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Aleister Crowley's
THE BOOK OF THE LAW
Had! The
manifestation of Nuit.
The unveiling of the company of heaven.
Every man and every woman is a star.
Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before
the Children
of men!
Be thou Hadit, my secret centre, my heart f my tongue!
Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of
Hoor-paar-kraat.
The Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs.
Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light shed over you!
Let my servants be few f secret: they shall rule the many f
the known.
These are fools that men adore; both their Gods f their men
are fools.
Come forth, o children, under the stars, f take your fill of
love!
I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is
to see your
joy.
Above, the gemmed azure is
The naked splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
The winged globe, the starry blue,
Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!
Now ye shall know that the chosen priest f 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.
For he is ever a sun, and she a moon. But to him is the
winged secret
flame, and to her the stooping starlight.
But ye are not so chosen.
Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!
O azure-lidded woman, bend upon them!
The key of the rituals is in the secret word which I have
given unto
him.
With the God f 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.
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
f any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.
But whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!
I am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty.
Divide, add, multiply, and understand.
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, f 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.
Then the priest answered f 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 ever be thus; that men speak not of the as One but as
None; and let
them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!
None, breathed the light, faint f faery, of the stars, and
two.
For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union.
This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division
is as
nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.
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.
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.
Then the priest fell into a deep trance or swoon, f said
unto the Queen
of Heaven; Write unto us the ordeals; write unto us the
rituals; write
unto us the law!
But she said: the ordeals I write not: the rituals shall be
half known
and half concealed: the Law is for all.
This that thou writest is the threefold book of Law.
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.
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.
He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals.
The word of the Law is [ThELEMA].
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.
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. Accursed! Accursed be
it to the
aeons! Hell.
Let it be that state of manyhood bound and loathing. So with
thy all;
thou hast no right but to do thy will.
Do that, and no other shall say nay.
For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the
lust of result,
is every way perfect.
The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two;
nay, are none!
Nothing is a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the Jews call
it; I call
it eight, eighty, four-hundred f eighteen.
But they have the half: unite by thine art so that all
disappear.
My prophet is a fool with his one, one, one; are not they
the Ox, and
none by the Book?
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.
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 f star, system
f system;
let not one know well the other!
There are four gates to one palace; the floor of that palace
is of
silver and gold; lapis lazuli f jasper are there; and all
rare scents;
jasmine f 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.
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!
This shall regenerate the world, the little world my sister,
my heart f
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!
Change not as much as the style of a letter; for behold!
thou, o
prophet, shalt not behold all these mysteries hidden
therein.
The child of thy bowels, he shall behold them.
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.
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 [TzADDI] is
not the Star.
This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise.
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.
My incense is of resinous woods and gums; and there is no
blood therein:
because of my hair the trees of Eternity.
My number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. The
Five Pointed
Star, with a Circle in the Middle, f the circle is Red. My
colour is
black to the blind, but the blue f gold are seen of the
seeing. Also I
have a secret glory for them that love me.
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
splendour f
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!
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.
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!
I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked
brilliance of
the voluptuous night-sky.
To me! To me!
The Manifestation of Nuit is at an end.
Nu! the hiding of Hadit.
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.
In the sphere I am everywhere the centre, as she, the
circumference, is
nowhere found.
Yet she shall be known f I never.
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.
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.
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.
Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me; ill, for I
am the
worshipper.
Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the
sorrows are but
as shadows; they pass f are done; but there is that which
remains.
O prophet! thou hast ill will to learn this writing.
I see thee hate the hand f the pen; but I am stronger.
Because of me in Thee which thou knewest not.
for why? Because thou wast the knower, and me.
Now let there be a veiling of this shrine: now let the light
devour men
and eat them up with blindness!
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.
I am the Empress f the Hierophant. Thus eleven, as my bride
is eleven.
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.
These are dead, these fellows; they feel not. We are not for
the poor
and sad: the lords of the earth are our kinsfolk.
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.
Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious languor,
force and
fire, are of us.
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 f 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 f Sight,
Light;
these are for the servants of the Star f the Snake.
I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge f 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, f 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.
I am alone: there is no God where I am.
