The Initiation of the Neophyte reflects the Initiation of the Minor Adept; the Initiation of the Zelator reflects the Initiation of the Magister Temple; the Initiation of the Practicus reflects the Initiation of the Magus; the Initiation of the Philosophus reflects the Initiation of the Ipsissimus.
The process starts again with the Dominus Liminus whose circumstances and ordeals are analogous to those of the Probationer. Again, the Initiation of Adeptus Minor is analogous to that of the Neophyte, though on a higher plane, and the Initiation of the Adeptus Major is analogous to that of the Practicus, and the Initiation of the Adeptus Exemptus is analogous to Probation and to the position and progress of the Dominus Liminus.
A quote from Marcelo Ramos MottaAlmost every verse of the Book of the Law contains profuse mathematical and philosophical truths concealed in apparently standard English, which English has none the less its regular meaning. You will have noticed that the style of the Book is for the most part astoundingly sublime, and the ineffable wonder about the whole thing is that I should have written it down from the dictation of a voice whose owner I could not see, one hour exactly for each chapter, on three consecutive days. It is thus quite certain that the author is somebody possessed of knowledge and ingenuity utterly beyond my capacity. Indeed, I feel confident in saying, beyond the capacity of any human being imaginable. Incidentally there are passages in the Book which baffled exegesis until certain events took place, years after writing it, which were entirely beyond my control, yet which furnished fresh proof that the Author of the Book knew what was going to happen or was able to bring events to pass.
May I give you one very strange examples ' I have studied the Book all these eighteen years. Verse 19 of Chapter III utterly baffled me. How could I "count well" the name of the Stele; it never had a name! But I played about with the figures and it suddenly dawned on me that 718 was the value of the name "Stele 666." "That's it," I said to myself. "In a sense the Stele is my Stele." But I wasn't quite satisfied, and then it came upon me like an earthquake, that after all, the Stele did possess a name - its description in the catalog of the Museum at Bulak - that name, the only name it ever had, was actually Stele 666.
As to controlling external events, let me tell you one extraordinary incident. In November, 1917, appeared the end of my article in 'The International, "The Revival of Magick." It challenged the readers to find who was meant by 666 (my Magical Motto ΤΟ ΜΕΓΑ ΘΗΡΙΟΝ adds to 666). One night in January, I asked an Intelligence with whom I was in touch, if I could spell my motto in Hebrew so as to get new numbers which might throw some light on something. He replied, "Yes." I asked, "All three words of the name or the last only'" He said, "The last only." I then tried all sorts of ways of spelling Therion and got no results. That was on a Saturday night. I went to the office on a "Workless Monday" for my mail. Nothing there. But on Tuesday Viereck sent round a letter addressed to him which had arrived on Monday, having been written on Saturday night at about the time when I had made my enquiry. The writer was a perfect stranger to all of us. He asked Viereck to tell me that he had solved the riddle in my article of November and gave the spelling of Therion in Hebrew making the value 666. This was astonishing enough; but much more was to come. The stranger signed himself as Samuel bar Aiwaz bie Yackou de Sherabad, from which I deduced that his father's name was Aiwaz.. This name had been given me as the Author of the Book of the Law; see Chapter I, Verse 7. I had only heard the name, which I supposed to be a made-up name like Tzadquiel or Taphthartharath; I had no idea that it was a regular human name. I had tried to spell it and made it 78. Now, however, I wrote to Friend Samuel for the correct spelling, which he gave. I was astonished to find that the value was 93 like that of Θελημα the word of the Law, and Agape, the method of carrying out that Law.
The Author of the Book had therefore, so to speak, signed it, infallibly identifying himself by means of this number with the essence of the message which he had come to impart. These two incidents are mere samples chosen from an immense number. I hope to be joined this month by a mathematical Professor so that we may collect, classify, and make clear the innumerable evidences that this book is of praeterhuman origin. You will at least understand how it is that I regard it as incomparably the most important human document existent. You will excuse me, in fact, if I seem a little mad on the subject; but really, hardly a moment passes without the discovery of some new and important secret in its secret pages. The very mistakes in the Book, as they seem, conceal strange secrets. For example: Chapter III, Verse 47 - "this circle squared in its failure". The Hebrews concealed the value of Pi in the Name of God אלהימ, which is incorrect in the fourth place. But by putting our secret key שט to sanctify this name we get 3.141593, Pi correct to six places (note 31 and 93).
