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81. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Alpha} LOUIS LINGG
I am not an
Anarchist in your sense of the word: your brain is too dense for any
known explosive to affect it.
I am not an Anarchist in your sense of the word: fancy a Policeman let
loose on Society!
While there exists the burgess, the hunting man, or any man with ideals
less than Shelley's and self-discipline less than Loyola's -- in short,
any man who falls far short of MYSELF -- I am against Anarchy, and
for Feudalism. Every "emancipator" has
enslaved the free.
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Alpha})
The title is the name of one of the authors of the affair of the
Haymarket, in Chicago. See Frank Harris, "The Bomb".
Paragraph 1 explains that Frater P. sees no use in the employment of
such feeble implements as bombs.
Nor does he agree even with the aim of the Anarchists, since, although
Anarchists themselves need no restraint, not daring to drink cocoa, lest
their animal passions should be aroused (as Olivia Haddon assures my
favourite Chela), yet policemen, unless most severely repressed, would
be dangerous wild beasts.
The last bitter sentence is terribly true; the personal liberty of the
Russian is immensely greater than that of the Englishman. The latest
Radical devices for securing freedom have turned nine out of ten
Englishmen into Slaves, obliged to report their movements to the
government like so many ticket-of-leave men.
The only solution of the Social Problem is the creation of a class
with the true patriarchal feeling, and the manners and obligations of
chivalry.
82.
{Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Beta} BORTSCH
Witch-moon that
turnest all the streams to blood,
I take this hazel rod, and stand, and swear
An Oath-beneath this blasted Oak and bare
That rears its agony above the flood
Whose swollen mask mutters an atheist's prayer.
What oath may stand the shock of this offence:
"There is no I, no joy, no permanence"?
Witch-moon of blood, eternal ebb and flow
Of baffled birth, in death still lurks a change;
And all the leopards in thy woods that range,
And all the vampires in their boughs that glow,
Brooding on blood-thirst-these are not so strange
And fierce as life's unfailing shower. These die,
Yet time rebears them through eternity.
Hear then the Oath, with-moon of blood, dread moon!
Let all thy stryges and thy ghouls attend!
He that endureth even to the end
Hath sworn that Love's own corpse shall lie at noon
Even in the coffin of its hopes, and spend
All the force won by its old woe and stress
In now annihilating Nothingness.
This chapter is called Imperial Purple and A Punic War.
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Beta})
The title of this
chapter, and its two sub-titles, will need no explanation to readers of
the classics.
This poem, inspired by Jane Cheron, is as simple as it is elegant.
The poet asks, in verse 1, How can we baffle the Three Characteristics?
In verse 2, he shows that death is impotent against life.
In verse 3, he offers the solution of the problem.
This is, to accept things as they are, and to turn your whole energies
to progress on the Path.
83. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Gamma} THE BLIND PIG
(41)
Many becomes two: two one: one Naught. What comes to Naught?
What! shall the Adept give up his hermit life, and go eating and
drinking and making merry?
Ay! shall he not do so? he knows that the Many is Naught; and having
Naught, enjoys that Naught even in the enjoyment of the Many.
For when Naught becomes Absolute Naught, it becomes again the Many.
Any this Many and this Naught are identical; they are not correlatives
or phases of some one deeper Absence-of-Idea; they are not aspects of
some further Light: they are They!
Beware, O my brother, lest this chapter deceive thee!
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Gamma})
The title of this chapter refers to the Greek number,
PG being "Pig" without an "i".
The subject of the chapter is consequently corollary to Chapters 79 and
80, the ethics of Adept life.
The Adept has performed the Great Work; He has reduced the Many to
Naught; as a consequence, he is no longer afraid of the Many.
Paragraph 4. See berashith.
Paragraph 5, takes things for what they are; give up interpreting,
refining away, analysing. Be simple and lucid and radiant as Frater P.
Paragraph 6. With this commentary there is no further danger, and the
warning becomes superfluous.
NOTE
(41)
{Pi-Upsilon} = PG = Pig without an I = Blind Pig.
84. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Delta} THE AVALANCHE
Only through
devotion to FRATER PERDURABO may this book be understood.
How much more then should He devote Himself to AIWASS for the
understanding of the Holy Books of {Theta-Epsilon- Lambda-Eta-Mu-Alpha}?
Yet must he labour underground eternally. The sun is not for him,
nor the flowers, nor the voices of the birds; for he is past beyond all
these. Yea, verily, oft-times he is weary; it is well that the weight of
the Karma of the Infinite is with him. Therefore is he glad indeed; for
he hath finished THE WORK; and the reward concerneth him no whit.
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Delta})
This continues the
subject of Chapter 83.
The title refers to the mental attitude of the Master; the avalanche
does not fall because it is tired of staying on the mountain, or in
order to crush the Alps below it, or because that it feels that it needs
exercise. Perfectly unconscious, perfectly indifferent, it obeys the
laws of Cohesion and of Gravitation.
