The Book of Lies, complete

THE BOOK OF LIES ------- Aliester Crowley

March 21st, 1992 e.v. key entry by Frater E.A.D.N., San Diego, California.

Pages in the original are marked thus at the bottom: [page number] Comments and descriptions are also set off by ().

THE BOOK OF LIES

Aliester Crowley

THE BOOK OF LIES WHICH IS ALSO FALSELY CALLED
BREAKS
THE WANDERINGS OR FALSIFICATIONS OF THE ONE THOUGHT OF

FRATER PERDURABO
(Aleister Crowley)

WHICH THOUGHT IS ITSELF UNTRUE

A REPRINT
with an additional commentary to each chapter.

"Break, break, break
At the foot of thy stones, O Sea!
And I would that I could utter
The thoughts that arise in me!"

(OPPOSITE: Photo of FRATER PERDURABO on his ass.)

1

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Α

THE SABBATH OF THE GOAT

O! the heart of N.O.X. the Night of Pan.
ΠΑΝ: Duality: Energy: Death.
Death: Begetting: the supporters of O!
To beget is to die; to die is to beget.
Cast the Seed into the Field of Night.
Life and Death are two names of A.
Kill thyself.
Neither of these alone is enough.

2

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Β

THE CRY OF THE HAWK

Hoor hath a secret fourfold name: it is Do What
Thou Wilt.(3)
Four Words: Naught-One-Many-All.
Thou-Child!
Thy Name is holy.
Thy Kingdom is come.
Thy Will is done.
Here is the Bread.
Here is the Blood.
Bring us through Temptation!
Deliver us from Good and Evil!
That Mine as Thine be the Crown of the Kingdom,
even now.
ABRAHADABRA.
These ten words are four, the Name of the One.

3

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Γ

THE OYSTER

The Brothers of A.'.A.'. are one with the Mother of
the Child.(4)
The Many is as adorable to the One as the One is to
the Many. This is the Love of These; creation-
parturition is the Bliss of the One; coition-
dissolution is the Bliss of the Many.
The All, thus interwoven of These, is Bliss.
Naught is beyond Bliss.
The Man delights in uniting with the Woman; the
Woman in parting from the Child.
The Brothers of A.'.A.'. are Women: the Aspirants
to A.'.A.'. are Men.

4

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Δ

PEACHES

Soft and hollow, how thou dost overcome the hard
and full!
It dies, it gives itself; to Thee is the fruit!
Be thou the Bride; thou shalt be the Mother here-
after.
To all impressions thus. Let them not overcome thee;
yet let them breed within thee. The least of the
impressions, come to its perfection, is Pan.
Receive a thousand lovers; thou shalt bear but One
Child.
This child shall be the heir of Fate the Father.

5

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ε

THE BATTLE OF THE ANTS

That is not which is.
The only Word is Silence.
The only Meaning of that Word is not.
Thoughts are false.
Fatherhood is unity disguised as duality.
Peace implies war.
Power implies war.
Harmony implies war.
Victory implies war.
Glory implies war.
Foundation implies war.
Alas! for the Kingdom wherein all these are at war.

6

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ϝ

CAVIAR

The Word was uttered: the One exploded into one
thousand million worlds.
Each world contained a thousand million spheres.
Each sphere contained a thousand million planes.
Each plane contained a thousand million stars.
Each star contained a many thousand million things.
Of these the reasoner took six, and, preening, said:
This is the One and the All.
These six the Adept harmonised, and said: This is the
Heart of the One and the All.
These six were destroyed by the Master of the
Temple; and he spake not.
The Ash thereof was burnt up by the Magus into
The Word.
Of all this did the Ipsissimus know Nothing.

7

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ζ

THE DINOSAURS

None are They whose number is Six:(5) else were they
six indeed.
Seven(6) are these Six that live not in the City of the
Pyramids, under the Night of Pan.
There was Lao-tzu.
There was Siddartha.
There was Krishna.
There was Tahuti.
There was Mosheh.
There was Dionysus.(7)
There was Mahmud.
But the Seventh men called PERDURABO; for
enduring unto The End, at The End was Naught
to endure. (8)
Amen.

8

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Η

STEEPED HORSEHAIR

Mind is a disease of semen.
All that a man is or may be is hidden therein.
Bodily functions are parts of the machine; silent,
unless in dis-ease.
But mind, never at ease, creaketh "I".
This I persisteth not, posteth not through genera-
tions, changeth momently, finally is dead.
Therefore is man only himself when lost to himself
in The Charioting.

9

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Θ

THE BRANKS

Being is the Noun; Form is the adjective.
Matter is the Noun; Motion is the Verb.
Wherefore hath Being clothed itself with Form?
Wherefore hath Matter manifested itself in Motion?
Answer not, O silent one! For THERE is no "where-
fore", no "because".
The name of THAT is not known; the Pronoun
interprets, that is , misinterprets, It.
Time and Space are Adverbs.
Duality begat the Conjunction.
The Conditioned is Father of the Preposition.
The Article also marketh Division; but the Inter-
jeciton is the sound that endeth in the Silence.
Destroy therefore the Eight Parts of Speech; the
Ninth is nigh unto Truth.
This also must be destroyed before thou enterest
into The Silence.
Aum.

10

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ι

WINDLESTRAWS

The Abyss of Hallucinations has Law and Reason;
but in Truth there is no bond between the Toys of
the Gods.
This Reason and Law is the Bond of the Great Lie.
Truth! Truth! Truth! crieth the Lord of the Abyss
of Hallucinations.
There is no silence in that Abyss: for all that men
call Silence is Its Speech.
This Abyss is also called "Hell", and "The Many".
Its name is "Consciousness", and "The Universe",
among men.
But THAT which neither is silent, nor speaks, re-
joices therein.

11

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΑ

THE GLOW-WORM

Concerning the Holy Three-in-Naught. Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, are only to be under- stood by the Master of the Temple. They are above The Abyss, and contain all con- tradiction in themselves. Below them is a seeming duality of Chaos and Babalon; these are called Father and Mother, but it is not so. They are called Brother and Sister, but it is not so. They are called Husband and Wife, but it is not so. The reflection of All is Pan: the Night of Pan is the Annihilation of the All. Cast down through The Abyss is the Light, the Rosy Cross, the rapture of Union that destroys, that is The Way. The Rosy Cross is the Ambassador of Pan. How infinite is the distance form This to That! Yet All is Here and Now. Nor is there any there or Then; for all that is, what is it but a manifestation, that is, a part, that is, a falsehood, of THAT which is not? Yet THAT which is not neither is nor is not That which is! Identity is perfect; therefore the w of Identity is but a lie. For there is no subject, and there is no predicate; nor is there the contradictory of either of these things. Holy, Holy, Holy are these Truths that I utter, knowing them to be but falsehoods, broken mirrors, troubled waters; hide me, O our Lady, in Thy Womb! for I may not endure the rapture. In this utterance of falsehood upon falsehood, whose contradictories are also false, it seems as if That which I uttered not were true. Blessed, unutterably blessed, is this last of the illusions; let me play the man, and thrust it from me! Amen.

12

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ι Β

THE DRAGON-FLIES

IO is the cry of the lower as OI of the higher. In figures they are 1001;(9) in letters they are Joy.(10) For when all is equilibrated, when all is beheld from without all, there is joy, joy, joy that is but one facet of a diamond, every other facet whereof is more joyful than joy itself.

