Preliminary Notes on Practical QBLH
written by Frater NShYHDecember 15, An CXVIII 2021 e.v.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
A quick glance through various occult books, especially source material like the KABBALA DENUDATA, hints at the existence of a “Practical QBLH” as a cipher for Magick manifesting into phenomenal reality. The diligent student, armed with the Method of Science and Liber 777, persisting in their experiments, comes to learn a simple "truth:" the map is not the territory. Symbols of the "Holy" (which also means “Wicked”) QBLH map the manifestation of energy in ways that can be verified on the Astral Plane. In the Book of the Law, we are commanded to "Obey my prophet!" and to: "follow out the ordeals of my knowledge! seek me only!" Liber V informs us that the True Will has no goal (i.e., the Supernals).
The conception of Sh (Fire) and T (Force) as verbs, instead of nouns, provides a powerful abstraction that may be difficult to know for those entrenched in a worldview based on an object-oriented paradigm. Glissading up and down the hierarchy of abstractions like a Priest of Ptah clustering to exalt Ra-HoorKhuit, we make no difference between functions and objects as an expression of 2 = 0.
Theory must be tested with practice rooted in phenomenal reality. Before we work on proving and disproving our theories, we must formulate our hypotheses on a foundation of Liber AL. Our Law commands those called Thelemites to function as the Magician and the Exorcist when going forth unto Infinite Possibilities in the omnipresent body of Nuit.
We may test our hypothesis about Liber V and the True Will by attempting to synthesize cogent insights from our manifested experiences as individual stars in the body of Nuit. To prefer any one thing over another may cause one to fall into the trap of an antagonistic dualism.
In my experience, the majority of Candidates to Initiation come from backgrounds that lack wealth in any meaningful way in a concrete sense. The Book of the Law commands us to exceed in our splendour and pride. The hardships of poverty tend to cripple the instrument one needs to be strong and fit to accomplish the Great Work on every plane; where desperation and deprivation of basic necessities drains away all Life. How will the intrepid Magician and Exorcist solve this preliminary problem?
Before one can build wealth (as distinct from riches), we must attempt to gain some set of pragmatic parameters by which we can guide the cultivation of our own self-mastery. Diligent study and experimentation yields a precious bounty: one learns to take their hidden Nature within and bring it to bear upon the transformation of one’s life and circumstances. From my personal experience, I remember reading DIARY OF A DRUG FIEND, Cap. VI and VII, when Basil King Lamus helped Sir Peter Pendragon and Unlimited Lou discover their individual True Wills. Through conquering hell after hell, ordeal after ordeal, there was enough manifested experience to see the point:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
Love is the law, love under will.
By direct experience, I found parallels to My own Path: I was born to a lineage of engineers; each a genius in their field. My paternal great grandfather was an electrical engineer; his son, my grandfather, was a railway engineer, and my father, an industrial scale HVAC engineer working on complex boiler systems to heat entire institutions in the cold winter months of Western New York. For myself, I found computing technology to form a seamless extension of my own consciousness; as if computational technology immediately yields its many mysteries to Me without friction. Each man in this lineage, myself included, turned to vices to soothe the pain of being spiritually out of phase with the material circumstances of their life. Personally, I abused cannabis as a prop to numb the pain of various ordeals.
Then, one day (and night!), while working and aspiring in the Outer Circle, my entire life came into focus: I am an Engineer, ant not just any engineer: one of the best in my particular discipline combining my talents for infrastructure and software architecture battle-hardened by the ordeals of many system failures keeping me aloof from the fray while firmly planting my feet beneath the hells.
I made my self-discovery while working as a wage slave in the restaurant industry. As if by Magick, this self-knowledge seemed to open the door for me to re-enter a technical field as an entry-level analyst. Naturally, the opportunity was provided by a star temporarily engaged as a Brother of the O.T.O.
When one is newly experienced, what little success they find here or there tends to decay from Dispersion sent to test the Aspirant. Sometimes this test comes in the form of an apparent Vampire. Yet, if that so-called Vampire is an Aspirant to Initiation, what makes the man so presumptuous to assume that his lover is a Demon Queen? What is the cause of such a lack of self awareness? The answer comes like a punch to the face: one has been unintelligently selfish while playing puppet to the perverse currents of the Black Brothers.
