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Aleister Crowley Diary Entry Sunday, 11 January 1914
Opus VIII
The Eighth Working
[Sunday, January 11—Monday, January 12, 1914]
Sunday Jan. 11 saw a most remarkable fulfilment of the prophecy of Hermes. Also two other excellent matters have come to fruition. Further, one of the Brethren of O.S.V. [Crowley] and L.T. [Victor B. Neuburg] has inherited money, which is a great indirect benefit to that cause we have at heart. We then invoked Hermes, and obtained a good result.
Opus VIII
The Esoteric Record
12:15 A.M. Die Lunæ.
The God Hermes having been invoked O.S.V. beheld him, in his character of the messenger, young, bearing the Caduceus. He stands upon the altar of the east, poised upon his right toe. He is made of fixed light, the colour thereof being pale gold.
Lampada Tradam lifted up his voice and said: "What saith he?"
I am now seeing the purple and grey background as if the force were developing. Around those clouds flash forth violet rays in the indigo. In the centre of all is the golden Mercury. Now he comes forward, kissing me on the mouth, laying his Caduceus on my Phallus. And he lifted up his voice saying: "Unto all kingdoms shalt thou utter the word." He now puts his tongue into my mouth. It is not like the tongue of a man, but of a serpent or of an ant-eater; he runs it all over my brain, making the skull luminous, transparent, phosphorescent. Moreover he spake winged words:
"I will give thee the wisdom of the serpent, but thou must cleanse thy brain. Purge thyself in the sun. It is the love of others that will purify thee most. This needest thou: the devotion absolute of men four, and women four. And all of these four men will be deformed, and these four women will come from the four quarters of the earth—the four continents whose names begin with A.[1]
I see the most wonderful range of mountains with orange clouds of sunrise flaming upon them. Yet the crest of the mountain curls over as it rolls onward, like the crest of a wave. With one foot on this crest stands Mercury again, around him soft flames of orange, and green, and purple. And these words spake he from golden mouth:
"Thou art mine. Thou comest always unto me. Always in every grade am I thy guide; and even at this hour do I burn up thy dust. Moreover, thou shalt behold a certain earnest of thy work, and that right early."
This Mercury is poised upon a winged wheel that uttereth lightnings. He droppeth ostrich plumes for rank, and twists of flax to signify that the fate of certain men will be in my hands.
I now see a purple planet in space, radiating light from a luminous ring, and also from its poles.
With regard to reincarnation, the heliocentric theory is right. As we conquer the conditions of a planet, we incarnate on the next planet inwards until we return to the Father of All, when our experiences link together, become intelligible, and star speaks to star. Terra is the last planet where bodies are made of earth; in Venus they are fluids, on Mercury ærial; while in the Sun they are fashioned of pure fire. It is most important to develop the fluid body, to pack away all your powers in it. He insists on the importance of a pure body, instancing Frater Τ'αγαθον [Leon Engers-Kennedy] as an example of failure to do this.
I now see the eightfold star of Mercury suddenly blazing out; it is composed of four fleurs-de-lys with rays like antlers, bulrushes in shape, between them. The central core has the cypher of the grand master, but not the one you know. Upon the cross are the Dove, the Hawk, the Serpent, and the Lion. Also one other symbol, yet more secret.
Now I behold fiery swords of light. All this is upon a cosmic scale. All the distances are astronomical. When I say "sword," I have a definite consciousness of a weapon many millions of miles in length. The field of my vision is as much enlarged as if I had been practicing "Batrachophrenobookosmomachia" for ten years.
Now follow numerous questions of O.S.V. to L.T., indicated only by initials. The same question was asked repeatedly in different forms, but always answered in the same sense until the last question.
L.T. I have never seen such a lot of beautiful skyscapes. There are pink clouds like flights of birds, actually in flight, now they are like flying serpents; their colours are mingled with purple and green. Anhalonium visions must be very similar to this.
It is all over now.
He didn't go on, because he had come to tell us things, for a particular purpose.
The Temple was then closed; Fra. Lampada Tradam was then clairvoyant, as he thinks, or obsessed, as O.S.V. thinks, and makes the following statement, which O.S.V. considers demonic, on the grounds that many of the statements are contrary to public morality.
L.T. begins by saying that this Rite is a huge force that we unloose. By the time we have twenty people working at it, it will become very dangerous. International complications are to be feared.[2] This was the original form of worship. It is important not to initiate any persons under the age of thirty, unless for some special reason. The obvious dangers of the Rite appall L.T. He says that those who adopt this Rite will either succeed completely, or fail utterly. There is no middle path for it is impossible to escape the ring of divine karma created.
In any series of Rites the roles of the celebrants should not be interchangeable. O.S.V. is to be priest only in invocations of feminine deities. The occult reason for this is that only black gods are hermaphrodite. (!) The exception to this rule is in cases of divine possession.
The supreme Rite would be to bring about a climax in the death of the victim. By this Rite one would obtain the summit of Magical Art. Even better would be to slay a girl, preferably a willing victim. After violating her, she should be cut into nine pieces. These should not be eaten, but divided as follows:—head, arms, legs, and quadrisected trunk. The names of the gods appropriate are to be written on the skin, the arms are then to be flayed, and burnt in the honour of Pan or Vesta, the legs (treated in the same manner) should be offered to Priapus, Hermes, or Juno. The right shoulder is sacred to Jupiter, the left shoulder to Saturn, the right buttock to Mars, the left buttock to Venus. The head should not be flayed, but burnt simply, and in that honour either of Juno or Minerva.
This Rite should not be employed on ordinary occasions, but rarely, and then for great purposes; it should not be disclosed to any man.
In the opinion of O.S.V. and L.T. these instructions partake of the character of black, or at least grey, magic. The reader is requested to note that the Temple had been formally closed before they were obtained.
The following questions were then asked by O.S.V. and answered by L.T.
Cremers will either write to L.T. or communicate indirectly with him.[4]
Hermes now gives a gold ring to L.T. for O.S.V. The bezel of this ring is a ruby, with a white fleur-de-lys on each side of it. The ring is gold.
Opposite the ruby are the initials S.T.R. This ring is the crown of the Phallus, the yoni of Thoth, the collar of the Ape of Thoth.
Concerning the Rites, O.S.V. is always to be the first to scry. L.T. is to write down in the scrying. L.T. always to be the priest. These Rites are never to be done for more than six successive nights,[5] and four is a better number. The Rites should never begin earlier than nine o'clock at night, and should never last longer than three hours and a half.
These are the colours of certain Gods:
Priapus—Yellow and purple. Iacchus—Scarlet and green. Venus—Blue, white and gold. Minerva—White and silver with a little dark blue. Pan—Crimson.
The Floor should be white, but, on festivals and special occasions, black and white, or red and white squares.
Further instructions will be given from time to time.
Music may be employed in the Rite, but in a subordinate manner. It should be soft and stringed.
Celebrants of the Rite should not be bare-headed, but should wear head-dresses of white, or such other colour as may be indicated.
After five weeks other directions will be given.
Until then work as aforesaid.
I now see the figure drawn hereunder. It is familiar to O.S.V. as the sign of a certain grade, and the name of it is S.T.R.
Hermes now touches L.T.'s lips with his Caduceus, and gives this last message to O.S.V.: "Beyond nothing is Everything."
He then kisses Lampada Tradam, and departs.
2—Note that the world-war broke out just six months later. O.S.V. 3—P.S. All quite wrong without a single exception. 4—P.S. All this is entirely wrong. 5—Note. Evidently the Rite of Mercury is exceptional; for it asks for eight nights, Wednesday to Wednesday. See above. O.M.
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