#29

The Southern Cross

Love, I love you! Night, night cover us! Thou art

night, O my love; and there are no stars but thine

eyes.

Dark night, sweet night, so warm and yet so fresh,

so scented yet so holy, cover me, cover me!

Let me be no more! Let me be Thine; let me be

Thou; let me be neither Thou nor I; let there

be love in night and night in love.

N.O.X. the night of Pan; and Laylah, the night

before His threshold!

As I studied this short chapter of The Book of Lies, I began to understand it as a magickal formula of great value to the Great Work. Later some ideas of "practical magick" began to become apparent as well. Before starting I should like to point out that my interpretation of this poem may have nothing in common with Crowley's purpose in writing it. It does describe a particular formula that 1 have found useful in eliciting non-ego states of consciousness. As I am still working out the details and applications of this method I can only issue a preliminary report.

The main idea of this formula is an extension of ordinary human love. By identifying the beloved-with the infinite and then annihilating the Self through Union (Love under Will ), the ego is thus transcended and a particular trance is attained. This trance is characterized by extreme lucidity along with a notable degree of ecstatic rapport with the beloved. The usual processes of ego-consciousness are suspended. The Self exists only as a particular viewpoint, with no more or less importance than any other. There is a feeling of being outside normal time-flow; a detachment from the ordinary concerns of life, similar to the attitude one has in memories of past lives. I have had similar experiences with several lovers in "ordinary relationships" during my adult life. It is generated by especially deep intimacy but has a tendency to degenerate to obsession with the beloved. This is the result of an incomplete sequence that tends to exalt the ego. After an explanation of the method, I will return to the sources of error and some of their manifestations.

The first verse is an identification of the beloved with Nuit. (night=laylah= Arabic for night= nuit = French for night = Nuit) The second verse is still unclear to me, may be a reference to the, yoni, possibly menstrual blood. The third verse is the particular formula of the working:

Let me be no more! An oath to destroy the Ego.

Let me be Thine; Surrender to the beloved, note the capitalisation of Thine-denoting divinity.

Let me be Thou; the invocation of deity. Let me be neither Thou nor I; Destroys the last vestiges of separation of between observer and observed

Let there be love in night and night in love. The trance, possibly more N.O.X. the night of Pan; and Laylah, the night before His threshold! Gives the position of the trance as approaching N.O.X., a lack of ego approximating Master of the Temple. (This does not imply initiation into that grade!)

The main difficulty in working this formula lies in the nature of the failures. it is generally better to fail utterly than to achieve a partial success. When the ego reasserts itself during the working, it finds itself exalted in the eyes of the beloved. This coupled with an ecstatic trance tends to inflate the ego-processes. One possible outcome is a feeling of dependency upon the beloved. This will often manifest as jealousy and other types of manipulative behaviours. The ego perceives the beloved as the ultimate source of the trance rather than one particular channel, and attempts to protect its interests.

A rather deep bonding is likely to occur as a result of this working. In itself there is no harm and indeed success is more likely with a well bonded couple than relative strangers. One problem that might come up is that the bond develops into an outright obsession. It will be quite pleasant at first but ultimately degenerates into boredom and lack of motivation to do little else but "hang out". This amounts to a practical formula of "The Black Brothers," shutting themselves up. As an emanation of Kether, through Gimel into Tiphareth, the proper course is to radiate the force of the working into the world. In this respect the formula represents a messianic type of energy. In the Aeon of Osiris, the redemptive force was viewed as external. In the New Aeon, each person must redeem themselves. (Redemption here as a reference to realizing one's self as God.) The ego is a restriction of Self, the word of sin is restriction, therefore the ego cannot be God which is beyond all conception of sin. (Even still, the ego is the means by which the Universe represents Itself to Itself as particular cases of the general. There is no sense of "wrongness" implied here.) Another possible break may occur as a sense of self-consciousness. The ego may find itself "unworthy" of the adorations of the beloved and takes it upon itself to find fault with its expression. (Or it may be a means of retaining its sovereignity within the Ruach.)

