by John Carter
It is uncertain whether or not the tape recording of the March 1946 session still exists, but the incredible transcript has survived, however, quoted here verbatim, since a summary would not do it justice. The words are Hubbard's, or rather, Babalon speaking through Hubbard as recorded by Parsons:
The Angel of TARO17. A three-day retirement to greet her [Babalon]. Purify thyself. The symbol is seven by three.18 It is BABALON. Keep secret. The communications are sacred.
These are the preparations. Green gold cloth, food for the Beast [Crowley], upon a hidden platter, back of the altar. Disrobe only when the doors are bolted.
Transgression is death.
Back of main altar. Prepare instantly. Light the first flame at 10 p.m., March 2, 1946.
The year of BABALON is 4063.19
Beware of the use of profaned rituals.
She is flame of life, power of darkness, she destroys with a glance, she may take thy soul. She feeds upon the death of men.
Beautiful—Horrible.
The first ritual. Tomorrow the second ritual. Concentrate all force and being in Our Lady BABALON. Light a single light on Her altar, saying: Flame is Our Lady, flame is Her hair. I am flame.
A plate of food, unsalted. An altar cloth hitherto undefiled.
Make a box of blackness at ten o'clock. Smear the vessel which contains flame [Cameron?] with thine own blood. Destroy at the altar a thing of value.20 Remain in perfect silence, and heed the voice of Our Lady. Speak not of this ritual or of Her coming to any person. If asked, answer in a manner that avoids suspicion. Nor speculate at any time as to Her future mortal identity. To receive flattering communications to thy damnation. Press not to receive teachings beyond those given.
Questions you may ask but three. Spend one half hour in composing these at 11:30 p.m. The answers must be written at midnight.
Thou shalt take the alkahest21 in thine own mouth, and in the box of darkness carefully store this matter.
Display thyself to Our Lady; dedicate thy [sex] organs to Her, dedicate thy heart to Her, dedicate thy mind to Her, dedicate thy soul to Her, for She shall absorb thee, and thou shalt become living flame before She incarnates. For it shall be through you alone, and no one else can help in this endeavor.
It is lonely, it is awful.
Retire from human contact until noon tomorrow. Clear all profane documents on the morrow, before receiving further instructions. Consult no book but thine own mind. Thou art a god. Behave at this altar as one god before another. And so be prosperity.
Thou art the guardian and thou art the guide, thou art the worker and the mechanic. So conduct thyself. Discuss nothing of this matter until thou art certain that thine understanding embraces all.
Upon the completion of Babalon's message, Parsons immediately set about following the instructions dictated by her, as well as those received the night before (March 1), although he did not record what those instructions were.
As a part of this March 2 ceremony, he recited passages from several key works of Crowley's and elsewhere, passages that are vital to understanding the rite:
The Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram.
Excerpt from the Gnostic Mass.
Excerpt from Crowley's The Vision and the Voice.
A short verse dedicated to Babalon.
The Key Call of the Seventh Aire.
Excerpt from Crowley's Tannhäuser.
Parsons opened with an esoteric analysis of what he called “the key word,” INRI, which is a part of the “Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram” he actually performed, though he did not record the fact by name and only wrote “analysis of the key word.” He probably also performed the other rituals of the Hexagram and Pentagram, but he does not say.
Parsons recorded the analysis of the key word as follows: “The temple is opened with the analysis of the key word: INRI. Yod Nun Resh Yod. Virgo Isis Mighty Mother. Scorpio Apophis Destroyer. Sol, Osiris slain and risen. IAO. The sign of Osiris slain (given). The sign of the mourning of Isis (given). The sign of Apophis and Typhon (given). L.V.X., Lux, the Light of the Cross.”
During the ritual, the magician must adopt at each stage of the analysis certain postures. Crossed arms, for example, represent Osiris slain, as the posture a corpse takes during burial. The entire ritual is recorded by Crowley in Magick and elsewhere. The gods invoked are Egyptian gods.
