Knowledge Lecture on the Qaballas in Liber AL
What is the basis of Qabalah/Kabalah/Cabala?, there are several schools of thought on the subject, ranging from wild sophistry to some downright empiric results which defy logic to explain. The whole measure of of a system of gematria and a cipher be it Hebrew, Greek or Arabic or English etc. is in its functionality. From a magickal perspective, the ritual and exegesical process of a qabalah must contain an entire set of symbols by which a person can compare to a written work, and thus derive pesonal exegesis from the results. The Hebrew system has been the basis since at least Byzantium with the Greek Qaballah and the Arabic Abjad as later systems of attributions. Later Christian evolutions of the Qaballah emerge by the Renaissance, but they too rely upon the original Hebrew Tree of Life as their template for their ritual workings.
The struggle to create a living code out of English at least goes back to Martin Luther, he himself an adept Qaballist, his student, Michael Stifel, would search diligently for a working English Qaballah for the last few centuries of his life.
The problem with this for modern practitioners who wish to learn about the synchronistic properties of qaballah is that unless one has a good working knowledge of these ancient tongues, there is the inherent difficulty of a 'second language' There is always a translation process, which for some, is very automatic. The importance of having a holy qabalah for the English language is it becomes much more personal and functional when worked with in one's native language. The inherent problem is merely that most people in the West do not think in Hebrew or Greek. One's inner monologue will almost always be situated with one's native language. Just as Hebrew and Greek were the international tongues during the period in which their attendant systems were created, it seems logical that an English Qaballah should emerge as English becomes more an more of an international language. A code, or a cipher, associated with a sacred text, is a tradition which goes back to Babylon and perhaps even to the Indus Valley Civilizations. While other Thelemic schools and orders such as the AA or the OTO are concerned with the liturgies and practices authored by Crowley during his day, we in the NOT are focused on the exploration of cipher systems that have emerged in English. Like its parent org, the QBLH, the NOT draws upon the classical methods of Ceremonial Magick and Thelemic Orthodoxy, to explore and extrapolate this New System.
For the remainder of his life, Aleister Crowley swore that he never wrote The Book of the Law, that it was in fact dictated to him by what he called a 'praeter-human intelligence' which called itself Aiwass. This being, during a bizzare series of events which took place during his honeymoon in Cairo, Egypt on April 8, 9, and 10, 1904, dictated each chapter document to Crowley each day at the hour of noon. It is the assertion of our order, and of other Thelemites who have made an exhaustive study of the ALW cipher, that this new 'english qaballah' proves Crowley's claim. Crowley's own account of the 'reception' of the Book of the Law reads with conviction. This is a person whom, at least, believed what was happening to him.
The three days were precisely similar, save that on the last day I became nervous lest I should fail to hear the Voice of Aiwass. They may then be described together. I went into the "temple" a minute early, so as to shut the door and sit down on the stroke of Noon.
On my table were my pen--a Swan Fountain--and supplies of Quarto typewriting paper, 8" x I0".
I never looked round in the room at any time.
The Voice of Aiwass came apparently from over my left shoulder, from the furthest corner of the room. It seemed to echo itself in my physical heart in a very strange manner, hard to describe. I have noticed a similar phenomenon when I have been waiting for a message fraught with great hope or dread. The voice was passionately poured, as if Aiwass were alert about the time- limit. I wrote 65 pages of this present essay (at about my usual rate of composition) in about 10 1/2 hours as against the 3 hours of the 65 pages of the Book of the Law. I was pushed hard to keep the pace; the MS. shows it clearly enough.
The voice was of deep timbre, musical and expressive, its tones solemn, voluptuous, tender, fierce or aught else as suited the moods of the message. Not bass --perhaps a rich tenor or baritone.
The English was free of either native or foreign accent, perfectly pure of local or caste mannerisma, thus startling and even uncanny at first hearing.
I had a strong impression that the speaker was actually in the corner where he seemed to be, in a body of "fine matter," transparent as a veil of gauze, or a cloud of incense-smoke. He seemed to be a tall, dark man in his thirties, well-knit, active and strong, with the face of a savage king, and eyes veiled lest their gaze should destroy what they saw. The dress was not Arab; it suggested Assyria or Persia, but very vaguely. I took little note of it, for to me at that time Aiwass and an "angel" such as I had often seen in visions, a being purely astral.
