Liber a'ash Commentary

Liber A'ASH vel Capriconi Pneumatici

sub figura CCCLXX

Publication in Class A

With Commentaries by Frater Achad [Charles Stansfeld Jones] and Aleister Crowley

(circa December 1915)

Liber A'ASH is said to contain the true secret of all practical Magick. I [Charles Stansfeld Jones] advanced a theory to Frater O.M. [Aleister Crowley] that this book had phallic interpretation, and he then instructed me to write a comment, having that aspect worked out in detail. If the phallus is the Creator in the Microcosm, why should it not be used, under will, to create any necessary thing or state whatever?

Let us see if Liber A'ASH confirms this idea.

0. Gnarled Oak of God! In thy branches is the lightning nested! Above thee hangs the Eyeless Hawk.

Frater Achad:	GNARLED OAK OF GOD. This may refer to the Sun, the Creator in the Macrocosm.
Crowley:	No, the phallus itself, veins, semen containing vessel etc.
Frater Achad:	IN THY BRANCHES IS THE LIGHTNING (secret Magical force) NESTED. ABOVE THEE HANGS THE EYELESS HAWK.
Crowley:	The Glans Penis.
Frater Achad:	I have not yet discovered a way to arrive at the meaning of these words, though it seems to me that there may be an interpretation worked on a similar method to the Blind Pig in Liber 333 [The Book of Lies]. Let us suppose however that it refers to the Yoni. The position indicated would then seem to be one in which the female is above the male; and this idea is more or less confirmed in Energised Enthusiasm, when after placing the Priest in position, the Priestess takes her appointed place. I should say that the man is lying on his back, and the woman kneels astride him, forming the upright Tau.

1. Thou art blasted and black! Supremely solitary in that heath of scrub.

Frater Achad:	BLASTED AND BLACK. I should say this means the force is withdrawn.
Crowley:	I think this is merely poetic; but can't say for sure.
Frater Achad:	There is doubtless another meaning, for instance Blasted may refer to the Tower Mars Ruling planet of Capricorn, and Black to Saturn the planet which is exalted in Capricorn. Capricorn of course refers to the title of this work. HEATH OF SCRUB may mean hair.
Crowley:	Yes.
Frater Achad:	Trees have been used to refer to hair in various places.

2. Up! The Ruddy clouds hang over thee! It is the storm.

Frater Achad:	UP! (viz. stand erect) THE RUDDY CLOUDS
Crowley:	pubic hair of female.
Frater Achad:	A (female form) HANG OVER THEE.
Crowley:	Yes.

3. There is a flaming gash in the sky.

Frater Achad:	FLAMING GASH IN THE SKY. The Yoni.
Crowley:	Yes.

4. Up.

Frater Achad:	UP. (needs no explanation) V, however = 6 and P = 80 = 86 = Cup.
Crowley:	Yes.

5. Thou art tossed about in the grip of the storm for an aeon and an aeon and an aeon. But thou givest not thy sap; thou fallest not.

Frater Achad:	The phallus is tossed about in the grip of the storm for a long period, but there is no discharge of semen. It remains firm and erect.
Crowley:	Yes.

6. Only in the end shalt thou give up thy sap when the great God F.I.A.T. is enthroned on the day of Be-With-Us.

Frater Achad:	The discharge shall occur only at the proper moment, when the will pronounces the FIAT "Let there be .... (whatever may be the predetermined result of the practice)". F.I.A.T. also refers to the four elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, and therefore to Tetragrammaton and Amen.
Crowley:	Yes, but I hadn't thought of that.

7. For two things are done and a third thing is begun. Isis and Osiris are given over to incest and adultery. Horus leaps up thrice armed from the womb of his mother. Harpocrates his twin is hidden within him. SET is his holy covenant, that he shall display in the great day of M.A.A.T., that is being interpreted the Master of the Temple of A∴A∴, whose name is Truth.

Frater Achad:	The THIRD THING THAT IS BEGUN may imply the setting in motion of the forces which will lead to the desired result. SET implies the Erect Phallus, which shall be displayed in the day of Truth.
Crowley:	All obscure to me.

8. Now in this is the magical power known.

Frater Achad:	In this covenant is the magical Power known.
Crowley:	?

9. It is like the oak that hardens itself and bears up against the storm. It is weather-beaten and scarred and confident like a sea-captain.

Frater Achad:	The Phallus is like the Oak. (Oak Line 21 in 777 = Lord of the Forces of Life.)
Crowley:	Yes.

