Lion of Light: I am The Beast whose Law is Love

Lion of Light: “Enduring Magical Biography” An Afterword by Gregory Arnott p. 231 - 240

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

This piece is my favorite non-Wilson essay in the book. It’s also the only one with a perspective from someone under 50. This was Gregory’s second effort. The first essay he wrote was longer, more provocative and with greater bandwidth, meaning a broader range of subjects such as contact with Alien Intelligences. He called it “Pure Folly: or Ethics for Aliens.” It shows a personal touch through relating the first steps along the Initiatory journey in adolescence. I enjoyed it because it made me think, it provoked and challenged the reader. However, by the time I started reading, the piece had been deemed not suitable. I told him he should hang on to it and release it in the future.

The rewrite that you see before you in Lion of Light seems more geared for the general reader or Crowley newbie yet still provokes and engages the reader who has the will and attention to dig deeper. There’s ambiguity therein and the technique RAW dubbed Guerilla Ontology meant to shake-up any certainty about “reality.” For instance, the adjective (or verb) “Enduring” in the title could mean endure as in putting up with something, maintaining a resolve to get through it. It could also be meant as a “magical biography” that continues on through the ages. For the latter sense, it does seem magical biographies come out all the time: Lion of Light last July 23rd; a new edition of Grady McMurty’s bio by Jerry Cornelius came out in the Fall; Cornelius enjoyed his Greater Feast December 8th in a seemingly peaceful and elegant fashion as befitting a Master of the Temple. He finished his autobiography and I’m sure we’ll see that at some point – his magical biography will endure.

The other meaning of enduring has to do with the challenges and provocations the reader faces. The word “magical” has multiple meanings: 1. A biography of a magician and their work. 2. A biography intended to affect the consciousness of the reader in different ways. One way is through Guerilla Ontology (GO) which deliberately and surreptitiously introduces fiction or fictional elements in a supposedly factual narrative. Gregory plays with the dichotomy of fact and fiction in Crowley’s biography, Wilson’s biographical portrayal of Crowley and in both their lives; pointing out, for instance that both Aleister Crowley and Robert Anton Wilson were not their given names, but names they, in part, invented themselves.

For me, “enduring” recalls Crowley’s first magical motto: Perdurabo which means “I will endure unto the end.”

The quote that opens this piece from One Star in Sight appears the best Crowley quote in the book in my estimation. It’s succinct, impactful and provides excellent context the title of the book. The number he refers to in the second line is, of course, 666, a triple affirmation of Tiphareth; 666 = the sum of all the numbers from 1 – 36 (6 x 6); also 666 = 6 x 111 which describes what’s known as the magic square of the Sun.

In 1934 Crowley testified in a libel case he brought against Nina Hamnett for publishing the accusation of practicing Black Magic. The judge asked about his identification with 666. He answered, “It only means sunlight. You can call me Little Sunshine.” 111 = the sum of the Hebrew letter Aleph (ALP) which corresponds to The Fool in the Tarot. James Joyce used ALP for the initials of his female protagonist in Finnegans Wake, Anna Livia Plurabelle. Livia = Life. One can see 666 = 6 x 111 as Tiphareth (the heart chakra) multiplied by Life.

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The last paragraph in “Enduring Magical Biography” cycles back to the first paragraph and to the opening Crowley quote creating an enduring circular work.

In an email to the other Lion of Light editors regarding the Afterword I wrote:

<<<I'll try to sketch in the last paragraph of his piece real quick. Here it is for reference:

"It should also be noted that at the time an improbable find happened in the Egyptian desert and Crowley was shuffling around Netherwood, Robert Anton Wilson was Robert Edward Wilson. Magic might have been afoot then, and there are still so many stars in sight."

Arnott references the beginning of his piece where he begins making an allusion with finding the Harvard doc (“Do What Thou Wilt”) to the Nag Hammadi discovery. This makes an allusive connection in time from when the NH find happened to now, the publishing of Lion of Light. The reader is holding in his hands the equivalent of NH or something as transformative. At the head, he quotes One Star in Sight. That star = a person's True Self = a person aligned with their True Will = union with HGA. "Every man and every woman is a star."

