Four Powers of the Sphinx: Liber Aleph Et – Fg

Anno IVxvii

Sol in Taurus and 7th House

Luna in Libra and 12th House

Dies Mercurii

May 6th, 2009 e.v.

De Sphinge Aegyptiorum – On the Sphinx of the Egyptians

The mystery of the Sphinx is a most arcane teaching, as it was at no time ever throughout history to be a method of attaining to union with any of the slain gods, but is a path of Magick, “a Witness of Horus through the dark Aeon of Osiris to His Light and Truth, His Force and Fire” (151, 2003). As the Nature of Osiris is anathema to that of Horus, to attempt to interpret the Sphinx through the lens of Christianity et. al is folly; their formulas are entirely different. This is why Eliphas Levi, Crowley’s supposed last incarnation, could not find his balance as he sought to reconcile these Antagonists. However, the “Light of the New Aeon revealeth this Sphinx as the True Symbol of this our Holy Art of Magick under the Law of Thelema” (ibid). The sphinx is a symbol of the awakened Mind in a perfectly balanced state of complete equanimity of the magical forces inherent in the nature of Man. The Magical Sphinx is not spelt traditionally but uses the outdated and oft-unused Digamma where Phi typically would be, and inexplicably ends in an Upsilon, not Xi, thus: SFINU (ibid). The purpose of this unusual orthography is that now its numeration by isopsephy is 666, To Mega Therion’s “Riddle of Riddles.” Its root SF denotes the Incarnation of Spirit, and is related to the Sun, Sumer, Soma, Scin, Scire, Sus, Sow, and Swine (ibid). The Sun is the deific Father the God, Sumer, where the earliest cuneiforms known tell of men like Gilgamesh achieving Divinity through their heroic deeds, Soma is the divine drug or potion of Hindu myth that enlightens, Scin, the Astral Light, and Scire, latin for ‘to know.’ The connection to swine suggests the occult belief that spiritual power can be found in its highest form in the most profane and degenerate circumstances, “because the Most Holy must needs take its Delight under the Omphalos of the Unclean” (ibid).

De Natura SFINU – On the Nature of the Sphinx

The Sphinx is a symbol of the union of Babalon with the Beast, the Lingam and the Yoni in conjunction. Using the four sacred animals of Ezekial as representative of four magical characteristics, it is:

“A Glyph of the Satisfaction and Perfection of the Will and of the Work, the Completion of the True Man as the Reconciler of the Highest with the Lowest… This then is the Adept, who doth Will with Solid Energy as the Bull, doth Dare with fierce Courage as the Lion, doth Know with swift Intelligence as the man, and doth Keep Silence with soaring subtlety as the Eagle or Dragon” (p. 152).

By maximizing the ability to Will, to Dare, to Know, and to Keep Silence, one can climb the Tree of Life to Adepthood. While being a symbol of these ancient qualities typical of a Magician it is at the same time an icon of Thelema, as noted in Liber de Lege Libellum, as the Bull is Life, the Lion Light, the Man Liberty, and the Serpent Love (ibid). The implication of this symbol is that in order to approach the Divine and fully become One with God the Adept must first be whole, not strong in some avenues and weak in others but completely balanced in all of his or her powers.

De Tauro – On the Bull

Of the four Kerubs which compose the Sphinx, the Bull is the Will, “the force and substance of thy being,” which propels one forward on the Path of Return (153). The letter of the Bull is Vau, whose number is six, that of the Sun (ibid). In the Tarot Vau is the Hierophant, as the “Power of Work” is essential in accomplishing the Summun Bonum, in order to combat the natural apathy of man. In Hinduism the Bull is sacred to Shiva, who is regarded as the Destoyer in their holy trinity, and is regarded as the Phallus, since the magical Will only functions through love, as it is written in our maxim. In Egyptology, Apis the Bull is represented as having Khephra the Beetle on his tongue. As Khephra is the Midnight Sun, this symbol alludes to the fact that by the Will one is brought from the darkness into the light, by the Will the Sun passes through the night into the dawn.

