Commentaries on the BOL
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Would someone please tell me the difference between these 3 books:
Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of the Law
edited by Symonds and Grant 1975The Law Is For All: The Authorized Popular Commentary of Liber Al Vel Legis Sub Figura CCXX, the Book of the Law
edited by Hymenaeus Beta (Author as well?), Louis U. WilkinsonThe Law Is for All
edited by Israel Regardie, Christopher S. Hyatt???
I have The Law Is for All and enjoy it immensely. What new information will I be getting out of the other books (not like I can afford the Symonds and Grant version, but it'd be nice to know what I'm missing if anything)
Thanks
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Scarecrow,
I cannot answer all your questions because I do not have The Magical and Philosophical Commentaries but I might be able to help a little.
I think there are 3 Commentaries done by Crowley about Liber Al.
One is The Law is For All. It was released at least twice ... one edition edited by Regardie and one edited by H.B. --- besides the editor notes there shouldn't be much different between the two.
Another Commentary was published as The Equinox of the Gods. It has been published alone and also in the "big blue brick" edition of Magick.
The third Commentary is Commentary D(Djeridensis Comment). I think this was in The Magical and Philosophical Commentaries and it has also been published in Knights Templar Oasis newsletter called the Lifted Lance. I am uncertain where else it has been published.
The Magical and Philosophical Commentaries should have all three in it (but as I said I don't own it -- so I am sort of guessing). Since you enjoyed The Law is for All you might want to check out the other Commentaries. There is a rumor going around that all the Commentaries are going to be published together again in one better than ever Hardcover edition packed full of editor notes. I wouldn't hold my breath or wait for that though. It might be a while before that happens (if it happens at all). -
I didn't respond initially because I don't own any of the Commentary books, but I do have the "blue brick" Liber ABA, Book 4...
@Frater Pantha said
"Another Commentary was published as The Equinox of the Gods. It has been published alone and also in the "big blue brick" edition of Magick."
Did The Equinox of the Gods contain any of Crowley's detailed verse-by-verse commentary on the Book of the Law? There is some generic commentary in the "Genesis Libri AL" section of Part 4 of Book 4, but neither the Old (1906-1912) nor New (1919-1923) Comments appear in the blue brick.
The online versions of all these commentaries are not too bad, though. If one puts in some time formatting the HTML, one can print them out, have them bound at a Kinkos or something, and have them on your shelf without a great expense.
Steve
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Scarecrow,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
thank you for your interest in this subject. it is one of my ongoing projects to place as much of this material online as i can within the confines of copyright restriction and continued cooperation with the estates of those who have published it. there IS a great deal of difference between these, and particularly what is contained within the Grant and Symonds edition. much was omitted or edited out in the way of peripheral commentary and gematria and explanation, plus of course Kenneth Grant and John Symonds had much to say beyond this about the work besides.
I have tried to make notes where I could see that Grant/Symonds or Regardie (I don't have a copy of the original material put out by Crowley in limited edition) varied in their inclusion of the Beast's writing (Regardie skipped some notes by Crowley for example).
I asked the copyright owner (Fr. Hymenaeus Beta) if i could use the unique and new material from the Wilkinson edition which is out in print and was told that I could not receive permission but that they (the OTO) were attempting to get "the full, unexpurgated commentaries" out in print. this was in July of 2012. perhaps it is already for sale and i am unaware of it, or it is due very soon. in the meanwhile, i am setting to finish up the notation for the online batch that i've been able to assemble and think it will serve those who want to know more about the Book of the Law, study it and its reception, etc. I am just beginning to include notes by Marcelo Motta, which is taking me a while to integrate properly.
by the way, in my exploration of this site i ran across reference to a very expensive ($400-$600) publication which may be of interest to any who are studying the Lawbook: Volume 8 of "Red Flame: A Thelemic Research Journal" edited by J. Edward and Marlene Cornelius, 2000 e.v., which features a comparison amongst many (all the extent or previously known? I'm looking for a list of what is in it without having to pay to obtain it) editions of Liber L or Liber Al (etc.). you can find pages i-10 of that online at
www.parareligion.ch/rf/rf8.htm
Love is the law, love under will.
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I've got them all, and I personally, prefer 'the Magical and Philosophical' commentaries - it's unfortunate that this edition is somewhat prohibitively rare and expensive. It is a nice book though.
I'd love to see an updated hardcover 'complete' commentary....
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@nigris said
"having got them all, can you briefly detail which versions of the Book of the Law are covered, included, analyzed, or described within the Red Flame Volume 8?"
Sorry, I was speaking to the OP's original list of 3 commentaries; I do not have the Red Flame vol. 8 - but will ever be keeping an eye out for it