De Nuptiis Secretis Deorum Cum Hominibus

Baphomet X° O.T.O.
from the Throne of Ireland, Iona and All the Britains
that are in the Sanctuary of the Gnosis
to the Perfectly Illuminated Adepts of the Secret Areopagus¹ of the Eighth Degree,
Pontifis and Epopts² of the Illuminati, Greeting and Peace.

Under the Seal of the Obligation of the VIII°

Given this day of An X° in 0°… in 12° 25′. Valley of Liverpool.

I

Of Chastity

Dearly Beloved, in that war of the Brethren of the Left Hand Path against the Gnosis whose first phase ended in the establishment of that tyranny and superstition which is called Christianity, much Truth was stolen by the Black Lodge, and perverted to its vile uses. And most noxious in its corruption is that castration of man called Chastity, the atrophy of those noblest parts of the body which are the proper organs of Redemption both Gaian and Ouranian.³ We then who in the Seventh Degree were sworn most solemnly to Chastity in the Inmost as in the Outermost, who have now as Epopts of the Illuminati beheld with our eyes, and as Perfect Pontiffs of our noble Order administered with our members, the Initiation whose name is Resurrection unto the Light, we therefore are able to lighten the darkest places of the Earth, and to consider wisely what lieth in the empire of the Evil Ones. Read therefore these passages in the forgery called the Epistle of Paul to the Romans:⁴

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof: Neither present your members⁵ unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification.⁶ For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness. What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.⁷ But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life. (Romans VI, 12-13 and 19-22) 

Consider also these passages of the Old Testament: 

And the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it with the pen of a man, For Maher-shalal-hash-baz; And I will take upon me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the Son of Jeberechiah. And I went unto the prophetess and she conceived and bare a son. Then said the Lord unto me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. (Isaiah VIII, 104) 

When the Lord spake at the first by Hosea, the LORD said unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom: for the land doth commit great whoredom, departing from the LORD. So he went and took Goher the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived and bare him a son. (Hosea I, 2-3) 

And the LORD said unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend and an adulteress, even as the LORD loveth the children of Israel, though they turn unto other gods, and love cakes and raisins. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man’s wife: so will I also be toward thee. (Hosea III, 1-3)

It is then certain even out of the mouth of the enemy that there is a sacred use, even as an abuse, of the Sanctuaries of Life, and although there be rites so sacrosanct and so secreted that even to the Perfectly Illuminated Adepts of the VIII° they may not be disclosed, yet to them is due a full declaration of many Mysteries almost surpassing speech. 

II

Of the Rites of Blood

It is said that there is a sect of the Jewish Brethren called Chassidim⁸ whose practice is the sacrifice of man. Thus preferably a child, but also an adult, is taken from among the Gentiles, and ceremonially slain so that not a drop of blood is lost, lest the spirit of the victim, taking refuge in that drop, escape the Exorcist.⁹ This blood is then consumed as a sacrament, or employed for talismanic purposes.¹⁰ For once the spirit of the slain one is sealed up into the spilt and gathered blood, it is multiplied in every part thereof, even as in the Mass, the Body of Christ is said to be equally in all the myriad hosts, and His Blood in every drop of consecrated wine, everywhere and for all efficacious.¹¹

Consider this.

III

Of Certain Rites Secretly Practised in Russia

There is a body within the Greek Church which holds an esoteric doctrine and practices a Secret Rite.

At the meetings of this body the lights being extinguished, the worshippers, led by the Priest and a chosen and consecrated Priestess, seek out each other by touch and by subtle attraction; then they consummate the pure charity of their hearts in holy zeal.

If by the favour and indwelling of the Holy Ghost¹² the Priestess (that is unto this Rite espoused, and else virgin) do conceive and bring forth, then is the child baptized by its father the Priest for the Purification by water, and for the Consecration by fire is roast and divided among the worshippers as a sacrament, as a talisman and as a medicine against all diseases.¹³ This also is said of the Knights of our own Holy Order of the Temple,¹⁴ that the offspring of any one of them by a virgin was roast and an unguent made of its fat wherewith to annoint the Magian and Ineffable figure of BAPHOMET.¹⁵

Consider this.

IV

Of the Black Mass

Within the Roman Church have been found ever from the beginning to this day, persons and societies conforming outwardly to that base and materialistic cult, inwardly revolting against it;¹⁶ yet often are such so ignorant of our Light and of our Truth, that to them the attainment of Life, Liberty and Love seemed only possible through a profanation of their own Mysteries.¹⁷ For they knew not that these Mysteries were themselves but profanation and corruption of the true and perfect Mysteries of the Adepts. They established therefore a cult whose fundamental formula was the defilement of the consecrated Host. The Priest therefore having made the bread into the Body of Christ (as he could theoretically do by virtue of his Apostolic power¹⁸) did, as he thought, defile that Body by using it as the object and vehicle of lust.¹⁹ Heroic children of Liberty, but thrice blind! Samsons that perish with the Philistines! For if the ecclesiastical theory be true, in fact they do incur damnation, if false, verily they lose their labour. But at least they set up Man against the foul demon of the Christians, and let this be accounted unto them for righteousness. But see, my Brethren Perfectly Illuminated Adepts, how great is their error, that they revolt who should be Kings. For it is in truth not the apish antics of the Priest that consecrate the bread, but his male power that should make holy all his deeds.²⁰

Consider of this.

