1. Had! The manifestation of Nuit.
2. The unveiling of the company of heaven.
3. Every man and every woman is
a star.
4. Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
5. Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men!
6. Be thou Hadit,
my secret centre, my heart & my tongue!
7. Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of Hoor-paar-kraat.
8. The Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs.
9. Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light shed over
you!
10. Let my servants
be few & secret: they shall rule
the many & the known.
11. These are
fools that men adore; both their Gods & their
men are fools.
12. Come forth,
o children, under the stars, & take
your fill of love!
13. I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My
joy is to see your joy.
14. 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!
15. Now ye shall
know that the chosen priest & 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.
16. For he is ever a sun, and she a moon. But to him is
the winged secret flame, and to her the stooping starlight.
17. But ye are not so chosen.
18. Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!
19. O azure-lidded woman, bend upon them!
20. The key of the rituals is in the secret word which I
have given unto him.
21. With the
God & 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.
22. 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 & any
other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.
23. But whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of
all!
24. I am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty.
25. Divide, add, multiply, and understand.
26. Then saith
the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and
what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bendingdown,
a lambent flame of blue, all-touching, all penetrant, her
lovely hands upon the black earth, & 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.
27. Then the
priest answered & 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 be ever thus; that
men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak
not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!
28. None, breathed
the light, faint & faery, of the
stars, and two.
29. For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of
union.
30. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of
division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. Then the
priest fell into a deep trance or swoon, & said
unto the Queen of Heaven; Write unto us the ordeals; write
unto us the rituals; write unto us the law!
34. But she said: the ordeals I write not: the rituals shall
be half known and half concealed: the Law is for all.
35. This that thou writest is the threefold book of Law.
36. 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-Khuit.
37. 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.
38. He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals.
39.The word of the Law is
THELEMA.
40. 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.
41. 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.
42. Let it be that state of
manyhood bound and loathing. So with thy all; thou hast no
right but to do thy will.
43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.
44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from
the lust of result, is every way perfect.
45. The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not
two; nay, are none!
46. Nothing is
a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the Jews call it; I
call it eight, eighty, four hundred & eighteen.
47. But they have the half: unite by thine art so that all
disappear.
48. My prophet is a fool with his one, one, one; are not
they the Ox, and none by the Book?
49. 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.
50. 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 & star, system & system;
let not one know well the other!
51. There
are four gates to one palace; the floor of that palace
is of silver and gold; lapis lazuli & jasper are there; and all rare scents; jasmine & 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.
52. 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!
53. This shall
regenerate the world, the little world my sister, my heart & 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!
54. Change not as much as the style of a letter; for behold!
thou, o prophet, shalt not behold all these mysteries hidden
therein.
55. The child of thy bowels, he shall behold them.
56. 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.
57. 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.
58. 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.
59. My incense
is of resinous woods & gums; and there
is no blood therein: because of my hair the trees of Eternity.
60. My number
is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. The Five Pointed
Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the
circle is Red. My colour is black to the blind, but the blue & gold
are seen of the seeing. Also I have asecret glory for them
that love me.
61. 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 spendour & 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!
62. 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.
63. 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!
64. I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked
brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky.
65. To me! To me!
66. The Manifestation of Nuit is at an end.
1. Nu! the hiding of Hadit.
2. 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.
3. In the sphere I am everywhere the centre, as she, the
circumference, is nowhere found.
4. Yet she shall
be known & I never.
5. 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.
6. 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 theknowledge of me the knowledge of death.
7. 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.
8. Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me; ill,
for I am the worshipper.
9. Remember all
ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are
but as shadows; they pass & are done;
but there is that which remains.
10. O prophet! thou hast ill will to learn this writing.
11. I see thee
hate the hand & the pen; but I am stronger.
12. Because of me in Thee which thou knewest not.
13. for why? Because thou wast the knower, and me.
14. Now let there be a veiling of this shrine: now let the
light devour men and eat them up with blindness!
15. 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.
16. I am The
Empress & the Hierophant. Thus eleven,
as my bride is eleven.
17. 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.
18. These are dead, these fellows; they feel not. We are
not for the poor and sad: the lords of the earth are our
kinsfolk.
19. 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.
20. Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious
languor, force and fire, are of us.
21. 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 & 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 & Sight, Light; these are for the
servants of the Star & the Snake.
22. I am the
Snake that giveth Knowledge & 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, & 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.
23. I am alone: there is no God where I am.
24. 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.
25. Ye are against the people, O my chosen!
26. 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.
