This work, except in sections otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
This is a dramatic ritual following the journey of the Fool through the Major Arcana of the Tarot, influenced heavily by the work of Aleister Crowley and the Thelemic magical egrigore.
If your group is interested in producing this ritual, you are free to do so persuant to the conditions of the CC License; I would also appreciate it if you would let me know that you are doing so. This ritual is my baby, and I'd like to keep track of where it goes!
Fool's Journey
by Soror Tara
The first five scenes are set in a space resembling a royal court. Two thrones
are set up along one wall, in which are seated the Emperor and the Empress. A
veil is strung at an entrance to the space, black and white pillars on either side.
0. The Fool
Fool: I am Aleph, the first flame, the first breath, a beginning without an end, and so I am incomplete.
I know nothing, but I imagine all. All possibilities are wrapped within my brain, all paths explored by my wandering mind. I know not what I seek, but I desire it with a fierce and hungry joy. This yearning holds my heart, consumes my brain, taps insistently on the windows of my soul. Listen!
"Into my loneliness comes ---
The sound of a flute in dim groves that haunt the uttermost hills.
Even from the brave river they reach to the edge of the wilderness.
And I behold Pan.
The snows are eternal above, above ---
And their perfume smokes upward into the nostrils of the stars.
But what have I to do with these?
To me only the distant flute, the abiding vision of Pan.
On all sides Pan to the eye, to the ear;
The perfume of Pan pervading, the taste of him utterly filling my mouth, so that the tongue breaks forth into a weird and monstrous speech.
The embrace of him intense on every centre of pain and pleasure.
The sixth interior sense aflame with the inmost self of Him,
Myself flung down the precipice of being
Even to the abyss, annihilation.
An end to loneliness, as to all.
Pan! Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan!"1
But what do these words mean? I hear them, echoing, in my dreams, when I wake - who is Pan? Who am I? What do I seek, what must I become, what will be the purpose of my life?
I am incomplete, half real, half alive. An ox without a cart2, a beginning without an end, a hero without a story.
No. This cannot be. I will not let it be. I will find an end to my beginning, and create my own story. (To audience) Will you help me?
(Urges audience to respond positively.)
Then this I swear, with your help, my friends, and even if it mean the destruction of my soul, I will take that mad leap into the abyss. For who knows what we shall find?
(The Fool turns and approaches the veil.)
I. The Magus
(The Magician enters through the veil, bearing a single lit candle, saying)
M: "In the beginning doth the Magus speak Truth, and send forth Illusion and Falsehood to enslave the soul. Yet therein is the Mystery of Redemption."3
F: A light! A ray of hope in the darkness!
M: So sure are you that light equals hope, and darkness despair?
F: But it must be, for how can I hope to find my way without light?
M: In the same way as without light, only by different means. One is not better than the other, they simply use different tools.
(M. sets candle down to reveal the Magician's tools, wand, cup, dagger, and disk, upon a small table.
F: What strange weapons are these?
M: "Nevertheless it is written; for there be times of darkness, and this as a lamp therein.
With the Wand createth He.
With the Cup preserveth He.
With the Dagger destroyeth He.
With the Coin redeemeth He.
His weapons fulfil the wheel; and on What Axle that turneth is not known unto Him."3
Know this: in the house4 of the Magician he hath nothing to fear, for he hath controlled his environment, and the world within hath been made obedient unto him. But without, he may be fierce beset by demons and wraiths, discouraged from his path by those both stronger and weaker than him.
F: What must I do?
M: Study well; learn your limitations. Learn to control your posture, your breath, your thought. In this way you may eventually bring your own house into order, and only then may you begin to conquer the world beyond.
F: That could take years! Why can't I go now?
M: Only a Fool seeks wisdom, but worse than a Fool is he who denies understanding. 5
(M. extinguishes his candle and retreats to his pillar.)
F: If I stay, I will wither and die, a word unspoken.
II. The Priestess
F: All still seems dark, and yet I am blinded by light! What are you?
Ps: I am Light, and the body of Light, and the soul of Light. But here, here is your first mystery: Light is not the manifestation of the perfect, Eternal Spirit, but the veil thereof.6 (The Priestess comes out through the veil.)
As I wear a veil, so I am a veil; and to pass through me you must pass through utter blackness. Are you prepared to undergo such an ordeal?