V

Of the Sabbath of the Adepts

In the black hours of the earth, when the Christian superstition with fell blight withered most malignantly the peoples of Europe,²¹when our own Holy Order was dispersed and the sanctity of its preceptories lay violate, there were yet found certain to hold Truth in their hearts, and, loving Light, to bear the Lamp of Virtue beneath the Cloak of Secrecy. And these at certain seasons went at night by ways open or hidden to heaths and mountains, and there dancing together, and with strange suppers and spells diverse, did call forth Him, whom the enemy called ignorantly Satan, and was in truth the Great God Pan, or Bacchus, or even that Baphome whom the Templars worshipped secretly, and yet worship as in the VI° all Illustrious Knights of the Holy Order of Kadosch, all Dame Companions of the Holy Grail are taught to do, or BABALON the Beautiful, or even Zeus Apollo of the Greeks. 

And each when first inducted to the revel was made partner of that Incarnate One by the Consummation of the rite of Marriage.²²

Consider of this.

VI

The Ancients of every nation report their heroes to have been born of the marriage of Gods and mortals. As, Romulus and Remus begotten of the God Mars upon a vestal Virgin, Hercules of Jove, Buddha of Vishnu in the form of a white elephant with six tusks, Jesus of Jehovah²³ upon a virgin, and many another. Even true Gods were born of mortal mothers, as Dionysius of Semele. 

Also they recount many loves of heaven for earth, Diana for Endymion, Zeus for Leda, Danae, Europa, and the rest; even Hades issued from his gloomy kingdom to ravish the maid Persephone. There are also loves of Gods for nymphs, Bacchus for the Ariadne, Zeus for Io, Pan for Syrinx; there is no end of these. And satyrs, fawns, centaurs, dryads, a thousand gracious tribes leap lightly and lustfully through their legends. 

Again we have the loves of fairies for mankind, and the commerc of the Beni Elohim with the daughters of men;²⁴ and yet again the marriage of Orpheus with Eurydice a nymph, and the fatal nets tha Laura, Melusina, the Sirens, Lilith and many another cast for men.

It is even said that to every Neophyte of the Order A∴A∴ appeareth a demon in the form of a woman to pervert him; within Our own knowledge have not less than nine brethren been utterly cast out thereby.²⁵

There are also vain loves, as that of Ixion for Hera, of Actaeon for Artemis.

Consider of this. 

VII

Of Certain Greek Rites

Among peoples of the Balkan Peninsula and especially the Greeks, beneath the bush of their false Christianity, is hidden the wheat of Demeter.²⁶ And even as the Muslim trust to be united by death to the Hur al’Ayn of Paradise, so do these others yet think that earthly marriage is but fornication, for that Death is a nuptial wherein the soul is united to that God or Goddess to whom on earth his lust aspired.²⁷ Thus, even in the embraces of their lovers, their hearts were fixed on Artemis or on Aphrodite or on Ares or on Apollo, as the inner tendency urges and the intuition thereof proclaims.

Consider of this.

VIII

Of Succubi and Incubi

From all time the life of man has now and again overflowed, in sleep, without will, and only reflected itself dimly and fantastically by dream into his knowledge. Now since naught can be lost on any plane, but only chaged in appearance, the inner substance of this life-stuff does indeed beget monsters in part material, which the doctors of the Middle Ages called Incubi or Succubi according as they performed the functions of male or female.²⁸ These, too, begat children upon women; but not the reverse, for the succubus, for all his female, is as male as his brother.²⁹ Of these monstrous lovers some even became famous on earth; as that one who tempted San Antonio, and the angel that wrestled with Jacob at the place called Paniel. Also Merlin was the child of an incubus, and thus also were many heroes of old time begot.³⁰

IX

Of the Work of Adepts

Not only as a probation, and as a preparation, for the far greater Key of Magick Art that is given to Initiates of the Sanctuary of the Gnosis in the IX°, but for its own sake, and the practical and permanent value of its effects is a lesser work to be undertaken by Epopts — and how much more by Pontiffs! — of the Illuminati. 

And this work is threefold:

I. Devotion to the Highest intensified on all planes until it culminates in Conjugal Union ratified by every God so firmly that Death itself is the gate to its fullest and permanent enjoyment. And the soul is to beget itself as a child for a new incarnation upon the Body of the Great Goddess. As it is written, so be it spoken unto you! `O thou who hast formulated thy father and made fertile thy mother!’

II. Acceptance of the devotion of a lower or partial being such as a nymph or elemental in such wise that it is thereby redeemed and made a perfect soul through the death which it must pay as the price of union with man.³¹

III. The deliberate and well-considered creation of new Orders of Being.

X

Of Great Marriages

1. The supreme means is declared fully in the Publications of the August Fraternity Most Holy the A∴A∴ Liber XI and Liber DLV³²

2. This other method is suggested. On every occasion before sleep let the Adept figure his goddess before him, wooing her ardently in imagination and exalting himself with all intensity toward her.³³ And let him consider all involuntary movements of the mind as adulteries vile and criminal.³⁴ Therefore, with or without an assistant,³⁵ let him purge himself freely and fully, at the end of restraint trained and ordered unto exhaustion,³⁶ concentrating ever ardently upon the Body of the Great Goddess, and let the Offering be preserved in Her consecrated temple or in a talisman especially prepared for this practice.³⁷ And let no desire for any other enter the heart. Then shall it be in the end that the Great Goddess will descend and clothe her beauty in veils of flesh, surrendering her chaste fortress of Olympus to that assault of thee, O Titan, Son of Earth!³⁸ Or at the least, this being hers, thy death shall be the consummation of these `betrothals’, an entry into the Closed Palace of thy Lady.³⁹ And of such Espousals mayst thou read in Liber CCCCXVIII ⁴⁰, more especially in the Ninth and Second Aethyrs. It is to be noted in all this that both God and the Soul are male or female as convenience requires.⁴¹ See, for a curious example, the mystic treatise called the Bagh-i-Muattar.⁴²

