27 January (Heru-Ra-Ha) Liber CCXX, 3:43-45
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(v. 188) 43. Let the Scarlet Woman beware! If pity and compassion and tenderness visit her heart; if she leave my work to toy with old sweetnesses; then shall my vengeance be known. I will slay me her child: I will alienate her heart: I will cast her out from men: as a shrinking and despised harlot shall she crawl through dusk wet streets, and die cold and an-hungered.
(v. 189) 44. But let her raise herself in pride! Let her follow me in my way! Let her work the work of wickedness! Let her kill her heart! Let her be loud and adulterous! Let her be covered with jewels, and rich garments, and let her be shameless before all men!
(v. 190) 45. Then will I lift her to pinnacles of power: then will I breed from her a child mightier than all the kings of the earth. I will fill her with joy: with my force shall she see & strike at the worship of Nu: she shall achieve Hadit. -
Reading the Book of the Law is like riding an emotional roller coaster. Each verse is powerfully charged with emotion, and the transitions from one feeling tone to another are often abrupt and dizzying.
It's impossible to read III:43 aloud without adopting a tone of voice that is -- how shall I say it? -- menacing, domineering, heartless, mocking? None of these words is quite right, but try the experiment and you'll see what I mean. The final words, "die cold and an-hungered," practically come spitting out of your mouth.
Then v. 44 is an abrupt change. You can almost hear an orchestra changing key, the atmosphere grows lighter, your heart lifts.
It is common to abstract away from the feeling tone and focus on the words, with their definitions, etymology, and qabalah, looking for hidden meanings, and rationalizing the more horrific verses by asserting that they don't mean what they seem to mean. But it is worth abstracting away from the words and just feeling the book. Read it aloud, ignore what it says, listen to your tone of voice, and pay attention to how you feel. It's like a session with a spiritual chiropractor, a direct dealing of God with your nephesh.
[I would love to hear a skilled actor read aloud a translation of the book in a language I don't know.]