The delta between what is and what one is becoming sets the stage for a dramatic ritual of evolution aligned with the Law of Θελημα.
And so the Initiate may perceive a deep inner urge to build a Foundation of Stability upon Change in alignment with their own True Will. In my personal experience, I was a young man about town enjoying his new found success in his career path. The first time I saw a sum exceeding $1,000 in my bank account, I felt like the richest man in the world. Until that time, I had never seen so much money. Although full of doubt, it seemed as if I were finally on the right path while remembering the perception of Karl Germer that material riches are a gauge of O.T.O.'s spiritual riches. Such a statement is very easy to misunderstand where unworthy candidates and dog-faced demons attempt the Masonic error of buying their way through the Degrees. We can see, from an initiated perspective, that Wealth is really just a system yielding greater output than input where every phenomena is a storehouse of value.
So the initiate discovers their talents hidden deep within the nature and powers of their own Star. If one has a real talent for the culinary arts, they may decide to venture into the unknown as an entrepreneur, or attain a Michelin star, or become an executive chef, or any other possible path to bring the maximum of joy where one no longer frets themselves about their Path: they simply do their True Will in joy unto Nuit. We see the self-same example among the reality-illusions of every path. Using joy as a barometer, the inertia at rest before them becomes a current set into motion.
Suddenly, our dear Initiate finds themselves gaining more and more success upon their chosen path. At first, the apparent tokens of success may appear as a happy accident thanks to some factor infinite and unknown. The solution to every problem faced by the man of Earth suddenly resolves itself in simplicity: Love is the law, love under will. After the learning curve, deep expertise gives way to the oblivion of self consciousness while absorbed in one’s Path (that is becoming the Way). The urge to unite with every element of one’s nature in ecstatic joy unto Nuit is hidden from profane gaze where Silence and Secrecy become necessary guards against the manifested hostility of the Slave Gods. In my own experience, I quickly learned that my generosity in supplying cannabis to my "friends" was their only "reason" or lie for keeping my company. Once I stopped letting these unworthy scumbags take advantage of Me, I found myself able to chart a cleaner path without the aberrations attendant upon allowing debased fiends to enter one’s invisible circle of influence. This self-same lesson had played out years ago while growing up in the trailer park. However, in my early youth, I was unable to See what I was seeing before Me.
My leisure time was spent absorbed in computing; trying out new programming languages; pushing through the cognitive pain of forcing myself to constantly shed my preconceived notions while embracing a high degree of neuroplasticity: "happy is he who can make the dagger suffice!"
And so the Magician and Exorcist begins to stab and slash at the phantoms of their own mind. When enough delusion has been banished from the over-energized lower vehicles closest to the Animal Soul, one may perceive that real victory aligned with True Will can never be attained unless one embraces every Element of their Star, upright and averse, in love under will unto Nuit. While learning to map the Magical Energy of one’s gains using the Holy QBLH, one must not be too surprised that material circumstances hostile to one's True Will (even if they know it not) are rebuked with great vengeance by the 93 Current originating in the Supernals with that perfect Talisman called the Book of the Law. Each new manifested experience brings one closer to accomplishing the Great Work in their Grade so long as one learns to equilibrate the forces in perfect Silence.
True pride born from Success is a Thelemite virtue.
However, the beginner is all too likely to overextend themselves beyond their capabilities. What a delightful torment it is; seeing one’s own potential within where other’s present ruthless (and necessary!) skepticism at every step of the way that is becoming the Path. Well, we burn our fingers and learn a thing or two about prudence. For Me, this was a hard ordeal: I had to experience the illusory catastrophe of losing two high-paying jobs, back to back, while facing possible eviction; having to play the man as I kept calm, cool, detached control over material life while supporting a wife and daughter. In the eleventh hour, on the eve of potential eviction proceedings, a personal loan was approved that would cover our expenses while starting a job aligned with my True Will in ways that previous engagements had never been. Or so it seemed at the time: but we are a bit wiser now knowing that it is all just a play of the waters and a ripple in my hair.