But this note must not be as endless as the decimal of Pi! You must forgive a sick and lonely man for inflicting upon you the subject nearest his heart. I am really very eager that you should bring the Law of Θελημα into your work as a solution of the dreadful hopelessness, futility, and fatuity of this riddle-life. "Do what thou wilt" explains and justifies existence. We do what we do because it is our nature; the Geis which we lay upon ourselves to make a figure of our Secret Idea. "Lust of result" ruins our work and makes it ridiculous. There can be no result. We are bounded by our own illusion - Self-devised. The life of Manuel was Success, being wholly the symbolic self-realization of a creative boy - a series of illusions which came to nothing, yet allowed him to see, externalized, the reaction of the Universe upon various facets of the diamond Soul. Jurgen's excursion was a failure, because he worked with "lust of result" to obtain something outside himself, not knowing what (and still less that nothing of the kind exists), because he could not face the fact that he had sold the poet to the pawnbroker. Have I read you aright? I was a little sad about chapter 22 of Jurgen, feeling that you had to some degree misunderstood my message. For none of us, not even the least spiritually developed, may fulfil himself wholly by self-gratification. Each of us has a Will of eternal import, necessarily related to everything that exists, and all our conscious desires are so many masks - one fixed expression concealing our infinite variety. We are all Ideal Triangles, and every triangle we draw is but a single case - true, yet concealing and even denying all the other possibilities of the real Truth, inexpressible in form, and so mocked as illusion by sense-bound spirits.
Verily and Amen! My silent solitude in this Abbey, with its windows open upon the Eternal, and its gates closed to the Conditioned, constantly strengthens my conviction that so great a Master of Thought and Language as yourself dare not leave the world without Hope. Your deepest, so far, has been to proclaim an irrational Faith that selfless Heroism somehow avails a man against the abject aimless inanity of life. You cannot rest there. It must be shewn that energy is indestructible, that nothing is wasted, that all True Work is worthwhile. And I hope that my Masters may be using you to put Their Key into your hands, that you may fling open the doors of the Secret Palace of the King, and shew the people what inexhaustible riches are theirs - just when it seemed that Famine was universal.
You have shewn that nothing in the world, however great and glorious, is worth stretching forth an hand to take; shew now that everything in the world, however small and contemptible, is worth a life's danger and hardships to attain. (You have done this, in a way, in Domnei.) I want a book to complete the Jurgen-Manuel group in a Trilogy, and behold the Great Fool, knowing nothing because identified with All (which, not being divided against itself cannot be known), doing nothing because doing his True Will, fulfilling the Universal Will by opposing no resistance to it in an attempt to grab some illusion, and suffering nothing because realizing that all that happens to him is a mirror-description of himself. He goes laughing and dancing through the world, and destroys all evil and sorrow as he goes, by the simple method of showing everybody he meets that their vices and their discontent arise from ignorance, that they are each one perfect in his way, each a necessary illusion through which the All becomes conscious of itself (just as the Fool interprets himself to himself through his own set of illusions) and each only a nuisance to himself and others by following false Ideals, interfering with others for various mistaken reasons, and so on, thereby causing all sorts of collisions, losing his way and so despairing of Direction, fearing the Future, regretting the Past, and misapplying - the Present. The Fool shows each one his proper path and puts him on it; it soon appears that there is room in the world for all alike, that all are equally worthy of wonder and worship, that Perfection is inherent in the Whole, and that the object of Life (which is motion) is to display an every-changing pageant, thus enabling each to become conscious of the All, which otherwise would remain homogenous, devoid of quantity and quality, Unknown and Unknowable.