13

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΓ

PILGRIM-TALK

O thou that settest out upon The Path, false is the
Phantom that thou seekest. When thou hast it
thou shalt know all bitterness, thy teeth fixed in
the Sodom-Apple.
Thus hast thou been lured along That Path, whose
terror else had driven thee far away.
O thou that stridest upon the middle of The Path, no
phantoms mock thee. For the stride's sake thou
stridest.
Thus art thou lured along That Path, whose fascina-
tion else had driven thee far away.
O thou that drawest toward the End of The Path,
effort is no more. Faster and faster dos thou fall;
thy weariness is changed into Ineffable Rest.
For there is not Thou upon That Path: thou hast
become The Way.

14

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΔ

ONION-PEELINGS

The Universe is the Practical Joke of the General
at the Expense of the Particular, quoth FRATER
PERDURABO, and laughed.
But those disciples nearest to him wept, seeing the
Universal Sorrow.
Those next to them laughed, seeing the Universal
Joke.
Below these certain disciples wept.
Then certain laughed.
Others next wept.
Others next laughed.
Next others wept.
Next others laughed.
Last came those that wept because they could not
see the Joke, and those that laughed lest they
should be thought not to see the Joke, and thought
it safe to act like FRATER PERDURABO.
But though FRATER PERDURABO laughed
openly, He also at the same time wept secretly;
and in Himself He neither laughed nor wept.
Nor did He mean what He said.

15

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΕ

THE GUN-BARREL

Mighty and erect is this Will of mine, this Pyramid of fire whose summit is lost in Heaven. Upon it have I burned the corpse of my desires. Mighty and erect is this Φαλλος of my Will. The seed thereof is That which I have borne within me from Eternity; and it is lost within the Body of Our Lady of the Stars. I am not I; I am but an hollow tube to bring down Fire from Heaven. Mighty and marvellous is this Weakness, this Heaven which draweth me into Her Womb, this Dome which hideth, which absorbeth, Me. This is The Night wherein I am lost, the Love through which I am no longer I.

16

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΣ

THE STAG-BEETLE

Death implies change and individuality if thou be
THAT which hath no person, which is beyond the
changing, even beyond changelessness, what hast
thou to do with death?
The bird of individuality is ecstasy; so also is its
death.
In love the individuality is slain; who loves not love?
Love death therefore, and long eagerly for it.
Die Daily.

17

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΖ

THE SWAN(11)

There is a Swan whose name is Ecstasy: it wingeth
from the Deserts of the North;it wingeth through
the blue; it wingeth over the fields of rice; at its
coming they push forth the green.
In all the Universe this Swan alone is motionless; it
seems to move, as the Sun seems to move; such
is the weakness of our sight.
O fool! criest thou?
Amen. Motion is relative: there is Nothing that is
still.
Against this Swan I shot an arrow; the white breast
poured forth blood. Men smote me; then, per-
ceiving that I was but a Pure Fool, they let me
pass.
Thus and not otherwise I came to the Temple of the
Graal.

18

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΗ

DEWDROPS

Verily, love is death, and death is life to come.
Man returneth not again; the stream floweth not
uphill; the old life is no more; there is a new life
that is not his.
Yet that life is of his very essence; it is more He
than all that he calls He.
In the silence of a dewdrop is every tendency of his
soul, and of his mind, and of his body; it is the
Quintessence and the Elixir of his being. Therein
are the forces that made him and his father and his
father's father before him.
This is the Dew of Immortality.
Let this go free, even as It will; thou art not its
master, but the vehicle of It.

19

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΘ

THE LEOPARD AND THE DEER

The spots of the leopard are the sunlight in the
glade; pursue thou the deer stealthily at thy
pleasure.
The dappling of the deer is the sunlight in the glade;
concealed from the leopard do thou feed at thy
pleasure.
Resemble all that surroundeth thee; yet be Thyself
-and take thy pleasure among the living.
This is that which is written-Lurk!-in The Book
of The Law.

20

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Κ

SAMSON

The Universe is in equilibrium; therefore He that is
without it, though his force be but a feather, can
overturn the Universe.
Be not caught within that web, O child of Freedom!
Be not entangled in the universal lie, O child of
Truth!

21

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚΑ

THE BLIND WEBSTER

It is not necessary to understand; it is enough to
adore.
The god may be of clay: adore him; he becomes
GOD.
We ignore what created us; we adore what we create.
Let us create nothing but GOD!
That which causes us to create is our true father and
mother; we create in our own image, which is theirs.
Let us create therefore without fear; for we can
create nothing that is not GOD.

22

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚΒ

THE DESPOT

The waiters of the best eating-houses mock the whole
world; they estimate every client at his proper
value.
This I know certainly, because they always treat me
with profound respect. Thus they have flattered
me into praising them thus publicly.
Yet it is true; and they have this insight because
they serve, and because they can have no personal
interest in the affairs of those whom they serve.
An absolute monarch would be absolutely wise and
good.
But no man is strong enough to have no interest.
Therefore the best king would be Pure Chance.
It is Pure Chance that rules the Universe; therefore,
and only therefore, life is good.

23

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚΓ

SKIDOO

What man is at ease in his Inn?
Get out.
Wide is the world and cold.
Get out.
Thou hast become an in-itiate.
Get out.
But thou canst not get out by the way thou camest
in. The Way out is THE WAY.
Get out.
For OUT is Love and Wisdom and Power.(12)
Get OUT.
If thou hast T already, first get UT.(13)
Then get O.
And so at last get OUT.

24

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚΔ

THE HAWK AND THE BLINDWORM

This book would translate Beyond-Reason into the
words of Reason.
Explain thou snow to them of Andaman.
The slaves of reason call this book Abuse-of-
Language: they are right.
Language was made for men to eat and drink, make
love, do barter, die. The wealth of a language con-
sists in its Abstracts; the poorest tongues have
wealth of Concretes.
Therefore have Adepts praised silence; at least it
does not mislead as speech does.
Also, Speech is a symptom of Thought.
Yet, silence is but the negative side of Truth; the
positive side is beyond even silence.
Nevertheless, One True God crieth hriliu!
And the laughter of the Death-rattle is akin.

