“Also I was in the spirit vision and beheld a parricidal pomp of atheists, coupled by two and by two in the supernal ecstasy of the stars. They did laugh and rejoice exceedingly, being clad in purple robes and drunken with purple wine, and their whole soul was one purple flower-flame of holiness.
They beheld not God; they beheld not the Image of God; therefore were they arisen to the Palace of the Splendour Ineffable. A sharp sword smote out before them, and the worm Hope writhed in its death-agony under their feet. Even as their rapture shore asunder the visible Hope, so also the Fear Invisible fled away and was no more. O ye that are beyond Aormuzdi and Ahrimanes! blessèd are ye unto the ages.
They shaped Doubt as a sickle, and reaped the flowers of Faith for their garlands. They shaped Ecstasy as a spear, and pierced the ancient dragon that sat upon the stagnant water. Then the fresh springs were unloosed, that the folk athirst might be at ease.”
–Liber LXV, V:34-40
This parable illustrates the joyous results that come when people break away from social and cultural conditioning to seek an independent path for themselves, and join together with others of the same mind.
There is a lot to unpack here in this spirit vision of a parricidal pomp of atheists. Let’s begin…
“Also I was in the spirit vision and beheld a parricidal pomp of atheists, coupled by two and by two in the supernal ecstasy of the stars. They did laugh and rejoice exceedingly, being clad in purple robes and drunken with purple wine, and their whole soul was one purple flower-flame of holiness.”
This parable begins with a vision of parricidal atheists who are celebrating their freedom with a drunken orgy. Dressed in purple robes, drinking wine, and paired up with partners in ecstasy. But of course there is more to this pomp than meets the eye.
Symbolically, parricide or killing one’s parents indicates that the child has broken free from parental supervision and is independent, on their own, and in charge of their own life. In a religious sense, it is killing or rejecting the god or gods that rule over one’s culture or one’s fate.
These are atheists, which makes the religious connotation stronger, and it reinforces the idea that they have broken with all religious authority. They have slain their father in heaven to achieve freedom. They have rejected the cultural traditions and dogma that says we need to rely on a savior or look to an old man in the sky.
Parricide in this context is a metaphor for the rejection of any outside authority over the self, be it by gods or men.
The atheists are laughing and rejoicing, and they embody a spirit of freedom and independence. They are autarchs of the self who revel in the message of Liber OZ which states “There is no god but man." They adhere to only one Law: Do what thou wilt.
A pomp is a magnificent and impressive celebration, often on public display, and these parricidal atheists are involved in a massive party. They are “coupled by two and by two in the supernal ecstasy of the stars.” This brings to mind images of an orgy of sex and drugs, but the finer point is that this is the orgiastic expression of Liberty. It is a celebration of the senses, a delighting in individual freedom and enjoyment of the pleasures of the physical world, and it is all dedicated to a higher purpose.
“Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines that foam! Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me.” — LIber AL vel Legis, I:51
The atheists are coupled in divine pleasure, “in the supernal ecstasy of the stars.” In Qabalah, the Supernals are Kether, Chokmah, and Binah, the three uppermost Sephiroth on the Tree of Life which exist above the manifested universe. This supernal ecstasy hints at the real purpose of the Pomp: consciousness of the higher Self.
Purple is the color associated with royalty and with spiritual ecstasy, so the purple robes, purple wine, and holy purple flower-flame all highlight an ecstatic spiritual connection to the star goddess Nuit and her ubiquitous center, Hadit, which are in truth found within.
Joined together in the spirit of “love is the law, love under will” the atheists are celebrating freedom from all false authority under the regency of Will.
“They beheld not God; they beheld not the Image of God; therefore were they arisen to the Palace of the Splendour Ineffable.”
The nature of Images is a recurring theme in the Holy Books. Images are a layer of abstraction that stands between us and what is real and true. Images are false impressions. Images are often mistaken for the real things they appear to be.
It is easy to get caught up in symbols and images and forget that they are pointing to something else. This is akin to trying to eat the printed menu instead of the food it represents, or mistaking the features on a map for the actual surrounding territory.
When the parable says “They beheld not God; they beheld not the image of God;” it shows that these people did not worship the God that is commonly presented in scripture and religious iconography. But it also means they were not blinded by any illusions of what a god is. Their eyes were open to the immediate nature of the majesty of their own existence, the godhood of self, and they reveled in the freedom to steer their own way.
Without the weight of these false beliefs about God to drag them down, they were raised “to the Palace of the Splendour Ineffable” meaning they could directly experience the ineffable truth of existence, the Qabalistic Neshamah.
In short, they had achieved Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel, and their actions were guided by a conscious awareness of True Will.
“A sharp sword smote out before them, and the worm Hope writhed in its death-agony under their feet.”
The magician’s sword is a weapon that symbolizes intelligence, reason, and knowledge. It can sever the heads from false ideas and divide truth from lies. The people in this parable use this magical weapon to guarantee freedom.
The worm Hope represents the uninformed view of self that sees us as being spiritually dependent on forces and gods outside ourselves. The worm does not recognize each individual as a star in the company of stars, and the sword represents the power of knowledge to cut through such ignorance.
From a Qabalistic perspective, the atheists are linked to the sphere of Yesod on the Tree of Life by the color purple: the color of their robes, their wine, and their ecstasy. Their use of the sword, symbolizing thought and reason, also refers to Mercury which is associated to the Sephirah Hod, the seat of knowledge and thought.
