Liber כ ף
Αγαπη vel Liber C vel Αζοθ

PRELIMINARY PRAYER

From thine hand, O Lord, cometh all Good; from Thee flow down all grace and blessing. The Characters of Nature with Thy fingers hast thou traced, but none can read them unless he hath been taught in Thy school. Therefore even as servants look unto the hands of their masters, and hand maidens unto the hands of their mistresses, even so do our eyes look unto Thee, for Thou alone art our help. O Lord our God, who should not extol Thee? Who should not praise Thee, O Lord of the Universe? All is from Thee; all is of Thee; into Thee all must again re-enter! Thou art Lord alone and there is none beside Thee! Who shall then not praise Thee, O Lord of the Universe, unto Whom there is none like; whose dwelling is heaven without, whose temple is the heart within? O God the Vast and the Minute, Thou art in all things and all things are in Thee! O Nature! Thou Self of Nothing! For what else can I call Thee? In myself I am nothing but self; in Thee I am that Self of Nothing. Live Thou in me and bring me to that self which is in Thee!

A CHARGE OF THE O.H.O. TO BAPHOMET

MERLIN, by the Grace of GOD TRIUNE, and by the favour and appointing of The Secret Master, called to the Service of mankind, and exalted among you as the Outer Head of the Order (O.H.O.), unto Baphomet, Supreme and Holy King of Ireland, Iona, and all the Britains within the Sanctuary of the Gnosis, Most Puissant and Sovereign Commander of the Holy Order of the Temple, Grand Master of the Knights of the Holy Ghost, greeting and peace in the Most Sacred and Mysterious Name of the True and Living GOD Most High, and in the Word, and in the Holy Ghost.

Hearken thou, O most Illustrious and Illuminated brother unto my word and give ear unto my counsel and reproof!
Shut it up closely in thine heart, and set a seal upon thy lips!

Whosoever is worthy to receive it, unto him shalt thou reveal it; and unto the faithful shalt thou make it known.

Is there one among the Very Illustrious Sir Knights that are Sovereign Grand Inspectors General who understandeth my word? Is there any within thy Consistory that apprehendeth O.T.O.?

Seek then, and see; discover the inmost will of each knight, and bind him to thee by an oath.

Further, thou shalt test him to the uttermost; thou shalt pass him through the last of the Ordeals.

Then shalt thou initiate him privily into the Ultimate Mystery; thou shalt make him a partaker of the Final Secret.

For in this secret and in this alone resideth the Godhead; yea, he that possesseth it is no more man, but GOD.

SALUTATION OF BAPHOMET

BAPHOMET by the Grace of GOD TRIUNE, and by the favour and appointing of THE O.H.O. and The Secret Master, Rex Summus Sanctissimus X° O.T.O. of Ireland, Iona and all the Britains that are in the Sanctuary of the Gnosis, Lieutenant Commander of the Holy Order of the Temple unto the Very Illustrious Sir Knights Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of the Ancient and Accepted Rite and of the 95° of the Royal Rite of Memphis, Perfectly Illuminated of our sublime IX°, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, One God, eternal, indivisible, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent.

The favour of God and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the abiding of the Holy Spirit be with you now and forever more Amen.

Here now the Secret of Secrets, the Key of all Magick, revealed unto me for your instruction and behoof by the loving kindness of the O.H.O.

LEGE - JUDICIA - TACE

OF THE NATURE OF THE ARCANUM

‘I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his GOD and he shall be my son.’
(Apocalypse)

Come unto me, that I may declare unto ye the wonder ineffable! Know that our beginning is in GOD, and our end in GOD; wherefore this is the Great Work, to attain unto the Godhead.

Pitiful and of tender love, hath He revealed unto the wise men of old time, the Way of this Attainment. The Gnostics and Manichees preserved it in their most secret assemblies as they had received it from the greatest of the Magi of Egypt; nor were the Ophites ignorant of this mystery, nor the men that did worship unto Mithras, and the secret is hidden in the fable of Samson; Our Lord Jesus Christ established it through the mouth of the Beloved Disciple.

This was the inmost secret of the Knights of the Temple, and the Brethren of the Rose Crosse concealed it in their College of the Holy Ghost. From them and from their successors the Hermetic Brothers of Light have we received it directly, and here declare it openly to you.

Now then learn that this secret consists in the knowledge of a peculiar rite, an High Mass to be celebrated in the Temple of the Holy Ghost. Are ye not, Kings and Priests unto God, Very Illustrious Sir Knights and Perfectly Illuminated brethren?

