26 November (Nuit) Liber CCXX, 1:33-36
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33. Then the priest fell into a deep trance or swoon, & said unto the Queen of Heaven; Write unto us the ordeals; write unto us the rituals; write unto us the law!
34. But she said: the ordeals I write not: the rituals shall be half known and half concealed: the Law is for all.
35. This that thou writest is the threefold book of Law.
36. My scribe Ankh-af-na-khonsu, the priest of the princes, shall not in one letter change this book; but lest there be folly, he shall comment thereupon by the wisdom of Ra-Hoor-Khu-it. -
@Aiwass said
"33. Then the priest fell into a deep trance or swoon, & said unto the Queen of Heaven; Write unto us the ordeals; write unto us the rituals; write unto us the law!"
He consults the goddess to learn the pattern or form of the Order and gets three points of definition. (NB - This is a Binah verse.)
The previous verse had its effect on the scribe, who is here referred to as the priest. The word "swoon" tells us this is not samadhi. His personality, his ego-structure, is overwhelmed by what he is hearing. The need for definition and precision is a classic example of the ego's need to try to hold onto something substantial in the face of feeling all its moorings slip.
And what he seeks are three points of definition of the Order; and a good three they are. In designing T.'.O.'.T.'., we had to prepare the rituals, the tasks to be completed, and the Rules & Regulations — everything else was supplemental. I can certainly understand A.C.'s desire to receive these from Nuit while he had Her attention.
"34. But she said: the ordeals I write not: the rituals shall be half known and half concealed: the Law is for all.
- This that thou writest is the threefold book of Law."
(Chesed and Geburah verses complete the definition of the Law.)
He asked for law; She gave him Law. Nothing human-made, no manner of legal artifice, but divine and natural Law.
Verse 34 is one of the most important for Thelemites to understand early. The ordeals are distinctive for each person; the rituals have some parts that are common for everyone, and some parts that are different for everyone; the Law is universal.
The ordeals are written not, because they cannot be prewritten. They are enforced by the karmic necessity (especially the character disequilibrium) of the aspirant. They are written not, i.e. by Nuit (in her aspect of Lamed). We can also easily see it as the HGA. The key point is that the ordeals are necessarily unique for each person in each time-context. (The presence of these "unwritten" ordeals, unique for each, does not abrogate the system of common standards of examination for all. The real ordeals occur "in between the lines." The assigned tasks are catalysts that trigger the ordeals and empower one to succeed in them.)
The rituals can be known according to form, but not "written" as to essence. This must be discovered by each in his or her practice.
The Law - this Book of Law - is for all. It is Liber Legis, or Sepher ha-Torah. It is the code of the microcosm and the macrocosm; of humanity, nature, and the universe.
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93,
"They are written not, i.e. by Nuit (in her aspect of Lamed)."
That's a very compressed statement. Care to clarify about Lamed? I hazarded a guess as to your intent, then I hazarded another one, so all I got was confusion.
93 93/93,
EM -
First to clear up one speed bump: All goddess images are expressions of Nuit. Lamed is one particular one.
Most simply, this is an expression of Lamed because the ordeals "are enforced by the karmic necessity (especially the character disequilibrium) of the aspirant."
I always see lamed as expressed through a figure with robes in many layers (like dense veils, swirling and dancing), adjusting continually (almost as if blowing in a breeze) as we shift and adjust. That is, she is (at any moment) the exact complement of whatever we are (and this shifts and changes as we do). Our constitution and momentum at any point in time (determined by dharma redirected by karma) determines what doors, pathways, opportunities, invitations, seductions - in short, offered experiences - are before us.
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"the rituals shall be half known and half concealed"
Without wishing to distract from Jim's deeper and more pragmatic interpretation of this passage, I can't help but note that throughout the book, fragments of ritual are made known, but details are left concealed. (Notably, I:59-63 and III:21-25, III:30.)