Hear me, ye people of sighing
The sorrows of pain and regret
Are left to the dead and the dying
The folk that not know me as yet.<1>
“These are dead, these fellows; they feel not. We are not for the poor and sad : the lords of the earth are our kinsfolk.” Whereas Nuit told us that she loved us and wanted us to be happy, Hadit nearly commands it. We are not to have sorrow, regret or sadness; and we are told Hadit hates these.
“Is a God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of us. They shall rejoice, our chosen : who sorroweth is not of us.” The word, dog, is used several times throughout The Book; and always the connotation is someone unwilling or unable to find their True Will and do it! The highest here, I think, are those who live life bold and large; they shall rejoice—and, again, those who have sorrow are outsiders from the law of Thelema.
There are further commands, or identifiers, for those who are true followers of this creed: “Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious languor, force and fire, are of us.” All these seem to again equate to living life large, to exude joy and happiness each second, and to mean it!
“We have nothing with the outcast and the unfit : let them die in their misery : For they feel not. Compassion is the vice of kings : stamp down the wretched & the weak : this is the law of the strong : this is our law and the joy of the world.” Compassion is weakness, those who know their True Will glorify in the use of its power. Be strong, be bold; and don’t worry about those who are not like you!
“Think not, o king, upon that lie : That Thou Must Die : verily thou shalt not die, but live! Now let it be understood : If the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain in pure ecstasy for ever” This is the first reference to those who have found their True Wills as kings, there would be other references. This line discounts the worldly view of death. What appears to be death is merely absorption into the body of Nuit.
“To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all.” Is this literal, or is this figurative? Or is it both? [read up on the Kundalini] Crowley wrote “it is in the power of all so-called intoxicating drugs to reveal a man to himself.” Also, this is not a license to debauch, but these are only to be used in worship.
“It is a lie, this folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie.” To smother your true self in order to conform to Society is a great evil. “This folly against self” is mock altruism, mock charity. It is anti-unity! “The exposure of innocence” is the parading about of your moral high ground, and this is a sham. Leading a phony construct of what Society deems that a life should be is a mockery and a lie. Be yourself!
“Be strong, o man, lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture : fear not that any God shall deny thee for this.” The command is to experience all things in life to the fullest, not denying anything that might encourage the exposure, the “coming out” of the true nature of any individual.
This next section is the ‘church calender’ for Thelemites. It contains the Feast Days we are to honor: “But ye, o my people, rise up & awake! Let the rituals be rightly performed with joy & beauty”. Part of being the joy-filled alpha-type discussed elsewhere is to do everything with joy. These feasts and rituals are to be done with beauty too. “There are rituals of the elements (fire, water, air, earth, spirit)<2> and feasts of the times. (this would be the equinoxes and solstices, or simply put: the first day of each of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride (August 12th)! A feast for the three days of the writing of the Book of the Law (April 8th, 9th and 10th) A feast for Tahuti (March 17th)<3> and the child of the Prophet — secret, O Prophet (this is a reference to magical rites to be preformed by advanced adepts)! A feast for the Supreme Ritual (March 20th, a celebration of Crowley first invoking Horus on that date), and a feast for the Equinox of the Gods (this celebrates March 20, 1904 when the Æon of Horus began) A feast for fire (male puberty) and a feast for water (female puberty); a feast for life (birth) and a greater feast for death”.
“A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture.” This is to have the full joy that a Thelemite should have. To be full of joy and laughter. To be downright giddy with happiness because of the knowledge of our Wills, and the formula for Unity that Hadit imparts to us.
“A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost delight.” Every act of love is a feast to Nuit.
“Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread hereafter.” Don’t fear that at death you will encounter something horrible. Your soul will rejoice in the company of Nuit until you are again drawn to incarnate.
“There is the dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu.” This is as good a place as any to talk about the truth, as far as we know it, about what happens at death. We unite with Nuit. She isn’t in heaven, she is heaven. We are in eternal unending spiritual ecstasy as long as we are in her embrace, but the soul that hasn’t completely attained will chose to incarnate again, because it is drawn to the world of the physical senses, to experience that material world; to touch, to smell, to see and to hear the wonders of life; but at death we will again return to the loving embrace of Nuit.