De Leone – On the Lion

The Lion is the Kerub of Light, and is indicative of the ability to dare; it is “the Courage of thy Manhood, leaping upon all Things, and seizing them for thy Prey” (154). Its letter is Teth, whose number is nine, and plainly symbolizes a serpent. It is also Aub, the Astral Light, or the “secret fire of Obeah” and sephira of Yesod (ibid). Yet in the Thoth Tarot the Lion is Lust, 11, Aud, which is “the Light Odic of Magick,” the Serpent Power or Kundalini (ibid). Thus is Babalon astride the Beast in Atu 11 an appropriate glyph, as both these powers are embodied therein. This ‘Lion of Courage’ is the Light within each of us, as Leo is a fiery sign, and the house of the Sun; “thy Light… is the Source and Instigator of thy Will, enforcing it to spring forth and conquer” (ibid). Horus is a Lion-God, and a god of War, impelled by the ‘Lust of Battle:’ In initiation it is He that enheartens one against fear. Sekhet is also figured as a Lioness, as she is the “Lust of Nuit toward Hadit,” and therefore a symbol of our own “Hunger of Attainment, the passion of thy Light to dare all for its Fulfilling” (155). For these reasons to Dare is “the Crown of all thy Virtue, the Root of the Tree of true Magick” (154), and without this one is not inclined toward Magick and will therefore have no success in it.

De Viro – On the Man

This quality of daring that the Lion represents is an inherent characteristic in all men, but in most it is hidden, dormant, and unknown, only the Adept has fully unleashed its magical power. Thus it is a necessity for one to Know, “by the head of the Sphinx” (156). The man is consequently Liberty, for through knowledge can men secure their freedom. The adventurous and bold nature of the Lion is awakened by the Man and his desire to Know.  This quality also allows understanding to occur and adjustment to one’s changing environment, which is indispensable as without Judgement one’s spiritual journey is travelled blindly (ibid). For it is our nature to be sensitive to the will of others, and without knowledge one can easily be led astray in the belief of exercising their own will, when in reality they are doing that of another’s. To Know is how we can best discern our own Will and then accomplish it. The Letter of the Man is Tzaddi, whose number is ninety which is Maim, the elemental water, suggestive of the adaptability one gains through knowledge.

De Dracone, quae est aquila Serpens Scorpio – On the Dragon, which is Eagle, Serpent and Scorpion

The nature of love is threefold: Eagle, Serpent, and Scorpion. The Black Brothers, like the Scorpion, separate themselves from all else, and in so doing only love themselves. Unwilling to dissolve their Ego in crossing the abyss they fall into it. The Serpent is the “Secret Nature of Man, that is Life and Death” (157). The Eagle is the “Might of Love which is the Key of Magick,” by which the Sphinx is able to behold the face of God without flinching (ibid). The Dragon, namely Love, therefore is the instrument of the magical Will, as it is through love that the Adept is able to unite himself with the Divine. For this reason the quality attributed to the Dragon is to Keep Silence, because when the mystic crosses the threshold and joins himself with God the ego that demands itself individual and separate from all others as ‘I’ is annihilated. The letter of the Dragon is Nun, whose number is fifty, which is Death in Tarot, a fitting symbol of Silence.

De Quattuor Virtutis SFINU – On the Four Virtues of the Sphinx

All four of these virtues are cognate to one another, flowing easily into each other. All are necessary to accomplish the Great Work, if one is lacking or in disproportion to the others all effort is in vain: “the Lust of the Archer, the propulsive Force of his Arm, and the equilibrating and directing Control of his Eye… if one fail, the Mark is not hit” (158). Each of the magical virtues must be cultivated in equity in order to reach the goal an Adept sets out to achieve. Each is attributed to an element and they are “summed in a fifth, Spirit, to form the Pentagram; and the Magical Virtue corresponding is Ire, to go” (91, 2007). For when one has developed the four powers of the Sphinx to their utmost one is free to go as one pleases, in this world and all others, as doth a God.

References

Crowley, Aleister. (2003). Liber Aleph: The Book of Wisdom or Folly. Weiser: Boston.

Crowley, Aleister. (2007). The Book of Thoth. Weiser: Boston.