Liber 51
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I have recently been reading Liber 51 The Lost Continent ...
Is it suppose to be an 'actual' account of Atlantis? As I am reading it, I cannot tell if that is what it really is or just a metaphor for something else. Of course, that is what Atlantis could have always been...
I tried looking up information about it, no luck. Does anyone know the circumstances which brought the Liber about and his intent in writing it?
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It's an allegory, a bit of utopian fiction (in its own way quite as remarkable as that of, say, Huxley), and a (IMHO) semi-satirical presentation of his social vision for O.T.O. and a discussion of its exact degree structure and inner meaning.
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Alright, cool. Thanks for that clarification!
I caught a satirical vibe from it, but I was unsure if it was the result of mis-understanding a 'foreign' culture.
@Jim Eshelman said
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...social vision for O.T.O. and a discussion of its exact degree structure and inner meaning.
"Hmm... brings to mind a parallel between 'the Catastrophe' and the current proceedings of the COTO; at least my personal interpretation of it.
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But look carefully at the various grades or refinements of Zro. (I'm going from memory - slightly different language might have been used. I haven't ready this in probably 20 years.)
In any case, the nine stages of Zro are the nine degrees of O.T.O., with a lot more subtlety of his understanding of these than exists anywhere else available.
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@Crowley said
"Now the name of this substance is always Zro, but in its first state the gesture is a twiddling of the thumbs. In its second, it is a rapid twittering of the fingers, and in its third state of distillation it is a screwing of the hands together. Within the spheres it sublimes suddenly in the air as a snaky powder of silver, which immediately turns to an iridescent fluid that is forced up, by its own need of expansion, through a fountain into the temple, on whose floor it lies in a semi-solid condition. Expert Priests gather this in their hands, and rapidly shape it into its seventh state, when it is a knife of diamond, but alive. An instrument like a Mexican machete is used to carve rocks. The edge shears them, the back smooths them. The rock behaves exactly like wax, responsive to the lightest touch. What is not used for weapons is then gathered up swiftly and kneaded by women of the rank of High Priestess. It is not known even to the High Priests with what they knead it, but in its eighth stage it is a substance solid enough to support great weight, but eternally heaving of its own force. Of this they make beds, so that the sleeping Atlantean is (as it were) continually massaged.[...]These beds remain active only for a few days, and they are then thrown into the ninth stage by being taken into a room where is a cauldron of great size. They are thrown into this and sprinkled with black phosphorus. The Zro then divides into two parts, one liquid, one solid.[...]The black phosphorus is always added by a High Priestess, and it is not known in what matter she does this."
It is evident from this excerpt that Crowley is discussing the stages of the Sacrament as it is developed & produced according to the ability of the initiates of various grades - but I must admit, I am a bit confused about the uses to which the Zro is put, i.e., the diamond knife, massaging beds, & especially the reference to black phosphorus that seperates the Zro in its ninth stage. Can anyone offer any thoughts?
729
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@Arsihsis said
"It is evident from this excerpt that Crowley is discussing the stages of the Sacrament as it is developed & produced according to the ability of the initiates of various grades - but I must admit, I am a bit confused about the uses to which the Zro is put, i.e., the diamond knife, massaging beds, & especially the reference to black phosphorus that seperates the Zro in its ninth stage. Can anyone offer any thoughts?"
I'll give you a start: The uses of Zro, in theory, are unlimited. Within this, the living diamond knife is the Will (or the consequences of the Will set in motion) whic, at this level, carve out and smooth the shape of reality as if it were waxen.
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Because that's not all it means. In some ways, it's the least of it.
Alchemical language such as this (and in Atlantis, Crowley created some novel and new alchemical language) has an advantage of being able to communicate not simply things that may not be said plainly, but, especially, things that can not be said plainly.