Aleister Crowley & UFOs: Did Occultists Open an Interdimensional Portal?

 Five years ago, in 2017, the New York Times broke the story on a black-budget Pentagon program tasked with investigating UFOs. Since then, a steady stream of photos and videos have been leaked by whistleblowers and politicians interested in opening the hitherto taboo subject of UFOs to the mainstream.

As recently as March of 2023, journalists Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp published photos showing “UFOs” over conflict zones including the “Baghdad Phantom” and the “Mosul Orb.” Though the evidence is intriguing, the search may be too linear. The assumption is that flying saucers are machines with physical properties.

There is another school of thought which claims that UFOs and aliens are interdimensional in nature. This theory is understandably harder to fathom due to our linear mode of thinking and three-dimensional conditioning. Yet, this would help explain some of the more perplexing questions related to the phenomenon, including why they are so hard to spot with the naked eye or by radar.

Over 100 years ago, in 1918, English writer and occultist Aleister Crowley, whilst holed up in a rented apartment on Central Park West in New York City, conducted a series of magickal experiments....<<<Read More>>>...

‘Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law’ – Satanism going mainstream

[David Icke]: This satanic mantra was created by the early-1900s occultist, Aleister Crowley, who was arguably one of the most evil men who lived in the 20th century. As the world turns to self-centered lawlessness, it’s no shock that satanic chaos reigns supreme as mobs destroy America.

CHAZ/CHAD in Seattle? Lawless and chaotic. Progressive liberalism? Makes it own law as it goes forward. Mobs of looters and destroyers? You get the point. The 20th century Christian philosopher, Francis Schaeffer, noted in 1978 that when the natural cohesion of the Christian consensus in society disappears, the chaos that results will ultimately require the imposition of an external control by a manipulative elite. And yes, he used the term ‘Technocrat’ to describe such an elite...<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

Food for Thought #87

Choronzon The Lord Of Hallucinations

Bibliotecapleyades.net: Choronzon was regarded by Aleister Crowley as "the first and the deadliest of all the powers of evil", and in that observation he was probably right, as we shall see. Choronzon - also known by some in an anagrammatical form as Noznoroch - is a notorious shape-shifter. She is the sole inhabitant of the Abyss between Kether and Daat in the Kabbalistic system and her force is the diametric opposite of the force of occultic magic, a kind of spiritual "anti-matter". In this respect she is similar to Hecate who, in the final act of destruction which she presents as a kind of state of Nirvana, oneness, or enlightenment, simply sucks up the soul like a vacuum into a darkness of nothingness.

Choronzon is the female half (333) of the Beast (616, 666) described in the Book of Revelation and goes, like so many demons and demonesses, by many different names. Because she is an associate aspect of the Beast, she is often described in male terms. She is known as the "Lord of Hallucinations" and is viewed by occultists as the chaos latent or manifest in the ego. Because she is a part of a group of demonesses she can either manifest as a single demon or group of demons, The numerology of Choronzon is of especial interest to us in this ministry. The Hebrew of Choronzon is ChVRVNVN which is 333. In Greek numerology 333 corresponds to a kaleidoscope of negative words such as:

akrasia (self-indulgence, lack of self-control)
epikranthen (make bitter, become bitter, be harsh or embittered)
orgilon (quick-tempered, prone to anger, passionate)
eparthenoi (the conceit of apparent purity)
demosia (the public acclaim that causes public figures to begin inflating their egos)
paidiske (maiden, female slave - seductive aspect)...READ MORE>>>...

Liber CLVII

The Tao is "Reason" in this sense, that the substance of things may be in part apprehended as being that necessary relation between the elements of thought which determines the laws of reason. In other words, the only reality is that which compels us to connect the various forms of illusion as we do. It is thus evidently unknowable, and expressible neither by speech nor by silence. All that we can know about it is that there is inherent in it a {5} power (which, however, is not itself) by virtue whereof all beings appear in forms congruous with the nature of necessity.


The Tao is also the Way -- in the following sense. Nothing exists except as a relation with other similarly postulated ideas. Nothing can be known in itself, but only as one of the participants in a series of events. Reality is therefore in the motion, not in the things moved. We cannot apprehend anything except as one postulated element of an observed impression of change. We may express this in other terms as follows. Our knowledge of anything is in reality the sum of our observations of its successive movements, that is to say, of its path from event to event. In this sense the Tao may be translated as the Way. It is not a thing in itself in the sense of being an object susceptible of apprehension by sense or mind. It is not the cause of any thing, but the category underlying all existence or event, and therefore true and real as they are illusory, being merely landmarks invented for convenience in describing our experiences. The Tao possesses no power to cause anything to exist or to take place. Yet our experience when analyzed tells {6} us that the only reality of which we may be sure is this path or Way which resumes the whole of our knowledge...read more...

Another Look at Sirius

According to the ancient Egyptians, there was a special occult link between Sirius and the Earth when they were at their closest distance. In other words, more universal light was being reflected from Sirius than at any other time of the year. This link was found to be most powerful during the Dog Days of August (Sirius is known as the Dog Star) which run from July 23 rd to August 23rd. Some consider them to peak out as late as September 8th.

This aspect of Sirius is very synchronistic if you remember the theory referred to in The Montauk Project that the biorhythms of the Earth run every twenty years on August 12th. This date is not only the anniversary of Crowley's wedding, the Philadelphia Experiment and the culmination of the Montauk Project; it is right in the center of the Dog Days. Of course, the Montauk chair was supposed to be supplied by the Sirians. Obviously, if this whole incredible Montauk scenario is true, it stands to reason that the Sirians might have an idea or two about how to make a chair that resonates with the consciousness of time. According to information from the Montauk story, the Sirians were technical creatures and were not very political.

