Liber Resh Annotated

Frater Altzba ran a small bookshop in Montréal that specialised in eastern mysticism and the occult.

I was in my mid-twenties and had been serious about asana, ritual and autosexual magick for more than a year. My Holy Guardian Angel had appeared to me in a deeply affecting vision about three years earlier and I struggled to cope with the implications of what I had experienced.

One day, Frater Altzba invited me to his home for supper. His elegant wife was a masterful macrobiotic cook.

Not long after I arrived it was time for the sunset salutation from Liber Resh. Facing west, I assumed the sign of a Neophyte and we recited the salutation in unison.

With the Sign of Silence at the end of the ritual, an astonishing thing occurred.

The room filled with brilliant golden light. I soon realised it was not physical light but astral light originating from Frater Altzba!

Astral vision is a task for the Zelator, achieved by the Practicus.

Within two years I was able to fill my own temple with brilliant astral light at the final Qabalistic Cross of Liber V vel Reguli. My practice of Liber Resh recalls that moment of poise in each quarter.

Asana establishes now. Ritual establishes here. Magick transcends here and now, shifting your perspective inwards, closer to your Holy Guardian Angel, your Khabs or star.

The Angel’s temple, source of that astral light, is at Tiphereth, the Khu, which is discovered by those who have achieved the grade Man of Earth.

Circle rituals align with the four cardinal points of the compass: East, South, West, and North. Liber Resh visits them sequentially through the daily cycle and echoes in the corresponding annual cycle represented by the zodiac.

The zodiac is a late Iron Age calendar. Each sign tells the story of what ancient agriculturalists were doing when the Sun was located in that part of the sky.

For example Aries, the ram, was lambing season at the vernal equinox. Most of the little rams became food for hungry humans at the end of winter’s famine; the female lambs lived to give fibre for clothing, milk, and more lambs. Six months later, at the autumnal equinox, the scales of Libra weighed the harvest before it was sent to market in Scorpio, where traders stung each other for the best price.

Twenty-five hundred years later, the precession of the equinoxes has skewed the symbols from ancient naked-eye astronomy and the superstitious have consigned the zodiac to fortune telling. An anthropological perspective is more useful.

Humans are symbol makers and symbol users. The question is “What hath wrought God?” What do our symbols say about us? How do we use them to cope with our reality? Gods are psychological tools. We become what we worship. We shape our gods and, thereafter, our gods shape us.

Thelemic practices bring the focus of attention into the intimate present. The four daily rituals of Liber Resh provide a degree of continuity as well as a reminder to be present amid the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Fifty years after that supper with Frater Alzba, a glimmer of golden astral light arises in my daily practice of Liber Resh vel Helios sub figurâ CC.

Annotation

Liber is Latin for “book.” Aleister Crowley maintained a conceit regarding the language of the upper classes to which he aspired versus the language of the lower classes which he held in contempt. He developed this linguistic bias not only from England’s deeply classist society but from his Darbyist father who preached the 17^th century King James Version bible. He associated the hieratic diction of the KJV with superior authority.

Resh, רResh (200), is the twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Resh represents the numerical value 200 in gematria — CC in Roman numerals. Resh means “head.” (The names of Hebrew letters have meanings.) Its Tarot attribution is Atu XIX The Sun. Its astrological attribute is the Sun, one of the seven sacred planets (wanderers).

The Latin “vel” means “or.” Helios is a Greek god who represents the Sun. So, in plain English: Liber Resh vel Helios sub figurâ CC = Book R or Helios in the form of 200.

Liber Resh is a set of four daily ritual salutations to the Sun delivered at dawn, noon, sunset, and midnight.

Liber Resh provides a metronome for the music of daily human life. Here are the eight itemised instructions:

The initials A∴A∴ stand for Argenteum Astrum, or Silver Star. Although the A∴A∴ system generally includes ten grades, which align with the ten sephiroth of the Tree of Life, the name specifically refers to the grades of the Supernal Triad, the Order of the Silver Star: Master of the Temple, Magus, and Ipsissimus.

The A∴A∴ system maps to the Nadis and chakras of Hindu and Buddhist teachings.

