Crowley Rejects Meditation
Aleister Crowley’s channelled work from 1904, Liber AL vel Legis, or Book of the Law, is famous for being riddled with, well, riddles, most of which he himself openly admitted he couldn’t unravel. Earlier on, I’ve had a crack at a few of the better known ones. This one is a little less well known.
Chapter 1, Verse 57 contains a line that has kept generations of esotericists merrily occupied…
All these old letters of my Book are aright; but [Tzaddi] is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise.
Let’s see it in the handwritten original…
Crowley affirms that “All these old letters of my book are aright; but [Hebrew letter Tzaddi drawn] is not the Star.” The usual interpretation of this line is that it is saying that the way the 22 Hebrew letters are being attributed to the 22 Keys of the Tarot major arcana is correct, except that the letter Tzaddi should not be assigned to the card The Star.
This might be considered a little confusing. Because if Tzaddi should not be assigned to The Star key, where should one put it? It’s not easy to change just one card around. There would need to be at least two, as was the case for the different assignments of Keys 8 and 11.
I submit that there is however another interpretation one might make. The Liber AL is the central text that undergirds the school of Thelema. Characteristic of this approach is its increased focus on ego and individuality, challenging your sense of what is taboo and specifically finding and following your true will. It is more of a “left hand path” compared to others of the time period.
Right hand path schools tend to focus more on meditation and connection to divinity through adherence to prescribed structure and the subjugation of personal desire.
Right at the beginning of Liber AL, we find…
Had! The manifestation of Nuit.
The unveiling of the company of heaven.
Every man and every woman is a star.
Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
“Every man and woman is a star.” The book seems to be clearly stating that this path is about finding and developing yourself, not about being subjugated to some type of spiritual structure. You are the star.
As a Hebrew letter, Tzaddi also refers to the number 90 – that of the right angle triangle. It represents uprightness and the way that standing or sitting upright, at right angles to the earth, causes energy to flow within the body, leading slowly to spiritual attainment. This notion is at the heart of numerous spiritual systems, both Eastern and Western.
So, when we read “Tzaddi is not the Star,” it could well be that the text is simply stating that, in this school, meditation is not the star. Rather the star is the personal you and finding your will.
Thanks for reading.