Who is Tabu?

Zephyros

In the Book of Thoth, in the passage on the Moon, Crowley speaks of someone called Tabu who guards the path and that she is "uncleanliness and sorcery." Who is she? Is she a Hekate-like figure? I couldn't find anything about her online.
 

Snaut

I am not sure it is a person. I thought it is just a fancy way of writing taboo.

Crowley said:
But the really primitive superstitions cannot be explained so simply. It seems more probable that they arose from the unscientific habit (extremely common among men of science) of generalising from too few facts. It might happen by chance that on half a dozen occasions within a short period, a hunter, setting out at Full Moon, was killed. The old fallacy of Post hoc propter hoc would come in; and the village would say, "It is unlucky to go out hunting at Full Moon". This would gather force, as it was repeated through the generations, by virtue of mental indolence; and it would not be disturbed, because Tabu would render the original coincidence unlikely to recur. If, however, something similar came off at the New Moon, there would be a new superstition; and presently there would be a complete nexus of Tabu about the Moon.
 

Abrac

I did some digging and couldn't find anything either. I think it could be something Crowley invented, Tabu being an alternative spelling of taboo. She would seem to be the personification of "All prejudice, all superstition, dead tradition. . ." etc. A "black sister" if you will. :)
 

kwaw

Tabu is a variant spelling of Taboo. He also used it in Liber Aleph:

.... "It is a lie, this folly against self.": these Words are written in The Book of the Law. So therefore these Passions in ourselves which we understand to be Hindrances are not part of our True Will, but diseased Appetites, manifest in us through false early Training. Thus the Tabus of savage Tribes in such matter as Love constrain that True Love which is born in us; and by this Constraint come ills of Body and Mind. Either the Force of Repression carries it, and creates Neuroses and Insanities; or the Revolt against that Force, breaking forth with Violence, involves Excesses and Extravagances. All these Things are Disorders, and against Nature. Now then learn of me the testimony of History and literature as a great Scroll of Learning. But the Vellum of the Scroll is of Man's Skin, and its Ink of his Heart's Blood.

.... And because the Will is sacred, such dreams excite an Ecstacy or Phrenzy of Horror, Fear or Disgust. Thus the true Will of Oedipus was toward the bed of Jocasta, but the Tabu, strong both by Inheritance and by Environment, was so attached to that Will that his Dream concerning his Destiny was a Dream of Fear and of Abhorrence, his Fulfilment thereof (even in Ignorance) a spell to stir up all the subconscious Forces of all the People about him, and his Realization of the Act a madness potent to drive him to self-inflicted Blindness and fury-haunted Exile.

quote:

ta·bu (tă′bo͞o′, tə-)
n., adj. & v.
Variant of taboo

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tabu
 

smw

The term "taboo" comes from the Tongan tapu or Fijian tabu ("prohibited", "disallowed", "forbidden"),[3] related among others to the Maori tapu, Hawaiian kapu, Malagasy fady. Its English use dates to 1777 when the British explorer James Cook visited Tonga. Describing the cultural practices of the Tongans, he wrote:

Not one of them would sit down, or eat a bit of any thing.... On expressing my surprise at this, they were all taboo, as they said; which word has a very comprehensive meaning; but, in general, signifies that a thing is forbidden.[4]
When any thing is forbidden to be eaten, or made use of, they say, that it is taboo.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo

Cultural Beliefs & Tabu
In pre-Christian times each Tongan clan had a spirit animal, and a clan member brought bad luck upon himself by killing and eating his clan animal. This was called "tabu" among Tongans. It was once so ingrained in the culture that missionaries used the phrase in reference to social transgression and it became the etymological root for the English "taboo." Some Tongans still observe taboos on their clan animals.

http://people.opposingviews.com/tongan-religious-cultural-beliefs-taboos-5338.html

things to do with clan spirit, eating/ not eating, cannabilism maybe... the only thing I can stretch this wildly to is the taboo (uncleanliness) and potency of menstrual blood (sorry) :laugh:
 

firecatpickles

Cultural Beliefs & Tabu
In pre-Christian times each Tongan clan had a spirit animal, and a clan member brought bad luck upon himself by killing and eating his clan animal. This was called "tabu" among Tongans. It was once so ingrained in the culture that missionaries used the phrase in reference to social transgression and it became the etymological root for the English "taboo." Some Tongans still observe taboos on their clan animals.

This is a point I was looking for! I knew it was an indigenous belief somewhere (from having learned it in an anthropology class once) but I couldn't remember exactly. I remember it being based on spirituality on some level, mistakenly having something to do with a god or goddess. Thank you for this...
 

smw

This is a point I was looking for! I knew it was an indigenous belief somewhere (from having learned it in an anthropology class once) but I couldn't remember exactly. I remember it being based on spirituality on some level, mistakenly having something to do with a god or goddess. Thank you for this...

oh good :) I was having a little ramble just before putting my kids to bed - it was an interesting clip about the clan spirit.
 

Tanga

Tiny unrelated addition.

Tabu, in Kiswahili (which was a mixture of a Bantu language and Portuguese) means "Trouble".
It can encompass forbidden things - but is often used to mean troubling/difficult times.
 

Zephyros

Thanks for your answers. I thought it was some kind of Indian goddess or something like that. Crowley always manages to keep you on your toes. Taboo fits in with the general theme of fear in the Moon, and emphasizes the deck's Thelemic drive. Connecting Malkuth and Netzach it makes sense that some of what blocks a person from accessing their animal drives is the taboo.