A Lifetime Of Instructions
"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-Khu-it. 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. He must teach;
but he may make severe the ordeals." Liber al vel Legis 1:36-38
It is clear from the words in this passage that when the Egyptian priest Ankh-af-na-khonsu traveled
through time and used the personality of Aiwass to enter the body of Alsteir Crowley, Crowley temporarily became Ankh-af-na-khonsu.
Somewhere in my research . . . it may have been found in some of Crowley's own biographical writings
. . . I found a story that Crowley delayed publishing the Book of the Law because he did not want anyone to think that he
wrote it. The book is filled with peculiar phrases, run-on sentences, and lower case letters at the beginning of sentences.
Also the book lacked Crowley's writing style. It is said that even the handwriting was not the same.
Once he took the work seriously, however, Crowley seemed to become obsessed by it. He literally
devoted the rest of his life interpreting it, teaching it, and establishing its philosophy that he called Thelemian.
Even though he was temporarily possessed by the spirit of Ankh-af-na-khonsu for the three days he
received the Book of the Law, Crowley clearly understood that this particular verse was meant for him and no other. The priest
was present in spirit, from the astral or fourth dimension, and could do no more than transmit thoughts through the personality
of Aiwass, who magically took shape and form.
The work of producing the book, and teaching its message, was left to Crowley to complete.
Nuit's instructions are strict. Crowley was not to change a single letter in the text. The demand
apparently was so strong that when the book was published, nothing was edited. In fact, the published printed versions all
included photos of the original written pages, just as the book was received in Cairo. The lower case letters at the beginning
of sentences remained lower case (contemporary computer programs refuse to let us get away with that today). The abbreviated
"&" sign for the word "and" remains was Crowley scribbled it, and other peculiarities, like the different spellings of
Ankh-af-na-khonsu, which may simply be spelling errors, remain uncorrected and unexplained.
Nuit also know the heart of mankind and knew that all holy books have a way of being changed and
altered by their scribes over time. Whether done by error, or by incorrect interpretation, words and the meanings of words
get altered. Sometimes, such as in the case of Christianity, entire religious divisions occur over arguments about the meaning
of a single word.
For this reason, she instructed that "lest there by folly," the scribe
Crowley "shall comment thereupon by the wisdom of Ra-Hoor-Khu-it."
From Egyptian mythology, we know that Ra-Hoor Khuit, like Horus, is a hawk-headed warrior god with
the body of a man. He is a brother of Hoor Paar Kraat, the one depicted as the baby sitting upon a Lotus flower.
The words Ra-Hoor mean energy flowing out. But Hoor Paar Kraat means energy contained.
Thus it is correct that Ra-Hoor-Khuit, the warrior of energy "flowing out" be sent to aid Crowley
in the important work of studying, translating, and teaching the book of introduction to the New Aeon of the Child.
Could it be that Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Aiwass, the entity that remained at Crowley's side and assisted
in his writings and interpretations, were one and the same person?
Crowley also was to learn and teach the new Thelemic Magick, which was obviously different from
the old methods of using natural Earth energies to bring about change. The word Thelema, from the Greek language, means "will."
And free will is the heart of Nuit's message to mankind.
It is surprising then that Nuit refers to ordeals, mantras, spells, obeah, wanga, and works of the
wand and sword as part of the magick. While they all continue to work very well, even today, they all seem to be part of an
ancient system of performing the black and white arts.
Crowley wrote: "Magick is the management of all we say and do, so that the effect is to change that
part of our environment which dissatisfies us, until it does so no longer." He also said it is the "art of causing change
in existing phenomena."
While the definition includes such amazing feats as raising the dead, bewitching cattle and making
rain the best magickians work in more subtle ways. I have seen them use mere words and thought to befuddle store clerks, enhance
beautiful women, and persuade people to gladly give up their cherished possessions.
The ordeals are changed as well. But they are showing up today in mental training rather than physical
endurance. I believe they are necessary and need to be severe to assure that we are truly separating the men from the boys
before entering the brave new world.
Copyright - James Donahue