This is the True Sacrament by which ye are partakers of the very Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, not in His death, but in His resurrection. By this are ye made Children of Light, Fellows of the Holy Ghost, perfect pure, Companions of the Sangreal, illustrious Knights of the Sacrosanct Order of Kadosch. By this have ye the GNOSIS; by this are ye counted among the Dwellers of the Sanctuary.

Blessed are they that do this commandment, that they may have sight of the Tree of Life, and may enter it through the Gate into the City.

For without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolators and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

So sayeth He that is the root and offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star.

And the Spirit and the Bride say Come! And let him that is athirst come; and whomsoever will let him take the water of life freely.

Now then here followeth a Reproof.

A REPROOF

 

Sir Knights, Brethren and Comrades, recall the Vows of your Obedience. How is it then that you are ever dallying with dame or jousting with squire? By the Eight Pillars that support this holy house it is not well, Sir Knights! Now ye know soothfast that our Law is Joy, that by Virtue we deny not manhood, but in this ye err that in your sport ye look not beyond to the Mighty Work of the Vow. Is not this the essence of the Proof? The Substance of the Ordeal?

Whether therefore ye foin or joust (as Saint Paul the good Knight sayeth in his Epistle) do all to the glory of God. Even at the moment when the Device of the Demon grippeth at his strongest, play the man, aspire fervently toward the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, considering his crucifixion between two thieves (is not the lance that pierced Him in my charge?) and giving up the ghost to the Father either by action or by passion.

Say we not ‘Non nobis domine, non nobis!’? And again ‘Accendat in nobis Dominus ignem sui amoris et flammam aeternae caritatis’. That is to say, Thy purity, not mine; and this is the Descending and Indwelling of the Holy Ghost.

Nay, verily Deus est Homo, Deus est in Homine, Homo est Deus quem creavit Elohim. Male and Female are those, therefore, as these. Therefore in this ye do well, and in this ill, for that ye arrest aspiration, that ye suffocate and expire even at the moment when elsehow the Threshold should be trodden and the Shrine unveiled.

Behold the Spirit of the Lord is upon me and I prophesy.

Unless ye repent, then will the Lord root out your Order from its place. I the Lord will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh. Ye shall be the scorn of evil men and your reproach shall be in the mouths of women. In the great name of Baphomet do I exhort you that ye turn swiftly to the Lord if so be that the mercy of the Lion and the Serpent may be upon you in the Name of MEITHRAS ABRAXAS IAO SABAO.

Go then, Sir Knights, rejoice in Dame and Squire, but let not your Understanding be darkened, or your wisdom be baulked of its effect. In Beauty behold the Crown Ineffable, and beyond the Crown that Wonder which awaiteth him that is faithful of his oath, and is chaste in the ambush of Life as in the set field of his Probation.

And the blessing of God be upon you in the Name of the Father, + and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost + Amen.

TRACTATE OF THE GREAT THING HIDDEN IN THE PALACE OF THE KING

Be it now understood further concerning the interchange of opposites, that albeit Man is active and Woman passive, yet Man is Peace and Woman Power. And this is called the Hermetic Paradox; and he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

There is therefore one magick act that leadeth into life, another that abutteth upon death. And the first ultimateth (sic) and the second returneth unto itself. Yet therefore is the last perfect, a true rite of the Highest, too exalted for the vulgar even of our holy and illuminated brethren.

And in its profanation it cometh forth from the demon and is manifested in all uncleanness, even as it is written Demon est Deus Inversus. Yet is it, albeit limited and unable to proceed from life to life, the highest of all means of Grace, for as wine is to water so is it unto the others in its exaltation of the soul of man; and whoso mastereth the same, even he is found worthy of rule. This was the secret of the strength of our Grand Master Caius Julius Caesar, this of our brother Richard Wagner that was Grand Organist in Bavaria, and of so many others, whose fame is eternal without our Order as within, that they are as the Stars of heaven for multitude and glory. To this aspire ye above all things; for the True Light abideth therein yet more intensely than in the Other. For he that reverseth the whirlings of matter is greater than he that worketh in them. Woe therefore, woe exceeding, unto him if failing in strength he be swept away into the abyss!

Awake, my Lords, be vigilant, be stern, be austere, be on your guard: for they that seek to devour you are about the gate! But of all this it is not here written: this is the Book of the Pathway that leadeth unto Life.

OF THE ALCHYMISTS

Our illuminated brethren the Alchymists, being wise with the wisdom of God, and cunning with the cunning of men, did apply themselves more especially to physical magick, to the finding of the Medicine of Metals and the Philosopher’s Stone, the Tinctures White and Red, and the Elixir of Life.

For (said they) with wealth cometh leisure, and with health, energy, and with long life an extension of time; all these will we devote to the performance of The Great Work.

These secrets they indeed possessed, and the tradition handed down through centuries hath not been lost.

