritual sacrifice (as I understand it) is seen in two ways. Most commonly (and likely most inaccurately) that deity somehow glorifies in the death or suffering of an animal. This is a deity that I have no interest in worshipping, I'd prefer my gods to have better things to do with their time. I have no actual objection to the practice of animal sacrifice, as a daily carnivore that would be hypocritical and absurd. I have an objection to gods that are blatantly small minded and petty.
The second and in my understanding more historically accurate tradition of sacrifice is that sacrifices were made to nourish deity, developed likely from societies that remembered their dead by ensuring they were provided for in the afterlife by the provision of offerings. Again I have no real objection to the practice, but I think any being deserving of the scope and title of a label like 'God' really should not have to rely on some struggling primate to off a couple of chickens to keep the god sustained. Again, personally, I'd prefer to conceive of deity as something more than that.
So I'm left to wonder who am I making a sacrifice to, or for. And why do they want/require it. If I wanted empty ritual that made no sense to me I'd go to Sunday school
I want to hear some more 'why's' I'm not suggesting that these verses 'should' or 'are' read literally, only sharing as aspect of my thoughts on them based around 'what if's'
Aeon418
In an earlier post I transliterated, but not now, into Hebrew. It's value was 272. This is the same value as the Hebrew word, KRBN, Korban.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korban
Remember how previously we had a lot of Temple of Solomon themes come up in some verses, but the significance was altered and different. In many cases the ancient Jewish ritual seemed like an actual manifestation of inner processes being described in Liber AL. That's what I think is going on here too.
Does this help, Grigori?
Edit: Just in case I arouse the ire of someone. I know it's not the usual spelling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korban
Remember how previously we had a lot of Temple of Solomon themes come up in some verses, but the significance was altered and different. In many cases the ancient Jewish ritual seemed like an actual manifestation of inner processes being described in Liber AL. That's what I think is going on here too.
Does this help, Grigori?
Edit: Just in case I arouse the ire of someone. I know it's not the usual spelling.
Always Wondering
Grigori said:So I'm left to wonder who am I making a sacrifice to, or for. And why do they want/require it. If I wanted empty ritual that made no sense to me I'd go to Sunday school
I'm not suggesting that these verses 'should' or 'are' read literally, only sharing as aspect of my thoughts on them based around 'what if's'
Well, maybe I'm confused now, after reading the Wiki on Korban.
I just can't see sacrifice as a requirement or a want really. Like so many things in this book I see it simply as a natural or universal law. The simple truth. If we want to eat meat a creature has to die. If we want to raise our heads we are choosing not to drop it, at our own discretion.
I caught a fish, skinned it, gutted it, cooked it and ate it. Once. It was kind of tramatic for me. It was also a lot of work. But in that I saw what I let other people do, the work, unpleasant to me, that goes behind all my flesh eating. It is easy to buy nice sterile meat at the market.
So in a way these verses are telling me that I need to be willing to do all the messy work. It won't be handed to me in a pretty little package. In fact it will be difficult. I will need my best child or potential for it. And on top of that, I am trying to accomplish something that is rarely accomplished on earth. It is not even within my comprehension. Not now.
Just my take.
AW
