Liber Pennae Praenumbra
The following is a communication received and scribed by a
magician working in the Cincinnati area. The writing of it
was not achieved by individual effort.
Scribe - Nema [a.k.a. Maggie Cassady]
Soror Anadharaha
Sol in Sagittarius
Anno Heru LXX
Cincinnati
Official Transcript
of the Incoming of the Aeon of Maat
In the Akasha-Echo is this inscribed:
By the same mouth, O Mother of the Sun, is the word breathed
forth and the nectar received. By the same breath, O
Counterweight of the Heart, is the manifest created and
destroyed.
There is but one gate, though there appear to be nine, Mime-
dancer of the Stars. How beautiful thy weft and web, a-shim-
mering in the fire-dark of space!
The two that are nothing salute you, Black Flame that moves
Hadit! The less and less One grows, the more and more Pra-NU
may manifest. Do thou now speak to use, the children of the
time-to-come; declare thy will and grant thy Love to us!
THEN SPAKE SHE THAT MOVES:
I hurl upon ye, Children of Heru! All ye who love the Law
and keep it, keeping Naught unto yourselves, are ye a-blest.
Ye have sought the scattered pieces of Our Lord, ceasing
never to assemble all that has been. And in the Realm of the
Dead have ye begotten from the Dead the Shining One. Ye then
gave birth, and nourished Him.
Thy Land of Milk shall have honey also, dropped down as dew
by the Divine Gynander. The pleasure and delight lie in the
Working, the Whole surpassing far the Parts together.
The Lord of Parts is placed within His kingdom, as done by
Beast and Bird. The land of Sun is open but to Children.
Heed the Eternal Child - his Way is flowing-free, and suited
to the Nature of your being.
A Voice crieth in the Crystal Echo:
What means this showing-forth? Is Time Itself awry? The Hawk
has flown but threescore and ten in His allotted course!
She smiles, as beauteous as Night:
Behold, He spreads His pinions yet in flight, showering and
shaking forth the Golden Light upon the hearts of men. And
wherein doth He fly, and by what means? The Feather and the
Air are His to ride, to bear him ever in His GO-ing.
The pylons of the ages are unshaken, firmly are they Set.
The Day of the Hawk is but seen its dawning, and will see
its due measure according to the Laws of Time and Space.
The Voice then spoke:
Then has the Vision failed? Do I behold Thee crookedly,
thinking Thee to be Whom Thou art Not?
She danced and whirled, scattering starlight in her silent
laughter.
I Am Whom I appear to be, at times, and then again I wear a
triple veil. Be not confused! Above all, Truth prevails.
I am the Unconfined. Who is there to say me nay, to say,
"Thou shalt not pass."? Who indeed may say, "Thy time is
yet to come", when Time itself is my chief serving-maid,
and Space the Major-domo of my Temple?
Indeed, O Voice of the Akasha, I am the means by which you
speak. By the same mouth that breathes the Air, do words of
doubt pour forth.
In silence then, do know Me. For I am come with purpose at
this time, to aid the Lovers of the Hawk to fly.
THE WORD OF FLIGHT
Who Falters In the Flight Must Thereby Fall:
The Greatness of the Gods in the GO-ing.
When first ye fledged, Beloved of Heru, the shall which had
protected long had broken. Upon the Wings of Will ye
ventured forth, gaining strength and power as ye flew. Ye
gained all knowledge of the Feathered Kingdom, whereby ye
became as perfect as the Sun. The friends and teachers all
became as brothers.
The regal Swan, the Heron and the Owl - the Raven and the
Cockerel did aid ye. The Beauty of the Hawk Himself was
granted, the virtues of the Peacock, the Hummingbird and
Loon. The Eagle did reveal her inner nature and the
Mysteries thereof - behold, ye witnessed how, with her Lion,
she became the Swan. And the Ibis of the Abyss did show the
Knowledge.
Ye flew, O Kings and Hermits! And ye fly even now, within
the bending loveliness of NU. But there are those among ye,
and below ye, who would snare your wings and drag ye from
the sky.
Look well within! Judge well your Heart! If ye be pure, it
weighs no more than I. It will not bear ye down to the
Abyss. For Gold is Light, but Lead is fatal unto flying -
plumb your own depths, in Truth and in self-knowledge.
If aught would hinder thee, it is thy doing. Behold this
teaching now within the Temple.
So saying, She-Who-Moves assumed the form of the great Black
Flame, growing from the central shaft and billowing out into
the Void. The Children of Heru beheld in silence, and
listened to Her words form in their hearts.
