Liber AL vel Legis sub figurâ CCXX as delivered by XCIII = 418 to DCLXVI
Liber 220: THE BOOK OF THE LAW
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 min-
ister 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, bending
down, 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 exist-
ence, 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 con-
cealed: 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 com-
ment thereupon by the wisdom of Ra-Hoor-
Khu-it.
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 ΘΕΛΗΜΑ.
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 Per-
fect 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 Hiero-
phantic 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, sys-
tem & 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 ser-
vant sink? But there are means and means.
Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine ap-
parel; 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 under-
stand a little; solve the first half of the equa-
tion, 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 TS is not the Star. This also is secret: my
prophet shall reveal it to the wise.
58. I give unimaginable joys on earth: cer-
tainty, not faith, while in life, upon death;
peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I de-
mand 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 a
secret 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 pres-
ently 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 splendour & 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 ex-
tended, and Khabs is the name of my House.
3. In the sphere I am everywhere the cen-
tre, 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 the
knowledge 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 knew-
est not.
13. for why? Because thou wast the know-
er, 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 chos-
en: 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 weak-
ness.
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 feasy 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 eter-
nal 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 re-
ward 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 thoushalt 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 re-
veal 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 sym-
bols 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 for-
saken 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: whoso seeth it shall be glad. Thy
death shall be the seal of the promise of our agelong
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 kill 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
Thelema
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