"Magic might have been afoot then ..." afoot = Malkuth = the material world ... with the NH find ..." and there are still so many stars sight" i.e., all the readers holding this book looking to align with their Highest Self. At the time of the NH find, RAW had yet to create his magical self which Gregory chooses to symbolize by becoming Robert Anton Wilson. So, the reader, not yet enlightened, can see that at the time of a previous "great find," the mighty Robert Anton Wilson was merely Robert Edward Wilson, not yet his True Self. If he can do it, and look what he did, so can YOU, dear reader. One Star in Sight, means it's possible, it's immanent.

It seems a very positive message, and good magick, in my opinion. >>>

One may find other such gems or “Easter eggs” in the essay. The beloved deSelby has something important say in connection with Crowley’s Greater Feast. Crowley’s “grandson” in the A.’. A.’. lineage, Jerry Cornelius, would likely agree. It’s one of the central tenets of Thelema.

The consideration of “first contact across time” appears magically suggestive. I take that to mean that if you weren’t around to make contact with Crowley or Wilson during their years on Earth, contact with them may come through the time-binding of the printed page and some conversation with your HGA. “Contact” indicates more than an intellectual apprehension; more along the lines of a gnostic experience. This contact can also be viewed from the perspective of psychometry. One theory of the transmission of esoteric knowledge holds that shamans, wizard, magicians and Sufis of yore had the ability to embed their knowledge in artifacts. This knowledge can get unlocked years, decades, or centuries later if one knows how to do so. These artifacts are called “reading artifacts.” A book called Visions in the Stone by E.J. Gold shows how to practice psychometry. I would guess there’s a parallel or similar methodology between psychometric reception from reading artifacts and the HGA. Learning to converse with the HGA through Tiphareth helps open the doors for intuitive or psychic reception. Lion of Light can and does function as a reading artifact. Of course, a lot of its esoteric information doesn’t have to be unlocked, it’s in plain sight; not all.

When I read Gregory’s first submission, I got the impression that he could be a major writer in this area; it seemed a product of great writing. “Enduring Magical Biography” is also very well written and makes several excellent points regarding Wilson’s take on Crowley. Parts of it are very funny for those who appreciate dry humor, the only kind of humor you can find in the desert where the essay starts and finishes. It has a je ne sais quoi found only in experienced practitioners of Wilson and Crowley.

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A ritual is another sort of reading artifact. The more it’s practiced the more it becomes unlocked and transmits gnosis. It rewards repetition, the Deleuzian kind where each repetition has something different. The Mass of the Phoenix is one of my favorites. It seems particularly appropriate for this time of year. It encapsulates the Great Work of theurgic Magick in a fairly short, but effective practice. It’s found in Chapter 44 in The Book of Lies or right here:

THE MASS OF THE PHOENIX

The Magician, his breast bare, stands before an altar

on which are his Burin, Bell, Thurible, and two

of the Cakes of Light. In the Sign of the Enterer he

  reaches West across the Altar, and cries:

Hail Ra, that goest in Thy bark

Into the Caverns of the Dark!

He gives the sign of Silence, and takes the Bell, and

Fire, in his hands.

East of the Altar see me stand

With Light and Musick in mine hand!

He strikes Eleven times upon the Bell 3 3 3-5 5 5 5 5-

3 3 3 and places the Fire in the Thurible.

I strike the Bell: I light the flame:

I utter the mysterious Name.

ABRAHADABRA

He strikes Eleven times upon the Bell.

Now I begin to pray: Thou Child,

holy Thy name and undefiled!

Thy reign is come: Thy will is done.

Here is the Bread; here is the Blood.

Bring me through midnight to the Sun!

Save me from Evil and from Good!

That Thy one crown of all the Ten.

Even now and here be mine. AMEN.

He puts the first Cake on the Fire of the Thurible.

I burn the Incense-cake, proclaim

These adorations of Thy name.

He makes them as in Liber Legis, and strikes again

 Eleven times upon the Bell. With the Burin he then

 makes upon his breast the proper sign.

Behold this bleeding breast of mine

Gashed with the sacramental sign!

He puts the second Cake to the wound.

