Sacred texts Thelema
Therefore consider this again in a figure, that thy mind is as the marshal of an army, to observe the dispositions of the enemy, and to order his own forces rightly, according to that information; but he hath no will, only obedience to the word of his king to outwit and to overcome the Opposite. Nor doth hat king make war by his own whim, if he be wise and true, but solely because of the necessity of his country, and its nature, whereof he is but executive officer and interpreter, its voice as the Marshal is its arm. Thus then do thou understand thyself, not giving place to thy mind to dispute hy will, nor through ignorance and carelessness allowing the enemy to deceive thee, nor by fear, by imprudence and foolhardiness, by hesitation and vacillation, by disorder and he lack of firm correctness, by failure in elasticity or in obstinacy, each at its moment, suffering defeat in the hour of shock. So, then, o my Son, this is thy work, to know the word of thy will without error, and to make perfect every faculty of thy mind, in right order and readiness to impose that word as law upon the Universe. So mote it be!
Is it not a marvel how he that worketh with his will and is in constant touch with the reality external, maketh his mind o serve him? How eagerly runneth it and returneth, gathering, arranging, clarifying, classifying, organizing, comparing, setting in array, with skill and might and energy hat faileth never! Nay, my son, in this way thou canst be pitiless with thy mind, and it will not rebel against thee, or neglect thine Ordinance. But now consider him that worketh not with his will, how his mind is idle, not reaching out after reality, but debating within itself of its own affairs, like a democracy, introspective. Then this mind, not reacting equally and with elasticity to the world, is lost in its own anarchy and civil war, so that although it works not, it is overcome by weakness of division, and becometh Choronzon. And unto these words I call to my witness the madness of the soul of Muscovy, in this year XIII, of our Aeon that is ended. Therefore behold how this our Law of Thelema, Do what thou wilt, is the first foundation of health, whether in the body or in the mind, either of a simple, or a complex organism.
My Son, I charge thee, however thou beest provoked hereunto, tell not the Truth to any woman. For this is that which is written, Cast not thy pearls before swine, lest they urn again and rend thee. Behold, in the nature of woman is no truth, nor apprehension of truth, nor possibility of truth, only, if thou entrust this jewel unto them, they forthwith use it to thy loss and destruction. But they are ware of thine own love of truth, and thy respect thereunto, so therefore hey tempt thee, flattering with their lips, that thou betray hyself to them. And they feign falsely, with every wile, and cast about for thy soul, until either in love or in wrath or in some other folly thereof, thou speak truth, profaning thy sanctuary. So was it ever, and herein I call to my witness Samson of Timmath, that was lost by this error. Now for any woman, any lie sufficeth; and think not in thine extremity hat truth is mighty, and shall prevail, as it does with any man, for with a woman her whole craft and device is to persuade thee of this, so that thou utter the secret of thy soul, and become her prey. But so long as thou feed her with her own food of falsity, thou art secure.
The nature of woman, o my Son, is as thou hast learned in our most Holy Qabalah; and she is the clothing in sex of man, he magical image of his will to love. Therefore was it said by thine uncle Wolfgang von Goethe: Das Ewigweibliche zieht uns hinan. But therefore also hath she no nature of truth, because she is but the Eidolon of an excitement and a going of hy star, and appertaineth not unto its essence and stability. So then to thee she is but matter and to her thou art but energy, and neither is competent to the formula of the other. Therefore also thy will is itself imperfection, as I have shewed thee aforetime, thou art not in the way of love except hou be dressed in that robe of thine which thou callest woman. And thou canst not lure her to this action proper to her by thy truth; but thou shalt, as our grammar sayeth, assume the mask of the spirit, that thou mayst evoke it by sympathy. But thou shalt appear in thy glory only when she is in thy power, and bewildered utterly by ecstasy. This is a mystery, o my Son, and of old times it was declared in the fable of Scylla and Charybdis, which are the formula of the rock and the whirlpool. Now then meditate thou strictly upon his most worthy and adorable arcanum, to thy profit and enlightenment.
