Liber Shemesh

Liber Shemesh is a solar invocation combining elements of Aleister Crowley's Liber Resh vel Helios and liber V vel Reguli. Crowley explains in Liber O that following the general (that is, Lesser in his parlance) rituals of the pentagram and hexagram, the next step is to perform a Preliminary Invocation. Elsewhere he writes that this preliminary invocation step identifies the magician with the divine, and it is this identification that allows them to conjure spirits successfully.

Along those lines, Crowley experimented with modifying the Stele of Jeu from the PGM into the Bornless Ritual, published in the Crowley/Mathers edition of The Goetia in 1904. He would later adapt his Bornless Ritual into Liber Samekh, a similar ritual designed to be performed daily over a six-month period to facilitate the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel in a procedure that he believed to be analogous that of the Abramelin operation.

In the 1920’s Crowley developed Liber V vel Reguli, which he described as “an incantation proper to invoke the Energies of the Aeon of Horus, adapted for the daily use of the Magician of whatever grade.” When I first started looking into Liber Reguli, I was struck by its structural similarities to Liber Samekh and to the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram for Malkuth, the version of the GRP that employs all four elemental pentagrams.

As I discussed in my article on the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram, you always do the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram for something, either one of the four elements or the sephira Malkuth. The Malkuth version, which is often found in books describing the ritual, uses pentagrams for all four elements drawn to their corresponding directions. This version is specific to Malkuth and does not served as a "souped up" Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, since the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram is alway specific and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is always general and foundational.

In Liber 777, the magical power associated with Malkuth from Column XLV (Magical Powers: Western Mysticism) is described as “The Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel or of Adonai.” So the logical assumption there is that Liber V vel Reguli is a daily ritual designed to invoke this vision for magicians of whatever grade, which would include those who had not yet gone through Liber Samekh and attained the full knowledge and conversation of the HGA.

While this is a reasonable interpretation, it remains incomplete. If Liber V vel Reguli is intended to prepare the magician for knowledge and conversation, what does it do for those who have already attained it? It is true that invoking the vision likely strengthens the link to the HGA – and in my experience it does need to be strengthened on a regular basis or it will fade. But that is not the end of the ritual’s application.

By calling on the four elements in a balanced configuration and then upon the Sun, Liber V vel Reguli also serves as a general empowerment ritual – that is, a Preliminary Invocation as described by Crowley in Liber O. The inverted pentagrams used in the ritual call forth the elements themselves upon the material plane. Crowley describes the inverse pentagram as representing spirit crystalizing into matter, or in more modern terms, energizing the consciousness component of matter in a way that is suitable for enchantment.

Liber Resh vel Heliosis Aleister Crowley’s instruction for the daily adoration of the Sun at its four stations during the day – sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight. He writes that in addition to cultivating daily practice, Resh has a more advanced function in which the practitioner identifies with and invokes the power of the Sun. This new Liber Shemesh ritual takes advantage of this function and merges it with the similar solar invocation function of Liber V vel Reguli.

The structure of the ritual begins and ends with a version of the Elevenfold Seal, adapted from the opening and closing gestures of Reguli. I have made two modifications to this gesture, replacing AIWAZ with BAPHOMET and THERION with CHAOS. BABALON remains unchanged. The revised Elevenfold Seal, therefore, lines up with the first three names given in the Gnostic Creed found in Crowley's Gnostic Mass.

THERION and CHAOS are generally analogous in Thelemic liturgy, and BAPHOMET represents both the union of polarities and the self made perfect. AIWAZ is Crowley's Holy Guardian Angel, representing his self made perfect, and he also took on Baphomet as a magical motto in Ordo Templi Orientis. It strikes me that this is an ideal substitution that generalizes the Elevenfold Seal, and both these changes align Liber Shemesh with the larger and more dramatic solar invocation of the Gnostic Mass.

The Adorations of the Sun may be performed in two ways for the purpose of this ritual. The first (Version 1 below) is the standard version as found in Liber Resh itself. Each is accompanied by the corresponding upright invoking pentagrams and elemental signs. The elements here follow the “Winds” model – Air in the East, Fire in the South, Water in the West, and Earth in the North. This is because the Magician’s sphere of consciousness is being empowered by the Sun.