An aspirant to the A∴A∴ seeks to attain the Great Work of discovering and sharing awareness with their Holy Guardian Angel. The Angel is the level of their being which reincarnates. The aspirant is the incarnation of their Angel, or as I call it, Eternal Self. Your Angel is your inmost Will, the deep root of your will to exist.

The Great Work progressively unites the two, both Angel and incarnation, ultimately making the individual whole in the grade Ipsissimus.

The next four of the eight sections are the same but for the names of the four Sun-gods and the times of day at which they are worshipped. I will detail the first adoration — to Ra — and discuss the attributes of all four.

The signs of the grades are given in Liber O vel Manus et Sagittæ sub figurâ VI, which is found in Magick in Theory and Practice and The Equinox vol. 1, no. 2. See the illustration at the beginning of Liber O.

Signs of the Grades

Neophyte 1○ = 10□: Advance the right foot, stretch out the right hand upwards and forwards, the left hand downwards and backwards, the palms open.

Zelator 2○ = 9□: Stretch both arms upwards and outwards, the elbows bent at right angles, the hands bent back, the palms upwards as if supporting a weight.

Practicus 3○ = 8□: Raise the arms till the elbows are on a level with the shoulders, bring the hands across the chest, touching the thumbs and tips of [fore]fingers [palms flat] so as to form a triangle apex downwards.

Philosophus 4○ = 7□: Raise the arms above the head and join the hands, so that the tips of the [fore]fingers and of the thumbs meet, formulating a triangle [apex upwards].

Dominus Liminis – Signs of the Portal: Extend the hands in front of you, palms outwards, separate them as if in the act of rending asunder a veil or curtain (actives), and then bring them together as if closing it up again and let them fall to the side (passives).

The sign of the Neophyte is appropriate for all practical purposes. Zelators and above have survived the Ordeal X and are actual adepts. Historically, The Equinox volume 1, number 2, in which we find these signs of the grades, was issued in September 1909. We live in a different social, economic, and ecological environment than we did 115 years ago, at this writing.

The ritual salutations of the quarters should stand out in your experience from the rest of what goes on in your day. Keeping the archaic language helps to set it apart, but remember that you are programming your own brain and nervous system, so it is your ritual.

You may wish to recite Liber Resh in a loud voice if your purpose is performance. Assuming a strange posture and bellowing Liber Resh in an office, on a shop floor, or in a grocery store would be puerile. It is your own focus of attention you are trying to bring into the intimate present. There is no need to set the dogs barking.

The imagery is of the Sun-god, in different masks, sailing through the cardinal quarters of the day in his solar bark, or barque.

Tahuti, or Thoth, is the Greek Hermes, Mercury to the Romans. Tahuti represents your intellect, your ability to choose between (inter-elect). Tahuti is the lookout at the prow of your barque of life.

Ra-Hoor, Ra-Horus, means Sun-Falcon, synonymous with Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Ré-Horakhty, (Sun-Falcon on the Horizon), “the inmost Will of Man.” Ra-Hoor is the pilot.

It is your barque in which you sail. It is your intellect at the prow. It is the Sun (temple of your Eternal Self) in your heart that you hail. It is your True Will at the helm.

There are four Sun gods addressed in Liber Resh. They are found in Aleister Crowley’s rendition of a French translation of hieroglyphics on the front of the Stélé of Revealing: Ra and Tum, Khephra and Ahathoor.

It is important to note that Egyptian gods in Crowley’s system of symbols are as he saw them, not as academically trained Egyptologists see them. In this article, they appear as I see them.

Ra, Ra-Hoor(-Khuit), the hawk-headed Sun-god in the East at dawn, is the Fire sign Aries (ram), which is ruled by Mars and in which the Sun is exalted. Aries, at the vernal equinox (lambing season), is Tarot Atu IV The Emperor, alchemical Sulphur, which is semen. The letter Tsaddi, צTsaddi (90) (fish hook), to which Atu IV is attributed, is also known as Tzedeq. Ra-Hoor-Khuit says “I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all gods of men,” in 220,3:49. Tzedeq (justice or righteousness) is the Word of the Elixir. The Sun-god Ra-Hoor-Khuit is in the magickal elixir. צTzedeq (90) is the Greek Chi, Χχ, and the English (Latin) letter Eks, Xx, in Crowley’s Qabalah. The Ordeal X is the first ordeal.

