The Blue Equinox

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The Blue Equinox
Aleister Crowley - The Blue Equinox cover.jpg
Cover of The Blue Equinox displaying the Eye of Horus, an ancient Egyptian religious symbol adopted into Thelema
Author Aleister Crowley
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series The Equinox
Release number
III (1)
Subject Thelema
Publisher Ordo Templi Orientis
Publication date
1919
Media typePrint
ISBN 1-57863-353-2
Preceded by The Equinox , I (10) 
Followed byThe Gospel According to St. Bernard Shaw [1]  

The Blue Equinox, officially known as The Equinox (Volume III, Number 1) is a book written by the English occultist Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema. First published in 1919, [2] it details the principles and aims of the secret society O.T.O. and its ally the A∴A∴, both of which were under Crowley's control at the time. It includes such topics as The Law of Liberty, The Gnostic Mass, and Crowley's "Hymn to Pan".

Contents

Background

In February 1904, Aleister Crowley and his wife Rose arrived in Cairo. Pretending to be a prince and princess, they rented an apartment in which Crowley set up a temple room and began invoking ancient Egyptian deities, while studying Islamic mysticism and Arabic. [3] According to Crowley's later account, Rose regularly became delirious and informed him "they are waiting for you." On 18 March, she explained that "they" were the god Horus, and on 20 March proclaimed that "the Equinox of the Gods has come". She led him to a nearby museum, where she showed him a seventh-century BCE mortuary stele known as the Stele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu; Crowley thought it important that the exhibit's number was 666, the Number of the Beast in Christian belief, and in later years termed the artefact the "Stele of Revealing." [4]

According to Crowley's later statements, on 8 April he heard a disembodied voice identifying itself as that of Aiwass, the messenger of Horus, or Hoor-Paar-Kraat. Crowley said that he wrote down everything the voice told him over the course of the next three days, and titled it Liber AL vel Legis or The Book of the Law . [5] The book proclaimed that humanity was entering a new Aeon, and that Crowley would serve as its prophet. It stated that a supreme moral law was to be introduced in this Aeon, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," and that people should learn to live in tune with their Will. This book, and the philosophy that it espoused, became the cornerstone of Crowley's religion, Thelema. [6]

In 1909, Crowley initiated publication of an irregular journal of Thelema, The Equinox. It served as the "official organ of the A∴A∴", his teaching order, and of Ordo Templi Orientis, his social order. It mainly featured articles about occultism and magick, while several issues also contained poetry, fiction, plays, artwork, and biographies. The Blue Equinox is the first issue of the third volume of the journal.

Synopsis

The Blue Equinox opens with Crowley's poem "Hymn to Pan", a devotional work devoted to the ancient Greek deity Pan. [7] This is followed by an editorial, in which Crowley discusses Thelema, his spiritual training order A∴A∴, his magical fraternity Ordo Templi Orientis, and the important role which he believed that they had to play in the Aeon of Horus. [8]

  1. Hymn to Pan
  2. Editorial
  3. Præmonstrance of A∴A∴
  4. Curriculum of A∴A∴
  5. Liber II [The Message of the Master Therion]
  6. The Tent
  7. Liber DCCCXXXVII [The Law of Liberty]
  8. Liber LXI [vel Causae A∴A∴]
  9. A Psalm
  10. Liber LXV [Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente]
  11. Liber CL [De Lege Libellum]
  12. A Psalm
  13. Liber CLXV [A Master of the Temple]
  14. Liber CCC [Khabs am Pekht]
  15. Stepping Out of the Old Aeon into the New
  16. The Seven Fold Sacrament
  17. Liber LII [Manifesto of the O.T.O.]
  18. Liber CI [An Open Letter to Those Who May Wish to Join the Order]
  19. Liber CLXI [Concerning the Law of Thelema]
  20. Liber CXCIV [An Intimation with Reference to the Constitution of the Order]
  21. Liber XV (The Gnostic Mass)
  22. Nekam Adonai!
  23. A La Loge
  24. The Tank

Editions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thelema</span> New religious movement founded by Aleister Crowley

Thelema is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy, as well as a new religious movement that was founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. Central to Thelema is the idea of discovering and following one's True Will, a unique purpose and calling that goes beyond ordinary desires. Crowley's system begins with The Book of the Law, a text he said was dictated to him by an entity named Aiwass. This foundational work lays out key principles, including the central axiom "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law". This principle emphasizes personal freedom and the pursuit of one's true path, while being guided by love and finding one's authentic purpose.

