On the binding/book itself | The Book of the Law: Liber Al Vel Legis

Simply believe the prophet... | The Book of the Law: Liber Al Vel Legis | Aleister Crowley, Rose Edith Crowley

books:


	• The Book of the Law: Liber Al Vel Legis Aleister Crowley, Rose Edith Crowley Red Wheel Weiser, 2004 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 81 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

93 all

This is a great text that is as odd as it is beautiful. I really love reading it, and it is both thought provoking and spooky at times. AC really should have had more commentary in this, but I understand why there isn't any. You can read it on line, but nothing beats having it handy for any time that you'd like to read or refer to it.

On the binding/book itself

I cant comment on the contents. I haven't read it all yet, and from what I have read by others (other books about Crowely that I read to better understand the Thoth Tarot deck, I am not a student of Crowely in any way) they seem to say that this sort of book is the sort that one can only read and interperate for themselves... in other words, it would be useless for me to reflect upon it to you, even if I had read it.

Instead I chose to comment on the beauty of the book. Some people have said that the binding is ugly and I think this refers to an older version of the book. The book that I received is beautiful, bound well, and the print is clear. I think that the formating and the colors are quite stunning. I'm impressed with the look of the book. I think whatever version they bought, perhaps it is an older version, the book I got was quite lovely.

As to whether to buy the book or not... I think its up to you. If you are looking at this, you obviously are curious about it. I think, based on what I have read of other's reflections, that its the sort of book you read and take it with a grain of salt. I think that it is not intended to be a religion, as he says that quite vehemently through out a few things I have read he seems to be rather anti-religion, and it seems to be more of a personal philosophy. I haven't read it, like I said, I cant say much about it.

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Simply believe the prophet...

As the old saying goes, "If you can't dazzle with brilliance, baffle with BS." Aleister Crowley had the concept of baffling with BS down pat. The closer one looks at Crowley the more clear it becomes that he was little more than a garden-variety con man. Of those who actually knew him, very few found anything in him worth emulating. Like most good con artists he was adept at hiding his tracks, but there is plenty of evidence of his chicanery for those who are diligent enough to seek it out.

The Book of the Law is, so it is said, a message to Crowley from the Graeco-Egyptian god of silence Harpokrates. Since a god of silence doesn't speak, it needs a mouthpiece; this is where Aiwass comes in. Aiwass was supposedly a superhuman go-between who actually delivered the message to Crowley. The one and only person who can verify all of this of course is Crowley himself and the reader is expected to simply take his word for it.

The basic outline of the Book loosely follows the design of a funerary stele that Crowley's wife (at the time) had brought to his attention at the Boulak Museum which was exhibit #666- Crowley's own number as self-proclaimed Beast 666. This was all he needed; he saw 666 and immediately viewed it as a sign that the stele was of immense importance and intended for him personally. He believed the figures on the stele held the keys to the past, present and future. But Crowley was unaware that funerary stelae of this nature with similar design and text were common in ancient Egypt, a "stock" item if you will; there really wasn't anything that special about this one. These stelae were modified according to the needs of the deceased, but the basic elements- those which Crowley believed were of unique importance to him and his message- remained the same on all of them.

What is of particular interest to me is Crowley's gradual evolution away from his original source of inspiration- the ancient Egyptian deities on stele 666- to the tale of Harpokrates and Aiwass. Writing in the third person in Equinox of the Gods Crowley says:

"During the period March 23rd--April 8th, whatever else may have happened, it is at least certain that work was continued to some extent, that the inscriptions of the stele were translated for Fra. P.(Crowley), and that he paraphrased the latter in verse. For we find him using, or prepared to use, the same in the text of Liber Legis (Book of the Law)."

This says that during the time beween his discovery of the stele and his actual writing of the Book of the Law, Crowley had the stele translated and was more or less expecting a "revelation" that corresponded to his paraphrased interpretation of it. What he actually got was a lot of nonsense. For all of his "superhuman" help from Harpokrates and Aiwass, Crowley completely misidentified two of the deities on the stele. Horus the Elder he believed was "Houdit," a nonexistent deity. Ra-Harakhty he misidentified with Amon. He also believed "Houdit" and Nut (the one he got right) were lovers, though Egyptian myth tells us that Nut's lover was Geb. It seems clear, from reading his commentaries, that correctly identifying these deities was important to Crowley. He did try but was ultimately unsuccessful. Only after this failed attempt did he "discover" that Harpokrates' message was not ancient Egyptian after all, but Qabalistic (Hermetic), a subject with which he (Crowley) was vastly more at ease; and one that can be easily manipulated simply by changing the spelling of words and names.

"Prophets" are a penny a dozen; most don't even rate a blip on the radar screen. Occasionally one comes along who is particularly colorful or good at reading trends and attracts a following. The "Aeon of Horus" has come and gone; Crowley's biggest mistake was in claiming to know what the next 2000 years and beyond would hold.

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"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." This oft-misunderstood phrase, which forms the basis for Crowley's practice of Magick, is found in The Book of the Law. Dictated to Crowley in Cairo between noon and 1 pm on three success days in April 1904, the Book of the Law is the source book and key for Crowley students and for the occult in general.