Interestingly, the Sun card of the tarot is referred to the path that leads from Yesod to Hod. In this way, the light of the Sun is leading the atheists to their knowledge of self, with which they can hack and slash their way through ignorance.
“Even as their rapture shore asunder the visible Hope, so also the Fear Invisible fled away and was no more.
When Hope was defeated, “the Fear Invisible fled away and was no more.” This invisible fear could refer to the path on the Tree that lay between Hod and Tiphereth, a path represented by the Devil card of the tarot.
The Devil card is a complex symbol, but in part it represents a veil of fear-based illusion about the nature of the manifested world. With the clear knowledge and intelligent thought represented by the sword, and seated in the sphere of Hod, the atheists forced the fearful illusions of the Devil to retreat.
“Is fear in thine heart? Where I am these are not.” — LIber AL vel Legis, II:46-47
“Fear is failure, and the forerunner of failure: and courage is the beginning of virtue.” — Liber Librae
Fear is overcome by knowledge and understanding and wisdom. Knowledge is represented by the sword which killed the worm Hope and revealed the truth. Understanding and Wisdom are represented by the Supernal spheres of Chokmah and Binah on the Tree of Life. The atheists are linked to these spheres in their supernal ecstasy as a connection to the divine.
Their certainty, gained through experience, gives them power over fear.
“O ye that are beyond Aormuzdi and Ahrimanes! blessèd are ye unto the ages.“
Without going into great detail about them, Aormuzdi and Ahrimanes are Persian deities that represent Light and Darkness. Ahrimanes is the personification of evil, a transgressor who is bent on defeating his adversary, the supreme being Aornuzdi. In this parable, they symbolize the two polarities of good and evil in the world.
Being “beyond Aormuzdi and Ahrimanes”' means recognizing that the labels we use to call something “good” or “evil” are man-made categories, and their meaning is largely subjective. Good and evil are images. They are illusions that originate from a human interpretation of the inherent duality in the nature of the visible universe.
Being beyond them is to realize that all apparent opposites are truly united within a higher reality, “the Palace of Splendour Ineffable.” To be free from that illusion is to be truly blessed.
“They shaped Doubt as a sickle, and reaped the flowers of Faith for their garlands. They shaped Ecstasy as a spear, and pierced the ancient dragon that sat upon the stagnant water. Then the fresh springs were unloosed, that the folk athirst might be at ease.”
One of the best weapons in the fight for freedom is doubt. We must question authority in all its forms. Churches. Governments. Traditions. Social norms. Question all positions of power. Question all assumptions and beliefs — especially your own. Question everything.
Chapter NA of the Book of Lies is relevant here on the topic of Doubt.
The lesson of the power of skepticism that lay at the heart of Crowley’s essay the Soldier and the Hunchback is echoed here as well. Doubt begets certainty which begets more doubt and then more certainty. But as that pendulum swings between ? and !, we come to an inner strength based on Truth.
On it’s own, doubt can be rather passive, but this inner strength is a fulcrum that gathers the leverage of doubt so that it becomes an active and powerful tool, a sickle with which to harvest the truth. Using this tool to question authority, the atheists “reaped the flowers of Faith for their garlands.” They are living their best lives by dropping all pretense of being anything but themselves. They are following their True Wills.
And in their divine ecstasy, the atheists are living examples of that power of self. This is another symbolic weapon at their disposal, a mighty spear, and with it they strike at the ancient dragon, the seats of power and authority in the world. They threaten all accretions of social custom, the stagnant waters upon which the dragon sits. The fresh springs that are released are the Waters of Binah, of Understanding. This reflects a purification by Water in a magical sense.
The atheists share their experience with others and promulgate the Law of Thelema not only by talking the talk, but by walking the walk. The thirsty people are those blind uninitiated and ignorant souls who have been wallowing in the stagnant water without knowing anything else all their lives. The ease which comes to them is not that of inactivity or idleness. It is freedom of motion. It is pure will.
Conclusion
This is a complex but supremely meaningful parable about freedom. The parricidal atheists act according to their inner truth, celebrating their freedom, and delighting in every phenomenon of the manifested world. They stand as examples of the universal freedom that is possible when we seek out our Will and follow that path wherever it leads.
The effect of this type of freedom is seen in the shakeup of established power structures and belief systems. Through the atheists’ example, others who are thirsty for freedom can glimpse a better way and free themselves from the cages they have created for themselves.
Thelema is the modern expression of Light, Life, Love, and Liberty in the world, but its message of freedom is not only for those calling themselves Thelemites, or those who are inspired by the Book of the Law, or the writings of Crowley, or who are called to A.’.A.’. or other mystery schools. “The Law is for all,” as it says in chapter I:34 of Liber AL, and thus the Liberty that comes about through the knowledge of Will and the Understanding of Love is a natural law that is available to everyone.
This parable invites us to ask ourselves some questions. How much freedom do we enjoy in our daily lives? Are we living our best life? Do we each embody liberty as an outward example to others? Do we employ tools like doubt to test the boundaries of the social paradigm? Do we question our own assumptions just as rigorously as we question others? These are questions we all should be asking as we pursue truth and freedom.
With parables like the parricidal atheists, the Holy Books continue to be an inspiration to anyone wanting to live freely in the world.
Each post you put up seems better than the last; this being just a wonderful post. I love the passage you chose, and your commentary on the lines. And really, I couldn't have said it better myself. If one wants a potent understanding on the path of attainment, you've captured it here! :-)