21 psi DE VOLUNTATE ULTIMA. Say not then that this Way is contrary to Nature, and that in

21 {psi } DE VOLUNTATE ULTIMA.

Say not then that this Way is contrary to Nature, and that
in Simplicity of Satisfaction of thy Needs is perfection of
thy Path.  For to thee, who hast aspired, it is thy Nature to
perform the Great Work, and this is the final Dissolution of
the Cosmos.  For though a Stone seem to lie still on a
Mountain Top, and have no care, yet hath it an hidden Nature,
a Task Ineffable and Stupendous; namely, to force its Way to
the Centre of Gravity of the Universe, and also to burn up its
Elements into the final Homogeneity of Matter.  Therefore the
Way of Quiet is but an Illusion of Ignorance.  Whoever thou
mayst be now, thy Destiny is that which I have declared unto
thee; and thou art most fixed in the true Way when, accepting
this consciously as thy Will, thou gathereth up thy Powers to
move thy Self mightily within it.


22 {omega } DE DIFFERENTIA RERUM.

But, o my Son, although thine ultimate Nature be Universal,
thine immediate Nature is Particular.  Thy Way to the Centre
is not oriented as that of any other Being, and thine elements
are no kin, but alien, to his.  For Shame!  Is it not the most
transcendent of all the Wisdoms of this Cosmos, that no two
Beings are alike?  Lo!  This is the Secret of all Beauty, and
maketh Love not only possible, but necessary, between every
Thing and every other Thing.  So then, lest thou in thine
Ignorance take the false Way, and divigate, must thou learn
thine own particular and peculiar Nature in its Relation to
all others.  For though it be Illusion, it is by the true
Analysis of Falsehoods that we are able to destroy them, just
as the Physician must understand the Disease of his Patient if
he is to choose the fitting Remedy.  Now therefore will I make
yet more clear unto thee the Value of thy Dreams and
Phantesies and Gestures of thine unconscious Body and Mind, as
Symptoms of thy particular Will, and show thee how thy mayst
come to their Interpretation.

             
23 {Alpha }{alpha } DE VOLUNTATE TACITA.

All Disturbances, o my Son, are Variations from
Equilibrium; and just as thy conscious Thoughts, Words, and
Acts are Effects of the Displacement of the conscious Will, so
is it in the Unconscious.  For the most Part, therefore, all
Dreams, Phantasies, and Gestures represent that Will
subliminal; and if the physical Part of that Will be
unsatisfied, its Utterance will predominate in all these
automatic Expressions.  Do thou then note what Modifications
thereof follow such Changes in the conscious Foundation of
that Part of thy Will as thou mayst make in thy Experiments
therewith, and thus separate, as sayeth Trismegistus, the fine
from the coarse, Fire from Earth, or, as we may say, assign
each Effect to its true Cause.  Seek then to perfect a
conscious Satisfaction of every Part of that Will, so that the
unconscious Disturbances be at last brought to Silence.  Then
will the Residuum be as an Elixir clarified and perfected, a
true Symbol of that other hidden Will which is the Vector of
thy Magical Self.

        
24 {Alpha }{beta } DE FORMULA SUMMA.

Learn moreover that thy Self includeth the whole Universe
of thy Knowledge, so that every increase upon every Plane is
an Aggrandisement of that Self.  Yet the greater Part of this
Universe is common Knowledge, so that thy Self is interwoven
with other Selves, save for that Part peculiar to thy Self.
And as thou growest, so also this peculiar Part is ever of
less Proportion to the Whole, until when thou becomest
infinite, it is a Quantity infinitesimal and to be neglected.
Lo!  When the All is absorbed within the I, it is as if the I
were absorbed within the All; for if two Things become wholly
and indissolubly One Thing, there is no more Reason for Names,
since Names are given to mark off one Thing from another.  And
this is that which is written in "The Book of the Law":  "...Let
there be no difference made among you between any one thing &
any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.  But whoso
availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!"


