The Introduction of Probationers (Initiation) The Neophyte, after passing Liber Pyramidos, has the right (some traditions

desi gnate this as an obligation) to Initiate and train Probationers. This can be ben eficial to the Neophyte by pushing their efforts and instigating their progressi on into the next grade, lest the Probationer overtake them. This can also go awr y, roughly tossing the Neophyte from the tree. The Neophyte should consult his o r her Zelator before introducing any prospective Probationers. Study and Practice The previous grade contained general practices and study designed to prepare the Aspirant and confirm their suitability. Every effort was made to eliminate exce ssive memorization and lengthy tasks not absolutely necessary to the grade, as m ost Probationers do not advance and any knowledge gained is wasted after leaving the path that would have taken them to the Gates of Initiation. Additionally, l engthy memorization implants stronger shadows of what could have been and the wa sted potential resulting from the Candidates failure. The Neophyte grade contains specific areas of theoretical and practical study th at requires focus and diligent application. However the Neophyte consciously pur sues this focus and application at all times. A natural consequence of properly applying him or herself to the grade work, following the instructions included h ereafter, will find many of the tasks of the grade accomplished as a matter of c ourse, and the remaining tasks will not be seen as work, but as a passion. The Astral Visions, Body of Light, Journey in the Spirit Vision, Divination, and Realization of the Wake World are not naturally divided techniques. The buildin g of any single ability furthers success in all of them. They are interconnected and, although divided in the lessons taught, of the same nature and realm. Thes e abilities, when developed, accomplish the tasks of the grade, including the Fo ur Powers of the Sphinx and the elemental formula. It is success in these grade tasks that allow the measuring of attainment achieved. It is important at this time to point out that there is a difference in the trai ning of male and female initiates (The training of male and female Probationers is identical and therefore did not require any explanation or exceptions). This especially becomes important, as many of the Master Therions writings have been i nterpreted as misogynistic. Aleister Crowleys writing style does not help this pe rception. Being born and educated during the Victorian age, his style of writing , especially the more scholarly Class B documents, reflects the style of the day , which includes referencing a person or persons in the (he, him, mankind, etc.) masc uline. Supporting these misrepresentations are selected quotes taken out of cont ext. For example, a favorite quote to prove Crowley was a misogynists is, a woman has no soul. The full quote in context is, A male star is built up from the centre; a female from the circumference inwards. This is what is meant when we say that a woman has no soul. Properly examined the quote can be restated as the man has a so ul and the woman is the soul. The historical record clearly shows that male and female members of the Order were equally valued. The Book of the Law, which uneq uivocally states, Every man and every woman is a star and the Master Therion, as t he Messenger of the Law, followed its principles. The vigilant student must take care to not misinterpret what is being stated in any of the official A? A? docu ments. Missteps will occur, but these gradually correct themselves as the knowle dge learned becomes the wisdom applied. The training for men and woman does need tailoring on some occasions within the instructions provided and for some specific grade tasks. When necessary, the tra ining and instruction is clearly tailored to gender and the reason or need for t hese changes is fully explained, in the hopes of preventing any misinterpretatio

ns. Many of the tasks accomplished and skills developed in the grade are verified or tested as they are completed. This begins with verification of Liber Pyramidos and, with many steps confirmed in between, finishes with testing in clairvoyance . Every thing confirmed and tested throughout the grade does not require assessm ent in the grade test itself, which is specifically designed to ensure that prop er techniques are being used in Ceremonial Ritual and in the intellectual and an alytical development of the Neophyte. Opening of the Gate The original Neophyte Grade Entrance Ritual was a weeklong trial carefully admin istered by a Member of a higher grade. It was later adapted and changed into Lib er Pyramidos and designated a ritual to be accomplished during the Neophyte grad e. Specifically, as A Ritual of Self-Initiation based on the Formula of the Neoph yte (Quoted from the cover page of Liber Pyramidos), and it is this ritual that p rovides the means of passage onto the Tree of Life. This new approach provides a ll students with a method of properly experiencing the passage onto the Tree of Life, in a self-administered ritual, written and anointed by the Master Therion. Guidance and independent verification is still recommended, but a thorough reco rd of the preparation and of the ritual is the next best alternative. The Seal of Life, being the Temple ritual for entrance into the Neophyte grade, is still recommended for Aspirants working within a group and provides: a means of recognition; a record of the grade change; an announcement of the magical nam e (motto); and a means of fundamentally changing the conscious perception of the Neophyte to a new beginning and commitment to the work. However, the Temple ri tual does not constitute the stepping onto the Tree of Life. It would be more ac curate to say that it represents an Aspirant who is about to pursue the passage. It follows that the first task of the Neophyte is the preparation and performanc e of Liber Pyramidos. Although the ritual is included on the grade list, it is n ot included on the Neophytes grade test, however it will be difficult to make any significant progress with the remaining tasks of the grade if the ritual is not accomplished. Liber Pyramidos is easily found from a number of reliable sources, all of them v ary slightly, and has also been reprinted in the original hand-written, hand-dra wn format (Equinox volume IV, number 1 [Samuel Weiser]). The version included he rein, has the virtues of following closely to the original hand-written version, and has been successfully used by Students of the Invisible House Society for m ore than a decade. The Neophyte may choose to use the version included in this b ook, adapt the ritual from the original, or acquire a copy of the ritual from so me other source. As in all tasks and rituals, it is the achieving of a desired r esult that is of the uttermost importance. The Neophyte schedules a week of solitude for the accomplishment of the ritual, as soon as it is realistically possible, after the Seal of Life ritual. If for a ny reason there should be a delay in the performance of this ritual, the Neophyt e should progress with the remaining grade requirements, as well as any of the r ecommended Class B documents missed in the previous grade or with some other int ellectual task concurrent with the tasks of the grade. The notes that follow provide all of the essential instruction to aid in the suc cessful completion of Liber Pyramidos: 1) The tools and setting for the ritual are constructed, acquired or arran ged by the Neophyte to the best of his or her ability. Direction is provided in Liber IV, Part 2.