According to Al Bielek, the Sirians look very human in some respects. They are muscular but have vertical slit eyes, like a cat's eyes. They wear a covering over their hair, and it is suspected that they are bald. Sometimes they have strange things on their ears which could be communicating devices. They are approximately six feet in height and can pass for humans in the proper attire...read more...

The Lost Continent

Atlas is the true name of this archipelago --- continent is an altogether false term, for every "house" or mountain peak was cut from its fellows by natural, though often very narrow waterways. The African Atlas is a mere offshoot of the range. It was the true Atlas that supported the ancient world by its moral and magical strength, and hence the name of the fabled globe-bearer. The root is the Lemurian "Tla" or "Tlas", black, for reasons which will appear in due course. "A" is the feminine prefix, derived from the shape of the mouth when uttering the sound. "Black woman" is therefore as near a translation as one can give in English; the Latin has aendered of the Virgin ("L") and the Serpent ("S"). "THEOS" (root "O," first written "0") means the Sun in his strength and also the Lingam-Yoni conjoined. "CHRISTOS" is "The love of passion of the Rising Sun ("R") and the Serpent" ("S"). The "I" and "T" indicate certain details which are foreign to the present discussion. "NEUMA" (Atlantean "NM") is the "Arch of the Woman," "MARIA," the Woman of the Sun.[23] The words "MEITHRAS" and "ABRAXAS" are again derived from Atlas. (Liber LI - Crowley)

Defining 'Magick'

Magick, in the writings of British occultist Aleister Crowley, is defined as "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will", including both "mundane" acts of will as well as ritual magic. Crowley claimed that "it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature". The spelling magick for magic is taken from Early Modern English. It was chosen by Crowley to differentiate his concept from other practices, such as stage magic. Crowley saw magick as the essential method for a person to reach true understanding of the self and to act according to one's True Will, which he saw as the reconciliation "between freewill and destiny." Crowley defined magick as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will." He goes on to elaborate on this, in one postulate, and twenty eight theorems. His first clarification on the matter is that of a postulate, in which he states "ANY required change may be effected by the application of the proper kind and degree of Force in the proper manner, through the proper medium to the proper object....read more...

The Book Of Law ...

Central to Crowley's system is a curious and enigmatic book known as the Book of the Law, also called Liber AL, Liber Legis, Liber L, or CCXX (220). It is fairly short and has often been issued in pamphlet form. Crowley said it was revealed to him during his 1904 vacation with his wife Rose in the Boulaq neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, by the audible dictation of a spiritual being called Aiwass, who was both the messenger of the new deities set over this æon and Crowley's own Holy Guardian Angel. In a series of trance visions, Rose indicated a number of symbols related to the Egyptian god Horus, according to the system Crowley had gotten and augmented from the Golden Dawn. She pointed out Stele 666 in the Boulaq Museum, which has since come to have a meaning in Thelemic mythology as an alternate form of the Book of the Law. Following Rose's instructions, he went to one of their rented rooms at an arranged time and took an hour of dictation from an unseen voice on each of three successive days.

The phrase "Book of the Law" comes from Freemasonry, as an alternative form of "Volume of the Sacred Law" (VSL). In a Christian Lodge this would be the Bible open on the altar; in a Jewish Lodge it would be the Torah, which means the scroll of the Law; and in a religiously mixed Lodge there might be more than one open sacred book on the altar. In Lodges, Temples, and other ritual bodies in Thelema, Crowley's Book of the Law is used for swearing initiatory oaths and for ritual connection to tradition, like the VSL in Freemasonry or the Book of Shadows in Witchcraft. Of course many religions have a central scripture and in Thelema the role is filled by the Book of the Law.

The book has three chapters, one chapter for each member of a trinity of ruling deities. Its phrasing is often ambiguous and it employs an odd, unearthly prose-poetic style which many people find beautiful. Various interpretations of its meaning are possible and Crowley wrote several commentaries during his life, some of them interpreting its verses in very different ways from his other commentaries or in ways at odds with the surface meaning.

The trinity of the Book of the Law or Liber AL is composed of three reinterpreted Egyptian deities. First is Nuit (Nut), the goddess of the night sky, closely linked in Egyptian religion with Hathor, also known as the Egyptian Venus. Her message is of freedom, love and the mystical bliss of union, as expressed in the curious equation 0=2. Nuit reveals the Law of Thelema and declares that the æons have turned in the Equinox of the Gods. She is represented imagistically as space and the stars of space. Nuit has been interpreted as the space-time continuum, or as the infinite potential containing all things real and unreal.

Second is Hadit (Heru-Behdeti or Horus of Edfu), the winged solar globe, symbol of divine authority. This form of the Egyptian god Horus, originally local to Bedheti, had influence throughout ancient Egypt. Hadit symbolizes the secret individuality within each of us, the star that each person is, the invisible, ineffable and unmanifest divine spark which moves each of us on our self-appointed path of will. As such Hadit also represents the underworld, the infinitely small point, the capacity for knowledge, the partner of Nuit, and the fiery nature of underworld deities such as Blake's Los, the Greek Hekate and Hades, and the Christian Lucifer. Their aspect of wrathfulness is often interpreted as a form of great energy usable for many purposes. Themes of kingship are central to the message of Hadit.