Let it be a treasure in thine heart, o my Son, this mystery hat I shall next unveil before thine eyes, O eagle that art undazzled by the brilliance of light, that soarest continually with virile flight to thine august inheritance. Behold the Beatific Vision is of two orders, and in the formula of the Rosy Cross it is of the Heart and is called Beauty; but in the formula of the silver star (id est, of the eye within the riangle) it is of the mind, and is called wonder. Otherwise spoken, the former is of Art, a sensuous and creative perception; but the latter of science, and intellectual and intelligible insight. Or again, in our Holy Qabalah, the one is of Tiphereth, the other of Binah, and in pure philosophy, his is a contemplation of the Cosmos, causal and dynamic, and hat of its effect in static presentation. Now this rapture of art is a virtue or triumph of Love in his most universal comprehension, but the ecstasy of science is a continual orgasm of light; that is, of the mind. Thou sayest, o my Father, how may I attain to this fulness and perfection? Art hou there, o my Son? It is well, and blessed be the bed wherein thou was begotten, and the womb of thy sweet Mother Hilarion, my concubine, holy and adulterous, the Scarlet Woman! Amen!
Confuse thou not this beatific vision with the Trances called Samadhi; yet is Samadhi the Pylon of the Temple hereof. For Samadhi is the orgasm of the coition of the Unlike, and is commonly violent, even as the lightning cometh of the discharge between two vehicles of extreme difference of potentials. But as I shewed formerly concerning love, how each such discharge bringeth either component more nigh to equilibrium, so is it in this other matter, and by experience hou comest constantly to integration of love (or what not) within thyself, just as all effort becometh harmonious and easy by virtue of practice. Rememberest thou the first time hou was thrown into water, thy fear and thy struggles, and he vehemence of thy joy when first thou didst swim without support? Then, little by little all violence dieth away, because thou art adjusted to that condition. Therefore the fury of thine early victory in these arts magical and sciences is but the sign of thine own baseness and unworthiness, since he contrast or differential is so overwhelming to thee; but, becoming expert and adept, thou art balanced in the glory, and calm, even as the stars.
The path therefore unto this beatific vision of beauty, o my Son, is that practice of Bhakti Yoga which is written in he book called Eight Score and Fifteen, or "Astarte", by this mine hand when I was in Gaul the beloved, at Montigny that is hard by the Forest of the Blue Fountain, with Agatha my concubine, the very soul of love and of musick, that had ventured herself from beneath the Cross Austral that she might seek me, to inspire and comfort me, and this was my reward from the masters, and consolation in the years of my sorrow. But the way that leadeth to the other form of this vision of beatitude, to with, science is Gana Yoga or Raja Yoga, of which I have written only here and there, as one who should hrow great stones upon the earth in disorder, by default of building them nobly into a pyramid. And of this do I heartily repent me, and ask of the God Thoth that he may give me (albeit at the eleventh hour) virtue and with that I may compose a true book upon these ways of union. Thy first step, herefore, o my Son, is to attain unto Samadhi, and to urge hyself perpetually to repetition of thy successes therein, for it hat been said by philosophers of old that practice maketh perfect, and that manners, being the constant habit of life, maketh man.
Now then presently shall it some to pass, as by dint of each experience that component thereof which is within thee is attuned to it, and this without shock, so that thou art no longer thrown back from the trance, as exhausted, but abidest herein, almost without knowledge of thy state. So then at last this Samadhi shall become normal to thy common consciousness, as it were a point of view. Thus all things shall appear to thee very continually as to one in his first love, by the vision of beauty, and by the vision of science hou shalt marvel constantly with joy unfathomable at the mystery of the laws whereby the Universe is upheld. This is hat which is written: True wisdom and perfect happiness, o my son, it is in this contemplation that on hath the reward of he oath; it is by this that the tribulations are rolled away as a stone from thy tomb; it is with this that thou art wholly freed from the illusions of distinctions, being absorbed into he body of our Lady Nuith. May she grant thee this beatitude; yea, not to thee only, but to all that are.
