Liber Resh and Liber Al
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I want to take my performance of Liber Resh up a notch. Crowley, in Liber Resh, recommends two things:
"Also it is better if in these adorations thou assume the God-form of Whom thou adorest, as if thou didst unite with Him in the adoration of That which is beyond Him."
Regarding the assumption of godforms - Do y'all think he really means doing so in the sense that one would do this in a GD or, I assume, a ToT ceremony? If so, then each performance will turn into a 30 or 40 minute long thing. Based on my experience of godform assumption, I damn well better banish afterwards, and probably before as well. Doing the LBRP 8 times a day, more like 10 or 11 if I include my other daily work, sounds good in theory, but... This just led me to wonder if he didn't mean something much simpler. Or maybe something more reckless
Regarding the adoration of That which is beyond him - I interpret this several ways. 1) Do something like an adoration of the Lord of the Universe while still wearing the godform. No problem. Or 2) I have no idea.
Does anyone have anything else interesting they do with Liber Resh?
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@sasha said
"Regarding the assumption of godforms - Do y'all think he really means doing so in the sense that one would do this in a GD or, I assume, a ToT ceremony? If so, then each performance will turn into a 30 or 40 minute long thing."
It's a matter of practice. Assumption of a god-form, with practice, takes a few seconds. (Liber Resh doesn't contemplate a full ceremonial invocation of the god to accomplish this - just the assumption of the form.)
There are alternate interpretations of that instruction in Resh, but the straightforward interpretation you've made is surely the primary meaning intended, and also the most common.
"Based on my experience of godform assumption, I damn well better banish afterwards, and probably before as well."
Some of us, at different times, have always preceeded Resh with additional "hygenics" - in particular, a Pentagram Ritual. It isn't a common practice, and I've personally only done it as an early experiment and then during a particularly critical Working.
What's contemplated here is formulating the theurgic image in imagination, causing it to conform spacially with your own physical body, and substituting the perception of occupying the theurgic image for the perception of occupying your physical body. Whether one goes further and looses consciousness into the god-consciousness is in the "personal practice" or, more commonly, the "personal results," category.
"Regarding the adoration of That which is beyond him - I interpret this several ways. 1) Do something like an adoration of the Lord of the Universe while still wearing the godform. No problem. Or 2) I have no idea."
Liber Resh doesn't contemplate a separate action for this. The line you are quoting - see par. 6 on ordoaa.org/liber200.htm - is referring to the versical or Resh itself. That is, the Resh verse from pars. 1-4 is (as it were) "the adoration of That which is beyond Him."
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@Jim Eshelman said
"It's a matter of practice. Assumption of a god-form, with practice, takes a few seconds. (Liber Resh doesn't contemplate a full ceremonial invocation of the god to accomplish this - just the assumption of the form.)"
I feel like I always belabor the point, but just so I get this... So you mean something more like just doing the visualization part of a godform adoption. I imagine that doing this everyday can eventually lead to some pretty intense identification with that deity, eliminating the need for a full invocation, as well as producing the results safely without any need for banishment afterwards or taxing yourself.
Thanks once again for the help.
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@sasha said
"I feel like I always belabor the point, but just so I get this... So you mean something more like just doing the visualization part of a godform adoption."
That is the god-form adoption. (It's the form component.)
The specific technique of assumption of a form shouldn't be confused with, say, a full invocation.
"I imagine that doing this everyday can eventually lead to some pretty intense identification with that deity,"
Yes, many have found that it does.
The core of the method - quoted from Liber O - is as follows:
"The student, seated in the "God" position, or in the characteristic attitude of the God desired, should then imagine His image as coinciding with his own body, or as enveloping it. This must be practised until mastery of the image is attained, and an identity with it and with the God experienced. It is a matter for very great regret that no simple and certain test of success in this practice exists."
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Does anyone have any information on the additional or instead-of verses for Liber Resh which Crowley supposedly taught to his own students? I believe they are supposed to be taken from Liber AL (source: DuQuette's "Magick of Aleister Crowley").
Also, today was the first day I began performing Liber Resh, based on how simple it is and Duquette's note that it is an extremely powerful ritual. Also, Jim recommended it along with LBRP and MPR as part of his "6 months to eye-opening" curriculum (he didn't actually call it that, exactly).