F: How can light be a veil? How can light be blackness? What are these riddles?
Ps: Do not despair. Dost thou seek beauty?7
F: I seek an end to darkness.
Ps: (circles Fool, curiously) Why?
F: (uncertainly) So I can see my way.
Ps: Without darkness, there can be no light. Would you destroy the balance of the pillars which support the world?
F: I don't want to destroy anything. I only want my life to make sense, to be able to see.
Ps: Then do not look with your eyes, but with your heart.
Under the full moon of the desert night8 the shadows may seem monstrous, distorted creatures of terror and madness. But the truest light comes from within, and it is only that light upon which you must rely to penetrate the veil. I ask you again: are you prepared to face your fears, to pass through darkness, in order to attain that which you seek?
F: I am prepared! I'm not afraid of anything!
Ps: But you know nothing of what is before you.
F: Perhaps not. But my will comes from something deeper than knowledge. If I could explain it - I would understand it, and would have no need to explore.
Ps: Then pass, oh Fool, aspirant unto the mysteries.
(The Priestess steps aside to her pillar. The Fool approaches the veil.)
III. The Empress
Es: Wait!
(Fool stops and turns to look back, where the Empress has risen from her throne.)
Es: Will you so readily walk away from that which bore you? Your family, your birthright, your whole life?
F: This is no kind of a life! Bound to kingdom and duty, no freedom to pursue my dreams!
Es: But with this kingdom comes such wealth! And the kingdom is the seed of the Crown9. Open your eyes to the bounty which surrounds you! "Remember ye that existence is pure joy."10
F: This is joy? This restriction, this cage? How can I be content with this, not knowing what's outside?
Es: So set are you on escape that you have made yourself blind. Society is not what traps you, I am not what holds you here. Empress I may be, but a door11 also, the door of heaven, the door through which all life enters into this world. Yet...
"...from my life are fed
All showers and suns, all moons that wax and wane;
All stars and streams, the living and the dead,
The mystery of pleasure and of pain.
I am the mother! I the speaking sea!
I am the earth and its fertility!
Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, return to me - to me!"12
F: Have mercy, mother! How can I return to you if I have not gone anywhere?
IV. The Emperor
Er: You would cast us off so readily? Here you are a Prince, one day to be a King. Out there you will be nothing.
F: You don't know that! I may find glory surpassing all the kings that have ever lived! And how can I know unless I try?
Er: Do you think I was never young? I understand the allure. To live free of responsibility and allegiance, outside the rule of law - but without rule and law, freedom means nothing. A prince is due his quest, but in the proper way at the proper time!
F: I see your game. You keep me dangling like a fish on a hook13; keeping all the real power for yourself. What kind of ruler is so afraid of losing his power that he guards it so jealously? If you be a King, I cannot hurt you!14
Er: And this is how you would start your quest? Driven by blind instinct, attacking those that give you life, blaming society for your lack of identity and purpose? We cannot give you strength, nor give you purpose; that must come from within you. "Find thou thyself in every star, achieve thou every possibility."15
F: Easy for you to say. You will give me no power, forbid me to leave, and yet I am supposed to move mountains with - what? Sheer force of will?
(pause)
Es: Why not?
Er: And we have not forbidden you anything.
F: but - you - what? You would just let me go?
Es: Is that not your will?
F: Yes, but - please. I - I am afraid. Will you give me your blessing?
(pause)
Es: As I am the salt of earth, I admonish thee to bear in thy heart the virtue of the great sea. 16
Er: Let the fire and the air burn bright upon thy brow and make sweet thy world. 16
F: And these that go with me? Will you not give them your blessing as well?
Er: We will.
V. The Heirophant
(As the Fool approaches the veil, the Magus and Priestess open it, revealing the Heirophant behind.)
F: Who are you?
H: I am your guide.
F: Guide? I need no guide! I go to find my own way!
H: Your own way it shall be, but nonetheless I am your guide, for a little while. You will have need of my advice and protection.
F: Pro-protection? Why do I need - what's out there?
H: That you must discover for yourself. You have already been given a hint of the dangers.
F: And you call that advice?! Should I just beware any thing that moves?
H: Consider this: as a child you were told not to touch the stove, but till you were burnt you neither listened nor understood. I could tell you to watch where you run lest you fall; or that sacrifice will gain you nothing; but it would be a waste of breath, on you who are but a breath of air17 yourself.