2) Memorization and rehearsal of the ritual begins at the same time as the tools and working space are being secured. 3) A description of the nature of the operation, from an elevated perspective more advanced than that of the Neophyte, but still invaluable as insight to the proper nature and accomplishment of the ritual: I shall try and describe Ritual DCLXXI; since its nature is important to this great ceremony of initiation. Those who understand a little about the Path of the Wise may receive some hint of the method of operation of the L.V.X. And I think that a description will help me to collect myself for the pr oper adaptation of this Ritual to the purpose of Self-initiation. Oh, how soft is the air, and how serene the sky, to one who has passed t hrough the black rule of Apophis! How infinitely musical are the voices of Natur e, those that are heard and those that are not heard! What Understanding of the Universe, what Love is the prize of him that hath performed all things and endur ed all things! The first operation of Ritual DCLXXI is the preparation of the Place. There are two forces; that of Death and that of Natural Life. Death begins the Operation by a knock, to which Life answers. Then Death, banishing all forces external to the operation, declares the Speech in the Silence. Both officers go from their thrones and form the base of a triangle whos e apex is the East. They invoke the Divine Word, and then Death slays with the k nife, and embalms with the oil, his sister Life. Life, thus prepared, invokes, at the summons of Death ,the forces necess ary to the Operation. The Word takes its station in the East and the officers sa lute it both by speech and silence in their signs; and they pronounce the secret Word of power that riseth from the Silence and returneth thereunto. All this they affirm; and in affirming the triangular base of the Pyrami d, find that they have mysteriously affirmed the Apex thereof whose name is Ecst asy. This also is sealed by that secret word; for that Word containeth All. Into this prepared Pyramid of divine Light there cometh a certain darkli ng wight, who knoweth not either his own nature, or his origin or destiny, or ev en the name of that which he desireth. Before he can enter the Pyramid, therefor e, four ordeals are required of him. So, bound and blinded, he stumbles forward, and passes through the wrath of the Four Great Princes of the Evil of the World, whose Terror is about him o n every side. Yet since he has followed the voice of the Officer who has prepare d him, in this part of the Ritual no longer merely Nature, the great Mother, but Neschamah (his aspiration) and the representative of Adonai, he may pass throug h all. Yea, in spite of the menace of the Hiereus, whose function is now that of his fear and of his courage, he goes on and enters the Pyramid. But there he is seized and thrown down by both officers as one unworthy to enter. His aspiratio n purifies him with steel and fire; and there as he lies shattered by the force of the ritual, he hears even as a corpse that hears the voice of Israfelthe Hegemo n that chants a solemn hymn of praise to that glory which is at the Apex, and wh o invisibly rules and governs the whole Pyramid. Now then that darkling wight is lifted by the officers and brought to th e altar in the centre; and there the Hiereus accuses him of the two and twenty B asenesses, while the Hegemon lifting up his chained arms cries again and again a gainst his enemy that he is under the Shadow of the Eternal Wings of the Holy On e. Yet at the end, at the supreme accusation, the Hiereus smites him into death. The same answer avails him, and in its strength he is uplifted by his aspiratio n and now he stands upright. Now then he makes a journey in his new house, and perceives at stated ti mes, each time preceded by a new ordeal and equilibration, the forces that surro und him. Death he sees, and the Life of Nature whose name is Sorrow, and the Wor

d that quickeneth these, and his own self and when he hath recognised these four in their true nature he passes to the altar once more and as the apex of a desc ending triangle is admitted to the lordship of the Double Kingdom. Thus is he a member of the visible triad that is crossed with the invisible behold the hexagr am of Solomon the King! All this the Hiereus seals with a knock and at the Hegem on s new summons he to his surprise finds himself as the Hanged Man of the Tarot . Each point of the figure thus formed they crown with light, until he gli tters with the Flame of the Spirit. Thus and not otherwise is he made a partaker of the Mysteries, and the L ightning Flash strikes him. The Lord hath descended from heaven with a shout and with the Voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God. He is installed in the Throne of the Double Kingdom, and he wields the W and of Double Power by the sings of the grade. He is recognized an initiate, and the word of Secret Power, and the sile nt administration of the Sacrament of Sword and Flame, acknowledge him. Then, the words being duly spoken and the deeds duly done, all is symbol ically sealed by the Thirty Voices, and the Word that vibrateth from the Silence to the Speech, and from the Speech again unto the Silence. Then the Pyramid is sealed up, even as it was opened; yet in the sealing thereof the three men partake in a certain mystical manner of the Eucharist of the Four Elements that are consumed for the Perfection of the Oil.