Behold! This lens of Stars now turning in Space before ye -
men have named it well Andromeda. Through it I flow unto the
holy Moondog, and thence to Ra, and thence to ye, O Priests.
Ye must not rest content whilst in the Kingdom, but strive
and so exceed in what is done. In Love of the Lady of the
North, and in Will of the Prince of the South, do every
thing soever. In the power of the Seven-rayed Star do ye
comprehend the Beast. And from HAD of the Heart do delight
in thy star-arched darling.
Do all this, and then, pass beyond. Abandon aught that might
distinguish thee from any other thing, yea, or from nothing.
If the fowler would snare thee, leave thy feather-cloak a-
dangle in his hand and soar naked and invisible beyond!
But now! As priests within the Temple are ye here, as Kings,
and Warriors, Magicians all. The Way is in the Work.
The Hidden One of the Abyss now gives the two wherein is
wrought the higher Alchemy: supporting Earth is Chthonos -
learn it well, and all bonds shall be loosed for the Will's
Working. Surmounting Spirit, there is Ychronos, whose nature
is duration and the passing-away thereof.
The two are one, and form the Kingdom's essence. Who masters
them is Master of the World. They are the utter keys of
Transmutation, and keys of the power of the other Elements.
The Warrior-Priests received the Keys, and placed them
within their robes, to hold them hidden well above their
hearts. The Black Flame danced and dwindled, becoming small,
a quill pen, plumed and pointed. There being naught upon
which to write, one among the Priests came forth, and laid
his body's skin upon the altar as living parchment.
She-Who-Moves wrote thereupon a Word, but shew it not before
him. In patience waited all the Kings and Hermits, assured
full well of the final Understanding.
The Feather grew again, and rounded close its edges,
becoming to their eyes the Yonilignam. The image came of
Ancient Baphomet, the Horned One, who spoke:
Of old ye knew the knew of the Two-in-One conjoined. Ye have
lived and loved full measure as NU and HAD, as PAN and
BABALON. The Mystery of mine own image do ye also know, for
such a Truth was for the ancient Orders of the East and
West.
Bipartite has the Race of Man been in its span. The Father
and the Mother made a Child. I am the elder of the Children,
true - but now the younger rises to His Day.
The nature of true Alchemy is that it changes not alone the
substance of the Work, but also changes thence the
Alchemist. Ye whose Will it is to Work thereby, behold mine
inverse image, and consider well its meaning for thy Task.
THE SHOWING OF THE IMAGE
From out the Yonilignam drifted forth a Cloud, violet and
light-shot. In the misty heart thereof a sound arose,
vibrating soft, yet filling everywhere.
Jeweled and flashing rainbow-lights from wings, there
hovered in the midst an humble BEE. Striped gold and brown,
soft-haired and curved in form, it shone its eyes unto the
Priests and Kings assembled.
Spoke then She-Who-Moves from out the mist surrounding:
This is the symbol of the Work-to-come. The Great Gynander
in its Earthly form. The Magician shall grow like unto the
BEE as the Aeon unfolds, a leader and sign unto the Race of
Man.
What then of its nature doth the BEE show forth?
Behold, it is not male nor female in the singular. It labors
forth by day in constant flight, an egoless do-er, whose
Will and the Hive Will are but one.
It gathers up the flower-nectar, flies to Hive and there, in
pure Comm-Union, doth in its very body Transubstantiate.
The Nectar is now Honey. Bee to bee, it is transferred,
speaking all Hive Mysteries from and to each mouth. By the
same mouth that first ingathered, is the Honey spent, the
secret Alchemy within the Centers turning Silver - Gold.
The Hive now lives, immortal. With queen and workers, drones
and builder-bees, soldiers, foster-mothers - all are one. In
constant life-renewal, the Hive breathes as One Being - for
so indeed it is. In the Will of the Hive is the Will of the
Bee fulfilled. Each in its appointed place, the Bees work
out their Will in ordered harmony.
The image fades. Now the poised Plume moves in dancing fash-
ion, unfolding from the center shaft long wings,
transforming to the shape of the dark Vulture.
But know, O Children of the Hawk, a Man is not a Bee. He may
profit from the image thereof, to learn of Wisdom in the
Working. Behold in Me another image for thy heart's
instruction.
There rose before their eyes the Tower of Silence, wherein
the Lovers of Fire lay their dead.
The Vulture form alighted soft therein, and ate the flesh
from corpses, to the bone. The wind howled, desolate, in
this fearsome place, fluttering the cerements about the
ivory bones.