INRI is not a word but an acronym, representing the initials of the message Pontius Pilate had nailed upon the cross in the gospel story: Iesus Nazaraeus Rex Iudaeorum, Latin for “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The acronym is often seen depicted in paintings of the crucifixion, possibly arising as a painter's expedient. Medieval clerics manipulated the letters to find different phrases that described Jesus while conforming to the same acronym.
Mystics and alchemists found other, less orthodox interpretations as well. In Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike gives a few possible meanings of INRI, withholding the one which he says Masons learn when they attain the 18th degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, known as Knight Rose Croix (Rose Cross). The meanings Pikes does give are: Igne Natura Renovatur Integra (All of Nature is Renewed by Fire); Igne Nitrum Roris Invenitur (The Cleanser of Fire Comes Like Dew); and the Jesuits’ alleged Iustum Necare Reges Impius (To Judge not but the Impiety of Royalty).22
In the Golden Dawn the analysis of INRI was part of the 5°= 6▫ material. Crowley records a few of the interpretations in his Sepher Sephiroth (“Book of Books”): Igni Natura Renovata Regnum (Birth by Fire Renews the Kingdom), Intra Nobis Regnum deI (Within the Noble is the Kingdom of God), and even Isis Naturae Regina Ineffabilis (Isis, the Ineffable Queen of Nature). This last interpretation may be the one Pike chose to withhold; it also hearkens back to John Dee and Queen Elizabeth.
In the gospel tale, the original message was posted in three languages: Latin, Aramaic (Hebrew), and koine Greek. Yod Nun Resh Yod are the Hebrew names for the letters INRI. They are also words in the Hebrew tongue: hand-fish-head-hand, respectively. Each of these has further esoteric meanings that could be expanded indefinitely. The hand, for instance, represents the creative force, as it is with our hands that we build tools, heal the sick, express our love. Yod is also Hebrew slang for “penis,” another sort of creative power. Nun, the fish, is Scorpio, hence death. Resh is the back of the head, and looks like a large yod; for this reason Crowley associated it with the kundalini, the mysterious energy source in yoga that runs along the spine and out the top of the head. A whole treatise could be written on the analysis of INRI; the same could be said of TARO, which Babalon mentioned on March 2.
The analysis complete, the invoking hexagrams are drawn in the air in the four cardinal directions (representing the four elements), and the name ARARITA “vibrated” in each quarter. When one “vibrates” a name, it is not merely spoken but visualized as written, originating within the magician and going outward until it fills the entire universe. ARARITA is also mentioned in the Star-Sapphire ritual from The Book of Lies and is a Hebrew acronym for one of the names of God.
The second part of Parsons’ invocation is from the Gnostic Mass, recited as the Priest steps onto the first step leading to the altar, and as the Priestess disrobes behind the veil. Parsons recited the part of the Priest, and Cameron (representing Babalon) recited the part of the Priestess:
THE PRIEST: “O circle of Stars [the Milky Way] whereof our Father [the sun] is but the younger brother, marvel beyond imagination, soul of infinite space, before whom Time is ashamed, the mind bewildered, and the understanding dark, not unto Thee may we attain, unless Thine image be Love. Therefore by seed and root and stem and bud and leaf and flower and fruit do we invoke thee.” [Parsons deleted the second part of this invocation, which is a quote of AL I:27].
THE PRIESTESS [here Parsons actually wrote “BABALON”]: “But to love me is better than all things; if under the night-stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart and the Serpent flame [kundalini] therein, thou
shalt come a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give all. But whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of earth in splendour and pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich head dress. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour [kundalini] within you: come unto me! To me! To me! Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me perfume! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you! I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset, I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky. To me! To me!”
This priestess's recitation is an expansion of AL I:61.
The third part of the invocation comes from Crowley's The Vision and the Voice and was part of his working of the 12th Aire in 1909, spoken to Crowley by a celestial “charioteer”:
Glory unto the Scarlet Woman, BABALON23 the Mother of Abominations, that rideth upon the Beast, for She hath spilt their blood in every corner of the earth, and lo! She hath mingled it in the cup of Her whoredom.