Ra-Hoor-Khuit voices the third chapter of the Book of the Law and the first chapter of the Book of Codes.

Ahathoor, Hathor, Het-Hor, the nurturing mother cow-goddess in the South at noon, is the Water sign Cancer (crab), which is ruled by the Moon and in which Jupiter is exalted. The Moon rules ocean tides. Cancer, at the summer solstice, is Tarot Atu VII The Chariot. The letter חHet (8), Het (Cheth), is 418 when spelled out: חיתHet (8)
Yod (10)
Tav (400)
Het (418), Het(8)-Yod(10)-Tav(400). Ahathoor, is Het-Hor, the House of Horus. Het = 418 and the secret name of Horus is 359; thus Het-Hor is 777. The ancient Egyptian hieroglyph Het,  or , is cognate with the Hebrew Het, ח, the Greek Eta, Ηη, and the English Aitch, Hh.

Ahathoor voices the second chapter of the Book of Codes.

Tum, Atum (Adam), the wise old creator god of the Heliopolitan Ennead who walks on three legs — supported by a staff — in the West at sunset, is the Air sign Libra (scales of justice), which is ruled by Venus and in which Saturn is exalted. Libra, at the autumnal equinox, is Tarot Atu VIII Adjustment. The letter Lamed, לLamed (30), means ox-goad or shepherd’s crook and is associated with learning and law. Lamed is the Greek Lambda, Λλ, and the English Ell, Ll.

Tum voices the third chapter of the Book of Codes.

Khephra, Khepri, the Sun-in-the-earth — scarab dung beetle, an Egyptian god of resurrection — in the North at midnight, is the Earth sign Capricorn (goat-horned), which is ruled by Saturn and in which Mars is exalted. Capricorn, the Sun at the winter solstice, is Tarot Atu XV The Devil. As the Sun in the earth, Kephra is the Abrahamic Satan, the god of nature. But the Sun in the earth is the same Sun as the Sun in the sky, thus all Sun-gods are Satan. The letter Ayin, עAyin (70), means eye and is cognate with the Greek Omicron, Οο, which also means eye, and the English Oh, Oo.

Khephra voices the fourth chapter of the Book of Codes.

The last three sections of Liber Resh may be categorised as housekeeping.

The sign of silence is simply to place your forefinger on your lips as if to signal Hush! It is the sign of Harpocrates, Hoor-paar-kraat in the Book of the Law, Horus the Child. Aiwass is the minister or servant of Horus the Child.

The notion of a “Superior” comes from old-aeon hierarchy based on a scala naturae. Thelemic hierarchy — rulership by the sacred — is the reverse; the sacred is inside, not outside or above. The sacred is now, not then. Crowley wrote, in Little Essays Toward Truth, in the chapter named Mastery: “Initiation means The Journey Inwards.” Each “superior” A∴A∴ grade is a step inwards on that journey, a step into the present.

If I were a real Master of the Temple, I would stand under you and pretty much everyone else. The word “super” means above, over, or on top.

By “holy meditation” Crowley meant Dharana, which is the concentration of focus on only one thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts. To accomplish this kind of meditation requires the integration of asana, pranayama, mantra, with a yantra — usually the Neophyte’s pentacle, a symbol of the sky-goddess Nuit.

We create gods — symbols in the form of persons — by returning our focus of attention to them repeatedly. We become what we worship. The assumption of god-forms is a legitimate method of worship.

The Sun-god Ra-Hoor-Khuit says, in his chapter of the Book of the Law, “I am the visible object of worship.”

“That which is beyond Him” is the Khabs, or star: the Holy Guardian Angel.

And so we come to the eighth and last section of Liber Resh.

The Great Work of achieving the Knowledge and Conversation of one’s own Holy Guardian Angel can be accomplished by using Aleister Crowley’s technologies, which are summed up in the acronym ARMS: Asana, Ritual, Magick, and Science.