F: Then what can you offer me?
H: A nudge in the right direction. If you are willing to take it.
(He gestures the Fool towards the front door. The Fool pauses, then with deliberateness exits, and awaits the Heirophant outside. The Emperor and Empress move to stand before the veil, and purify and consecrate each person (without words) as they leave.)
(Outside, the Heirophant leads the Fool and the audience around the front yard to the side gate, slowly.)
VI. The Lovers
(Through the gate, we see three couples come together and away in a simple line-style dance; the Emperor and Empress, Magician and High Priestess, the Charioteer and Babalon. The Fool, followed by the entire audience in turn, will be directed by the Heirophant down the aisle formed by the dancers. The Heirophant is the last one through.)
As they dance, they say in turn:
Ps: "for I am divided for love's sake"
M: "for the chance of union"18
Es: "there is naught else that can unite the divided but love"
Er: "all else is a curse"19
B: "the perfect and the perfect are one perfect"
C: "and not two - nay, are none!"20
(The recitation repeats as many times as are necessary for everyone to pass through.)
VII. The Chariot
F: Oh, this - there is something here, a clue, a path. (grabs Charioteer) You have the secret, I know it. I see the fire in your eyes, your burning heart. This mystery of love gives you purpose, inspiration, all the things I seek in my life! What is this mystery? You must tell me!
C: This mystery does not give me inspiration, for I am inspiration! Glory, purpose, worship and love, all these are mine. I bear the Holy Grail, the Cup of the Sacred Whore, and belong to Her always.
F: Then will you tell me how to find Her, that I might dedicate myself to her as well!
C: Follow your heart, follow Her song. Listen! (pause) Do you hear it? "For in it is all the passionate ache of the moonlight, and the great hunger of the sea, and the terror of desolate places - all things that lure men to the unattainable."21
F: The unattainable? Say not that She is unattainable, for I have sworn to perservere until I get what I seek! There must be a way through!
C: Does it matter if there is a way? Seek the path! Yearn and strive! Spill every drop of your blood into Her Cup! Do not limit yourself with what is possible. The journey is the goal. The desire is the fulfillment. Go for the glory of love, conquer for the sake of glory! Fly!
F: Yes! Yes! (excited, turns and runs smack into Justice, falling smack on his ass.)
VIII. Adjustment
Justice gives the Fool a hand to his feet.
J: Remember, my dear Fool, "that Equilibrium is the basis of the Work. If thou thyself hast not a sure foundation, whereon wilt thou stand to direct the forces of Nature?" 22
F (brushing himself off, disgruntled): Another lecture. Surely I've had enough of those by now.
J: Your passion is worthy. But will you go charging off into the wilderness, all afire with untempered desire, without a thought to the consequences that may befall?
F: I don't understand. With one hand you encourage my pursuit, but with the other you hold me back. You can't have it both ways!
J: Oh, but you can! This is Truth - opposites do not repel each other, but move together in beautiful harmony. I am both passion and logic; severity balanced with mildness. I am Venus and Saturn dancing. Strive not to one extreme or the other, but to the dance itself.
F: What's so bad about going to an extreme? Should I not give everything I have for that which I desire most?
J: Every choice has a consequence. Every joy holds sadness, every life results in death. One extreme knows nothing of the other side, and so goes blindly to its end. If you would not go blindly, then choose with your eyes open.
F: I don't understand this. He (gesturing to Charioteer) told me not to care what's at the end of the road. And you say to go to both ends of the road at once! Oh, you're no help!
(The Fool turns to the Charioteer for support, but he has retreated into the audience, as have the Heirophant and the Magician.)
IX. The Hermit
(The Fool, pissed off, turns around and stomps back the way he came. As he gets to the edge of the light, he pauses, looks around forlornly. Finds a cloak, wraps himself in it to shield against the cold. Turns back around to face the audience.)
F: Am I thus abandoned, to fumble blindly in darkness? No hand of guidance, no sensible prophecy, no words of wisdom from you, oh God?
(Looks up and waits.) F: Nothing. There might as well be no God. Not where I am, anyway. I am alone. (pause) "I am alone - there is no God where I am."23
(Finds a lantern, and leads the group to the next area.)
