AMBROSII MAGI HORTUS ROSARUM
1902
AMBROSII MAGI HORTUS ROSARUM1)
| Translated into English by Christeos Luciftias. Printed by W. Black, at the Wheatsheaf in Newgate, and sold at the Three Keys in Nags-head Court, Gracechurch St. |
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| Opus. | It is fitting that I, Ambrose, called I. A. O., should set down the life of our great Father (who now is not, yet whose name must never be spoken among men), in order that the Brethren may know what journeys he undertook in pursuit of that knowledge whose attainment is their constant study. |
| Prima Materia. | It was at his 119th year,2) the Star Suaconch3) |
| A.O. | being in the sign of the Lion, that our Father set out from his Castle of Ug4) to attain the Quintessence or Philosophical Tincture. The way being dark and the |
| Custodes.5) | Golden Dawn at hand, he did call forth four servants to keep him in the midst of the way, and the Lion roared before him to bid the opposers beware of his coming. On the Bull he rode, and on his left hand and his right marched the Eagle and the Man. But his back was uncovered, seeing that he would not turn. |
| Sapiens dom- | And the Spirit of the Path met him. It was a young |
| inabitur astris. | girl of two and twenty years, and she warned him fairly that without the Serpent6) his ways were but as wool cast into the dyer's vat. Two-and- twenty scales had the Serpent, and every scale was a path, |
| S. S. D. D. | and every path was alike an enemy and a friend. So he set out, and the darkness grew upon him. Yet could he well perceive a young maiden7) having a necklace of two-and- seventy {212} pearls, big and round like the breasts of a sea-nymph; and they gleamed round her like moons. She held in leash the four Beasts, but he strode boldly to her, and kissed her full on her full lips. Wherefore she sighed and fell back a space, and he pressed on. Now at the end of the darkness a fire |
| Intellectus. | glowed: she would have hindered him: clung she to his neck and wept. But the fire grew and the light dazzled her; so that with a shriek she fell. But the beasts flung themselves against the burning gateway of iron, and it gave way. Our Father passed into the fire. Some say that it consumed him utterly and that he |
| Deus. | died; howbeit, it is certain that he rose from a sarcophagus, and in the skies stood an angel with a trumpet, and on that trumpet he blew so mighty a blast that the dead rose all from their tombs, and our Father among them. “Now away!” he cried. “I would look upon the sun!” And with that the fire hissed like a myriad of serpents and went out suddenly. It was a green sward golden with buttercups; and in his way lay |
| H. et S. V. A. | a high wall. Before it were two children, and with obscene gestures they embraced, and laughed aloud, with filthy words and acts unspeakable. Over all of which stood the sun calm and radiant, and was glad to be. Now, think ye well, was our Father perplexed; and he knew not what he would do. For the children left their foulness and came soliciting with shameless words his acquiescence in their sport; and he, knowing the law of courtesy and of pity, rebuked them not. But master ever of himself he abode alone, about and above. So saw he his virginity deflowered, and his thoughts were otherwhere. Now loosed they his body; he bade it leap the wall. The giant flower of ocean bloomed above him! He had fallen headlong into the great deep. As the green and crimson gloom disparted somewhat before his eyes, he was aware of a Beetle that |
| Luna. | steadily and earnestly moved across the floor of that Sea unutterable. Him he followed; “for I wit well,” thought the Adept, “that he goeth not back to the gross sun of earth. And if the sun hath become a beetle, may the beetle transform into a |
| Quid Umbra- | bird.” Wherewith he came to land. Night shone by lamp |
| tur in Mari | of waning moon upon a misty landscape. Two paths led him to two towers; and jackals howled on either. Now the jackal he knew; and the tower he knew not yet. Not two would he conquer – that were easy: to victory over one did he aspire. Made he therefore toward the moon. Rough was the hillside and the shadows deep and treacherous; as he advanced the towers seemed to approach one another closer and closer yet. He drew his sword: with a crash they came together; and he fell with wrath upon a single fortress. Three windows had the tower; |
| Deo Duce | and against it ten cannons thundered. Eleven bricks |
| Comite Ferro. | had fallen dislodged by lightnings: it was no house wherein our Father might abide. But there he must abide. “To destroy it I am come,” he said. And though he passed out therewithal, yet 'twas his home |
| Vestigia Nulla | until he had attained. So he came to a river, and |
