The Book of The Law Study Group 3.51

[Grigori]

Originally Posted by Aiwass

51. With my Hawk’s head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/index.htm
http://hermetic.com/crowley/index.html
http://lib.oto-usa.org/libri/liber0220.html

Other threads in this study group

[Aeon418]

There's something fishy about this verse.

III x 51 = 153 - the number of fish caught by the disciples in John 21:11.

There are 17 words in this verse. DIG - to fish, fisher(man).

This verse contains 57 letters. 57 - DGIM. Dagim means fishes, Pisces.

One of the most common sysmbols of Jesus is the ΙΧΘΥΣ, the fish, which is an acronym of Ἰησοῦς Χρειστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr), Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior.

Why does Horus attack the eyes of Jesus? Crowley thought this symbolized the "point of view" of Christianity. Self sacrifice, vicarious atonement, redemption through suffering and the vile doctrine of original sin. These and more are pecked out by Horus.

By coincidence 153 is also the value of H' PSCh (HaPesach), The Passover. Originally the Passover comes from the story in the book of Exodus. During the Egyptian captivity the Israelites were commanded to sacrifice a lamb and smear it's blood over their doors to ensure that the Lord would "pass-over" their first born and go and kill someone else instead. Fast forward and in the New Testament Jesus is the same Lamb of God who died for you and your sins. Vicarious Atonement! Feel guilty? Not!!! Peck, peck, peck....

153 is also the mystic number of the path of Zain - Sword. A possible reference to Matthew 10:43. I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword..

[Aeon418]

For those who are interested here is a link to Crowley's Liber 888: The Gospel According to St. Bernard Shaw. http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib888.html

It is a criticism and commentary of Bernard Shaw's well know preface to Androcles and the Lion. http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib888-shaw.html

Both pieces are best read side by side - Shaw then Crowley. It shows just how well Crowley new the bible.

[Grigori]

It's interesting to me that that this verse says Horus picks at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross. This gives me the idea that is specifically the perspective of Christ while on the cross that should be considered, or at least the perspective that lead to the crucifixion (or appreciation of the crucifixion). I guess I see this as not a rejection of all of Christ's teachings, but a specific rejection of the sacrifice of the crucifixion, as Crowley discusses in the text on the Hanged Man.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/cr...20HANGED%20MAN

I'd also think of the sayings of Christ on the cross as being the specific perspectives being addresses. In particular my mind goes to "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" though I suppose any or all are as valid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayings...s_on_the_cross

[Aeon418]

It's interesting to note that the "Hawk's head" is symbolic of absolute sight. To me this suggests the perception of a higher awareness that makes the previous state seem like blindness.

The Hawk's head is singular and pecks at the eyes, plural.(Gemini?) This may indicate the destruction of dualistic, Ruach(Sword) centered perception that occurs when consciousness opens up to the unitary awareness that characterises the level of Briah(Cup).

The crucifixtion story is a dramatization of the perceptions of the Ruach based ego-personality as it undergoes moments that are commonly called "spiritual growth". From the limited perspective of an individual going through this ordeal it really does seem that they are following the pattern of the dying god. But just like the daily solar cycle it's an illusion.

An interesting exercise is to read one of the crucifixtion narratives, and each time you see the name, Jesus, substitute "personality", "ego", or "Ruach."

[Always Wondering]

Such a story was naturally also useful to impress the vulgar. It is to be remembered that in these times the art of writing was called magic. The old word for magic `gramarye' merely means `writing'. It was a miracle in the eyes of the vulgar to understand a man at a distance otherwise than by word of mouth.

I was trying to get my head around this yesterday. I was wondering why all the acient writings seemed to be of a magical or spiritual nature. Or are those just the ones we hear about? This helps explain a little.

Still reading. I suddenly got a lot of reading for someone with no books at the moment.


AW

[Always Wondering]

Give the lion the heart of the lamb, and the lamb the force of the lion; and they will lie down in peace togeather."

What, four years, of studying this mans work and still I find little treasures like this in The Synagogue of Satan. It's becoming more and more clear I have to organize my reading better. Perhaps also a speed reading class.

Still reading the links. . .

[Aeon418]

This is just a passing thought and might not lead anywhere, but I was thinking about this verse and I.N.R.I. and wondered what would happen if I pecked out the I's (Eyes ).

If we get rid of the I's that leaves N.R. In Hebrew NR is Lamp, and the Lamp is the magical weapon that represents the element of Spirit. I think that is quite suggestive when you link it to the image of a blind Jesus nailed to a cross which is the emblem of the four elements.

The following quote is from Book 4: Part II, chapter X - The Lamp. (Reading this quote just now made me think of AL II:9 for some reason.)

This Lamp hangeth above the Altar, it hath no support from below; its light illumines the whole Temple, yet upon it are cast no shadows, no reflections. It cannot be touched, it cannot be extinguished, in no way can it change; for it is utterly apart from all those things which have complexity, which have dimension, which change and may be changed.

When the eyes of the Magus are fixed upon this Lamp naught else exists.

The Instruments lie idle on the Altar; that Light alone burns eternally.

The Divine Will that was the Wand is no more; for the path has become one with the Goal.

The Divine Understanding that was the Cup is no more; for the subject and Object of intelligence are one.

The Divine Reason that was the Sword is no more; for the complex has been resolved into the Simple.

And the Divine Substance that was the Pantacle is no more; for the many has become the One.

Eternal, unconfined, unextended, without cause and without effect, the Holy Lamp mysteriously burns. Without quantity or quality, unconditioned and sempiternal, is this Light.

[Always Wondering]

Now Latin to Hebrew. Are there no rules to gematria at all? I suppose that is the fun of it. But is there no Gematria for Dummies book?

However, your tricky gematria put a whole new spin on Yod and ATU IX for me. And I do appreciate that.


AW

[Aeon418]

Originally Posted by Always Wondering

Now Latin to Hebrew. Are there no rules to gematria at all?

It's nothing new or original. The Golden Dawn performed the exact same substitution of Latin for Hebrew in their Analysis of the Keyword.

I.N.R.I.

Yod, Nun, Resh, Yod.

Virgo, Isis, Mighty Mother.

Scorpio, Apophis, Destroyer.

Sol, Osiris, Slain and Risen.

Isis, Apophis, Osiris IAO.

I find it curiously suggestive that the attack is aimed at Yod which corresponds to Virgo the Virgin. In contrast the Hawk's Head is a phallic symbol. (Pecker? ) The word "peck" could be rendered in Hebrew as PK, which is also the intials of Phallos-Kteis. That brings to mind ideas of Union and direct Knowledge.

Christianity promotes "blind faith" and superstitious belief in the redemptive virtue of vicarious sacrifice. Direct experience is not required. For the purposes of salvation it is enough merely to believe. (The history of Christianity is replete with examples of people who having claimed direct experience of the divine were then subsequently tortured or murdered.) It may be this point of view that is being pecked out by Horus. The New Aeon isn't about faith. It is about individuals gaining direct experience for themselves.

Originally Posted by Aleister Crowley

It should be the chiefest aim of the wise to rid mankind of the insolence of self-sacrifice, of the calamity of chastity; faith must be slain by certainty, and chastity by ecstacy.