The Book of The Law
Liber AL Vel Legis
by Aleister Crowley
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."
This oft-misunderstood phrase, which forms the basis for Aleister Crowley's practice of Magick, is found in The Book of the Law. Dictated to Crowley in Cairo between noon and 1:00 p.m. on three successive days in April 1904, The Book of the Law is the source book and key for Crowley students and for the occult in general.
"Liberty stirs once more in the womb of Time...The "abnormal" man who foresees the trend of the times and adapts circumstance intelligently is laughed at, persecuted, often destroyed by the herd; but he and his heirs, when the crisis comes, are survivors."
For the first time, The Book of the Law is offered in a deluxe, hardcover edition fittingly issued in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Liber AL vel Legis's transmission to Crowley. The holy text that forms the basis of Crowley's belief system, Thelema, was transmitted to him by the entity known as Aiwass over the course of three fateful April days in 1904. With his wife Rose as the medium for what would become known as the Cairo Working, Crowley dutifully transcribed the communications on hotel stationery.
The deluxe edition of The Book of the Law published in conjunction with the Ordo Templi Orientis contains the corrected text of the 1938 edition with a facsimile of Crowley's handwritten manuscript, including Crowley's notes and annotations found in later drafts of the work. It also features a full-colour, colour-corrected print of the Stele of Revealing, both obverse and reverse, contains new material from variant editions and an introduction by Hymenaeus Beta XII - head of the Ordo Templi Orientis.
"Love is the Law, love under will.”
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Table of Contents
LIBER CCXX
Introduction
I The Book
II The Universe
III The Law of Thelema
IV The New Æon
V The Next Step
Liber AL vel Legis sub figura CCXX - The Book of the Law
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
LIBER XXXI
Introductory Note to AL: The Book of the Law
AL (Liber Legis) The Book of the Law sub figura XXXI
The Comment
The Stèle of Revealing (obverse)
The Stèle of Revealing (reverse)
A Paraphrase of the Inscriptions upon the Obverse of the Stèle of Revealing
A Paraphrase of the Hieroglyphs of the 11 Lines upon the Reverse of the Stèle
Colophon
References
Editorial Note
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Centennial Hardcover Edition
160 pages. Two-colour black and red ink-printing on archival quality coated paper, in a sewn binding. Bound in a printed, flat-back case, with gold foil stamping, colour endpaper, head and tail bands, and a silken ribbon bookmark.
ISBN: 978-1-57863-308-1
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Press, reviews, endorsements
"This isn't just another printing of Liber Legis – it is a work of art. It is a beautiful addition to the bookshelf that every Thelemite will enjoy."
Scarlet Woman Lodge, Ordo Templi Orientis - read the full review here
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About the Author
The late Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was an occultist, ceremonial magician, prolific writer, philosopher and mountaineer. In his youth, Crowley joined the occult organisation The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887-1903), where he received much of his training in theurgy and ceremonial magic. In 1904, Crowley established his own religion, Thelema (Greek for "the will”), for which he had reportedly received a divine revelation from an angel. Crowley believed that humans should strive to overcome both their desires and their socially-instilled inhibitions in order to find out the true purpose of their respective lives. Crowley had been dubbed “the wickedest man in the world” and “a man we’d like to hang” by the British press during the first half of the 20th century. A controversial figure, nevertheless, his influence on Western occultism cannot be easily overstated.