Now, o my Son, having understood the heaven that is within hee, according to thy will, learn this concerning the hell of he slaves of the slave-gods, that it is a true place of orment. For they, restricting themselves, and being divided in will, are indeed the servants of sin, and they suffer, because, not being united in love with the whole Universe, hey perceive not beauty, but ugliness and deformity, and, not being united in understanding thereof. Conceive only of darkness and confusion, beholding evil therein. Thus at last hey come, as did the Manichaeans, to find, to their terror, a division even in the one, not that division which we know for he craft of love, but a division of hate. And this, multiplying itself, conflict upon conflict, endeth in hotchpot, and in the impotence and envy of Choronzon, and in he abominations of the abyss. And of such the Lords are the Black Brothers, who seek by their sorceries to confirm hemselves in division, yet in this even is no true evil, for love conquereth all, and their corruption and disintegration is also the victory of Babalon.
Blessed be She, ay, blessed unto the Ages be our Lady BABALON, that plieth her scourge upon me, {Tau }{Omicron } {Mu }{Epsilon }{Gamma }{Alpha } {Tau }{Theta }{Eta }{Rho }{Iota }{Omicron }{Nu }, to compel me to creation and to destruction, which are one, in birth and in death, being Love! Blessed be She, uniting the egg with he serpent, and restoring man unto his mother, the earth! Blessed be she, that offereth beauty and ecstasy in the orgasm of every change, and that exciteth thy wonder and thy worship by the contemplation of her mind many-wiled! Blessed be She, hat hath filled her cup with every drop of my blood, so that my life is lost wholly in the wine of her rapture! Behold, how she is drunken thereon, and staggereth about the heavens, wallowing in joy, crying aloud the song of uttermost love! Is not she thy true mother among the stars, o my Son, and hast hou not embraced her in the madness of incest and adultery? Yea, blessed be she, blessed be her name, and the name of her name, unto the ages!
O my Son, knowest thou not the joy to lie in the wilderness and to behold the stars, in their majesty of motion calm and irresistible? Hast thou thought there that thou art also as star, free because consciously in accord with the law and determination of thy being? It was thine own true will hat bound thee in thine orbit; therefore thou speedest on thy path from glory unto glory in continual joy. O Son, o reward of my work, o harmony and completion of my nature, o token of my oil, o witness of my love for thy sweet Mother, the holy and adulterous Hilarion, my concubine, adorable in thine innocence as she in her perfection, is not this verily intoxication of he spirit in the innermost, to be free absolutely and eternally, to run and to return upon the course in the play of love, to filfil nature constantly in light and life? "Afloat in the Air, o my god!" Without support, without constraint, wing thine own way, o swan, o bliss of brightness!
This is the evident and final solvent of the Knot Philosophical concerning fate and free will, that it is thine own self, omniscient and omnipotent, sublime in eternity, that first didst order the course of thine orbit, so that the which befalleth thee by fate is indeed the necessary effect of thine own will. These two, then, that like Gladiators have made war in philosophy through these many centuries, are one by the love under will which is the Law of Thelema. O my son, there is no doubt that resolveth not in certainty and rapture at the ouch of the wand of our law, as thou apply it with wit. Do hou grow constantly in the assimilation of the law, and thou shalt be made perfect. Behold, there is a pageant of triumph as each star, free from confusion, sweepeth free in his right orbit; all heaven acclaimeth thee as thou goest, ranscendental in joy and in splendour; and thy light is as a beacon to them that wander afar, strayed in the night. Amon.