It is the sun and its own weight that loosen it.
So, also, is the act of the Adept. "Delivered from the lust of result,
he is every way perfect."
Paragraphs 1 and 2. By "devotion to Frater Perdurabo" is not meant
sycophancy, but intelligent reference and imaginative sympathy. Put your
mind in tune with his; identify yourself with him as he seeks to
identify himself with the Intelligence that communicates to him the Holy
Books. Paragraphs 3 and 4 are explained by the 13th Aethyr and the
title.
85. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Epsilon} BORBORYGMI
I distrust any thoughts uttered by any man whose health is not robust.
All other thoughts are surely symptoms of disease.
Yet these are often beautiful, and may be true within the circle of the
conditions of the speaker.
Any yet again! Do we not find that the most robust of men express no
thoughts at all? They eat, drink, sleep, and copulate in silence.
What better proof of the fact that all thought is disease?
We are Strassburg geese; the tastiness of our talk comes from the
disorder of our bodies.
We like it; this only proves that our tastes also are depraved and
debauched by our disease.
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Epsilon})
We now return to that series of chapters which started with Chapter 8 ({Eta}).
The chapter is perfectly simple and needs no comment.
86.
{Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Digamma} TAT.
Ex nihilo N. I. H.
I. L. fit.
N. the Fire that twisteth itself and burneth like a scorpion.
I, the unsullied ever-flowing water.
H. the interpenetrating Spirit, without and within.
Is not its name ABRAHADABRA?
I. the unsullied ever-flowing air.
L. the green fertile earth.
Fierce are the Fires of the Universe, and on their daggers they hold
aloft the bleeding heart of earth.
Upon the earth lies water, sensuous and sleepy.
Above the water hangs air; and above air, but also below fire -- and in
all -- the fabric of all being woven on Its invisible design, is
{Alpha-Iota-Theta-Eta-Rho}.
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Digamma})
The number 86 refers to Elohim, the name of the elemental forces.
The title is the Sanskrit for That, in its sense of "The Existing".
This chapter is an attempt to replace Elohim by a more satisfactory
hieroglyph of the elements.
The best attribution of Elohim is Aleph, Air; Lamed, Earth;
He, Spirit; Yod, Fire; Mem, Water. But the order is not good;
Lamed is not satisfactory for Earth, and Yod too spiritualised a form of
Fire. (But see Book 4, part III.)
Paragraphs 1-6. Out of Nothing, Nothing is made. The word Nihil is
taken to affirm that the universe is Nothing, and that is now to be
analysed. The order of the element is that of Jeheshua.
The elements are taken rather as in Nature; N is easily Fire, since Mars
is the ruler of Scorpio: the virginity of I suits Air and Water,
elements which in Magick are closely interwoven:
H, the letter of of breath, is suitable for Spirit; Abrahadabra is
called the name of Spirit, because it is cheth: L is Earth, green and
fertile, because Venus, the greenness, fertility, and earthiness of
things is the Lady of Libra, Lamed.
In paragraph 7 we turn to the so-called Jetziratic attribution of
Pentagrammaton, that followed by Dr. Dee, and by the Hindus, Tibetans,
Chinese and Japanese. Fire is the Foundation,
the central core, of things; above this forms a crust, tormented
from below, and upon this condenses the original steam. Around this
flows the air, created by Earth and Water through the action of
vegetation.
Such is the globe; but all this is a mere strain in the aethyr,
{Alpha-Iota-Theta-Eta-Rho}. Here is a new Pentagrammaton, presumably
suitable for another analysis of the elements; but after a different
manner.
Alpha ({Alpha}) is Air; Rho ({Rho}) the Sun; these are the Spirit and
the Son of Christian theology. In the midst is the Father, expressed as
Father-and-Mother. I-H (Yod and He), Eta ({Eta}) being used to express
"the Mother" instead of Epsilon ({Epsilon}), to show that She has been
impregnated by the Spirit; it is the rough breathing and not the soft.
The centre of all is Theta ({Theta}), which was originally written as a
point in a circle ({Sun}), the sublime hieroglyph of the Sun in the
Macrocosm, and in the Microcosm of the Lingam in conjunction with the
Yoni.
This word {Alpha-Iota-Theta-Eta-Rho} (Aethyr) is therefore a perfect
hieroglyph of the Cosmos in terms of Gnostic Theology.
The reader should consult La Messe et ses Mysteres, par Jean 'Marie de V
.... (Paris et Nancy, 1844), for a complete demonstration of the
incorporation of the Solar and Phallic Mysteries in Christianity.
87. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Zeta} MANDARIN-MEALS
There is a dish of sharks' fins and of sea-slug, well set in birds'
nests ... oh!
Also there is a souffle most exquisite of Chow-Chow.
These did I devise.
But I have never tasted anything to match the
(?)
which she gave me before She went away.