27. There is 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.
28. Now a curse upon Because and his kin!
29. May Because be accursed for ever!
30. If Will stops
and cries Why, invoking Because, then Will stops & does
nought.
31. If Power asks why, then is Power weakness.
32. Also reason
is a lie; for there is a factor infinite & unknown; & all
their words are skew-wise.
33. Enough of Because! Be he damned for a dog!
34. But ye, o
my people, rise up & awake!
35. Let the rituals
be rightly performed with joy & beauty!
36. There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the
times.
37. A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride!
38. A feast for the three days of the writing of the Book
of the Law.
39. A feast for Tahuti and the child of the Prophet--secret,
O Prophet!
40. A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast for the
Equinox of the Gods.
41. A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for
life and a greater feast for death!
42. A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture!
43. A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost
delight!
44. Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread hereafter. There
is the dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of
Nu.
45. There is death for the dogs.
46. Dost thou fail? Art thou sorry? Is fear in thine heart?
47. Where I am these are not.
48. Pity not
the fallen! I never knew them. I am not for them. I console
not: I hate the consoled & the consoler.
49. I am unique & conqueror. I am not of the slaves
that perish. Be they damned & dead! Amen. (This is of
the 4: there is a fifth who is invisible, & therein am
I as a babe in an egg. )
50. Blue am I
and gold in the light of my bride: but the red gleam is
in my eyes; & my spangles are purple & green.
51. Purple beyond purple: it is the light higher than eyesight.
52. There is
a veil: that veil is black. It is the veil of the modest
woman; it is the veil of sorrow, & 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, & I will reward
you here and hereafter.
53. 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.
54. 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!
55. Thou shalt
obtain the order & value of the English
Alphabet; thou shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto.
56. 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.
57. He that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that
is filthy shall be filthy still.
58. Yea! deem
not of change: ye shall be as ye are, & 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.
59. Beware therefore! Love all, lest perchance is a King
concealed! Say you so? Fool! If he be a King, thou canst
not hurt him.
60. Therefore
strike hard & low, and to hell with them,
master!
61. There is a light before thine eyes, o prophet, a light
undesired, most desirable.
62. I am uplifted in thine heart; and the kisses of the
stars rain hard upon thy body.
63. 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.
64. 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 & rapture!
Come in our passionate peace, & write sweet words for
the Kings.
65. I am the Master: thou art the Holy Chosen One.
66. Write, & find ecstasy in writing! Work, & be
our bed in working! Thrill with the joy of life & death!
Ah! thy death shall be lovely: whososeeth it shall be glad.
Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our age long
love. Come! lift up thine heart & rejoice! We are one;
we are none.
67. Hold! Hold! Bear up in thy rapture; fall not in swoon
of the excellent kisses!
68. Harder! Hold up thyself! Lift thine head! breathe not
so deep -- die!
69. Ah! Ah! What do I feel? Is the word exhausted?
70. There is
help & 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!
71. But exceed! exceed!
72. Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine -- and
doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! -- death is the
crown of all.
73. Ah! Ah! Death! Death! thou shalt long for death. Death
is forbidden, o man, unto thee.
74. The length
of thy longing shall be the strength of its glory. He that
lives long & desires death much is ever
the King among the Kings.
75. Aye! listen
to the numbers & the words:
76. 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 chose none, 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.
77. O be thou proud and mighty among men!
78. 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.
79. The end of
the hiding of Hadit; and blessing & worship
to the prophet of the lovely Star!
1. Abrahadabra; the reward of Ra Hoor Khut.
2. 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!
3. Now let it be first understood that I am a god of War
and of Vengeance. I shall deal hardly with them.
4. Choose ye an island!
5. Fortify it!
6. Dung it about with enginery of war!
7. I will give you a war-engine.
8. With it ye shall smite the peoples; and none shall stand
before you.
9. Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them! this is the Law of the Battle
of Conquest: thus shall my worship be about my secret house.
10. Get the stele
of revealing itself; set it in thy secret temple -- and
that temple is already aright disposed -- & 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.
11. 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 & trouble. Ra-Hoor-Khu
is with thee. Worship me with fire & blood; worship
me with swords & 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!
12. Sacrifice cattle, little and big: after a child.
13. But not now.
14. Ye shall see that hour, o blessed Beast, and thou the
Scarlet Concubine of his desire!
15. Ye shall be sad thereof.
16. Deem not too eagerly to catch the promises; fear not
to undergo the curses. Ye, even ye, know not this meaning
all.
17. 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.