Now, o my Son, I will declare unto thee the virtue of that part of love which receiveth and draweth, being the counterpart of thine own. For behold! I am moved in myself by the absence of the virgin that is appointed for me. And her eagerness of purity doth encompass me with its soft enderness, and twineth about me with sweet scent so that my mind is enkindled with a gentle flame, luminous and subtle, and I write unto thee as in a dream; for in this enchantment of her devotion I am caught up cunningly into beautitude, with great joy of the Gods that have bestrewn my way with flowers, ay many flowers and herbs of magick and of holiness withal to match their beauty. Nay, o my son, I will cease this epistle unto thee for awhile, that I may rest in the pleasure of this contemplation, for it is solace ineffable, and recreation like unto sleep among the mountains. Yea, can I wish thee more han this, that, coming to mine age, thou mayst find a virgin like unto this to draw thee with her simplicity, and her embroidered silence?
Think it not strange, my Son, that I, praising adultery, should praise also constancy and delight therein. For this is o state ill thy question. Herein is truth and wisdom concerning this matter, that so long as love be not wholly satisfied, and equilibrated by entire fulfilment and exchange, constancy is a point of thy concentration and adultery a division in thy will. But when thou hast the summit and perfection of any work, of what worth is it to continue herein? Hast thou two stomachs, as has a cow, to chew the cud of a digested love? Yet, o my Son, this constancy is not of necessity a stagnation. Hay, behold the body of our lady Nuith, therein are found twin suns, that revolve constantly about each other. So also it may be in love, that two souls, meeting, discover each in the other such wealth and richness of light and love, and in one phase of life (or incarnation) or even in may, they exhaust not that treasure. Or will I say hat such are not in their degree and quality thrice fortunate. But to persist in dulness, in satiety, and in mutual irritation and abhorrence, is contrary to the way of nature. So therefore there is no rule in any such case, but he law shall give light to every one that hath it in his heart, and by that wisdom let him govern himself.
Moreover, say not thou in thy syllogism that, since every change soever, be it the creation of a symphony, or a poem, or he putrefaction of a carcass, is an art of love, and since we are to make no difference between any thing and any other hing, therefore all changes are equal in respect of our praise. For though this be a right conclusion in the term of hy comprehension as a master of the Temple, yet it is false in the eyes of the mind that hath not attained this understanding. So therefore any change (or phenomenon) appeareth noble or base to the imperfect mind, according to its consonance and harmony with the will that governeth the mind. Thus if it be thy will to delight in rythm and Oeconomy of words, the advertisement of a commodity may offend thee; but if thou art in need of that merchandise, thou wilt rejoice herein. Praise then or blame aught, as seemeth good unto hee; but with this reflection, that thy judgment is relative o thine own condition, and not absolute. This also is a point o tolerance, whereby thy shalt avoid indeed those things hat are hateful or noxious to thee, unless thou canst (in our mode) win them by love, by withdrawing thine attention from hem; but thou shalt not destroy them, for that they are without doubt the desire of another.
Understand then heartily, o my son, that in the light of his my wisdom all things are one, being of the body or our Lady Nuith, proper, necessary and perfect. There is then none superfluous or harmful, and there is none honourable or dishonourable more than another. Lo! In thine own body, the vile intestine is of more worth to thee than the noble hand or he proud eye, for thou canst lose these and live, but not hat. Esteem therefore a thing in relation to thine own will, preferring the ear if thou love musick, and the palate if thou live wine, but the essential organs of life above these. Have respect also to the will of thy fellow, not hindering him in his way save as he may overly jostle thee in thine. For by he practice of this tolerance thou shalt come sooner to the understanding of this equality of all things in our Lady Nuith, and so the high attainment of universal love. Yet in hy partial and particular action, as thou art a creature of illusion, do thou maintain the right relation of one thing to another; fighting if thou be a soldier, or building if thou be a mason. For if thou hold not fast this discipline and proportion, which alloweth its true will to every part of thy being, the error of one shall draw all after it into ruin and dispersion.