X. The Wheel
(As the Fool reaches the next area, the Gunas24, in plain masks, emerge from the crowd and begin to circle him slowly, deosil.
F: Do I - know you?
(pause)
Sattva: Who are you?
F: I am a weary traveler.
Rajas: Where are you going?
F: To the end of my journey.
Tamas: What do you seek?
F: Light and truth.
(The Gunas look at each other, shake their heads, and begin circling again.)
S: Who are you?
F: A prince on a quest.
R: Where are you going?
F: To find my destiny.
T: What do you seek?
F: Myself.
(They look at each other, shake their heads, and begin circling again.)
S: Who are you?
F: Apparently, a fool.
R: Where are you going?
F: Somewhere other than here.
T: What do you seek?
F: Answers. Look, this is pointless. Who are you? What do you want?
S: We are the Principles of Creation.
R: We turn the Wheel.
T: Without us, there would be nothing.
F: oh.
(pause)
(The Gunas start repeating their questions in turn, faster and louder as the Fool gets more and more flustered and frightened.)
S: Who are you?
R: Where are you going?
T: What do you seek?
(They close in tight around the Fool, who finally collapses, crying "I don't know!" At that, they scatter.
XI. Lust
(Babalon enters, kneels beside the Fool, cradles his head, comforting him in his confusion. Gently lifts him to his feet, where he stares at her in astonishment.)
F: You - you are -
B: Am I?
F: The Sacred Whore of whom he spoke. I give myself to you! Every drop of my blood!
B: And why should I have need of thee?
F: I - I am your devoted slave! I love you!
B: You would woo me with love? I am Love, I have no need of thee.
F: I am heir to a kingdom, I can give you gold!
B: The kings of the earth and the gods of heaven have all showered their gold upon me. I have no need of thee.
F: I have journeyed far, and learned much. I could give you knowledge.
B: You know little, and you understand less. And I have spurned knowledge, and have no need of thee.
F: You leave me with naught but my mind and my wit; will you not accept them?
B: My Lord is Wit, you cannot hope to surpass him. I have it all, and have no need of thee.
F: (kneels before her) Then pity me! Love me! Give me your understanding, that I might be worthy!
B: You have had all these, and they availed you not.
F: How can you be so cold? Are you a serpent, to poison me so?
B: It was the Serpent who seduced me first.
F: Then I am in despair, for I cannot win thee.25
B (kneels down, cups the Fool's face in her hand): For one kiss thou are willing to give all.
F: All that I am, all that I have, is yours.
B: "...but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour." 26
(Babalon rises and leaves the way she came. The Fool chases after, loses her, and stops.)
XII. The Hanged Man
F: Abandoned again, through the machination of forces I don't understand. I seem to be helpless before the onslaught of fate. O God! How long will you play games with me? What hideous sin have I committed? What must I sacrifice to be worthy of your grace? My quest? My blood, my life? So be it, I have had enough!
(Jumps up on a wall or stair, strikes the pose of Osiris Slain, and waits. Long pause)
F: Well? Come and get me!
XIII. Death
(Death walks up and clears his throat. The Fool opens his eyes, as he looks the Fool up and down and snorts with derision.
Death: Get down from there.
Fool: But - aren't you Death? Aren't you going to kill me?
D: Kill you? "Death is forbidden, o man, unto thee."27
F: No! It can't be forbidden! I've tried everything, I deserve to die!
D: "Death is the crown of all."28 And you think you've earned it? Look at you! Like a foolish child you cower before the mighty waters29, when like a fish30 I swim where I will. Like a hapless insect you stand frozen in the sand, and like a scorpion31 I will strike, swift and poisonous.
F: Then strike, for God's sake! Do not make me live with a failed quest! Strike, and maybe I can still win through.
D: Do you really think that by sacrifice you can win your way to the world beyond? That by begging to some faceless demiurge, the power of universes will spontaneously manifest in you? Change comes from Will, not Want; action, not desire! You want your precious enlightenment so much, get up and go after it!
(He goads the Fool until finally the Fool jumps down, crossing over into the next area. With a small smile, Death retreats.)
XIV. Art
(In the center of this area is a circular table. On it are the tools of the Magician, and the makings of the Hellbroth32.)
F: I am not dead - and yet I feel as if I have crossed a threshold. What place is this?