O highly favoured of God!
O chosen from among men!
O thou on whom the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ hath fallen!

It is to thee that We reveal the secret ineffable and not to be divined. To thee do We entrust the Arcanum Arcanorum, the Hidden Treasure of the Wise. Without it all is cold, inertia, death; within it Fire, Energy, Genius, Creation. This is the Key to every door in the Kingdom of Heaven; this is the Sceptre of the Realms that Are!

The possession and right use of this secret giveth an hundred powers; yea, verily, five score is the numeration of the reward thereof. For this Mystery is of Jove himself whose letter is PK; and these are the initials of our athanor and our cucurbite, their names in the language of the Greeks.

Yet of all these powers I name but seven, the glories of Eulis; the stars upon the foreheads of the Brothers of Hermetic Light.

LUNA : And of these the first is the building up of one that is not born; verily, a child of wonder shall he be.

VENUS : And the second is the harmony and the mastery of one co-eval and co-operative with thee from eternity, twin with thee, and thy mate.

MARS : By the third cometh youth and beauty and energy, be thou never so old.

SATURN : By the fourth is life prolonged at will.

MERCURY : The fifth is the attainment of the Supreme, the Magick of Light.

JUPITER : The sixth guardeth and aideth thee in the world wherein thou workest: to high rank and honour shall it lead thee, and from thy hands shall pour forth rivers of blessing: yea verily and Amen.

SOL : And by the seventh thou hast all Light, and knowest the Cause of all, understanding alike the earthy and the spiritual soul of Man.

Is not this a possession worthier than all the dross of earth?

Is not this a pearl richer than all the treasures of the seas?

Is not this a goal for whose attainment thou shouldst fling away every garment? A prize to gain which no training is too tedious, no toil too arduous, no sacrifice too great?

Thou hast aspired and thou hast attained! It is this, it is this, no less, that this hour I crown thee withal here in the Sanctuary of the Gnosis, Illustrious, Illuminated, and now Thrice Holy Brother.

OF NATURE

First learn this concerning Nature.

The basis of mineral life is Hyle, and is dark.

The basis of vegetable life is Chlorophyll, and is green.

The basis of animal life is Blood, and is red.

The basis of Divine Life is Light, whose feeblest reflections are beyond Violet.

Thus in our order none may wear any ornament of violet save the O.H.O. and his immediate representatives the M.W.S.G.M.G. and M.P.S.G.C. of G.L. and S.G.C. the Most Holy Supreme Kings X° that rule in every land.

OF THE NAME OF GOD

I beseech you to understand, Very Illustrious Sir Knights and Perfectly Illuminated Brethren, that this secret dependeth first and last upon the One Most High.

He is not one whom our minds may apprehend; and although our hearts dissolve in love, we may not attain to Him, for he abideth as the Sun of the Soul, that reflecteth Him indeed, but absorbeth Him not. Now He is the Father that createth, the Word that transmitteth, and the Spirit that receiveth, as also the Spirit proceeding from the Father is the Essence that writeth the Father to the Son; and this Mystery is concealed in many sacred names that have been revealed to you, Very Illustrious Sir Knights and Perfectly Illuminated Brethren of our Ancient Order.

Learn therefore now this, the third motto of our Supreme Council, which it signifieth mystically. DEUS EST HOMO, that is, GOD IS MAN.

The which sayeth that, AS ABOVE, SO BELOW; AS WITHOUT, SO WITHIN. There is no part of man that is not GOD; and there is no part of GOD that hath not its counterpart in man.

Now learn also this, that God is never to be known by thee; for all thou knowest is but thy creation as truly as thou art His. Thou knowest Him as thou art He.

Now there are Three that bear witness in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Spirit; and these Three are One. And there are Three that bear witness on earth; the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood; and these Three are One.

In that Trinity IAO, I is the Father, A the Spirit, O the Word; and in this A the Spirit, M the Water, Sh the Blood; and in all these are 358, MShICh, the Messiah, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in His death who gave up the Spirit, the Water and the Blood, as St. John beareth witness in his Evangel. Hence is Jesus Christ Alpha and Omega, the symbol of the union of GOD and man.

Here then is a second Trinity; GOD, GOD-man, man. And to this God-man our ancient brethren have given many names.

And though this name of Jesus Christ hath been universally blasphemed by Christians, yet this Name hath been acknowledged by the true Brothers of the Rosie Crosse: and this which is written of Him in the Evangels and in the Epistles and the Apocalypse is true, if it be interpreted in light by the adepts of the Stone.

For in God-man is our salvation; in Him We are both GOD and man. Yet the Testament thereof, being betrayed and given to the multitude, hath been profaned; as it is written, Cast not your pearls before swine, lest they turn again and rend you!