The second version (Version 2 below) involves shifting the adorations in the first person and thus asserting the full identification of the Magician with the Sun at all four stations, invoked in a balanced configuration. This idea of performing Liber Resh in the first person was suggested to me by this article from The Art of Becoming. As in Liber Reguli, averse invoking pentagrams are used for this version, as the averse pentagram represents the crystallization of spirit into matter and the function of this version is to facilitate identification with the spiritual power of the Sun in the here and now on the material plane.

The full Liber Shemesh ritual is performed as follows:


THE FIRST GESTURE
The Oath of the Enchantment, which is called the Elevenfold Seal.

The Animadversion towards the Æon.

1. Let the Magician, robed and armed as they may deem to be fit, turn to face towards Boleskine, that is the House of the Beast 666. (For the purposes of this ritual, Temple East will also suffice)

2. Let them strike the battery 1–3–3–3–1.

3. Let them put the right thumb between the right index and medius, and make the gestures hereafter following.

The Vertical Component of the Enchantment.

1. Let them describe a circle about their head, crying NUIT!

2. Let them draw the Thumb vertically downward, and touch the muladhara cakra, crying HADIT!

3. Let them, retracing the line, touch the center of the breast, and cry RA-HOOR-KHUIT!

The Horizontal Component of the Enchantment.

1. Let them touch the center of the Forehead, the mouth, and the larynx, crying BAPHOMET!

2. Let them draw the thumb from right to left across the face at the level of the nostrils.

3. Let them touch the center of the breast and solar plexus, crying CHAOS!

4. Let them draw the thumb from left to right across the breast at the level of the sternum.

5. Let them touch the svadhisthana and the muladhara chakra, crying BABALON!

6. Let them draw the thumb from right to left across the abdomen, at the level of the hips.

(Thus shall he formulate the Sigil of the Grand Hierophant, but dependent from the Circle.)

The Asserveration of the Spells.

1. Let the Magician clasp their hands upon the Wand, fingers and thumbs interlaced, crying LAShTAL! ΘΕΛΗΜΑ! ϜΙΑΟϜ! ΑΓΑΠΗ! ΑΥΜΓΝ!

(Thus shall be declared the Words of Power whereby the Energies of the Æon of Horus work his Will in the world.)

The Proclamation of the Accomplishment

1. Let the Magician strike the Battery: 3–5–3, crying ABRAHADABRA.


THE SECOND GESTURE (VERSION 1)
This version is an adaptation of the four stations of the Sun as they are presented in Liber Resh followed by the adoration from The Book of the Law beginning with “Unity uttermost showed.” This version calls upon and gives reverence to the four stations and their corresponding godforms.

The call to the Eastern station of the Sun, adapted from Liber Resh.

1. Let the Magician give the Sign of the Enterer to the East.

2. Let them trace the Invoking Pentagram of Air in yellow while intoning RA.

3. Let them give the Sign of Air with the words “Hail unto Thee who art Ra in Thy rising, even unto Thee who art Ra in Thy strength, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Uprising of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Night!”

4. Let them retire in the Sign of Silence.

The call to the Southern station of the Sun, adapted from Liber Resh.

1. Let the Magician give the Sign of the Enterer to the South.

2. Let them trace the Invoking Pentagram of Fire in red while intoning AHATHOOR.

3. Let them give the Sign of Fire with the words “Hail unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy triumphing, even unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy beauty, who travellest over the heavens in thy bark at the Mid-course of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Morning!”

4. Let them retire in the Sign of Silence.

The call to the Western station of the Sun, adapted from Liber Resh.

1. Let the Magician give the Sign of the Enterer to the West.

2. Let them trace the Invoking Pentagram of Water in blue while intoning TUM.

3. Let them give the Sign of Water with the words “Hail unto Thee who art Tum in Thy setting, even unto Thee who art Tum in Thy joy, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Down-going of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Day!”

4. Let them retire in the Sign of Silence.

The call to the Northern station of the Sun, adapted from Liber Resh.

1. Let the Magician give the Sign of the Enterer to the North.

2. Let them trace the Invoking Pentagram of Earth in green while intoning KHEPHRA.

3. Let them give the Sign of Earth with the words “Hail unto thee who art Khephra in Thy hiding, even unto Thee who art Khephra in Thy silence, who travellest over the heavens in Thy bark at the Midnight Hour of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Evening.”

4. Let them retire in the Sign of Silence.

The Adoration

1. Let the Magician return to face East and make the Sign of Osiris Slain.

2. Let them then recite the first section of the adoration, with the words:

“Unity uttermost showed!
I adore the might of Thy breath,
Supreme and terrible God,
Who makest the gods and death
To tremble before Thee—
I, I adore thee!
Appear on the throne of Ra!
Open the ways of the Khu!
Lighten the ways of the Ka!
The ways of the Khabs run through
To stir me or still me!
Aum! let it kill me!”

