Editing The Book of the Law (section)

==Thelemic interpretations==

Thanks in large part to "[[#The Comment|The Comment]]", the interpretation of the often cryptic text of ''Liber AL vel Legis'' is generally considered by Thelemites to be a matter for the individual reader.{{sfnp|Kraemer|Aburrow|2016|p=12}} Crowley devoted much of his life to writing about ''Liber AL'', seeking to decipher its mysteries and provide insights into its meanings.

Crowley emphasized that one of the main precepts of the book is the emancipation of mankind from all limitations.{{sfnp|Crowley|1989|loc=ch. 49}} He viewed ''The Book of the Law'' as not just introducing a new religion, but also a new cosmology, philosophy, and ethics. According to Crowley, the word [[Thelema]], as uttered by [[Aiwass]], signified a complete departure from the formula of the Dying God, proposing instead a system that integrates the discoveries of science, from physics to psychology, into a coherent and consistent framework.{{sfnp|Crowley|1989|loc=ch. 49}}

===Via Hermetic Qabalah===
{{further|English Qabalah}}

Crowley employed [[Hermetic Qabalah]], particularly its numerological method of [[gematria]], to interpret the obscurities of ''Liber AL vel Legis''. He explained that the text contains numerous instances of double entendre, paronomasia in one language or another, numerical-literal puzzles, and even connections of letters across various lines. Crowley detailed these interpretations in the Qabalistic section of his Commentary.{{sfnp|Crowley|1991|loc=ch. 7}}

In ''[[Magick Without Tears]]'', Crowley elaborated on his insights, stating that the "Author of the Book" (Aiwass) demonstrated profound knowledge of Qabalah. Initially, Crowley was assured that Aiwass knew at least as much Qabalah as he did. Over time, further study convinced him that Aiwass possessed a much higher level of Qabalistic knowledge, leading Crowley to regard Aiwass as the supreme Qabalist of all time.{{sfnp|Crowley|1973|loc=ch. 4}}

In one of the ''[[Holy Books of Thelema]]'' (1907), called ''Liber Trigrammaton, sub figura XXVII -- Being the Book of the Mutations of the Tao with the Yin and the Yang'',{{sfnp|Crowley|1983}} Crowley correlated the 26 Roman script letters to trigrams composed of a solid line for the Yang, a broken line for the Yin, and a point for the Tao. In doing so, Crowley felt that he had fulfilled the book's injunction to "obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet", as noted in his 'Old Comment' to ''The Book of the Law''.{{sfnp|Crowley|1974}} However, he also wrote that "The attribution in ''Liber Trigrammaton'' is good theoretically; but no Qabalah of merit has risen therefrom."<ref>Crowley quoted in {{harvnb|Grant|1973|p=59}}.</ref>

===Via prophecy===
Crowley later considered the events of his life and the apparent fulfillment of certain 'predictions' in ''Liber AL vel Legis'' as further proof of its divine origin. He noted that Aiwass had foreseen and provided solutions to difficulties that Crowley only discovered years later, and sometimes even events that he had no part in bringing about.{{sfnp|Crowley|1989|loc=ch. 49}}

One significant event was [[Charles Stansfeld Jones]] claiming the grade of [[Magister Templi]], which Crowley interpreted as the birth of his 'Magical Son'. Crowley believed that Jones' subsequent discovery of the critical value of 31 was foretold in the book (II:76, III:47) and provided him with further insight into his qabalistic understanding and interpretation of the text. Upon receiving notification of this discovery, Crowley expressed his realization that Jones' key had unlocked deeper meanings within ''Liber AL vel Legis'', noting that the text had unfolded like a flower and solved various enigmatic passages.{{sfnp|Achad|1998|p={{page needed|date=November 2021}}}}

===Via English Qaballa===
{{main|English Qaballa}}
[[File:Liber AL - page 60.jpg|thumb| The mysterious 'grid' page of Liber AL's manuscript. "for in the chance shape of the letters and their position to one another: in these are mysteries that no Beast shall divine. ... Then this line drawn is a key: then this circle squared in its failure is a key also. And [[Abrahadabra]]." ]]
[[English Qaballa]] (EQ) is an English-based [[Hermetic Qabalah]] supported by a system of [[arithmancy]] that interprets the letters of the [[English alphabet]] via an assigned set of values, discovered by James Lees in 1976. It is the result of an intent to understand, interpret, and elaborate on the mysteries of [[Aleister Crowley]]'s received text, ''Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law''. According to Jake Stratton-Kent, "the English Qaballa is a qabalah and not a system of numerology. A qabalah is specifically related to three factors: one, a language; two, a 'holy' text or texts; three, mathematical laws at work in these two."{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988|p=17}}{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988b}}

The "order & value"{{sfnp|Crowley|1976|loc=ch. 3, v. 47}} discovered by James Lees lays the letters out on the grid superimposed on the page of manuscript of ''Liber AL'' on which this verse (III:47) appears (sheet 16 of Chapter III).{{sfnp|Crowley|1976|loc=ch. 3, v. 47}} Also appearing on this page are a diagonal line and a circled cross. ''The Book of the Law'' states that the book should only be printed with Crowley's hand-written version included, suggesting that there are mysteries in the "chance shape of the letters and their position to one another" of Crowley's handwriting.  Whichever top-left to bottom-right diagonal is read the magickal order of the letters is obtained.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988}}