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.
Ye are against the people, O my chosen!
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.
There is a 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.
Now a curse upon Because and his kin!
May Because be accursed for ever!
If Will stops and cries Why, invoking Because, then Will
stops f does
nought.
If Power asks why, then is Power weakness.
Also reason is a lie; for there is a factor infinite f
unknown; f all
their words are skew-wise.
Enough of Because! Be he damned for a dog!
But ye, o my people, rise up f awake!
Let the rituals be rightly performed with joy f beauty!
There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the times.
A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride!
A feast for the three days of the writing of the Book of the
Law.
A feast for Tahuti and the child of the Prophet -- secret, O
Prophet!
A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast for the Equinox
of the Gods.
A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for life and
a greater
feast for death!
A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture!
A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost
delight!
Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread hereafter. There is
the
dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu.
There is death for the dogs.
Dost thou fail? Art thou sorry? Is fear in thine heart?
Where I am these are not.
Pity not the fallen! I never knew them. I am not for them. I
console
not: I hate the consoled f the consoler.
I am unique f conqueror. I am not of the slaves that perish.
Be they
damned f dead! Amen. (This is of the 4: there is a fifth who
is
invisible, f therein am I as a babe in an egg.)
Blue am I and gold in the light of my bride: but the red
gleam is in my
eyes; f my spangles are purple f green.
Purple beyond purple: it is the light higher than eyesight.
There is a veil: that veil is black. It is the veil of the
modest woman;
it is the veil of sorrow, f 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, f I
will reward
you here and hereafter.
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.
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!
Thou shalt obtain the order f value of the English Alphabet;
thou shalt
find new symbols to attribute them unto.
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.
He that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is
filthy shall
be filthy still.
Yea! deem not of change: ye shall be as ye are, f 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.
Beware therefore! Love all, lest perchance is a King
concealed! Say you
so? Fool! If he be a King, thou canst not hurt him.
Therefore strike hard f low, and to hell with them, master!
There is a light before thine eyes, o prophet, a light
undesired, most
desirable.
I am uplifted in thine heart; and the kisses of the stars
rain hard upon
thy body.
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.
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 f rapture! Come in our
passionate
peace, f write sweet words for the Kings!
I am the Master: thou art the Holy Chosen One.
Write, f find ecstasy in writing! Work, f be our bed in
working! Thrill
with the joy of life f 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 f rejoice! We are
one; we are
none.
Hold! Hold! Bear up in thy rapture; fall not in swoon of the
excellent
kisses!
Harder! Hold up thyself! Lift thine head! breathe not so
deep -- die!
Ah! Ah! What do I feel? Is the word exhausted?
There is help f 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!
But exceed! exceed!
Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine -- and doubt
it not, and
if thou art ever joyous! -- death is the crown of all.
Ah! Ah! Death! Death! thou shalt long for death. Death is
forbidden, o
man, unto thee.
The length of thy longing shall be the strength of its
glory. He that
lives long f desires death much is ever the King among the
Kings.
Aye! listen to the numbers f the words:
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.
O be thou proud and mighty among men!
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.
The end of the hiding of Hadit; and blessing f worship to
the prophet of
the lovely Star!
Abrahadabra! the reward of Ra Hoor Khut.
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!
Now let it be first understood that I am a god of War and of
Vengeance.
I shall deal hardly with them.
Choose ye an island!
Fortify it!
Dung it about with enginery of war!
I will give you a war-engine.
With it ye shall smite the peoples; and none shall stand
before you.
Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them! this is the Law of the Battle of
Conquest:
thus shall my worship be about my secret house.
Get the stele of revealing itself; set it in thy secret
temple -- and
that temple is already aright disposed -- f 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.
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
f trouble.
Ra-Hoor-Khu is with thee. Worship me with fire f blood;
worship me with
swords f 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!
Sacrifice cattle, little and big: after a child.
But not now.
Ye shall see that hour, o blessed Beast, and thou the
Scarlet Concubine
of his desire!
Ye shall be sad thereof.
Deem not too eagerly to catch the promises; fear not to
undergo the
curses. Ye, even ye, know not this meaning all.
