1. Had! The manifestation of Nuit.
2. The unveiling of the company of heaven.
3. Every man and every woman is a star.
4. Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
5. Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling
before the Children of men!
6. Be thou Hadit, my secret centre, my heart & my
tongue!
7. Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of
Hoor-paar-kraat.
8. The Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs.
9. Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light shed over
you!
10. Let my servants be few & secret: they shall rule the
many & the known.
11. These are fools that men adore; both their Gods &
their men are fools.
12. Come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your
fill of love!
13. I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My
joy is to see your joy.
14. Above, the gemmèd azure is
The naked splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
The wingèd globe, the starry blue,
Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!
15. Now ye shall know that the chosen priest & apostle of
infinite space is the prince-priest the Beast; and in
his woman called the Scarlet Woman is all power given.
They shall gather my children into their fold: they shall
bring the glory of the stars into the hearts of men.
16. For he is ever a sun, and she a moon. But to him is
the winged secret flame, and to her the stooping
starlight.
17. But ye are not so chosen.
18. Burn upon their brows, o splendrous serpent!
19. O azure-lidded woman, bend upon them!
20. The key of the rituals is in the secret word which I
have given unto him.
21. With the God & the Adorer I am nothing: they do not
see me. They are as upon the earth; I am Heaven, and there
is no other God than me, and my lord Hadit.
22. 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.
23. But whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of
all!
24. I am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty.
25. Divide, add, multiply, and understand.
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 & færy, 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.
31. For these fools of men and their
woes care not thou at all! They feel little; what is, is
balanced by weak joys; but ye are my chosen ones.
32. Obey my prophet! follow out the ordeals of my
knowledge! seek me only! Then the joys of my love will
redeem ye from all pain. This is so: I swear it by the
vault of my body; by my sacred heart and tongue; by all I
can give, by all I desire of ye all.
33. Then the priest fell into a deep trance or
swoon, & said unto the Queen of Heaven; Write unto us the
ordeals; write unto us the rituals; write unto us the
law!
34. But she said: the ordeals I write not: the rituals
shall be half known and half concealed: the Law is for
all.
35. This that thou writest is the threefold book of
Law.
36. My scribe Ankh-af-na-khonsu, the priest of the
princes, shall not in one letter change this book; but
lest there be folly, he shall comment thereupon by the
wisdom of Ra-Hoor-Khu-it.
37. Also the mantras and spells; the obeah and the wanga;
the work of the wand and the work of the sword; these he
shall learn and teach.
38. He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals.
39. The word of the Law is Θελημα.
40. Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look
but close into the word. For there are therein Three
Grades, the Hermit, and the Lover, and the man of Earth.
Do what thou wilt
shall be the whole of the Law.
41. The word of Sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not thy
wife, if she will! O lover, if thou wilt, depart! There is
no bond that can unite the divided but love: all else is a
curse. Accursèd! Accursèd be it to the æons! Hell.
42. Let it be that state of manyhood bound and loathing.
So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.
43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.
44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose,
delivered from the lust of result, is every way
perfect.
45. The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not
two; nay, are none!
46. Nothing is a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the
Jews call it; I call it eight, eighty, four hundred &
eighteen.
47. But they have the half: unite by thine art so that all
disappear.
48. My prophet is a fool with his one, one, one; are not
they the Ox, and none by the Book?
49. Abrogate are all rituals, all ordeals, all words and
signs. Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at
the Equinox of the Gods; and let Asar be with Isa, who
also are one. But they are not of me. Let Asar be the
adorant, Isa the sufferer; Hoor in his secret name and
splendour is the Lord initiating.
50. There is a word to say about the Hierophantic task.
Behold! there are three ordeals in one, and it may be
given in three ways. The gross must pass through fire; let
the
fine be tried in intellect, and the lofty chosen ones in
the highest. Thus ye have star & star, system & system;
let not one know well the other!
51. There are four gates to one palace; the floor of that
palace is of silver and gold; lapis lazuli & jasper are
there; and all rare scents; jasmine & rose, and the
emblems of death. Let him enter in turn or at once the
four gates; let him stand on the floor of the palace. Will
he not sink? Amn. Ho! warrior, if thy servant sink? But
there are means
and means. Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine
apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines
that foam! Also, take your fill and will of love as ye
will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto
me.
52. If this be not aright; if ye confound the space-marks,
saying: They are one; or saying, They are many; if the
ritual be not ever unto me: then expect the direful
judgments of Ra Hoor Khuit!
53. This shall regenerate the world, the little
world my sister, my heart & my tongue, unto whom I send
this kiss. Also, o scribe and prophet, though thou be of
the princes, it shall not assuage thee nor absolve thee.
But ecstasy be thine and joy of earth: ever To me! To
me!
54. Change not as much as the style of a letter; for
behold! thou, o prophet, shalt not behold all these
mysteries hidden therein.
55. The child of thy bowels, he shall behold them.
56. Expect him not from the East, nor from
the West; for from no expected house cometh that child.
Aum! All words are sacred and all prophets true; save only
that they understand a little; solve the first half of the
equation, leave the second unattacked. But thou hast all
in the clear light, and some, though not all, in the
dark.
57. Invoke me under my stars! Love is the law, love under
will. Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love
and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent.
Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath
chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great
mystery of the House of God.
All these old letters of my Book are aright; but צ is not
the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it
to the wise.
58. I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not
faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest,
ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.
59. My incense is of resinous woods & gums; and there is
no blood therein: because of my hair the trees of
Eternity.
60. 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. My colour is black to the blind, but the
blue & gold are seen of the seeing. Also I have a secret
glory for them that love me.
61. But to love me is better than all things: if under the
night stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine
incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the
Serpent flame therein, thou shalt come a little to lie in
my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give
all;
but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in splendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich headdress. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple,
and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on
the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you:
come unto me!
62. At all my meetings with you shall the priestess
say—and her eyes shall burn with desire as she stands bare
and rejoicing in my secret temple—To me! To me! calling
forth the flame of the hearts of all in her love-chant.
63. Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me
perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you!
I love you!