(approaches table, examines each of the tools in turn, and replaces them.)
F: At the beginning of all this I said I wanted everything - to know the world outside, to have power over the nature of things. I have been shown Truth, but it confounded me. I have seen Love, but it was denied me. I have sought Death, but it mocked me. I am left with riddles, paradoxes, and shadows, that make such a jumble in my mind.
All this way I have relied on the directions of others - but how could they know my path? I followed their advice, but in the end I am still here, alone! Perhaps I must take matters into my own hands.
What I seek comes down to power, I think. The power to make change. To take the dry, mundane, dust of my life and make of it a glorious tale. The power of alchemy.
The power to take Water - and Air - and make Fire. (lights Hellbroth)
(Stares into the fire with growing glee.) I did it. Look at this! What I have done, I myself, without help, without guidance! This is my power! With the Elements under my control, I can make anything, do anything! The universe is mine!
XV. The Devil
(The Devil appears behind the people - it's the Magician, but now with horns and goat legs, and ready to party on!)
D: This calls for a celebration!
(The Fool and the rest of the cast cheer. Music! Everyone starts dancing.)
(The Devil whips up the crowd by getting them to call-and-response with him, using lines and paraphrases from Liber OZ.)
"There is no God but Man!"
"The slaves shall serve!"
"Man has the right to party as he will!"
"Man has the right to ____ as he will!"
(etc.)
(The Fool celebrates merrily in the midst, but as time goes on the cast crowds him closer and closer, jostling him, their cheering turning to mockery. Finally the Fool screams in panic, the music fades, and the cast breaks away, leaving him alone.)
F: No! I can't do this, this isn't right.
D: Man is the master of his creation. Look at these wonders! These are your kingdom, your birthright as a child of the material world! Are you too weak to step up and claim what is yours?
F: Weakness has nothing to do with it. If I wanted I could - I could - but no. What am I doing here? Power is all well and good, but what is it all for?
D: You have to ask? And more, you would throw all this away on some moral principle, handed down from - what authority? There is no God but Man! (turns to crowd, they cheer)
F: But I have not crossed the Gate of Death only to squander my life in passing pleasures! This... is not right.
D: Not right? You have the right to do as ye will!
F: No. I have no right but to do my will! This? This is not my will.
(pause, as the Fool turns away)
F: Now go away. I have nothing more to learn from you.
XVI. The Tower
F: I am torn in so many directions. Knowledge, glory, love, balance, compassion, pleasure - how can I attain any one without abandoning all others? And any single one is empty when it is all I have... I sought everything, and yet it seems I can have nothing.
D (quieter aspect now, more like the Magician): "These sorrows are as shadows. They pass and are done - but there is that which remains."33
Fool: What remains? What is joy without purpose? What is pleasure without pain? What is Love without Will?
(Devil, with a small smile, retreats. The Fool caps the Hellbroth.)
O my God! One is Thy Beginning! One is Thy Spirit, and Thy Permutation One!
Let me extol Thy perfections before men.
In the Image of a Sixfold Star that flameth across the Vault inane, let me re-veil Thy perfections.
Thou hast appeared unto me as an aged God, a venerable God, the Lord of Time, bearing a sharp sickle.
Thou hast appeared unto me as a jocund and ruddy God, full of Majesty, a King, a Father in his prime.
Thou didst bear the sceptre of the Universe, crowned with the Wheel of the Spirit.
Thou hast appeared unto me with sword and spear, a warrior God in flaming armour among Thine horsemen.
Thou hast appeared unto me as a young and brilliant God, a god of music and beauty, even as a young
god in his strength, playing upon the lyre.
Thou hast appeared unto me as the white foam of Ocean gathered into limbs whiter than the foam, the
limbs of a miracle of women, as a goddess of extreme love, bearing the girdle of gold.
Thou hast appeared to me as a young boy mischievous and lovely, with Thy winged globe and its serpents
set upon a staff.
Thou hast appeared to me as an huntress among Thy dogs, as a goddess virginal chaste, as a moon among
the faded oaks of the wood of years.
But I am deceived by none of these. All these I cast aside, crying: Begone! So that all these fade
from my vision.
Also I weld together the Flaming Star and the Sixfold Star in the forge of my soul, and behold! a
new star that is above all these.
