October 16 (Luna) Liber VII, Cap. VI, v. 1-8
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**1. Thou wast a priestess, O my God, among the Druids; and we knew the powers of the oak.
2. We made us a temple of stones in the shape of the Universe, even as thou didst wear openly and I concealed.
3. There we performed many wonderful things by midnight.
4. By the waning moon did we work.
5. Over the plain came the atrocious cry of wolves.
6. We answered; we hunted with the pack.
7. We came even unto the new Chapel and Thou didst bear away the Holy Graal beneath Thy Druid vestments.
8. Secretly and by stealth did we drink of the informing sacrament.
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The setting is beautiful and dark. The woods, waning moon, midnight, temple of stones, hunting, etc. all indicative of nature sound to me very wiccan which is fitting for the planetary energy here. The work is done between the priestess described and presumably the priest who is writing thus far. The framework of worship is the universe and the sacrament flows within the Holy Graal, but this is within the new Chapel being partaken of stealthily and secretly.
This suggests to me the outer work appropriate to Luna being done at night, under the light of the moon, and with the implications of danger and the hunt. I suppose as humans it is natural to regard the night as a bit dangerous and strange. The inner work occurs in the new Chapel where a secret union with the priestess in the drinking of the sacrament occurs. This suggests to me the Gnostic Mass and possibly influenced Crowley later in the writing of that ritual.
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This is my favorite chapter of all Crowley's inspired books.
- Priestess a lunar symbol and pathway to Kether, powers of the oak the power of sexuality.
- Temple of stones, settling the mind into the earth-mind (sorry if that's obscure sounding). Thou openly and I concealed-- the self is exteriorized but the witness, the recording-machines of Anti-Oedipus by Deleuze and Guattari, is still operating and watching what happens.
3.,4. The witness watching the exteriorized self operate in the world, the magical energy and desire around it waning. - The rest of the world's energy does not drain; they accept your magical energy wholesale.
- Fuck this gay earth, let's do this.
- New aspiration and self-sense, spiritual joy retained.
- Witness still watching but joy taking over. Secrecy characteristic of the moon.