Chapter I
1. Had! The manifestation of Nuit.
2. The unveiling of the company of heaven.
3. Every man and every woman is a star.
4. Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
5. Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men!
6. Be thou Hadit, my secret centre, my heart
& my tongue!
7. Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of Hoor-paar-kraat.
8. The Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs.
9. Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light
shed over you!
10. Let my servants be few & secret: they shall rule the many & the known.
11. These are fools that men adore; both their
Gods & their men are fools.
12. Come forth, o children, under the stars,
& take your fill of love!
13. I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.
14. Above, the gemmed azure is
The naked
splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
The winged globe, the starry blue,
Are
mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!
15. Now ye shall know that the chosen priest
& apostle of infinite space is the prince-priest the Beast; and in his woman called the Scarlet Woman is all power given. They shall gather my children into their fold: they shall
bring the glory of the stars into the hearts of men.
16. For he is ever a sun, and she a moon. But
to him is the winged secret flame, and to her the stooping starlight.
17. But ye are not so chosen.
18. Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!
19. O azure-lidded woman, bend upon them!
20. The key of the rituals is in the secret
word which I have given unto him.
21. With the God & the Adorer I am nothing:
they do not see me. They are as upon the earth; I am Heaven, and there is no other God than me, and my lord Hadit.
22. Now, therefore, I am known to ye by my
name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knoweth me. Since I am Infinite Space, and the
Infinite Stars thereof, do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.
23. But whoso availeth in this, let him be
the chief of all!
24. I am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty.
25. Divide, add, multiply, and understand.
26. Then saith the prophet and slave of the
beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bendingdown, a lambent flame of blue, all-touching,
all penetrant, her lovely hands upon the black earth, & her lithe body arched for love, and her soft feet not hurting
the little flowers: Thou knowest! And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the
omnipresence of my body.
27. Then the priest answered & said unto
the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume
of sweat: O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!
28. None, breathed the light, faint & faery,
of the stars, and two.
29. For I am divided for love's sake, for the
chance of union.
30. This is the creation of the world, that
the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.
31. For these fools of men and their woes care not thou at all! They feel little; what is, is balanced by weak joys; but ye are my chosen ones.
32. Obey my prophet! follow out the ordeals
of my knowledge! seek me only! Then the joys of my love will redeem ye from all pain. This is so: I swear it by the vault of my body; by my sacred heart and tongue; by all I can
give, by all I desire of ye all.
33. Then the priest fell into a deep trance
or swoon, & said unto the Queen of Heaven; Write unto us the ordeals; write unto us the rituals; write unto us the law!
34. But she said: the ordeals I write not:
the rituals shall be half known and half concealed: the Law is for all.
35. This that thou writest is the threefold
book of Law.
36. My scribe Ankh-af-na-khonsu, the priest of the princes, shall not in one letter change this book; but lest there be folly, he shall
comment thereupon by the wisdom of Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
37. Also the mantras and spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of the wand and the work of the sword; these
he shall learn and teach.
38. He must teach; but he may make severe the
ordeals.
39. The word of the Law is THELEMA.
40. Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look but close into the word. For there are therein Three Grades,
the Hermit, and the Lover, and the man of Earth. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
41. The word of Sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not thy wife, if she will! O lover, if thou wilt, depart! There is no bond that can unite the divided but
love: all else is a curse. Accursed! Accursed be it to the aeons! Hell.
42. Let it be that state of manyhood bound and loathing. So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.
43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.
44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered
from the lust of result, is every way perfect.
45. The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect
and not two; nay, are none!
46. Nothing is a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the Jews call it; I call it eight, eighty, four hundred & eighteen.
47. But they have the half: unite by thine
art so that all disappear.
48. My prophet is a fool with his one, one,
one; are not they the Ox, and none by the Book?
49. Abrogate are all rituals, all ordeals,
all words and signs. Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods; and let Asar be with Isa, who also are one. But they are not of me. Let Asar be the adorant, Isa the sufferer;
Hoor in his secret name and splendour is the Lord initiating.
50. There is a word to say about the Hierophantic task. Behold! there are three ordeals in one, and it may be given in three ways. The gross must pass through fire; let the fine
be tried in intellect, and the lofty chosen ones in the highest. Thus ye have star & star, system & system; let not
one know well the other!
