The Greek Qabalah LIBER MCCCLXV A.'. A.'. Publication in Class C By Frater Apollonius f 4° = 7 AN CV 2009 e.v. Preface Simply beginning my research of the Greek Qabalah proved rewarding right from the start. This is a project that has been slowly put together over several years as I‟ve found interesting tid-bits when surfing the net; usually looking for something else. Add to this my general dissatisfaction when first coming across what has proved to be the incomplete work of Aleister Crowely, transliterating the letters and words of the Greek language into a numerically listed compendium that in the format presented was almost completely worthless. And even calling it the „Greek Qabalah‟ either was almost a joke, or in itself simply a scratch start to a project that he never really even began. As my research begain in ernest, I also began returning the letters in Crowley‟s work back to their original Greek, only to discover that only one of the ancient Gnostic documents was actually written in Greek; the rest being in Coptic, generally. And I decided to discount these, even though a Qabalah is utterly dependent on „holy‟ or „praeternatural‟ scriptures to have any authenticity. Still, one is at least enough, but I would discover there‟s a world to itself, simply in the alphabet and the ideas that were being incorporated from the measure of the planets in our solar system along with the geometry that forms the basis in number of our Western culture. And for that matter, these numbers are incorporated to some degree, in the Apocalypose of John, which was written long before the Jews thought of putting a Qabalah together. Yes, I‟ve discovered that the Greeks invented the Qabalah and the Jews merely adopted it into their own brilliant system. Even the Jewish alphabet is derived from the same Phoenician source as that of the Greeks. This led me to the very superficial Christian Qabalah as demonstrated in an old and originally anonymously published work called The Canon (today credited to William Stirling), which though loaded with a lot of information, really shows the lack of depth inherent in this Qabalah, due to the many liberties this Qabalist took in his analysis and the unclear writing style. However, it does base itself on the Greek alphabet and Gnosticism as the mystical precursor to Christianity shows a connection to the very same antiquity that the first book of the Torah connects to in a different manner. The first book of course, is the principle source of the Hebrew Qabalah and must really be connected intrinsically to the half that Liber AL vel Legis teaches us the Jews have (cf. The Alchemical Half of the Jews & the Rose Cross of Thelema). And of course, the Hebrew Qabalah as it‟s proliferated through Christian Hermeticism and into modern Occult Theology, presents a science of the mind and Soul (especially as found in Thelemic doctrine) that builds upon all the ancient sources and holds them to a living tradition of Gnosis. Continuing, I also pulled everything I could on the Greek alphabet from the Internet, which in itself became an etymological study. These alphabet charts, pronunciation guides and history; et al, are copied directly into this work from several reference sources, but especially, Wikipedia. Also, I came upon some Christian sites that numerically corollated principle ideas in the early Roman church in an effort to build a very shallow and incomplete justification for accepting contemporary Christian dogma. But I feel that the presentation of these symbols and computations pertinent in that I recall the statement of Marcelo Motta claimin in his Letter to a Brazilian Mason, that Thelema is the restoration of the true Christianity. Certainly, the mystery of the Eucharist supports his assertion to some degree. Discovering Aleister Crowley‟s Tarot translated into Greek by R. Leo Gillis was a numinous find, which as much as the one surviving Greco-Gnostic fragment, adds to at least a small amount of additional legitimacy for a Greek Qabalah. Of course tieing this completely in with the Thelemic canon, we really do have a need for this as the two keywords for Thelemites, Thelema and Agape (both equaling of course, 93) are integral to understanding this philosophical system. The Greek used in such rites as the Gnostic Mass and the Star Ruby becomes significant and I decided to work a Qabalistic analysis of these rites; being also fortunate to find an analysis of the Bornless Ritual already on the web. So overall, this work is really but a compendium based on a variety of sources and simply collated into one place that a more complete Greek Qabalah might be studied and practically applied by those exploring the philosophical and magickal-mystical system called Thelema. It‟s current is inherently Gnostic, yet it comes to correct that which was destroyed when the Great White Brotherhood was betrayed long-ago, by materialistic science (Cf. Schools of Magick). This science was really founded by the Greeks, through whatever reformulation of knowledge that is yet, more ancient to the Greeks in their time as they are now, to our time.1 In this, I have added some of my own insights where applicable; building a bridge between that which is Greek and that which is applicable to both Thelema and the Starry Gnosis, which is really of course, not without precedent as Liber AL vel Legis inaugurates the idea when it proclaims the word of the law to be Thelema. And of course, I‟ve maintained by fidelity with Qabalistic formulae, procedures and traditions. However, the author of The Canon regularly used a qabalistic technique that I did not know about and only but stumbled upon in my research to understand many of the assumptions made in what is actually a poorly written treatise. This is the “Rule of Colel,” which states that “one digit can be added to, or subtracted from, the gematria value of a word without affecting its value. This seems to modern ears to be a cheat, however the cabalists explained the rule by pointing out that for them 'One' was not a number - the Monad symbolises the Divinity and could come and go as 'He' pleased, adding nothing and taking nothing away.” It is said to have possibly been derived from the Hebrew word LLK (KLL), which means to make perfect or whole, but which phonetically at least, sounds like the English word „Kill.‟ The Hebrew word has a value of 80 which not only has a brilliant connection with the English Qabalah (cf. Liber 805), but also brings immediately to mind, the verse for Liber AL vel Legis: AL I.46: "Nothing is a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the Jews call it; I call it eight, eighty, four hundred & eighteen." In the English Qabalah, we find that 80 gives us the letter P, which is the English transliteration of the Hebrew Peh; having the value of 80. As well, P is the 17th new letter found in AL, by which we can use AIQ BKR to reduce to 8; being the infinity symbol and fulfilling yet that much more of the verse from AL. Also, the fact that the word „Night‟ is also equal to 80 allows us a poetic connection to the word Kill. The word Kill in the EQ comes to 508, which reduces to 13; a number of death, being the number of the day the Templars were martyred and as well, a ThRShRQ of 31, the key to AL. 80 is of course, 8 x 10 with 8 being the value of the Hebrew words HBA (ABH „to will‟) and BHA (AHB „Desired, Beloved‟). This easily recalls Ra-Hoor-Khuit speaking in Liber AL: AL III.46: "I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before me, & are abased. I will bring you to victory & joy: I will be at your arms in battle & ye shall delight to slay. Success is your proof; courage is your armour; go on, go on, in my strength; & ye shall turn not back for any!" Killing is a triumph of the will over one‟s enemies, which fulfills the first of these words connected to the number 8. An earlier verse takes care of the next word I‟ve listed: 1 An explication of the this can be found in the Introduction to the present work. AL III.22: "The other images group around me to support me: let all be worshipped, for they shall cluster to exalt me. I am the visible object of worship; the others are secret; for the Beast & his Bride are they: and for the winners of the Ordeal x. What is this? Thou shalt know." The desired or beloved is always the “object of worship,‟ which can be phonetically pulled apart to say „war ship‟; Ra-Hoor-Khuit being a god of war and vengeance. This is the force and energy given us in this Aeon of Horus. And with all this in mind, the colel has much to support its continued use. Indeed it is argued in a book currently in print also entitled: Greek Qabalah, by Kieren Barry, that the Greek Qabalah is the original. This makes complete sense considering the origin of the Isrealites first finds settlement in the area of what is now Greece; possibly led there by the de-throned Eqyptian Pharoah, Akhenaten; who may also be Moses and Oedipus. And of course, the present work with the same title, is deeply endebted to it forbear.