The Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley: Chapters 0-50

Overview

• Publication: Published in classes C and D official for Babe's of the Abyss, Imprimatur in Fra Æ Æ LIBOR 333.
• Title: "The Book of Lies", falsely called "BREAKS".
• Content: The wanderings and falsifications of the one thought of Fra Ter PARZURABO, which is itself untrue.

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 0: The Chapter That is Not a Chapter

• Anti-Primal Triad: Described as "not God", nothingness.
• First Triad: Godly manifestation through Word and Knowledge.
• Second Triad: Concealed and manifest in nature and harmony.
• Third Triad: Involves stability, generation, and emanation into the world.

Chapter 1: The Sabbath of the Goat

• Concepts: Duality, life and death are cycles where to beget is to die and vice versa.
• Pan: Associated with duality and energy.

Chapter 2: The Cry of the Hawk

• The Fourfold Name: "Do what thou wilt", forwards and backwards.
• Holy Kingdom Invocation: A prayer-like invocation with "abracadabra".

Chapter 3: The Oyster

• Unity and Diversity: Manifestation of the "many" and "one" as lovable and blissful.
• Caution: Bliss in dissolution and creation.

Chapter 4: Peaches

• Overcoming Hardship: Representation of life overcoming challenges.
• Reception and Perfection: Receiving impressions and reaching perfection like Pan.

Chapter 5: The Battle of the Ants

• Conflict and Unity: War underlying concepts like peace, harmony, and glory.

Chapter 6: Caviar

• Creation: The universe and its multiplicity described through mystical numbers.

Chapter 7: The Dinosaurs

• Seven Great Beings: Lao Tzu, Siddhartha, Krishna, Thoth, Moshe, Dionysus, Mahmoud.
• Peur Rabbo: Enduring as the Seventh.

Chapter 8: Steeped Horsehair

• Mind and Persistence: Mind discussed as a persistent disease.
• Unity in the Chariot: Man's true self in unity, free from mind.

Chapter 9: The Brinks

• Being and Form: Examination of why being is manifested in form, questions duality.

Chapter 10: Whittle Straws

• Absurdity of Truth: Truth and silence contrasted with hallucination and the great lie.

Chapter 11: The Glowworm

• Contradiction and Unity: Mystical beings above the abyss, reflections of chaos and Babylon.
• Pan: Symbol of annihilation and unity.

Chapter 12: The Dragon Flies

• Joy Through Balance: Balance in concepts like Io (lower) and OI (higher).

Chapter 13: Pilgrim Talk

• The Path: Various stages of spiritual path with false phantoms, effort, and unity.

Chapter 14: Onion Peelings

• Sorrow and Joy: The interplay of universal sorrow and joke, subjective perceptions of reality.

Chapter 15: The Gun Barrel

• Will and Desire: Calling upon will as a divine fire to overcome earthly desires.

Chapter 16: The Stag Beetle

• Death and Change: Embracing death as a part of individuality and love.

Chapter 17: The Swan

• Ecstasy and Motionlessness: The divine swan's relative motion and human limitations in understanding.

Chapter 18: Dewdrops

• Love and Death: Love brings new life and rebirth as the essence of being.
• Symbolism of Dew: Represents quintessence and immortality.

Chapter 19: The Leopard and the Deer

• Sunlight and Stealth: The play of light and darkness in natural surroundings.
• Self-resemblance: Living genuinely while blending in.

Chapter 20: Samson

• Equilibrium and Freedom: Avoiding entrapment in universal lies and embracing truth.

Chapter 21: The Blind Webster

• Adoration: The act of devotion transcends the nature of beings or objects.

Chapter 22: The Despot

• Mockery of Wisdom: Insight from those who serve, the flaws and unpredictability of monarchs.

Chapter 23: Skidoo!

• Initiation Exit: The command to continually move forward in spiritual pursuit.

Chapter 24: The Hawk and the Blind Worm

• Beyond Reason and Language: Mystical insights misunderstood by rational minds.

Chapter 25: The Star Ruby

• Ritual and Invocation: Detailed ceremonial instructions for invoking divine presence.

Chapter 26: The Elephant and Tortoise

• Absoulte and Conditional: The relationship and symbolism of divine aspects in cosmology.

Chapter 27: The Sorcerer

• Power and Discontent: The mastery of magical desires leading still to dissatisfaction.

Chapter 28: The Polestar

• Virtue of Love: Love's nature does not alter with circumstances, always moving towards unity.

Chapter 29: The Southern Cross

• Consuming Love: Love leading to a merging and loss of individual identity.

Chapter 30: Jonna

• Dreams and Consciousness: Describing consciousness as flawed and analogous to dreams.

Chapter 31: The Garret

• Motion and Rest: Reflections on the impossibility of true stillness or motion in time.

Chapter 32: The Mountaineer

• Ease Without Intent: Mastery comes from practice; true skill is effortless and unintentional.

Chapter 33: Baphomet

• Duality and Power: The symbol of Baphomet representing dual nature and indestructibility.

Chapter 34: The Smoking Dog

• Comedies and Tragedies: The eternal interplay of love and death as cosmic sport.

Chapter 35: Venus of Milo

• Life, Death, and Soul: Dual aspects of existence ultimately leading to the soul's transcendence.

Chapter 36: The Star Sapphire

• Mystic Ritual: Detailed steps for enacting a ritual involving hexagrams and holy names.

Chapter 37: Dragons

• Eclipses and Mind: Rare darkness of eclipses paralleling the rare heights of spiritual experiences.

Chapter 38: Lambskin

• Mystery of Life: The completion of spiritual mysteries and the negation of mind and ego.

Chapter 39: The Looby

• Unreason and Experience: Absurdity and paradox as means to higher consciousness.

Chapter 40: The High Mog

• Color and Perception: Imperfections reveal the divine; extinguishing the sense of self to achieve enlightenment.

Chapter 41: Corned Beef Hash

• Seals, Authority, and Work: Describes authority given to the A∴A∴ and the internal administration.

Chapter 42: Dust Devils

• Mind and Illusion: The mind's turbulence creating illusion; traversing the desert of consciousness.

Chapter 43: Mulberry Tops

• Life and Death: Offering blood, representing life, for the greater feast of death.

Chapter 44: The Mass of the Phoenix

• Magical Ceremony: Enacting a ritual of personal sacrifice and renewal in magical symbolism.

Chapter 45: Chinese Music

• Doubt and Certainty: Contradicting certainties and the necessity of doubt in philosophical inquiries.

Chapter 46: Buttons and Rosettes

• Desire and Infinite: Overcoming all desires in pursuit of the infinite, both joyful and sorrowful desires.

Chapter 47: Windmill Words

• Yoga Disciplines: Different yoga practices each target different aspects of one's being.

Chapter 48: Mome Raths

• Meditation: Emphasis on early morning meditation for spiritual progression.

Chapter 49: Waratah Blossoms

• Seven Veils: Symbolism of the dancing girl and her veils as spiritual and mystical barriers.

Chapter 50: The Vigil of St. Hubert

• Reality and Imagination: Conversation between God and a stag beetle highlighting belief in reality over imaginary divinity.