51. There are four gates to one palace; the floor of that palace is of silver and gold; lapis lazuli & jasper
are there; and all rare scents; jasmine & rose, and the emblems of death. Let him enter in turn or at once the four gates;
let him stand on the floor of the palace. Will he not sink? Amn. Ho! warrior, if thy servant sink? But there are means and means. Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel;
eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines that foam! Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and
with whom ye will! But always unto me.
52. If this be not aright; if ye confound the
space-marks, saying: They are one; or saying, They are many; if the ritual be not ever unto me: then expect the direful judgments of Ra Hoor Khuit!
53. This shall regenerate the world, the little world my sister, my heart & my tongue, unto whom I send this kiss. Also, o scribe and prophet, though thou
be of the princes, it shall not assuage thee nor absolve thee. But ecstasy be thine and joy of earth: ever To me! To me!
54. Change not as much as the style of a letter; for behold! thou, o prophet, shalt not behold all these mysteries hidden therein.
55. The child of thy bowels, he shall behold
them.
56. Expect him not from the East, nor from
the West; for from no expected house cometh that child. Aum! All words are sacred and all prophets true; save only that they understand a little; solve the first
half of the equation, leave the second unattacked. But thou hast all in the clear light, and some, though not all, in the
dark.
57. Invoke me under my stars! Love is the law, love under will. Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well!
He, my prophet, hath chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the House of God.
All these old letters of my Book are aright;
but [Tzaddi] is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise.
58. I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.
59. My incense is of resinous woods & gums; and there is no blood therein: because of my hair the trees of Eternity.
60. My number is 11, as all their numbers who
are of us. The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the circle is Red. My colour is black to the blind, but
the blue & gold are seen of the seeing. Also I have asecret glory for them that love me.
61. But to love me is better than all things:
if under the night stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the
Serpent flame therein, thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give all; but
whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall
wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in spendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall
ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich headdress. I love you!
I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto
me!
62. At all my meetings with you shall the priestess
say -- and her eyes shall burn with desire as she stands bare and rejoicing in my secret temple -- To me! To me! calling forth
the flame of the hearts of all in her love-chant.
63. Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn
to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you!
64. I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset;
I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky.
65. To me! To me!
66. The Manifestation of Nuit is at an end.
Chapter II
1. Nu! the hiding of Hadit.
2. Come! all ye, and learn the secret that
hath not yet been revealed. I, Hadit, am the complement of Nu, my bride. I am not extended, and Khabs is the name of my House.
3. In the sphere I am everywhere the centre,
as she, the circumference, is nowhere found.
4. Yet she shall be known & I never.
5. Behold! the rituals of the old time are black. Let the evil ones be cast away; let the good ones be purged by the prophet! Then shall this Knowledge go aright.
6. I am the flame that burns in every heart
of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is theknowledge of me the knowledge of death.
7. I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am
the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. "Come unto me" is a foolish word: for it is I that go.
8. Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me; ill, for I am the worshipper.
9. Remember all ye that existence is pure joy;
that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains.
10. O prophet! thou hast ill will to learn
this writing.
11. I see thee hate the hand & the pen;
but I am stronger.
12. Because of me in Thee which thou knewest not.
13. for why? Because thou wast the knower,
and me.
14. Now let there be a veiling of this shrine:
now let the light devour men and eat them up with blindness!
15. For I am perfect, being Not; and my number is nine by the fools; but with the just I am eight, and one in eight: Which is vital, for I am
none indeed. The Empress and the King are not of me; for there is a further secret.
16. I am The Empress & the Hierophant.
Thus eleven, as my bride is eleven.
17. Hear me, ye people of sighing!
The sorrows
of pain and regret
Are left to the the dead and the dying,
The folk that not know me as yet.
18. These are dead, these fellows; they feel
not. We are not for the poor and sad: the lords of the earth are our kinsfolk.
19. Is a God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of us. They shall rejoice, our chosen: who sorroweth is not of us.
20. Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and
delicious languor, force and fire, are of us.