I do hope you see this point of view. It has saved me from spiritual despair, made all things intelligible and adorable for me, set me radiantly revelling in my Work, which I had almost abandoned as fatuous; I am in love with life, and ready to ride with Death towards a new Adventure. The world is dying with disgust with its own dread vanity; the tread-mill its one task, the Sodom-apple its one food, oblivion its only joy, and "Hope not" its final word of wisdom. You have declared this doom more dreadfully than any man since Gautama, for you have left no loophole, either in time, or space, or condition of existence, for any being, from Koshchei to Dame Lisa. The world is waiting for you to utter the wizard-word Θελημα, which changes every curse into Blessing, gives meaning to the most incoherent gibberish, and bows down the most barren tree with sun-ripe fruit.
Forgive this spate of speech! My words are of little worth; but if you will read The Book of the Law often enough, the Spirit of the Lord which is in you will shew you the splendour of this Freedom, and inspire you to send forth its sunlight through the prism of your Art, that men may behold your "Bow in the Cloud" and know that the floods are diminished upon the face of the Earth.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
It is very important to choose carefully with regards to a magical motto. The magical motto should be an expression of aspiration toward Initiation. And whatever magical motto you choose you will find that you partake of its essence.
Many years ago, I choose the name 'Sphinx' for my O.T.O. motto and I kept this motto since so many spiritual revelations were unfolded concerning my Path. I did indeed partake of its essence and when the higher Initiations began to occur I understood 'Sphinx' as a symbol of the divine spirit manifesting into the animal soul and awakening the 'Sphinx of the Gods'. While I will not go into details of this Initiation, I will point out that my original motto in the O.T.O. created a dramatic ritual which I traveled on the Path of my life's experience.
I must reiterate that your choice of motto is going to determine your Path. You are, in fact, invoking a real force when you take a motto and identify with it. An Adept once told me many years ago, "you are what you invoke". And I might add, that you are what you name yourself in regards to magical mottos. Let me give you two case examples of real aspirants falling from the wrong choice. Several cases in memory have met with disaster from not perceiving this basic principle. And these examples, I promise you, actually exist or have existed in my lifetime. Learn from them.
One aspirant, whose arrogant presumption was nearly exceeded by his insulting behavior took the name of "333". After daring to partake of the dispersion of the abyss he fell from the Path completely to live his days (if you could call this life) gossiping and lying about anyone who was honest and sincere on the Path. Now this "Frater 333" has his tongue so far up the asshole of Choronzon that he cannot stop talking long enough to hear anything spiritual anymore.
Another aspirant, thought he would try and be clever and call himself "deadfish". I personally demanded he give me an explanation for this name. "Frater Deadfish" proudly proclaimed it means "christ on rye". His clever answer showed me he had chosen this name not to identify it with his spiritual Path as he was originally instructed, but to show off to friends that were equally as "creepy" as he. And of course, he continues to float around in the stagnant waters of his idiocy, where he will be eventually swallowed up by the shark called disordered nephesh.
Whatever magical order you join, you will more often than not, be requested to choose a magical motto. And it will be the epitome of common sense to choose a motto that dwells in essence with the supernals rather than the demon world.
And may you, who read this, heed this warning and partake of the purity and sanctity of Thelemic Adepthood in this lifetime.
Love is the law, love under will
Arise, O sleeper, for the night of loneliness hath rolled up the hangings of her couch, and my heart is burning like a sun of molten brass; awake before the Beast riseth and enter the sanctuary of Eden and defile the children of dawn. Thou Child-Man, cast off the cloak of dreams who before thy sleep wast enraptured with the strength of love. Fair and fresh didst thou come from the woods when the world was young, with breast like the snowy hills in the sunlight, and thine hair as a wind-ravished forest of oak, and thine eyes deep and still as the lakes of the mountains.
No veil covered thee, and thou didst revel naked in the laughter of the Dawn, and under the kisses of mid-day didst thou leap with the sun, and the caressing hands of night laid thee to rest in the cradle of the moon. Thoughts did not tempt thee, Reason played not the prude with thee, nor imagination the wanton. Radiant child that thou art, thou didst grow in the light that shone from thine eyes, no shadow of darkness fell across thy path: thy love was strong and pure - bright as the stars of night, and deep as the echoing depths of hills of amber, and emerald, and vermilion.