Third in the trinity is the child produced by the union of Nuit and Hadit, the lord of the new æon, alternately expressed by two different forms of Horus. One form is Ra-Hoor-Khuit (Ra-Horakhty), a military aspect of Horus as conqueror and warrior. Ra-Hoor-Khuit extends the inwardly-turned energy of Hadit outwards into the world. Whether the urgings to war and violence found in the third chapter of the Book of the Law, and to a lesser extent in the second chapter, are meant as metaphorical magical formulae of fiery energy, or are actual exhortations to conquer on the plane of political and temporal power, or both, is a controversial issue. Many Thelemites find any literal interpretation of the warlike material repugnant, while others embrace it as a necessary part of the world's transition to the new æon...READ MORE ...

Rule Britannia: Magick in Service to The Crown

'It was perhaps the high point for Germany in World War II. France lay prostrate under the boot of the German war machine. The only thing that stood between England and Germany was the Royal Air Force. Or so it seemed. We know what traditional history books tell us. The Royal Air Force withstood the repeated savagery of the German Luftwaffe and Hitler grew increasingly restive with the idea of an amphibious assault.

The reality, of course, is more complex. The British utilized the forces of occult technology--of Magick--and it would not be the first time the English Crown had availed itself of the power of its most infamous magicians. The British Crown, the shareholders of the Bank of England, overlapping with the Illuminati, are Satanists. It stands to reason their Intelligence services would use witchcraft to further their ends. The Lion's share of the world's evil originates from this source...Read more:

The Law Of Thelema

The Law of Thelema, also called Scientific Illuminism and Magick (spelled with a terminal ’k’ to distinguish the authentic science of the Magi from sleight of hand), originated in the Cairo Working. At the time, Crowley interpreted the Cairo Working as an astral vision. At this time, Crowley was a Minor Adept of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn was the most distinguished occult society of recent times, which included such luminaries as the poet William Butler Yeats and the Buddhist bhikkhu, Allan Bennett (Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya). Thus, at the time of the Cairo Working Crowley was an advanced experimental occultist in his own right, although Rose, who was pregnant with their only child, had no experience as a clairvoyant. Crowley was also a published and fairly well known minor poet of controversial verse, yogi, world-class traveler and mountaineer, pornographer, drug taker, and wealthy libertine.

Because of his wife’s and his contact with Aiwass, Aiwass dictated to Crowley a sixty-five-page document, called the Book of the Law, in length about equal to Lao-tse’s Tao-te ching. Crowley came to regard the Book of the Law as having nothing whatever to do with himself, despite the similarity of style and sentiment to Crowley’s previously published writings (despite these similarities, the Book of the Law is also very different, being far more disorganized and ecstatic than anything Crowley produced before or after, and referring to events in Crowley’s future that subsequently occurred). During this dictation Crowley "saw" Aiwass, who appeared as an Assyrian or Persian aristocrat with veiled eyes. Crowley also stated that Aiwass’ English was devoid of any accent.

The Book of the Law is written in a flamboyant style, punctuated by innumerable exclamation points as well as powerful passages of real sublimity, profundity, and beauty, addressing a host of real spiritual problems, and prophesying various events, most notably the advent of the Second World War in the 1940s, which was fulfilled thirty-five years later. The Book of the Law is both a radical postmodernist critique and an endorsement of religion, which claims to go beyond all previous historical dispensations and reveal to humanity nothing less than the basis of a new spiritual epoch, the New Aeon of Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child.

In Egyptian mythology, Horus is the son of Isis, the Great Mother goddess, and Osiris, the Dying God. After Osiris is slain by his murderous brother Set, Horus rises up against Set and assumes the throne and place of his father, Osiris. In the Thelemic exegesis, Horus represents the inauguration of a new spiritual way, which will be preceded by a transitional period of unprecedented disaster and suffering (Set), in the very beginning of which we are now (Crowley believed that this period would last several centuries, and would ultimate in the destruction of Judaeo-Christian civilization, which he identified with Osiris, the Dying God).

In fact the Book of the Law is heavily indebted to various literary precedents, including the Judaeo-Christian apocalyptic writings, Gnosticism, Zoharic Cabala, magic, the Enochian writings of Dee and Kelly, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Hindu and Buddhist Tantra, Taoism, and even Vodou, and, more recently, the writings of Francois Rabelais, Max Stirner, Friedrich Nietzsche, and others. The word "Thelema" is derived from the Greek ?e??µa, meaning "will," and is believed to conceal various symbolic allusions in the letters and their numerical values (like Hebrew and Arabic, Greek letters are also numbers). Will is preeminently, however, not free, but true, thus raising the Law of Thelema above simple libertarianism ... read more ...

ABRAHADABRA: Some Thoughts on The Word

Source: Hermetic.com

ABRAHADABRA is the Word of the Aeon of Crowley’s Thelema. However, despite his choice of spellings, (there are several), and some of the additional baggage that Crowley carries into esoteric circles, his thoughts on this word are worth consideration.

Abrahadabra is translated by G. Davidson as “I bless the dead”, is one of the three Holy Names used when blessing a sword (Clavicus Solomonos?), Davidson also states that it is derived from the Hebrew “ha brachah dabarah” or “Speak the blessing”. It is used as an amulet to heal and ward off evil. When chanted, it is reduced letter by letter.

He further suggests a relationship between it and an older Gnostic ‘diety’ Abraxas, or “the supreme unknown, and source of the 365 emanations of Persian theology. It is also found in several Hebrew magical and mystical texts, including, The Sword of Moses, and The Book of the Angel Raziel. In gnostic theology, it is used as a term for god, or as a mediator between creation and the godhead.