25

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚΕ

THE STAR RUBY

Facing East, in the centre, draw deep deep deep thy breath, closing thy mouth with thy right fore- finger prest against thy lower lip. Then dashing down the hand with a great sweep back and out, expelling forcibly thy breath, cry: {Alpha-Pi-Omicron Pi-Alpha-Nu-Tau-Omicron-C? Kappa-Alpha-Kappa-Omicron-Delta- Alpha-Iota-Mu-Omicron-Nu-Omicron-C?}. With the same forefinger touch thy forehead, and say {C?-Omicron-Iota}, thy member, and say {Omega-Phi-Alpha- Lambda-Lambda-Epsilon},(14) thy right shoulder, and say {Iota-C?-Chi-Upsilon-Rho-Omicron-C?}, thy left shoulder, and say {Epsilon-Upsilon-Chi-Alpha-Rho-Iota-C?- Tau-Omicron-C?}; then clasp thine hands, locking the fingers, and cry ΙΑΩ. Advance to the East. Imagine strongly a Pentagram. aright, in thy forehead. Drawing the hands to the eyes, fling it forth, making the sign of Horus, and roar {Chi-Alpha-Omicron-C?}. Retire thine hand in the sign of Hoor pa kraat. Go round to the North and repeat; but scream ΒΑΒΑΛΟΝ. Go round to the West and repeat; but say {Epsilon-Rho-Omega-C?}. Go round to the South and repeat; but bellow ΨΥΧΗ. Completing the circle widdershins, retire to the centre, and raise thy voice in the Paian, with these words ΙΟ ΠΑΝ with the signs of N.O.X. Extend the arms in the form of a Tau, and say low but clear: {Pi-Rho-Omicron Mu-Omicron-Upsilon Iota-Upsilon- Gamma-Gamma-Epsilon-C? Omicron-Pi-Iota-C?-Omega Mu-Omicron- Upsilon Tau-Epsilon-Lambda-Epsilon-Tau-Alpha-Rho-Chi-Alpha- Iota Epsilon-Pi-Iota Delta-Epsilon-Xi-Iota-Alpha C?-Upsilon- Nu-Omicron-Chi-Epsilon-C? Epsilon-Pi-Alpha-Rho-Iota-C?-Tau- Epsilon-Rho-Alpha Delta-Alpha-Iota-Mu-Omicron-Nu-Epsilon- C? Phi-Lambda-Epsilon-Gamma-Epsilon-Iota Gamma-Alpha-Rho Pi-Epsilon-Rho-Iota Mu-Omicron-Upsilon Omicron Alpha-C?- Tau-Eta-Rho Tau-Omega-Nu Pi-Epsilon-Nu-Tau-Epsilon Kappa- Alpha-Iota Epsilon-Nu Tau-Eta-Iota C?-Tau-Eta-Lambda-Eta- Iota Omicron Alpha-C?-Tau-Eta-Rho Tau-Omega-Nu Epsilon-Xi Epsilon-C?-Tau-Eta-Kappa-Epsilon. Repeat the Cross Qabalistic, as above, and end as thou didst begin.

26

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚϜ

THE ELEPHANT AND THE TORTOISE

The Absolute and the Conditioned together make
The One Absolute.
The Second, who is the Fourth, the Demiurge, whom
all nations of Men call The First, is a lie grafted
upon a lie, a lie multiplied by a lie.
Fourfold is He, the Elephant upon whom the
Universe is poised: but the carapace of the
Tortoise supports and covers all.
This Tortoise is sixfold, the Holy Hexagram.(15)
These six and four are ten, 10, the One manifested
that returns into the Naught unmanifest.
The All-Mighty, the All-Ruler, the All-Knower, the
All-Father, adored by all men and by me
abhorred, be thou accursed, be thou abolished, be
thou annihilated, Amen!

27

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚΖ

THE SORCERER

A Sorcerer by the power of his magick had subdued
all things to himself.
Would he travel? He could fly through space more
swiftly than the stars.
Would he eat, drink, and take his pleasure? there
was none that did not instantly obey his bidding.
In the whole system of ten million times ten million
spheres upon the two and twenty million planes he
had his desire.
And with all this he was but himself.
Alas!

28

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚΗ

THE POLE-STAR

Love is all virtue, since the pleasure of love is but
love, and the pain of love is but love.
Love taketh no heed of that which is not and of that
which is.
Absence exalteth love, and presence exalteth love.
Love moveth ever from height to height of ecstasy
and faileth never.
The wings of love droop not with time, nor slacken
for life or for death.
Love destroyeth self, uniting self with that which is
not-self, so that Love breedeth All and None in
One.
Is it not so?...No?...
Then thou art not lost in love; speak not of love.
Love Alway Yieldeth: Love Alway Hardeneth.
..........May be: I write it but to write Her name.

29

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΚΘ

THE SOUTHERN CROSS

Love, I love you! Night, night, cover us! Thou art
night, O my love; and there are no stars but thine
eyes.
Dark night, sweet night, so warm and yet so fresh,
so scented yet so holy, cover me, cover me!
Let me be no more! Let me be Thine; let me be
Thou; let me be neither Thou nor I; let there be
love in night and night in love.
N.O.X. the night of Pan; and Laylah, the night
before His threshold!

30

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Λ

JOHN-A-DREAMS

Dreams are imperfections of sleep; even so is con-
sciousness the imperfection of waking.
Dreams are impurities in the circulation of the blood;
even so is consciousness a disorder of life.
Dreams are without proportion, without good
sense, without truth; so also is consciousness.
Awake from dream, the truth is known:(16) awake
from waking, the Truth is-The Unknown.

31

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΑ

THE GAROTTE

IT moves from motion into rest, and rests from rest
into motion. These IT does alway, for time is not.
So that IT does neither of these things. IT does
THAT one thing which we must express by two
things neither of which possesses any rational
meaning.
Yet ITS doing, which is no-doing, is simple and yet
complex, is neither free nor necessary.
For all these ideas express Relation; and IT, com-
prehending all Relation in ITS simplicity, is out of
all Relation even with ITSELF.
All this is true and false; and it is true and false to
say that it is true and false.
Strain forth thine Intelligence, O man, O worthy
one, O chosen of IT, to apprehend the discourse
of THE MASTER; for thus thy reason shall at
last break down, as the fetter is struck from a
slave's throat.

32

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΒ

THE MOUNTAINEER

Consciousness is a symptom of disease. All that moves well moves without will. All skillfulness, all strain, all intention is contrary to ease. Practise a thousand times, and it becomes difficult; a thousand thousand, and it becomes easy; a thousand thousand times a thousand thousand, and it is no longer Thou that doeth it, but It that doeth itself through thee. Not until then is that which is done well done. Thus spoke FRATER PERDURABO as he leapt from rock to rock of the moraine without ever casting his eyes upon the ground.

33

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΓ

BAPHOMET

A black two-headed Eagle is GOD; even a Black
Triangle is He. In His claws He beareth a sword;
yea, a sharp sword is held therein.
This Eagle is burnt up in the Great Fire; yet not a
feather is scorched. This Eagle is swallowed up
in the Great Sea; yet not a feather is wetted. so
flieth He in the air, and lighteth upon the earth at
His pleasure.
So spake IACOBUS BURGUNDUS MOLENSIS(17)
the Grand Master of the Temple; and of the GOD
that is Ass-headed did he dare not speak.

34

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΔ

THE SMOKING DOG(18)

Each act of man is the twist and double of an hare.
Love and death are the greyhounds that course him.
God bred the hounds and taketh His pleasure in the
sport.
This is the Comedy of Pan, that man should think
he hunteth, while those hounds hunt him.
This is the Tragedy of Man when facing Love and
Death he turns to bay. He is no more hare, but
boar.
There are no other comedies or tragedies.
Cease then to be the mockery of God; in savagery of
love and death live thou and die!
Thus shall His laughter be thrilled through with
Ecstasy.

35

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΕ

VENUS OF MILO

Life is as ugly and necessary as the female body.
Death is as beautiful and necessary as the male
body.
The soul is beyond male and female as it is beyond
Life and Death.
Even as the Lingam and the Yoni are but diverse
developments of One Organ, so also are Life and
Death but two phases of One State. So also the
Absolute and the Conditioned are but forms of
THAT.
What do I love? There is no from, no being, to which
I do not give myself wholly up.
Take me, who will!

