This article is an excerpt from a longer Epistle. It was recently published in Red Flame No.

8 Liber AL vel
Legis, The Book of the Law.

An Open Epistle On The Grid from Liber AL vel Legis

Most Thelemites are familiar with the grid which appears on the manuscript across an entire page in Chapter Three
of Liber AL vel Legis. This grid, along with the mystery of Tzaddi, the code in II:76 and the notion of an English
Qabalah and a few other mysteries have led more students astray than we care to wag a stick at. Over the years we
have seen numerous articles appearing in some of the best Thelemic journals and magazines purporting to discover
the 'truth' behind the mysterious grid. Some of the conclusions are fascinating but most interpretations usually reflect
the personal proclivities of the individual rather than undisputed evidence for all to follow. The reason for this
problem is that most researchers ignore the obvious while keeping their head stuck in the clouds in quest of a
solution. With this article we shall examine the most obvious. We will question the validity and origin of the grid
itself. We know that Aleister Crowley claims he lost the original handwritten manuscript shortly after leaving Cairo
in 1904. Of course this is debatable but, for the sake of an argument, let's say it is true. He tells us that he found the
missing manuscript on June 28th of 1909 and decided to publish a facsimile of it a few years later. This facsimile
appeared in 1912 edition of The Equinox, or Volume I Number 7. It is important to realize that at this point in time
the manuscript did not have the grid on it. Most modern Thelemic theorists are unaware of this fact. They simply
open their Equinox, look at the manuscript between pages 386-387 and, low and behold, there is the grid. Most
assume that modern editions are faithful reproductions of the manuscript as it was published in 1912. This is not
true. When The Equinox was republished in 1972 by Samuel Weiser they did not use a copy of the manuscript from
the 1912 edition. Instead they used the version which appeared in The Equinox of the Gods (1936) which has the
grid. The first time the grid ever appeared on the manuscript of Liber AL vel Legis was in the edition which was
published in 1925. This is often referred to as the 'Tunis' edition. Since we know the grid appeared here first and not
in The Equinox, common sense dictates that somewhere between the dates of 1912 and 1925 Crowley added it into
the manuscript. Many scholars believe that this occurred during Crowley's Cefalu period. If you do not have access
to an original copy of The Equinox there are only two books which have appeared in recent years which faithfully
reproduce the facsimile of Liber AL vel Legis without the grid as it appeared in 1912. One appears in the first
edition of The Law is For All, edited by Israel Regardie (MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1975). The second appears in
the Mandrake Press Ltd/Holmes Publishing edition of The Equinox I No.7 which was published in 1992. The major
problem with modern researchers is that they often wrongly assume that Aleister Crowley added the grid onto the
manuscript while he was in Cairo in 1904, thus giving the grid some kind of original importance. Even a claim that
it doesn't matter when Crowley added the grid, that he's our Prophet and therefore it has meaning, is a flawed and
pointless assumption. Let's examine the actual verse on the page in Liber AL vel Legis which is 'supposedly' being
revealed by the grid.

“This book shall be translated into all tongues: but always with the
original in the writing of the Beast; for in the chance shape of the
letters and their position to one another: in these are mysteries that
no Beast shall divine. Let him not seek to try: but one cometh after
him, whence I say not, who shall discover the Key of it all. Then this
line drawn is a key: then this circle squared in its failure is a key also.
And Abrahadabra. It shall be his child & that strangely. Let him not
seek after this; for thereby alone can he fall from it.” (AL III:47)

The verse clearly states that it contains mysteries which “no Beast shall divine” and it obviously warns Crowley not
to try. Although he admits in his 1912 Commentary to this verse that “These mysteries are inscrutable to me” we can
only wonder what made him think that adding a grid, years later, might reveal the mysteries to him. In our opinion,
this grid is simply meaningless. It is merely a blemish on the original manuscript and any meaning which you might
extrapolate from it is found only in the mind of the beholder.

Love is the law, love under will.-AL I:57

1
The following is also excerpted from Red Flame No.8 Liber AL vel Legis, The Book of the Law and deals with the
notes by Marlene Cornelius in regards to the verse in question.
p.15 47. This book shall be translated into all tongues: but always with the original in the writing of the Beast; for
in the
p.16 chance shape of the letters and their position to one another: in these are mysteries that no Beast shall divine.
Let him not seek to try: but one cometh after him, whence I say not, who shall discover the Key of it all. Then this
line drawn is a key: then this circle squared in its failure is a key also. And Abrahadabra. It shall be his child &
that strangely. Let him not seek after this; for thereby alone can he fall from it.

It is interesting to note that within this rather long verse there are no differences in punctuation between Liber 31
and Liber 220! Although there are several minor overwrites, none of them appear to change the meaning in any way.
In both the Collected Works proof and Thelema the word Key is not capitalized in the phrase key of it all. This verse
is probably the most well known and closely studied in the entire manuscript. It contains several elements that are
never able to be properly addressed in any typeset version of Liber 220. Therefore the actual handwritten page must
be referred to in order to fully understand the points delineated herein. The halftone version found in Magick (Book
Four-Liber ABA, 1997) is the clearest representation available for study. It also shows this page as being far more
'used' than the other pages of Liber 31. The paper itself is crumpled and worn on the edges. At least three elements
on page 16 that do not typeset well include: the dark diagonal line slashing across two-thirds of the manuscript page
the symbol for the circle squared, shown above by an electronic scan and the 'grid' pattern that is a later penciled
addition by Crowley. The Collected Works proof contains two footnotes for this verse. The first is indicated after the
word Beast and reads: “The mysterious disappearance of the MS. rendered the whole work impossible, even had it
been desirable.” The second footnote is indicated after the words line drawn and reads: “Here were drawn a line and
a sort of square with round corners.” These notes give evidence that the diagonal line was part of the original
transcription in 1904. However, the description of the symbol is a bit obscure and might be due Crowley construing
the shape from the words, circle squared, and having a faulty memory of the actual glyph within the manuscript
itself. Both of these elements are visible in The Equinox I:7. However, neither the grid nor the numbers and alphabet
references are visible in The Equinox I:7 facsimile. They are first discernible within The Equinox of the Gods
(1936), most likely a result of Crowley's study on this verse.* Other vagaries with this verse are discussed on pages
33-34 in this edition of Red Flame. {This is what is published above}

*The first indication of the grid actually occurred in the 1925 'Tunis' edition which was extremely limited in
distribution as only 11 copies were produced. Although the grid purportedly exists within this volume as referenced
by Jerry in his article above, I did not have access to this edition when doing the study so it is not mentioned.