Crowley spells it so that it adds up to 418 in gematria (19 x 22), or 22 using the “Qabala of Nine Chambers”. Several formulae are worked out to show hidden meanings and relationships between the letters, of which the most important appear to be its suggestion of ‘double power’ or effecting both the Pentagram and Hexagram; and giving the Rosicrucian axiom of “Light, Life, and Love” in numerological expression.

As symbol of ‘double power’ or the unity of the Pentagram and Hexagram, Abrahadabra symbolizes the “mystical marriage” of the micro and macrocosms. The Inner and Outer Worlds

It can be said, that Abrahadabra, is the Sacred Word invoking the Union of the Higher and Lower Worlds in the student. If this is done correctly, then we can move from being a student to the level of an adept on the level of interior initiation.

This idea of it being a combination of the micro and macro-cosmic forces is reminiscent of the phrase in The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram which says, “About me Flames the Pentagram, and in the Middle of the Pillar Shines the Six Rayed Star!”

Here, in the body and psyche of the student, the Elemental and planetary forces are combined and equilibrated. It is important to note though, that the meaning of the letters may change depending on the level they are being vibrated on. This would differ from person to person, but is worthy of mention. As noted, the astrological associations and meanings of the Hebrew letters can ‘shift’ depending on whether they are affecting the world of Assiah, Yetzirah, Briah, or Atzilooth

As triple invocation of Light, Life, and Love, the Word reminds of the three principle expressions of the Cosmos. When combined, they give is a fourth and fifth point, that of Law and Liberty. By understanding and seeking Life, Light, and Love in creation, we can get a grasp on Cosmic Law, which in turn, is the source of our personal freedom from the negative aspects of karma, or the means of our liberation from the bondage of matter and restriction.

As mediator Abrahadabra suggests that while humanity is Divinity incarnate, ‘There is no God but Man, and Man is the Son of God. God is Man,’ that we experience this in progressive steps or degrees of expanding (and as such, inclusive) consciousness. We may be Divine, but the leap from mundane earthly consciousness to the Cosmic awareness of Kether is extremely radical, and would shatter our vehicles of perception. Instead, we progress slowly and with the aid of various ‘mediators’ to assist us.

Among these mediators are the tools we use, be it ritual, symbols, alchemy, or even actual beings, such as teachers and invisible helpers from the ‘other side’. Abrahadabra symbolizes the harmonization of our inner and outer worlds, in the realm of Tiphareth, and how we can open up to this powerful, but often unseen assistance. Regular and daily use of a ritual, such as the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, or the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram, stabilize our “Elemental” nature and allow the forces of Yetzirah to more greatly penetrate our sometimes thick veils of matter.

Through daily prayer and meditation, we slowly and progressively make this once thick barrier more transparent, until once day, we have a flash of awareness, an awakening that helps us realize what is meant by, “About me flames the pentagram, and in the Middle of the Pillar Shines the Six rayed star!”

When the “Little King” of Malkooth, the Pentagram, surrenders to the “Big King” of Tiphareth (the Hexagram) the two are united and the “Mystical Marriage” is initiated within us.

To this end, we can use the word itself as a kind of mantra, or affirmation of this state. By vibrating it as a sacred word of power, we can redeem it from the psuedo-magical connotations that have befallen it, back to its original potency of Divine expression. As mediator, the redemptive qualities, almost messianic in nature, are more clearly understood. When we vibrate this name, we should feel and imagine that the higher and lower worlds are coming into union within us, and that we stand at the center of the world, expressing the powers of Tiphareth. As though through its sound we are bestowing a blessing across creation.

Magick Without Tears

"As for those mediums who possess magical ability, they almost always come from the most ignorant classes—Celts are an exception to this rule—and have no knowledge whatever of the technique of the business. Worse, they are usually of the type that delights in the secret dirty affinities, and so naturally and gladly attract entities of the Qliphothic world to their magical circle. Hence tricksters, of the lowest elemental orders, at the best, come and vitalize odds and ends of the Ruach of people recently deceased, and perform astonishing impersonations. The hollow shells glow with infernal fire. Also, of course, they soak up vitality from the sitters, and from the medium herself.

Altogether, a most poisonous performance. And what do they get out of it? Even when the "Spirits" are really spirits, they only stuff the party up with a lot of trashy lies." --- Crowley

On the Nature of Anubis

In the Moon card of Aleister Crowley’s Thoth tarot deck we find the image of Anubis in dual form guarding a path passing between two towers.

While the image of two canines guarding the path is found in the earliest occult versions of the Moon, the identification of these figures with Anubis has its origins in the Philosophus Ritual of the Golden Dawn:

Hierophant: …The Dogs are the jackals of the Egyptian ANUBIS, guarding the Gates of the East and of the West, shown by the two Towers between which lies the Path of all the heavenly bodies ever rising in the East and setting in the West.

Thus, in order to understand the significance of the dual form of Anubis as he pertains to the Moon in the Thoth deck, we must examine the god in the context of the Golden Dawn.

The concept of dual forms of Anubis was probably gleaned by Golden Dawn founders Mathers and Westcott from the research of Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge. Budge was the Keeper of the Egyptian Antiquities of the British Museum and the principal source of information on the subject of Egyptology in his time. In Gods of the Egyptians, Budge writes of...