Silently, the Winged One stared, gore smeared about her
beak. Into the eyes of each Priest there assembled, her
baleful gaze did search. In perfect peace did they behold
her searching., for each, as Warrior, had made of Death a
brother. Deliberately then, she unfolded out her wings, and
took to the wind, and soared up from that place.
THE GIVING OF THE WORD
Eternity then reigned, Infinite the veil that hung about
them.
Somewhere, sometime, the veil parted for a moment, and She-
Who-Moves strode forth. More comely than mortal woman ever
was, She glowed in radiance of pearl and amethyst. Fine
pleated linen was Her gown, girded in gold and silver, and
on Her head, a nemyss of starred blue. Her crown was but a
single plume, free-standing, and in her hands the Ankh and
Wand of healing.
Unto each Warrior-Priest she moved, embraced and kissed
them. Then, seated in the midst, She spoke as comrade
equally-ranked.
"All ye who practice well the High Art, hearken. There
shall be nothing hidden from thy sight. All formulae and
Words shalt thou discover, being initiated by those whose
Work it is to aid the Law of Will.
"Ye have worked well in all that has been given; upon the
Tree of Life are ye founded. In Tetragrammaton have ye
proceeded; in all the Beast hath given have ye practiced
well. Ye have become Hadit, and NU, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit also.
As Heru-Pa-Kraath did ye abide in silence. Ye know PAN as
lover and as god form, and BABALON is bride and Self to you.
"The forces of Shaitan have ye engendered, calling forth
the nexus of the ninety-three wherein to work your Will.
Separation for the joy of Union have ye known, and Alchemy
is Science to your Art.
"For those who know, and will, and dare, and keep in
silence, it goes not further.
"In death is Life - for now as ever has it been so. The
Willed Death is eternal - keep it so. Self of Ego, selfson
born of Maya, must be slain on the moment of birth. The
unsleeping Eye must vigil keep, O Warriors, for the illusion
is self-generate.
"Constant watchfulness is the first Act - the Abyss is
crossed by minutes, every day.
"If ye would dance the Mask, then mask the Dance. Exquisite
must be the Art in this wise; and balance in the Center be
maintained, or else ye shall give unwonted Life unto thine
own creations. Tread carefully this path of Working, Mage. A
tool, by Will devised, makes an ill master.
"Now in the Mass, the Eagle must be fed upon what she has
shared in making. By the same mouth that roars upon the
mountain, is the word-act of No Difference given.
"And when Will declares, therein shall join the BEE to add
the gold to red and white. The essence of Shaitan is Nectar
here, the Temple is the Hive. The Lion is the Flower, now
betimes, the Eagle invokes the nature of the BEE.
"Within the triple-chambered shrine is the first nectar
pooled. The summons of the wand of PAN awakens the portal-
opening bliss. And from the third and inmost chamber, in joy
supreme, the Sothis-gift, quintessential mead, bounds forth
to join Eagle-tears and Lion-blood.
"Solve et Coagula. Comm-Union thereby, whereof the Cosmos
itself dissolveth, and reforms by Will. And know, if aught
can be so ordered in the Kingdom, that three or more is
zero, as well as older truths."
Then stirred the Warrior-Priests, and of their number, a
nameless one stepped forth.
"We know thee, Lady, unspoken though Thy name has been thus
far. But say now - what was written on the manskin? What is
the word Thou givest?"
She smiled and drew from out her robe a parchment scroll,
shaped even as a Star. Unrolling it, She turned it
roundabout, so all might see.
* * * * *
I P S O S
* * * * *
"What is this Word, O Lady - how may it be used?"
"In silent wisdom, King and Warrior-Priest. Let the deed
shine forth and the word be hidden; the deed is lamp enough
to veil the face.
"It is the word of the twenty-third path, whose number is
fifty and six. It is the unspoken Abode, wherein the Dance
of the Mask is taught by Me. Tahuti watches without the Ape;
I am the Vulture also.
"It is the Chalice of Air and Wand of Water, the Sword of
Earth and the Pantacle of Fire. It is the hourglass and
tail-biting serpent. It is the Ganges becoming Ocean, the
Way of the Eternal Child.
"It names the Source of Mine Own Being - and yours. It is
the origin of this sending, that channels through Andromeda
and Set. What race of gods do speak to Man, O Willed Ones?
The word of them is both the Name and Fact.
"It is for thee mantram and incantation. To speak it is to
being about certain change. Be circumspect in its usage -
for if its truth be known abroad, it would perchance drive
the slaves to madness and despair.
"Only a true Priest-King may know it fully, and stay in
balance through his GO-ing flight. This is all I speak for
now. The Book of the Preshadowing of the Feather is
complete.
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is
the law, love under will."
|