| Retrorsum. | sailing to its source he found a fair woman all naked, and she filled the river from two vessels of pure water. “She-devil,” he cried, “have I gone back one step?” For the Star Venus burned above. And with his sword he clave her from the head to the feet, that she fell clean asunder. Cried the echo: “Ah! thou hast slain hope now!” Our Father gladdened at {213} that word, and wiping his blade he kissed it and went on, knowing that his luck should now be ill. And ill it was, for a temple was set up in his way, and there he |
| Adest Rosa | saw the grisly Goat enthroned. But he knew better than |
| Secreta Eros. | to judge a goat from a goat's head and hoofs. And he abode in that temple awhile therefore, and worshipped ten weeks. And the first week he sacrificed to that goat8) a crown every day. The second a phallus. The third a silver vase of blood. The fourth a royal sceptre. The fifth a sword. The sixth a heart. The seventh a garland of flowers. The eighth a grass-snake. The ninth a sickle. And the tenth week did he daily offer up his own body. Said the goat: “Though I be not an ox, yet am I a sword.” “Masked, O God!” cried the Adept. “Verily, an thou hadst not sacrificed –” There was silence. And under the Goat's throne was a rainbow9) of seven colours: |
| Hemaphroditus. | our Father fitted himself as an arrow to the string (and the string was waxed well, dipped in a leaden pot wherein boiled amber and wine) and shot through stormy heavens. And they that saw him saw a woman wondrous fair10) robed in flames of hair, moon- sandalled, sun-belted, with torch and vase of fire and water. And he trailed comet-clouds of glory upward. Thus came our Father (Blessed be his name!) to Death,11) who stood, scythe in hand opposed. And ever and anon he swept round, and men fell before him. “Look,” said Death, “my sickle hath a cross-handle. See how they grow like flowers!” “Give me salt!” |
| Mors Janua | quoth our Father. And with sulphur (that the Goat had |
| Vitae. | given him) and with salt did he bestrew the ground. “I see we shall have ado together,” says Death, “Aye!” and with that he lops off Death's cross-handle. Now Death was wroth indeed, for he saw that our Father had wit of his designs (and they were right foul!), but he bade him pass forthwith from his dominion. And our Father could not at that time stay him: though for himself had he cut off the grip, yet for others – well, let each man take his sword! The way went through a forest. |
| Adeptus. | Now between two trees hung a man by one heel (Love was that tree).12) Crossed were his legs, and his arms behind his head, that hung ever downwards, the fingers locked. “Who art thou?” quoth our Father. “He that came before thee.” “who am I?” “He that cometh after me.” With that worshipped our Father, and took a present of a great jewel from him, and went his ways. And he was bitterly a-cold, for that was the great Water he had passed. But our Father's paps glittered with cold, black light, and likewise his navel. Wherefore he was comforted. Now came |
| Terrae Ultor | the sudden twittering of heart lest the firmament |
| Anima Terrae. | beneath him were not stable, and lo! he danceth up and down as a very cork on waters of wailing. “Woman,” he bade sternly, “be still. Cleave that with thy sword: or that must I well work?” But she cleft the cords, bitter-faced, smiling goddess as she was: {214} and he went on. “Leave thine ox-goad,”13) quoth he, “till I come back an ox!” And she laughed and let him pass. Now is our Father come to the Unstable Lands, 'Od wot, for the Wheel whereon he poised was ever turning. Sworded was the Sphinx, but he out-dared her in riddling: deeper pierced his sword: he cut her into twain: her place was his. But that would he not, my |
| Sapientiae Lux | Brethren; to the centre he clomb ever: and having won |
| Viris Baculum. | thither, he vanished. As an hermit ever he travelled and the lamp and wand were his. In his path a lion roared, but to it ran a maiden, strong as a young elephant, and held its cruel jaws. By force he ran to her: he freed the lion – one buffet of his hand dashed her back six paces! – and with another blow smote its head from its body. And he ran to her and by force embraced her. Struggled she and fought him: |
Femina Rapota savagely she bit, but it was of no avail: she lay
Inspirat ravished and exhausted on the Lybian plain. Across the
Gaudium. mouth he smote her for a kiss, while she cried: "O! thou
has begotten on me twins. And mine also is the Serpent,
and thou shalt conquer it and it shall serve thee: and
they, they also for a guide!" She ceased; and he,
having come to the world's end, prepared his chariot.
Foresquare he builded it, and that double: he harnessed
the two sphinxes that he had made from one, and sailed,
crab-fashion, backwards, through the amber skies of
even. Wherefore he attained to see his children.
