In the last blog, I introduced Thelema, and in this blog I’m going to introduce the Book of the Law itself.
The Book of the Law (also known as Liber AL) is the only book a Thelemite needs. Even the other “holy books of Thelema,” divinely inspired by Crowley, are not necessary or even desirable.
The sublimity of the Book of the Law is in its simplicity. Whereas other philosophies and religions usually need at least one gigantic book (if not many!), Thelema is content with one short book divided into three small chapters.
The origins of the Book of the Law are fascinating, as they began with Crowley and his wife doing some magick in an Egyptian pyramid, but they are not pertinent. Whether Liber AL was written, or “transcribed” from Crowley’s “higher self,” is neither here nor there. The Book of the Law holds up on its own as a spiritual and philosophical gem. There is nothing quite like it.
The Book of the Law is a “bible” in the sense it gives us a cosmology of the universe and practical philosophy for being happy in the world. However, there is no heaven or hell in Thelema–only those which we create for ourselves on Earth.
So how does one approach this book for the first time? Is it poetry? Is it symbolic? Is it literal?
I admit I found Liber AL confusing the first few times I read it. I think that’s normal as its writing style is peculiar. The Book of the Law is written in a fashion where every word, punctuation mark, and odd spelling make a difference. The book is layered with meanings, some obvious, some subtle. In many ways it’s MEANT to frustrate the conscious ego-mind, so that our true essence can shine through. In case, I didn’t make it clear enough in my last blog: The obsessive and chronic noise of the ego-mind is what blinds us to the true nature of the universe and hides its infinite joy from us. The Book of the Law’s very writing style helps combat this tendency of the ego-mind to take control and make everything about itself.
To begin, you should know that the Book of the Law is broken up into three chapters, each with a different speaker.
The first chapter is spoken by Nuit.
The second chapter is spoken by Hadit.
The third chapter is spoken by the child of Nuit and Hadit. His name is Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
These are all Egyptian names, and I will explain each one in turn. They are generally meant to be taken symbolically, though the odd thing is if you want to work with them as literal “gods” they will very much come alive for you. Sometimes I think of Nuit as a real goddess whose ethereal presence becomes almost tangible–and at other times I think of her as only a symbol for all the infinite possibilities around me. There is no contradiction here. Different sorts of perceptions gives different truths on different levels. It’s only small and limited minds who can’t hold contrary ideas in ones head at the same time and ACCEPT both as truth, each in their own fashion.
NUIT- Nuit (Sometimes call Nu, Nuith, Nut, etc.) is described sometimes as a vast circle whose circumference has no bounds, and sometimes as the starry night sky personified. Her Egyptian representation usually shows her as a nude woman with a body of stars arched across the heavens.
HADIT- Hadit, who traditionally is a red globe with wings in Egyptian mythology, is also various descried as a single “point” and also as a “snake.” The simplest way is to think of Hadit is as our “soul” deep within our body somewhere as a latent possibility. Through our bodies and our actions he manifests his true nature.
RA-HOOR-KHUIT- He is half Hawk (head) and half man (body). To put it simply, he symbolizes us as humans. Hadit is the spark within. Nuit is the infinite space without us. We ourselves our their child. We are Ra-Hoor-Khuit. We are the conjunction between the infinitely small, Hadit, and the infinitely large, Nuit. This conjunction is fiery, active, and even occasionally warlike, hence the martial quality of the third part of the Book of the Law.
The Book of Law doesn’t need to be read in order. I suggest jumping around and focusing on passages that catch your eye. Some parts are much easier to understand than others. Let the Book of the Law speak to you at your own level.
I’ll give some of my favorite quotes from each chapter:
Chapter I, Nuit speaking:
“Come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your fill of love! I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.” –I.12-13
“Now, therefore, I am known to ye by my name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knoweth me. Since I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof, do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.” –I.22
Chapter II, Hadit speaking:
“I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for this.” –II. 22
“I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.” –II.26
Chapter III, Ra-Hoor-Khuit speaking:
“Fear not at all; fear neither men nor Fates, nor gods, nor anything. Money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any other power in heaven or upon the earth or under the earth. Nu is your refuge as Hadit your light; and I am the strength, force, vigour, of your arms.” –III.17
“…I will bring you to victory & joy: I will be at your arms in battle & ye shall delight to slay. Success is your proof; courage is your armour; go on, go on, in my strength; & ye shall turn not back for any!” –III.46
This image will help tie the three speakers together:
“My number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the circle is Red.” –I.60
What does it mean?
Hadit is the red dot.
“I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star.” –II.6
Hadit is always the center, and Nuit is always the circumference. As he himself says in Chapter 2:
“In the sphere I am everywhere the centre, as she, the circumference, is nowhere found.” –II.3
Therefore the outside circle, which is dotted to show it is without limit, is Nuit. She is the infinite possibilities, the blank canvas on which Hadit is to create his desire, i.e. express his true nature in a manifested form.
Hadit is everywhere the center because he burns inside of every man and woman. Nuit is everywhere without us. Hadit is unique inside of every human, but we are all a part of each other’s Nuit because we are external to each other. Never forget that YOU ARE COMPLETE IN AND OF YOURSELF. (If you are chasing external things to make yourself feel good, you’ve already made a crucial mistake. Studying Liber AL can help you rectify this.)
The pentagram symbolizes Ra-Hoor-Khuit, their child.
“Every man and every woman is a star.” –I.3
In magick and Hermeticism, “5″ has long been considered the number of man. (Why? Stand with your legs apart and arms straight out to your side and you are in the shape of pentagram–also because of the five elements [fire, water, air, earth, spirit], and five digits on each limb, etc.
Ra-Hoor-Khuit is the conjunction, i.e. child, of Nuit and Hadit. He symbolizes us as humans, for our consciousness is the spark of divinity, the bliss of impact between Hadit and Nuit.
Within us is Hadit. Without is Nuit. We ourselves are Ra-Hoor-Khuit–at least when we are at our best. The main point of the Book of the Law is help us refine our natures until we are glorious burning stars of joy and radiance.
Though distinctly three, the three are also one, and together form a complete a system:
“Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death shall be lovely: whoso seeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our age long love. Come! lift up thine heart & rejoice! We are one; we are none.”– II.66
So why all the poetry and symbolism to describe the universe? The Book of the Law creates a vivid understanding of the natural flow of the universe. It does so in such a way that a more straightforward description of the universe would not. Also it appeals to a higher functioning thought process than the purely rational. It is written in a language that is meant to resonant on a deeper level than what we are normally accustomed to.
Now I leave you with one more favorite passage (from Chapter 1) to interpret on your own:
26. Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bending down, a lambent flame of blue, all-touching, all penetrant, her lovely hands upon the black earth, & her lithe body arched for love, and her soft feet not hurting the little flowers: Thou knowest! And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body.
27. Then the priest answered & said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat: O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!
28. None, breathed the light, faint & faery, of the stars, and two.
29. For I am divided for love’s sake, for the chance of union.
30. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.
xoxo,
Izabael
Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards. 