A quote from THE WHITE WATCH-TOWERPOINTS OF VIEW
Written by David Bersson on July 15, 1998 e.v.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
A point of view can be as elementary as a casual speculation or as intricate as an entire school of thought. The following quote by the Master Therion shows He encouraged open research and originality. This is from Magick in Theory & Practice; the Chapter on the ASTRAL PLANE. Such a position will only dissuade dogma.
"The Magician must not accept the Master Therion's account of the Astral Plane, His Qabalistic discoveries, His instructions in Magick. They may be correct in the main for most people; yet they cannot be wholly true for any save Him, even as no two artists can make identical pictures of the same subject"
As always, the Book of the Law sets us straight when we are unsure on the Path to take for our will.
The first line of verse 32 of Chapter I exclaims:
Obey my prophet!
We then see that to obey our prophet one can look deeply into the above quote from Magick in Theory & Practice. It tells us precisely how to follow out the ordeals of his knowledge. We are told to follow out the ordeals of his knowledge and then in verse 34 we are not told the ordeals. For everyone who follows his own will follows His Path and unique ordeals unfold.
Those who have read the Master Therion's published and unpublished works for many years will recognize a very interesting pattern. The Master Therion has laid groundwork for a lot of research; but in the direction of His own particular school of thought. As it is turning out, other varieties of Thelemites are beginning to surface. A few do not read the Master Therion at all but accept the Book of the Law without any need for any commentary but those idiosyncrasies of experience that have been awakened from their own private perceptions of its lines.
The Master Therion gives us a lot of information. Some of it completely blinds you toward direct insights from the Book of the Law. And yet, all his material was rather like a commentary of the Law. A lifetime of blinds and magical insights geared for many planes of existence. All of it is groundwork for originality and new points of view.
What are Thelemites like who do not want to follow the Path of the O.T.O. or A∴A∴ and yet claim they have dedicated their lives to the Great Work? Such a question in the seventies registered a blank stare from Initiates. Now we are approaching the hundredth year of the Aeon of Horus, our diversification and variety has surprised and stunned us. Marcelo Motta is an excellent example of a pioneer in new perceptions toward Thelemic thought. The publication of his Commentaries of AL in 1976 e.v. has lead to thought provoking perceptions that dare to show how an entire new school of thought arose from a Master's meditations. One critic tried to state he had ruthlessly edited his version of the Commentaries of AL. This, of course, was written by a jealous rival who could not see the forest for the trees. This person could not see any specific school of thought different from the Master Therions. Did this person fear that change would harm the work? A typical black brother attitude. I see Marcelo Motta's original works and proclaim how his writings can only encourage such innovative research and insight to further our cause for more new, exciting material in the splendid world of initiatic research.
And we have other magical orders springing up on occasion who have different Grade structure, different ritual and a different constitution. All this means a greater variety of points of view where we can abide in an open forest of new possibility.
One insight or concept can eventually lead to the equation of ones point of view. On an individual note, I have been astounded at how lucid an insight will seem to Me that has arisen being it is a natural consequence of my unfolding. At the same time when I reveal such an insight to others the result is surprise and sometimes confusion. My personal point of view comes from fidelity to my Oaths, my Aspirations and my will to inflame & further my Great Work. I recollect, (with no little amusement, mind you), the first time I endeavored to share with others the perception that I had experienced Trances (note upper case T) that the Master Therion did not mention in LITTLE ESSAYS TOWARDS TRUTH (Nor anywhere, I might add). And yet it should be not be such a shock that a list of Thelemic Trances on the Path are going to be quite extensive as the method of science is utilized for our Great Work.
