Book of Law Study Group 1.14

Aeon418

This verse is the first verse of Crowley's poetic paraphrase of the hieroglyphs on the Stele of Revealing. But that's a slight exageration. The new comment says:
This is a poetic description of the symbolism of the Stele. It is suitable for such minds as approach Truth in this manner rather than by way of Science or Philosophy.
On examination it becomes apparent that the first verse of the paraphrase has practically nothing to do with the main body of hieroglyphs on the stele. In fact Nuit (or the egyptian Nut) is not mentioned at all. Instead this verse is a poetic description of the stele. (Crowley had previously used the name Nuit in a poem in 1901)

We know that Crowley wrote the whole paraphrase before the dictation of Liber Legis. This includes the three principle deity names, with their qabalistically significant spellings. Arguments that these particular names don't appear on the stele are essentially moot. It's the poetic paraphrase that was inserted into the text of Liber Legis, not a translation. To me that signifies a distinct break with the original intention of the stele.

This verse is not present in the original manuscript. It was inserted later.
http://lib.oto-usa.org/libri/liber0031.html?num=2
Instead there is a note that seems to say:

V.I. (Verse 1?) Of Spell(?) called (or filled?) the Say (Sky?)

Anyone else fancy a crack at reading those hieroglyphs? :laugh:
 

Ross G Caldwell

"Nuit" is also the French word for "night", so I think Crowley liked it for that double meaning too.
 

Aeon418

Ross G Caldwell said:
"Nuit" is also the French word for "night", so I think Crowley liked it for that double meaning too.
Nuit - Night - Laylah. ;)
 

Grigori

Aeon418 said:
This verse is the first verse of Crowley's poetic paraphrase of the hieroglyphs on the Stele of Revealing.

Thanks Aeon, I had wondered about the sudden change in format of the verse. This verse reads to me like many other descriptions of spiritual unity, veiled in sexual language. In this case the union of the female principle Nuit and the male Hadit. What caught my attention was the part

"She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit"

The "kissing Hadit's secret ardours" seems to me as if it could be an oral sex reference. This is interesting as the description is based on the Stele which appears on the Aeon card (which in turn replaces the Judement card). Fulgour once pointed out to me that in the early versions of the RWS deck, there is a "misprint" on the Judgement card, where the mouthpiece of the trumpet that the angel is blowing, is colored flesh, rather than the yellow that is seems it should be (as it is in the modern versions).

Maybe its a misprint, and maybe its nothing but me remembering a dirty PM, but I found it curious.
 

cardlady22

a kiss

I went back to an old website reference of correspondences because I remembered something about the things involved with a kiss. It's interesting that each element has been given a "part":

lips- earth
saliva- water
breath- air
tongue- fire

ETA: what shade of blue would you say is azure? Which chakra might that fit?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure
the disambiguation (color) article says it's at 210 on the HSV color wheel ~ inconjunct, or quincunx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincunx
*interesting that the term quincunx also refers to the 5-pip arrangement on dice
 

Aeon418

similia said:
The "kissing Hadit's secret ardours" seems to me as if it could be an oral sex reference. This is interesting as the description is based on the Stele which appears on the Aeon card (which in turn replaces the Judement card). Fulgour once pointed out to me that in the early versions of the RWS deck, there is a "misprint" on the Judgement card, where the mouthpiece of the trumpet that the angel is blowing, is colored flesh, rather than the yellow that is seems it should be (as it is in the modern versions).
Oh, you mean the reference to the gospel of John 6:54?
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. :bugeyed:
similia said:
Maybe its a misprint, and maybe its nothing but me remembering a dirty PM, but I found it curious.
But you've already put your finger right on the money. Spiritual union is often veiled in sexual language or symbolism. But the reverse is also true. Any symbol of union can be interpreted in sexual terms. The hexagram or the sigil of Cancer are good examples. It all depends on which level you are interpreting the symbols.
All Magick is sexual. Indeed, all life is sexual. It is either overt or implied, invoked or directed, stored or released. The Mass of the Roman Catholic Church is every bit as much a pantomime of the sex act as the "Great Rite" of the witches. The real question is "what is sex symbolic of?"

The Magick of Aleister Crowley ~ Lon Milo DuQuette, p.114
 

Aeon418

The Child

The wingèd globe, the starry blue,
Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!
The wingèd globe (Hadit) + the starry blue (Nuit) are mine?

Mine transliterated into Hebrew is Mem, Yod, Nun, Heh.
40 + 10 + 50 + 5 = 105

105 = H.P.K. (Heh, Peh, Kaph) Harpocrates.

105 reduces to 6, the Sun, Ra-Hoor-Khuit.

105 + 6 = 111, Aleph. Also a solar number!
 

Aeon418

Also 105 is the mystic number of the 14th path between Chokmah and Binah. The Path of the Empress - Daleth, Venus. Love.
 

Aeon418

She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
Secret in Hebrew is SVD. It's value is 70.

70 is a number which is associated with the Middle Pillar. (13th path, 25th path, 32nd path). 70 is Ayin, The Devil.
It almost paints a picture of Nuit bending over the Tree of Life and Hadit extending upwards. Not without precedent in egyptian art or the Thoth Tarot.

Liber Arcanorum, The Empress:
The Virgin of God is enthroned upon an oyster-shell; she is like a pearl, and seeketh Seventy to her Four. In her heart is Hadit the invisible glory.

74 = Lamed, LMD. Atu 8 Adjustment - The Woman Satisfied.

Edit: Add the Aleph from a previous post and you get AL.