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.
Mercy let be off: damn them who pity! Kill and torture;
spare not; be
upon them!
That stele they shall call the Abomination of Desolation;
count well its
name, f it shall be to you as 718.
Why? Because of the fall of Because, that he is not there
again.
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.
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 f his Bride are they:
and for the
winners of the Ordeal x. What is this? Thou shalt know.
For perfume mix meal f honey f thick leavings of red wine:
then oil of
Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward soften f smooth down
with rich
fresh blood.
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 worshipers: last of some beast, no matter what.
This burn: of this make cakes f 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.
These slay, naming your enemies; f they shall fall before
you.
Also these shall breed lust f power of lust in you at the
eating
thereof.
Also ye shall be strong in war.
Moreover, be they long kept, it is better; for they swell
with my force.
All before me.
My altar is of open brass work: burn thereon in silver or
gold!
There cometh a rich man from the West who shall pour his
gold upon thee.
From gold forge steel!
Be ready to fly or to smite!
But your holy place shall be untouched throughout the
centuries: though
with fire and sword it be burnt down f 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 f worship of the
Snake;
another soul of God and beast shall mingle in the globed
priest; another
sacrifice shall stain the tomb; another king shall reign;
and blessing
no longer be poured To the Hawk-headed mystical Lord!
The half of the word of Heru-ra-ha, called Hoor-pa-kraat and
Ra-Hoor-Khut.
Then said the prophet unto the God:
I adore thee in the song --
I am the Lord of Thebes, and I
The inspired forth-speaker of Mentu;
For me unveils the veiled 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!
So that thy light is in me; f 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 winged snake of light, Hadit!
Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!
All this and a book to say how thou didst come hither and a
reproduction
of this ink and paper for ever -- for it is in the word
secret f 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!
But the work of the comment? That is easy; and Hadit burning
in thy
heart shall make swift and secure thy pen.
Establish at thy Kaaba a clerk-house: all must be done well
and with
business way.
The ordeals thou shalt oversee thyself, save only the blind
ones. Refuse
none, but thou shalt know f 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; f
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!
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.
But let her raise herself with 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!
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 f strike at the worship of
Nu: she
shall achieve Hadit.
I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower
before me, f
are abased. I will bring you to victory f joy: I will be at
your arms in
battle f ye shall delight to slay. Success is your proof;
courage is
your armour; go on, go on, in my strength; f ye shall turn
not back for
any!
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 f that
strangely. Let him
not seek after this; for thereby alone can he fall from it.
Now this mystery of the letters is done, and I want to go on
to the
holier place.
I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all
gods of men.
Curse them! Curse them! Curse them!
With my Hawk's head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs
upon the
cross.
I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed f blind him.
With my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and the
Buddhist,
Mongol and Din.
Bahlasti! Ompehda! I spit on your crapulous creeds.
Let Mary inviolate be torn upon wheels: for her sake let all
chaste
women be utterly despised among you!
Also for beauty's sake and love's!
Despise also all cowards; professional soldiers who dare not
fight, but
play; all fools despise!
But the keen and the proud, the royal and the lofty; ye are
brothers!
As brothers fight ye!
There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
There is an end of the word of the God enthroned in Ra's
seat,
lightening the girders of the soul.
To Me do ye reverence! to me come ye through tribulation of
ordeal,
which is bliss.
The fool readeth this Book of the Law, and its comment; f he
understandeth it not.
Let him come through the first ordeal, f it will be to him
as silver.
Through the second, gold.
Through the third, stones of precious water.
Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of the intimate fire.
Yet to all it shall seem beautiful. Its enemies who say not
so, are mere
liars.
There is success.
I am the Hawk-Headed Lord of Silence f of Strength; my
nemyss shrouds
the night-blue sky.
Hail! ye twin warriors about the pillars of the world! for
your time is
nigh at hand.
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; f
nought remains.
Paste the sheets from right to left and from top to bottom:
then behold!
There is a splendour in my name hidden and glorious, as the
sun of
midnight is ever the son.
The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra.
The Book of the Law is Written and Concealed.
Aum. Ha.
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