Yet even so was I not deceived; for the crown hath twelve rays.
And these twelve rays are one.34
XVII. The Star
(The Star appears - the Priestess, without veil and bearing a bowl of water in which floats a burning candle. She poses, recreating the scene of the card. As the Fool rises in awe, she leads him through the temple door and inside, in front of the Tomb. The Fool waits in an attitude of adoration to the Star as the audience files in and sits down. Music.)
XVIII. The Moon
(When everyone is seated, the music fades. The Fool rises, but as he approaches the Star she blows out her candle and retreats. The Fool advances to the center of the temple and stops, alarmed, as the entire cast closes in and begins to revolve widdershins around the Fool. Whispering at first, and gradually growing louder and faster, they taunt him with twisted, menacing perversions of their earlier lines. The Fool cowers, darts from nightmare to nightmare, fleeing.)
F: STOP!! (The nightmares freeze in place.)
F: No! I will have none of this! You are memories, livened by imagination, twisted by fear. I have made it this far by naught but strength of will, and I will not sabotage myself now by submitting to you!
APO PANTOS KAKODAIMONOS!
(The nightmares cringe back, crouch down, at the first APK. The Fool performs a fast, dramatic Star Ruby. At the final APK, the cast falls to the ground, following the circle of the Fool's banishing.)
XIX. The Sun
(The circle of nightmares retreats into the audience, and we get full, brilliant daylight. The temple, which we haven't seen in full light till now, is decorated in warm, golden tones; rich fabrics, vibrant colors. The Fool looks and moves around, marveling at the beauty.
F: So bright. As if the sun has risen. This, then, is the world as it truly is. Pure joy, beauty, so perfect. But then whence came the shadows, the fears, the dangers? Only from within me? Are all men so blind?
(pause)
And you - who are all of you? Were the shadows real? Are you real or in my mind?
(During this speech the cast moves out from the audience again and begins circling the Fool deosil, smiling and supportive.
M: That which is in your mind is real. How else can reality be defined?
P: That which is real is in your mind. How else could you perceive it?
F: But that's another paradox... a paradox. Yes. What I seek is a paradox, what I seek - is "Light, and Night, and that which is beyond them. Speech and silence, and that which is beyond them. Life, and Death, and that which is beyond them. Weakness and Strength, and that which is beyond them." 35 Only by uniting opposites can I transcend them. To attain everything I must become nothing. To become myself I must destroy myself. Yes. I understand.
M: You understand. But understanding is not enough. You must act.
F: I know. I know, and I will, and I dare, and I keep silent. And now I go. 36
XX. The Aeon
(The cast stops in place. The Fool walks slowly towards the Tomb. He pauses before it, and passes through.)
(Pause.)
(As each line of the following is spoken, the speaker turns and walks to another spot in the temple.)
Magician: The Speech in the Silence.
Priestess: The Words against the Son of Night.
Empress: The Voice of Tahuti in the Universe in the Presence of the Eternal.
Emperor: The Formulas of Knowledge.
Heirophant: The Wisdom of Breath.
Chariot: The Root of Vibration.
Justice: The Shaking of the Invisible.
Babalon: The Rolling Asunder of the Darkness.
Devil: The Becoming Visible of Matter.
Death: The Piercing of the Scales of the Crocodile.
Star: The Breaking Forth of the Light!37
XXI. The Universe
F (from behind the veil): "This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all."38
(Music. The Fool emerges from behind the veil, dressed as the World Dancer and holding the wand of Coph Nia. He comes out into the center of the temple and turns slowly, reciting:)
A, the heart of IAO, dwelleth in ecstasy in the secret place of the thunders. Between Asar and
Asi he abideth in joy.
The lightnings increased and the Lord Tahuti stood forth. The Voice came from the Silence. Then
the One ran and returned.
Now hath Nuit veiled herself, that she may open the gate of her sister.
The Virgin of God is enthroned upon an oyster-shell; she is like a pearl, and seeketh Seventy to
her Four. In her heart is Hadit the invisible glory.
Now riseth Ra-Hoor-Khuit, and dominion is established in the Star of the Flame.
Also is the Star of the Flame exalted, bringing benediction to the universe.
Here then beneath the winged Eros is youth, delighting in the one and the other.