10. Also it straineth like a hound in the leash.

Frater Achad:	It is weather beaten, etc. like a sea captain. Like one who has knowledge of "ships" and how to manage them under all circumstances.
Crowley:	Yes.

11. It hath pride and great subtlety. Yea, and glee also!

Frater Achad:	PRIDE holdeth up its head and standeth erect.
Crowley:	Yes.

12. Let the Magus act thus in his conjuration.

Frater Achad:	LET THE MAGUS (magus = 2 = lingham - see 777) ACT THUS etc
Crowley:	Yes.

13. Let him sit and conjure; let him draw himself together in that forcefulness; let him rise next swollen and straining; let him dash back the hood from his head and fix his basilisk eye upon the sigil of the demon. Then let him sway the force of him to and fro like a satyr in silence, until the Word burst from his throat.

Frater Achad:	He gathers himself together, dashes back his hood on entering yoni, and presses himself forward till he reaches the mouth of the womb. WORD = Chokmah = yod of Tetragrammaton. Yod = spermatozoon. Word therefore refers to seed charged with Creative Force of Will.
Crowley:	Yes.

14. Then let him not fall exhausted, although the might have been ten thousandfold the human; but that which floodeth him is the infinite mercy of the Genitor-Genitrix of the Universe, whereof he is the Vessel.

Frater Achad:	Having given his sap, he shall not desist from the practice, but remain in Yoni, and if properly performed should be ready for further action. At this time he should feel the Magical force at work in him.
Crowley:	This is obscure to me, because of something else which I know.

15. Nor do thou deceive thyself. It is easy to tell the live force from the dead matter. It is no easier to tell the live snake from the dead snake.

Frater Achad:	Test of correct performance of practice.
Crowley:	Don't see your point. It means I think that one has the feeling that one is really doing magick, or one has not.

16. Also concerning vows. Be obstinate, and be not obstinate. Understand that the yielding of the Yoni is one with the lengthening of the Lingam. Thou art both these; and thy vow is but the rustling of the wind on Mount Meru.

Frater Achad:	Do not understand this unless it means that the social considerations must be put aside, Lingham and Yoni are on line 26 in 777 and continue the correspondence with Ayin.
Crowley:	May refer to Vow of Chastity?

17. Now shalt thou adore me who am the Eye and the Tooth, the Goat of the Spirit, the Lord of Creation. I am the Eye in the Triangle, the Silver Star that ye adore.

Frater Achad:	EYE = Ayin. TOOTH = Shin. The Title of this work. Ayin = Capricorn = the Goat. Shin = Spirit. A'ash = Creation. Ayin = Eye. Shin is a Triangle = the Eye in the Triangle, Silver Star.
Crowley:	Yes.

18. I am Baphomet, that is the Eightfold Word that shall be equilibrated with the Three.

Frater Achad:	8º=3^o M.A.A.T. and Truth. Maat = line 22 = Lamed, Works of equilibrium etc.
Crowley:	I like the 'etc.' I've worked for 3 years on how to spell Baphomet, & I don't know yet.

19. There is no act or passion that shall not be an hymn in mine honour.

Frater Achad:	All acts, all passion shall be creative.
Crowley:	Do all to the glory of God.

20. All holy things and all symbolic things shall be my sacraments.

Frater Achad:	The practice itself shall be an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.
Crowley:	No, it means Interpret everything (in secret) as referring to Phallus.

21. These animals are sacred unto me; the goat, and the duck, and the ass, and the gazelle, the man, the woman and the child.

Frater Achad:	GOAT = Capricorn = Ayin, also OZ the Sublime and Supreme Septenary in its magical manifestation through matter.
Crowley:	Yes.
Frater Achad:	DUCK. I don't know why, unless on account of symbology connected with its eggs.
Crowley:	nor do I.
Frater Achad:	ASS. Line 26 again, also Baphomet referred to as Ass-headed God in Liber 333—if I mistake not.
Crowley:	Yes.
Frater Achad:	GAZELLE. Probably on account of Split-hoof, see reference in Colophon Equinox X. MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD, not so difficult to find attributions for.
Crowley:	Sacred triad.

22. All corpses are sacred unto me; they shall not be touched save in mine eucharist. All lonely places are sacred unto me; where one man gathereth himself together in my name, there will I leap forth in the midst of him.

Frater Achad:	CORPSE, referred to in line 26 of 777, but this is not plain to me.
Crowley:	Nor to me.
Frater Achad:	Latter part of verse evidently a promise of true result.
Crowley:	Obscure to me.

