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| Author | Aleister Crowley |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thelema, Hermetic Qabalah |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley is a collection of papers written by Aleister Crowley. It is a table of magical correspondences. It was edited and introduced by Dr. Israel Regardie, and is a reference book based on the Hermetic Qabalah.
The Golden Dawn was in part an expression of Hermetic Qabalah, which was itself derived from Jewish mystical Kabbalah. In Judaism, Kabbalah is a form of Torah commentary that was especially prominent in the sixteenth century via the book the Zohar . It introduced the diminishing Four Worlds, God as the transcendent Ain Soph, Israel as embodying the Shekinah, or "presence", as children of the True God, and most famously the ten Sephiroth as schema of the universe between Israel and Jehovah. It did this by interpreting the concrete ethics of the scripture. From the 15th century through the Enlightenment, esoteric groups drew from Christian Kabbalah, which was practiced and reinterpreted by occultists like Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Pico della Mirandola and Eliphas Levi before being popularized in contemporary esoteric magic.
Gematria was extrapolated from The Equinox vol. 1, no.5 where it was originally titled The Temple of Solomon the King continued being the fifth in that series. It explains the dogmatic Qabalah as taught by the original order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The main studies are the ten "Sephiroth" or "Emanations" of the godhead. These can also be seen as rungs of a divine hierarchy between Earth and Godhead—and the three forms of word analysis. These consist of gematria where each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet have their own number and are added together in words to make metaphorical sympathy; aiq baqir, also called "Qabalah of the Nine Chambers", which converts any letter in a word to its radical equivalent, such as "A" (=1) to "I" (=10) or "Q" (=100), hence "AIQ" for the radical no. 1 column; and notariqon, which uses Hebrew words as initials for a potential larger sentence, for instance the first word of the Torah BRAShITh is manipulated as BRAShITh RAH ALHIM ShIQBLV IShRAL ThVRH ("In the beginning Elohim saw that Israel would accept the law"). It quotes much of the introduction to Mathers' Kabbalah Unveiled and also Crowley's own Qabalistic Dogma, an appendix to his Collected Works vol. I. before beginning a study of important numbers in magical art.
Liber 777 Vel Prolegoma Symbolica Ad Systemam Sceptico-Mysticae Viae Explicande, Fundamentum Hieroglyphicum Sanctissimorum Scientiae Summae is designated a "Class B" document by Crowley. The title refers to a lightning flash descending the diagrammatic worlds, the zig-zag pattern suggesting three diminishing 7s and the sum value of the Gematria of the paths. It consists of roughly 191 columns, with each row corresponding to a specific Sephirah or path on the Tree of Life for a total of 35 rows and is used for a quick reference for corresponding mnemonics and factors of religion for use in magic (for instance, an evocation of Venus would have one looking across that column for the colour corresponding to Venus that will be the colour of his or her robe, and then Venusian incense, etc.).
The first appearance of 777 was published anonymously in 1909 after Crowley had written it from memory in just a week. An introduction to one edition by "Frater N∴" states that Crowley may have published it anonymously because it was taken from a Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn manuscript that was obligatory for initiates to memorise.
Within the detail of the book the column's vertical axis is numbered from 1 to 32 signifying the 32-paths of wisdom which occur in the western Qabalah, numbers 1–10 are the sephirah of the universe and numbers 11–32 the paths which join them. The horizontal columns have many categories pertinent to religion, mythology and magick given in some 32-parts each. The Hebrew alphabet, the tarot cards and the astrological glyphs total 22-each and are given to the paths as a map of the magician's universe. From the 11th path onward some of these numbers have been exemplified by appearing to the left or right in the margin for easy reference, paths 11, 23, 31, 32-bis and 31-bis are leftwards and denote the five astrological elements; paths 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29 are rightwards and denote the 12 astrological signs, the rest are astrological planets.
The tables were constantly revised in Crowley's lifetime but it was not until 1955 that they were published ("Revised Prolegomena Symbolica ad Systemam......"). This includes smaller tables that extrapolate correspondences of the five elements, twelve zodiacal signs and seven planets only.
Sepher Sephiroth was originally a supplement to the Equinox vol. 1, no.8. that was published in 1912. The title means "Book of Emanations" and is also indexed as Liber 500. It was written by Crowley and Allan Bennet (Frater I.A.) and is basically an index of numbers from 1–3321 listing their Hebrew word equivalents. This book is also useful for magical students as a reference for word-sympathy, from AB ("father") and BA ("to come") = 3 to ShDBRShHMOTh ShRThThN = 3321. Numbers 1–1000 are inclusive whilst 1000+ are abridged.
Some Arabic parts have been taken from Aharaihc by Abdul Karid Janji. [1]
Gematria is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase by reading it as a number, or sometimes by using an alphanumerical cipher. The letters of the alphabets involved have standard numerical values, but a word can yield several values if a cipher is used.
Numerology is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in words and names. When numerology is applied to a person's name, it is a form of onomancy. It is often associated with the paranormal, alongside astrology, and is similar to divinatory arts.
The A∴A∴ is a magical organization described in 1907 by occultist Aleister Crowley. Its members are dedicated to the advancement of humanity by perfection of the individual on every plane through a graded series of universal initiations. Its initiations are syncretic, unifying the essence of Theravada Buddhism with Vedantic yoga and ceremonial magic. The A∴A∴ applies what it describes as mystical and magical methods of spiritual attainment under the structure of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, and aims to research, practise, and teach "scientific illuminism". A∴A∴ is often held to stand for Argenteum Astrum, which is Latin for Silver Star; however, see the section on Name below.