XI

Of Lesser Marriages

This matter is easy, for the souls of the elements desire constantly this salvation. But let the Adept beware: 

1. That he choose wisely a reasonable soul, docile, apt, beautiful, and in all ways worthy of love.⁴³

2. That he fall not ever from love of the Great Goddess into love of this inferior, but give only as a master and of his pity, knowing that this also is Service to His High Lady above.⁴⁴

3. That of such familiar spirits he have but four.⁴⁵ And let him regulate their service, appointing hours for each. 

4. That he treat them with kindliness and firmness, being on guard against their tricks. This being said, it is enough; for to have them is but the pains to call them forth from their homes. And the Spirits of the Elemental Tablets given by Dr. Dee and Sir Edward Kelly are the best, being very perfect in their nature⁴⁶ and faithful, affectioning (sic) the human race. And if not so powerful as, they are less dangerous than, the planetary Spirits; for these are more boisterous, and by distraction stars are easily perturbed and afflicted.⁴⁷ Call them therefore by the Keys of Enoch as is written in the Book ye know of;⁴⁸ and let there be after Calls an Evocation by the Wand; and let the Marrow of the Wand⁴⁹ be preserved within the pyramids⁵⁰ of the letters that make up the name of the Spirit.⁵¹

Now unless ye be well skilled in Art Magick, ye will not dare call forth the Three Great Gods of the whole Tablet, or the King Serpent⁵² thereof, or the Six Seigneurs majestical, or even the Gods of the Calvary Crosses in the lesser angles. But the Cherubic rulers, yea verily and amen,⁵³ these are your mates; and ye may yet more safely summon the Lesser assistant angles. And those that are in this Art novices should wiselier call forth only the Trigrammaton of the Sub-Elements.

XII

Of the New and Holy Kingdom

It is written in the Papyrus of Nes-Min that the Sun spake in his name Toum and said: 

“…I copulated with my fist, I emitted semen into my shadow, I ejaculated into my own mouth, I sent forth issue as Shu, I poured myself out as Tefnut. Shu and Tefnut…brought to me my eye⁵⁴…I wept over them: mankind came into being from the tears which came forth from my eye.⁵⁵ Shu and Tefnut brought forth Keb and Nut,⁵⁶ and Keb and Nut brought forth Osiris and the Blind Horus and Set and Isis and Nephthys⁵⁷ from the belly, one after another, and they brought forth their multitudes upon this earth.”

And again: 

“I copulated with my fist, my heart came to me into my hand,⁵⁸ the semen fell into my mouth.⁵⁹ I sent forth issue as Shu, I poured myself out as Tefnut: from one God I was three Gods…^“60

Thus then did the Sun formulate Male and Female, whose children are Earth and Heaven, whose children are the Five Elements or Tatwas, of which all visible things are made.

Let then the Adept make two talismans, pure Male and Female, with no admixture of any lesser principles; and let him consecrate himself as the Sun, and pour out Life upon them, vivifying them therewith. Then shall they conjoin,^’61 making unto themselves a new Heaven and a new Earth, whose union shall breed Elements, and multitudes of Beings to Live and Love in Liberty beneath thy Light, an house of Virgins singing praises among the flames of Glory wherein the Lord hath opened his mouth; whose works shall be a song of honour and the praise of your God in your creation!

XIII

Of Damnation

Remember, dearly beloved, perfectly illuminated Adepts of this secret Areopagus, that from the beginning of all, the vows of your Initiation have invoked upon you the most fearful penalties of disobedience. For as soon as ye erect any natural and common thing into a Formula of Magick, so soon do ye excite also the contrary current.’⁶² Thus whileevery child reads and speaks freely of the Pillars of the Temple of King Solomon by name, the Mason dare not so much as letter them without precaution.⁶³ And while the private man may speak evil of the King, and blaspheme God without risk, yet the servant of the King, and the Minister of God, most cloke (sic) themselves with reverence, even though it be not in their hearts, for this reason, that they invoked the King, and God, as sword and shield of their own authority.⁶⁴

To you, then, if you have dared to use this Force of the Holy Phallus, is its abuse fatal and deadly.⁶⁵

To the man of erth it matters but little if he suffer nocturnal pollution, or indulge in wantonness; to you that are Adepts it is ruin absolute. 

For all that Force which passeth from under your control, unless so directed and fortified by your Will⁶⁶ that it is but as a loyal soldier faithful unto death is as artillery abandoned that is seized upon by the enemy and turned against you. And because it is of your own substance, therefore has it , as it were, by nature a link with you,⁶⁷ a right upon you, and all the fortresses that your inheritance of God, and your own Holy Art, have built about you are of no force to resist this treasonable assault. Be wary therefore, for obsession, bodily wasting and disease, madness and even murder upon you may be inflicted by the engines that ye, having forged for the service of mankind and for the glory of the Lord, leave to the malignancy of the demon that he may turn them to your own destruction.⁶⁸

XIV

A Reproof

Hear then, dearly beloved, this reproof. 

First, strengthen to the uttermost the power of restraint by daily practice as is taught by the Hindus and Arabs, masters of this science, in their books. 