36

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΣ

THE STAR SAPPHIRE

Let the Adept be armed with his Magick Rood [and
provided with his Mystic Rose].
In the centre, let him give the L.V.X. signs; or if
he know them, if he will and dare do them, and
can keep silent about them, the signs of N.O.X.
being the signs of Puer, Vir, Puella, Mulier. Omit
the sign I.R.
Then let him advance to the East, and make the
Holy Hexagram, saying: PATER ET MATER
UNIS DEUS ARARITA.
Let him go round to the South, make the Holy
Hexagram, and say: MATER ET FILIUS UNUS
DEUS ARARITA.
Let him go round to the West, make the Holy
Hexagram, and say: FILIUS ET FILIA UNUS
DEUS ARARITA.
Let him go round to the North, make the Holy
Hexagram, and then say: FILIA ET PATER
UNUS DEUS ARARITA.
Let him then return to the Centre, and so to The
Centre of All [making the ROSY CROSS as he
may know how] saying: ARARITA ARARITA
ARARITA.
In this the Signs shall be those of Set Triumphant
and of Baphomet. Also shall Set appear in the
Circle. Let him drink of the Sacrament and let him
communicate the same.]
Then let him say: OMNIA IN DUOS: DUO IN
UNUM: UNUS IN NIHIL: HAE NEC
QUATUOR NEC OMNIA NEC DUO NEC
UNUS NEC NIHIL SUNT.
GLORIA PATRI ET MATRI ET FILIO ET

FILIAE ET SPIRITUI SANCTO EXTERNO
ET SPIRITUI SANCTO INTERNO UT ERAT
EST ERIT IN SAECULA SAECULORUM SEX
IN UNO PER NOMEN SEPTEM IN UNO
ARARITA.
Let him then repeat the signs of L.V.X. but not the
signs of N.O.X.; for it is not he that shall arise in
the Sign of Isis Rejoicing.

37

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΖ

DRAGONS

Thought is the shadow of the eclipse of Luna.
Samadhi is the shadow of the eclipse of Sol.
The moon and the earth are the non-ego and the
ego: the Sun is THAT.
Both eclipses are darkness; both are exceeding rare;
the Universe itself is Light.

38

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΗ

LAMBSKIN

Cowan, skidoo!
Tyle!
Swear to hele all.
This is the mystery.
Life!
Mind is the traitor.
Slay mind.
Let the corpse of mind lie unburied on the edge of
the Great Sea!
Death!
This is the mystery.
Tyle!
Cowan, skidoo!

39

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΛΘ

THE LOOBY

Only loobies find excellence in these words.
It is thinkable that A is not-A; to reverse this is but
to revert to the normal.
Yet by forcing the brain to accept propositions of
which one set is absurdity, the other truism, a
new function of brain is established.
Vague and mysterious and all indefinite are the
contents of this new consciousness; yet they are
somehow vital. by use they become luminous.
Unreason becomes Experience.
This lifts the leaden-footed soul to the Experience
of THAT of which Reason is the blasphemy.
But without the Experience these words are the
Lies of a Looby.
Yet a Looby to thee, and a Booby to me, a Balassius
Ruby to GOD, may be!

40

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Μ

THE HIMOG(19)

A red rose absorbs all colours but red; red is therefore
the one colour that it is not.
This Law, Reason, Time, Space, all Limitation blinds
us to the Truth.
All that we know of Man, Nature, God, is just that
which they are not; it is that which they throw off
as repungnant.
The HIMOG is only visible in so far as He is imperfect.
Then are they all glorious who seem not to be glorious,
as the HIMOG is All-glorious Within?
It may be so.
How then distinguish the inglorious and perfect
HIMOG from the inglorious man of earth?
Distinguish not!
But thyself Ex-tinguish: HIMOG art thou, and
HIMOG shalt thou be.

41

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΑ

CORN BEEF HASH(20)

In V.V.V.V.V. is the Great Work perfect.
Therefore none is that pertaineth not to V.V.V.V.V.
In any may he manifest; yet in one hath he chosen
to manifest; and this one hath given His ring as a
Seal of Authority to the Work of the A.'.A.'.
through the colleagues of FRATER PER-
DURABO.
But this concerns themselves and their administra-
tion; it concerneth none below the grade of
Exempt Adept, and such an one only by com-
mand.
Also, since below the Abyss Reason is Lord, let men
seek by experiment, and not by Questionings.

42

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΒ

DUST-DEVILS

In the wind of the mind arises the turbulence
called I.
It breaks; down shower the barren thoughts.
All life is choked.
This desert is the Abyss wherein the Universe.
The Stars are but thistles in that waste.
Yet this desert is but one spot accursed in a world of
bliss.
Now and again Travellers cross the desert; they come
from the Great Sea, and to the Great Sea they go.
As they go they spill water; one day they will irrigate
the desert, till it flower.
See! five footprints of a Camel! V.V.V.V.V.

43

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΓ

MULBERRY TOPS

Black blood upon the altar! and the rustle of angel
wings above!
Black blood of the sweet fruit, the bruised, the
violated bloom-that setteth The Wheel a-spinning
in the spire.
Death is the veil of Life, and Life of Death; for both
are Gods.
This is that which is written: "A feast for Life, and
a greater feast for Death!" in THE BOOK OF
THE LAW.
The blood is the life of the individual: offer then
blood!

44

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΔ

THE MASS OF THE PHOENIX

The Magician, his breast bare, stands before an altar
on which are his Burin, Bell, Thurible, and two
of the Cakes of Light. In the Sign of the Enterer he
reaches West across the Altar, and cries:
Hail Ra, that goest in Thy bark
Into the Caverns of the DarK!

He gives the sign of Silence, and takes the Bell, and
Fire, in his hands.
East of the Altar see me stand
With Light and Musick in mine hand!

He strikes Eleven times upon the Bell 3 3 3-5 5 5 5 5-
3 3 3 and places the Fire in the Thurible.
I strike the Bell: I light the flame:
I utter the mysterious Name.
ABRAHADABRA
He strikes Eleven times upon the Bell.

Now I begin to pray: Thou Child,
holy Thy name and undefiled!
Thy reign is come: Thy will is done.
Here is the Bread; here is the Blood.
Bring me through midnight to the Sun!
Save me from Evil and from Good!
That Thy one crown of all the Ten.
Even now and here be mine. AMEN.

He puts the first Cake on the Fire of the Thurible.
I burn the Incense-cake, proclaim
These adorations of Thy name.

He makes them as in Liber Legis, and strikes again
Eleven times upon the Bell. With the Burin he then
makes upon his breast the proper sign.

Behold this bleeding breast of mine
Gashed with the sacramental sign!

He puts the second Cake to the wound.
I stanch the blood; the wager soaks
It up, and the high priest invokes!

He eats the second Cake.
This Bread I eat. This Oath I swear
As I enflame myself with prayer:
"There is no grace: there is no guilt:
This is the Law: DO WHAT THOU WILT!"

He strikes Eleven times upon the Bell, and cries
ABRAHADABRA.
I entered in with woe; with mirth
I now go forth, and with thanksgiving,
To do my pleasure on the earth
Among the legions of the living.

He goeth forth.