Lovers they were and lovely, those twins of rape. One
was above them, joining their hands. "That is well,"
said our Father, and for seven nights he slept
Pleiades. in seven starry palaces, and a sword to guard him.
Note well also that these children, and those
others, are two, being four. And on the sixth day
(for the seven days were past) he rose and
came into his ancient temple, a temple of our Holy
Order, O my Brethren, wherein sat the Hierophant who had
initiated him of old. Now read he well the riddle of
the Goat (Blessed be his name among us for ever! Nay,
not for ever!), and therewith the Teacher
Dignitates. made him a Master of the Sixfold Chamber, and an ardent
Sufferer toward the Blazing Star. For the Sword, said
the Teacher, is but the Star unfurled.<<Read reverse,
the Star [=the Will and the Great Work] is to fold up the
Sephiroth; "i.e." to attain Nirvana.>> And our
Father being cunning to place Aleph over Tau read this
reverse, and so beheld Eden, even now in the flesh.
Amicitia. Whence he sojourned far, and came to a great Emperor,
by whom the was well received, and from whom he gat
great gifts. And the Emperor (who is Solomon) told him
of Sheba's Land and of one fairest of women there
enthroned. So he journeyed thither, and for four years
and seven months abode with her as paramour and light-
of-love, for she was gracious to him and
Amor. showed him those things that the Emperor had hidden;
even the cubical stone and the cross beneath the
triangle that were his and unrevealed. And on the third
day he left her and came to Her who had
Sophia. initiated him before he was initiated; and with her he
abode eight days and twenty days:<<The houses of the Moon.
All the gifts are lunar symbols.>> and she gave him
gifts. {215}
The first day, a camel;
The second day, a kiss;
The third day, a star-glass;
The fourth day, a beetle's wing;
The fifth day, a crab;
The sixth day, a bow;
The seventh day, a quiver;
The eighth day, a stag;
The ninth day, an horn;
The tenth day, a sandal of silver;
Dona Virginis. The eleventh day, a silver box of white sandal wood;
The twelfth day, a whisper;
The thirteenth day, a black cat;
The fourteenth day, a phial of white gold;
The fifteenth day, an egg-shell cut in two;
The sixteenth day, a glance;
The seventeenth day, an honeycomb;
The eighteenth day, a dream;
The nineteenth day, a nightmare;
The twentieth day, a wolf, black-mussled;
The twenty-first day, a sorrow;
The twenty-second day, a bundle of herbs;
The twenty-third day, a piece of camphor;
The twenty-fourth day, a moonstone;
The twenty-fifth day, a sigh;
The twenty-sixth day, a refusal;
Puella Urget The twenty-seventh day, a consent; and the last night
Sophiam Sod- she gave him all herself, so that the moon was eclipsed
alibus. and earth was utterly darkened. And the marriage of
that virgin was on this wise: She had three arrows, yet
but two flanks, and the wise men said that who knew two
was three,<<3, the number of HB:Gemel. 2, the number of the
card HB:Gemel.>> should know three was eight,<<The equality
of three and eight is attributed to Binah, a high grade
of Theurgic attainment.>> if the circle
were but squared; and this also one day shall ye
know, my Brethren! And she gave him the great and
perfect gift of magic, so that he fared forth right
comely and well-provided. Now at that great wedding was
The Sophic a Suggler,<<"Scil." Juggler, the 1st Key. The magical
Suggler. weapons correspond to the Kerubim.>> a riddler: for
he said, "Thou hast beasts: I will give
thee weapons one for one." For the lion did
our Father win a little fiery wand like a flame, and for
his Eagle a cup of ever flowing water: for his Man the
Suggler gave him a golden-hilted dagger (yet this was
the worst of all his bargains, for it could not strike
other, but himself only), while for a curious coin he
bartered his good Bull. Alas for our Father! Now the
Suggler mocks him and cries: "Four fool's bargains hast
thou made, and thou art fit to go forth and meet a
fool<<The Key marked 0 and applied to Aleph, 1.>> for
thy mate." But our Father counted thrice
seven and cried: "One for the fool," seeing {216} the
Serpent should be his at last. "None for the fool,"
they laughed back -- nay, even his maiden queen. For
she would not any should know thereof. Yet were all
right, both he and they. But truth ran quickly about;
for that was the House of Truth; and Mercury
Hammer of stood far from the Sun. Yet the Suggler was ever
Thor. in the Sign of Sorrow, and the Fig Tree was not far.