25 {Alpha }{gamma } DE VIA INERTIAE.

Of the Way of the Tao I have already written to thee, o my
Son, but I further instruct thee in this Doctrine of doing
everything by doing nothing.  I will first have thee to
understand that the Universe being as above said an Expression
of Zero under the Figure of the Dyad, its Tendency is
continually to release itself from that strain by the Marriage
of Opposites whenever they are brought into Contact.  Thus thy
true Nature is a Will to Zero, or an Inertia, or Doing
Nothing; and the Way of Doing Nothing is to oppose no Obstacle
to the free Function of that true Nature.  Consider the
Electrical Charge of a Cloud, whose Will is to discharge
itself in Earth, and so release the Strain of its Potential.
Do this by free conduction, there is Silence and Darkness;
oppose it, there is Heat and Light, and the Rending asunder of
that which will not permit free Passage to the Current.

                   
26 {Alpha }{delta } DE VIA LIBERTATIS.

Do not think then that by Non-Action thou doest follow the
Way of the Tao, for thy Nature is Action, and by hindering the
Discharge of thy Potential thou doest perpetuate and aggravate
the Stress.  If thou ease not Nature, she will being thee to
Dis-Ease.  Free thereof every Function of thy Body and of
every other Part of thee according to its true Will.  This
also is most necessary, that thou discover that true Will in
every Case, for thou art born into Dis-Ease; where are many
false and perverted Wills, monstrous Growths, Parasites,
Vermin are they, adherent to thee by Vice of Heredity, or of
Environment or of evil Training.  And of all these Things the
subtlest and most terrible, Enemies without Pity, destructive
to thy will, and a Menance and Tyranny even to thy self, are
the Ideals and Standards of the Slave-gods, false Religion,
false Ethics, even false Science.


27 {Alpha }{epsilon } DE LEGE MOTUS.

Consider, o my Son, that Word in the Call or Key of the
Thirty Aethyrs: Behold the Face of your God, the Beginning of
comfort, whose Eyes are the Brightness of the heavens, which
provided you for the Government of the Earth, and her
unspeakable Variety!  And again: Let there be no Creature upon
her or within her the same.  All here Members let them differ
in their Qualities, and let there be no Creature equal with
another.  Here also is the Voice of true Science, crying
aloud: Variation is the Key of Evolution.  Thereunto Art
cometh the third, perceiving Beauty in the Harmony of the
Diverse.  Know then, o my Son, that all Laws, all Systems, all
Customs, all Ideals and Standards which tend to produce
Uniformity, being in direct Opposition to Nature's Will to
change and to develop through Variety, are accursed.  Do thou
with all thy Might of Manhood strive against these Forces, for
they resist Change, which is Life: and thus they are of Death.


28 {Alpha }{digamma } DE LEGIBUS CONTRA MOTUM.

Say not, in thine Haste, that such Stagnations are Unity
even as the last Victory of thy Will is Unity.  For thy Will
moveth through free Function, according to its particular
Nature, to that End of Dissolution of all Complexities, and
the Ideals and Standards are Attempts to halt thee on that
Way.  Although for thee some certain Ideal be upon thy Path;
yet for thy Neighbour it may not be so.  Set all Men a-
horseback: thou speedest the Foot-soldier on his Way, indeed:
but what hast thou done to the Bird-Man?  Thou must have
simple Laws and Customs to express the general Will, and so
prevent the Tyranny of Violence of a few; but multiply them
not!  Now then herewith I will declare unto thee the Limits of
the Civil Law upon the rock of the Law of Thelema.

                 
29 {Alpha }{zeta } DE NECESSITATE COMMUNI.