23. I am the hideous god, and who mastereth me is uglier than I.

Frater Achad:	HIDEOUS GOD. Baphomet, the Goat of the Sabbath. Ayin = the Devil.
Crowley:	Obscure to me.

24. Yet I give more than Bacchus and Apollo; my gifts exceed the olive and the horse.

Frater Achad:	If theory correct and practice rightly performed, he giveth all.
Crowley:	True.

25. Who worshippeth me must worship me with many rites.

Frater Achad:	?
Crowley:	?

26. I am concealed with all concealments; when the Most Holy Ancient One is stripped and driven through the market place, I am still secret and apart.

Frater Achad:	I don't know what the higher interpretation may be, but on the plane taken up in this paper, it is evident that the phallus can be driven through the market place a good deal before a theory of magick is connected with it.
Crowley:	No. I think it is only a way of emphasizing the sacredness.

27. Whom I love I chastise with many rods.

Frater Achad:	Does he not chastise with one rod?
Crowley:	I do!

28. All things are sacred to me; no thing is sacred from me.

Frater Achad:	If all that lives is holy, and He is the Creator, one can understand this.
Crowley:	Right.

29. For there is no holiness where I am not.

Frater Achad:	The Master shall give thrice and four times his semen unto his woman. Keep on whatever happens.
Crowley:	Yes, but see The Ship.

30. Fear not when I fall in the fury of the storm; for mine acorns are blown afar by the wind; and verily I shall rise again, and my children about me, so that we shall uplift our forest in Eternity.

Frater Achad:	Viz: I am the secret force concealed in matter and Manifested.
Crowley:	Don't follow this.

31. Eternity is the storm that covereth me.

Frater Achad:	By right use of the "Key" alone may the "Word" be found.
Crowley:	?

32. I am Existence, the Existence that existeth not save through its own Existence, that is beyond the Existence of Existences, and rooted deeper than the No-Thing-Tree in the Land of No-Thing.

Frater Achad:	?
Crowley:	?

33. Now therefore thou knowest when I am within Thee, when my hood is spread over thy skull, when my might is more than the penned Indus, and resistless as the Giant Glacier.

Frater Achad:	Probably refers to a definite experience obtained at time of practice.
Crowley:	Kundalini rising, See "Lotus leaf" which backs any figure of Buddha that is fully equipped.

34. For as thou art before a lewd woman in Thy nakedness in the bazaar, sucked up by her slyness and smiles, so art thou wholly and no more in part before the symbol of the beloved, though it be but a Pisacha or a Yantra or a Deva.

Frater Achad:	Do not get this.
Crowley:	Means you are to worship the Object however mean, and thus make it equal to Nuit. Or so I suppose.

35. And in all shalt thou create the Infinite Bliss and the next link of the Infinite Chain.

Frater Achad:	Refers to Higher Consciousness to be obtained by this means. (See Energised Enthusiasm.)
Crowley:	?

36. This chain reaches from Eternity to Eternity, ever in triangles—is not my symbol a triangle?—ever in circles—is not the symbol of the Beloved a circle? Therein is all progress base illusion, for every circle is alike and every triangle alike!

Frater Achad:	Obscure.
Crowley:	Triangle = Phallus. O = Yoni. Keep on linking up, see LXVI.

37. But the progress is progress, and progress is rapture, constant, dazzling, showers of light, waves of dew, flames of the hair of the Great Goddess, flowers of the roses that are about her neck, Amen!

Frater Achad:	ditto.
Crowley:	This is not at all obscure to me; blessed be He!

38. Therefore lift up thyself as I am lifted up. Hold thyself in as I am master to accomplish. At the end, be the end far distant as the stars that lie in the navel of Nuit, do thou slay thyself as I at the end am slain, in the death that is life, in the peace that is mother of war, in the darkness that holds light in his hand, as an harlot that plucks a jewel from her nostrils.

Frater Achad:	Refers to higher practice, I think.
Crowley:	Mere recapitulation in poetic language.

39. So therefore the beginning is delight, and the end is delight, and delight is in the midst, even as the Indus is water in the cavern of the glacier, and water among the greater hills and the lesser hills and through the ramparts of the hills and through the plains, and water at the mouth thereof when it leaps forth into the mighty sea, yea, into the mighty sea.

Frater Achad:	Points out that one practice develops into another, so that at last the planes are realized as One and no longer as Many.
Crowley:	Perhaps.

(The Interpretation of this Book will be given to members of the Grade of Dominus Liminis on application, each to his Adeptus.)

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