So went our Father to the Fool's Paradise of Air. But
it is not lawful that I should write to you, brethren,
of what there came to him at that place and time; nor
indeed is it true, if it were written. For alway doth
Aracnum. this Arcanum differ from itself on this wise, that
the Not and the Amen,<<This is obscure.>>
passing, are void either on the one side or the other,
and Who shall tell their ways?
So our Father, having won the Serpent Crown, the
Uraeus of Antient Khem, did bind it upon his head, and
rejoiced in that Kingdom for the space of two hundred
and thirty and one days<<0 + 1 + 2 + ... + 21 = 231.>>
and nights, and turned him toward the Flaming Sword.
<<The Sephiroth.>> Now the Sword governeth
ten mighty Kingdoms, and evil, and above them is the
ninefold lotus, and a virgin came forth unto him in the
hour of his rejoicing and propounded her riddle.
Griphus I. The first riddle:<<The maiden (Malkuth) is blind
(unredeemed). Answer: She shall be what she doth not,
"i.e." see. She shall be the sea, "i.e.""exalted to the
throne of Binah" (the great sea), the Qabalistic phrase to
express her redemption. We leave it to the reader's
ingenuity to solve the rest. Each refers to the Sephira
indicated by the number, but going upward.>>
The maiden is blind.
Our Father: She shall be what she doth not.
And a second virgin came forth to him and said:
Griphus II. The second riddle: Detegitur Yod.
Quoth our Fater: The moon is full.
Griphus III. So also a third virgin the third riddle:
Man and woman: O fountain of the balance!
To whom our Father answered with a swift flash of his
sword, so swift she saw it not.
Griphus IV. Came out a fourth virgin, having a fourth riddle:
What egg hath no shell?
And our Father pondered a while and then said:
On a wave of the sea: on a shell of the wave: blessed
be her name!
Griphus V. The fifth Virgin issued suddenly and said:
I have four arms and six sides: red am I, and gold.
To whom our Father:
Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani!
(For wit ye well, there be two Arcana therein.)
Griphus VI. Then said the sixth virgin openly:
Power lieth in the river of fire.
And our Father laughed aloud and answered: I am come
from the waterfall.
Griphus VII. So at that the seventh virgin came forth: and her
countenance was troubled.
The seventh riddle:
The oldest said to the most beautiful: What doest
thou here? {217}
Our Father:
And she answered him: I am in the place of the
bridge. Go thou up higher: go thou where these are not.
Griphus VIII. Thereat was commotion and bitter wailing, and the
eighth virgin came forth with rent attire and cried the
eighth riddle:
The sea hath conceived.
Our Father raised his head, and there was a great
darkness.
Griphus IX. The ninth virgin, sobbing at his feet, the ninth
riddle:
By wisdom.
Then our Father touched his crown and they all
rejoiced: but laughing he put them aside and he said:
Nay! By six hundred and twenty<<Kether adds up to 620.>>
do ye exceed!
Griphus X. Whereat they wept, and the tenth virgin came forth,
bearing a royal crown having twelve jewels; and she had
but one eye, and from that the eyelid had been torn. A
prodigious beard had she, and all of white: and they
wist he would have smitten her with his sword. But he
would not, and she propounded unto him the tenth riddle:
Countenance beheld not countenance.
So thereto he answered: Our Father, blessed be thou! --
Countenance?
Then they brought him the Sword and bade him smite
withal: but he said.
Culpa Urbium If countenance behold not countenance, then let the
Nota Terrae. ten be five. And they wist that he but mocked them; for
he did bend the sword fivefold and fashioned therefrom a
Star, and they all vanished in that light; yet the lotus
abode nine-petalled and he cried, "Before the wheel, the
axle." So he chained the Sun,<<These are the letters of Ain
Soph Aur, the last two of which he destroys, so as to leave
only Ain, Not, or Nothing.>> and slew the Bull, and
exhausted the Air, breathing it deep into his lungs:
then he broke down the ancient tower, that which he had
made his home, will he nill he, for so long, and he slew
the other Bull, and he broke the arrow in twain; after
that he was silent, for they grew again in sixfold
order, so that this latter work was double: but unto the
first three he laid not his hand, neither for the first
time, nor for the second time, nor for the third time.
So to them he added<<To (1+10+50) 3x2 he adds 300, Shin, the
flame of the Spirit=666.>> that spiritual flame (for they
were one, and ten, and fifty, thrice, and again) and
that was the Beast, the Living One that is Lifan. Let
us be silent, therefore, my brethren, worshipping the
holy sixfold Ox<<666=6x111. 111=Aleph, the Ox.>> that
was our Father in his peace that he had won into,
and that so hardly. For of this shall no man speak.
