II:70-71.
The Book of the Law (1904)
Quotes from book
The Book of the Law
Liber AL vel Legis , commonly known as The Book of the Law, is the central sacred text of Thelema, allegedly written down from dictation mostly by Aleister Crowley, although his wife Rose Edith Crowley is also known to have written two phrases into the manuscript of the Book after its dictation. Crowley claimed it was dictated to him by a discarnate entity named Aiwass. However, the three chapters are largely written in the first person by the Thelemic deities Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit respectively, rather than by Aiwass/Aiwaz.
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”
I:40 This famous statement derives from several historic precedents, including that of François Rabelais in describing the rule of his Abbey of Thélème in Gargantua and Pantagruel: Fait ce que vouldras (Do what thou wilt), which was later used by the Hellfire Club established by Sir Francis Dashwood. It is also similar to the Wiccan proverb: An ye harm none, do what thou wilt; but the oldest known statement of a similar assertion is that of St. Augustine of Hippo: Love, and do what thou wilt.
Source: The Book of the Law (1904)
“Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign?”
I:26.
The Book of the Law (1904)
Context: Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bending down, a lambent flame of blue, all-touching, all penetrant, her lovely hands upon the black earth, & her lithe body arched for love, and her soft feet not hurting the little flowers: Thou knowest! And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body.
“I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky.”
Source: The Book of the Law (1904)
“He shall fall down into a pit called Because, and there he shall perish with the dogs of reason.”
Source: The Book of the Law
“Love is the law, love under will.”
I:57.
Variant: There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.
Love is the law, love under will.
Source: The Book of the Law (1904)
“For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.”
Source: The Book of the Law
The Book of the Law (1904)
“These are fools that men adore; both their Gods & their men are fools.”
I:11.
The Book of the Law (1904)
“I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.”
I:13.
The Book of the Law (1904)
“There is a splendour in my name hidden and glorious, as the sun of midnight is ever the son.”
III:74.
The Book of the Law (1904)
