am the Revealer and the Preparer. Mine is the Sword - and the Mitre and the Winged Wand!27 I am the Initiator and the Destroyer. Mine is the Globe - and the Bennu bird and the Lotus of Isis my daughter!
28 I am the One beyond these all; and I bear the symbols of the mighty darkness.
29 There shall be a sigil as of a vast black brooding ocean of death and the central blaze of darkness, radiating its night upon all.
30 It shall swallow up that lesser darkness.
31 But in that profound who shall answer: What is?
32 Not I.
33 Not Thou, O God!
34 Come, let us no more reason together; let us enjoy! Let us be ourselves, silent, unique, apart.
35 O lonely woods of the world! In what recesses will ye hide our love?
36 The forest of the spears of the Most High is called Night, and Hades, and the Day of Wrath; but I am His captain, and I bear His cup.
37 Fear me not with my spearmen! They shall slay the demons with their petty prongs. Ye shall be free.
38 Ah, slaves! ye will not - ye know not how to will.
39 Yet the music of my spears shall be a song of freedom.
40 A great bird shall sweep from the abyss of Joy, and bear ye away to be my cup-bearers.
41 Come, O my God, in one last rapture let us attain to the Union with the Many!
42 In the silence of Things, in the Night of Forces, beyond the accursed domain of the Three, let us enjoy our love!
43 My darling! My darling! away, away beyond the Assembly and the Law and the Enlightenment unto an Anarchy of solitude and Darkness!
44 For even thus must we veil the brilliance of our Self.
45 My darling! My darling!
46 O my God, but the love in Me bursts over the bonds of Space and Time; my love is spilt among them that love not love.
47 My wine is poured out for them that never tasted wine.
48 The fumes thereof shall intoxicate them and the vigour of my love shall breed mighty children from their maidens.
49 Yea! without draught, without embrace: - and the Voice answered Yea! these things shall be.
50 Then I sought a Word for Myself; nay, for myself.
51 And the Word came: O Thou! it is well. Heed naught! I love Thee! I love Thee!
52 Therefore had I faith unto the end of all; yea, unto the end of all.
Liber Librae
Figurâ XXX
0. Learn first—Oh thou who aspirest unto our ancient Order!—that Equilibrium is the basis of the Work. If thou thyself hast not a sure foundation, whereon wilt thou stand to direct the forces of Nature?
1. Know then, that as man is born into this world amidst the Darkness of Matter, and the strife of contending forces; so must his first endeavour be to seek the Light through their reconciliation.
2. Thou then, who hast trials and troubles, rejoice because of them, for in them is Strength, and by their means is a pathway opened unto that Light.
3. How should it be otherwise, O man, whose life is but a day in Eternity, a drop in the Ocean of time; how, were thy trials not many, couldst thou purge thy soul from the dross of earth?
Is it but now that the Higher Life is beset with dangers and difficulties; hath it not ever been so with the Sages and Hierophants of the past? They have been persecuted and reviled, they have been tormented of men; yet through this also has their Glory increased.
4. Rejoice therefore, O Initiate, for the greater thy trial the greater thy Triumph. When men shall revile thee, and speak against thee falsely, hath not the Master said, "Blessed art thou!"?
5. Yet, oh aspirant, let thy victories bring thee not Vanity, for with increase of Knowledge should come increase of Wisdom. He who knoweth little, thinketh he knoweth much; but he who knoweth much hath learned his own ignorance. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool, than of him.
6. Be not hasty to condemn others; how knowest thou that in their place, thou couldest have resisted the temptation? And even were it so, why shouldst thou despise one who is weaker than thyself?
7. Thou therefore who desirest Magical Gifts, be sure that thy soul is firm and steadfast; for it is by flattering thy weaknesses that the Weak Ones will gain power over thee. Humble thyself before thy Self, yet fear neither man not spirit. Fear is failure, and the forerunner of failure: and courage is the beginning of virtue.
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.
9. A man is what he maketh himself within the limits fixed by his inherited destiny; he is a part of mankind; his actions affect not only what he calleth himself, but also the whole universe.
10. Worship and neglect not, the physical body which is thy temporary connection with the outer and material world. Therefore let thy mental Equilibrium be above disturbance by material events; strengthen and control the animal passions, discipline the emotions and the reason, nourish the Higher Aspirations.
11. Do good unto others for its own sake, not for reward, not for gratitude from them, not for sympathy. If thou art generous, thou wilt not long for thine ears to be tickled by expressions of gratitude.
12. Remember that unbalanced force is evil; that unbalanced severity is but cruelty and oppression; but that also unbalanced mercy is but weakness which would allow and abet Evil. Act passionately; think rationally; be Thyself.
13. True ritual is as much action as word; it is Will.
14. Remember that this earth is but an atom in the universe, and that thou thyself art but an atom thereon, and that even couldst thou become the God of this earth whereon thou crawlest and grovellest, that thou wouldest, even then, be but an atom, and one amongst many.
15. Nevertheless have the greatest self-respect, and to that end sin not against thyself. The sin which is unpardonable is knowingly and wilfully to reject truth, to fear knowledge lest that knowledge pander not to thy prejudices.
16. To obtain Magical Power, learn to control thought; admit only those ideas that are in harmony with the end desired, and not every stray and contradictory Idea that presents itself.
17. Fixed thought is a means to an end. Therefore pay attention to the power of silent thought and meditation. The material act is but the outward expression of thy thought, and therefore hath it been
