Liber Israfel
From Thelemapedia
Categories: Magick | Ritual | Works of Aleister Crowley
Part of the Magick in Theory & Practice series.
Liber Israfel, sub figura LXIV, originally called "Anubis", is an A.'.A.'. ritual created by Aleister Crowley, Allan Bennett, and others. It is considered a Class B document, meaning it is a result of ordinary scholarship. In Magick (p.466), it is listed under "Official Instructions of the A.'.A.'." and described as "An instruction in a suitable method of preaching."
| Table of contents |
The ritual
From Magick, Book 4:
0. The Temple being in darkness, and the Speaker ascended into his place let him begin by a ritual of the Enterer, as followeth.
1. [Vau] Procul, O procul este profani. (Far away, o ye profane, be far away.)
2. Bahlasti! Ompehda!
3. In the name of the Mighty and Terrible One, I proclaim that I have banished the Shells unto their habitations.
4. I invoke Tahuti, the Lord of Wisdom and of Utterance, the God that cometh forth from the Veil.
5. O Thou! Majesty of Godhead! Wisdom-crowned Tahuti! Lord of the Gates of the Universe! Thee, Thee, I invoke.
O Thou of the Ibis Head! Thee, Thee I invoke.
Thou who wieldest the Wand of Double Power! Thee, Thee I invoke!
Thou who bearest in Thy left hand the Rose and Cross of Light and Life: Thee, Thee, I invoke.
Thou, whose head is as an emerald, and Thy nemmes as the night-sky blue! Thee, Thee I invoke.
Thou, whose skin is of flaming orange as though it burned in a furnace! Thee, Thee I invoke.
6. Behold! I am Yesterday, To-Day, and the Brother of To-Morrow!
I am born again and and again.
Mine is the Unseen Force, whereof the Gods are sprung! Which is as Life unto the Dwellers in the Watch-Towers of the Universe.
I am the Charioteer of the East, Lord of the Past and of the Future.
I see by mine own inward light: Lord of Resurrection; Who cometh forth from the Dusk, and my birth is from the House of Death.
7. O ye two Divine Hawks upon your Pinnacles!
Who keep watch over the Universe!
Ye who company the Bier to the House of Rest!
Who pilot the Ship of Ra advancing onwards to the heights of heaven!
Lord of the Shrine which standeth in the Centre of the Earth!
8. Behold, He is in me, and I in Him!
Mine is the Radiance, wherein Ptah floatheth over the firmament!
I travel upon high!
I tread upon the firmament of Nu!
I raise a flashing flame, with the lightning of Mine Eye!
Ever rushing on, in the splendour of the daily glorified Ra: giving my life to the Dwellers of Earth.
9. If I say "Come up upon the mountains!" the Celestial Waters shall flow at my Word.
For I am Ra incarnate!
Kephra created in the Flesh!
I am the Eidolon of my father Tmu, Lord of the City of the Sun!
10. The God who commands is in my mouth!
The God of Wisdom is in my Heart!
My tongue is the Sanctuary of Truth!
And a God sitteth upon my lips.
11. My Word is accomplished every day!
And the desire of my heart realises itself, as that of Ptah when He createth!
I am Eternal; therefore all things are as my designs; therefore do all things obey my Word.
12. Therefore do Thou come forth unto me from Thine abode in the Silence: Unutterable Wisdom! All-Light! All-Power!
Thoth! Hermes! Mercury! Odin!
By whatever name I call Thee, Thou art still nameless to Eternity: Come Thou forth, I say, and aid and guard me in this work of Art.
13. Thou, Star of the East, that didst conduct the Magi!
Thou art The Same all-present in Heaven and in Hell!
Thou that vibratest between the Light and the Darkness!
Rising, descending! Changing ever, yet ever The Same!
The Sun is Thy Father!
Thy Mother is the Moon!
The Wind hath borne Thee in its bosom: and Earth hath ever nourished the changeless Godhead of Thy Youth!
14. Come Thou forth, I say, come Thou forth!
And make all Spirits subject unto Me:
So that every Spirit of the Firmament
And of the Ether.
And of the Earth.
And under the Earth.
On dry land
And in the Water.
Of whirling Air
And of rushing Fire.
And every Spell and Scourge of God the Vast One, may be obedient unto Me!
15. I invoke the priestess of the Silver Star, Asi the Curved One, by the ritual of Silence.
16. I make open the gate of Bliss; I descend from the Palace of the Stars; I greet you, I embrace you, O children of Earth, that are gathered together in the Hall of Darkness.
17. (A pause.)
18. The Speech in the Silence.
The Words against the Son of Night.
The Voice of Tahuti in the Universe in the Presence of the Eternal.
The Formulas of Knowledge.
The Wisdom of Breath.
The Root of Vibration.
The Shaking of the Invisible.
The Rolling Asunder of the Darkness.
The Becoming Visible of Matter.
The Piercing of the Scales of the Crocodile.
The Breaking Forth of the Light!
19. (Follows the Lection.)
20. There is an end of the speech; let the Silence of darkness be broken; let it return into the silence of light.
21. The speaker silently departs; the listeners disperse unto their homes; yea, they disperse unto their homes.
Explication
Liber Israfel is a ritual designed to invoke the egyptian god, Tahuti (Gk: Thoth), the diety of wisdom, writing, and magic.
The angel Israfel
Israfel, called "The Burning One", is an archangel in the tradition of Islam. Of all creatures created by God, he is supposed to have the most beautiful voice. He carries the Resurrection Trumpet, which he will blow twice: once to destroy the world and once again to lift people from their graves on the Day of Judgement.
From the Qur'an (39.68): "And the trumpet shall be blown, so all those that are in the heavens and all those that are in the earth shall swoon, except such as Allah please; then it shall be blown again, then lo! they shall stand up awaiting."
Edgar Allen Poe's "Israfel" speaks of him:
In Heaven a spirit doth dwell
"Whose heart-strings are a lute";
None sing so wildly well
As the angel Israfel,
And the giddy stars (so legends tell),
Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell
Of his voice, all mute.
Crowley mentions him briefly in Clouds Without Water ("The Adept," XI):
Kisses induct the soft and solemn tune That Israfel shall blow on Doomsday
See also
External links
- "Israfel" (http://wikisource.org/wiki/Israfel) by Edgar Allen Poe
References
- Crowley, Aleister. (1997). Magick: Book 4. 2nd ed. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
- ___. (1973). Clouds Without Water. Yoga Publication Society.
- Lindemans, M. (2000). Israfel (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/i/israfel.html). Retrieved 03/12/05.
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