Therefore for their ill guarding of the secrets have the adepts been persecuted these two thousand years. See thou to it, Very Illustrious Sir Knights, that through no fault of thine the truth be lost. Trust not a stranger; fail not of an heir.

OF THE SECRET OF FREEMASONRY

Now of Him is our Lord the Sun Father, Creator, Preserver and Destroyer, One, Exalted, Perfect, Giver of Life and Death, Vicegerent and Viceregent of Heaven; and upon Earth is His representative the Sacred Eidolon within the Ark of the Covenant of whom even in this place we speak not but in hidden terms, for that He is sacred and secret beyond all that are or may be, the Rod wherein Prometheus brought down Fire from heaven.

And either Image and Son of the All-Father undergoeth Death and Resurrection; and the symbols are cognate; and the Feasts of one and the other have been celebrated throughout all recorded time by the initiates of all faiths. And the vulgar, ignorant of this, have mingled the two worships, appointing the times of one and the seasons of the other, the observances of the second and the ordinances of the first in the same ritual; wherefore have minds been darkened and understandings confounded. Thus at Easter is the Crucifixion or Copulation, and nine months later is the Birth of the Child, which liveth 33 years, being a generation of mankind, and is crucified. Yet is this coming led with the descent of the Sun below the Equator and His resurrection, and again with the daily agony of the Sun. Now then our Brethren, having the true Keys of all religion; namely that all cults typify either the Mysteries of Lingam and Yoni or of Sol, Luna, and Terra, can for themselves interpret all rites, create new faiths and new feasts, ruling the world in justice and righteousness under the Supreme and Most Holy King X° that is to them Father and God.

For this is the arcanum of the Hierophants of old, that in this cult of the Sun in Heaven and of the Phallus on Earth all men can unite, for that these mysteries are reasonable and true, and no man can deny them. This is that which is written ‘Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward men!’

And this is the true and final secret of Freemasonry; this Sun, is it not the Great Architect of the Universe, the Father of the System, the Eidolon of the Macrocosm? And this Phallus, is it not the Great Architect of this other Universe of Man, the Father of the Race, the Eidolon of the Microcosm? Is not this that Truth which is established in the mouth of two witnesses? Wherefore be ye vigilant, preserving that Kingdom of God which is within you from defilement, chaste unto your Lord that is Light, Life, Love and Liberty indeed.

Also, remember well that in all this instruction no word is wasted; and that by deep and continuous study of the text may ye enlighten your souls.

Now then at last are ye indeed initiates of Freemasonry; now at last are ye worthy to rule and govern the Rite in the law of Righteousness and Truth, giving Light, Life, Liberty and Love to all men of full age, free and of good report, that solicit admission to the Lodge.

OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

The Most Holy Trinity, One and Indivisible, is hidden:

By our Aryan brethren in the trigram AUM
By our Egyptian brethren in the trigram AuMN
By our Gnostic brethren in the trigram IAO
By our Hebrew brethren in the trigram IHV and AMN
By our Chinese brethren in the trigram TAO and its symbol
By our brethren of the Royal Arch in the tripartite word of their degree
By our Rosicrucian brethren in the trigram INR and its symbols
By our Masonic brethren in the tripartite word of their degree of Master
By our Christian brethren in the trigram IHS
By ourselves in many ways secretly; and openly in the trigram O.T.O.

Many other hieroglyphs of Him are known to you; but all of these are One; and though He is All, and in All, and above All, yet there is one aspect of Him on which all insist, namely, that by which He is one with our own nature, in flesh as in spirit.

A SECOND TRACTEE ON THE TRINITY

Washed in pure wine, and consecrated with the smoke of the Cakes of Light, come ye now with holy awe unto the shrine; come ye trembling and joyous, while the veil of the Most Holy Mystery is rent by the Sword of your Most High Grand Master.

Behold the Trinity Most Holy One and Indivisible, IAO. One is the Most Holy Trinity; and Three are its Persons or Masks. One is its Spirit, One its Individuality, its Permutation One, Ararita! It is the Seed that persisteth in all mutation, being Itself, immune and omniprehensive, IAO SABAO.

Now the Father is One, erect, single, eternal.

And the Son is One, in the likeness of the Father, yet in this nature double, being God-Man. And herein is a Mystery; for being the Word he is the Spirit, going forth from the Father and creating the worlds.

And the Spirit is One, not begotten, but proceeding, the seed of which Father and the Son are in very truth but vehicles and guardians. And the nature of the Spirit is Liberty, and as the wind, He goeth as it listeth Him to impregnate the worlds.