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@Redd Fezz said
"Does anyone have any information on the additional or instead-of verses for Liber Resh which Crowley supposedly taught to his own students? I believe they are supposed to be taken from Liber AL[/quote[
I suspect you are referring to the part referenced in paragraph 5 of Liber Resh: " And after each of these invocations thou shalt give the sign of silence, and afterwards thou shalt perform the adoration that is taught thee by thy Superior." Yes?Since we've published this for the general public previously (in I.T.C., for one), I see no reason not to give it here. The adoration is from CCXX, Cap. III:
"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 Khephra 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-splendour, O Nuit! Bid me within thine House to dwell, O wingéd snake of light, Hadit! Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!""
This changes a little at A.'.A.'. 2=9.
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@Jim Eshelman said
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@Redd Fezz said
"Does anyone have any information on the additional or instead-of verses for Liber Resh which Crowley supposedly taught to his own students? I believe they are supposed to be taken from Liber AL[/quote[
I suspect you are referring to the part referenced in paragraph 5 of Liber Resh: " And after each of these invocations thou shalt give the sign of silence, and afterwards thou shalt perform the adoration that is taught thee by thy Superior." Yes?Since we've published this for the general public previously (in I.T.C., for one), I see no reason not to give it here. The adoration is from CCXX, Cap. III:
"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 Khephra 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-splendour, O Nuit! Bid me within thine House to dwell, O wingéd snake of light, Hadit! Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!"This changes a little at A.'.A.'. 2=9."
"This is also published in Duquette's book, but without the clarification that this is the "adoration" referred to! Well, I said both for this morning-- but only the first verse of the additional adoration-- is that right? I assumed it was one verse for each time of day.
This is good to know because I had no idea what the "adoration taught by your superior" was supposed to be. But, apparently I did it right. Well, minus the assumption of the god forms (I just said the words and felt good for doing so).
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@Redd Fezz said
"This is also published in Duquette's book, but without the clarification that this is the "adoration" referred to! Well, I said both for this morning-- but only the first verse of the additional adoration-- is that right? I assumed it was one verse for each time of day."
No. The whole thing each time.
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Yes, I have changed my username (previously Sasha), but anyway...
@jmiller said
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@Jim Eshelman said
"Just as an example, here is aone of the four invocations of the quarters I've written for a self-dedication ceremony we'll be publishing before the year is out. These verses have several different kinds of symbolism involved, resting foremost on the "solar quarter" symbolism."I have adapted these four invocations to my Liber Resh work. For almost the last two months, I have recited the appropriate one prior to each of my daily solar adorations. I find that it adds a great deal to it, providing much material for meditation. The invocations have a very devotional feel to them that stengthens the adorations for me."
I have now worked with these invocations for more than nine months. The power of it continues to grow for me. They have basically become daily prayers to my HGA. Praying four times each day, every day to her has begun to have an impact on my understand of Will in general, my ability to pick up clues about my Will, and my relationship to my HGA. Certainly I could attribute these impacts to the sum total of all of my magical work, but I think these prayers deserve the bulk of the credit. So, again, I recommend the practice to others. And I'd love to hear about the experiences of others with this.
I should say that I see Resh also as partly a set of prayers to my HGA, but much less direct than the above prayers. The two seem to have taken on different roles for me and to produce differing results or states of consciousness.
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Sasha That Was,
Wow. Thanks very much for sharing this. I seriously can't think of a much better use for these - or a better result.
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Hi there, JMiller!
Hi Jim!(previously-Sasha said:)
I have adapted these four invocations to my Liber Resh work. For almost the last two months, I have recited the appropriate one prior to each of my daily solar adorations. I find that it adds a great deal to it, providing much material for meditation. The invocations have a very devotional feel to them that stengthens the adorations for me. ... I recommend the practice to others.
Wow. I have tried to read as much of the archives as I can in an attempt to get up to speed, but I totally missed this thread! I love these new adorations, Jim!! Thanks for posting them!
JMiller, this is such an amazing thread, thank you for willing to be so transparent in your descriptions; it really helps me to understand better and so much of it pings back and forth as I read your words. (You see, I told you that you were WAY ahead, so thanks from dropping these awesome bread crumbs, lady!)
I've printed these out and will start incorporating them into my Resh beginning tonight. Voicing the original adorations consistently has opened up a new channel in my heart -- adding this new material can only make it better.
Again, thank you Jim for sharing this. Can't wait to see the book!
Donna