21. We have nothing with the outcast and the
unfit: let them die in their misery. For they feel not. Compassion is the vice of kings: stamp down the wretched & the
weak: this is the law of the strong: this is our law and the joy of the world. Think not, o king, upon that lie: That Thou
Must Die: verily thou shalt not die, but live. Now let it be understood: If the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain
in pure ecstasy for ever. Nuit! Hadit! Ra-Hoor-Khuit! The Sun, Strength & Sight, Light; these are for the servants of
the Star & the Snake.
22. I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine
and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this
folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear
not that any God shall deny thee for this.
23. I am alone: there is no God where I am.
24. Behold! these be grave mysteries; for there
are also of my friends who be hermits. Now think not to find them in the forest or on the mountain; but in beds of purple, caressed by magnificent beasts of women
with large limbs, and fire and light in their eyes, and masses of flaming hair about them; there shall ye find them. Ye shall
see them at rule, at victorious armies, at all the joy; and there shall be in them a joy a million times greater than this.
Beware lest any force another, King against King! Love one another with burning hearts; on the low men trample in the fierce
lust of your pride, in the day of your wrath.
25. Ye are against the people, O my chosen!
26. I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head,
and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.
27. There is great danger in me; for who doth
not understand these runes shall make a great miss. He shall fall down into the pit called Because, and there he shall perish
with the dogs of Reason.
28. Now a curse upon Because and his kin!
29. May Because be accursed for ever!
30. If Will stops and cries Why, invoking Because,
then Will stops & does nought.
31. If Power asks why, then is Power weakness.
32. Also reason is a lie; for there is a factor
infinite & unknown; & all their words are skew-wise.
33. Enough of Because! Be he damned for a dog!
34. But ye, o my people, rise up & awake!
35. Let the rituals be rightly performed with
joy & beauty!
36. There are rituals of the elements and feasts of the times.
37. A feast for the first night of the Prophet
and his Bride!
38. A feast for the three days of the writing
of the Book of the Law.
39. A feast for Tahuti and the child of the
Prophet--secret, O Prophet!
40. A feast for the Supreme Ritual, and a feast
for the Equinox of the Gods.
41. A feast for fire and a feast for water;
a feast for life and a greater feast for death!
42. A feast every day in your hearts in the
joy of my rapture!
43. A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure
of uttermost delight!
44. Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread
hereafter. There is the dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu.
45. There is death for the dogs.
46. Dost thou fail? Art thou sorry? Is fear
in thine heart?
47. Where I am these are not.
48. Pity not the fallen! I never knew them.
I am not for them. I console not: I hate the consoled & the consoler.
49. I am unique & conqueror. I am not of
the slaves that perish. Be they damned & dead! Amen. (This is of the 4: there is a fifth who is invisible, & therein
am I as a babe in an egg. )
50. Blue am I and gold in the light of my bride:
but the red gleam is in my eyes; & my spangles are purple & green.
51. Purple beyond purple: it is the light higher than eyesight.
52. There is a veil: that veil is black. It is the veil of the modest woman; it is the veil of sorrow, & the pall of death: this is none of me. Tear down that
lying spectre of the centuries: veil not your vices in virtuous words: these vices are my service; ye do well, & I will
reward you here and hereafter.
53. Fear not, o prophet, when these words are
said, thou shalt not be sorry. Thou art emphatically my chosen; and blessed are the eyes that thou shalt look upon with gladness. But I will hide thee in a mask of sorrow: they that see
thee shall fear thou art fallen: but I lift thee up.
54. Nor shall they who cry aloud their folly
that thou meanest nought avail; thou shall reveal it: thou availest: they are the slaves of because: They are not of me. The
stops as thou wilt; the letters? change them not in style or value!
55. Thou shalt obtain the order & value
of the English Alphabet; thou shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto.
56. Begone! ye mockers; even though ye laugh
in my honour ye shall laugh not long: then when ye are sad know that I have forsaken you.
57. He that is righteous shall be righteous
still; he that is filthy shall be filthy still.
58. Yea! deem not of change: ye shall be as
ye are, & not other. Therefore the kings of the earth shall be Kings for ever: the slaves shall serve. There is none that shall be cast down or lifted up: all is ever as it was. Yet there are masked
ones my servants: it may be that yonder beggar is a King. A King may choose his garment as he will: there is no certain test:
but a beggar cannot hide his poverty.