• Shiva Sanhita 
• Hathayoga Pradipika 
• Kama Sutra 
• Ananga Ranga 
• The Scented Garden of the Sheikh Nefzawi⁶⁹

and many others.

Secondly, avoid the dangers of inadvertence by constraint and regular practice (a) of the Greater and (b) the Lesser Works of an Epopt and Pontiff of the Illuminati and (c) of the Mystery of the New and Holy Kingdom. 

Thirdly, sleep always in a consecrated circle or in a room full of holy images before whose glory the powers of darkness tremble every day. Such images are:

1. The Sun. 
2. The Holy Phallus.⁷⁰
3. The Great Seal of Babalon. 
4. The Stele of Revealing. 
5. The Great Seal of the O.T.O. 
6. The Great Seal of Baphomet.⁷¹ The Image of Baphomet. 
7. The Image of Babalon.⁷²
8. The Eye within the Triangle. 
9. The Rosy Cross 
10. The Image of Harpocrates upon the Lotus, or standin upon Crocodiles. 
11. The Image of Babalon with the Phallic reference Om mani padme hum. 
12. The figure of Isis with Horus.⁷³
13. The Crucifix, but only if its solar-phallic significance be most firmly grasped,⁷⁴ and if it be a shield of secrecy against the vulgar. 
14. Talismans appropriate to this matter. 
15. A living flame. 
16. The symbols and insignia of the O.T.O. which your degree entitles you to bear.⁷⁵

Magical rings and neck-jewels should also be worn by night and by day.⁷⁶

The Rituals of defence and protection should also be practised in perfection.⁷⁷ All bodily excrements, such as cut nails, and hair, should be burnt; spittle should be destroyed or exposed to the Sun; the urine and faeces should be so disposed of that it is unlikely that any other person should obtain possession of them.⁷⁸ It is even desirable in theory that linene should not be washed by strangers, and that old clothes should not be given to the poor until some time after the last occasion of wearing them.⁷⁹

But at most times these precautions are not necessary; only if engaged in operations of the greatest importance is it indispensable to observe them.⁸⁰

XV

Of the Cunning of this Instruction

Now concerning this charge, it may be that certain deem therein to be contained things monstrous and extravagant; let them consider this as a defect of their own intuition and apprehension,⁸¹ and moreover as a thickness of that Veil that is yet betwixt this Areopagus and the Sanctuary of the Gnosis. For perfectly Illuminated as ye are, beloved Brethren, think this, that there may be a Darkness that is more than all your Light.⁸²

XVI

Farewell

Amen, and Amen and Amen of Amen.

I greet you by the sign: I exchange with you the token; I whisper the Word even as I received it and in no other manner.

I invoke upon you the Light of our Lord the Sun; I bestow upon you the blessing of the Lord ΙΘΦΑΛΛΟΣ in the Name ON and in the name AMEN I call down the powers of Life, of Love and of Liberty upon you. 

And may the Glory of the Sanctuary of the Gnosis shine forth through the Veil thereof, and the Pageant of the Grail-feast pass again before your eyes! 

Hail, brethren beloved of the Most High, hail, perfectly Illuminated Adepts of our Secret Areopagus, thrice hail, Pontiffs and Epopts of the Illuminati, hail and farewell! 

In the name of Babalon and the Beast conjoined, of the Secret Saviour and of IAO.

APPENDIX⁸³

In the Sacred Books of Thelema is hymned constantly the Nuptial of God and Man, 

See: Liber LXV I 20,22-8, 47-8, 64-5 II 4-16, 30-9, 45-6, 50-4, 57-61; III 31-6, 40-54, 60, 63-5, IV 1-5, 7-9, 24, 30-40, 42-44, 48-56, 61-5; V 8-12, 21-4

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Footnotes:

1. “Areo” belonging to Ares (Horus), “pagus” hill. A final court or tribunal, referring to the supreme tribunal at Athens, famous for the justice and impartiality of its decisions. It was originally held on the hill of this name, meaning that it was within a temple of Ares. 
2. One initiated into the mysteries of Eleusis.
3. Gaia — Greek Earth Mother. Uranus — Greek Sky-god, heavens. Redemption can take place on the physical plane through the ecstasy of sex and in heaven through the spiritual experience of sex on the subtle planes.
4. It is unclear whether he intends that Paul himself is a forger and liar or if the letters were not written by Paul. The former seems the most likely.
5. Members = genitalia. 
6. One might get the impression from this that Paul is advising castration and clitorectomy. 
7. What an idiotic notion. The only remarkable thing is that anyone believed it, even on a conscious level.
8. Although this story originates in anti-semitism and encourages such disgusting attitudes, there is another level at which he speaks. Bear in mind that these tales are the false creations of the revolting minds of Christians who feared any secret, exclusive religion. The Chassidim are a very quiet and closed society of mystics with some similarity to the Sufis. It is they who emphasize Qabalistic mysticism. 
9. The esoteric meaning is that the ego is collected in the semen which is drained through orgiastic sex. See Eroto-comatose Lucidity in Liber C vel Agape. In order for the Deity to manifest through the magician, every last drop of blood (semen) must be offered into the Grail. cf. Liber Cheth , and AL I: 61: “…but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour.” Most readers of Thelemic writings are well aware that when Crowley speaks of sacrificing a child, he uses this meaning combined with a very Catholic notion that ejaculation without express intent to create life is murder. Therefore, unproductive sex results in the “death” of the participants and the “death” of the spermatazoa. 
10. This refers to the Elixir Vitae of IX°, which is the sexual fluids.
11. Liber 333 cap 18 “Yet that life is of his very essence; it is more he than all that he calls He. In the silence of a dewdrop is every tendency of his soul, and of his mind, and of his body; it is the Quintessence and the Elixir of his being. Therein are the forces that made him and his father and his father’s father before him. This is the Dew of Immortality.” Each sperm in the semen is a complete spirit (particle of dust). 
12. In Thelemic cryptography, Holy Spirit is the semen. In other words, if she gets pregnant. All of this passage bears interesting significance for Christianity, whose Deity was preordained for sacrifice from before His birth. We also learn the true nature of Mary’s virginity. 
13. Although this is overtly the practice which Christians accuse “satanists” of practicing, it is also a variant of the Baptism by John, the Crucifixion and the Eucharist of Christianity. 
14. The Knights Templar, of course. 
15. This child is not a physical child, but a magical child or Homunculus.
16. The Manichaeans, Gnostics, Cathars, Albigenses, Templars being the most notable here. Medieaval Ceremonial magic is the product of Manichaean demonology surviving among a partially converted priesthood. 
17. This wise process is known in India as tantra. Blasphemy and taboo are used to exalt the spirit. A close study Marquis de Sade and his commentators (Blanchot, Bataille, Foucault, Barthes) is essential for understanding the philosophical underpinnings. 
18. Catholic priests are connected and empowered by a chainlike transfer of power and authority that is traced back to St. Peter (petras = stone, cornerstone of the Church). Therefore, all of the priesthood has touched someone who has touched someone who has…..all the way back to Christ himself. Incidentally, one of the Templar conspiracy theories popularized by a number of occult authors like R. Anton Wilson is that Christ did not die on the Cross but rather lived to father the line of Blue Blood who became the nobility of Europe. Many members of the O.T.O. itself are obsessed with this ridiculous idea. Even assuming that it were true, it does nothing but certify the authority of weaklings whose long history of inbreeding and decadence provides little evidence of what could be termed “kingly” in a Thelemic sense. Inbreeding and mono-racial eugenics is radically opposed to Thelemic doctrine (unite yourself with all! — strength by change! — evolution of the human race!), so there is no support for right wing, nazi-fascist ideals, no matter what some “thelemites” might say. Anti-semites, white supremacists and nazis should promptly kill themselves to avoid spoiling the gene pool. Any schoolboy knows that crossbreeding provides stronger genetic stock than does inbreeding. The ancients knew the formula too, for they spoke of the couplings of humans and gods or humans and animals. (more details in cap VI) Doctrines of racial purity are nothing but an expression of the fear of death since the real motive is to perpetuate a single race at the expense of others.
19. cf. Huysmans’ La-bas. 
20. Disgusting chauvinism. He clearly says that it takes a penis to perform transubstantiation. Female initiates need to work hard to develop the corresponding formula for women. It may indeed be a different formula, but not non-existent. 
21. There is here a common idealization of the pagan Europeans- -Teutons and Celts in particular, known for their swarthiness and enjoyment of the flesh. 
22. The Sabbath is, according Crowley, celebrated astrally. Like the practice described in this piece, the magician is to copulate with spirits on the astral plane while masturbating. A vivid description of the Sabbath is found in Crowley’s Moonchild cap. XX, Liber VII cap. II and “Wake World” in Konx Om Pax. 
23. Oddly, Crowley does not make reference specifically to the Dove of the Holy Ghost. This in spite of his well known obsession with the Christian Trinity. In a later instruction he claims this formula to be correct, saying that the real Divinity is the Father, His semen (Holy Ghost) and the Child. The mother is merely a physical vehicle for the manifestation. As before, we need to rethink this doctrine carefully. 
24. Genesis 6:2 says that the “Sons of God” came down to earth to mate with women. But, there is a problem in translation that originates in the comparatively later development of monotheism. Beni Elohim means “sons of Gods” — plural sons of plural gods, no matter what the Jews or Christians say. Anyway, the very name creates immediate problems for Christian dogma since Christ was the “only-begotten son of God.” How then could there be sons? How is that Christ had brothers and sisters? Matthew 13: 55-56.