…the two jackal gods Anpu, or Anubis, and Ap-uat, who are only two forms of one and the same god. Strictly speaking, Anpu is the ‘opener of the roads of the South, the power of the two lands,’ and Apuat is the ‘opener of the roads to the North, the power of heaven.’ The two jackal gods are often depicted on stelae, where they symbolize the two halves of the year, and the night and the day sky, and the periods of waxing and waning of the powers of nature in summer and winter.

Budge associates the dual forms with the North and South directions. As the guardians of the “Gates of the East and of the West,” that is, the path oriented on an East-West axis, we find them placed in their proper directional posts in the Trump.

Budge also presents the dual forms of Anubis as a pair of polarized opposites: earth and heaven, night and day, winter and summer. In essence, they are darkness and light, or as expressed in terms of the Tree of Life, severity and mercy ... Read More ...

"Liber 51"

Atlas is the true name of this archipelago --- continent is an altogether false term, for every "house" or mountain peak was cut from its fellows by natural, though often very narrow waterways. The African Atlas is a mere offshoot of the range. It was the true Atlas that supported the ancient world by its moral and magical strength, and hence the name of the fabled globe-bearer. The root is the Lemurian "Tla" or "Tlas", black, for reasons which will appear in due course. "A" is the feminine prefix, derived from the shape of the mouth when uttering the sound. "Black woman" is therefore as near a translation as one can give in English; the Latin has a closer equivalent.

The mountains are cut off, not only from each other by the channels of the sea, but from the plains at their feet by cliffs naturally or artificially smoothed and undercut for at least thirty feet on every side in order to make access impossible.

These plains had been made flat by generations of labour. Vines and fruit-trees growing only on the upper slopes, they were devoted principally to corn, and to grass pastures for the amphibian herds of Atlas. This corn was of a kind now unknown, flourishing in sea-water, and the periodical flood-tides served the same purpose as the Nile in Egypt. Enormous floating stages of spongy rock --- no trees of any kind grew anywhere on the plains so wood was unknown --- supported the villages. These were inhabited by a type of man similar to the modern Caucasian race. They were not permitted to use any of the food of their masters, neither the corn, nor the amphibians, nor the vast supplies of shellfish, but were fed by what they called "bread from heaven," which indeed came down from the mountains, being the whole of their refuse of every kind. The whole population was put to perpetual hard labour. The young and active tended the amphibians, grew the corn, collected the shell-fish, gathered the "bread from heaven" for their elders, and were compelled to reproduce their kind. At twenty they were considered strong enough for the factory, where they worked in gangs on a machine combining the features of our pump and treadmill for sixteen hours of the twentyfour. This machine supplied Atlas with its "ZRO"[2] or "power," of which I shall speak presently. Any worker showing even temporary weakness was transferred to the phosphorus works, where he was sure to die within a few months. Phosphorus was a prime necessity of Atlas; however, it was not used in its red or yellow forms, but in a third allotrope, a blue-black or rather violet-black substance, only known in powder finer than precipitated gold, harder than diamond, eleven times heavier than yellow phosphorus, quite incombustible, and so shockingly poisonous that, in spite of every precaution, an ounce of it cost the lives (on an average) of some two hundred and fifty men. Of its properties I shall speak later.

The people were left in utmost slavery and ignorance by the wise counsel of the first of the philosophers of Atlas, who had written: "An empty brain is a threat to Society." He had consequently instituted a system of mental culture, comprising two parts:

[#1] There were four (some say five) distinct races, each having several sub-races. But the main characteristics were the same. some alleged the Portuguese and the English to be survivals of this or kindred stock.

[#2] Or Zra'd. The ZR is drawled slowly; the the lips are suddenly curled back in a sneering snarl, and the vowel sharply and forcibly uttered. It is disputed whether this word is connected with the Sanscrit SRI, holy.

Taken from Liber 51 ‘The Lost Continent’ … Crowley

The Emperor and The Star

These are Crowley's two greatest mysteries. We need to study them in tandem, because Crowley insists that the Emperor's proper letter is not Heh, but Tzaddi, so it must change places with The Star.

By Crowley's reckoning, the star, Kokhav = 48 (a multiple of 12), the astrological number) or the "sphere of Venus". It represents Mercy (Gedulah or Chesed ). It also means, "strength" and "army". Forty eight divided by four is 14, the card of Temperance (or Alchemy), where we also have the angel pouring the waters. Qisar and Melech both translate as "Emperor". To continue with Crowley's reckoning, qisar would equal 371 ("Evil") and melech would equal 78 (that is, 15, or The Devil). However, if we use the ordinal value of the letters alone we get for Qisar and Melech, respectively, 60 and 33. Thirty Three is "sorrow, weeping" and a spring or fountain." Sixty is "watch-tower", excellence, sublimity, glory, pride, a Vision..." For kochav we get 28 or "Union, unity, power, and the mystic Netzach. . ." If we skip Aleph we get for Qisar and Melech, 60 and 30 ("Judah, Libra, Justice"). All of these seem appropriate enough for "The Emperor" but still do not explain why Crowley wants him to be the 17th card!

One reason that Crowley might have wanted to exchange The Emperor with Atu number 17 is so that (17 = 1 + 7 = 8) The Emperor (4) would serve as the higher exponent of Justice, which he had renamed "Adjustment" and already exchanged with Strength at 11. In his system, that places mundane authority (the Emperor) in the most subservient position and exalts Sirius (the Star) to the seat of greatest power at Atu 4. Meanwhile, Strength, now Atu 11, becomes the higher exponent of The Priestess (Atu 2), since 11 is the number of sorcery. This kind of highly rational manipulation of universal symbols is typical of Crowley's creative and very original approach to M/magic(k). The whole thing is extremely round-about and vexatious and looks like nothing so much as one of those infinitely-regressing whorls of cocaine-induced ratiocination, which were sometimes characteristic of Crowley. His paltry excuse that tzaddi is the letter that begins the word for Emperor "in many languages", is not meant to fool any serious student. It occurs only in Russian, Tsar, which is but a corruption of "Caesar."

