The Book of The Law Study Group 3.42
Always Wondering
This is another verse which has always confounded me. What the heck is a blind ordeal? I must be missing something.
I re-read 1:32 and Crowley's old and new comments. Not getting the traitor thing. If we are talking internal blockages, demons, ect, Crowley has usually advised to make friends with them, to my memory. Or at least bring them out to the light in a more casual way. I am away from my books for while. I will have to do a internet search for specifics.
The shift in tone from 1:32 to 3:42 feels rather awkward for me.
Edited
Here is a specific I was reading recently that was easiest to find.
Liber Librae sub figura XXX
8. Therefore fear not the Spirits, but be firm and courteous with them; for thou hast no right to despise or revile them; and this too may lead thee astray. Command and banish them, curse them by the Great Names if need be; but neither mock nor revile them, for so assuredly wilt thou be lead into error.
AW
I re-read 1:32 and Crowley's old and new comments. Not getting the traitor thing. If we are talking internal blockages, demons, ect, Crowley has usually advised to make friends with them, to my memory. Or at least bring them out to the light in a more casual way. I am away from my books for while. I will have to do a internet search for specifics.
The shift in tone from 1:32 to 3:42 feels rather awkward for me.
Edited
Here is a specific I was reading recently that was easiest to find.
Liber Librae sub figura XXX
8. Therefore fear not the Spirits, but be firm and courteous with them; for thou hast no right to despise or revile them; and this too may lead thee astray. Command and banish them, curse them by the Great Names if need be; but neither mock nor revile them, for so assuredly wilt thou be lead into error.
AW
Aeon418
I think you just answered your own question.
Our own blind spots are frequently the source of our biggest obstacles and ordeals. In chapter 68 of his, Confessions, Crowley talks about "blind ordeals". This quote hits the nail on the head. Have you forgotten your bible? What could be more friendly than "knowing" a traitor?
Aeon418
In my opinion this in an Atu IV Emperor themed verse. The throne that the Emperor sits upon is the Cubic Stone - the Kaaba mentioned in the previous verse.
Trivia: There are 90 words (including the two ampersands) in this verse. 90 = Tzaddi, The Emperor.
Some people interpret the first section of this verse to mean self-initiation of one form or another. The "traitors" may mean those internal enemies we all have within us that don't conform with the Law of our True Will's. These misaligned aspects of self need to be acknowledged and reintergrated. Initiation tends to push these parts of the self up to the surface where you can deal with them.
Success is thy proof on the path. Airy intellectual arguments and chatter usually do nothing more than threaten to trap or dethrone you. In such situations the best form of defence is attack! Your own experience is what counts.
Trivia: There are 90 words (including the two ampersands) in this verse. 90 = Tzaddi, The Emperor.
Some people interpret the first section of this verse to mean self-initiation of one form or another. The "traitors" may mean those internal enemies we all have within us that don't conform with the Law of our True Will's. These misaligned aspects of self need to be acknowledged and reintergrated. Initiation tends to push these parts of the self up to the surface where you can deal with them.
Success is thy proof on the path. Airy intellectual arguments and chatter usually do nothing more than threaten to trap or dethrone you. In such situations the best form of defence is attack! Your own experience is what counts.
Aeon418
On the surface this appears a bit nasty. But my intuition tells me this one is all in the mind. Obessessing thoughts during difficult phases can seriously derail your initiatory train ride. This is especially true when the way forward seems unclear or you find yourself in a kind psychological no-mans-land, where you grope around blindly unsure if your moving forward or not.
The good advice given here is act fast! It's all to easy to get snared by thoughts and end up brooding over nothing instead of moving on. It's much better to constrain obsessing thoughts and analyse them by literally pulling them to pieces. More often than not you find there was nothing there in the first place.
A lot of fear thoughts are nothing more than imaginary scenarios generated by the mind when it has insufficiant information to predict the next few steps. Laughter is the best cure.
Spit upon them? I'm not sure if this means snake "venom" or ordinary spit. It certainly could be both. The release of the Serpent force usually has a relaxing effect on the mind.
On the other hand spit is water the element of understanding. In the light of understanding all partial thoughts disolve. Here I keep thinking of the various bible stories where Jesus spits in a man's eyes to cure his blindness. Hmm...