I stanch the blood; the wafer soaks

It up, and the high priest invokes!

He eats the second Cake.

This Bread I eat. This Oath I swear

As I enflame myself with prayer:

"There is no grace: there is no guilt:

This is the Law: DO WHAT THOU WILT!"

He strikes Eleven times upon the Bell, and cries

 ABRAHADABRA.

I entered in with woe; with mirth

 I now go forth, and with thanksgiving,

To do my pleasure on the earth

 Among the legions of the living.

He goeth forth.

Notes:

Crowley explains this ritual in Chapter 62 of the Book of Lies which I’ll give below.
Ideally, this ritual is performed at Dusk in front of an open window that looks West where you can see what appears as the sun going down. The student is bare-chested.
I use my magical dagger instead of a Burin and a votive candle instead of a Thurible. My Cakes of Light are saltine crackers. The making of a proper Cake of Light is partially described in Liber Al vel Legis III 23. Finding a suitable Bell can be interesting. One can do knocks if a bell isn’t around, but a bell works much better.

Sign of the Enterer:

Where it says “Fire in hands,” I use a small pack of wood Safety matches.
The sign of Silence can be found online. It’s the classic sign for silence: index finger over the mouth and the left foot steps back.

The last two lines of the prayer gives one description of the Great Work. “Thy one crown” refers to Kether.

Where it says to proclaim the adorations as found in Liber Legis – The Book of the Law, they are:

Unity uttermost showed!
 I adore the might of Thy breath
Supreme and terrible God
 Who makest the gods and death
To tremble before Thee: –

 I, I adore thee!

Appear on the throne of Ra!
 Open the ways of the Khu!
Lighten the ways of the Ka!
 The ways of the Khabs run through
To stir me or still me!

 Aum! Let it fill me!

The light is mine, its rays consume
 Me: I have made a secret door
Into the House of Ra and Tum
 Of Kephra and of Ahathoor.
I am thy Theban, O Mentu,

 The prophet Ankh-af-na-khonsu!

By Bes-na-Maut my breast I beat;
 By wise Ta-Nech I weave my spell.
Show thy star splendor, O Nuit!
 Bid me within thine House to dwell,
O winged snake of light Hadit!

 Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!

Then it says to use the Burin to make the “proper sign” on the breast without indicating what this sign is. I just scratch a cross on my chest; it can be whatever sign you wish, but I suggest keeping it simple. Duquette gives some suggestions in his notes to this ritual in The Magick of Aleister Crowley. It’s also implied that one should break the skin and draw physical blood. I do not do this, rather I visualize the “higher blood” pouring forth from my chest to soak the Cake of Light. Duquette gives a safe way to draw blood in his account, but if you’re making this a daily ritual, it seems a little much to scar the chest every day. Visualizing the “blood” works fine for me.

Chapter 62 from The Book of Lies:

TWIG?

The Phoenix hath a Bell for Sound; Fire for Sight; a
   Knife for Touch; two cakes, one for taste, the other
   for smell.
He standeth before the Altar of the Universe at
   Sunset, when Earth-life fades.
He summons the Universe, and crowns it with
   MAGICK Light to replace the sun of natural light.
He prays unto, and give homage to, Ra-Hoor-Khuit;
   to Him he then sacrifices.
The first cake, burnt, illustrates the profit drawn
   from the scheme of incarnation.
The second, mixt with his life's blood and eaten,
   illustrates the use of the lower life to feed the
   higher life.
He then takes the Oath and becomes free — un-
    Conditioned — the Absolute.
Burning up in the Flame of his Prayer, and born
    again — the Phoenix!

Notes:

Twig is an English expression for “do you understand?”
62 corresponds with “healing.”

The music selection is a rock-n-roll standard written by John Fogarty. Rumor has it that Fogarty got turned on to Finnegans Wake by reading Jack Kerouac and wrote Proud Mary in homage; Mary = Anna Livia Plurabelle. “Rolling” could represent a turned on and active heart chakra; we find other Thelemic allusions. It’s most famously performed by Tina Turner and her dancers and band. Tina is 69 years of age in this video. Nag Hammadi is located on the banks of the Nile river.

Love is the law, love under will.

Oz