Liber VIII
A.'. A.'.
Publication in Class
D
And thus shall he do who will attain unto the mystery of the knowledge
and conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel:
First, let him prepare a chamber, of which the walls and the roof shall
be white, and the floor shall be covered with a carpet of black squares
and white, and the border thereof shall be blue and gold. And if it be
in a town, the room shall have no window, and if it be in the country,
then it is better if the window be in the roof. Or, if it be possible,
let this invocation be performed in a temple prepared for the ritual of
passing through the Tuat.
From the roof he shall hang a lamp, wherein is a red glass, to burn
olive oil. And this lamp shall he cleanse and make ready after the
prayer of sunset, and beneath the lamp shall be an altar, foursquare, &
the height shall be thrice half of the breadth or double the breadth.
And upon the altar shall be a censor, hemispherical, supported upon three
legs, of silver, and within it an hemisphere of copper, and upon the top
a grating of gilded silver, and thereupon shall he burn incense made of
four parts of olibanum and two parts of stacte, and one part of lignum
aloes, or of cedar, or of
sandal. And this is enough.
And he shall also keep ready in a flask of crystal within the altar,
holy anointing oil made of myrrh and cinnamon and galangal. And even
if he be of higher rank than a Probationer, he shall yet wear the robe
of the Probationer, for the star of flame showeth forth Ra Hoor Khuit openly
upon the breast, and secretly the blue triangle that descendeth is Nuit,
and the red triangle that ascendeth is Hadit. And I am the golden
Tau in the midst of their marriage. Also, if he choose, he may instead
wear a close-fitting robe of shot silk, purple and green, and upon it a
cloak without sleeves, of bright blue, covered with golden sequins, and
scarlet within.
And he shall make himself a wand of almond wood or of hazel cut by his
own hands at dawn at the Equinox, or at the Solstice, or on the day of
Corpus Christi, or on one of the feast-days that are appointed in "The
Book of the Law". And he shall engrave with his own hand upon the
plate of gold the Holy Sevenfold Table, or the Holy Twelvefold Table, or
some particular device. And it shall be foursquare within a circle, and
the circle shall be winged, and he shall attach it about his forehead by
a ribbon of blue silk. Moreover, he shall wear a fillet of laurel or rose
or ivy or rue, and every day, after the prayer of sunrise, he shall burn
it in the fire of the censor. Now he shall pray thrice daily, about sunset,
and at midnight, and at sunrise. And if he be able, he shall pray
also four times between sunrise and sunset. The prayer shall last
for the space of an hour, at the least, and he shall seek ever to extend
it, and to inflame himself in praying. Thus shall he invoke his Holy
Guardian Angel for eleven weeks, and in any case he shall pray seven times
daily during the last week of the eleven weeks. And during all this time
he shall have composed an invocation suitable, with such wisdom and understanding
as may be given him from the Crown, and this shall he write in letters
of gold upon the top of the altar. For the top of the altar shall be of
white wood, well polished, and in the centre thereof he shall have placed
a triangle of oak-wood, painted with scarlet, and upon this triangle the
three legs of the censor shall stand. Moreover, he shall copy his invocation
upon a sheet of pure white vellum, with Indian ink, and he shall illuminate
it according to his fancy and imagination, that shall be informed by beauty.
And on the first day of the twelfth week he shall enter the chamber
at sunrise, and he shall make his prayer, having first burnt the conjuration
that he had made upon the vellum in the fire of the lamp. Then, at
his prayer, shall the chamber be filled with light insufferable for splendour,
and a perfume intolerable for sweetness. And his Holy Guardian Angel
shall appear unto him, yea, his Holy Guardian Angel shall appear unto him,
so that he shall be wrapt away into the Mystery of Holiness.
All that day shall he remain in the enjoyment of the knowledge and conversation
of the Holy Guardian Angel. And for three days after he shall remain
from sunrise unto sunset in the temple, and he shall obey the counsel that
his Angel shall have given unto him, and he shall suffer those things that
are appointed.
And for ten days thereafter shall he withdraw himself as shall have
been taught unto him from the fullness of that communion, for he must harmonize
the world that is within with the world that is without. And at the
end of the ninety-one days he shall return into the world, and there shall
he perform that work to which the Angel shall have appointed him.
And more than this it is not necessary to say, for his Angel shall have
entreated him kindly, and showed him in what manner he may be most perfectly
involved. And unto him that hath this Master there is nothing else
that he needeth, so long as he continue in the knowledge and conversation
of the Angel, so that he shall come at last into the City of the Pyramids.