We must be ready for any point of view. It is essential that we view new approaches to the Path with calm, clear scientific expectations. It must not startle the aspirant if a stranger emerges from the wilderness of the experience of his Path and explains to us a perception where he sees our perception of the Holy Guardian Angel as too Daoistic in essence for his particular nature. What of a Thelemite who refuses to see Adonai as anything but clever Apep attempting to maneuver mankind into bringing His Cult back into being. Or another who might see a Royal Family emerge from the insights in the Book of the Law? Verily, the future will show us points of view that have as yet not even been conceived of; in this unique and beautiful time we call the Aeon of Horus.
Therefore listen carefully to your brother Thelemite's insights of the Path. His strange insight, which you are tempted to snicker at today, may be tomorrow the tip of the iceberg of an entire school of thought that enhances and enlightens the entire Thelemic Community.
Love is the law, love under will
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
A quote from the song by Simon & Garfunkel called "The Sound of Silence"
Written by David Bersson
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
In the normal course of the Path, without any particular text to guide the magician, there comes a time in every Magician's life where a crossroads of decision must be made whether or not to adhere to the Path of Darkness or of Light. How subtle, are these spirits of ♄ that they entice you to such shadow perspectives disguised as random number. How careful must the Magician be not to be caught within the snare of their averse, uncivilized hooks. Such a call to the path of darkness is merely the inertia of matter manifested. A kabbalist might explain it as the Path of ת slowing the process of growth from Malkuth to Yesod. Other systems have identical parables, only with different symbolic explanations.
In our system, we have just that text which will unveil this shrine of basic elements and give us the answers we need to avoid the Path of evil. We have a perfect cure for this dis-ease of spirit that has polluted the path of the unwary. We call this the equilibration of the pairs of opposites, and its sublime, yet simple formula is laid down in our text named Liber Tzaddi
We of Θελημα meditate carefully at the concept of averse and upright, of Yin and Yang, of black and white, and other opposites to balance them within our being to achieve a sparkling, clean spring water of a perception that retains the balance of clear, objective, pragmatic reality. In short, we have our head in the Heavens and our feet in the hells.
Liber Tzaddi is a most valuable tool, indeed! This genius of a text actually assists the unwary pilgrim in his or her crusade on the Path and prepares his being for the Temple of Nuit as explained in detail in the Book of the Law.
For consider of this, that for every possibility that is manifested in the aggregate of experience we have assimilated shall give us perspective on the next experience we travel toward on the Path. The Hindoos, even with the sickness of their dogma, occasionally hit an insight on the nail and exclaim, "the lengthening of the ligam is one with the yielding of the yoni". Here in the West, we much more cleanly express the insight simply stating, "Had, the manifestation of Nuit". Nuit being infinite possibility and Had being the point event of assimilated experience. Nuit is, as everybody knows, the Egyptian Goddess of the Stars being a much more advanced form of Infinity than "Pan" or "אין" as the Greeks and the Jews struggled to describe it. It is such a wonder how in our system, symbolism piles upon symbolism, an intricate weave of insights that lead to a multitude of schools of thought, none of them in any apparent contradiction to themselves. Do all roads lead, then, to Boleskine and Cairo, in this sense? No doubt, but some arrive at the door to the Gate as a Hermit, some as Lover and some as a Man of earth. Any of them can be Hierophants or keepers of the secret wands.
We might state that the purpose of the "method of science" in our system
is mainly fourfold.
First, to bring back all the secrets of magick from the past by careful
research and experimentation. Second, to unlock the secrets of the Book of
the Law. Third, to carefully avoid superstition to build its terrorist
attack on our technique of magick. And fourth, to actually develop
techniques in magick that have never existed before.
We of Θελημα are not on an evil path. It is stated in the Book of the Law that the evil ones shall be cast away. In order that the "knowledge goes aright" and we proceed in a business like manner, which we consider proper, we use the method of science to assure ourselves that we do not become lost in some delusionary world of false elite occultism.
Nevertheless, we do not stop with a study of the speed of light. For we are also interested in scientifically creating a formula to understand the speed of darkness. Isn't it time the universities created an academic structure that does not ignore what is under the darkness of the stone?
I say this to all you in your dusty world of intellectual snobbery.
Roll away the stone.
Yes, shall we now study what crawls in view from the darkness?
Love is the law, love under will