Liber AL 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.

I submit that there is however a better interpretation. The Liber AL is proposing an entirely new school of magic and self-development for the modern era. It’s most fundamental principles are expounded upon in its opening lines.
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 submitting to some form of spiritual structure. You are the star.
This type of ego-based approach is known as the “left hand path.” It represents an alternative to the traditional “right hand path” – a journey based on meditation and connection to divinity through adherence to prescribed structure and the subjugation of personal desire.
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,” the text is simply stating that, in this school, meditation is not the star. Rather the star is you and doing what you wilt.
Devaraj Sandberg 2024