In the Zohar, Lurianic Kabbalah, and Hermetic Qabalah, the qlippoth, are the representation of evil or impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, the opposites of the Sefirot. The realm of evil is called Sitra Achra in Kabbalistic texts.
Keter or Kether is the topmost of the sephirot of the Tree of Life in Kabbalah. Since its meaning is "crown", it is interpreted as both the "topmost" of the Sephirot and the "regal crown" of the Sephirot. It is between Chokhmah and Binah and it sits above Tiferet. It is usually given three paths, to Chokhmah, Tiferet and Binah.
Abrahadabra is a word that first publicly appeared in The Book of the Law (1904), the central sacred text of Thelema. Its author, Aleister Crowley, described it as "the Word of the Aeon, which signifieth The Great Work accomplished." This is in reference to his belief that the writing of Liber Legis heralded a new Aeon for mankind that was ruled by the god Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Abrahadabra is, therefore, the "magical formula" of this new age. It is not to be confused with the Word of the Law of the Aeon, which is Thelema, meaning "Will".
Tiferet alternatively Tifaret, Tiphareth, Tifereth or Tiphereth, is the sixth sefira in the kabbalistic Tree of Life. It has the common association of "Spirituality", "Balance", "Integration", "Beauty", "Miracles", and "Compassion".
Malkuth, Malkhut, Malkhuth, or Malchus, is the tenth of the sefirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
Sathariel is described in the Book of Enoch as the 17th Watcher of the 20 leaders of the 200 fallen angels. Michael Knibb believes the name to mean "Moon of God" or "Dawn of God" based on the Ge'ez copies of the Book of Enoch.
The Mathers table of Hebrew and "Chaldee" (Aramaic) letters is a tabular display of the pronunciation, appearance, numerical values, transliteration, names, and symbolism of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet appearing in The Kabbalah Unveiled, S.L. MacGregor Mathers' late 19th century English translation of Kabbala Denudata, itself a Latin translation by Christian Knorr von Rosenroth of the Zohar, a primary Kabbalistic text.
The tree of life is a diagram used in Rabbinical Judaism in kabbalah and other mystical traditions derived from it. It is usually referred to as the "kabbalistic tree of life" to distinguish it from the tree of life that appears alongside the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Genesis creation narrative and well as the archetypal tree of life found in many cultures.
In Thelema, the Abyss is the great gulf or void between the phenomenal world of manifestation and its noumenal source.
Within Thelema, the Great Work is the spiritual endeavor aimed at realizing one's True Will and achieving a profound mystical union with the All. This path, crafted by Aleister Crowley, draws inspiration from Hermetic alchemy and the Hermetic Qabalah. The cornerstone of Thelema is the Book of the Law, received by Crowley in 1904 through a communication with the entity Aiwass. This text became the central scripture, heralding a new Aeon for humanity and outlining the principles of Thelema.
In ceremonial magic, a magical formula or a word of power is a word that is believed to have specific supernatural effects. They are words whose meaning illustrates principles and degrees of understanding that are often difficult to relay using other forms of speech or writing. It is a concise means to communicate very abstract information through the medium of a word or phrase.
Liber Aleph vel CXI: The Book of Wisdom or Folly is the title of The Equinox, volume III, number VI, by Aleister Crowley. The book is written in the form of an epistle to his magical son, Charles Stansfeld Jones, Frater Achad, whom Crowley later doubted as being his true magical son, asserting that Achad had in fact gone insane, citing as evidence Achad's "upending the tree of life" in his Q.B.L., or The Bride's Reception, the first of Achad's major qabalistic works.
George Cecil Jones, Jr., was an English chemist, occultist, one time member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and co-founder of the magical order A∴A∴. According to author and occultist Aleister Crowley, Jones lived for some time in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, working at a metallurgy there.
IPSOS, meaning "themselves", is the magical formula of the Aeon of Ma'at as transmitted by Nema Andahadna in her inspired magical work, Liber Pennae Praenumbra. It is used by the Horus-Maat Lodge and Kenneth Grant's Typhonian Order.
Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoteric Masonic organizations such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, is a key element within the Thelemic orders, and is important to mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.
English Qaballa (EQ) is a system of Hermetic Qabalah, supported by a system of arithmancy that interprets the letters of the English alphabet via an assigned set of values, discovered by James Lees in 1976. It is the result of an intent to understand, interpret, and elaborate on the mysteries of Aleister Crowley's received text, Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law. According to Jake Stratton-Kent, "the English Qaballa is a qabalah and not a system of numerology. A qabalah is specifically related to three factors: one, a language; two, a 'holy' text or texts; three, mathematical laws at work in these two."
Therion (thēríon) is a deity found in the mystical system of Thelema, which was established in 1904 with Aleister Crowley's writing of The Book of the Law. Therion's female counterpart is Babalon, another Thelemic deity. Therion, as a Thelemic personage, evolved from that of "The Beast" from the Book of Revelation, whom Crowley identified himself with since childhood, because his mother called him that name. Indeed, throughout his life he occasionally referred to himself as “Master Therion” or sometimes “The Beast 666”. He wrote:
Before I touched my teens, I was already aware that I was THE BEAST whose number is 666. I did not understand in the least what that implied; it was a passionately ecstatic sense of identity.