Moreover, even if we assign the ordinal value to tzaddi (18), that translates as the notariqon of Yehi Aur ("Let there be light!"); Chai (the "living"); the antique serpent (Lucifer?); Hatred and "My Beloved". All of those seem strangely fitting for The Star, whereas "four" seems more natural to the Emperor if we think of him as the Tetragrammaton (IHVH). Apparently, that was precisely what AC wanted to avoid -- the ascription of IHVH to the Emperor.

Source: The Magician's Dictionary

Book of Thoth - X. Fortune

This card is attributed to the planet Jupiter, "the Greater Fortune" in astrology. It corresponds to the letter Kaph {Kaph 2O Pe' 8o =100, Qoph, Pisces. }, which means the palm of the hand, in whose lines, according to another tradition, the fortune of the owner may be read. It would be narrow to think of Jupiter as good fortune; he represents the element of luck. The incalculable factor.

This card thus represents the Universe in its aspect as a continual change of state. Above, the firmament of stars. These appear distorted in shape, although they are balanced, some being brilliant and some dark. From them, through the firmament, issue lightnings; they churn it into a mass of blue and violet plumes. In the midst of all this is suspended a wheel of ten spokes, according to the number of the Sephiroth, and of the sphere of Malkuth, indicating governance of physical affairs.

On this wheel are three figures, the Sworded Sphinx, Herman ubis, and Typhon; they symbolize the three forms of energy which govern the movement of phenomena.

The nature of these qualities requires careful description. In the Hindu system are three Gunas-Sattvas, Rajas and Tamas. The word "Guna" is untranslatable. It is not quite an element, a quality, a form of energy, a phase, or a potential; all of these ideas enter into it. All the qualities that can be predicated of anything may be ascribed to one or more of these Gunas: Tamas is darkness, inertia, sloth, ignorance, death and the like; Rajas is energy, excite ment, fire, brilliance, restlessness; Sattvas is calm, intelligence, hicidity and balance. They correspond to the three principal Hindu castes.

One of the most important aphorisms of Hindu philosophy is:

"the Gunas revolve". This means that, according to the doctrine of continual change, nothing can remain in any phase where one of these Gunas is predominant; however dense and dull that thing may be, a time will come when it begins to stir. The end and reward of the effort is a state of lucid quietude, which, however, tends ultimately to sink into the original inertia.

The Gunas are represented in European philosophy by the three qualities, sulphur, mercury and salt, already pictured in Atu I, III and IV. But in this card the attribution is somewhat different. The Sphinx is composed of the four Kerubs, shown in Atu V, the bull, the lion, the eagle and the man. These correspond, furthermore,

to the four magical virtues, to Know, to Will, to Dare, and to Keep Silence. {These are the four elements, summed in a fifth, Spirit, to form the Pentagram; and the Magical Virtue corresponding is Ire, to go. "To go" is the token of Godhead, as explained in reference to the sandal-strap or Ankh, the Crux Ansata, which in its turn is identical with the astrological symbol of Venus, comprising the 10 Sephiroth.(See diagram.)} This Sphinx represents the element of sulphur, and is exalted, temporarily, upon the summit of the wheel. She is armed with a sword of the short Roman pattern, held upright between the paws of the lion.

Climbing up the left-hand side of the wheel is Hermanubis, who represents the alchemical Mercury. He is a composite god; but in him the simian element predominates.

On the right hand side, precipitating himself downward, is Typhon, who represents the element of salt. Yet in these figures there is also a certain degree of complexity, for Typhon was a monster of the primitive world, personifying the destructive power and fury of volcanos and typhoons. In the legend, he attempted to obtain supreme authority over both gods and men; but Zeus blasted him with a thunderbolt. He is said to be the father of stormy, hot and poisonous winds; also of the Harpies. But this card, like Atu XVI, may also be interpreted as a Unity of supreme attainment and delight. The lightnings which destroy, also beget; and the wheel may be regarded as the Eye of Shiva, whose opening annihilates the Universe, or as a wheel upon the Car of Jaganath, whose devotees attain perfection at the moment that it crushes them.

Music Is An Unseen (Occult) Science

Music, being an auditory phenomenon, is not visible, save as a representation on sheet music. It is an occult (unseen) science. It seems to come from everywhere. We interpret it in a congregation (the audience) and it has a wide variety of "secret messages" to it.

In the world music tradition, we have rather extensive history (extending all the way back to the Greeks) of the use of music to induce certain states- modes were thought to have certain qualities. There is even some evidence to suggest that the Egyptians used music as a healing tool This anticipated the later utilisation of these techniques by figures as diverse as Sun Ra, Jimi Hendrix, the Misunderstood, Rudolph Steiner, various "new age practitioners" such as Stephen Levine and the biased experiments tying plant growth to listening to classical music.

