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Notes from the Abyss




AION: A Valentinian Exposition





Notes from the Abyss

   

November 18, 2006 - Lucifer and the 11 Key
One issue I noticed after I had submitted the manuscript of Key of the Abyss is the mention of Lucifer as being a name that "reduced to 11" using Aiq Bakir. The references are reproduced for convenience:

A final note: Two Names often associated with the Witchcult are Lucifer and Baphomet and while these beings will be dealt with in future works I have planned, I should mention that NAEQ6 provides a clue to deciphering these symbols as Baphomet has the NAEQ6 value 128, Lucifer the value 110 and the “dreaded Nahsi” who worshipped NSR-RA , as Nahsi = 47. 128, 110 and 47 all reduce to 11 as they are “of us”. (pp 161)
and:
One thing to notice is the reference (oblique as it is) to Lucifer who as noted has NAEQ6 = 110, reducing to 11 (pp 166)
In fact, though it obviously does not reduce to 11 (1+1+0=2), Lucifer is an example of a "perfect 11". NAEQ6 words that are "perfect 11's" are word whose values are already 11 or are (like the value of Lucifer) numbers that contain only 11 and 0's. These would be values such as 110, 101, 1001 etc. This is a technique is found in "final" letters in Hebrew gematria and used in Greek gematria when calculating the name Jesus and then "raised" (Jesus=888, "Living Jesus" = 8880, which is notable since 888 x 10 = 8880 and 11 x 10 = 110) etc. That this technique is valid in the NAEQ6 is shown in the fact that the value of the word "eleven" equals 101! (More on this in the future).

November 5, 2006 - Wilfred Smith and the Gnostic Mass.
On page 13 of Key of the Abyss, I discuss John Atack's description of the rituals performed by Agape Lodge under the leadership of Wilfred Smith.
Atack continues; A lodge had been set up in Los Angeles and met in a
suitably sequestered attic. Meetings were conducted by a priestess
swathed in diaphanous gauze, who climbed out of a coffin to perform
mystic, and painstakingly blasphemous, rites
13. Here, the author is
probably talking about the Gnostic Mass devised by Crowley, which is
led by a Priest and Priestess, has no coffin (nor does any other
Thelemic ritual I am aware of) in it and is in no way blasphemous, at
least in the sense that it was parody of Christian (or other) rites. In fact,
Crowley patterned his ‘Mass’ after the Catholic rite, though his respect
for the ritual does not mean he respected the religion itself.
Well, wouldn't you know, there is a photo of the Unknown God himself standing if front of what can only be a coffin while a woman - probably Jane Wolf, kneels in front of him with the Lance in what seems clearly to be a Gnostic Mass - or at least a rite derived therefrom. The photo is from The Unknown God by MARTIN P. STARR and the photo is reproduced on the Teitan's (publisher) website.. I have to assume that Atack saw this picture (or one like it) and thought (not unreasonably) this was a representation of an official O.T.O. ritual, though, as the Ruberic for the Gnostic Mass demonstrates, this is NOT how the ritual was written by Crowley and, anyway, where is the altar? That the photo seems to be staged doesn't really explain what the coffin (or maybe sarcophagus?) was for though there are cerainly instances of the use of such a prop in some Golden Dawn (though these would be, clearly, Osirian) rituals and I wonder if it is not simply a case of California-style weirdness rearing its head...
The Cycles of the Aeons