Liber
VI Aleister Crowley (class B) Liber O
I 1. This book is very easy to misunderstand; readers are asked to use the most minute critical care in the study of it, even as we have done in the preparation. 2.
In this book it is spoken of the Sephiroth, and the Paths, of Spirits and Conjurations; of
Gods, Spheres, Planes, and many other things which may or may not exist. 3.
The advantages to be gained from them are chiefly these: 4.
The student, if he attains any success in the following practices, will find himself
confronted by things (ideas or beings) too glorious or too dreadful to be described. It is
essential that he remain the master of all that he beholds, hears or conceives; otherwise
he will be the slave of illusion and the prey of madness. 5.
There is little danger that any student, however idle or stupid, will fail to get some
result; but there is a great danger that he will be led astray, even though it be by those
which it is necessary that he should attain. Too often, moreover, he mistaketh the first
resting-place for the goal, and taketh off his armour as if he were a victor ere the fight
is well begun. 6.
First, the, let us consider the Book 777 and its use; the preparation of the Place; the
use of the Magic Ceremonies; and finally the methods which follow in Chapter V.
"Viator in Regnis Arboris" and in Chapter VI "Sagitta trans Lunam." II 1.
The student must first obtain a thorough knowledge of Book 777, especially of the columns
i., ii., iii., v., vi., vii., ix., xi., xii., xiv., xv., xvi., xvii., xviii., xix.,
xxxiv., xxxv., xxxviii., xxxix., xl., xli., xlii., xlv., liv., lv., lix., lx., lxi.,
lxiii., lxx., lxxv., lxxvii., lxxviii., lxxix., lxxx., lxxxi., lxxxiii., xcvii., xcviii.,
xcix., c., ci., cxvii., cxviii., cxxxvii., cxxxviii., cxxxix., clxxv., clxxvi., clxxvii.,
clxxxii. 2.
If we take an example, the use of the tables will become clear. 3. You would then prepare your Place of Working accordingly. In an orange circle you would draw an eight-pointed star of yellow, at whose points you would place eight lamps. The Sigil of the Spirit (which is to be found in Cornelius Agrippa and other books) you would draw in the four colours with such other devices as your experience may suggest 4.
And so on. We cannot here enter at length into all the necessary preparations; and the
student will find them fully set forth in the proper books, of which the Goetia is perhaps
the best example. 5.
Since the student is a man surrounded by material objects, if it be his wish to master one
particular idea, he must make every material object about him directly suggest that idea.
Thus, in the ritual quoted, if his glance fall upon the lights, their number suggests
Mercury; he smells the perfumes, and again Mercury is brought to his mind. In other words
the whole magical apparatus and ritual is a complex system of mnemonics. 6.
There are three important practices connected with all forms of ceremonial (and the two
Methods which later we shall describe). These are: III 1. The Magical Images of the Gods of Egypt should be made thoroughly familiar. thiis can be done by studying them in any public museum, or in such books as may be accessible to the student. They should then be carefully painted by him, both from the model and from memory. 2. The student, seated in the "God" position, or in the characteristic attitude of the God desired, should then imagine His image as coinciding with his own body, or as enveloping it. This must be practised until mastery of the image is attained, and an identity with it and with the God experienced. It is a matter for very great regret that no simple and certain tests of success in this practice exist. 3.
The Vibration of God-names. As a further means of identifying the human consciousness with
that pure portion of it which man calls by the name of some God, let him act thus: 6.
It is a sign of success, though only by the student himself is it perceived, when he hears
the name of the God vehemently roared forth, as if by the concourse of ten thousand
thunders; and it should appear to him as if that Great Voice proceeded from the Universe,
and not from himself. IV 1. The Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram must be committed to memory. They are as follows: The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram
The Greater Ritual of the Pentagram The Pentagrams are traced in the air with the sword or other weapon, the name spoken aloud, and the signs used, as illustrated. The Pentagrams of Spirit
The signs of the Portal (see illustrations):
Extend the hands in front of you, palms outwards, separate them as if in the act of
rending asunder a veil or curtain (actives), and then bring them together as if closing it
up again and let them fall to the side (passives). The Pentagrams of Fire
The signs of 4°= 7º: Raise the arms above the head and join the hands, so that the tips
of the fingers and of the thumbs meet, formulating a triangle (see
illustration). The Pentagrams of Water
The signs of 3° = 8º. Raise the arm till the elbows are on a level with the shoulders,
bring the hands across the chest, touching the thumbs and tips of fingers so as to form a
triangle apex downwards. (See illustration). The Pentagrams of Air
The signs of 2° = 9º. Stretch both arms upwards and outwards, the elbows bent at right
angles, the hand bent back, the palms upwards as if supporting a weight. (See
illustration). The Pentagrams of Earth
The Sign of 1° = 10º. Advance the right foot, stretch out the right hand upwards and
forwards, the left hand downwards and backwards, the palms open {see illustration). The Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram This ritual is to be performed after the "Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram". (I). Stand upright, feet together, left arm at side, right across body, holding Wand or other weapon upright in the median line. Then face East and say: (II). I.N.R.I.