“There is death for the dogs.” There is a possible contradiction here. If the Unity of Nuit is for everyone, then how can there be death for the dogs, for the unbelievers. The answer is that an effort must be made toward the Unity, the individual must be dedicated to a magical life.
“Dost thou fail? Art thou sorry? Is fear in thine heart? Where I am these are not. Pity not the fallen! I never knew them. I am not for them. I console not : I hate the consoled & the consoler. I am unique & conqueror. I am not of the slaves that perish. Be they damned & dead! Amen.” Hadit again returns to his attack on those who are emotionally weak: Failure, Sorrow, Fear, to Fall, to need Consoling — these are all negative traits to the theology of Joy and Strength laid out here.
“There is a veil : that veil is black. It is the veil of the modest woman; it is the veil of sorrow, & the pall of death : this is none of me. Tear down that lying spectre of the centuries : veil not your vices in virtuous words : these vices are my service; ye do well, & I will reward you here and hereafter.” There are things that are negative to Hadit. They are bad, they are evil. To the list of Failure, Sorrow, etc., we may add Modesty. To be bold, to be joyful, to be aggressive and assertive, to be that alpha personality I spoke of before — that is what Hadit commands of us. This verse may well have been a prophecy predicting the Sexual Revolution by some 50 years.
“This veil is not in the order of nature. It has been made by shame and fear, by trying to shut off all that is true and real from the soul.” – Comment D
[Study Kundalini and Tantra for the last part of this verse.]
“Begone! ye mockers; even though ye laugh in my honour ye shall laugh not long (To be joyful without Hadit in your heart is a hollow joy) : then when ye are sad know that I have forsaken you (the false joy cannot last without Hadit). He that is righteous shall be righteous still he that is filthy shall be filthy still (everyone is to be true to their own nature, that is, their Will; there is no point in wishing to be something or someone else). Yea! deem not of change : ye shall be as ye are & not other. Therefore the kings of the earth shall be Kings for ever (not physical kings I don’t think, or presidents, or prime ministers; but those who have a kingly nobility, a civilized air about them, will remain that way) : the slaves shall serve (the meek and cowering shall remain the meek and cowering). There is none that shall be cast down or lifted up (unless they do it themselves) : all is ever as it was (up to a point). Yet there are masked ones my servants (you can find quotes through The Book that speak of secret servants; it seems to me that there is a sort of Secret Service, a C.I.A. of Thelema, dedicated to bend their energies to the establishment of the Æon of Horus) : it may be that yonder beggar is a King. A King may choose his garment as he will : there is no certain test : but a beggar cannot hide his poverty. Beware therefore! Love all, lest perchance is a King concealed! Say you so? Fool! If he be a King, thou canst not hurt him. (If someone is a true Star and King, if they have found and realized their Will, and are therefore leading a bold life, full of energy and dominance and vigor, then it is impossible to do him wrong — death may stop him in the form of an assassin’s bullet, but he’ll be back) Therefore strike hard & low and to hell with them (again, be that alpha personality, bold and daring), master!” (Master every situation) [read up on alpha personalities]
There is more on the proper code of behavior: “Wisdom says : be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture! (don’t behave like a rutting bull, behave as though you have some class; act with nobility and strength and purpose) If thou drink, drink by the eight and ninety rules of art (??!?): if thou love, exceed by delicacy and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety therein. But exceed! exceed! (Excess in all things, as compared to the more conventional “Moderation in all things”) Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine — and doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! — death is the crown of all.” In Thelemic terms, Death is not a negative. It is part of the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
<1> “Sorrow, pain, regret, are symptoms of diseased thought.” – Comment D
<2> While Crowley disdained the old elemental rituals of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Their elemental initiations could certainly be one place to look for fulfilling this command.
<3> Crowley took that the feast of Tahuti was to be as secret as the following Feast of the Child of the Prophet. I disagree. In old-time Egypt, Tahuti was honored in December, but since Crowley invoked Tahuti on March 17, 1904, to get more information about the coming revelation, I can only assume that would be the ideal time to honor Tahuti. Since March 17th is also St. Patrick’s Day, I would assert that a great many people have been celebrating the Feast of Tahuti without even knowing it.
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