He is Asar between Asi and Nepthi; he cometh forth from the veil. He rideth upon the chariot of
eternity; the white and the black are harnessed to his car. Therefore he reflecteth the Fool, and
the sevenfold veil is reveiled.
Also the lady Maat with her feather and her sword abode to judge the righteous. For Fate was
already established.
Also the Priest veiled himself, lest his glory be profaned, lest his word be lost in the
multitude.
Now then the Father of all issued as a mighty wheel; the Sphinx, and the dog-headed god, and
Typhon, were bound on his circumference.
Also came forth mother Earth with her lion, even Sekhet, the lady of Asi.
Then the holy one appeared in the great water of the North; as a golden dawn did he appear, bringing
benediction to the fallen universe.
Also Asar was hidden in Amennti; and the Lords of Time swept over him with the sickle of death.
And a mighty angel appeared as a woman, pouring vials of woe upon the flames, lighting the pure
stream with her brand of cursing. And the iniquity was very great.
Then the Lord Khem arose, He who is holy among the highest, and set up his crowned staff for to
redeem the universe.
He smote the towers of wailing; he brake them in pieces in the fire of his anger, so that he alone
did escape from the ruin thereof.
Transformed, the holy virgin appeared as a fluidic fire, making her beauty into a thunderbolt.
By her spells she invoked the Scarab, the Lord Kheph-Ra, so that the waters were cloven and the
illusion of the towers was destroyed.
Then the sun did appear unclouded, and the mouth of Asi was on the mouth of Asar.
Then also the Pyramid was builded so that the Initiation might be complete.
And in the heart of the Sphinx danced the Lord Adonai, in His garlands of roses and pearls making
glad the concourse of things; yea, making glad the concourse of things.
39
(The Fool exits behind the veil in the East. Fin.)
1. Prologue of the Unborn, from Liber Liberi vel Lapis Lazuli.
2. The Fool = א, lit. 'ox'
3. from Liber B vel Magi
4. The Magus = ב, lit. 'house'
5. Referencing the Fool's and the Magus' positions on the Tree of Life; between Kether and Chokmah ('Wisdom'), and Kether and Binah ('Understanding'), respectively.
6. Paraphrase from The Book of Thoth, part II
7. Reference to the Priestess' position upon the Tree, between Kether and Tiphareth (lit. 'Beauty').
8. The Priestess is attributed to Luna. Mention of the desert is a veiled reference to the lit. meaning of ג, 'camel'.
9. The Book of Thoth, part II.
10. Liber AL vel Legis, II:9
11. The Empress = ד, lit. 'door'
12. "Isis Am I"
13. The Emperor = צ, lit. 'fish hook'
14. Reference to Liber AL, II:59
15. from Liber Tzaddi
16. Paraphrase from Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass
17. Reference to the Fool's elemental attribution of Air.
18. Liber AL vel Legis, I:29
19. Liber AL vel Legis, I:41
20. Liber AL vel Legis, I:45
21. The Vision and the Voice, 2nd Aethyr
22. from Liber Librae
23. Liber AL vel Legis, II:23
24. The Gunas can be played by the Alchemical Trumps: Magician = Sattva, Emperor = Rajas, and Empress = Tamas, for added symbolism.
25. The entire scene to this point is a paraphrase of The Vision and the Voice, 2nd Aethyr
26. Liber AL vel Legis, I:61
27. Liber AL vel Legis, II:73
28. Liber AL vel Legis, II:72
29. Reference to the elemental attribution and letter's literal meaning from the previous card: The Hanged Man = מ, Water
30. Death = נ, lit. 'fish'
31. The Zodiacal attribution of Death is Scorpio.
32. A small (~8-inch) cast-iron cauldron with a lid, filled 1/3 to 1/2 way with denatured alchohol, and a lighting wand.
33. Liber AL vel Legis, II:9
34. Liber Ararita, verse I, with slight modifications to make it a present-tense invocation of the Star.
35. The Vision and the Voice, 1st Aethyr
36. The Five Powers of the Sphinx.
37. From Liber Israfel, which was originally titled "The Angel", and attributed to this card.
38. Liber AL vel Legis, I:30
39. Liber Arcanorum. Lines 8 and 11 have been switched to match the ordering of the cards in the Thoth deck (on which this ritual is modeled) and the presentation of the ritual.
©2010 Heather Keith Freeman, save where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.