(III). Extend the arms in the form of a cross, and say "The Sign of Osiris Slain." (See illustration). (IV). Raise the right arm to point upwards, keeping the elbow square, and lower the left arm to point downwards, keeping the elbow square, while turning the head over the left shoulder looking down so that the eyes follow the left forearm, and say, "The Sign of the Mourning of Isis". (See illustration). (V). Raise the arms at an angle of sixty degrees to each other above the head, which is thrown back, and say, "The Sign of Apophis and Typhon." (See illustration). (VI). Cross the arms on the breast, and bow the head and say, "The Sign of Osiris Risen". (See illustration). (VII). Extend the arms again as in (III) and cross them again
This hexagram consists of two equilateral triangles, both apices pointing upwards. Begin at the top of the upper triangle and trace it in a dextro-rotary direction. Begin at the top of the lower triangle and trace it in a dextro-rotary direction. The top of the lower triangle should coincide with the central point of the upper triangle.
(XII). Repeat (I - VII). The Banishing Ritual is identical, save that the direction of the Hexagrams must be reversed.
The Greater Ritual of the Hexagram
To
invoke or banish planets or zodiacal signs. 3. Success in
"banishing" is known by a "feeling of cleanliness" in the atmosphere;
success in "invoking" by a "feeling of holiness". It is unfortunate
that these terms are so vague. 4. The banishing rituals should be used at the commencement of any ceremony whatever. Next, the student should use a general invocation, such as the "Preliminary Invocation" in the Goetia as well as a special invocation to suit the nature of his working. 5. Success in these verbal invocations is so subtle a matter, and its grades so delicately shaded, that it must be left to the good sense of the student to decide whether or not he should be satisfied with his result. 1. Let the student be at rest in one of his prescribed positions, having bathed and robed with the proper decorum. Let the place of working be free from all disturbance, and let the preliminary purifications, banishings and invocations be duly accomplished, and, lastly, let the incense be kindled. 2. Let him imagine his own figure (preferably robed in the proper magical garments, and armed with the proper magical weapons) as enveloping his physical body, or standing near to and in front of him. 3.
Let him then transfer the seat of his consciousness to that imagined figure; so that it
may seem to him that he is seeing with its eyes, and hearing with its ears. 4. Let him then cause that imagined figure to rise in the air to a great height above the earth. 5. Let him then stop and look about him. (It is sometimes difficult to open the eyes.) 6.
Probably he will see figures approaching him, or become conscious of a landscape. 7. Let him travel at will, either with or without guidance from such figure or figures. 8. Let him further employ such special invocations as will cause to appear the particular places he may wish to visit. 9.
Let him beware of the thousand subtle attacks and deceptions that he will experience,
carefully testing the truth of all with whom he speaks. 10. Practice will make the student infinitely wary in such matters.
11. It is usually quite easy to return to the body, but should any difficulty arise,
practice (again) will make the imagination fertile. For example, one may create in thought
a chariot of fire with white horses, and command the charioteer to drive earthwards.
12. Finally, let the student cause his imagined body in which he supposes himself to have
been travelling to coincide with the physical, tightening his muscles, drawing in his
breath, and putting his forefinger to his lips. Then let him "awake" by a
well-defined act of will, and soberly and accurately record his experiences. 1. The previous experiment has little value, and leads to few results of importance. But it is susceptible of a development which merges into a form of Dharana --- concentration --- and as such may lead to the very highest ends. The principal use of the practice in the last chapter is to familiarise the student with every kind of obstacle and every kind of delusion, so that he may be perfect master of every idea that may arise in his brain, to dismiss it, to transmute it to cause it instantly to obey his will. 2. Let him then being exactly as before, but with the most intense solemnity and determination. 3. Let him be very careful to cause his imaginary body to rise in a line exactly perpendicular to the earth's tangent at the point where his physical body is situated (or to put it more simply, straight upwards). 4.
Instead of stopping, let him continue to rise until fatigue almost overcomes him. If he
should find that he has stopped without willing to do so, and that figures appear, let him
at all costs rise above them. 5. Let him continue in this so long as the breath of life is in him. Whatever threatens, whatever allures, though it were Typhon and all his hosts loosed from the pit and leagued against him, though it were from the very Throne of God Himself that a voice issues bidding him stay and be content, let him struggle on, ever on. 6. At last there must come a moment when his whole being is swallowed up in fatigue, overwhelmed by its own inertia*. Let him sink (when no longer can he strive, though his tongue by bitten through with the effort and the blood gush from his nostrils) into the blackness of unconsciousness, and then, on coming to himself, let him write down soberly and accurately a record of all that hath occurred, yea a record of all that hath occurred. EXPLICIT * This is the case of failure. The results of success are so many and wonderful that no effort is here made to describe them. They are classified, tentatively, in the "Herb Dangerous," Part II., infra. |
or
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