25. The Ordeal of Silver, for the Neophyte, is to endure the attraction of women who would lure the magician away from the path. Liber Aleph, a strongly homoerotic piece, goes into great detail over this matter, especially cap. 100.
26. The mother of Persephone who searched the Underworld for her daughter and struck the bargain with Hades to allow her six months above ground in return for six months below — hence the cycle of the seasons. In Thelemic terms, this tale is a metaphor of the search for the H.G.A. 
27. One obvious implication of this is that one should be careful with one’s masturbation fantasies; they might come true! 
28. See Appendix A at the end of this text. 
29. Crowley implies here that all spirits are fundamentally male. If we understand by this the Thelemic concept of Hadit, this is fine, but it seems a ridiculously chauvinistic attitude that is not in any way corroborated by other clairvoyants.
30. Another essential doctrine which follows from this is that every sex act produces a child, and the consequences of this are much more dangerous as you become magically adept. Therefore, an uninitiate can practice unguarded, casual sex, while an advanced Thelemite must be careful to control the outcome of each and every sex act. One effective way to do this is to perform every act unto Nuit — mindful of that greater death to come. This is the real meaning of Chastity according to Thelema. 
31. I perhaps am profaning a great secret when I say that this is the meaning of “love under will.” The magician absorbs these entities into his/her aura. The act of animal sacrifice is analogous.
32. Liber NV and Liber Had. These are rather vague ceremonial and mystic instructions for the attainment of the consciousness of Nuit and Hadit. They are basically adaptations of the first and second chapters of Liber AL with hints as to their performance. The practices are designed to give experience of the Great Death explained at previously. The other practices described here are of a “lower” level and more suited to the practices of a Student.
33. Apparently, he is directing you to masturbate to the phantasy goddess. 
34. cf. caps V and VI of De Natura Deorum. 
35. VIII° work can be achieved with a human assistant by the use of the mouth, hand, etc. Anal intercourse is probably not appropriate since it is part of another work known as the XI°. Apparently the instructions for this are the same as the IX°, but that the Elixir obtained is a blend of semen and shit. A really savoury stew, no doubt.
36. Refer again to the the commentary to Liber Samekh excerpted here in Appendix A.
37. The sigils of A.O. Spare and the Temple of Psychic Youth are a rather less rigorous version of such a talisman. The esoteric level of these instructions will greatly augment the power of a sigil. The rather blatant descriptions offered by PTV and the Chaos people will give the more traditional Thelemite a clearer idea of what to do on the physical plane. 
38. The Titans were the first born children of Earth and Heaven (Gaia and Uranus). Kronos (Saturn) was one of these and he rebelled against his father by castrating him, but was in turn overthrown by his child Zeus. the race from which came Prometheus who stole fire from the gods and brought it down to earth. He was chained to a rock (gnostic imprisonment in matter) where an Eagle came every day to eat his liver. Such is the punishment for his impudence of taking that which belongs to the Gods. By bringing the Fire of Heaven down to earth (averse red triangle), the magician is capable of bringing new forms into the genetic and neural structure of the human race. The Student should recall the assignment of his/her initiation to study Prometheus. The preceding comment should provide an interesting twist on the theme. 
39. A reference to the Virgin Goddess Diana who killed any mortal who dared look upon her with lust. The Veiled Isis is another important archetype as is the unattainable Virgin Mary. 
40. The Vision and the Voice. 
41. This explains the apparent gender confusion and bisexuality of Liber LXV and Liber VII. Unfortunately, Crowley (or V.V.V.V.V.) did not include any lesbian eroticism in these works. Also, the visions are invariably of a male as the Adept mating with males or females or animals. This is an important gap left for female initiates to fill.
42. A very rare piece only recently republished by Teitan press as The Scented Garden. It contains a great deal of practical information for those of any sexual preference and a lot of humor for those with open minds. 
43. It appears that Crowley is describing actual women as if they were mere elementals. It is not clear whether he intends that some women are not actually human, or if he means all women. This editor presumes that Crowley upheld the former in theory and the latter in practice — it is all too easy to look at a woman and say, “she’s really only an elemental, you know. She should be greatful to have the likes of me.” Women should be equally capable of treating men in this way — a mere vehicle for semen. All of this attitude seems to spring from Crowley’s preference for ignorant, horny women as magical partners. Perhaps if he spent a little time working with women who were his mystical equals, he would have a different story to tell. In Crowley’s defense, one must observe that women of such calibre were very rare in his day and probably much to wise to fool around with a self-centered drug-fiend like Crowley. 
44. Crowley is “tapping into” the metaphor of chivlary. The knight is inspired by a real woman whom he idealizes as a variation of the Virgin Mary. He prays to her as a sort of astral deity to which he devotes himself and his labors. Carnal love of the physical woman was more or less forbidden according to the manichaean/gnostic doctrines of the chivalric troubadours. The idea being that the spiritual sublimation of those passions would elevate the soul to a higher form of love. Marriage is a socially necessary evil by which the carnal desires and reproductive necessityies are met, but the unattainable mistress is the truest form of love. From this tradition grew the tales of Tristan and Iseult, Guinevere and Lancelot and Quixote and Dulcinea, not to mention the courtly practice of coqueterie and flirtation during the 18th Century. This historical and literary connection to sex magick is very popular among many inner order members of the O.T.O. Careful study of Denis de Rougement is advised. 