45

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΕ

CHINESE MUSIC

"Explain this happening!"
"It must have a `natural' cause." \
"It must have a `supernatural' cause." / Let
these two asses be set to grind corn.
May, might, must, should, probably, may be, we
may safely assume, ought, it is hardly question-
able, almost certainly-poor hacks! let them be
turned out to grass!
Proof is only possible in mathematics, and mathe-
matics is only a matter of arbitrary conventions.
And yet doubt is a good servant but a bad master; a
perfect mistress, but a nagging wife.
"White is white" is the lash of the overseer: "white
is black" is the watchword of the slave. The Master
takes no heed.
The Chinese cannot help thinking that the octave has
5 notes.
The more necessary anything appears to my mind,
the more certain it is that I only assert a limitation.
I slept with Faith, and found a corpse in my arms on
awaking; I drank and danced all night with Doubt,
and found her a virgin in the morning.

46

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜϜ

BUTTONS AND ROSETTES

The cause of sorrow is the desire of the One to the
Many, or of the Many to the One. This also is the
cause of joy.
But the desire of one to another is all of sorrow; its
birth is hunger, and its death satiety.
The desire of the moth for the star at least saves him
satiety.
Hunger thou, O man, for the infinite: be insatiable
even for the finite; thus at The End shalt thou
devour the finite, and become the infinite.
Be thou more greedy that the shark, more full of
yearning than the wind among the pines.
The weary pilgrim struggles on; the satiated pilgrim
stops.
The road winds uphill: all law, all nature must be
overcome.
Do this by virtue of THAT in thyself before which
law and nature are but shadows.

47

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΖ

WINDMILL-WORDS

Asana gets rid of Anatomy-con- \
sciousness. | Involuntary
Pranayama gets rid of Physiology- | "Breaks"
consciousness. /
Yama and Niyama get rid of \ Voluntary
Ethical consciousness. / "Breaks"
Pratyhara gets rid of the Objective.
Dharana gets rid of the Subjective.
Dhyana gets rid of the Ego.
Samadhi gets rid of the Soul Impersonal.

Asana destroys the static body (Nama).
Pranayama destroys the dynamic body (Rupa).
Yama destroys the emotions. \ (Vedana).
Niyama destroys the passions. /
Dharana destroys the perceptions (Sanna).
Dhyana destroys the tendencies (Sankhara).
Samadhi destroys the consciousness (Vinnanam).
Homard a la Thermidor destroys the digestion.
The last of these facts is the one of which I am most
certain.

48

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΗ

MOME RATHS(22)

The early bird catches the worm and the twelve-
year-old prostitute attracts the ambassador.
Neglect not the dawn-meditation!

The first plovers' eggs fetch the highest prices; the
flower of virginity is esteemed by the pandar.
Neglect not the dawn-meditation!

early to bed and early to rise
Makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise:
But late to watch and early to pray
Brings him across The Abyss, they say.
Neglect not the dawn-meditation!

49

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΘ

WARATAH-BLOSSOMS

Seven are the veils of the dancing-girl in the harem
of IT.
Seven are the names, and seven are the lamps beside
Her bed.
Seven eunuchs guard Her with drawn swords; No
Man may come nigh unto Her.
In Her wine-cup are seven streams of the blood of
the Seven Spirits of God.
Seven are the heads of THE BEAST whereon She
rideth.
The head of an Angel: the head of a Saint: the head
of a Poet: the head of An Adulterous Woman: the
head of a Man of Valour: the head of a Satyr:
and the head of a Lion-Serpent.
Seven letters hath Her holiest name; and it is

A B
77
B A (Drawn upon this page is the
77 77 Sigil of BABALON.)
N L
7
O

This is the Seal upon the Ring that is on the Fore-
finger of IT: and it is the Seal upon the Tombs of
them whom She hath slain.
Here is Wisdom. Let Him that hath Understanding
count the Number of Our Lady; for it is the
Number of a Woman; and Her Number is
An Hundred and Fifty and Six.

50

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ν

THE VIGIL OF ST. HUBERT

In the forest God met the Stag-beetle. "Hold! Wor-
ship me!" quoth God. "For I am All-Great, All-
Good, All Wise....The stars are but sparks from
the forges of My smiths...."
"Yea, verily and Amen," said the Stag-beetle, "all
this do I believe, and that devoutly."
"Then why do you not worship Me?"
"Because I am real and your are only imaginary."
But the leaves of the forest rustled with the laughter
of the wind.
Said Wind and Wood: "They neither of them know
anything!"

51

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΑ

TERRIER-WORK

Doubt.
Doubt thyself.
Doubt even if thou doubtest thyself.
Doubt all.
Doubt even if thou doubtest all.
It seems sometimes as if beneath all conscious doubt
there lay some deepest certainty. O kill it! Slay the
snake!
The horn of the Doubt-Goat be exalted
Dive deeper, ever deeper, into the Abyss of Mind,
until thou unearth the fox THAT. On, hounds!
Yoicks! Tally-ho! Bring THAT to bay!
Then, wind the Mort!

52

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΒ

THE BULL-BAITING

Fourscore and eleven books wrote I; in each did I
expound THE GREAT WORK fully, from The
beginning even unto The End thereof.
Then at last came certain men unto me, saying:
O Master! Expound thou THE GREAT WORK
unto us, O Master!
And I held my peace.
O generation of gossipers! who shall deliver you
from the Wrath that is fallen upon you?
O Babblers, Prattlers, Talkers, Loquacious Ones,
Tatlers, Chewers of the Red Rag that inflameth
Apis the Redeemer to fury, learn first what is
Work! and THE GREAT WORK is not so far
beyond!

53

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΓ

THE DOWSER

Once round the meadow. Brother, does the hazel
twig dip?
Twice round the orchard. Brother, does the hazel
twig dip?
Thrice round the paddock, Highly, lowly, wily, holy,
dip, dip, dip!
Then neighed the horse in the paddock-and lo!
its wings.
For whoso findeth the SPRING beneath the earth
maketh the treaders-of-earth to course the heavens.
This SPRING is threefold; of water, but also of steel,
and of the seasons.
Also this PADDOCK is the Toad that hath the
jewel between his eyes-Aum Mani Padmen
Hum! (Keep us from Evil!)

54

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΔ

Five and forty apprentice masons out of work!
Fifteen fellow-craftsmen out of work!
Three Master Masons out of work!
All these sat on their haunches waiting The Report
of the Sojourner; for THE WORD was lost.
This is the Report of the Sojourners: THE WORD
was LOVE;(23) and its number is An Hundred and
Eleven.
Then said each AMO;(24) for its number is An Hundred
and Eleven.
Each took the Trowel from his LAP,(25) whose number
is AN Hundred and Eleven.
Each called moreover on the Goddess NINA,(26) for
Her number is An Hundred and Eleven.
Yet with all this went The Work awry; for THE
WORD OF THE LAW IS ΘΕΛΗΜΑ.

55

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΕ

THE DROOPING SUNFLOWER

The One Thought vanished; all my mind was torn to
rags: --- nay! nay! my head was mashed into
wood pulp, and thereon the Daily Newspaper was
printed.
Thus wrote I, since my One Love was torn from me.
I cannot work: I cannot think: I seek distraction
here: I seek distraction there: but this is all my
truth, that I who love have lost; and how may I
regain?
I must have money to get to America.
O Mage! Sage! Gauge thy Wage, or in the Page of
Thine Age is written Rage!
O my darling! We should not have spent Ninety
Pounds in that Three Weeks in Paris!...Slash the
Breaks on thine arm with a pole-axe!