I am now inclined to believe that Aiwass is not only the God or Demon or Devil once held holy in Sumer, and mine own Guradian Angel, but also a man as I am, insofar as He uses a human body to make His magical link with Mankind, whom He loves, and that He is thus an Ipsissimus, the Head of the A.'.A.'. Even I can do, in a much feebler way, this Work of being a God and a Beast, &c., &c., all at the same time, with equal fullness of life. "
In addition Crowley asserted that Liber AL contained a new qaballah that, though based on the older systems, would catalyze a radical departure from the older systems, and this 'new system' was as yet completely beyond his understanding:
The proof of His praeterhuman Nature --call Him a Devil or a God or even an Elemental as you will --is partly external, depending on events and persons without the sphere of Its influence, partly internal, depending on the concealment of (a) certain Truths, some previously known, some not known, but for the most part beyond the scope of my mind at the time of writing, (b) of an harmony of letters and numbers subtle, delicate and exact, and (c) of Keys to all life's mysteries, both pertinent to occult science and otherwise, and to all the Locks of Thought; the concealment of these three galaxies of glory, I say, in a cipher simple and luminous, but yet illegible for over Fourteen years, and translated even then not by me, but by my mysterious Child according to the Foreknowledge written in the Book itself, in terms so complex that the exact fulfilment of the conditions of His birth, which occurred with incredible precision, seemed beyond all possibility, a cipher involving higher mathematics, and a knowledge of the Hebrew, Greek and Arabic Qabalahs as well as the True Lost Word of the Freemason, is yet veiled within the casual silk-stuff of ordinary English words, nay, even in the apparently accidental circumstance of the characters of the haste-harried scrawl of My pen.
Crowley searched all of his life for this prophesied 'order and value of the English alphabet' apparently in vain. English Qaballah and its attendant cipher is taught nowhere in Crowley's written works. Crowley's last reported words regarding the topic was his now legendary quote: "I am perplexed." Nonetheless in the above quote, he seems to allude to the nature of this cipher if not its substance.
Charles Stansfield Jones was one of many of Crowley's students and proteges'. (Frater Achad and Parzival). Jones made fastidious study of the handwritten manuscript of Liber AL, particularly of the 'grid page' in chapter three, verse 47. By discovering the first three letters, ALW (123), he would lay the foundation for continual research. In the late 1960s, James Lees, would later solve the equation, by extrapolating the 11 letter skip-pattern of ALW.
The struggle to create a living code out of English at least goes back to Martin Luther, he himself an adept Qaballist, his student, Michael Stifel, would search diligently for a working English Qaballah for the last few centuries of his life.
The problem with this for modern practitioners who wish to learn about the synchronistic properties of qaballah is that unless one has a good working knowledge of these ancient tongues, there is the inherent difficulty of a 'second language' There is always a translation process, which for some, is very automatic. The importance of having a holy qabalah for the English language is it becomes much more personal and functional when worked with in one's native language. The inherent problem is merely that most people in the West do not think in Hebrew or Greek. One's inner monologue will almost always be situated with one's native language. Just as Hebrew and Greek were the international tongues during the period in which their attendant systems were created, it seems logical that an English Qaballah should emerge as English becomes more an more of an international language. A code, or a cipher, associated with a sacred text, is a tradition which goes back to Babylon and perhaps even to the Indus Valley Civilizations. While other Thelemic schools and orders such as the AA or the OTO are concerned with the liturgies and practices authored by Crowley during his day, we in the NOT are focused on the exploration of cipher systems that have emerged in English. Like its parent org, the QBLH, the NOT draws upon the classical methods of Ceremonial Magick and Thelemic Orthodoxy, to explore and extrapolate this New System.
For the remainder of his life, Aleister Crowley swore that he never wrote The Book of the Law, that it was in fact dictated to him by what he called a 'praeter-human intelligence' which called itself Aiwass. This being, during a bizzare series of events which took place during his honeymoon in Cairo, Egypt on April 8, 9, and 10, 1904, dictated each chapter document to Crowley each day at the hour of noon. It is the assertion of our order, and of other Thelemites who have made an exhaustive study of the ALW cipher, that this new 'english qaballah' proves Crowley's claim. Crowley's own account of the 'reception' of the Book of the Law reads with conviction. This is a person whom, at least, believed what was happening to him.
The three days were precisely similar, save that on the last day I became nervous lest I should fail to hear the Voice of Aiwass. They may then be described together. I went into the "temple" a minute early, so as to shut the door and sit down on the stroke of Noon.
On my table were my pen--a Swan Fountain--and supplies of Quarto typewriting paper, 8" x I0".
I never looked round in the room at any time.
The Voice of Aiwass came apparently from over my left shoulder, from the furthest corner of the room. It seemed to echo itself in my physical heart in a very strange manner, hard to describe. I have noticed a similar phenomenon when I have been waiting for a message fraught with great hope or dread. The voice was passionately poured, as if Aiwass were alert about the time- limit. I wrote 65 pages of this present essay (at about my usual rate of composition) in about 10 1/2 hours as against the 3 hours of the 65 pages of the Book of the Law. I was pushed hard to keep the pace; the MS. shows it clearly enough.
The voice was of deep timbre, musical and expressive, its tones solemn, voluptuous, tender, fierce or aught else as suited the moods of the message. Not bass --perhaps a rich tenor or baritone.
The English was free of either native or foreign accent, perfectly pure of local or caste mannerisma, thus startling and even uncanny at first hearing.
I had a strong impression that the speaker was actually in the corner where he seemed to be, in a body of "fine matter," transparent as a veil of gauze, or a cloud of incense-smoke. He seemed to be a tall, dark man in his thirties, well-knit, active and strong, with the face of a savage king, and eyes veiled lest their gaze should destroy what they saw. The dress was not Arab; it suggested Assyria or Persia, but very vaguely. I took little note of it, for to me at that time Aiwass and an "angel" such as I had often seen in visions, a being purely astral.