But the best advice during the "blind" times is to keep the mind focused and don't let it wander. R.H.K. makes a great focal point.
Always Wondering
Aeon 418 said:
What blind spot? I don't see no freaking blind spot.
Aeon418 said:
I was headed in that direction also. In regards to Crowleys connection to 1:32. 32+42 = 74. The Empress seeking seventy to her four?
Aeon418 said:
Have you been reading my journal again?
AW
Aeon418
The 70 that she seeks is both the letter Ayin (the Eye) and the Middle Pillar on the Tree of Life. Is there a link to initiation and ordeals? Yes.
True initiation is considered to occur only on the Middle Pillar. Although there are initiations and ordeals related to the side sephiroth, they are of a different quality. The Middle Pillar initiations are characterized by the opening of the Eye at various places on that pillar. But until the Eye opens at a certain level of conscious awareness it is closed and effectively blind to anything above it's current level. The ordeals that presage advancement on the Middle Pillar are "blind" because you can't see the destination until you get there.
This is why I believe this verse is about the mind and what needs to be done to keep it in Emperor-like order. The mind is a great servant for short term goals. It's very adept at moving from A to B to C... But when the gaps between the letters get wider or seem to completely disappear that's when the mind can go a bit haywire. A mind that is blind to the next step often starts generating a whole host of imaginary stuff. If you allow it to happen these "airy phantoms" will keep you from moving forward, or even lead you in the wrong direction. What's the answer to this dilema? Look at Atu IV The Emperor.
The Emperor is a picture of the ordered and controlled mind. But notice how his face is turned away from the ray of light. He can't necessarily see the source of that light because it is above his plane of view - his current level of conscious awareness. The Light in this context is the L.V.X., the Holy Guardian Angel. But as often happens, even though the mind is bathed in the radiant L.V.X. it still doesn't see the light. This is where a stand-in "visible object" representative of that light comes in handy. Step forward Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
The Hebrew word for Light is AVR. It's numerical value is 207. The 207th verse in Liber AL is III:62. Being in the third chapter it is the words of R.H.K. himself. Words that are designed to guide you in the dark times when you can't see the light.
No. But it may be a timely synchronicity.
Always Wondering
I think this has been a very timely verse. I will pull out my Emperor for viewing. Maybe he will rub off on me.
Thank-you.
AW
Thank-you.
AW
Aeon418
I'll throw this one out and see if we get a bite.
Does anyone see a pentagram formula emerging in the last few verses? Verse 41 has a solid, cube, business, earthy type of vibe. In verse 42 we seem to have moved on to a Ruach-mind, airy theme.
Jumping ahead....
Verses 43, 44, 45, seem to contain a very definite Nephesh/Neshamah theme that is over-laid with a threefold lunar pattern. But I think it's also possible to see the last three elements, Water, Fire, and Spirit.
Verse 43: Waning moon-dark moon / Water.
Verse 44: Waxing moon / Fire.
Verse 45: Full moon / Spirit.
Does anyone see a pentagram formula emerging in the last few verses? Verse 41 has a solid, cube, business, earthy type of vibe. In verse 42 we seem to have moved on to a Ruach-mind, airy theme.
Jumping ahead....
Verses 43, 44, 45, seem to contain a very definite Nephesh/Neshamah theme that is over-laid with a threefold lunar pattern. But I think it's also possible to see the last three elements, Water, Fire, and Spirit.
Verse 43: Waning moon-dark moon / Water.
Verse 44: Waxing moon / Fire.
Verse 45: Full moon / Spirit.
Aeon418
This is a bit off topic, but I didn't think it merited a new thread.
Jim Eshelman has recently completed uploading all of his personal meditations on the Book of the Law that he did way back in the mid 1990's. Up until now it's been a bit fragmentary and incomplete, so it's nice to see the whole thing. Enjoy.
http://aumha.org/arcane/ccxx.htm
Jim Eshelman has recently completed uploading all of his personal meditations on the Book of the Law that he did way back in the mid 1990's. Up until now it's been a bit fragmentary and incomplete, so it's nice to see the whole thing. Enjoy.
http://aumha.org/arcane/ccxx.htm