59. Beware therefore! Love all, lest perchance
is a King concealed! Say you so? Fool! If he be a King, thou canst not hurt him.
60. Therefore strike hard & low, and to
hell with them, master!
61. There is a light before thine eyes, o prophet, a light undesired, most desirable.
62. I am uplifted in thine heart; and the kisses
of the stars rain hard upon thy body.
63. Thou art exhaust in the voluptuous fullness
of the inspiration; the expiration is sweeter than death, more rapid and laughterful than a caress of Hell's own worm.
64. Oh! thou art overcome: we are upon thee;
our delight is all over thee: hail! hail: prophet of Nu! prophet of Had! prophet of Ra-Hoor-Khu! Now rejoice! now come in
our splendour & rapture! Come in our passionate peace, & write sweet words for the Kings.
65. I am the Master: thou art the Holy Chosen
One.
66. Write, & find ecstasy in writing! Work,
& be our bed in working! Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death shall be lovely: whososeeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our age long love.
Come! lift up thine heart & rejoice! We are one; we are none.
67. Hold! Hold! Bear up in thy rapture; fall
not in swoon of the excellent kisses!
68. Harder! Hold up thyself! Lift thine head!
breathe not so deep -- die!
69. Ah! Ah! What do I feel? Is the word exhausted?
70. There is help & hope in other spells.
Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture! If thou drink, drink by the eight
and ninety rules of art: if thou love, exceed by delicacy; and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety therein!
71. But exceed! exceed!
72. Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly
mine -- and doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! -- death is the crown of all.
73. Ah! Ah! Death! Death! thou shalt long for
death. Death is forbidden, o man, unto thee.
74. The length of thy longing shall be the
strength of its glory. He that lives long & desires death much is ever the King among the Kings.
75. Aye! listen to the numbers & the words:
76. 4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24
89 R P S T O V A L. What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever. There cometh one to follow thee:
he shall expound it. But remember, o chose none, to be me; to follow the love of Nu in the star-lit heaven; to look forth
upon men, to tell them this glad word.
77. O be thou proud and mighty among men!
78. Lift up thyself! for there is none like
unto thee among men or among Gods! Lift up thyself, o my prophet, thy stature shall surpass the stars. They shall worship
thy name, foursquare, mystic, wonderful, the number of the man; and the name of thy house 418.
79. The end of the hiding of Hadit; and blessing
& worship to the prophet of the lovely Star!
Chapter III
1. Abrahadabra; the reward of Ra Hoor Khut.
2. There is division hither homeward; there is a word not known. Spelling is defunct; all is not aught. Beware! Hold! Raise the spell of Ra-Hoor-Khuit!
3. Now let it be first understood that I am
a god of War and of Vengeance. I shall deal hardly with them.
4. Choose ye an island!
5. Fortify it!
6. Dung it about with enginery of war!
7. I will give you a war-engine.
8. With it ye shall smite the peoples; and
none shall stand before you.
9. Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them! this is the Law
of the Battle of Conquest: thus shall my worship be about my secret house.
10. Get the stele of revealing itself; set it in thy secret temple -- and that temple is already aright disposed -- & it shall be your Kiblah for ever.
It shall not fade, but miraculous colour shall come back to it day after day. Close it in locked glass for a proof to the
world.
11. This shall be your only proof. I forbid
argument. Conquer! That is enough. I will make easy to you the abstruction from the ill-ordered house in the Victorious City.
Thou shalt thyself convey it with worship, o prophet, though thou likest it not. Thou shalt have danger & trouble. Ra-Hoor-Khu
is with thee. Worship me with fire & blood; worship me with swords & with spears. Let the woman be girt with a sword before me: let blood flow to my name. Trample
down the Heathen; be upon them, o warrior, I will give you of their flesh to eat!
12. Sacrifice cattle, little and big: after a child.
13. But not now.
14. Ye shall see that hour, o blessed Beast,
and thou the Scarlet Concubine of his desire!
15. Ye shall be sad thereof.
16. Deem not too eagerly to catch the promises;
fear not to undergo the curses. Ye, even ye, know not this meaning all.
17. Fear not at all; fear neither men nor Fates,
nor gods, nor anything. Money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any other power in heaven or upon the earth or
under the earth. Nu is your refuge as Hadit your light; and I am the strength, force, vigour, of your arms.