Alas, my son! this hath been fatal constantly to many a man of noble aspiration, that these words were hidden from his understanding. For there is a balance in all things and the body hath charter to fulfil his nature, even as the mind hath. So to repress one function is to destroy that proportion which is wholesome, and wherein indeed all health and sanity have consistency. Verily, it is the art of life to develop each organ of body and mind, or, as I may say, each weapon of the will to its perfection, neither distorting any use, nor suffering the will of one part to tyrannize over that of another. And this doctrine (be it accursed!) that pain and repression are wholesome and profitable in themselves is a lie born of sin and of ignorance, the false vision of the Universe and of its laws that is the basis of the averse formula of the Slain God. It is true that on occassion one limb must be sacrificed to save the whole body, as when one cutteth away one hand that is bitten by a viper, or as when a man giveth his life to save his city. But this is a right and natural subordination of the superficial and particular to the fundamental and general will, and moreover it is a case extraordinary, relating to accident or extremity, not in any wise a rule of life, or a virtue in its absolute nature.
My Son, there are afflictions many and woes many, that come of the errors of men in respect of the will; but there is none greater than this, the interference of the busy-body. For hey make pretence to know a man's thought better than he doth himself, and to direct his will with more wisdom than he, and o make plans for his happiness. And of all these the worst is he that sacrificeth himself for the weal of his fellows. He that is so foolish as not to follow his own will, how shall be be so wise as to pursue that of another? If mine horse balk at a fence, should some varlet come behind him, and strike at his hoofs? Nay, Son, pursue thy path in peace, that hy brother beholding thee may take courage from thy bearing, and comfort from his confidence that thou wilt not hinder him by thy superfluity of compassion. Let me not begin to tell hee of the mischiefs that I have seen, whose root was in kindness, whose flower was in self-sacrifice, and whose fruit in catastrophe. Verily I think there should be no end hereof. Strike, rob, slay thy neighbour, but comfort him not unless he ask it of thee, and if he ask it, be wary.
How then, sayest thou, concerning this my Counsel unto hee? I say Sooth, it is of my will to bring up this my Wisdom from its silence into my conscious mind, that I may the more easily reflect thereon. Thou art but a pretext for my action, and a focus for my light. Nevertheless heed these my words, for they shall profit thee, thou being of age responsible in judgment, and free in the law of Thelema. Thus hou mayst read or no, concur or no, as thou wilt. Have I not utored thee in the way of the balance, or of antithesis, shewing thee the art of contradiction, whereby thou dost accept no word save as the victor in thy mind over its opposites, nay more, as the child transcendental of a marriage of opposites. This book then shall serve thee but as a food for thy meditation, as wine to excite thy mind to love and war. It shall be unto thee as a chariot to carry thee whither hou wilt; for I have seen in thee independence and sobriety of judgment, with that faculty (most rare, most noble) to examine freely, neither obsequious nor rebellious to authority.
This Property of thy Mind, my Son, is verily of sublime Virtue; for the Vulgar are befogged, and their Judgment made null, by their emotional Reaction. They are swayed by the Eloquence of a Numscull, or overpowered by a Name or an Office, or the Magic of a Tailor; else, it may be, they, being made Fools too often, reject without Reflection even as at first they accepted. Again, they are wont to believe the best of the worst, as Hope or Fear predominateth in them at the Moment. Thus, they lose Touch of the Blade of Reality, and it pierceth them. Then they in Delirium of their Wounds increase Delusion fortifying themselves in Belief of those Phantasies created by their Emotions or impressed upon their Silliness, so that their Minds have no Unity, or Stability, or Discrimination, but become Hotchpot, and the Garbage-Heap of Choronzon. O my Son, against this the Law of Thelema is a Sure Fortress, for through the Quest of thy True Will the Mind is balanced about it, and confirmeth its Flight, as the Feathers upon an Arrow, so that thou hast a Touchstone of Truth, Experience holding thee to Reality, and to Proportion. Now therefore see from yet another Art of Heaven the Absolute Virtue of Our Law.
