Question about the prayer
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Mr. Eshelman, could you explain the meaning of this prayer:
Unto Thee, Sole Wise, Sole Eternal , and Sole Merciful One,
Be the praise and glory for ever.
Who hath permitted me, who standeth humbly before Thee,
to enter thus far into the sanctuary of Thy mysteries.
Not unto me, Adonai, but onto Thy name be the glory.
Let the influence of Thy Divine Ones descend upon my head,
and teach me the value of self-sacrifice;
So that I shrink not in the our of my trial.
But that thus my name may be written on high,
And my Genius stand in the presence of the Holy One.
In that hour when the Son of Man is invoked before the Lord of spirits
And His Name before the Ancient of Days.I find it quite suitable for my needs (as a closing prayer). But I can't use it fully, because I do not understand the meaning of these last lines:
But that thus my name may be written on high,
And my Genius stand in the presence of the Holy One.
In that hour when the Son of Man is invoked before the Lord of spirits
And His Name before the Ancient of Days.What does all of this mean?!
Thank you!
Love is the law, love under will.
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If I may humbly stand in
Perhaps you are confused by the word "Genius?" Your "Genius" is another name for HGA. It is another name for "Dwarf Self" or "Silent Self," which are also considered other names for "Higher Self" or "Sacred Self" or "HGA."
To paraphrase the prayer:
Oh that it please you Lord & my name be remembered
And my Holy Stand-In stand in the presence of your Holiness.
In that hour when the Fruit of Humanity's Highest Grade is called to stand before the Ruler of rulers
And His Name before the before ever there was a before. -
Thank you, Takamba! But it is still not clear)
By asking the question, I would like to know:
-What does "my name may be written on high" mean?
-Who the "Son of Man" and the"Holy One" are? and what is the "hour" when the first is invoked before second?
-What does "His Name before the Ancient of Days" mean?I am sure you would like to help, but your paraphrase is not clear to me even more than the original, sorry
Thanks again!
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@Quaestor Lucis said
"Thank you, Takamba! But it is still not clear)
By asking the question, I would like to know:
-What does "my name may be written on high" mean?
-Who the "Son of Man" and the"Holy One" are? and what is the "hour" when the first is invoked before second?
-What does "His Name before the Ancient of Days" mean?I am sure you would like to help, but your paraphrase is not clear to me even more than the original, sorry
Thanks again!"
Okay, let's give a brief reminder of the basics of Evocation/Invocation. We always begin with the command of the highest and come down from there. In other words (see Liber Samekh for example) we begin by calling on the name of the highest known power and then requesting that power to command the next lower power and so on. In this case, that is what you are observing.
To be specific to your specific questions, "may my name be written on high" means "may my name be counted in Heaven among the saints" etc etc (this is called being poetic).
The Son of Man is the title of the Messiah (Tiphareth) and He is Invoked before the Lord (thy God) at the moment of Salvation. (again, it's all poetry, just flow with it.)
The Ancient of Days is a title of The Lord Thy God.
Truly this is all very basic Qabalah. Let me start by recommending you read Dion Fortune's & Israel Regardie's works.
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@Quaestor Lucis said
"By asking the question, I would like to know:
-What does "my name may be written on high" mean?"It's poetic. If it were to be taken literally, it would mean that your name was recorded in God's book of those who get to live in Heaven forever. Taken poetically, it could be expressed several other ways, and I don't want to reduce the potential meaning for you by over-interpreting; but, for example, one might say that one's essence is subsumed from the transient into the eternal.
"-Who the "Son of Man" and the"Holy One" are?"
In the original intent, Jesus Christ. Even Christian scholars consider the meaning (used several times in the New Testament) as controversial. You might enjoy this read:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_man_(Christianity"and what is the "hour" when the first is invoked before second?"
Unsettled by scholars, but generally regarded as death, i.e., when the soul rises before Christ for judgment.
"What does "His Name before the Ancient of Days" mean?"
"Ancient of Days" is a traditional Biblical term that, among other things, made its way into Qabbalistic use as a title of Kether. Basically: God.
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Many thanks to both of you!
As I thought, this second part is very Christian to me, so to speak ... Well it would be better and easier to come up with something of my own.
Although the first part of the prayer seems to me quite appropriate to Thelemic worldview ... at least in my understanding of Thelema) -
@Quaestor Lucis said
"As I thought, this second part is very Christian to me"
Why didn't you just say that was your question and save all this running around in circles? Sure, it's specifically a traditional Christian prayer. (Where did you get it? Didn't you know this before about it?)
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From Regardie’s "Ceremonial magic".( I do not think that he was a Christian)
When I first saw it, it seemed appropriate to my ideas of the Great Work. But I do not understand the meaning of the second part. So I asked for clarification and got it, thank you!
Under "As I thought…" I meant, "As I felt…" – for I didn't know anything about the original source this text – “As I felt, this is not what I want to use in my practice”.
Originally I just wanted to ask your opinion: is this prayer "thelemic" or not. But I decided it is better to get my own opinion based on the your explanation of its meaning. -
Got it. - I recognized it, but couldn't think where it was in print. This prayer was used heavily by some Golden Dawn adepts and appeared in various rituals, probably also shows in some Bennett or Crowley original stuff reproduced in The Equinox (in "Temple of Solomon the King").
Regardie wasn't Christian per se, but was able to tap into any material that moved him. I love that chapter for its abundance of useable, adaptable stuff.
It's a worthy exercise to use this stuff in order to let it sink in that all such invocations are ultimately poetry - to be taken seriously but not literally.