Understand first that the Disturbers of the Peace of
Mankind do so by Reason of their Ignorance of their own true
Wills.  Therefore as this Wisdom of mine increaseth among
Mankind, the false Will to Crime must become constantly more
rare.  Also, the Exercise of our Freedom will cause Men to be
born with less and ever less Affliction from that Dis-Ease of
Spirit, which breedeth these false Wills.  But, in the while
of waiting for this Perfection, thou must by Law assure to
every Man a Means of satisfying his bodily and his mental
Needs, leaving him free to develop any Super-Structure in
Accordance with his Will, and protecting him from any that may
seek to deprive him of these vertebral Rights. There shall be
therefore a Standard of Satisfaction, though it must vary in
Detail with Race, Climate, and other such Conditions.  And
this Standard shall be based upon a large Interpretation of
Facts biological, physiological, and the like.


30 {Alpha }{eta } DE LIBERTATE CORPORIS.

There shall be no Property in Human Flesh.  Every Man and
every Woman hath Right Indefeasable to give the Body for the
Enjoyment of any other.  The Exercise of this Right shall not
be punished either by Law or by Custom; there shall be no
Penalty either by Loss or Curtailment of Liberty, of Rights,
of Wealth, or of Social Esteem; but this Freedom shall be
respected of all, seeing that it is the Right of the Bodily
Will.  For this same Reason thou shalt cause full Restriction
and Punishment of any who may seek to limit that Freedom for
the sake of his own Profit, or Desire, or Ideal.  Every Man
and every Woman has full right either to grant or to deny the
Body, as the Will speaketh within.  This being made Custom,
the Evils of Love, which are many, extending to the
Disturbance not only of Body but of Mind, and that in obscure
Paths, shall little by little disappear from the Face of His
unspeakable Glory.


31 {Alpha }{theta }  DE LIBERTATE MENTIS.

There shall be no Property in Human Thought.  Let each
think as he will concerning the Universe; but let none seek to
impose that Thought upon another by any Threat of Penalty in
this World or any other World.  Look now, though I enkindle
thee to Effort in thy Way, yet it is the Way of thy Will, and
I say not even that thou dost well to hasten therein, for the
whole Matter lieth in thy Will, and to force thyself against
thy Nature would be an Obstacle to thy Passage.  But if I urge
thee to run well this Race as an Athlete, it is because I have
perceived in thy Nature that firce Lust and mighty
Concentration in that Will, and I write this Letter unto thee,
knowing well that thou wilt rejoice exceedingly therein, since
it is an Expression of thine own Will, and it may be a
Discovery thereof, which Thing thou vehemently seekest.  I
charge thee therefore that thou permit none to tyrannize any
other in Thought, or to threaten, or in any other Wise to
blaspheme the great Liberty of our Father the Sun in the Great
Cosmos, or of His Vice-Regent in the Little.


32 {Alpha }{iota } DE LIBERATATE JUVENUM

O thou that art the Child of mine own Bowels, how shall I
write to thee concerning Children?  For herein is the Gordian
Knot in our whole Rope of Wisdom, and it may not be severed by
Sword, no, not of a Greater than Alexander the Two-Horned.
And it is a Balance like that of the Egg, and the Violence of
a Columbus will but crack the tender Shell which we must first
of all preserve.
      
Now Sentinel to this Fortress standeth a certain Paradox of
general Application, and in this large Order I will declare
it, so that its particular Sense may enlighten thee hereafter.
And this is the Paradox, that there are Bonds which lead to
Slavery, and Bonds which lead to Freedom.  All we are bound in
many Fetters by Environment, and it is for ourselves in great
Part to determine whether they shall enslave us or emancipate
us.  And I will make clear this Thesis to thee by the Way of
Illustration.


33 {Alpha }{kappa } DE VI PER DISCIPLINAM COLENDA.

Consider the Bond of a cold Climate, how it maketh Man a
Slave; he must have Shelter and Food with fierce Toil.  Yet
hereby he becometh strong against the Elements, and his moral
Force waxeth, so that he is Master of such Men as live in
Lands of Sun where bodily Needs are satisfied without
Struggle.
      
