LEPROUS GOD

“Give me thine hand,
Rose of the Stars, and we will soar above
Wisdom and Strength and Love,
Into the sphere where all delight retires
In azure flames and silver-edged fires.
Now through the veil we shoot
Like snaky lightning through a thundercloud
Up to the awful precipice-skirted place
Where deaf, blind, palsied, mute
There sits the leprous God; we laugh aloud
Seeing him face to face,
Blowing him like a shaken sheaf of snow
With a brief gust of wind
Over the cliffs of his ensanguine throne;
Seating ourselves thereon, as men shall know,
Above soul, spirit, heart, thought, being, mind,
All—but most irrevocably entwined
And irrevocably alone.”
— Aleister Crowley, Stanza XIV in Rosa Coeli

“Truly the corruption of the best is the lowest—corruptio optimi pessima. Nor can one gleam of Hope, even in the infinite mercy of our loving Father, tinge with gold the leprous gloom of our outlook. These clouds without water have no silver lining.”
— Aleister Crowley, Preface from Clouds Without Water

“SELF-DAMNED, the leprous moisture of thy veins
Sickens the sunshine, and thine haggard eyes,
Bleared with their own corrupting infamies,
Glare through the charnel-house of earthly pains.
Horrible as already in hell. There reigns
The terror of the knowledge of the lies
That mock thee; thy death’s double destinies
Clutch at the throat that sobs, and chokes, and strains.
Self-damned on earth, live out thy tortured days,
That men may look upon thy face, and see
How vile a thing of woman born may be.
Then, we are done with thee; go, go thy ways
To other hells, thou damned of God hereafter,
’Mid men’s contempt and hate and pitiless laughter.”
— Aleister Crowley, Sonnet I in Sonnets from Collected Works, Vol I

“Then there came forth a leper in the hall,
In the most holy temple. So amazed
All shrank. And he made prophecy and said:
‘The child that shall be born of thee is called
Fear. He shall save a people from their sin;
For the old gods indeed go down to death,
But the new gods arise from rottenness.’
Then said the goddess: ‘I indeed am pure
In my impurity; immaculate
In misconception; maiden in my whoredom;
Chaste in my incest, being made a god
Through my own strength.’ The leper with smooth words
Turned, and went laughingly towards the west,
And took of his own leprosy and threw
Its foul flakes in the censer. So he passed,
Laughing, and on the altar the flame fell,
Till a great darkness was upon the room,
And only the Queen’s eyes blazed out.”
— Aleister Crowley, The Fatal Force from Collected Works, Vol I

“‘Who are these’ ‘They are the souls of those whom thou hast caused to sin.’

I put up my sword ‘Nay thou art as God, and must act for him.’

Elepantaisis giant black and leprous, misshapen and hideous, is enraged and rushes repeatedly at the circle which quivers and half yields.

This is my evil persona. I am warned not to banish him. He reproaches me. I charge him not to torment me.

I am alarmed at his fury. The circle yields till he is quite close.

Pentagram. Sword hilt raised. A moment I am confused. Then יהוה. He sullenly ceases his rushes.

I look sorrowfully upon him and extend left hand for him to kiss, charging him to repent. But I am afraid to […] do not extend the hand altogether and he only bends near it.”

— Aleister Crowley, 1898 visions

• Search for “leprous God” at the library

Previous | Top | Index | Next