Book of Law Study Group 1.61
Aeon418
To me this verse has HGA written all over it. It gives expression to the incredibly intense yearning of the HGA for the aspirant. A yearning that is usually unsuspected.
This verse also encourages us to engage with life, experience all it has to offer and live it to the full. All the stuff that is supposedly material and therefore unspiritual about life is encouraged, as long as it is done in honour of the Angel/Nuit. Your experience is her experience too.
The last three words of this verse suggest an interpretation that I can't expand upon on a family friendly forum.
This verse also encourages us to engage with life, experience all it has to offer and live it to the full. All the stuff that is supposedly material and therefore unspiritual about life is encouraged, as long as it is done in honour of the Angel/Nuit. Your experience is her experience too.
The last three words of this verse suggest an interpretation that I can't expand upon on a family friendly forum.
Grigori
I struggle to understand this part. Crowley commentary suggests the particle of dust may be the Ego, in which case to "lose all" makes sense. However he also suggest it may indicate Hadit, in which case I'm a bit confused. Eshelman seems to agree with the Hadit interpretation, but again leaves me a bit lost as to what it means to "lose all".
Aeon418
I think there are different levels of interpretation possible here. If we go with the idea of Hadit being the particle of dust, then one interpretation might be that the separation of Hadit and Nuit is what creates this thing called "All". If Hadit and Nuit fully unite, All disappears back into No-thing. (This is verse 61 - Ain)similia said:
On another level it may be telling us that this "All" that we are willing to give for one kiss, is not what Nuit really wants. For in the next line she tells us to surround ourselves with all the good stuff in life, "but always in the love of me". On the surface this seems to be the very antithesis of what we are accustomed to think of as spirituality. In the past the way to God was via asceticism and a denial of the material life. That fits with the Osirian formula of Spirit over Matter. But the new aeon doctrine is that Spirit and Matter are two sides of the same coin. In this way life itself becomes a spiritual experience.
Always Wondering
I have trouble with this also, Similia. It is such a loving, glorious verse, perhaps I don't like the idea adding a touch of the negative, even a natural consequence.
If I am willing to give all, then it would be a joy, not a loss. I get a complete feeling of surrender. I feel as if Nuit is assuring me, if I am able and willing to offer up even just one particle of earthly desire to her, I will lose all, or come undone in an ecstasy akin to sexual surrender or release.
But that's just how I deal with it in my mind. Insert HGA, as Aeon418 already suggested, comprehend a perfect counter part, and sex it up.
It suddenly gets very meaningful. AW
ravenest
Quote:
For one kiss wilt thou THEN be willing to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour.
" ... then ... " . When ? 'thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom'.
Perhaps, at this stage, we are not to give all, even though we may desire to instantly explode in the ecstatic union when we get this first little taste of it. Hold back a bit ... there's better stuff to come . (Have you put your wings on yet? have you aroused the coiled splendour within you?)
"In that hour' I believe this 'prohibition' (request or warning) narrows it down to a specific part of the ritual or rite or experience. In that hour - not throughout all time.
[I'm sure the girls know what I'm talking about here.]
Then some other things happen ... AND THEN ... come unto me!
It reminds me a bit of one of AC's warning about progression on the path - many stop thinking the first resting place (or first 'node' of ecsatsy) is the final goal.
For one kiss wilt thou THEN be willing to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour.
" ... then ... " . When ? 'thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom'.
Perhaps, at this stage, we are not to give all, even though we may desire to instantly explode in the ecstatic union when we get this first little taste of it. Hold back a bit ... there's better stuff to come . (Have you put your wings on yet? have you aroused the coiled splendour within you?)
"In that hour' I believe this 'prohibition' (request or warning) narrows it down to a specific part of the ritual or rite or experience. In that hour - not throughout all time.
[I'm sure the girls know what I'm talking about here.]
Then some other things happen ... AND THEN ... come unto me!
It reminds me a bit of one of AC's warning about progression on the path - many stop thinking the first resting place (or first 'node' of ecsatsy) is the final goal.
ravenest
Aeon418 said:
Yep! [ The gods finally got tired of being offered blood, children, coins on a plate, guilt, suppression, we have been keeping the good stuff to ourselves for far too long
]Aeon418
Jumping the gun here, but I think verse 65 is a clear indicator that Nuit is a symbol for one aspect of the HGA.Always Wondering said:But that's just how I deal with it in my mind. Insert HGA, as Aeon418 already suggested, comprehend a perfect counter part, and sex it up.
65 = Adonai.
TO ME = 418.
Liber AL uses gender in an archetypal way. In this chapter Love is the main theme. So a female voice and image is the most suitable way to convey this message to our minds because we naturally associate the abstract idea of Love with the image of a woman.
In the everyday world of human experience we know that both men and women are capable of expressions of love. But they do it through their feminine side.
Always Wondering
Aeon418 said:
Ah this helps. I was thinking more 'one or the other' still, and feeling a little fickle.
Aeon418 said:Liber AL uses gender in an archetypal way. In this chapter Love is the main theme. So a female voice and image is the most suitable way to convey this message to our minds because we naturally associate the abstract idea of Love with the image of a woman.
In the everyday world of human experience we know that both men and women are capable of expressions of love. But they do it through their feminine side.
It has been a lovely feminine chapter. I admit it appeals to me more than the other chapters. Maybe this study will help me get in touch with my masculine side.
AW
