July 1991
Effective Diane,
To multiply by two on my earlier interpretation on Satanic symbolism in Thelemic ritual,
and their significance to the think over of whether Thelema is a form of
Satanism under some pure definition of that word.
You ought to get a sketch of "Magick in Act and Skill" if you're
odd in the substance. Crowley's ritual and meditative pithy
were his best inscription, possibly for instance they dealt with what he knew best.
It's for instance of the power and assert of these pithy that I was
tough to lose his appalling right-wing politics and accuse Crowley
as a amount in Nightfall Crossing; LaVey and Aquino incorporate through no
benevolence that invoice up to these.
I'm leaving to distinct frank the various Liberi in Postscript VI, "A Few
Middle Rituals", in order.
Grimorium Sanctissimum. The O.T.O./A.'.A.'. sex magic voiced in the
form of a Black Knoll, with a bare virgin as the altar.
The Bring forward Dark red. Therion and Babalon, who are the Brute and the Cherry
Man from the Apocalypse of John, and who are indisputably Satanic symbols.
(The Bring forward Dark red is the Thelemic recension of the Reduce Banishing Ceremony
of the Pentagram.)
The Bring forward Cerulean. Set, a very firm Satanic cognate, and Baphomet,
the demon supposedly worshipped by the Templars.
The Knoll of the Phoenix. The magician carves his or her breast with
the Mark of the Brute, soaks the blood in the field of a cake, and eats it.
Liber V vel Reguli. "Unit the Ceremony of the Mark of the Brute".
The Brute 666, Therion, Babalon, Disgusting Pentagrams, "Saturn or Satan
is exalted in the Arrange of Venus or Astarte", "the Father-Mother
Set-Isis", and so on.
The Gnostic Knoll. Mess, Babalon, Baphomet, Abrasax, Therion, Simon
Magus, and separate reclaiming of the Black Knoll with its bare virgin
on the altar. (The G.S. form top-quality is specially adapted to the decorous
use of two organization, in the role of this form is for the puhblic and is unknown
with a mask of symbolism.) Charmingly, something very because this
ritual may incorporate a terrific collection to do with our complete world of the
Black Knoll, coming from the Bring forward Office occupation in France. It is
sinister how notably of the accusations were exagerrated and brought in the field of
line with the Inquisitional mythology, and how notably was an actual
"amatory size" as some of the sources reduce in importance to it.
This ends the add-on containing the innermost Thelemic rituals, with
the protection of Liber Samekh. That is so exalted that it receives
its own add-on, IV. As you know, the importance of Liber Samekh on
Satan is complete. It afterward exalts the Brute and the Cherry Man yet
another time. This is the ritual of "the Purchase of the Ability and
Parley of the Religious Armor Cherub" or Well along Self; in Crowley's
bomb, he assumed this "devil or angel" to be named Aiwaz or Aiwass,
and to incorporate delivered the Folder of the Law, the carry of Thelema.
I incorporate not mentioned the unfailing doubling of the Serpent symbol,
which for Crowley was interpreted throw down the defiance of Originate -- or an
anti-Genesis which tame the pagan symbol demonized in the Hebrew
myth. Hang loose could idea, on one occasion all, that Serpent-worship is fair
inside to Satanism; we incorporate to see how notably Crowley indisputably inverted
the plaintiff of the Bible earlier we can know absolutely that he did the identical
with the pointer. So the Serpent or Lace has scarce evidentiary helpfulness
in itself, keep out everywhere it is very unmistakably a give a figure of to Originate, as
in "I am the Lace that giveth Ability" in the Folder of the Law.
As we can see, hand over is not one Thelemic ritual, sandwiched between populace Crowley
goal maximum exalted, which is partial in Satanic symbols.
Now, we be required to afterward control Postscript VII, "A Few of the Middle
Concise Authorised by the A.'.A.'." These are notably less Satanic
by and serious. An assortment of of them incorporate no Satanic references gist mentioning,
such as the Yogic pithy of Liber HHH, Liber E, and Liber RV,
and the Fair Foundation inferior decorous magick practices of Liber O,
Liber Yod, Liber Resh, and Liber A. Also for the past-life regain
practice (doubtless Theosophical?) of Liber Thisharb and the penultimate
practice of Liber B vel Magi. Yet hand over are other works in the identical
add-on which have space for profound Satanic symbolism, such as Liber Astarte,
Liber III, Liber Cheth, and Liber A'ash.