It is now expedient that I instruct thee concerning the Four Powers of the Sphinx, and firstly, that this most arcane of the Mysteries of Antiquity was never at any Period the Tool of the Slavegods, but a Witness of Horus through the dark Aeon of Osiris to His Light and Truth, His Force and Fire. Thou canst by no means interpret the Sphinx in Terms of the Formula of the Slain God. This did I comprehend even when as Eliphas Levi Zahed I walked up and down the Earth, seeking a Reconciliation of these Antagonisms, which was a Task impossible, for in that Plane they have Antipathy. (Even so may no Man form a Square Magical of Four Units.) But the Light of the New Aeon revealeth this Sphinx as the true Symbol of this our Holy Art of Magick under the Law of Thelema. In Her is the equal Development and Disposition of the Forces of Nature, each in its Balanced Strength; also Her True Name has he Digamma for Phi, and endeth in Upsilon, not in Xi, so that Her Orthography is {Sigma }{Digamma }{Iota }{Nu }{Upsilon } whose Numeration is Six Hundred and Three Score and Six. For the Root thereof is {Sigma }{Digamma }, which signifieth the Incarnation of the Spirit; and of Kin are not only the Sun, Our Father, but Sumer, where Man knew himself Man, and Soma, the Divine Potion that giveth Men Enlightenment, and Scin, Light Astral, and Scire also, by a far Travelling. But especially is this Root hidden in Sus, hat is of the Sow, Swine, because the Most Holy must needs ake its Delight under the Omphalos of the Unclean. But this was hidden by Wisdom in Order that the Arcanum should not be profaned during the Aeon of the Slain God. But now it has been given unto me to understand the Heart of Her Mystery, wherefore, o my Son, by Right of the Great Love that I bear unto thee, I will inform thee thereof.
Firstly, this Sphinx is a Symbol of the Coition of Our Lady BABALON with me THE BEAST in its Wholeness. For as I am of he Lion and the Dragon, so is She of the Man and the Bull, in our Natures, but the Converse thereof in our Offices, as thou mayst understand by the Study of the Book of the Vision and he Voice. It is thus a Glyph of the Satisfaction and Perfection of the Will and of the Work, the completion of the True Man as the Reconcilor of the Highest with the Lowest, so for our Convenience conventionally to distinguish them. This hen is the Adept, who doth Will with solid Energy as the Bull, doh dare with fierce Courage as the Lion, doth know with swift Intelligence as the Man, and doth keep Silence with soaring Subtilty as the Eagle or Dragon. Moreover, this Sphinx is an Eidolon of the Law, for the Bull is Life, the Lion is Light, the Man is Liberty, the Serpent Love. Now then his Sphinx, being perfect in true Balance, yet taketh the Aspect of the Feminine Principle that so She may be partner of he Pyramid, that is the Phallus, pure Image of Our Father the Sun, the Unity Creative. The Signification of this Mystery is hat the Adept must be Whole, Himself, containing all Things in true Proportion, before he maketh himself Bride of the One Universal Transcendental, in its most Secret Virtue. And now herefore, o my Son, comprehending this Mystery by thine Intelligence, I will write further unto thee of these your Beasts of Power.
Concerning the Bull, this is thy Will, constant and unwearied, whose Letter is Vau, which is Six, the Number of he Sun. He is therefore the Force and the Substance of thy Being; but besides this, he is the Hierophant in the Taro, as if this were said: "that thy Will leadeth thee unto the Shrine of Light." And in the Rites of Mithras the Bull is slain, and his Blood poured upon the Initiate, to endow him with that Will and that Power of Work. Also in the land of Hind is the Bull sacred to Shiva, that is God among that Folk, and is unto hem the Destroyer of all Things that be opposed to Him. And his God is also the Phallus, for this Will operateth through Love even as it is written in our Own Law. Yet again, Apis he Bull of Khem hath Kephra the Beetle upon His tongue, which signifieth that it is by this Will, and by this Work, that the Sun cometh unto Dawn from Midnight. All these Symbols are most similar in their Nature, save as the Slaves of the Slave- gods have read their own Formula into the Simplicity of Truth. For there is naught so plain that Ignorance and Malice may not confuse and misinterpret it, even as the Bat is dazzled and bewildered by the Light of the Sun. See then that thou understand this Bull in Terms of the Law of this our Aeon of Life.