And as the Son is double, so is the Spirit double; for He is both male and female. For the Dove is the bird of Venus; yet our ancient brother Marcus Valerius Martialis that was Grand Orator of the Roman Empire in days of old hath hidden the Sacred Phallus in this image. He is the Mother. He is the Womb. He is the Sperm that fertilizes the Ovum: nay, but He is that fertilized and self-living thing which is neither sperm nor ovum, but their marriage, the Perfect Tincture, the Medicine of Metals, the Philosophical Stone, the Universal Medicine, the Elixir of Life.

He is that Dove that, returning to the Ark of Noah, bore a branch of olive. He is the Eagle of Jupiter, He is the Swan of Brahma.

From this duplicity of speech hath sprung infinite confusion in the vulgar mind. For they understand not that man is the guardian of the Life of God; woman but a temporary expedient; a shrine indeed for the God, but not the God. Thus do they blaspheme who worship the false Trinity of Father-Mother-Son: blind mouths that gape poison, let them perish in the Day of Be-with-Us.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit is the Unity in the Trinity; for the Father and the Son are indeed guardians of the Quintessence, heirs to the Quintessence, of the substance of the Quintessence, but they are not the Quintessence itself. And this is of the Godhead; but in Earth it is the Son that combineth Father and Spirit as it were Man and Woman, God and Man. Nor is this Mystery to be understanded of him who is not practised and perfect in this Means of Grace that is herein declared unto ye, o very dear and very illustrious and very Illuminated Brethren!

OF MEDITATION

Now since He is all, and all things are referred to Him, much confusion hath arisen, the Many overwhelming The One.

And herein is the reason whereof: and every woman is not a complete image of God in due proportion. Consider these words attentively, and understand what they say not.

Our brethren in China, to confirm a bargain, break the stick on which it is written, each party keeping half, so that only on the fitting together of the two halves can the covenant be complete. So also is the Kingdom of Heaven.

So also is this instruction. Unless the other half be in thy mind, thou wilt not understand.

This then is the Covenant of the Creator, dividing that he may unite.

In our Lord Jesus Christ is the Great Work accomplished.

Here followeth Liber 333, Cap. XXXVI.

THE STAR SAPPHIRE

Let the Adept be armed with his Magick Rood (and provided with his Mystic Rose).

In the centre, let him give the L.V.X. signs; or if he know them, if he will and dare do them, and can keep silent about them, the signs of N.O.X. being the signs of Puer, Vir, Puella, Mulier. Omit the sign I.R.

Then let him advance to the East, and make the Holy Hexagram, saying: PATER ET MATER UNUS DEUS ARARITA.

Let him go round to the South, make the Holy Hexagram and say: MATER ET FILIUS UNUS DEUS ARARITA.

Let him go round to the West, make the Holy Hexagram, and say FILIUS ET FILIA UNUS DEUS ARARITA.

Let him go round to the North, make the Holy Hexagram, and then say: FILIA ET PATER UNUS DEUS ARARITA.

Let him then return to the Centre, and so to The Centre of All (making the ROSY CROSS as he may know how) saying: ARARITA ARARITA ARARITA.

(In this the Signs shall be those of Set Triumphant and of Baphomet. Also shall Set appear in the Circle. Let him drink of the Sacrament and let him communicate the same.)

Then let him say: OMNIA IN DUOS DUO IN UNUM: UNUS IN NIHIL: HAEC NEC QUATUOR NEC OMNIA NEC DUO NEC UNUS NEC NIHIL SUNT. GLORIA PATRI ET MATRI ET FILIO ET FILIAE ET SPIRITUI SANCTO EXTERNO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO INTERNO UT ERAT EST ERIT IN SAECULA SAECULORUM SEX IN UNO PER NOMEN SEPTEM IN UNO ARARITA.

Let him then repeat the signs of L.V.X. but not the signs of N.O.X.; for it is not he that shall arise in the Sign of Isis Rejoicing.

OF THE GREAT SYMBOL OF GOD

Beware, very dear brother, lest thou fall into confusion in thy consideration of the Unity; for the first principle appeareth under opposite forms. He is thy Father and thy Mother, even as thy conception of him changeth. Now male is opposite to female, but in Him is no opposition.

Study then the complete symbol; and howsoever thou mayest change, He changeth not. Go thou from the abyss to the abyss! Thou shalt find him alway Naught and alway Many and alway One and alway All.

Now the complete symbol, as hath been said, is triune; yet often have the wise and holy men of old glyphed it as Two-in-One, leaving the third invisible. Such symbols are the Point within the Circle, the Lingam-Yoni, the Rose and Cross, the divided circle of the Chinese, and Cross within the Circle, of the Diamond, the Spire and Nave of a Church, the triple and eleven fold Cross in the invisible Diamond which a member of our Supreme Council prefixeth to his signature, and many another.