With the breath of Her kisses hath she fermented it, and it hath become the wine of the Sacrament; the wine of the Sabbath; and in the Holy Assembly hath She poured it out for Her worshippers; and they have become drunken thereon, so that face to face they beheld my Father. Thus are they made worthy to partake of the Mystery of this holy vessel, for the blood is the life.
Beautiful art thou O BABALON, and desirable, for thou hast given Thyself to everything that liveth, and thy weakness hath subdued their strength. For in that union Thou didst understand. Therefore art Thou called Understanding, O BABALON, Lady of the Night!
O my God, in one last rapture let me attain to the union with the many. For She is Love, and Her Love is one, and She has divided the one love into infinite loves, and each love is one, and equal with the One, and therefore is She passed from the Assembly and the Law and the enlightenment into the anarchy of solitude and darkness. For ever thus must She veil the brilliance of Herself.
Parsons actually abbreviated this passage, as he did with the excerpt from the Gnostic Mass, and did not recite it verbatim. It is longer in the original.
The fourth invocation was, “O BABALON, BABALON beloved, come now, partake of the sacrament, possess this shrine. Take me now! Let me be drunken on the wine of your fornications; let your kisses wanton me to death. Accept thou this sacrifice willingly given!” This passage seems to have been an original verse by Parsons, not found anywhere in the works of Crowley.
The fifth invocation was written as the Key Call of the Seventh Aire, but the text Parsons recorded is actually the Seventh Call, evidently the same type of shift Parsons made when he wrote that he used the “Key Call of the Third Aire” but actually utilized the Third Call. The Seventh Call in English is:
The East is a house of Virgins singing praises among the flames of first glory [the rising sun] wherein the Lord hath opened his mouth; and they are become 28 living dwellings [the phases of the moon, hence days] in whom the strength of man rejoiceth; and they are apparelled with ornaments of brightness, such as work wonders on all creatures. Whose kingdoms and continuance are as the Third and Fourth [Aires], strong towers and places of comfort, the Seats of Mercy and Continuance. O ye Servants of Mercy, Move! Appear! Sing praises unto the Creator; and be mighty amongst us. For that to this remembrance is given power, and our strength waxeth strong in our Comforter!
The following is the original Enochian, in Roman letters. Although the words are the same, Parsons’ spellings vary considerably from those recorded by Crowley.
Ra-asa isalamanu para-di-zoda oe-cari-mi aao iala-pire-gahe Qui-inu. Enai butamonu od inoasa ni pa-ra-diala. Casaremeji ujeare cahirelanu, od zodonace lucifatianu, caresa ta vavale-zodirenu tol-hami. Soba lonudohe od nuame cahisa ta Da o Desa vo-ma-dea od pi-beliare itahila rita od miame ca-ni-quola rita! Zodocare! Zodameranu! Iecarimi Quo-a-dahe od I-mica-ol-zododa aaiome. Bajirele papenore idalugama elonusahi—od umapelifa vau-ge-ji Bijil—IAD!”
The original ends with “IAD,” which means “God” (Crowley translated it “comforter,” which usually refers to the Holy Spirit). In Parsons’ notes he has replaced “IAD” with “BABALON.”
The sixth invocation was from Crowley's play Tannhäuser, alternating verses originating with the worshiper and his goddess. A Wagnerian opera, Tannhäuser was based on a 13th-century German epic poem. The main character, Tannhäuser, was a mortal who spent some time as the goddess Venus’ lover but eventually left her to return to earth and the sweetheart of his youth. Tannhäuser inadvertently reveals his tryst with Venus, a disclosure that means certain death. His mortal love, Elisabeth, pleads for his life, and he is spared but banished as punishment for his deed. Alone, he longs for Venus. She hears him, and is about to return him to her when Elisabeth intervenes once again. Tannhäuser is redeemed, and is escorted by angels to paradise.
