THE RIDDLE OF AL, AND ITS COUNTLESS SOLVERS

Last week we celebrated the 116th year since the Reception of Liber AL vel Legis in 1904 e.v. - the ground zero for Thelema, the ushering in of the New Aeon of the Crowend and Conquering Child, Horus.



Or was it?



Over the past years the whole story of the reception has been put into question by several people, especially after the publication of Liber L. vel Bogus - The Real Confession of Aleister Crowley by Richard T. Cole.



The book does raise some important questions, and it does a good job at leaving the reader with the question if Crowley did not just invent it all in order to create a new religion with himself as founder. But it never truly shows something that gives the 100% proof needed, and to make things worse the author has been promising such proof ever since, but never delivered - all while keep on teasing on several Thelemic forums and Facebook Groups.



In the meantime, more and more people are writing on the same virtual pages to announce the world they solved the Riddle of Liber AL, that is the task needed to establish themselves as the true heir of the Prophet of Thelema. For those of you who are new to all of this, here's the verses that keep us all wondering:

"Aye! listen to the numbers & the words:



4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24 89 R P S T O V A L. What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever. There cometh one to follow thee: he shall expound it. But remember, o chosen one, to be me; to follow the love of Nu in the star-lit heaven; to look forth upon men, to tell them this glad word."



AL II.75-76

This year alone I counted no less than 4 solutions, and they all show very neatly how easy it is to bend Kabbalah left and right to suit one's narrative. I am constantly baffled by the fact that none of these true heirs actually provide a way to use the solution, nor they ever go on to do anything useful to the rest of mankind.



Some of you might also recall that this Riddle is at the very basis of the Secret Cypher of the UFOnauts of Hellier's fame, and in many ways that connections is the only real practical application I have personally witnesses in my 20-odd years as a Thelemite - and the true reason why I got so interested in that show. The more the time passes, the more I become convinced that the real goal of Magick is not only to provide a way towards Equilibrium, but once done so to establish a connection with those higher intelligences that keep trying to talk to us. And even if on the surface Hellier might seem just yet another ghost-hunting show, the resonance it is having is for me worth investigating further.



But back to the Riddle: Crowley himself speaks about the Reception of Liber AL vel Legis in another of his books, The Equinox of the Gods:

"This Book proves: there is a Person thinking and acting in a praeterhuman manner, either without a body of flesh, or with the power of communicating telepathically with men and inscrutably directing their actions. I write this therefore with a sense of responsibility so acute that for the first time in my life I regret my sense of humour and the literary practical jokes which it has caused me to perpetrate. I am glad, though, that care was taken of the MS. itself and of diaries and letters of the period, so that the physical facts are as plain as can be desired. My sincerity and seriousness are proved by my life. I have fought this Book and fled it; I have defiled it and I have suffered for its sake. Present or absent to my mind, it has been my Invisible Ruler. It has overcome me; year after year extends its invasion of my being. I am the captive of the Crowned and Conquering Child."

So is there a praeterhuman intelligence behind the Book, or is it all just a practical joke? Is it, like Richard T. Cole infers in his books, that Crowley did fake the Reception, planned a rather convoluted joke whereby he would disseminate hints here and there of this otherwordly connection only to then fail at deliver them properly, leaving behind a Riddle that would in the end give proof of his "practical joke"?



However, what if it wasn't Crowley that set this up. What if it was Aiwass that set Crowley up.



Crowley had a big ego, so hearing words like Holy Chosen One and Prophet were an important part of getting him to participate. Given a puzzle of sorts. Crowley struggles to understand it and writes about it's meaning even though Aiwass said:

"What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever."

So Crowley took the bait first. And his struggles with the text and search for an explanation added great significance to the finding of a solution for anyone watching. Through this Aiwass has created a honeypot of sorts. Sort of like the tired trope a pretty gal on the side of the road struggling with a flat tire, with every asshole driving by suddenly trying to be a hero, getting to take a shot at being the chosen one.



A lesson in how important is to keep the lower ego at bay while working Magick, which is something particularly hard to do once you have achieved the Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel, since that's where you need to exalt the ego to the Solar Consciousness.



Magick: all about Balance.

In the end: does all of this matter?

Thelema has been inspiring mankind for 116 years now, and despite it still has to manifest in the way that Crowley promised, there are little doubts it is here to stay - maybe just under a different guise than most occultists would like. Transcendental Meditation, the return of Tarot, of Astrology, of practical magick, the rise and fall and rise again of Chaos Magick: all of this is Thelema - albeit in a much simplified form.



And so we continue trying to find a Solution to a Riddle that, very likely, is nothing but a cosmic joke.