Had I really been so foolish? So arrogant and stupid to allow myself to be fired without savings to buttress us against disaster? Yes: and now it was time for a swift course correction. I promised myself, for the sake of my family (fortunately, my wife is also an Initiate in good standing) that no matter what happened, I would empower Her with all financial management as She went to work amassing an ever-growing nest egg with an intuitive grasp of prudent management of financial affairs; both day-to-day, and while planning for the future. We had finally, both as individuals, and as a power couple, placed hardy roots in fertile soil.
While learning to be prudent in material affairs, constantly attempting to keep everything aligned with True Will (however it was understood at the time), I had to face the reality of certain failures. What could I learn from that ravening storm of material circumstances that seemed so close to destroying Me and my little Thelemite family? Simple: in my unbalanced zeal for success in my worldly career, I had seriously neglected my health and safety. The root causes are interesting, and deeply personal, but we may state without reservation: I was still carrying deep within me a fragment of poverty mentality from the averse forces of my upbringing. It became apparent that irreconcilable dualism was a primal Demon with two heads gnawing at each other's throats.
The gloom of failure appeared to drive away the presence of the Hierophant.
Or so it seemed.
In reality, this was but another mask worn with a wicked grin as the Masters drove home such an excellent point: There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. And it had all better be joyous unto Nuit!
Philosophically speaking, all apparent "problems" have their "solution" in the Law of Θελημα. Meditating upon 0 = 2 (and its complement of 2 = 0) shows that Failure is an Element of the Universe in every way necessary for the beauty of true Success: for if one is miserable, they had better learn joy unto Nuit or die in their misery. And I was miserable; steadfast upon the brink of reincarnation: my unbalanced lifestyle led to physical complications nearly resulting in death from blood clots formed during sedentary habits all too easy to manifest while working as an elite Engineer in a highly demanding field. When one is responsible for guarding an infrastructure supporting millions of dollars in revenue, it can be easy to become obsessed with one’s own darkly splendid abode.
While turning to our Holy Law for guidance, as instructed again and again by the Grand Master Baphomet XI° O.T.O., we find a Truth so revolutionary that it startles the world-soul: Frater Sphinx has cultivated the first Thelemite School of Thought completely rooted in the Aeon of the Crowned and Conquering Child; where He actually took the Curses seriously and purged our Order of those Black Brother currents no longer suffused with Energy from the Supernal Triad. With His most excellent counsel to root all of our Works in pragmatic reality, I set about seeking to learn how to cultivate true Success beyond the trappings of a material splendour that, to an impoverished youth, seemed so enchanting.
Despite our new found ability to generate riches, we still felt like the Sorcerer from the Book of Lies. After two decades of working and aspiring as a Thelemite (first as a solitary practitioner, then as an Initiate serving the Hierarchy), I had built up a favorable momentum as a man of Earth on one plane, and as a Lover on the other. Yet, the shore of the island dunged about with enginery of war seemed far off; the way unknown and apparently unkowable. What was needed was Energy, and a lot of it. And so I became emboldened; attempting to partake of that secret Magick given to Initiates of a certain Grade. Enough Energy supplied clarity: real Success aligned with Θελημα means perfect Clairvoyance in the presence of the Spiritual Hierophant guiding every detail of one’s Life clustering to exalt the Lord of the Aeon upon the Throne of Ra.
Hadit unto Nuit, and Nu hiding Hadit; the Art of uniting a Macrocosm of Infinite Experience with a Macrocosm of Infinite Possibilities yields a new Star in the Holy God Form of Ra-Hoor-Khuit where the blinds of Asar are torn away with fire and blood; swords and spears; all for the Dynasty of Ra-Hoor-Khuit..
When the Energy is perfectly absorbed in Silence unto Nuit, no Magical Images are projected back upon the Khu. Star and star must never know well another. The opinions of others no longer have any emotional impact: they pass and are done while there is that which remains.
And what, precisely, remains?
If you can’t see the Point, there’s nothing more for Me to say beyond: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Love is the law, love under will.