The Stone of the Wise is a legendary product of Alchemy (that of Khem). It is also known as the Philosopher’s Stone. From the Philosopher’s Stone comes the Elixir of Life, which was believed to confer eternal life, like in the first book of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

In reality the Stone of the Wise symbolises the practice of Dharana. Writing in 1918, Aleister Crowley remarked on how quickly he regained the effects of Dharana after a hiatus of many years.

The magickal elixir does not confer eternal life, it reveals eternal life. It is the Eternal Self or Holy Guardian Angel, the inmost Will, that reincarnates. Sharing waking awareness with the deeply internal level of consciousness labelled “Holy Guardian Angel” provides a glimpse of a perspective in which all temporal and spacial dimensions are here and now, a perspective much deeper than self.

Summum Bonum means Highest Good.

True Wisdom is internal to thinking. It is discovered only by experience.

Perfect Happiness is found in the most intimate present, where future is perfected into past, and ego — in which self is separate from not-self — has no purchase.

Additional Notes

The path from Neophyte to Zelator is the Ordeal X. It is like a survey course in college: everything all at once but not in much detail. It is physical, of the Earth at Malkuth, in that you must use your body to train your mind.

The path from Zelator to Practicus is emotional, of the Moon at Yesod.

The path from Practicus to Philosophus is intellectual, of Mercury at Hod.

The path from Philosophus to Man of Earth is contextual, or aesthetic, of Venus at Netzach.

The path from Man of Earth to Hermit is alone, of the Sun at Tiphereth.

Worship the Sun, your world is bright.
Become the Sun, your world is night.

The path from Hermit onward is idiosyncratic, for your Holy Guardian Angel is in your magickal elixir.

At first, the path of ARMS — Asana, Ritual, Magick, and Science — seems impossible. However, as terrestrial animals we possess an asset named “habit.” By starting off with absurdly simple practices repeated at the same time every day, it is possible to slowly increase the time and complexity of those practices to eventually do what could never be accomplished by heroic efforts.

Further, all of us are subject to the cycles of nature: diurnal, lunar, annual, and lifetime. Liber Resh helps us to surf the cycles rather than be overwhelmed by them. When we change our point of view, the world of our perceptions changes. Initiations are the beginnings of change. The consequent ordeals are how we adapt to change.

There is no excuse not to do five minutes of meditation in asana each day. The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is simple and can be easily done within ten minutes. None of these practices require special equipment.

Try to focus your sexual expression each time you express it. On one side, funnelling the ecstasy of orgasm into a symbol is difficult. On the other side, the extent to which you succeed introduces change into your lived experience.

The practices of asana and ritual help you to focus your mind-body complex for magick.

Magick recruits the intense here-and-now aspect of orgasm to establish connections between waking awareness and the deeply hidden unconscious mind. The unconscious mind, which is underneath the subconscious mind, holds the interface between the Holy Guardian Angel and the human animal into which it incarnated. The Angel-beast separation is psychologically painful. Making resilient links between waking awareness and the interface, named House 418, is joyful.

There is loss and gain in any shift of consciousness. The ego, once comfortable in its accepted perspective, even in unhappy circumstances, is challenged by change, resulting in anxiety. This causes identity crisis as the old perspective becomes dysfunctional and the new perspective is not yet integrated into identity. Loss is perceived before benefit.

Memorising the Tree of Life, the Hebrew alphabet, and its Tarot attributions can be accomplished with no more than ten minutes a day within a month or so. (You memorise in the same way you learned the words to your favourite songs: repetition.) Tarot and the Tree of Life provide a map of consciousness, so we can have some small sense of where we are when our perspective changes.

The trick is to avoid frustration and keep up a steady drumbeat of small purposeful efforts. When you plateau, add incrementally to your practice.

Keeping a simple record of the work, including Liber Resh, provides a huge advantage on the Journey Inwards. Just making a habit out of ARMS practices is a surprisingly strong lever to change your life in ways that you choose.

For a little more on this subject see Ra and Tum, Khephra and Ahathoor.

Nemo Pandragon, 2025