45. A very practical instruction for a harem. It would indeed be difficult to harmonize more than four lovers. For one thing, the geometric possibilities of conjoining human bodies are necessarily limited (two hands, one set of genitals, an anus and a mouth), not to mention the fact that the average orgy room (or bed) is not large or sturdy enough for a larger number. I am, however, being facetious. There is an esoteric level to this: the lovers are elementals, so they will correspond to the elements. Therefore, Liber LXV describes the “marriages” of the Adept with each family of elemental. The final chapter being spirit, presents a balanced harmonization of the four. To enter Tiphareth as an Adept requires the full mastery of the four elements. To move from that point to Magister Templi, the Adept must conquer the sevenfold regimen (planets — Babalon — Vitriol) which is demonstrated in Liber VII. Consequently, the work of the Adeptus Exemptus is to harmonize the sevenfold and the fourfold (7°=4).
46. This is because the Watchtowers are divided along primarily elemental principles. It should be apparent then, that as a square or name employs planetary principles that it will become more difficult and suited more especially to the Magister Templi.
47. “Every man and every woman is a star.” He seems to imply that the Planetary spirits are perhaps too sexually aggressive and satiating so that the magician might too easily forget about the Goddess Nuit and become satisfied with these “lesser marriages.”  cf. Konx Om Pax “Wake World” where the heroine (a woman!) is taken up the Tree of Life, through the planetary spheres. In each sphere she is tempted by the urge to stay and enjoy the pleasures of each, but she forces herself to move on. 
48. Liber Chanokh and The Vision and the Voice. Robert Schueler’s works are really a bunch of silly nonsense. The first volume has some small merit as it better organizes the material of Chanokh, but a great deal is omitted and even more is added via the cespools of theosophy.
49. Uncertain — probably semen. 
50. This may describe a strange practice — representations (perhaps in three dimensions) of the appropriate Watchtower squares in full pyramidal form are created and filled or annointed with the Elixir. Recall the previous statement that the semen produces life, so that the offered semen (like sacrificed blood) will attract spirits and provide a vehicle of manifestation and or sustenance. It is a species of the Homunculus working, although very different from that described in Moonchild. Study the Paris Working. 
51. A curious encryption. MTP cap 2: “The first formula is that of the wand. In the sphere of the principle which the magician wishes to invoke, he rises from point to point in a perpendicular line, and then descends; or else, beginning at the top, he comes directly down, invoking first the god of that sphere by devout supplication that He may deign to send the appropriate Archangel. he then beseeches the Archangel to sen the Angel or Angels of that sphere to his aid; he conjures this Angel or Angels to sent the intelligence in question, and this intelligence he will conjure with authroity to compel the obedience of the spirit and his manifestation. To this spirit he issues commands. [For evocation rather than invocation, which is under the formula of the Tetragrammaton,] The essence of the force invoked is one, but the `God’ represents the germ [sperma] or beginning of the force, the `Archangel’ its development; and so on, until, with the `Spirit’, we have the completion and perfection of that force [in the “daughter” or final Heh]. 
52. Connecting the Zodiacal elements. Although Crowley does not speak as clearly on the Twelvefold regiment, we may assume that this is for the initiate to Chokmah where is attributed the Zodiac — therefore the Magus. This is speculation, though. Perhaps the key lies in Liber 831 vel ARARITA, or in Fuller’s Treasure House of Images. 
53. Whenever Crowley says this “verily and amen” we should take careful note. Verily = Maat, Amen = Amoun. They are the pair seen on the Coat of Arms of the Equinox (Green woman and red ram). 
54. Eye = Phallus. Ayin = Eye. 
55. The symbolism may mean, as Crowley indicates, that the semen created humans in the same way the the magician creates spirits from his/her Elixir. I use the phrase “his/her Elixir” to refer to the sexual fluid produced by either gender. It remains to be seen how and if a woman can produce homunculi with mere vaginal secretions. Some women may find it difficult to fill a chalice with a significant quantity of the substance, but it is certainly possible to annoint objects. It may also be necessary to utilize the menstrual blood since it is the only female secretion which carries the seed of life. Yet, the implicit “deadness” of this ovum contained in the blood will no doubt result in a formula drastically different from that of the male semen. The efficacy of this Red Elixir is probably enhanced by the combination with vaginal secretions resulting from sexual stimulation. Crowley seems to have neglected that “the best blood is of the moon, monthly: then the fresh blood of a child.” If, as Crowley has stated many times, this last refers to the child slain by non-productive ejaculation of semen, the former is no doubt a veritable menstruum of untold power. Women should examine Liber LXVI, but do not be afraid to go in a different direction. 
56. Usually “Geb” and “Nut”, who are Earth and Sky. They are reversed in gender but analogous to the Greek Gaia and Uranus. They were separated in their copulation by Shu, the Air that lifted the vault of the Sky. This is a very important Egyptian cosmogonic myth, though not the only one and not harmonious with many others. 
57. Being that Isis screws Osiris, and Osiris screws Nephtys, and Nephthys screws Set, and Set kills Osiris, and Isis screws dead Osiris, and Horus kills Set, we have quite a strange family indeed. 
58. Certainly Crowley revelled in the vague similarity to his Heart girt with the Serpent metaphor of Liber LXV. 
59. Alright men, brace yourselves. Crowley certainly did instruct his disciples to drink their own sperm. 
60. The Trinity which Crowley so adored, however this one has a female element. Budge traces “shu” to a root meaning “dryness” and Tefnut, his female companion is “wetness.” They are air and rain. Tefnut has the head of a lioness. In another text, they are produced by Amen-Ra. We still have a self-creative father.
61. This instruction is extremely interesting. It may be interpreted very literally as being a practice with one magician and two entirely magical homunculi. However, the ambiguity with which Crowley uses the term spirit may lead to a more radical interpretation in which the Magus (or Priestess!?) consecrates two (Priest and Virgin) by “shedding his light upon them” they will then copulate to produce magical children and a new universe on the astral plane. Perhaps we have here the true interpretation of the cryptic metaphor of the Hermit shedding light upon the world. Examine Atu VI in reference to this where the Hermit stands over and consecrates the matrimony. The infinite regression implied there is coherent with Thelemic doctrine — Hermit = All-father, who gives birth to Nuit and Hadit (the couple), who give birth to Therion and Babalon (the children), then the Scarlet Woman and the Magician (Lion and Eagle), etc. etc. (two women — Lilith and Eva). For more cryptic references to Thelemic sexual utopias and bizarre practices see Atlantis: the Lost Continent. 
