TAT
Ex nihilo N. I. H. I. L. fit.
N. the Fire that twisteth itself and burneth like a scorpion.
I, the unsullied ever-flowing water.
H. the interpenetrating Spirit, without and within. Is not its name ABRAHADABRA?
I. the unsullied ever-flowing air.
L. The green fertile earth.
Fierce are the Fires of the Universe, and on their daggers they hold aloft the bleeding heart of earth.
Upon the earth lies water, sensuous and sleepy.
Above the water hangs air; and above air, but also below fire -- and in all -- the fabric of all being woven on Its invisible design, is
ΑΙΘΗΡ.
COMMENTARY (ΠϜ)
The number 86 refers to Elohim, the name of the elemental forces.
The title is the Sanskrit for That, in its sense of "The Existing".
This chapter is an attempt to replace Elohim by a more satisfactory hieroglyph of the elements.
The best attribution of Elohim is Aleph, Air; Lamed, Earth; He, Spirit; Yod, Fire; Mem, water. But the order is not good; Lamed is not satisfactory for Earth, and Yod too spiritualised a form of Fire. (But see Book 4, part III.)
Paragraphs 1 - 6. Out of Nothing, Nothing is made. The word Nihil is taken to affirm that the universe is Nothing, and that is now to be analysed. The order of the elements is that of Jeheshua. The elements are taken rather as in Nature; N is easily fire, since Mars is the ruler of Scorpio: the virginity of I suits Air and Water, elements which in Magick are closely interwoven: H, the letter of breath, is suitable for Spirit; Abrahadabra is called the name of Spirit, because it is Cheth: L is earth, green and fertile, because Venus, the greenness, fertility, and earthiness of things is the Lady of Libra, Lamed.
In paragraph 7 we turn to the so-called Jetziratic attribution of Pentagrammaton, that followed by Dr. Dee, and by the Hindus, Tibetans, Chinese and Japanese. Fire is the Foundation, the central core, of things; above this forms a crust, tormented from below, and upon this condenses the original steam. Around this flows the air, created by Earth and Water through the action of vegetation.
Such is the globe; but all this is a mere strain in the aethyr, ΑΙΘΗΡ. Here is a new Pentagrammaton, presumably suitable for another analysis of the elements; but after a different manner. Alpha (Α) is Air; Rho (Ρ) the Sun; these are the Spirit and the Son of Christian theology. In the midst is the Father, expressed as Father-and Mother. Ι - Η (Yod and He), Eta (Η) being used to express "the Mother" instead of Epsilon (Ε), to show that She has been impregnated by the Spirit; it is the rough breathing and not the soft. The centre of all is Theta (θ), which was originally written as a point in a circle (
), the sublime hieroglyph of the Sun in the Macrocosm, and in the Microcosm of the Lingam in conjunction with the Yoni.
This word ΑΙΘΗΡ (Aethyr) is therefore a perfect hieroglyph of the Cosmos in terms of Gnostic Theology.
The reader should consult La Messe Et Ses Mystères, par Jean 'Marie de V.... (Paris et Nancy, 1844), for a complete demonstration of the incorporation of the Solar and Phallic Mysteries in Christianity.