And of these symbols every one sheweth forth the Work, the uniting in rapture of the divided. Conceive of these as:

1. GOD and Man in Man-GOD
2. Subject and Object in Samadhi
3. Male and Female in Mankind

or as thou wilt: it is all one.

OF THE ONE SUBSTANCE

God in Spirit and Truth is One; and One also is God in Matter and Illusion.

O Brethren! O Illuminated and Illustrious Sir Knights, hold this firmly as the sword hilt in the hour of peril!

One is the Essence of God; and One is the Essence of Man.

Yet since God is only One because He is Three in One; so man is only One when he is Two-in-One. As God’s Essence abideth in Himself, so also with the Essence of man.

Yet man not being himself wholly, but part of himself, this essence is not wholly in him.

It is found in perfection only without himself, and he can only attain it by virtue of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE EUCHARIST

(Read first in the Authorised Version John IV. 13-16 and 31-32; VI. 27 and 48-58; VIII. 38, and St. Paul I. Cor: X. 1-4, 16-17 and 23-30; XII. 3.)

The Sacrament is administered under two kinds, Bread and Wine.

Bread is solid, white, the fruit of the earth, the sustenance of man, the Body of Christ, the white Tincture. Wine is liquid, red, the fruit of the vine, the cordial of man, the Blood of Christ, the red Tincture.

This divided sacrament is mortal: the Great Work is not accomplished therein. The life resideth not in flesh or in blood: and though it be the body and blood of God, it is not God; for God slain is not God rearisen.

Therefore, very Illustrious Sir Knights and my Perfectly Illuminated Brethren, I charge ye earnestly to understand that this sacrament of death availeth little.

Ye must partake of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ in His Resurrection; and the Substance of the Sacrament will be the Elixir of Life itself.

It will be One and not Two; neither male nor female, neither solid nor liquid. It will contain all possibilities, and without it no possibility could be.

It is the Fire of Prometheus in the well-tended Lamp of Vesta; it is the Kneph of the Priests of Memphis, the disc of the Sun in the arms of Khephra; and the Serpent entwined about the Egg.

Ask of our brethren the Alchemists, and of the Adepts of the Rosy Cross. The first answer: It is nothing but the Lion with his coagulated blood, and the gluten of the White Eagle; it is the Ocean wherein both Sun and Moon have bathed. The others: it is the Dew upon the Rose that hath concealed the Cross.

Ask of the Ancients: they reply that the oldest of the Gods is Saturn. Beware lest thou also be deceived!

Blessed be He that hath discovered unto us the Arcanum Arcanorum! This is the Dissolved Stone; this is the Elixir of Life, this is the Universal Medicine, this is the Tincture, this is the Potable Gold.

Take an Athanor and Cucurbite, and prepare a flask for this Wine of the Holy Ghost. Thou needest also a flame for the distillation. In the Athanor is thy Lion, in the Cucurbite thine Eagle. Use first a gentle heat, increasing at last to full flame until the Lion passeth over. Pour immediately thy distillation into the flask prepared for it.

OF THE ELIXIR

All being now clear to you, very Illustrious Sir Knights and my Illuminated Brethren, hasten not to the Sacrament. For this festival is holy; this Wedding is of the Soul with Our Lord Jesus Christ; and thou must be adorned, as it is written, the King’s Daughter is all glorious within; her raiment is of wrought gold.

First therefore observe as thou hast sworn the rule of Chastity; for thou must be virgin unto Thy Lord.

Second, do thou fast, worshipping GOD TRIUNE for seven hours before the feast.

Third, be thou clothed in that One Vestment many-coloured which was bestowed upon thee at thine initiation.

Now then, entering the privy chapel, do thou bestow at least one hour in adoration at the altar, exalting thyself in love toward God, and extolling Him in strophe and antistrophe. Then do thou perform the Sacrifice of the Mass.

The Elixir being then prepared solemnly and in silence, do thou consume it utterly.

And in all this thou shalt direct thy whole will unwavering to the particular purpose of the Operation.

Otherwise, have faith in God, that He may apportion its virtue to thy needs.

This is the noblest way, and yet most dangerous; for thereby thou risketh profanation, eating and drinking damnation to thyself.

Remember also this, that to obtain the utmost from this work thou needest experience and well guided practice. Even as if thou sowest seeds in ignorance of seasons and of climates and of soils, some only may germinate, when the wise husbandman will reap all in perfect harvest; so do thou reflect that the Eucharist is of such nature that some result will follow, for the Grace of God cannot wholly be balked and fail of its effect, yet it will be better daily as thou followest out this path. And if thou work with intelligence and energy, thou shouldst attain the Highest Perfection and accomplish the Great Work before the Earth hath twice fulfilled her orbit.

