THE ARROW
(Most Holy, Showing the Way)
Issued by the Sanctuary of Thoth
On behalf of
The Great Order of the Universe
Copyright © 2008 Sanctuary of Thoth. All rights reserved.
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Do what thou Wilt shall be the
whole of the Law.
We now speak of the Arrow. On the Way of Return, while the Childe is Becoming, the Arrow points up. This shows the right focus of the Eye, which is so important on the Royal Path of Initiation. We are reminded that, when the Eye is rightly focused on Divine Love, the Angels teacheth. However, when the Eye is focused down on animal desires, the demons teacheth. This is a Mystery related to the Paths of Samech and Ayin, corresponding with Atus XIV and XV of the Tarot, or the Book of Thoth. The Angel of Atu XIV is also the Devil of Atu XV, but in another form. You determine who teaches you. This is the sole choice you are given in your holy life. The animal will (attributed to the Sephira Netzach) directs the Eye. Once the animal will has been cleansed and purified, and consecrated to the Great Work, it is placed wholly in Service of Spirit to at all times to serve as a holy king in charge of your animal body. This is the work of the First Order through the Work of the Childe of Netzach.
Once the animal within (which includes the body, the automatic consciousness, thought/emotion and the lower will) has been tamed and placed in Service of Spirit, the work is to link these animal attributes to their Source. This is the portal work of the Dominis Liminis.
The Work of the Second Order then begins. The Arrow must be perfectly balanced and “shot” into the Heart of Tiphareth to come to know your True Self (which is the Source of your True Will). Once your Eye is opened to your True Self, True Will is revealed. You then must learn to do only True Will (which seems to be “struggle” at first) and wash All with Love, which balances Will and purifies the Childe for the work to come. This is the Work of the Second Order.
The Childe must be made pure and perfect for the Work to come. All lower aspects of the Childe must be further purified and consecrated wholly to the Great Work. At this stage of Becoming, the Childe still embodies the Little Tree. This is a distinguishing feature of an Adept versus a Member of the Holy Third Order. Even a Childe of Chesed embodies the Little Tree. To cross the Great Abyss, this Little Tree must be broken by the Hand of God. As indicated in other papers of the Sanctuary, the Great Abyss, which separates man and God, is but an Illusion. It is the Grand Illusion created by the Fall of Man. The serpent of desire must be completely tamed, and Cerberus (the Hell Hound, who before this stage of evolution may be perceived as a foe) must be placed in right Service of the Childe, so All is seen as Divine and Holy, even Desire. There is No-One, No-Thing which is not in Service of God. Behold the Glory of God.
As the Childe’s Eye is opened to these Holy Mysteries and the Childe is washed by Love, the Little Tree is “broken” and the Childe temporarily embodies only the Great Tree. The Childe is then beheld as part of the Body of God. This was always the case. However, the Childe is now different, as the Childe no longer embodies the Little Tree.
A transformation now occurs as evolution progresses. The Childe’s vessel is emptied and filled with the Prana or Essence of the Great Mother in Binah, which is Babalon the Beautiful in the context of the Thelemic Pantheon. When this occurs, even the Great Tree is dissolved, and the Childe Truly Becomes wholly of the Mother, Pure and Perfect, without any “taint” of that which is below Binah. This admits to the Supernal Planes, and to certain Aires (or Aethyrs).
We are now moved to step aside from the present discussion to review the importance of the right use of the Aires. They are used on the Way of Return to annihilate the remaining aspects of the self of the Childe in Being. These remaining aspects are Binah and Chokmah so the Childe may attain unto Kether and enter into Being. The Aires show aspects of the Yechidah, which is the Soul of All. In the Sanctuary’s System of Initiation, the Childe of Geburah is guided to begin working with the 30 Aires. It is suggested that this is best done using the versions in The Enochian Magick of Dr. John Dee by Geoffrey James. These versions are the least corrupted, and the corresponding English translations (which tell are story) are most true to form. There are three Aires attributed to each Sephira. The 30th, 29th and 28th Aires are attributed to Malkuth, and so on up the Tree. The 9th, 8th and 7th Aires are attributed to Binah. As the Childe comes to receive True Will from these exalted Planes, the 48 Gates of Understanding are opened, one at a time, to the Cities of Wisdom. The 48 Gates are opened by rightly working with the Angelic Keys. Of the 48 Gates, 18 are opened by right use of the First Angelic Key which precedes the Calls of Keys 2 through 18. These correspond to the Crown, the Solar Tides and the Solar Cycles (as shown by their Elemental attributions). The other 30 Gates are opened by right use of the Second Angelic Key which precedes the Call of the 19th Key, which is the Call of the 30 Aires. These admit to aspects of the Yechidah.