Now therefore let it be spoken of our Father's
journeyings in the land of Vo<<His journeys as Initiator.>>
and of his suffering therein, and of the founding
of our holy and illustrious Order.
Nechesh. Our Father, Brethren, having attained the mature age
of three hundred {218} and fifty and eight years,<<Nechesh
the Serpent and Messiach the Redeemer.>> set
forth upon a journey into the mystic Mountain of the
Abiegnus. Caves. He took with him his Son,<<Abigenos, Abiagnus,
Bigenos, Abiegnus, metathesis of the name of the Mystic
Mountain of Initiation. The next paragraph has been
explained in the Appendix to Vol. I.>> a Lamb, Life, and
Strength, for these four were the Keys of that Mountain.
So by ten days and fifty days and two hundred days and
yet ten days he went forth. After ten days fell a
thunderbolt, whirling through black clouds of rain:
Mysterium after sixty the road split in two, but he travelled on
I.N.R.I. both at once: after two hundred and sixty, the sun drove
away the rain, and the Star shone in the day-time,
making it night. After the last day came his Mother,
his Redeemer, and Himself; and joining together they
were even as I am who write unto you. Seventeen they
were, the three Fathers: with the three Mothers they
were thirty-two, and sixfold therein, being as
countenance and countenance. Yet, being seventeen, they
were but one, and that one none, as before hath been
showed. And this enumeration is a great Mysterium of
Mysterium our art. Whence a light hidden in a Cross. Now
LVX. therefore having brooded upon the ocean, and smitten
with the Sword, and the Pyramid being builded in its
just proportion, was that Light fixed even in the Vault
of the Caverns. With one stroke he rent asunder the
Veil; with one stroke he closed the same. And entering
Pastos. the Sarcophagus of that royal Tomb he laid him down to
sleep. Four guarded him, and One in the four; Seven
enwalled him, and One in the seven, yet were the seven
ten, and One in the ten. Now therefore his disciples
came unto the Vault of that Mystic Mountain, and with
the Keys they opened the Portal and came to him and woke
him. But during his long sleep the roses had grown over
him, crimson and flaming with interior fire, so that he
could not escape. Yet they withered at his glance;
withat he knew what fearful task was before him. But
slaying his disciples with long Nails, he interred them
there, so that they were right sorrowful in their
hearts. May all we die so! And what further befell him
ye shall also know, but not at this time.
Going forth of that Mountain he met also the Fool.
Trinitas. Then the discourse of that Fool, my Brethren; it shall
repay your pains. They think they are a triangle,<<The
belief in a Trinity -- ignorance of Daath.>> he
said, they think as the Picture-Folk. Base they are,
and little infinitely.
Ain Elohim.
They think, being many, they are one.<<Belief in Monism,
or rather Advaitism. Crowley was a Monist only in the
modern scientific sense of that word.>> They think as
Unitas. the Rhine-folk think. Many and none.
Ain Elohim.
They think the erect<<Confusion of the various mystic
serpents. The Big-Nose-Folk = the Jews. We leave the
rest to the insight of the reader.>> is the twined, and
Serpentes. the twinedis the coiled, and the coiled is the twin, and the
twins are the stoopers. They think as the Big-Nose-Folk.
Save us, O Lord! {219}
Ain Elohim.
Abracadabra. The Chariot. Four hundred and eighteen. Five are
one, and six are diverse, five in the midst and three on
each side. The Word of Power, double in the Voice of
the Master.
Ain Elohim.
Amethsh. Four sounds of four forces. O the snake hath a long
tail! Amen
Ain Elohim.
Sudden death: thick darkness: ho! the ox!
Ye Fylfat One, and one, and one: Creator, Preserver, Destroyer,
{symb.: cross}. ho! the Redeemer! Thunder-stone: whirlpool: lotus-
flower: ho! for the gold of the sages!
Ain Elohim.
And he was silent for a great while, and so departed
our Father from him.
Mysterium Forth he went along the dusty desert and met an
Matris. antient woman bearing a bright crown of gold, studded
<<This is all with gems, one on each knee. Dressed in rags she was,
obscure>> and squatted clumsily on the sand. A horn grew from her
forehead; and she spat black foam and froth. Foul was
the hag and evil, yet our Father bowed down flat on his
face to the earth. "Holy Virgin of God," said he, "what
dost thou here? What wilt thou with thy servant?" At
that she stank so that the air gasped about her, like a
fish brought out of the sea. So she told him she was
gathering simples for her daughter that had died to bury
Evocatio. her withal. Now no simples grew in the desert.