Another break may be in finding fault with the beloved. This is most often found when the couple becomes obsessed with each other and may be more of a symptom of the boredom referred to previously. It generally manifests as a later effect.

All of these breaks can create a great deal of chaos in the outer lives of the workers involved. By its nature, this type of working extends through one's life. It's not practical to spend all of your time in the trance but its unlikely that once experienced anyone would abandon it altogether. One notable benefit is a relief from Must of result" that seems pervasive in nearly anyone's life. The detachment will not sap the Will when the formula is correctly performed but the identification of the beloved with Nuit is essential. It is this only that redeems the working from the restriction of ego.

Success in the working may not be realized until after the fact- indeed until after the egos have reasserted themselves. Concentration on the results Will most likely inhibit the effects as that is an ego-process. With continued experience, as in other practices, some awareness of the effects will be realized without any diminishment of the experience. It is best to devote an entire evening to the work to avoid any constraints of time limitations. It may be useful to invoke Hadit in the usual manner if the participants have experience with it. The aspiration of the magickians is that of Hadit to Nuit. Both male and female are Hadit in themselves; Nuit each to the other. There is no particular ritual form of any value that I've found. Genuine emotion serves best. It is extremely helpful to verbalise the adorations, profusely but honestly. The creation of sacred space may not be required but can be useful as excluding any partial manifestations of the infinite.

Take your time in the adorations of the beloved to build the highest intensity of emotion possible. Do whatever comes naturally to you in this but be sure that you realize the lover as Nuit. It is the truth even if a partial one. Physical demonstration of affection is not out of order at this point but I would recommend being somewhat restrained. Though physical desire may be helpful it cannot be enough in itself. To a certain extent that desire is better as being sublimated, in order to heighten the emotional content.

When the lovers are thoroughly enraptured with each other, the vow to Met me be no more !" may begin to have some real meaning. If the identification with Nuit is made in fact, the personality of the lover will be realized as a veil to be passed through. Met me be Thou!" is the passing of the veil, a momentary experience. It is as if behind the personality lies the boundless reaches of infinite space aglitter with stars. Met me be neither Thou nor I!" And the trance is attained.

The impulse to meld becomes irresistable only to the degree that the adorations are experienced as true expression. It is the same type of emotional process as becoming "inflamed with prayer". To keep focused on the working, it may help to recite appropriate verses from the poem occasionally though it is not a requirement. The operations of the preceding paragraph seem to take place very quickly. In actual practice it often seems to occur of its own accord. The force of the mutual attraction makes it inevitable. This point of the working is the natural time of physical union if such is to occur. Often it seems unneeded as the spiritual union is so complete. Yet in that union the selves are not the selves in the normal sense. The concept of M is only a coordinate point in the body of Nuit.

Once this trance state is attained, it is quite easy to maintain. This makes it feasible to go on to other types of magickal work, without the normal encumbrance of the ego. At this time, I am still working out particular applications of ritual. Some invocations of God/dess forms have been particularly effective.

I find it very hard to adequately describe the difference between this trance and the normal variety of ardent love. The difference is more than a matter of degree. For one thing, the object of the Love transcends the person of the beloved. One's lover becomes a "gate" through which a particular experience is accessed. This does not depersonalize the relationship but it does transcend it. In a very real sense, the lover becomes an icon. From there it soon develops that every phenomenon is perceived in the same manner.

This technique is applicable to any grade of initiation. I do believe that its full effect cannot be realized below Tiphareth. Below that level the perceptions tend to be focused on the lover and upon the relationship. I also believe that until a person has attained a certain degree of self-actualization s/he will have a very difficult time abandoning the ego. Unless the ego is realized as a possession a person is an ego, and the non-ego state represents annihilation.

My purpose in writing this preliminary note is to stimulate any dialogue that might be possible Any comments or questions are welcome as well as any advice that might help me develop practical applications of this formula. A more complete report with magickal records of workings will be available soon.

Love is the law, Love under Will