Liber Viarum Viae
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(The following is a slightly edited excerpt from the Adeptus Major chapter of The Mystical & Magical System of the A.'.A.'..)
Liber Viarum Viæ is a tabulation of magical powers or practices classified according to the symbolism of the 22 Paths or 22 Tarot Trumps. It is designed to serve the Greater Adept in the work of practicing and assimilating the various classical magical powers. When it is written that the Major Adept is expected to “possess all the siddhis shown in the lower paths, without doubt,” it means (in part, but importantly) that all of the Paths previously worked must be revisited and “brought up to speed.” Each inferior element must be brought under control as a prerequisite to what happens thereafter. Below Tiphereth, development generally has been no higher than Yetziratic. After attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, these Paths all need to be reworked, at least to some extent, so that they can be “lifted up” unto Briah. The key is to conform them to the rapport one has with the Holy Guardian Angel, in a way the non-adept could not have done. The sides of the Pyramid, which are the Four Powers of the Sphinx, are builded at a higher level, another layer of mortar having been slapped down atop the prior.
Liber V.V. There were some out-and-out errors, and a couple of changes required by the subsequent understanding of the Paths of Tzaddi and Heh. For reference, here is the corrected copy of Liber V.V. as issued by the Soror Estai lineage of A.'.A.'.. (Because of the limits of the forum software, English cognates are substituted for Hebrew letters below.]
9 LOCKS OF THE INFERIOR BEARD.
Nine paths below Adeptus.- Th The Formulation of the Body of Light. Liber O.
- Sh The Passage of the King’s Chamber. Liber HHH.
- R The Illumination of the Sphere. Liber HHH.
- Q The Divining of Destiny. Liber Viæ Memoriæ CMXIII.
- Tz The Formulation of the Flaming Star. Liber V.
- Q The Destruction of the House of God. Liber XVI.
- O The Sabbath of the Adepts. Liber CCCLXX.
- S Skrying in the Spirit Vision: The Ladder of Jacob. Liber O.
- N The Preparation of the Corpse for the Tomb. Liber XXV.
13 LOCKS OF THE SUPERIOR BEARD.
7 Paths Below Magister Templi.
- M The Sleep of Siloam. Liber CDLI.
- L The Passing of the Hall of the Balances. Liber XXX.
- K The Evocation of the Mighty Ones. Liber
- Y The Absorption of the Emanations. Liber DCCCXXXI.
- T The Protection of the Sphere. Liber O.
- Ch The Ritual of the Holy Graal. Liber CLVI.
- Z The Utterance of the Pythoness. Liber MCXXXIX.
3 below Magus.
- V The Forthcoming of the Hierophant. Liber VIII. (8th Æthyr in Liber 418.)
- H The Adoration under the Starry Heaven. Liber XI., NV (from Liber CCXX).
- D The Incarnation of the Inmost Light. Liber DLV Had (from Liber CCXX.)
3 below Ipsissimus.
- G The Supreme Ecstasy of Purity. Liber LXXIII.
- B The Universal Affirmations and Denials. Liber B (I.).
- A The transcending of all these; yea, the transcend-ing of all these.
Seven Inferiors : Seven Superiors : Seven above All :
and Seven Interpretations of every Word. -
93, Jim,
Thank you Brother.
93s,
LA'AL, Neter Ankh
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@RifRaf said
"Another question I have concerning this specific book is in my Golden Dawn training, within the order I once belonged to, I had made it to 4=7, and I understand and have worked alot of the rituals that are placed on the first paths of Viarum Vae, but in the Golden Dawn tradition, which we all know is different in alot of aspects. So, to completly understand VV would one need to start from the beginning, or can I take up from where I left off, which I belive would be near Skrying in the Spirit Vision: The Ladder of Jacob?"
Do not! Do not! Do not! Do not! Do not! Do not! Do not! Do not! Do not!...
...confuse the A.'.A.'. Grades with the grades of any Golden Dawn type order.The 4=7 of A.'.A.'. would be equal to 7=4 in the old G.D.
If you made it to 4=7 in a G.D. type Order this would, at most, be equivalent to a late stage 0=0 (Probationer) in the A.'.A.'..
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@RifRaf said
"I was just asking from where I was at. Now I assume that I would start with Tau, but then the questions begs, I have performed the cirriculum in the early paths of Viea while being in the GD. So in a nutshell, do I need to start at the "bottom" when I do this, even though I have, a handfull of times."
If you performed the curriculum of these early paths while in the GD, then it was highly non-standard GD. The first path, Tav, is assigned "The Formulation of the Body of Light," whch isn't taught in standard GD curriculum until 5=6.
But, to answer more broadly (and, of course, generically): Yes, one should begin at the beginning. And, of course, if the question is about actual A.'.A.'. membership, then one begins even earlier than this - by being admitted a Probationer for a year. OTOH, no work already done is lost or without value.
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93
That is the first time Ive seen the practices organized like this.
Is this something to substitute my daily programme for?
Who wrote this? Has it always been A..A.. official curriculum of practices?Baffled I am. (reaching out for my copy of
Gems, scratching my head)
93 93/93
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@Flight93 said
"Is this something to substitute my daily programme for?