56

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝϜ

TROUBLE WITH TWINS

Holy, holy, holy, unto Five Hundred and Fifty Five
times holy be OUR LADY of the STARS!
Holy, holy, holy, unto One Hundred and Fifty Six
times holy be OUR LADY that rideth upon THE
BEAST!
Holy, holy, holy, unto the Number of Times
Necessary and Appropriate be OUR LADY
Isis in Her Millions-of-Names, All-Mother,
Genetrix-Meretrix!
Yet holier than all These to me is LAYLAH, night
and death; for Her do I blaspheme alike the finite
and the The Infinite.
So wrote not FRATER PERDURABO, but the
Imp Crowley in his Name.
For forgery let him suffer Penal Servitude for Seven
Years; or at least let him do Pranayama all the
way home-home? nay! but to the house of the
harlot whom he loveth not. For it is LAYLAH that
he loveth...................................

And yet who knoweth which is Crowley, and which is
FRATER PERDURABO?

57

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΖ

THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS

Dirt is matter in the wrong place.
Thought is mind in the wrong place.
Matter is mind; so thought is dirt.
Thus argued he, the Wise One, not mindful that all
place is wrong.
For not until the PLACE is perfected by a T saith
he PLACET.
The Rose uncrucified droppeth its petals; without
the Rose the Cross is a dry stick.
Worship then the Rosy Cross, and the Mystery of
Two-in-One.
And worship Him that swore by His holy T that One
should not be One except in so far as it is Two.
I am glad that LAYLAH is afar; no doubt clouds
love.

58

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΗ

Haggard am I, an hyaena; I hunger and howl. Men
think it laughter-ha! ha! ha!
There is nothing movable or immovable under the
firmament of heaven on which I may write the
symbols of the secret of my soul.
Yea, though I were lowered by ropes into the
utmost Caverns and Vaults of Eternity, there is
no word to express even the first whisper of the
Initiator in mine ear: yea, I abhor birth, ululating
lamentations of Night!
Agony! Agony! the Light within me breeds veils; the
song within be dumbness.
God! in what prism may any man analyse my Light?
Immortal are the adepts; and ye hey die-They
die of SHAME unspeakable; They die as the
Gods die, for SORROW.
Wilt thou endure unto THe End, O FRATER
PERDURABO, O Lamp in The Abyss? Thou hast
the Keystone of the Royal Arch; yet the
Apprentices, instead of making bricks, put the
straws in their hair, and think they are Jesus
Christ!
O sublime tragedy and comedy of THE GREAT
WORK!

59

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΘ

There is no help-but hotch pot!-in the skies
When Astacus sees Crab and Lobster rise.
Man that has spine, and hopes of heaven-to-be,
Lacks the Amoeba's immortality.
What protoplasm gains in mobile mirth
Is loss of the stability of earth.
Matter and sense and mind have had their day:
Nature presents the bill, and all must pay.
If, as I am not, I were free to choose,
How Buddhahood would battle with The Booze!
My certainty that destiny is "good"
Rests on its picking me for Buddhahood.
Were I a drunkard, I should think I had
Good evidence that fate was "bloody bad".

60

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ξ

THE WOUND OF AMFORTAS(27)

The Self-mastery of Percivale became the Self-
masturbatery of the Bourgeois.
Vir-tus has become "virture".
The qualities which have made a man, a race, a city,
a caste, must be thrown off; death is the penalty
of failure. As it is written: In the hour of success
sacrifice that which is dearest to thee unto the
Infernal Gods!
The Englishman lives upon the excrement of his
forefathers.
All moral codes are worthless in themselves; yet in
every new code there is hope. Provided always that
the code is not changed because it is too hard, but
because if is fulfilled.
The dead dog floats with the stream; in puritan
France the best women are harlots; in vicious
England the best women are virgins.
If only the Archbishop of Canterbury were to go
make in the streets and beg his bread!
The new Christ, like the old, it the friend of publicans
and sinners; because his nature is ascetic.
O if everyman did No Matter What, provided that it
is the one thing that he will not and cannot do!

61

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΑ

THE FOOL'S KNOT

O Fool! begetter of both I and Naught, resolve this
Naught-y Knot!
O! Ay! this I and O-IO!-IAO! For I owe "I"
aye to Nibbana's Oe.(28)
I Pay-Pe, the dissolution of the House of God-
for Pe comes after O-after Ayin that triumphs
over Aleph in Ain, that is O.(29)
OP-us, the Work! the OP-ening of THE EYE!(30)
Thou Naughty Boy, thou openest THE EYE OF
HORUS to the Blind Eye that weeps!(31) The Up-
right One in thine Uprightness rejoiceth-Death
to all Fishes!(32)

62

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΒ

TWIG?(33)

The Phoenix hat a Bell for Sound; Fire for Sight; a
Knife for Touch; two cakes, one for taste, the other
for smell.
He standeth before the Altar of the Universe at
Sunset, when Earth-life fades.
He summons the Universe, and crowns it with
MAGICK Light to replace the sun of natura light.
He prays unto, and give homage to, Ro-Hoor_khuit;
to Him he then sacrifices.
The first cake, burnt, illustrates the profit drawn
from the scheme of incarnation.
The second, mixt with his life's blood and eaten,
illustrates the use of the lower life to feed the
higher life.
He then takes the Oath and becomes free-un
conditioned-the Absolute.
Burning up i the Flame of his Prayer, and born
again-the Phoenix!

63

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΓ

MARGERY DAW

I love LAYLAH.
I lack LAYLAH.
"Where is the Mystic Grace?" sayest thou?
Who told thee, man, that LAYLAH is not Nuit, nd
I hadit?
I destroyed all things; they are reborn in other
shapes.
I gave up all for One; this One hath given up its
Unity for all?
I wrenched DOG backwards to find GOD; now GOD
barks.
Think me not fallen because I love LAYLAH, and
lack LAYLAH.
I am the Master of the Universe; then give me a
heap of straw in a hut, and LAYLAH naked!
Amen.

64

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΔ

CONSTANCY

I was discussing oysters with a crony:
GOD sent to me the angels DIN and DONI.
"An man of spunk," they urged, "would hardly
choose
To breakfast every day chez Laperouse."
"No!" I replied, "h would not do so, BUT
Think of his woe if Laperouse were shut!
"I eat these oysters and I drink this wine
Solely to drown this misery of mine.
"Yet the last height of consolation's cold:
Its pinnacle is-not to be consoled!
"And though I sleep with Janefore and Eleanor
"And Julian only fixes in my mind
Even before feels better than behind.
"You are Mercurial spirits-be so kind
As to enable me to raise the wind.
"Put me in LAYLAH'S arms again: the Accurst,
Leaving me that. elsehow may do his worst."
DONI and DIN, perceiving me inspired,
Conceived their task was finished: they retired.
I turned upon my friend, and, breaking bounds,
Borrowed a trifle of two hundred pounds.