I am now inclined to believe that Aiwass is not only the God or Demon or Devil once held holy in Sumer, and mine own Guradian Angel, but also a man as I am, insofar as He uses a human body to make His magical link with Mankind, whom He loves, and that He is thus an Ipsissimus, the Head of the A.'.A.'. Even I can do, in a much feebler way, this Work of being a God and a Beast, &c., &c., all at the same time, with equal fullness of life. "
In addition Crowley asserted that Liber AL contained a new qaballah that, though based on the older systems, would catalyze a radical departure from the older systems, and this 'new system' was as yet completely beyond his understanding:
The proof of His praeterhuman Nature --call Him a Devil or a God or even an Elemental as you will --is partly external, depending on events and persons without the sphere of Its influence, partly internal, depending on the concealment of (a) certain Truths, some previously known, some not known, but for the most part beyond the scope of my mind at the time of writing, (b) of an harmony of letters and numbers subtle, delicate and exact, and (c) of Keys to all life's mysteries, both pertinent to occult science and otherwise, and to all the Locks of Thought; the concealment of these three galaxies of glory, I say, in a cipher simple and luminous, but yet illegible for over Fourteen years, and translated even then not by me, but by my mysterious Child according to the Foreknowledge written in the Book itself, in terms so complex that the exact fulfilment of the conditions of His birth, which occurred with incredible precision, seemed beyond all possibility, a cipher involving higher mathematics, and a knowledge of the Hebrew, Greek and Arabic Qabalahs as well as the True Lost Word of the Freemason, is yet veiled within the casual silk-stuff of ordinary English words, nay, even in the apparently accidental circumstance of the characters of the haste-harried scrawl of My pen.
Crowley searched all of his life for this prophesied 'order and value of the English alphabet' apparently in vain. English Qaballah and its attendant cipher is taught nowhere in Crowley's written works. Crowley's last reported words regarding the topic was his now legendary quote: "I am perplexed." Nonetheless in the above quote, he seems to allude to the nature of this cipher if not its substance.
Charles Stansfield Jones was one of many of Crowley's students and proteges'. (Frater Achad and Parzival). Jones made fastidious study of the handwritten manuscript of Liber AL, particularly of the 'grid page' in chapter three, verse 47. By discovering the first three letters, ALW (123), he would lay the foundation for continual research. In the late 1960s, James Lees, would later solve the equation, by extrapolating the 11 letter skip-pattern of ALW.
To the right is the 'grid page' of the original manuscript of Liber AL. It was from here that several symbolic clues became apparent to Lees and his colleagues, that revealed the ALW cipher.
The text reads: "This book shall be translated into all tongues: but always with the original in the writing of the Beast; for in the chance shape of the letters and their position to one another: in these are mysteries that no Beast shall divine. Let him not seek to try: but one cometh after him, whence I say not, who shall discover the Key of it all. Then this line drawn is a key: then this circle squared in its failure is a key also. And Abrahadabra. It shall be his child & that strangely. Let him not seek after this; for thereby alone can he fall from it." |
The 'line drawn' and 'circle squared' are readily visible. The grid indicates alphanumeric applications. a 10X10 grid and any diagonal line, will result in the 11 letter skip pattern of the English Qaballah cipher now known as ALW.
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The full key of EQ will then result as follows:
A=1, L=2, W=3, H=4, S=5, D=6, O=7, Z=8, K=9, V=10, G=11, R=12,C=13,
N=14, Y=15, J=16, U=17, F=18, Q=19, R=20, M=21, X=22, I=23, T=24, E=25, P=26
The very nature of any kind of qabalah begs the question of it being of divine origin or not, if a living human made the original kabalah then they represent a level of intelligence that surpasses everyday human understanding (the 'secret chiefs'?), nowhere in the greatest math universities in the world exist minds that can fully resolve by lab process what creates the profound symmetries that form the core experience of qabalistic work. If ALW is just another of Crowley's contrivances, then we should dismiss Liber AL, and Thelema, altogether, Crowley's assertion of Thelema as a genuine neo-Gnostic doctrine pivots on the reality or un-reality of Liber AL being a genuine divine transmission. The text itself purports it to be such. What remains perplexing to modern practitioners is whether Crowley had the full key or not, or whether he was able to devise it himself or not. It is certainly true that forms of classical qaballistic analysis have not been fully explored without the advent of computers, exploration of Hebrew for instance reveals symmetry in the Torah that could not have been invented by any person no matter how intelligent or long-lived. ALW seems to be no exception. What seems to be apparent with full analysis is that the amount of compiled code, encrypted into a mere 220 lines of English text, and the multiple formulae involved which surpass mere gematria, is too immense to have been devised by human means. We hold the opinion that the ALW cipher and the body of exegesis surrounding it should be incorporated into the formal Thelemic Canon.