18. Mercy let be off; damn them who pity! Kill and torture;
spare not; be upon them!
19. That stele
they shall call the Abomination of Desolation; count well
its name, & it shall be to you as 718.
20. Why? Because of the fall of Because, that he is not
there again.
21. 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.
22. 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 & his
Bride are they: and for the winners of the Ordeal x. What
is this? Thou shalt know.
23. For perfume
mix meal & honey & thick leavings
of red wine: then oil of Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward
soften & smooth down with rich fresh blood.
24. 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 worshippers: last
of some beast, no matter what.
25. This burn:
of this make cakes & 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.
26. These slay,
naming your enemies; & they shall fall
before you.
27. Also these
shall breed lust & power of lust in you
at the eating thereof.
28. Also ye shall be strong in war.
29. Moreover, be they long kept, it is better; for they
swell with my force. All before me.
30. My altar is of open brass work: burn thereon in silver
or gold!
31. There cometh a rich man from the West who shall pour
his gold upon thee.
32. From gold forge steel!
33. Be ready to fly or to smite!
34. But your
holy place shall be untouched throughout the centuries:
though with fire and sword it be burnt down & 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 awakethe lust & 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!
35. The half of the word of Heru-ra-ha, called Hoor-pa-kraat
and Ra-Hoor-Khut.
36. Then said the prophet unto the God:
37. 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!
38. So that thy
light is in me; & 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!
39. All this
and a book to say how thou didst come hither and a reproduction
of this ink and paper for ever -- for in it is the word
secret & 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!
40. But the work of the comment? That is easy; and Hadit
burning in thy heart shall make swift and secure thy pen.
41. Establish at thy Kaaba a clerk-house: all must be done
well and with business way.
42. The ordeals
thou shalt oversee thyself, save only the blind ones. Refuse
none, but thou shalt know & 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 over much! Them that seek to entrap thee, to overthrow
thee, them attack without pity or quarter; & 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!
43. 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.
44. But let her raise herself in 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!
45. 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 & strike
at the worship of Nu: she shall achieve Hadit.
46. I am the
warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before
me, & are abased. I will bring you to victory & joy:
I will be at your arms in battle & ye shall delight to
slay. Success is your proof; courage is your armour; go on,
go on, in my strength; & ye shall turn not back for any!
47. 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 & that
strangely. Let him not seek after this; for thereby alone
can he fall from it.
48. Now this mystery of the letters is done, and I want
to go on to the holier place.
49. I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against
all gods of men.
50. Curse them! Curse them! Curse them!
51. With my Hawk's head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he
hangs upon the cross.
52. I flap my
wings in the face of Mohammed & blind
him.
53. With my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and
the Buddhist, Mongol and Din.
54. Bahlasti! Ompehda! I spit on your crapulous creeds.
55. Let Mary inviolate be torn upon wheels: for her sake
let all chaste women be utterly despised among you!
56. Also for beauty's sake and love's!
57. Despise also all cowards; professional soldiers who
dare not fight, but play; all fools despise!
58. But the keen and the proud, the royal and the lofty;
ye are brothers!
59. As brothers fight ye!
60. There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
61. There is an end of the word of the God enthroned in
Ra's seat, lightening the girders of the soul.
62. To Me do ye reverence! to me come ye through tribulation
of ordeal, which is bliss.
63. The fool
readeth this Book of the Law, and its comment; & he
understandeth it not.
64. Let him come
through the first ordeal, & it will
be to him as silver.
65. Through the second, gold.
66. Through the third, stones of precious water.
67. Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of the intimate
fire.
68. Yet to all it shall seem beautiful. Its enemies who
say not so, are mere liars.
69. There is success.
70. I am the
Hawk-Headed Lord of Silence & of Strength;
my nemyss shrouds the night-blue sky.
71. Hail! ye twin warriors about the pillars of the world!
for your time is nigh at hand.
72. 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; & nought remains.
73. Paste the sheets from right to left and from top to
bottom: then behold!
74. There is a splendour in my name hidden and glorious,
as the sun of midnight is ever the son.
75. The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra.
The Book of the Law is Written
and Concealed.
Aum. Ha.
THE COMMENT.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
The study of this Book is forbidden. It is wise to destroy
this copy after the first reading.
Whosoever disregards this does so at his own risk and peril.
These are most dire.
Those who discuss the contents of this Book are to be shunned
by all, as centres of pestilence.
All questions of the Law are to be decided only by appeal
to my writings, each for himself.
There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
Love is the law, love under will.
The priest of the princes,
Ankh-f-n-khonsu