Consider also him that willeth to exceed in Speed or in
Battle, how he denieth himself the Food he craveth, and all
Pleasures natural to him, putting himself under the harsh
Order of a Trainer.  So by this Bondage he hath, at the last,
his Will.
      
Now then the one by natural, and the other by voluntary,
Restriction have come each to greater Liberty.  This is also a
general Law of Biology, for all Development is
Structuralization; that is, a Limitation and Specialization of
an originally indeterminate Protoplasm, which latter may
therefore be called free, in the Definition of a Pedant.


34 {Alpha }{lambda } DE ORDINE VERUM.

In the Body every Cell is subordinated to the general
physiological Control, and we who will that Control do not ask
whether each individual Unit of that Structure be consciously
happy.  But we do care that each fulfil its Function, and the
Failure of even a few Cells, or their Revolt, may involve the
Death of the whole Organism.  Yet even here the Complaint of a
few, which we call Pain, is a Warning of general Danger.  Many
Cells fulfil their Destiny by swift Death, and this being
their Function, they in no wise resent it.  Should Haemoglobin
resist the Attack of Oxygen, the Body would perish, and the
Haemoglobin would not even save itself.  How, o my Son, do
thou then consider deeply of these Things in thine Ordering of
the World under the Law of Thelema.  For every Individual in
the State must be perfect in his own Function, with
Contentment, respecting his own Task as necessary and holy,
not envious of another's.  For so only mayst thou build up a
Free State, whose directing Will shall be singly directed to
the Welfare of all.


35 {Alpha }{mu } DE FUNDAMENTIS CIVITATIS.

Say not, o my Son, that in this Argument I have set Limits
to individual Freedom.  For each Man in this State which I
purpose is fulfilling his own true Will by his eager
Acquiescence in the Order necessary to the Welfare of all, and
therefore of himself also.  But see thou well to it that thou
set high the Standard of Satisfaction, and that to everyone
there be a surplus of Leisure and of Energy, so that, his Will
of Self-Preservation being fulfilled by the Performance of his
Function in the State, he may devote the remainder of his
Powers to the Satisfaction of the other Parts of his Will.
And because the People are oft times unlearned, not
understanding Pleasure, let them be instructed in the Art of
Life; to prepare Food palatable and wholesome, each to this
own Taste, to make Clothes according to Fancy, with Variety of
Individuality and to prractise the manifold Crafts of Love.
There Things being first secured, thou mayst afterward lead
them into the Heavens of Poesy and Tale, of Music, Painting,
and Sculpture, and into the Lore of the Mind itself, with its
insatiable Joy of all knowledge.  Thence let them soar!


36 {Alpha }{nu } DE VOLUNTATE JUVENUM.

Long, o my Son, hath been this Digression from the plain
Path of my Word concerning Children; but it was most needful
that thou shouldst understand the Limits of true Liberty.  For
that is not the Will of any Man which ultimateth in his own
Ruin and that of all his Fellows; and that is not Liberty
whose Exercise bringeth him to Bondage.  Thou mayst therefore
assume that it is always an essential Part of the Will of any
Child to grow to Manhood or to Womanhood in Health, and his
Guardians may therefore prevent him from ignorantly acting in
Opposition thereunto, Care being always taken to remove the
Cause of the Error, namely, Ignorance, as aforesaid.  Thou
mayst also assume that it is Part of the Child's Will to train
every Function of the Mind; and the Guardians may therefore
combat the inertia which hinders its Development.  Yet here is
much Caution necessary, and it is better to work by exciting
and satisfying any natural Curiosity than by forcing
Application to set Tasks, however obvious this Necessity may
appear.


37 {Alpha }{chi } DE MODO DISPUTANDI.