So mote it be.

OF RHYTHMIC INCANTATION

This elixir is the germ of life. Therefore, although the most powerful, the most radiant thing that existeth in the whole Universe, being as it were the very Eidolon of our Father the Sun, it is also the most delicate and sensitive of all things. During the preparation as at the consummation do thou guard it with flaming swords set every way to keep its gate; and do thou cherish it, and involve therein the Light of the Most High and the Might of the Forces of thine Operation.

And this mayest thou do on this wise. First, let thine whole work be within the Magick Circle. Next, let the powers of incantation (as may be appropriate) utter themselves forth by spells and invocations. Lastly, at the beginning of the work proper, and thence throughout, let there be One Incantation rhythmic with the progress of the work.

For a Work Venereal:

Tu Venus orta mari venias tu filia Patris,
Exaudi penis carmina blanda, precor,
Ne sit culpa nates nobis futuisse viriles,
Sed caleat cunnus semper amore meo.

So for all, in such words as thy poetic genius may overshadow thee withal.

OF THE LAW

Love is the Law, Love under Will.

Is not Agape of one numeration with Thelema?

The Word of Sin is restriction.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

It is also written: Take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where, and with whom ye will! But always unto me.... But ecstasy be thine and joy of earth: Ever to me! to me!

I charge you very August, Excellent, Puissant and Perfect Sovereign Princes of Rose Croix, Sir Knights Companions of the Holy Graal, even by your sublime chastity and the vow of stainless manhood, that ye understand these words!

Behold! I have declared the law; unto you have I revealed it. I have manifested the tokens to you; with you have I exchanged the words.

Conquerors of sin and sorrow, partakers of the Cup of Blessing, initiates of the Supreme Rite, warders of the Ineffable Sanctuary, freemen of the City of Truth, Saints of the Everlasting Tabernacle! I have discovered unto you the Eucharist of Resurrection.

I have shown you the Way.

I have spoken unto you the Truth.

I have endowed you with the Life.

Sons of Heaven and Daughters of Earth, children of God and inheritors of immortality, the Feast is ready in the Mansions of my Father.

Brothers of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, Illustrious Sir Knights of the Order of Kadosch, strike with the pommels of your swords upon the Gate of this Sanctuary, the inmost, the unprofaned, the shrine which we have guarded for you through all catastrophies of empire from the days of Enoch until now — knock and it shall be opened up to you, and ye shall enter in, and taste that MANNA that cometh down from Heaven!

FAREWELL

And now, very illustrious Sir Knights and Highly Illuminated Brethren, hail and farewell!

I salute you secretly as is right: I exchange the token: I whisper the Word even as I received it, and in no other manner.

I kiss thrice the hilt of the Sword.

I invoke upon you the blessing of GOD TRIUNE in His Most Sacred and Mysterious Name of Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence; in the name of the Father + and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost + take my leave of you.

The favour of the True and Living God Most High be upon you!

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

The abiding of the Holy Ghost be within you!

Now and for ever more so mote it be, Amen!

Appendix:

Grimorium Sanctissimum

ARCANVM ARCANORVM QVOD CONTINET NONDVM REVELANDVM IPSIS REGIBVS SVPREMIS O.T.O.
GRIMOIRVM QVOD BAPHOMET X° MSVO FECIT.

DE TEMPLO

1. Oriente. Cubiculum.
2. Occidente. Tabula dei invocandi.
3. Septentrione. Sacerdos.
4. Meridione. Ignis cum thuribulo k.t.l.
5. Centro.

Lapis quaeratus cum imagine
DEI MAXIMA INGENTIS TERRIBILIS OMNIPOTENTIS SANCTISSIMI
et cum ferro, tintinnabulo. oleo.
Virgo. Stet Imago juxta librum THELEMA.

DE CEREMONIO PRINCIPII

• Fiat ut in Liber DCLXXI dicitur
• sed antea virgo lavabitur cum verbis: "Aspergo me" k.t.l.,
• et habilimenta ponat cum verbis: "Per sanctum Mysterium" k.t.l.
• Ita Pyramis fiat.
• Tune virgo lavabit sacerdotem et vestimenta ponat ut supra ordinatur.
  (Hic dicat virgo orationes dei operationis.)

DE CEREMONIO THURIBULI

• Manibus accendat et ignem et sacerdotem virgo, dicens:
• Accendat in nobis Dominus ignem sui amoris et flammam aeternae caritatis.

DE CEREMONIO DEDICATIONIS

• Invocet virgo Imaginem DEI M.I.T.O.S. his verbis: "Tu qui es praeter omnia" k.t.l.
• Nec relinquet alteram Imaginem.