18. Mercy let be off; damn them who pity! Kill
and torture; spare not; be upon them!
19. That stele they shall call the Abomination
of Desolation; count well its name, & it shall be to you as 718.
20. Why? Because of the fall of Because, that
he is not there again.
21. Set up my image in the East: thou shalt buy thee an image which I will show thee, especial, not unlike the one thou knowest. And it shall be suddenly
easy for thee to do this.
22. The other images group around me to support
me: let all be worshipped, for they shall cluster to exalt me. I am the visible object of worship; the others are secret;
for the Beast & his Bride are they: and for the winners of the Ordeal x. What is this? Thou shalt know.
23. For perfume mix meal & honey & thick leavings of red wine: then oil of Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward soften & smooth
down with rich fresh blood.
24. The best blood is of the moon, monthly:
then the fresh blood of a child, or dropping from the host of heaven: then of enemies; then of the priest or of the worshippers:
last of some beast, no matter what.
25. This burn: of this make cakes & eat
unto me. This hath also another use; let it be laid before me, and kept thick with perfumes of your orison: it shall become
full of beetles as it were and creeping things sacred unto me.
26. These slay, naming your enemies; &
they shall fall before you.
27. Also these shall breed lust & power
of lust in you at the eating thereof.
28. Also ye shall be strong in war.
29. Moreover, be they long kept, it is better;
for they swell with my force. All before me.
30. My altar is of open brass work: burn thereon in silver or gold!
31. There cometh a rich man from the West who
shall pour his gold upon thee.
32. From gold forge steel!
33. Be ready to fly or to smite!
34. But your holy place shall be untouched throughout the centuries: though with fire and sword it be burnt down & shattered, yet an invisible
house there standeth, and shall stand until the fall of the Great Equinox; when Hrumachis shall arise and the double-wanded
one assume my throne and place. Another prophet shall arise, and bring fresh fever from the skies; another woman shall awakethe
lust & worship of the Snake; another soul of God and beast shall mingle in the globed priest; another sacrifice shall
stain the tomb; another king shall reign; and blessing no longer be poured To the Hawk-headed mystical Lord!
35. The half of the word of Heru-ra-ha, called Hoor-pa-kraat and Ra-Hoor-Khut.
36. Then said the prophet unto the God:
37. I adore thee in the song --
I am the
Lord of Thebes, and I
The inspired forth-speaker of Mentu;
For me unveils the veiled sky,
The self-slain Ankh-af-na-khonsu
Whose words are truth. I invoke, I greet
Thy presence, O Ra-Hoor-Khuit!
Unity uttermost showed!
I adore the
might of Thy breath,
Supreme and terrible God,
Who makest the gods and death
To tremble before Thee: --
I, I adore
thee!
Appear on the throne of Ra!
Open the
ways of the Khu!
Lighten the ways of the Ka!
The ways of the Khabs run through
To stir me or still me!
Aum! let
it fill me!
38. So that thy light is in me; & its
red flame is as a sword in my hand to push thy order. There is a secret door that I shall make to establish thy way in all
the quarters, (these are the adorations, as thou hast written), as it is said:
The light is mine; its rays consume
Me:
I have made a secret door
Into the House of Ra and Tum,
Of Khephra and of Ahathoor.
I am thy Theban, O Mentu,
The
prophet Ankh-af-na-khonsu!
By Bes-na-Maut my breast I beat;
By
wise Ta-Nech I weave my spell.
Show thy star-splendour, O Nuit!
Bid me within thine House to dwell,
O winged snake
of light, Hadit!
Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!
39. All this and a book to say how thou
didst come hither and a reproduction of this ink and paper for ever -- for in it is the word secret & not only in the
English -- and thy comment upon this the Book of the Law shall be printed beautifully in red ink and black upon beautiful
paper made by hand; and to each man and woman that thou meetest, were it but to dine or to drink at them, it is the Law to give. Then they shall chance to abide in this bliss or no; it is no odds. Do this quickly!
40. But the work of the comment? That is easy;
and Hadit burning in thy heart shall make swift and secure thy pen.
41. Establish at thy Kaaba a clerk-house: all
must be done well and with business way.
