17 January (Heru-Ra-Ha) Liber CCXX, 3:18-20
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(v. 163) 18. Mercy let be off: [censored] them who pity! Kill and torture; spare not; be upon them!
(v. 164) 19. That stélé they shall call the Abomination of Desolation; count well its name, & it shall be to you as 718.
(v. 165) 20. Why? Because of the fall of Because, that he is not there again. -
@Aiwass said
"(v. 163) 18. Mercy let be off: [censored] them who pity! Kill and torture; spare not; be upon them!"
The antithesis of Mercy (Chesed), on the Tree of Life, is Strength or Severity (Geburah). The initial wording is a little strange; but it clearly warrants a Geburan attitude, not that of Chesed.
This verse especially makes clear why we should not “quote scripture” out of context. The verses of this Book are connected and interrelated. The present verse is especially the antidote for the timorous and cowering behavior addressed by the prior verse: Act with Strength! Express your full aggressive vitality!
A fundamentalist reading of this verse would take it as an injunction to “Kill and torture,” and so forth. However, the more fundamental key of Thelema prescribes that none of us has the right to infringe another’s will, as by murder. Mostly, I just regard this as an injunction to let loose and ACT rather than brood in your timid closet.
"(v. 164) 19. That stélé they shall call the Abomination of Desolation; count well its name, & it shall be to you as 718."
The end, which was so difficult for Crowley, is now easy for us. The only real name ever given to the “stélé of revealing,” to our knowledge, was its catalog number in the museum where the Crowleys found it: Στηλη 666 = 52 + 666 = 718.
To AC, this eventual discovery was a tremendous breakthrough. To us it is a commonplace. What else is in the verse for us?
The surface meaning of the first sentence (especially in context of verse 18) seems to be an image of warring Thelemites sweeping across the land - whether physically or ideologically is not clear - with Stélé 666 as their ensign, terrifying the atavists in their path. I think this is all a little dramatic; but it does alert us that the stélé should be our visible public ensign. It is the seed-image, the image which encapsulates all of the chief symbols of The Book of the Law. It is Chapter 0 of this Book.
I think this all sounds a bit too apocalyptic. Interesting, to be sure - but a little too apocalyptic.
It is clear that Στηλη 666 = 718. But there is also something elsewhere; for “it shall be to you as 718.” Why “as”? What else is meant by 718? 718 = חין : The Chariot (of the Crowned & Conquering Child?), the Hermit (Hadit?), and the finality of Death : Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio : VIII + IX + XIII = XXX. The chariot of war, the prophet, and death certainly paint an apocalyptic image; the populace could see them as an “Abomination of Desolation.”
Yet “Abomination of Desolation” is what it is to them; and 718 is what it is to us. These two modes of identification should not be confused, should not be cross-linked, I think. Perhaps (in the absence of any other meaning) it is to us to be simply Στηλη 666. For Hadit is the infinitesimal point of light (Yod contracted 10 → 1); and Nuit is the infinite circumference, the 0 of Aleph expanded to its utmost (Aleph = 111); and Ra-Hoor-Khuit is the Hierophant and the solar Child of their union (Vav = 6): 1 x 111 x 6 = 666, IAO.
This verse, which characterizes the stélé of revealing, is verse 164 of the entire Book. “Stélé” means a stone or memorial post or pillar; and 164 is the value of the Hebrew phrase ehben ophel (אבן אפל), “the Hidden Stone” - as well as the secondary forms of ehben aleph, “the First Stone,” and ehben pelah, “the Wonderful Stone.” “Desolate,” meaning “devoid of inhabitants,” is related to “desert” or “deserted;” and the Greek word for “solitude, desert” is ‘ερημια.
"(v. 165) 20. Why? Because of the fall of Because, that he is not there again."
This is verse 165 of the entire Book. 165 = NEMO (Nun Heh Mem A’ayin), a generic name for the Master of the Temple, 8=3. This is an appropriate verse for this number.
This verse especially goes with the preceding verse, and shows the frailty of logical exploration in the face of the elegant mystery of 718; solved eventually not by reason (despite its utterly rational nature) but by a seeming fluke such as startles by its inspiring electricity.
Because (by English Simplex = 56) was previously used in this Book as a variant name of Da’ath.
This present verse is a sublime ridicule of Reason. Even a child knows that the only answer to “Why” is “Because!” And here it is because Because ain’t good enough!
“Why” - Vav Heh Yod, by transliteration - is the Trigrammaton spelled qlippothically backwards. That is, it is an observation to the averse aspect of the Divine Name, manifest only to the plane of Yetzirah.
Why is Because a “he”? Why is “he” “not there”? Why “again”? The obvious answer is - Because!