Therefore our Father drew with his sword lines of power
in the sand, so that a black and terrible demon appeared
squeezing up in thin flat plates of flesh along the
sword-lines. So our Father cried: "Simples, O
Axcaxrabortharax, for my mother!" Then the demon was
wroth and shrieked: "Thy mother to black hell! She is
mine! So the old hag confessed straight that she had
given her body for love to that fiend of the pit. But
our Father paid no heed thereto and bade the demon to do
Lucus. his will, so that he brought him herbs many, and good,
with which our Father planted a great grove that grew
about him (for the sun was now waxen bitter hot) wherein
he worshipped, offering in vessels of clay these seven
offerings:<<Refer to the planets.>>
The first offering, dust;
The second offering, ashes;
The third offering, sand;
The fourth offering, bay-leaves;
The fifth offering, gold;
The sixth offering, dung;
The seventh offering, poison.
With the dust he gave also a sickle to gather the
harvest of that dust.
With the ashes he gave a sceptre, that one might rule
them aright.
With the sand he gave a sword, to cut that sand
withal.
With the bay-leaves he gave a sun, to wither them.
With the gold he gave also a garland of sores, and
that was for luck.
With the dung he gave a Rod of Life to quicken it.
{220}
With the poison he gave also in offering a stag and a
maiden.
Somnium Auri But about the noon came one shining unto our Father
Potabilis. and gave him to drink from a dull and heavy bowl. And
this was a liquor potent and heavy, by'r lady! So that
our Father sank into deep sleep and dreamed a dream, and
in that mirific dream it seemed unto him that the walls
of all things slid into and across each other, so that
he feared greatly, for the stability of the universe is
the great enemy; the unstable being the everlasting,
saith Adhou Bin Aram, the Arab. O Elmen Zata, our
Sophic Pilaster! Further in the dream there was let
down from heaven a mighty tessaract, bounded by eight
cubes, whereon sat a mighty dolphin having eight senses.
Further, he beheld a cavern full of most ancient bones
of men, and therein a lion with a voice of a dog. Then
Tredecim came a voice: "Thirteen<<Achad, unity, adds to thirteen.
Voces. There follow attributions of the "thirteen times table.">>
are they, who are one. Once is a oneness: twice is the
Name: thrice let us say not: by four is the Son: by five
is the Sword: by six is the Holy Oil of the most Excellent
Beard, and the leaves of the Book are by six: by seven
is that great Amen." Then our Father saw one hundred
and four horses that drove an ivory car over a sea
of pearl, and they received him therein and bade him
be comforted. With that he awoke and saw that he
would have all his desire. In the morning therefore
he arose and went his way into the desert.
There he clomb an high rock and called forth
Ordinis In- the eagles, that their shadow floating over the desert
ceptio. should be as a book that men might read it. The shadows
wrote and the sun recorded; and on this wise commeth it
to pass, O my brethren, that by darkness and by sunlight
ye will still learn ever these the Arcana of our
Science. Lo! who learneth by moonlight, he is the lucky
one! So our Father, having thus founded the Order, and
our sacred Book being opened, rested awhile and beheld
many wonders, the like of which were never yet told.
But ever chiefly his study was to reduce unto eight
things his many.
And thus, O Brethren of our Venerable Order, he at
last succeeded. Those who know not will learn little
herein: yet that they may be shamed all shall be put
forth at this time clearly before them all, with no
obscurity nor obfuscation in the exposition thereof.
Writing this, saith our Father to me, the humblest
and oldest of all his disciples, write as the story of
my Quintessential Quest, my Sagyric Wandering, my
Philosophical Going. Write plainly unto the brethren,
quoth he, for many be little and weak; and thy hard
words and much learning may confound them.
Therefore I write thus plainly to you. Mark well
that ye read me aright!
Vitae. Our Father (blessed be his name!) entered the Path on
this wise. He cut off three from ten:<<These are the
Buddhist "paths of enlightenment.">> thus he left
seven. He cut and left three: he cut and left one: he
cut and became. Thus fourfold. Eightfold.<<The eightfold
path. The rest is very obscure.>> He opened
Viae. his eyes: he cleansed his heart: he chained his
tongue: he fixed {221} his flesh: he turned to his
trade: he put forth his strength: he drew all to a
point: he delighted.