DE SACRIFICO SUMMO

• Deinde silentium frangat sacerdos cum verbis versiculi sancti dei particulariter invocandi.
• Ineat Sanctum Sanctorum.
• Caveat; caveat; caveat.
• Duo qui fiunt UNUS sine intermissione verba versiculi sancti alta voce cantent.

DE BENEDICTIONE BENEDICTI

• Missa rore, dicat mulier haec verba: "Quia patris et filii" s.s.k.t.

DE CEREMONIO FINIS

• Fiat ut in Liber DCLXXI dicitur Amen.

 

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Grimorium Sanctissimum
[English Translation]

The most holy Grimoire: which contains the secret of secrets not yet to be revealed to the Supreme Kings [of] O.T.O. themselves.
The Grimoire which Baphomet X° M made for himself.^[1]

Of the Temple.

1. In the East: Altar.^[2]

2. In the West: Tablet (or "picture") of the god to be invoked.

3. In the North: Priest.

4. In the South: Fire with thurible, etc.

5. In the Centre: A foursquare stone with the image of the
Greatest, Vast, Unspeakable, Ineffable, Most Holy God;
and with the sword, bell, oil.
The Maiden.
Let the image stand next to the book [of] THELEMA.

Of the Ceremony of the Beginning.

Let it be done as it is said in Liber 671,^[3] but first the maiden shall have been washed with the words: "You shall sprinkle me & c.",^[4]

and let her put on her garments with the words: "By the figurative mystery & c."^[5]

Let the Pyramid be made thus.

Then the maiden shall wash the priest, and shall put on [his] vestments as is set forth above.

(Here let the maiden speak the orations of the god of the working)^[6]

Of the Ceremony of the Thurible.

Let the maiden inflame both the fire and the priest with her hands, saying:

"Let the Lord ignite in us the fire of his love and the flame of eternal devotion."^[7]

Of the Ceremony of Dedication.

Let the maiden invoke the image of the Greatest, Huge, (etc.) God, with these words: "Thou, who art I, beyond all I am" (etc.)^[8]

Nor shall she forsake the other Image.

Of the Supreme Sacrifice.

Then let the priest break the silence with the holy versicle of the particular god to be invoked.^[9]
Let him enter the Holy of Holies.
Let him beware; let him beware; let him beware.
Let two who have become ONE sing in a high voice without interruption the words of the holy versicle.

Of the Blessing of the Blessed.

With the dew from the mass,^[10] let the woman speak these words:

"For of the Father and the Son the Holy Spirit & c."^[11]

Of the Ceremony of the End.

Let it be done as it is said in Liber 671.^[12] AUMGN.

[See also: Liber IV - Appendix VI]

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Footnotes

[1] This is a slight variant of the "Grimoire of the Paris Working", as used by Crowley and Neuburg in a series of invocations in January & February 1914.

[2] There exist variants of this text with "Altar", or simply "a table."

[3] Probably means: use the opening section of "Liber Pyramidos".

[4] See cap. XIV, supra

[5] Lit. "by the holy mystery", but in a note to the "Paris Working" material AC identifies this as referring to the prayer for robing from the Goëtia, which runs:
"BY the figurative mystery of these holy vestures (or of this holy vestment) I will clothe me with the armour of salvation in the strength of the Most High, ANCAR; AMACOR; AMIDES; THEODONIAS; ANITOR; that my desired end may be effected through Thy strength, O ADONAI! unto Whom the praise and glory will for ever and ever belong! Amen!"

[6] I.e., any chosen as suitable from the Equinox or elsewhere. [Note by Crowley in the "Paris Working" material.]

[7] See cap. XIV, supra.

[8] Lit. "Thou who art beyond all", but a note by Crowley in the "Paris Working" material indicates the reference is to the invocation "Thou, who art I", from "The Ship", which forms the first part of the "Anthem" in "Liber XV", infra. I will, in this place at least, spare the reader my Latin travesty of the Tu Qui Es and Quia Patris.

[9] In the context of the Paris Working this refers to the "Holy Hymns to the Great Gods of Heaven", eight Latin versicles of two or four lines for various Roman gods. See the edition of "Liber 415" in Equinox IV (2) for texts and translation.

[10] I follow Martin Starr's rendering of missa rore here, although I am not entirely happy with it; "the dew having been sent forth" is possible (a similar reading is given by Symonds and Grant in the RKP edition of Magick), but such an interpretation requires missa to be an error for misso.

[11] A note by Crowley in the Paris Working material indicates the reference is to the final chorus "For of the Father and the Son" from "The Ship", also part of the "Anthem" in Liber XV, infra.

[12] I.e., close with the "Sealing of the Pyramid."