3. Let them make the Sign of Osiris Risen.

4. Let them then recite the second section of the adoration, with the words:

“The light is mine; its rays consume
Me: I have made a secret door
Into the House of Ra and Tum,
Of Khephra and of Ahathoor.
I am thy Thelemite, O Mentu,
The prophet (the Magician’s magical name)!
By Bes-na-Maut my breast I beat;
By wise Ta-Nech I weave my spell.
Show thy star-splendour, O Nuit!
Bid me within thine House to dwell,
O wingèd snake of light, Hadit!
Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!”


THE SECOND GESTURE (Version 2)

Crowley writes that a more advanced version of Liber Resh allows the Magician to identify themselves with and draw power from the Sun. This second version has some additional changes to facilitate this process. The stations of the Sun are directly invoked by employing averse pentagrams and shifting from third to first person. For images of the Signs consult The Second Gesture (Version 1).

The call to the Eastern station of the Sun, adapted from Liber Resh.

1. Let the Magician give the Sign of the Enterer to the East.

2. Let them trace the Averse Invoking Pentagram of Air in yellow while intoning RA.

3. Let them give the Sign of Air with the words “Hail unto me who art Ra in my rising, even unto me who art Ra in my strength. I travel over the Heavens in my bark at the Uprising of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at my prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at my helm. Hail unto me from the Abodes of Night!”

4. Let them retire in the Sign of Silence.

The call to the Southern station of the Sun, adapted from Liber Resh.

1. Let the Magician give the Sign of the Enterer to the South.

2. Let them trace the Averse Invoking Pentagram of Fire in red while intoning AHATHOOR.

3. Let them give the Sign of Fire with the words “Hail unto me who art Ahathoor in my triumphing, even unto me who art Ahathoor in my beauty. I travel over the heavens in my bark at the Mid-course of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at my prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at my helm. Hail unto me from the Abodes of Morning!”

4. Let them retire in the Sign of Silence.

The call to the Western station of the Sun, adapted from Liber Resh.

1. Let the Magician give the Sign of the Enterer to the West.

2. Let them trace the Averse Invoking Pentagram of Water in blue while intoning TUM.

3. Let them give the Sign of Water with the words “Hail unto me who art Tum in my setting, even unto me who art Tum in my joy. I travel over the Heavens in my bark at the Down-going of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at my prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at my helm. Hail unto me from the Abodes of Day!”

4. Let them retire in the Sign of Silence.

The call to the Northern station of the Sun, adapted from Liber Resh.

1. Let the Magician give the Sign of the Enterer to the North.

2. Let them trace the Averse Invoking Pentagram of Earth in green while intoning KHEPHRA.

3. Let them give the Sign of Earth with the words “Hail unto me who art Khephra in my hiding, even unto me who art Khephra in my silence. I travel over the heavens in my bark at the Midnight Hour of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at my prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at my helm. Hail unto me from the Abodes of Evening.”

4. Let them retire in the Sign of Silence.

The Adoration. The first section is transposed into third person, just like the four stations above. The second section is unchanged.

1. Let the Magician return to face East and make the Sign of Osiris Slain.

2. Let them then recite the first section of the adoration, with the words:

“Unity uttermost showed!
I adore the might of my breath,
Supreme and terrible God,
Who makest the gods and death
To tremble before me —
I, I adore me!
I appear on the throne of Ra!
I open the ways of the Khu!
I lighten the ways of the Ka!
The ways of the Khabs run through
To stir me or still me!
Aum! let it kill me!”

3. Let them make the Sign of Osiris Risen.

4. Let them then recite the second section of the adoration, with the words:

“The light is mine; its rays consume
Me: I have made a secret door
Into the House of Ra and Tum,
Of Khephra and of Ahathoor.
I am thy Thelemite, O Mentu,
The prophet(the Magician’s magical name)!
By Bes-na-Maut my breast I beat;
By wise Ta-Nech I weave my spell.
Show thy star-splendour, O Nuit!
Bid me within thine House to dwell,
O wingèd snake of light, Hadit!
Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!”


THE THIRD GESTURE
The Third Gestrure is identical to the first, repeating the Elevenfold Seal to complete the ritual.