42. The ordeals thou shalt oversee thyself,
save only the blind ones. Refuse none, but thou shalt know & destroy the traitors. I am Ra-Hoor-Khuit; and I am powerful
to protect my servant. Success is thy proof: argue not; convert not; talk not over much! Them that seek to entrap thee, to
overthrow thee, them attack without pity or quarter; & destroy them utterly. Swift as a trodden serpent turn and strike! Be thou yet deadlier than he! Drag down
their souls to awful torment: laugh at their fear: spit upon them!
43. Let the Scarlet Woman beware! If pity and
compassion and tenderness visit her heart; if she leave my work to toy with old sweetnesses; then shall my vengeance be known.
I will slay me her child: I will alienate her heart: I will cast her out from men: as a shrinking and despised harlot shall
she crawl through dusk wet streets, and die cold and an-hungered.
44. But let her raise herself in pride! Let
her follow me in my way! Let her work the work of wickedness! Let her kill her heart! Let her be loud and adulterous! Let her be covered with jewels, and rich garments, and let her be shameless before all men!
45. Then will I lift her to pinnacles of power:
then will I breed from her a child mightier than all the kings of the earth. I will fill her with joy: with my force shall
she see & strike at the worship of Nu: she shall achieve Hadit.
46. I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before me, & are abased. I will bring you to victory & joy: I will be at your arms
in battle & ye shall delight to slay. Success is your proof; courage is your armour; go on, go on, in my strength; &
ye shall turn not back for any!
47. This book shall be translated into all
tongues: but always with the original in the writing of the Beast; for in the chance shape of the letters and their position
to one another: in these are mysteries that no Beast shall divine. Let him not seek to try: but one cometh after him, whence
I say not, who shall discover the Key of it all. Then this line drawn is a key: then this circle squared in its failure is
a key also. And Abrahadabra. It shall be his child & that strangely. Let him not seek after this; for thereby alone can
he fall from it.
48. Now this mystery of the letters is done,
and I want to go on to the holier place.
49. I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all gods of men.
50. Curse them! Curse them! Curse them!
51. With my Hawk's head I peck at the eyes
of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross.
52. I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed
& blind him.
53. With my claws I tear out the flesh of the
Indian and the Buddhist, Mongol and Din.
54. Bahlasti! Ompehda! I spit on your crapulous
creeds.
55. Let Mary inviolate be torn upon wheels:
for her sake let all chaste women be utterly despised among you!
56. Also for beauty's sake and love's!
57. Despise also all cowards; professional
soldiers who dare not fight, but play; all fools despise!
58. But the keen and the proud, the royal and
the lofty; ye are brothers!
59. As brothers fight ye!
60. There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
61. There is an end of the word of the God
enthroned in Ra's seat, lightening the girders of the soul.
62. To Me do ye reverence! to me come ye through
tribulation of ordeal, which is bliss.
63. The fool readeth this Book of the Law, and its comment; & he understandeth it not.
64. Let him come through the first ordeal,
& it will be to him as silver.
65. Through the second, gold.
66. Through the third, stones of precious water.
67. Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of
the intimate fire.
68. Yet to all it shall seem beautiful. Its
enemies who say not so, are mere liars.
69. There is success.
70. I am the Hawk-Headed Lord of Silence &
of Strength; my nemyss shrouds the night-blue sky.
71. Hail! ye twin warriors about the pillars
of the world! for your time is nigh at hand.
72. I am the Lord of the Double Wand of Power;
the wand of the Force of Coph Nia--but my left hand is empty, for I have crushed an Universe; & nought remains.
73. Paste the sheets from right to left and
from top to bottom: then behold!
74. There is a splendour in my name hidden
and glorious, as the sun of midnight is ever the son.
75. The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra.
The Book of the Law is Written
and
Concealed.
Aum. Ha.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE COMMENT.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the
Law.
The study of this Book is forbidden. It is wise to destroy this copy after the first reading.
Whosoever disregards this does so at his own
risk and peril. These are most dire.
Those who discuss the contents of this Book
are to be shunned by all, as centres of pestilence.
All questions of the Law are to be decided
only by appeal to my writings, each for himself.
There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
Love is the law, love under will.
The priest of the princes,
Ankh-f-n-khonsu