65

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΕ

SIC TRANSEAT---

"At last I lifted up mine eyes, and beheld; and lo!
the flames of violet were become as tendrils of
smoke, as mist at sunset upon the marsh-lands.
"And in the midst of the moon-pool of silver was the
Lily of white and gold. In this Lily is all honey,
in this Lily that flowereth at the midnight. In
this Lily is all perfume; in this Lily is all music.
And it enfolded me."
Thus the disciples that watched found a dead body
kneeling at the altar. Amen!

66

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞϜ

THE PRAYING MANTIS

"Say: God is One." This I obeyed: for a thousand
and one times a night for one thousand nights and
one did I affirm th Unity.
But "night" only means LAYLAH(34); and Unity and
GOD are not worth even her blemishes.
Al-lah is only sixty-six; but LAYLAH counteth
up to Seven and Seventy.(35)
"Yea! the night shall cover all; the night shall cover
all."

67

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΖ

SODOM-APPLES

I have bought pleasant trifles, and thus soothed my
lack of LAYLAH.
Light is my wallet, and my heart is also light; and
yet I know that the clouds will gather closer for
the false clearing.
The mirage will fade; then will the desert be thirstier
than before.
O ye who dwell in the Dark Night of the Soul, beware
most of all of every herald of the Dawn!
O ye who dwell in the City of the Pyramids beneath
the Night of PAN, remember that ye shall see no
more light but That of the great fire that shall
consume your dust to ashes!

68

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΗ

MANNA

At four o'clock there is hardly anybody in Rumpel-
mayer's.
I have my choice of place and service; the babble of
the apes will begin soon enough.
"Pioneers, O Pioneers!"
Sat no Elijah under the Juniper-tree, and wept?
Was not Mohammed forsaken in Mecca, and Jesus
in Gethsemane?
These prophets were sad at heart; but the chocolate
at Rumpelmayer's is great, and the Mousse Noix
is like Nepthys for perfection.
Also there are little meringues with cream and
chestnut-pulp, very velvety seductions.
Sail I not toward LAYLAH within seven days?
Be not sad at heart, O prophet; the babble of the
apes will presently begin.
Nay, rejoice exceedingly; for after all the babble of
the apes the Silence of the Night.

69

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΘ

THE WAY TO SUCCEED-AND THE WAY TO SUCK EGGS!

This is the Holy Hexagram.
Plunge from the height, O God, and interlock with
Man!
Plunge from the height, O Man, and interlock with
Beast!
The Red Triangle is the descending tongue of grace;
the Blue Triangle is the ascending tongue of
prayer
This Interchange, the Double Gift of Tongues, the
Word of Double Power-ABRAHADABRA!-is
the sign of the GREAT WORK, for the GREAT
WORK is accomplished in Silence. And behold is
not that Word equal to Cheth, that is Cancer.
whose Sigil is {Cancer}?
This Work also eats up itself, accomplishes its own
end, nourishes the worker, leaves no seed, is per-
fect in itself.
Little children, love one another!

70

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ο

BROOMSTICK-BABBLINGS

FRATER PERDURABO is of the Sanhedrim of the
Sabbath, say men; He is the Old Goat himself,
say women.
Therefore do all adore him; the more they detest
him the more do they adore him.
Ay! let us offer the Obscene Kiss!
Let us seek the Mystery of the Gnarled Oak, and of
the Glacier Torrent!
To Him let us offer our babes! Around Him let
us dance in the mad moonlight!
But FRATER PERDURABO is nothing but AN
EYE; what eye none knoweth.
Skip, witches! Hop, toads! Take your pleasure!-
for the play of the Universe is the pleasure of
FRATER PERDURABO.

71

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟΑ

KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL

For mind and body alike there is no purgative like
Pranayama, no purgative like Pranayama.
For mind, for body, for mind and body alike-
alike!-there is, there is, there is no purgative, no
purgative like Pranayama-Pranayama!-Prana-
yama! yea, for mind and body alike there is no
purgative, no purgative, no purgative (for mind
and body alike!) no purgative, purgative, purgative
like Pranayama, no purgative for mind and body
alike, like Pranayama, like Pranayama, like
Prana-Prana-Prana-Prana-pranayama!
-Pranayama!
AMEN.

72

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟΒ

HASHED PHEASANT

Shemhamphorash! all hail, divided Name!
Utter it once, O mortal over-rash!-
The Universe were swallowed up in flame
-Shemhamphorash!

Nor deem that thou amid the cosmic crash
May find one thing of all those things the same!
The world has gone to everlasting smash.

No! if creation did possess an aim
(It does not.) it were only to make hash
Of that most "high" and that most holy game,
Shemhamphorash!

73

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟΓ

THE DEVIL, THE OSTRICH, AND THE ORPHAN CHILD

Death rides the Camel of Initiation.(36)
Thou humped and stiff-necked one that groanest in
Thine Asana, death will relieve thee!
Bite not, Zelator dear, but bide! Ten days didst
thou go with water in thy belly? Thou shalt go
twenty more with a firebrand at thy rump!
Ay! all thine aspiration is to death: death is the
crown of all thine aspiration. Triple is the cord of
silver moonlight; it shall hang thee, O Holy One,
O Hanged Man, O Camel-Termination-of-the-
third-person-plural for thy multiplicity, thou
Ghost of a Non-Ego!
Could but Thy mother behold thee, O thou UNT!(37)
The Infinite Snake Ananta that surroundeth the
Universe is but the Coffin-Worm!

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟΔ

CAREY STREET

When NOTHING became conscious, it made a bad
bargain.
This consciousness acquired individuality: a worse
bargain.
The Hermit asked for love; worst bargain of all.
And now he has let his girl go to America, to have
"success" in "life": blank loss.
Is there no end to this immortal ache
That haunts me, haunts me sleeping or awake?
If I had Laylah, how could I forget
Time, Age, and Death? Insufferable fret!
Were I an hermit, how could I support
The pain of consciousness, the curse of thought?
Even were I THAT, there still were one sore
spot-
The Abyss that stretches between THAT and
NOT.
Still, the first step is not so far away:-
The Mauretania sails on Saturday!

75

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟΕ

PLOVERS' EGGS(38)

Spring beans and strawberries are in: goodbye to the
oyster!
If I really knew what I wanted, I could give up
Laylah, or give up everything for Laylah.
But "what I want" varies from hour to hour.
This wavering is the root of all compromise, and so
of all good sense.
With this gift a man can spend his seventy years in
peace.
Now is this well or ill?
Emphasise gift, then man, then spend, then seventy
years, and lastly peace, and change the intonations
--each time reverse the meaning!
I would show you how; but-for the moment!
--I prefer to think of Laylah.

76

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟϜ

PHAETON

No.
Yes.
Perhaps.
O!
Eye.
I.
Hi!
Y?
No.
Hail! all ye spavined, gelded, hamstrung horses!
Ye shall surpass the planets in their courses.
How? Not by speed, nor strength, nor power to stay,
But by the Silence that succeeds the Neigh!

77

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟΖ

THE SUBLIME AND SUPREME SEPTENARY IN ITS MATURE MAGICAL MANIFESTATION THROUGH MATTER: AS IT IS WRITTEN: AN HE-GOAT ALSO

Laylah.

78

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟΗ

WHEEL AND--WOA!