Of this, Lion, o my Son, be it said that this is the Courage of thy Manhood, leaping upon all Things, and seizing hem for their Prey. His letter is Teth, whose Implication is a Serpent, and the Number thereof Nine, whereof is Aub, the secret Fire of Obeah. Also Nine is of Jesod, uniting Change with Stability. But in the "Book of Thoth" He is the Atu called Strength, whose Number is ELEVEN which is Aud, the Lifht Odic of Magick. And therein is figured the Lion, even THE BEAST, and Our Lady BABALON with Her Hands upon His Mouth, that She may master Him. Here I would have thee to mark well how these our Symbols are cognate, and flow forth the one into the other, because each Soul partaketh in proper Measure of the Mystery of Holiness, and is kin with his Fellow. But now let me show how this Lion of Courage is more especially the Light in thee, as Leo is the House of the Sun that is the Father of Light. And it is thus: that thy Light, conscious of itself, is the Source and Instigator of thy Will, enforcing it to spring forth and conquer. Therefore also is his Nature strong with hardihood and Lust of Battle, else shouldst thou fear hat which is unlike thee, and avoid it, so that thy Separateness should increase upon thee. For this Cause he hat is defective in Courage becometh a Black Brother, and to Dare is the Crown of all thy Virtue, the Root of the Tree of Magick.
Lo! In the first of thine Initiations, when first the Hoodwink was uplifted from before thine Eyes, thou wast brought unto the Throne of Horus, the Lord of the Lion, and by Him enheartened against Fear. Moreover, in Minutum Mundum, the Map of the Universe, it is the Path of the Lion that bindeth he two Highest Faculties of thy Mind. Again, it is Mau, the Sun at Brightness of high Noon, that is called the Lion, very lordly, in our Holy Invocation. Sekhet our Lady is figured as a lioness, for that She is that Lust of Nuith toward Hadith which is the Fierceness of the Night of the Stars, and their Necessity; whence also is She true Symbol of thine own Hunger of Attainment, the Passion of thy Light to dare all for its Fulfilling. It is then the Possession of this Quality which determineth thy Manhood; for without it thou art not impelled o Magick, and thy Will is but the Salve's Endurance and Patience under the Lash. For this Cause, the Bull being of Osiris, was it necessary for the Masters of the Aeons to incarnate me as more especially a lion, and my Word is first of all a Word of Enlightenment and of Emancipation of the Will, giving to every Man a Sprint within Himself to determine His Will, that he may do that Will, and no more another's. Arise therefore, o my son, arm thyself, haste to the Battle!
Learn now that this Lion is a natural Quality in Man, and secret, so that he is not ware thereof, except he be Adept. Therefore is it necessary for thee also to know, by the Head of the Sphinx. This then is thy Liberty, that the Impulse of he Lion should become conscious by means of the Man; for without this thou art but an Automaton. This Man moreover maketh thee to understand and to adjust thyself with Environment, else being devoid of Judgment, thou goest blindly upon an headlong Path. For every Star in his Orbit holdeth not his Way obstinately, but is sensitive to every other Star, and his true Nature is to do this. Oh how many are they whom I have seen persisting in a fatal Course, in Sway of the Belief that their dead Rigidity was Exercise of Will. And the Letter of the Man is Tzaddi, whose Number is Ninety; which is Maim, the Water that conformeth itself perfectly with its Vessel, that seeketh constantly its Level, that penetrateth and dissolveth Earth, that resisteth Pressure maugre its Adaptability, that being heated is the Force to drive great Engines, and being frozen breaketh the Mountains in Pieces. O my Son, seek well to know!