These types of customs are utilised in Africa, India, South America and within most native cultures (shamanic cultures from Russia to the Americas to the Pacific) have some kind of tradition of sacred song to them. The links run from the Russian shamanic traditions, the Australian aborigines to East Indian Gandharva Veda and Karnatak musics to Hawaiian chanting, to perhaps the most infamous occult music tradition of all, the Yoruban culture in Africa which found its expression as Voudon (Voodoo) in Haiti and Santeria throughout most of the remainder of South America. This tradition has found its way into contemporary culture through jazz, tango, Cuban music, and of course, blues and rock and roll (more on this later).

Getting back to tradition, in the more mainstream religions, it is valuable to know that Moslem, Hindu and Hebrew prayer is usually chanted, not spoken, and there are literally hundreds of books in all these cultures regarding the power of chanted prayer.

A great many composers also chose subject matter of a more obscure occult/spiritual tilt. Mozart wrote overtly about Masonic principles in his opera "The Magic Flute"; Scriabin seemed under the influence of the Theosophical movement of his day with his Prometheus Symphony; Richard Strauss "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is a piece dedicated to Nietzche but also to the misunderstood principles of the founder of the Zoroastrian religion (considered to be the first continuous monotheistic religion; in its current state it is a realtively small religion practiced pretty much exclusively in Iran and in a small colony (Parsi) in Bombay, India); Erik Satie was a Rosicrusian who applied some of the principles of this secret society to his piano pieces; Dane Rudhyar and Gustav Holst were astrologers; Olivier Messiaen wrote numerous pieces dedicated to his unique form of Roman Catholic mysticism, but borrowed from Indian ragas and birds (St. Francis of Assisi being the Catholic link) and also wrote huge works drawing on Indian and Japanese works; and Schoenberg's most ambitious work was the unfinished opera Moses and Aron. The most anti-mystical composer of the 20th century (he claimed that the imagery of the Rite of Spring was derived from the music, and the large pagan gathering that was this major piece's program was inspired by the music, not vice versa) Stravinsky, wrote at least two major sacred works—the Canticum Sacrum and the Symphony of Psalms.

Among more contemporary composers, Stockhausen has written works about mantra, the creation and the archangel Michael; Penderecki has written religious works and mystical works, as has Ligeti ("Lux Eterna"), John Cage was directly inspired by Zen and Indian thought about music, while the minimal trio (Riley, Reich, and Glass) are well known for their interest in Indian music, African and Hebrew traditions, and Tibetan Buddhism, respectively. As George Crumb wrote the piece "Black Angels," there was definitely an air of foreboding in the late 1960's and early 1970- like "Tubular Bells," this piece did not start out as an "occult" piece but became one by association by virtue of its inclusion in the soundtrack to the Exorcist (an overtly occult piece like Stairway to Heaven was only marginally associated with occultism, by contrast). The mystical tradition that inspired Wagner is well-known. His finest work (also his last) is a opera called "The Comedy at the End of Time" in which the world comes to an end, prophesied by Sibyls and Anchorite monks and Lucifer is finally forgiven by God for his transgressions and accepted back into God's hands

Music, being an auditory phenomenon, is not visible, save as a representation on sheet music. It is an occult (unseen) science. It seems to come from everywhere. We interpret it in a congregation (the audience) and it has a wide variety of "secret messages" to it.

We can go all the way from the meanings that people derive from lyrics or music to the truly insipid interpretation of lyrics by the "Paul is dead" mania of the late 1960's to Geraldo Rivera hearing the words "Son of Sam" in Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" to the even more stupid "backwards masked" lyrics of Led Zeppelin, among others.

Before any of you ever reads too much into a song lyric again, I strongly encourage you to read Julian Jaynes' Origins of Consciousness in the Bicameral Brain. In it, he discusses the cross talk of schizophrenics as the model for messages from the Gods to early cultures. It is a fascinating bit of work and one that should give pause to any one who thinks they hear a message from anywhere—be it from a grizzled singer who can barely pronounce the words he is singing because of a drug-addled state or a "blues" affectation.

Blues, rock, and jazz, it must be noted, are many times made in the presence of mind-altering substances. To get to the essence of this, it is always useful to recall that alcohol is called "spirits" for a reason. It has a potency that opens us up to very positive or very negative experiences. Also, the grandfather of these musics is a blend of two musics that have profound occult roots—the Yoruban and the Celtic cultures, for blues came out of Africa, jazz came out of Europe and Africa (adding sex from the whorehouses – in the old days there used to be sacred sex temples in various cultures)– and rock coming out of blues and old country. And country came out of the old Celtic folks who settled in Tennessee. Ever wonder why groups like Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull had such an easy time blending rock rhythms into these weird little English folk pieces?

The blues certainly had its share of occult imagery working for it. There is of course the Robert Johnson legend of him going to the crossroads. This is a place in most cultures where demons gather or the devil appears.

Moving into music, it was a well-known custom in certain circles to castrate male choirboys in order to retain the high pitched purity of their voices, although this was apparently, done more for aesthetic reasons than spritual—if only they had been blessed with the falsetto control of, say, Frankie Valli. It happens in certain pagan traditions also- according to one who claimed to belong to a family of witches, Alex Sanders, ritual castration was once part of becoming a witch (he got away with a nicked scrotum, though). In India, certain dovotees of Shiva engage in surgery to eliminate sexual desire to this day, and a very bizarre group—the Harridan—go from village to village looking for male children with either deformed sexual organs or with hermaphroditic tendencies, and claim these children as part of their group. The group dress in women's clothes and have a reputation for being powerful magicians. It is rare that parents refuse their demand for a child, because of the fear of a curse. These individuals take the child, cut away all vestiges of maleness and travel the country, telling fortunes and offering magic remedies to villagers—while seeking new recruits. Power, intoxication and the creative energy of the universe (sex) are difficult to withstand. Many sects call for abstinence, for similar reasons—abstinence builds up energy in most people, which can be transmuted to satisfy the goals of the group or given proper guidance, can be channeled through the body to create higher states of consciousness.