Therefore he is not, having become that which he was
not. Mark ye all: it is declared. Now of the last
adventure of our Father and of his going into the land
of Apes, that is, England, and of what he did there, it
is not fitting that I, the poor old fool who loved him,
shall now discourse. But it is most necessary that I
should speak of his holy death and of his funeral and of
the bruit thereof, for that is gone into divers lands as
a false and lying report, whereby much harm and ill-luck
come to the Brethren. In this place, therefore, will I
set down the exact truth of all that happened.
Mirabilia. In the year of the Great Passing Over were signs and
wonders seen of all men, O my Brethren, as it is
written, and well known unto this day. And the first
sign was of dancing: for every woman that was under the
I. Signum. moon began to dance and was mad, so that headlong and
hot-mouthed she flung herself down, desirous. Whence
II. Signum. the second sign, that of musical inventions; for in that
year, and of Rosewomen, came A and U and M,<<Aum! The
sacred word.>> the mighty musicians! And the
third sign likewise, namely of animals: for in that year
III. Signum. every sheep had lambs thirteen, and every cart<<Qy. HB:Chet
(the car) becomes O (a wheel). The commentators who have
suspected the horrid blasphemy implied by the explanation
"becomes HB:Koph , the Wheel of Fortune," are certainly in
error.>> was delivered of a wheel! And other wonders
Alia Signa. innumerable: they are well known, insomuch that that
year is yet held notable.
Now our Father, being very old, came unto the
venerable Grove of our August Fraternity and abode
there. And so old was he and feeble that he could
scarce lift his hands in benediction upon us. And all
we waited about him, both by day and night; lest one
word should fall, and we not hear the same. But he
spake never unto us, though his lips moved and his eyes
sought ever that which we could not see. At last, on
the day of D., the mother of P.,<<Demeter and Persephone.>>
he straightened himself up and spake. This
his final discourse was written down then by the dying
lions in their own blood, traced willingly on the desert
sands about the Grove of the Illustrious. Also here
set down: but who will confirm the same, let him
seek it on the sands.
Children of my Will, said our Father, from whose grey
eyes fell gentlest tears, it is about the hour. The
chariot (Ch.)<<Ch=HB:Chet; H=Hades. See the Tarot cards,
and classical mythology, for the symbols.>> is not, and
the chariot (H.) is at hand. Yet I, who have been
car-borne through the blue air by sphixes, shall never
be carried away, not by the whitest horses of the world.
To you I have no word to say. All is written in the
sacred Book. To that look ye well!
Pater Jubet: Ambrose, old friend, he said, turning to me -- and I
Scientiam wept ever sore -- do thou write for the little ones, the
Scribe. children of my children, for them that understand not
easily our high mysteries; for in thy pen is, as it
were, a river of clear water; without vagueness, without
ambiguity, {222} without show of learning, without
needless darkening of counsel and word, dost thou ever
reveal the sacred Heights of our Mystic Mountain. For,
as for him that understandeth not thy writing, and that
easily and well, be ye well assured all that he is a
vile man and a losel of little worth or worship; a dog,
an unclean swine, a worm of filth, a festering sore in
the vitals of earth: such an one is liar and murderer,
debauched, drunken, sexless, and spatulate; and ape-
dropping, a lousy, flat-backed knave: from such an one
keep ye well away! Use hath he little: ornament maketh
Sedes Profunda he nothing: let him be cast out on the dunghills beyond
Paimonis. Jordan; let him pass into the S. P. P., and that
utterly!
With that our Father sighed deep and laid back his
reverend head, and was silent. But from his heart came
a subtle voice of tenderest farewell, so that we knew
Oculi Nox him well dead. But for seventy days and seventy nights
Secreta. we touched him not, but abode ever about him: and the
smile changed not on his face, and the whole grove was
filled with sweet and subtle perfumes. Now on the 71st
Portae Silen- day arose there a great dispute about his body; for the
tium. angels and spirits and demons did contend about it, that
Partitio. they might possess it. But our eldest brother V. N.
bade all be still; and thus he apportioned the sacred
relics of our Father.