March 22, 1912. E. V.
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Zeta})
This chapter is technically one of the Laylah chapters.
It means that, however great may be one's own achievements the gifts
from on high are still better.
The Sigil is taken from a Gnostic talisman, and refers to the Sacrament.
88. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Eta} GOLD BRICKS
Teach us Your
secret, Master! yap my Yahoos.
Then for the hardness of their hearts, and for the softness of their
heads, I taught them Magick.
But ... alas!
Teach us Your real secret, Master! how to become invisible, how to
acquire love, and oh! beyond all, how to make gold.
But how much gold will you give me for the Secret of Infinite Riches?
Then said the foremost and most foolish; Master, it is nothing; but here
is an hundred thousand pounds.
This did I deign to accept, and whispered in his ear this secret:
A SUCKER IS BORN EVERY MINUTE.
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Eta})
The term "gold bricks" is borrowed from American finance.
The chapter is a setting of an old story.
A man advertises that he could tell anyone how to make four hundred a
year certain, and would do so on receipt of a shilling. To every sender
he dispatched a post-card with these words: "Do as I do."
The word "sucker" is borrowed from American finance.
The moral of the chapter is, that it is no good trying to teach people
who need to be taught.
89. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Pi-Theta} UNPROFESSIONAL
CONDUCT
I am annoyed about the number 89.
I shall avenge myself by writing nothing in this chapter.
That, too, is wise; for since I am annoyed, I could not write even a
reasonably decent lie.
COMMENTARY ({Pi-Theta})
Frater P. had been annoyed by a scurvy doctor, the number of whose house
was 89.
He shows that his mind was completely poisoned in respect of that number
by his allowing himself to be annoyed.
(But note that a good Qabalist cannot err. "In Him all is right." 89 is
Body -- that which annoys -- and the Angel of the Lord of Despair and
Cruelty.
Also "Silence" and "Shut Up".
The four meanings completely describe the chapter.)
90. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Rho} STARLIGHT
Behold! I have lived many years, and I have travelled in every land that
is under the dominion of the Sun, and I have sailed the seas from pole
to pole.
Now do I lift up my voice and testify that all is vanity on earth,
except the love of a good woman, and that good woman LAYLAH. And I
testify that in heaven all is vanity (for I have journeyed oft, and
sojourned oft, in every heaven), except the love of OUR LADY BABALON.
And I testify that beyond heaven and earth is the love of OUR LADY NUIT.
And seeing that I am old and well stricken in years, and that my natural
forces fail, therefore do I rise up in my throne and call upon THE END.
For I am youth eternal and force infinite.
ANd at THE END is SHE that was LAYLAH, and BABALON, and NUIT, being ...
COMMENTARY ({Rho})
This chapter is a sort of final Confession of Faith.
It is the unification of all symbols and all planes.
The End is expressible.
91. {Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Rho-Alpha} THE HEIKLE
A. M. E. N.
COMMENTARY ({Rho-Alpha)
The "Heikle" is to be distinguished from the "Huckle", which latter is
defined in the late Sir W.S. Gilbert's "Prince Cherry-Top".
A clear definition of the Heikle might have been obtained from Mr. Oscar
Eckenstein, 34 Greencroft Gardens, South Hampstead, London, N.W. (when
this comment was written).
But its general nature is that of a certain minute whiteness, appearing
at the extreme end of great blackness.
It is a good title for the last chapter of this book, and it also
symbolises the eventual coming out into the light of his that has
wandered long in the darkness.
91 is the numberation of Amen.
The chapter consists of an analysis of this word, but gives no
indication as to the result of this analysis, as if to imply this: The
final Mystery is always insoluble.
FINIS.
CORONAT OPUS.
BOOKS BY ALEISTER CROWLEY mentioned in the Commentary
The Soldier and the Hunchback ! and ? The Eqx. I, i.
Berashith. Coll. Works, II, 233.
The Vision and The Voice (Liber 418). The Eqx.,
I, v. Reprint, Barstow, Cal., 1952, with Commentary.
Liber VII (Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli). Out of print; some reprints
available.
Liber Legis. The Eqx., I, vii.
The Book of Thoth (The Tarot). London, 1944.
AHA! The Eqx., I, iii.
The Temple of Solomon the King. The Eqx.
Household Gods. Pallanza, 1912.
Liber LXI vel Causae. The Eqx., III, i.
Liber 500. Unpublished.
The World's Tragedy. Paris, 1910.
The Scorpion. The Eqx., I, vi.
The God-Eater. London, 1903.
Liber XVI. The Eqx., I, vi.
777, London 1909. Reprint with Commentary, London, 1955.
Liber LXV. The Eqx., III, i.
Liber O (Liber VI). The Eqx., I, ii.
Konx Om Pax. London, 1907.
Book 4, part III, same as Magick in Theory and Practice. Paris, 1929.
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