Liber CCVI - RV vel Spiritus - Uncharted Knowledge

This is an instructional ritual manual from Aleister Crowley's A∴A∴ magical system, addressing a student at the Zelator grade and drawing heavily on Hindu yogic tradition — specifically pranayama (breath control) — reframed within Western ceremonial occultism. It presents eleven sequential breathing practices, beginning with basic breath observation and nostril awareness (drawing on the yogic concepts of Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna) and escalating through increasingly intense techniques: deep rhythmic breathing coordinated with walking and mantra recitation, breath retention to the point of unconsciousness, shallow hyperventilation focused on a throat chakra, and inhalation of gases like nitrous oxide or oxygen as aids. The text makes notably ambitious physical claims — that sustained pranayama will produce progressive stages of bodily sweat, involuntary rigidity, unconscious hopping movements, and ultimately levitation — presented not as metaphor but as empirical phenomena the student should carefully document. A final eleventh practice instructs the student to combine breath retention with directed will toward one's "Holy Guardian Angel," explicitly linking breath's physical manipulation to spiritual ascent through cross-linguistic etymology (Sanskrit *ruach*, Greek *pneuma*, Latin *spiritus*). The text closes with an unusual epistemological disclaimer, warning the student to attach no credence to any of the instructions given, as they may be entirely unsuitable to his individual nature. Editorial footnotes by W.E. Heidrick flag discrepancies between this version and an earlier 1914 *Equinox* publication, including an omitted seventh practice and spelling inconsistencies.

Liber CCVI - RV vel Spiritus

Related pages View as graph →