62. When we take sex and make it into a religous practice, it is also concommitant that it should degenerated into a very vile physical practice. Marquis de Sade and Georges Bataille were fully aware of this and quite comfortable with it. Crowley’s theory is that constant meditation upon Nuit will sanctify the operation, whether it be gentle sex with a beautiful woman, eating the cum out of a freshly buggered arse or violent S&M. As in tantra, there is a great deal of importance place upon the sumblimation of the passions, even while one is in the midst of the most extremely “distracting” sex act. The extreme emphasis on yogic discipline is clearly explained by this since it is an effective way to train the mind to focus upon one object. The versicles mentioned in the “Grimorium Sanctissimum” serve this purpose on a lower level than Nuit herself. For the ultimate attainments of NU and HAD and extremely difficult due to their formlessness. Perhaps one suggestion for women is to emphasize the practice of Liber HAD, since men are clearly attracted to Liber NV.
63. Lest he be reminded of their phallic imagery and stumble into low-level phantasy. There is also included here an important fact of magick. Occult secrets are worthless and meaningless to non-initiates. It is for this reason that occult orders like ours must restrict access to certain secrets until the student is prepared. The O.G.A. has decided to release this information to those who have mastered the strictly intellectual material and have shown a fundamental grasp of magical technique, but have not yet demonstrated yogic discipline. Perhaps we are mistaken in or decision, but perhaps this information will serve to inspire and point out clearly to the student the areas of danger. Because nearly all Thelemites today are fully aware of the underlying principles of the VIII° and XI°, it is probably more dangerous to leave them floundering around in their ignorance. It is doubtful that more than a handful of O.T.O. members exist who have not attempted to perform the IX° by trial and error. A partial secret is no secret. 
64. Read this statement again and savor the irony and scepticism. 
65. Crowley’s Old Aeon thinking is showing through. The hierarchical priesthoods have always emphasized the danger and taboo involved in their mysteries, hoping to scare away the curious. If Crowley believed that a sane human being can destroy his/herself by making a mistake in these practices, why does he describe them in terms of “practice,” as if there is a hierarchy of ability. If we can work with lower level spirits to prepare for the wedding with Nuit, then how can it be that sex magick is so dangerous? Of course, AIDS brings a whole new and more appropriate level to this remark.
66. Love under will. 
67. More of the rammification of this are discussed in cap XIV. These superstitions originated in primitive magic, especially during the Christian Middle Ages. One cannot but wonder to what extent these obsessions are exagerrated and remnants of the Old Aeon. Yet, it cannot harm the magician to observe these practices as much as possible. The mindfulness created by such an attitude is not inferior to that created by the practice of Liber Jugorum, and a lot less bloody. 
68. The “shedding of light” is probably related to the metaphor described in “One Star in Sight” and elsewhere: the magician entering the Abyss is cast forth like a shooting star to illuminate the world, where s/he will manifest in one of the subabyssic sefiroth. The sexually charged Elixir is this light — of the Star/Khabs/Hadit — it is the essence of the magician. If it is not carefully controlled and protected (as is done with any talisman or one’s magical weapons) or consumed (as in the eucharist), it can be profaned and destroyed to the detriment of the magician. The evil succubi Lilith used the semen of Adam to beget legions of demons that now plague mankind.
69. Not to be confused with Crowley’s Bagh-i-Muattar: The Scented Garden of Abdullah the Satirist of Shiraz. 
70. The image of the God M.I.N.I.S. 
71. The sphynx-like alchemical creature of gnostic origin. 
72. Recall that previously it was noted that they are esoterically identical. 
73. Isis suckling Horus — Isis Rejoicing, Mater Triumphans. 
74. As it is among heavy metal aficionados who wear crucifixes along with their “satanic” regalia. 
75. For the lower grades, they are as follows: Minerval — Liber AL vel Legis, I° — the black robe, II° — red inverted triangle upon breast, III° — blue letters O.T.O. forming interlocked upright triangle, IV° — a Tau in the center of this, V° — a masonic apron. There are other regalia not mentionable for initiatory reasons. 
76. In the O.G.A., we recommend that Pyramid initiates wear a silver token, especially a triangle or pyramid. Common New Age jewelry is adaptable, but not so well-linked to our system and your grade: the ankh, the pentagram, the scarab. 
77. Moonchild gives good descriptions of the sort of dangers to be expected from the Black Lodge. 
78. He has already made it plenty clear that sexual fluids are the most dangerous. Women should consider too, that menstrual blood may be even more dangerous since it is “the best blood”. 
79. The vital force does decay over time, just as the nutrive value of food decays. cf. Liber AMRITA excerpted in the Appendix C. 
80. Assuming that there is some commonality of experience on the astral plane, any powerful workings, like those described here, will certainly be noticed by other magicians and non-human entities who will try to thwart your work. It’s a jungle out there, or so at least does the history of magical fraternities from the G.D. to the present lead us to believe. For a good account of these rivalries, see Moonchild (again!).
81. The editor takes back everything he said about Crowley previously, with humblest apologies. (Watch out for that averse Mercury!). St. Augustine used to tell Medieval Christians that if the doctrines seemed illogical or incomprehensible that one should just have faith, for that is the precondition of understanding. We too are asked to have faith until we become initiates of the IXo and it will all be revealed to us. 
82. N.O.X., which implies a heterosexual formula (results in mother and child). Aspirants are aware of an important secret contained here by which they are tested by intellect. LVX — INRI — IAO, here it means: Iacchus, Natura, Ratio [reason], IAO; Orus, Holy Child—Dance of Asi, Holy Mother—Joy of Iacchus, Holy Father—Blazing Star. NOX = Binah, who gives birth to Tiphareth = LVX.
83. This is Crowley’s appendix and not mine. (not the intestinal part either). Refer to my Appendix D for the excerpts from Liber LXV.