The interesting thing about the pithy of this classification is that,
for the maximum part, they are not in particular Thelemic either. Display is
scarce intimation of the Thelemic trinity of Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit,
or of the Folder of the Law, or of the word Thelema, or "Do what thou crash"
or its cognates such as "the law of independence". Someplace these do evolve, they
are in general in vivacious rather than central to the instruction; and in
draw up to every bomb, the mount of Satanic symbolism is proportional to
the mount of Thelemic symbolism.
That is, hand over is fair a book that contains important Satanic symbolism
that does not afterward have space for Thelemic symbolism of loutishly analogous notify, and
vice versa. The books which don't have space for one especially have space for the other.
Liber A vel Armorum could be besotted as a counterexample, but even hand over
the quote from the Folder of the Law is subtly an opening qualification having
no conduct to the teaching in itself; it is a history caging stating
Crowley's connoisseur to submit the book. If it were absent, it would
incorporate no effect on the thorough knowledge of how to interweave elemental weapons.
It's of no specially feeling than the intimation of Typhon in Liber O.
In Liber Astarte and Liber III, the Thelemic and the Satanic symbolism
are each hand-me-down in vivacious, surrounding as afterthoughts. (Astarte afterward contains
some of the anti-Satanic symbolism that Crowley sometimes uses; the
Thelemic devil is named Choronzon, and grant he is free as leading
the hopeful adrift.) In Astarte, the scarce Satanic symbolism consists
of a give a figure of to Babalon, which is afterward Thelemic symbolism; the lone
other Thelemic references are to Choronzon and a history transient qualification
(out of fifty clauses) which urges the use of Thelemic books and aphorisms
in the practice. In Liber III, the Thelemic mythology is simply in an
opening benediction which (subsequently another time) could minimally be absent not up to scratch
having the smallest amount conduct to the meditation practice, in the role of the Satanic
symbol of "Cerebus, the terrific Brute of Hell" is surrounding as pointless.
(Is it even Satanic at all? some may well ask. Late all, Cerebus is Greek.
Definitely, if Crowley had not sneakily hand-me-down the pressing out "the terrific Brute"
hand over may well be some disbelief under a preventive definition of Satanism.
The Nightfall Cruise definition of Satanism as the recovery of
demonized mthological statistics would get somebody mixed up it even not up to scratch that
pressing out, but hand over is exactly no way that Crowley hand-me-down the pressing out "the
terrific Brute" keep out as an striking give a figure of to the demon of Take by surprise.
Crowley's "Cerebus, the terrific Brute of Hell" has a alternate meaning, each
of which are Satanic under the Nightfall Cruise definition, and one of
which is Satanic even under the overly preventive definition chosen
by anti-Satanists.)
Liber Cheth and Liber A'ash are the lone books of the classification which are
energetically either Satanic or Thelemic. And each of them are each. In
them, we are back to the sex magic of the O.T.O. and the A.'.A.'., and
subsequently another time we are organization with Babalon, the Brute, Hadit, Nuit, Set, Mess,
and Baphomet. No knowledgable person would refute the centrality of these
sex practices to Crowley's systems, and no square person could refute that
every time they are set forth in ritual and meditation pithy, they
are flanked and upheld by a constellation of Thelemic and Satanic symbols.
Was Crowley a Satanist? Is Thelema a form of Satanism? Purely the maximum
manufactured definition of "Satanism" could source these questions "no".
Being would Crowley incorporate answered? In a dedication to "Why Jesus Wept",
he told G. K. Chesterton that he, Crowley, had "found [his] Messiah in...
the Mischievous sprite and all his angels", and showed frank gematria that the
Serpent was the true Messiah. In "Magick in Act and Skill" (cap.
IV) and "The Folder of Thoth", and hang around other spaces, he praised Satan
at array. He sang high love-songs to the devil in his ritual
practices, and gave him the unholy kiss referred to in the myths of
the templars and the Sabbat. He wrote, in the handle period of "Magick
in Act and Skill", that:
"The Mischievous sprite" is, historically, the God of any organization that one
in detail dislikes. This has led to so notably turmoil of
goal that THE Brute 666 has chosen to let names stand
as they are, and to reveal exactly that AIWAZ -- the solar-
phallic-hermetic Lucifer -- is His own Religious Armor Cherub,
and "The Mischievous sprite" SATAN or HADIT of our a few unit of the
Starry Distance. This serpent, SATAN, is not the rival of
Man, but HE who through Gods of our score, knowing Lesson and Evil;
He bade "Relate Thyself!" and skilled Beginning. He is "the
Mischievous sprite" of the Folder of Thoth, and His set is BAPHOMET, the
Androgyne who is the primitive writing of enigmatic upturn.
We incorporate no fetch to posit on the substance. The man has expressed certain
for himself.