Who wrote this? Has it always been A..A.. official curriculum of practices?"Not a substitute for a daily program. Rather, it was an early draft (not even quite the final form) of the A.'.A.'. grade work structure. In most respects, it is a match for what ended up in Liber 185.
Crowley wrote it. It's an A.'.A.'. official document in Class B. Yes, you'll find it in Gems.
Since I said there were small changes, I should, perhaps, add a few lines of comment here about variations.
"18. Q The Divining of Destiny. Liber Viæ Memoriæ CMXIII."
In Crowley's final form of the A.'.A.'. structure, Liber CMXIII was not part of the Practicus work (where the Path of Qoph is worked). Instead, it was in the 2=9 work, and the task assigned to Qoph was simply divination: "He shall further show some acquaintance with and experience of his chosen method of divination. Yet he shall be his own judge in this matter" (Liber 185). "Examination in some one mode of divination: e.g., Geomancy, Astrology, the Tarot. Theoretical" (Liber XIII).
"4. Tz The Formulation of the Flaming Star. Liber V."
Our version of Liber V.V. swapped Tzaddi and Heh from the original. This isn't the eventual Liber V (Liber Reguli), which wasn't even conceived until a couple of decades later. The actual practice hidden under this title is Meditation SSS from Liber HHH.
"15. O The Sabbath of the Adepts. Liber CCCLXX."
The actual task assigned to the Philosophus for this Path turned out to the consecration of talismans and evocation, even though Liber CCCLXX was eventually assigned to the Senior Philosophus, i.e., Dominus Liminis.
"13. N The Preparation of the Corpse for the Tomb. Liber XXV."
As mentioned earlier, this isn't the eventual Liber XXV (The Star Ruby), but, rather, a practice of meditation never written up separately outside of Crowley's essay, "Science & Buddhism."
"9. Y The Absorption of the Emanations. Liber DCCCXXXI."
There was a typo in the published version of Liber V.V., which masked the fact that this was Liber Yod. This has been corrected in our version.
"6. Z The Utterance of the Pythoness. Liber MCXXXIX."
This was never written.
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93
Ok. Beautiful. Or rather usefull....
93 93/93
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Can someone please talk about the "Locks" of the Superior and Inferior Beard?
Where does this concept come from?
Where can I read more about this and study it? -
@Frater Pantha said
"Can someone please talk about the "Locks" of the Superior and Inferior Beard?
Where does this concept come from?
Where can I read more about this and study it?"It's from the Zohar. "Locks" is as in "locks of hair," not "locks on the door." It was mostly used here as a way of organizing the Paths on the Tree and (at least for the Liber V.V. side of things) isn't of any great importance.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"It ... isn't of any great importance."
But perhaps these are the trees of eternity
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What about The Evocation of the Mighty Ones (Kaph) and The Utterance of the Pythoness(Zayin)?
AFAIK he last one was never written, is it replaced by another instruction?
I ask because i've been studying and theorizing for a while but havent been able to find something that fits these two.
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@Mysteria said
"What about The Evocation of the Mighty Ones (Kaph) and The Utterance of the Pythoness(Zayin)?
AFAIK he last one was never written, is it replaced by another instruction?"
These weren't the names for actual documents.
The Kaph practice isn't covered by a formal A.'.A.'. instruction, but by the Raja Yoga already acquired en route to Adeptus Major.
The Zayin practice doesn't appear in a formal instruction under that exact title; but the formal A.'.A.'. practice that addresses the essential task of Zayin is Liber Os Abysmi (Liber Da'ath).
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something that puzzles me a bit is that according to this "road" the magician gets to practice Liber VIII up until Binah. I thought that this was a practice made for D.L/Adeptus Minor.
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also, the closest practice adviced here to achieve k&CHGA seems to be The Death Meditation and/or The Sleep of Siloam
my curiosity makes me ask again? why is Liber VIII pushed up to the Vau path? Is there a difference between practicing liber samekh and liber VIII?
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@Mysteria said
"also, the closest practice adviced here to achieve k&CHGA seems to be The Death Meditation and/or The Sleep of Siloam"
S.O.S. comes after 5=6, in one of the Paths en route to 6=5.
This document isn't intended by any means to be the entire curriculum. It is a tiny subset of the whole curriculum, and describes, at best, practices attributed to the Paths themselves. It doesn't describe the work undertaken in the Sephiroth.
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@RifRaf said
"Concerning the "Formulation of The Body of Light" assigned to Tau, does this include Astral Projection and Rising on the Planes or is this more or less shaping and educating the Body of Light? I only ask because I see that Samekh is assign to Skrying in the Spirit Vision, but according to "One Star in Sight" one "Has to acquire perfect control of the Astral Plane" at the Neophyte stage. Or is this because a Neophyte is not tested in his or her Astral sight until a later grade?"
Tav includes what is conventionally called "astral projection" - it's the primary task that opens for the Neophyte 1=10 not only Yesod per se but, specifically, Yetzirah. One is most definitely tested on "astral sight" before being advanced to 2=9.
Rising on the Planes is the Samekh practice - hence the "Ladder of Jacob" reference.