The Mind of James Donahue

Shadow Of Silence

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Harpocrates

Worshipping The Gods
 
 
Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me; ill, for I am the worshipper. 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. Liber al vel Legis 2:8-9
 
Examination of this seemingly simple line in Liber Legis confronts us with the first of the mysteries of the manuscript of Hadit.
 
There seems to be a new god: Heru-pa-kraath. Also, there is an unexpected twist because Hadit, the energy of the universe with a Cabalistic number of 10 linking him to Malkuth, appears to be contradicting Himself about an order of worship.
 
Crowley and scholars of the Book of the Law to follow, agree that the name Heru-pa-kraath is another version of the name Hoor-paar-kraat, or Harpocrates. These are Egyptian and Greek names for Horus the Child.
 
The name Ra-Hoor-Khuit is also part of this puzzle. Some literature refers to Ra-Hoor-Khuit as a brother to Hoor-paar-kraat. But in other interpretations, they seem to be references to the same person, but at different times. Harpocrates is Horus the Child, depicted as a babe with a finger held to his lips. Ra is an Egyptian reference to a Sun God. Ra-Hoor-Khuit, a hawk-headed man, is the adult version of Horus. And he also is referred to in Egyptian mythology as Heru-em-akhuti, the Sun God.
 
Heru is an Egyptian name for Horus.
 
Thus we have establish that Heru-pa-kraath, Hoor-paar-kraat and Heru-em-akhuti are all names for the Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child, who rules over the new Aeon.
 
It seems right when Hadit, the energy of all things, identifies himself with Horus at the first part of the verse: "Who worshipped Heru-pa-kraath have worshipped me." If Nuit and Hadit through union are creators of the universe, then isn't the god figure Horus part of this creation?
 
But the sentence doesn't end there. It is broken with a semi-colon, and then comes the word "ill," an old Scottish word that means "immoral," "nauseated," or "hostile." In other words don't do it. "For I am the worshipper," the sentence ends.
 
What is this? Are we not to worship the Gods?
 
Crowley offers a brilliant explanation of this verse in his book, The Law is for All. He concludes that the shadow of Harpocrates is called silence. "Yet his silence is an act of adoration, not the dumb callousness of heaven toward man, but the supreme ritual, the silence of supreme orgasm, the stilling of all voices in perfect rapture."
 
Crowley continues: "Harpocrates is also the dwarf-soul, the Secret Self of every man . . . Hadit knows Nuit by virue of his 'going' or 'love.' It is therefore wrong to worship Hadit; one is to be Hadit, and worship Her."
 
He writes that "it is bad magick to admit that one is other than one's inmost self. One should plunge passionately into every possible experience . . . So long as one remains 'one's self," one is overwhelmed by the universe; destroy the sense of self, and every event is equally an expression of one's will."
 
With this thought, we find easy understanding of verse 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."
 
That which remains is ourselves. Once the ego is destroyed, and our true will realized, we still remain. Crowley explains that we are matter that belongs to Nuit's creation, "equal and opposite to the sum total of all the others."
 
Even though our existence brings sorrows, if we keep our eyes fixed upon the light, constantly fixed on our will, the troubles that come along will always be but shadows.
 
And thus we find ourselves understanding the reason for the image of Harpocrates, the babe with a finger at his lips, and his shadow known as silence. Horus the Child shares a great secret. The secret of worshipping Nuit is a silent adoration through love of one another, love of her creation, and sharing the rapture of our existence.
 
In doing so, we let the sorrows pass like shadows, knowing they will, indeed, pass.
 
Copyright - James Donahue 
 

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