Jimmy Page was fascinated with Aleister Crowley and eastern mysticism (remember "Kashmir"?), but the interest with Crowley lasted for more than a few years. The late Aleister Crowley (aka "the Beast" because, as he remarked, his mother called him that) was born into a fundamentalist Christian family who also owned a brewing company. In his early college years, he essentially started tapping into his family's fortune and quickly spent it all. He was involved in the Golden Dawn, a group of occultists from turn of the century England who also included W. B. Yeats among its members. Crowley was invited in by McGregor Mathers one of the founders of the organization who perceived Crowley as brilliant, and tried to enlist his assistance in a battle for control of the group.

After a long series of disputes within the group, Crowley was out, and formed his own lodge (Mathers was disgraced and died soon after), and the Golden Dawn turned more introspective and cautious. But Crowley was convinced of his special role in the world, engaging in sex magick, drugs, esoteric rituals and demonic possession. Although he still exhibited a high level of influence through the late 1930's (and a great deal of press as "the Most Evil Man in the World"), his influence waned through the 1940's and he passed away in 1947. Although it sounds like he was just a profligate junkie, his contributions to the "new age" movement and occultism were considerable—he was quite brilliant (although incredibly egotistical, nasty and arrogant). He wrote and "ghosted" wrote many significant works of occultism, including jobs for Evangeline Adams (who made headlines as an astrologer in the early twentieth century) and Gerald Gardner (this was the man generally regarded as leading the Wiccan revival in England in the late 1940's, when it was still against the law to be a witch).

Crowley's general decline can be seen as starting when he started to get addicted to opium and heroin, among other substances. Israel Regardie, who served as his personal secretary, allegedly said that Crowley was a genius with the emotional development of a ten year old boy—which, when you come to think of it, is a good description for a great many famous rock performers.

Page's involvement with the Crowley legacy extended to the purchase of one of Crowley's homes, and the symbols that adorned Led Zeppelin IV. "Stairway to Heaven" was certainly a mystical piece of music (it was praised by Kenneth Anger as being the most "luciferian" pieces of Page's work—a definite compliment if you view Lucifer, as Anger did, as a representation of truth and beauty), but Page never made it to the stage of finishing a soundtrack to Anger's movies. There are allegations that some members of the group blamed the death of John Bonham and other untoward events upon Page's involvement with Crowley; but Bonham's drinking was getting out of hand even before Page's involvement with Crowley. The break up of Led Zeppelin probably didn't end Page's involvement with Crowley, but the public knowledge and interest in this probably declined at that stage.

The interesting thing is, in the late 1970's, especially with the advent of punk, a lot of groups seemed to back away from occult (particularly positive occult) involvement, but the advent of "Death Rock" or occult rock, which developed in s slow pattern through the following bands: Black Widow - Atomic Rooster - Black Sabbath Angel Witch - Venom - Pagan Altar - Widow - Witchfynde - Hell Satan - Cloven Hoof – Warhammer- Onslaught - Sabbat – Antichrist-Ragnarok - Cradle Of Filth - Megiddo Bal Sagoth - December Moon – Ewigkeit - Adorior - Hecate - Enthroned - Phantasia - Forefather - Meads Of Asphodel - Reign Of Erebus Thus Defiled - Old Forest - Annal Nathrakh. They all showed a steady but consistent interest in the underworld as a source of inspiration ... (More ...)

The Star Sponge Vision

"... Each stage in the process was like the joy of a young eagle soaring from height to height in ever increasing sunlight as dawn breaks, foaming, over the purple hem of the garment of ocean, and, when the many coloured rays of rose and gold and green gathered themselves together and melted into the orbed glory of the sun, with a rapture that shook the soul with unimaginable ecstasy, that sphere of rushing light was recognized as a common-place idea, accepted unquestioningly and treated with drab indifference because it had so long been assimilated as a natural and necessary part of the order of Nature. At first I was shocked and disgusted to discover that a series of brilliant researches should culminate in a commonplace. But I soon understood that what I had done was to live over again the triumphant career of conquering humanity; that I had experienced in my own person the succession of winged victories that had been sealed by a treaty of peace whose clauses might be summed up in some such trite expression as "Beauty depends upon form". It would be quite impracticable to go fully into the subject of this vision of the Star-Sponge, if only because its ramifications are omniform. It must suffice to reiterate that it has been the basis of most of my work for the last five years, and to remind the reader that the essential form of it is 'Nothingness with twinkles.'" --- From Crowley's new comment to "Liber AL", Ch. I, v. 59.

The Distant Queen

O glory of rapture ,
As fine as tomorrow’s promise as infinite as the body of time,
I call out across the gulf of fallen memories to the hands of bodies entwined,
Cry not for tears know not the bounds of my desire,
But rejoice in the calling of those that would walk alone.
Fear dies by the hand of another as always in the hearts of man,
Lust rejoices and again the serpent sheds its skin.
For as I walk in love and the awe of a distant queen the pain of that which is mine and yours,
Cry out and I will be devoured,
Come now that I might look beyond the day,
Make your self as I am within the joys of your body,
Make now your self as me as all and another as earth and as mud.
I see across the enraged lake of prophecy,
Look back into my eyes until even as I am lost we are one and you may know what it is to dance in the body of man.