To the Angel Agbagal, the fore part of the skull;
To the demon Ozoz, the back left part of the skull;
To the demon Olcot,<<Col. Olcott, the theosophist.>> the
back right part of the skull;
To ten thousand myriads of spirits of fire, each one
hair;
To ten thousand myriads of spirits of water, each one
hair;
To ten thousand myriads of spirits of earth, each one
hair;
To ten thousand myriads of spirits of air, each one
hair;
To the archangel Zazelazel, the brain;
To the angel Usbusolat, the medulla;
To the demon Ululomis, the right nostril;
To the angel Opael, the left nostril;
To the spirit Kuiphiah, the membrane of the nose;
To the spirit Pugrah, the bridge of the nose;
To eleven thousand spirits of spirit, the hairs of
the nose, one each;
To the archangel Tuphtuphtuphal,<<? the spirit of motor-
cars.>> the right eye;
To the archdevil Upsusph, the left eye;
The parts thereof in trust to be divided among their
servitors; as the right cornea, to Aphlek; the left, to
Urnbal; -- mighty sprits are they, and bold!
To the archdevil Rama,<<Vishnu, the preserver.>> the right
ear and its parts;
To the archangel Umumatis, the left ear and its
parts;
The teeth to two-and-thirty letters of the sixfold
Name: one to the air, and fifteen to the rain and the
ram, and ten to the virgin, and six to the Bull;
The mouth to the archangels Alalal and Bikarak, lip
and lip;
The tongue to that devil of all devils Yehowou.
<<Jehovah.>> Ho, devil! canst thou speak? {223}
The pharynix to Mahabonisbash, the great angel;
To seven-and-thirty myriads of legions of planetary
spirits the hairs of the moustache, to each one;
To ninety and one myriads of the Elohim, the hairs of
the beard; to each thirteen, and the oil to ease the
world;
To Shalach, the arch devil, the chin.
So also with the lesser relics; of which are notable
only: to the Order, the heart of our Father: to the Book
of the Law, his venerable lung-space to serve as a
shrine thereunto: to the devil Aot, the liver, to be
divided: to the angel Exarp and his followers, the great
intestine: to Bitom the devil and his crew, the little
intestine: to Aub, Aud, and Aur, the venerable Phallus
of our Father: to Ash the little bone of the same: to
our children K., C., B., C., G., T., N., H, I., and M.,
his illustrious finger-nails, and the toe-nails to be in
trust for their children after them: and so for all the
rest; is it not written in our archives? As to his
magical weapons, all vanished utterly at the moment of
that Passing Over. Therefore they carried away our
Father's body piece by piece and that with reverence and
in order, so that there was not left of all one hair,
nor one nerve, nor one little pore of the skin. Thus
was there no funeral pomp; they that say other are liars
and blasphemers against a fame untarnished. May the red
plague rot their vitals!
Amen. Thus, O my Brethren, thus and not otherwise was the
passing Over of that Great and Wonderful Magician, our
Father and Founder. May the dew of his admirable memory
moisten the grass of our minds, that we may bring forth
tender shoots of energy in the Great Work of Works. So
mote it be!
BENEDICTVS DOMINVS DEVS
NOSTER QVI NOBIS DEDIT
SIGNVM
R.C.
NOSTER QVI NOBIS DEDIT
SIGNVM
R.C.
1)
It would require many pages to give even a sketch of this remarkable document. The Qabalistic knowledge is as authentic as it is profound, but there are also allusions to contemporary occult students, and a certain very small amount of mere absence of meaning. The main satire is of course on the “Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosencreutz.” A few only of the serious problems are elucidated in footnotes.
2)
I.e. when 118 = change, a ferment, strength. Also = before he was 120, the mystic age of a Rosicrucian.
3)
Her-shell= Herschell, or Uranus, the planet which was ascending(in Leo) at Crowley's birth.
4)
Vau and Gimel, the Hierophant and High-Priestess in the Tarot. Hence “from his Castle of Ug” means “from his initiation.” We cannot in future do more than indicate the allusions.
5)
The Kerubim.
6)
See Table of Correspondences.
7)
The 22nd Key of the Tarot. The other Tarot symbols can be traced by any one who possesses, and to some degree understands, a pack of the cards. The occult views of the nature of these symbols are in some cases Crowley's own.
8)
The sacrifices are the ten Sephiroth.
9)
See Table.
10)
Ancient form of the key of HB:Samekh.
11)
Considered as the agent of resurrection.
12)
In the true Key of HB:Mem the tree is shaped like the letter HB:Dalet = Venus or love. The figure of the man forms a cross above a triangle, with apex upwards, the sign of redemption.
13)
Lamed means ox-goad; Aleph, an ox. Lamed Aleph means No, the denial of Aleph Lamed, El, God,.
Thelema
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