Wisdom is found in Understanding. The Fire of Chokmah runs through the Childe of Binah. This “burns” the Childe of Binah, who evolves as the True Scarlet Woman, until the “dust” of the Childe which entered the City of the Pyramids is burnt to a While ASh. (In Hebrew “ASh” means fire.) As evolution progresses, there is another transference of Prana. The Woman Becomes the Man, attributed to Chokmah. The vessel of the Childe is filled with His Essence, replacing Hers. The Childe then Becomes a Holy King. The “dust” of the Childe is placed in an Urn in the Tomb of the All-Father. This is accomplished, in part, by the Work of the 6th, 5th and 4th Aires. In the course of this Work, the Arrow is beheld in the 5th Aire as pointing down, but this is not fully realized as of yet by the Childe of Chokmah. The Urn is now beheld as an evolution of the Cup of Babalon and a lower aspect of the Chalice, spoken of in other papers of the Sanctuary. The Light and Love of the Chalice cleanse and purify the last remaining aspects of the self of the Childe, until these aspects are completely annihilated and set aside in the Tomb. In experiencing this Mystery, there is True Death of the self.
As Becoming ceases in Being, the Star of the Childe, which has been the source of all prior incarnations, is consumed by the Fire of Hadit, in the Invisible Sun of Kether. The Childe comes to Know His Star as none other than Kether. The Sigil of Aemeth, which is the Seal of the God of Truth, burns brightly in the Core of the Childe. The Being of the Childe is beheld to be that of God, and the last Oath of the Childe of Kether is rightly taken.
There is more. Although the Childe has entered into Being,
Initiation has not come to an end. There
is one more Step to take, which is to realize even the Source of Kether, and
how It is formulated and moved. This is
discussed in another paper issued by the Sanctuary entitled “The Blade & The Chalice”. The Chalice is the True Source of All. The Light and Love of the Chalice formulate
all positive or Male aspects of the Universe to show the Female aspects. She is the Circle, and He is the ubiquitous
center of All. In the context of the
Thelemic Pantheon, She is Nuit, He is Hadit, and their
There is No-God, No-One, No-Thing which is not an Aspect of Nuit. True Initiation is attained in Not-Being. There is No Oath for this final Step, as there is no positive manifestation of the Step ever being taken. A Childe of Nuit manifests Her, and No-One else. We are all Her Children. We are the Children of Nuit. The First is the Last, as shown by the numeric symbols associated with the Work of the Childe of Earth (0=0) and the Work of the Childe of Nuit (also 0=0). After Becoming, we enter into Being, and after Being we enter into Not-Being.
The Arrow truly points down when beheld from Above, as the Chalice is always open and the Light and Love of the Chalice flow through nurturing us with Life. This shows through symbolism how She gives Herself to Children. We are Her Holy Living Creatures.
The Arrow must point up, perfectly, before it may Truly be beheld as pointing down. By rightly focusing the Eye, performing your Great Work, and giving your self to Her, the Great Initiation may be attained, and Initiation may come to an end. As Nuit gives Her-Self to Her Children, so does a Childe of Nuit who attains unto Her continually manifest Her in performing Her Work, which is to redeem Her Children and Heal Her Womb, ever Glorying Her Holy Name.
Praise, Glory and Worship, Love and Devotion unto Thee Nuit. Amen.
Love is the Law, Love under Will.
Received by
ACh LA, as Scribe
(Brian Goldstein)
On behalf of the Sanctuary of Thoth
Completed
Die Luna, Sol in Sagittarius, Luna in Scorpio
Anno IVxvi in the New Aeon of Horus.
(November 24, 2008 e.v.)
A
AB
ABR
ABRA
ABRAH
ABRAHA
ABRAHAD
ABRAHADA
ABRAHADAB
ABRAHADABR
ABRAHADABRA
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Additional commentary: This paper supplements the Guide to the Oaths
of Initiation with respect to the Work of the Childe of Binah, the Work of the
Childe of Chokmah, the Work of the Childe of Kether and the Work of the Childe
of Nuit. In some respects, it completes
the Sanctuary’s System of Initiation, when taken in context of the other papers
issued to date. Further, it should be
noted that, although Initiation comes to an end for a Childe of Nuit who has
entered into Not-Being, the Eye is continually opened unto Her Glory in Infinite
Ways, as She is Infinity and Her Wisdom is Boundless.