Konx Om Pax

Konx Om Pax: Essays in Light, first published in 1907. The name Konx Om Pax is a phrase said to have been pronounced in the Eleusinian Mysteries to bid initiates to depart after having completed the tests for admission to the degree of epopt (seer). This phrase, is not immediately intelligible in Greek, and a number of theories have been advanced as to its origin and meaning. The front cover image, portraying the title "Konx Om Pax" in stretched letters, is said to have been designed by Crowley while smoking hashish. From the Original Edition This is book is a exact reproduction of the 1907. Introduction Syncretic materials introduce the work: Ave: in John Dee and Edward Kelley's Enochian language; the Egyptian hieroglyphs for the Stele of Ankh-f-n-khonsu Three full pages of quotations introduce this work, signaling the syncretic intention of the author.[6] Many sacred texts and sources such as Dante, Catullus, and Jesus are quoted. The Wake World An allegory for the ascent of a magical practitioner through the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, guided by their Holy Guardian Angel (the "Fairy Prince"). After the fashion of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Crowley uses the narrative as an explanatory jaunt through this metaphysical schema. It was originally written for Crowley's daughter, Lola Zaza, as a bedtime story. Thien Tao This parodic essay casts a Crowley character (Master Kwaw) as a Taoist advisor to the Japanese "Daimio" (daimyō) in a time of crisis. Kwaw advises a course of study in which people shall be taught the antithesis of their natural tendencies: the prostitute to learn chastity, the prude to learn sexual expression, the religious bigot to learn Huxley's materialism, the atheist to learn ceremonial magick. Ali Sloper, or, the Forty Liars: A Christmas Diversion A play that is over-presented with title credits, but is generally a simple dialogue based on Crowley's conversation with a friend and his wife on Christmas Day. With only two main speakers Crowley satirizes himself as "Bowley", with the whole a means to present his inserted essay Ameth. The title is a mock of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, a tale from the classic One Thousand and One Nights. Stone of the Philosophers Which Is Hidden in the Mountain of Abiegnus A satirical conversation between a number of men, including "a socialist" and "a doctor", each one contributing a poem into their philosophical debate. Here Crowley takes the stance as "Basil Gray"; the work contains La Gitana, his popular love poem. It is thought[by whom?] that this work was inspired by the Zohar, where each Rabbi would contribute a commentary on the Tanakh. (from the Wikipedia)