<i>The Book of the Law</i> Central sacred text of Thelema

Liber AL vel Legis, commonly known as The Book of the Law, is the central sacred text of Thelema. Aleister Crowley said that it was dictated to him by a beyond-human being who called himself 'Aiwass'. Rose Edith Kelly, Crowley's wife, wrote two phrases in the manuscript. The three chapters of the book are spoken by the deities Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ordo Templi Orientis</span> International fraternal and religious organization

Ordo Templi Orientis is an occult secret society and hermetic magical organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Theodor Reuss, Heinrich Klein, and Franz Hartmann. In its first incarnation, O.T.O. was intended to be modelled after and associated with European Freemasonry and as such in its early years only Freemasons could seek admittance.

The Holy Books of Thelema is a collection of 15 works by Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema, originally published in 1909 by Crowley under the title Θελημα, and later republished in 1983, together with a number of additional texts, under the new title, The Holy Books of Thelema, by Ordo Templi Orientis under the direction of Hymenaeus Alpha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A∴A∴</span> Initiatory magical order

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.

<i>The Equinox</i> Academic journal

The Equinox was a periodical that served as the official organ of the A∴A∴, a magical order founded by Aleister Crowley. Begun in 1909, it mainly featured articles about occultism and magick, while several issues also contained poetry, fiction, plays, artwork, and biographies. The last issue was published in 1998.

True Will is a term found within the mystical system of Thelema. It is defined either as a person's grand destiny in life or as a moment-to-moment path of action that operates in perfect harmony with nature. True Will does not spring from conscious intent, but from the interplay between the deepest self and the entire universe. Thelemites in touch with their True Will are said to have eliminated or bypassed their false desires, conflicts, and habits, and accessed their connection with the divine. Theoretically, at this point, the Thelemite acts in alignment with nature, just as a stream flows downhill, with neither resistance nor "lust of result".

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William Breeze, also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Silenus, is an American writer and publisher on magick and philosophy. He is the Sovereign Patriarch, or supreme governing cleric, of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), the liturgical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), of which he is the current Outer Head of the Order (OHO), also known as Frater Superior, as well as caliph, the order's international leader. In this capacity he is a leading editor of the occult works of Aleister Crowley, the founder of the philosophy and religion of Thelema, who is regarded as its prophet.

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In the religion of Thelema, it is believed that the history of humanity can be divided into a series of aeons, each of which was accompanied by its own forms of "magical and religious expression".

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Aleister Crowley was an English writer, not only on the topic of Thelema and magick, but also on philosophy, politics, and culture. He was a published poet and playwright and left behind many personal letters and daily journal entries. Most of Aleister Crowley's published works entered the public domain in 2018.

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References

Citations

  1. Crowley (1953).
  2. DuQuette (1993), p. 258.
  3. Booth 2000, pp. 181–82; Sutin 2000, pp. 118–20; Kaczynski 2010, p. 124; Churton 2011, p. 94.
  4. Booth 2000, pp. 182–83; Sutin 2000, pp. 120–22; Kaczynski 2010, pp. 124–26; Churton 2011, pp. 96–98.
  5. Booth 2000, pp. 184–88; Sutin 2000, pp. 122–25; Kaczynski 2010, pp. 127–29.
  6. Booth 2000, pp. 184–88; Sutin 2000, pp. 125–33.
  7. Crowley (1919), pp. 5–7.
  8. Crowley (1919), pp. 9–10.

Works cited

Further reading