The Great Wheel of Samsara.
The Wheel of the Law [Dhamma].
The Wheel of the Taro.
The Wheel of the Heavens.
The Wheel of Life.
All these Wheels be one; yet of all these the Wheel of
the TARO alone avails thee consciously.
Meditate long and broad and deep, O man, upon this
Wheel, revolving it in thy mind
Be this thy task, to see how each card springs
necessarily from each other card, even in due order
from The Fool unto The Ten of Coins.
Then, when thou know'st the Wheel of Destiny
complete, mayst thou perceive THAT Will which
moved it first. [There is no first or last.}
And lo! thou art past through the Abyss.

79

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΟΘ

THE BAL BULLIER

Some men look into their minds into their memories,
and find naught but pain and shame.
These then proclaim "The Good Law" unto mankind.
These preach renunciation, "virtue", cowardice in
every form.
These whine eternally.
Smug, toothless, hairless Coote, debauch-emascu-
lated Buddha, come ye to me? I have a trick to
make you silent, O ye foamers-at-the mouth!
Nature is wasteful; but how well She can afford it!
Nature is false; but I'm a bit of a liar myself.
Nature is useless; but then how beautiful she is!
Nature is cruel; but I too am a Sadist.
The game goes on; it y have been too rough for
Buddha, but it's (if anything) too dull for me.
Viens, beau negre! Donne-moi tes levres encore!

80

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Π

BLACKTHORN

The price of existence is eternal warfare.(39)
Speaking as an Irishman, I prefer to say: The price
of eternal warfare is existence.
And melancholy as existence is, the price is well
worth paying.
Is there is a Government? then I'm agin it! To Hell
with the bloody English!
"O FRATER PERDURABO, how unworthy are
these sentiments!"
"D'ye want a clip on the jaw?"(40)

81

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΑ

LOUIS LINGG

I am not an Anarchist in your sense of the word:
your brain is too dense for any known explosive
to affect it.
I am not an Anarchist in your sense of the word:
fancy a Policeman let loose on Society!
While there exists the burgess, the hunting man, or
any man with ideals less than Shelley's and self-
discipline less than Loyola's-in short, any man
who falls far short of MYSELF-I am against
Anarchy, and for Feudalism.
Every "emancipator" has enslaved the free.

82

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΒ

BORTSCH

Witch-moon that turnest all the streams to blood,
I take this hazel rod, and stand, and swear
An Oath-beneath this blasted Oak and bare
That rears its agony above the flood
Whose swollen mask mutters an atheist's prayer.
What oath may stand the shock of this offence:
"There is no I, no joy, no permanence"?

Witch-moon of blood, eternal ebb and flow
Of baffled birth, in death still lurks a change;
And all the leopards in thy woods that range,
And all the vampires in their boughs that glow,
Brooding on blood-thirst-these are not so strange
And fierce as life's unfailing shower. These die,
Yet time rebears them through eternity.

Hear then the Oath, with-moon of blood, dread
moon!
Let all thy stryges and thy ghouls attend!
He that endureth even to the end
Hath sworn that Love's own corpse shall lie at noon
Even in the coffin of its hopes, and spend
All the force won by its old woe and stress
In now annihilating Nothingness.

This chapter is called Imperial Purple
and A Punic War.

83

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΓ

THE BLIND PIG(41)

Many becomes two: two one: one Naught. What
comes to Naught?
What! shall the Adept give up his hermit life, and
go eating and drinking and making merry?
Ay! shall he not do so? he knows that the Many is
Naught; and having Naught, enjoys that Naught
even in the enjoyment of the Many.
For when Naught becomes Absolute Naught, it
becomes again the Many.
Any this Many and this Naught are identical; they
are not correlatives or phases of some one deeper
Absence-of-Idea; they are not aspects of some
further Light: they are They!
Beware, O my brother, lest this chapter deceive
thee!

84

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΔ

THE AVALANCHE

Only through devotion to FRATER PERDURABO
may this book be understood.
How much more then should He devote Himself to
AIWASS for the understanding of the Holy Books
of ΘΕΛΗΜΑ?
Yet must he labour underground eternally. The
sun is not for him, nor the flowers, nor the voices
of the birds; for he is past beyond all these. Yea,
verily, oft-times he is weary; it is well that the
weight of the Karma of the Infinite is with him.
Therefore is he glad indeed; for he hath finished THE
WORK; and the reward concerneth him no whit.

85

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΕ

BORBORYGMI

I distrust any thoughts uttered by any man whose
health is not robust.
All other thoughts are surely symptoms of disease.
Yet these are often beautiful, and may be true within
the circle of the conditions of the speaker.
Any yet again! Do we not find that the most robust
of men express no thoughts at all? They eat, drink,
sleep, and copulate in silence.
What better proof of the fact that all thought is
dis-ease?
We are Strassburg geese; the tastiness of our talk
comes from the disorder of our bodies.
We like it; this only proves that our tastes also are
depraved and debauched by our disease.

86

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠϜ

Ex nihilo N. I. H. I. L. fit.
N. the Fire that twisteth itself and burneth like a
scorpion.
I, the unsullied ever-flowing water.
H. the interpenetrating Spirit, without and within.
Is not its name ABRAHADABRA?
I. the unsullied ever-flowing air.
L. the green fertile earth.
Fierce are the Fires of the Universe, and on their
daggers they hold aloft the bleeding heart of earth.
Upon the earth lies water, sensuous and sleepy.
Above the water hangs air; and above air, but also
below fire-and in all-the fabric of all being
woven on Its invisible design, is
ΑΙΘΗΡ.

87

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΖ

MANDARIN-MEALS

There is a dish of sharks' fins and of sea-slug, well set in birds' nests...oh! Also there is a souffle most exquisite of Chow-Chow. These did I devise. But I have never tasted anything to match the

(?)

which she gave me before She went away.
March 22, 1912. E. V.

88

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΗ

GOLD BRICKS
Teach us Your secret, Master! yap my Yahoos.
Then for the hardness of their hearts, and for the
softness of their heads, I taught them Magick.
But...alas!
Teach us Your real secret, Master! how to become
invisible, how to acquire love, and oh! beyond all,
how to make gold.
But how much gold will you give me for the Secret
of Infinite Riches?
Then said the foremost and most foolish; Master, it
is nothing; but here is an hundred thousand
pounds.
This did I deign to accept, and whispered in his ear
this secret:
A SUCKER IS BORN EVERY MINUTE.

89

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΘ

UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

I am annoyed about the number 89.
I shall avenge myself by writing nothing in this
chapter.
That, too, is wise; for since I am annoyed, I could
not write even a reasonably decent lie.

90

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ Ρ

STARLIGHT

Behold! I have lived many years, and I have travelled
in every land that is under the dominion of the
Sun, and I have sailed the seas from pole to pole.
Now do I lift up my voice and testify that all is
vanity on earth, except the love of a good woman,
and that good woman LAYLAH. And I testify
that in heaven all is vanity (for I have journeyed
oft, and sojourned oft, in every heaven), except the
love of OUR LADY BABALON. And I testify
that beyond heaven and earth is the love of OUR
LADY NUIT.
And seeing that I am old and well stricken in years,
and that my natural forces fail, therefore do I rise
up i my throne and call upon THE END.
For I am youth eternal and force infinite.
ANd at THE END is SHE that was LAYLAH, and
BABALON, and NUIT, being...

91

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΡΑ

THE HEIKLE
A. M. E. N.