Here again, Parsons and Cameron probably took turns reciting their respective lines. Parsons played the part of Tannhäuser, while Cameron was Venus. Parsons began the romantic interlude:
Isis art thou, and from thy life are fed
All showers and suns, all moons that wax and wane,
All stars and streams, the living and the dead,
The mystery of pleasure and of pain
Thou art the mother, thou the speaking sea
Thou art the earth, and its fertility,
Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness return to thee
To Thee!
Hathoor am I, and to my beauty drawn
All glories of the Universe bow down,
The blossom and the mountain and the dawn
Fruits blush, and women, our creations crown
I am the priest[ess], the sacrifice, the shrine
I the love and life of the divine
Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness are surely mine, Are Mine!
Venus art thou, the love and light of earth,
The wealth of kisses, the delight of tears
The barren pleasures never came to birth,
The endless infinite delight of years.
Thou art the shrine at which my long desire
Devoured me with intolerable fire.
Thou wert song, music, passion, death upon my lyre—
My lyre.
I am the Grail and I the glory now;
I am the flame and fuel of thy breast
I am the star of God upon thy brow;
I am the queen, enraptured and possessed,
Hide thee sweet river, welcome to thee, sea
Ocean of love that shall encompass thee
Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness return to me—
To me!
After the completed invocation, which was more like a bard's love poem, Parsons burned the Enochian Air Tablet he had used in the January stage of this working. He then smashed a small statue of Pan, which had been a favorite possession. He recorded that at the same instant the roof on his guest house caught fire and was damaged, apparently attributing this destruction to supernatural forces, although the burning parchment may have had something to do with it as well.
Regarding such sacrifices as the smashed statue, Crowley's Liber Astarte, verse 37, reads:
Having made by thine Ingenium a talisman or pantacle to represent the particular Deity, and consecrated it with infinite love and care, do thou burn it ceremonially before the shrine, as if thereby giving up the shadow for the substance. But it is useless to do this unless thou do really in thine heart value the talisman beyond all else that thou hast.
Crowley noted in his Confessions, “I have noticed that every time I receive an important initiation, some cherished article mysteriously disappears. It may be a pipe, a pen or what not: but it is always an o
bject which is impregnated with my personality by constant use or special veneration. I cannot remember a single occasion when this has not happened. The theory is that the elementals or familiar spirits in attendance on the Magician exact, so to speak, a tip on all important occasions of rejoicing.” In such magical workings, evidently, if you don't offer something to the spirits, they will take it anyway.
At 11:30 p.m. that same night, Parsons prepared three questions as directed, and at midnight he asked them of Babalon (and was answered through Hubbard).
How can I communicate directly with BABALON, hear her, see her, feel her, be sure that I am working aright?
At the altar in meditation, as you know how. Also, invoke me carnally with all your passion. Thus will you feel my desire and increase my substance.
How can I serve best?
Follow instructions exactly and in detail. Avoid loose interruptions. Be diligent. Do not hesitate or question, act. All depends on your time.
How can I be certain of the vehicle [of incarnation]?
Do not trouble yourself with this. It does not concern you. I will provide the vehicle, I will show you a sign, and signs. It is the now which concerns us. Keep your faith, think not overmuch.
While meditating the following morning, Parsons was interrupted by one of his tenants, whom he then cursed “in the Anglo-Saxon fashion.” The man became ill, and Parsons realized he had erred. He apologized to him, but the day continued badly. That night Babalon purportedly continued her message, but the speaker, curiously, seems to be another (all parenthetical remarks are copied from the original):
In the presence of our Lord PAN, at the feet of Our Lady BABALON, at the feet of Her (servants?) (changing?) we declare unto thee this message (consecrated, dedicated, never to be defiled?) (the Scribe was uncertain here) containing the rituals of the second and third days, of the welcome and preparation in the Name of Our Lady of the Night most gracious, to pure lewd and whoresome Lady BABALON. Oh thou who art mortal tremble; given it is unto thee a feat never before performed in the annals of your histories, never before accomplished successfully. Many have dared, none succeeded.
