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The Book of the Law
{Book 220}
{technically called
Liber AL vel Legis
Sub Figur? CCXX
as delivered by XCIII=418
to DCLXVI}
{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 gemm^ed azure is
The naked splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
The wing^ed 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, bending down, 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-Khu-it.
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 Velhma.
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. Accurs?d! Accurs?d 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 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 a secret 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 the
knowledge 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 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 accurs^ed 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:
whoso seeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the
promise of our agelong 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
chosen one, 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 st?l? 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 bless^ed 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 st?l? 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 awake the lust &
worship of the Snake; another soul of God and beast shall mingle in
the glob?d 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 veil^ed 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 wing^ed 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 overmuch! 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