Now in this Training of the Child there is one most dear
Consideration, that I shall impress upon thee as in Conformity
with our Holy Experience in the Way of Truth.  And it is this, 
that since that which can be thought is not true, every
Statement is in some Sense false.  Even on the Sea of pure
Reason, we may say that every Statement is in some Sense
disputable, there fore in every Case, even the simplest, the
Child should be taught not only the Thesis, but also its
opposite, leaving the Decision to the Child's own Judgment and
good Sense, fortified by Experience.  And this Practice will
develop its Power of Thought, and its Confidence in itself,
and its Interest in all Knowledge.  But most of all beware
against any Attempt to bias its Mind on any point that lieth
without the Square of ascertained and undisputed Fact.
Remember also, even when thou art most sure, that so were they
sure who gave instruction to the young Copernicus.  Pay
Reverence also to the Unknown unto whom thou presumeth to
impart the Knowledge; for he may be one greater than thou.


38 {Alpha }{omicron } DE VOLUNTATE JUVENIS COGNOSCENDA.

It is important that thou shouldst understand as early as
may be what is the true Will of the Child in the Matter of his
Career.  Be thou well ware of all Ideals and Day-dreams; for
the Child is himself, and not thy Toy.  Recall the comic
Tragedy of Napoleon and the King of Rome; build not an House
for a wild Goat, nor plant a Forest for the Domain of a Shark.
But be thou vigilant for every Sign, conscious or unconscious
of the Will of the Child, giving him then all Opportunity to
pursue the Path which he thus indicates.  Learn this, that he,
being young, will weary quickly of all false Ways, however
pleasant they may be to him at the Outset; but of the true Way
he will not weary.  This being in this Manner discovered, thou
mayst prepare it for him perfectly; for no Man can keep open
all Roads for ever.  And to him making his Choice explain how
one may not travel far on any Road without a general Knowledge
of Things apparently irrelevant.  And with that he will
understand, and bend him wisely to his Work.


39 {Alpha }{pi } DE AURO RUBEO.

I would have thee to consider, o my son, that Word of
Publius Vergilius Maro, that was the greatest of all the
Magicians of his time: in medio tutissimus ibis. Which 
Thing has also been said by many wise Men in other Lands; and 
the Holy Qabalah confirmeth the same, placing Tipheret, which 
is the Man, and the Beauty and Harmony of Things, and Gold in 
the Kingdom of the Metals, and the Sun among the Planets, in 
the Midst of the Tree of Life.  For the Centre is the Point of
Balance of all Vectors.  So then if thy wilt live wisely,
learn that thou must establish this Relation of Balance with
every Thing soever, not omitting one.  For there is nothing so
alien from thy Nature that it may not be brought into
harmonious Relation therewith; and thy Stature of Manhood
waxeth great even as thou comest to the Perfection of this
Art.  And there is nothing so close Kin to thee it may not be
hurtful to thee if this Balance is not truly adjusted.  Thou
hast need of the whole Force of the Universe to work with thy
Will; but this Force must be disposed about the Shaft of that
Will so that there is no Tendency to Hindrance or to
Deflection.  And in my Love of thee I will adorn this Thesis
with Example following.


40 {Alpha }{koppa } DE SAPIENTIA IN RE SEXUALI.

Consider Love.  Here is a Force destructive and corrupting
where by many Men have been lost.  Yet without Love Man were
not Man.  Therefore thine Uncle Richard Wagner made of our
Doctrine a musical Fable, wherein we see Amfortas, who yielded
himself to Seduction, wounded beyond Healing; Klingsor, who
withdraw himself from a like Danger, cast out for ever from
the Mountain of Salvation'; and Parsifal, who yielded not,
able to exercise the true Power of Love, and thereby to
perform the Miracle of Redemption.  Of this also have I myself
written in my Poema called Adonis.  It is the same with Food
and Drink, with Exercise, with Learning itself, the Problem is
ever to bring the Appetite into right Relation with the Will.
Thus thou mayst fast or feast; there is no Rule than that of
Balance.  And this Doctrine is of general Acceptation among
the better Sort of Men; therefore on thee will I rather
impress more carefully the other Part of my Wisdom, namely,
the Necessity of extending constantly thy Nature to new Mates
upon every Plane of Being, so that thou mayst become the