English Qaballa

English Qaballa(EQ) is a system ofHermetic Qabalah,supported by a system ofarithmancythat interprets the letters of theEnglish Alpha betvia an assigned set of values, described byJames Leesin 1976. It is the result of his attempt to understand, interpret, and elaborate on the mysteries ofAleister Crowley's text,Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law.According to Jake Stratton-Kent, "the English Qaballa is a qabalah and not a system of numerology. A qabalah is specifically related to three factors: one, a language; two, a 'holy' text or texts; three, mathematical laws at work in these two."^[1]^[2]

This system has also been referred to as theALW cipher,New Aeon English QabalahorNAEQby other writers.^[3]^[4]

Background

The practice of using Alpha betic letters to represent numbers developed in the Greek city ofMiletus,and is thus known as the Milesian system.^[5]Early examples include vase graffiti dating to the 6th century BCE.^[6]Aristotle wrote that thePythgoraean tradition,founded in the 6th century byPythagoras of Samos,practicedisopsephy,^[7]the Greek predecessor of Hebrewgematria.Pythagoras was a contemporary of the philosophersAnaximander,Anaximenes,and the historianHecataeus,all of whom lived in Miletus, across the sea fromSamos.^[8]The Milesian system was in common use by the reign ofAlexander the Great(336–323 BCE) and was adopted by other cultures during the subsequentHellenistic period.^[5]It was officially adopted in Egypt during the reign ofPtolemy II Philadelphus(284–246 BCE).^[5]

The first system ofEnglish gematriawas used by the poetJohn Skeltonin 1523 in his poem "The Garland of Laurel".^[9]In 1532,Heinrich Cornelius Agrippadefined an analogue of the Greek system of isopsephy in his workDe Occulta Philosopha.Agrippa based his system on the order of the Classical Latin Alpha bet, appending the four additional letters in use at the time after Z, including the still-in-use letters J (600), U (700), and W (900).^[10]Agrippa was the mentor of English magicianJohn Dee,^[11]who makes reference to theAgrippa codein Theorem XVI of his 1564 book,Monas Hieroglyphica.^[12]Other variations are detailed in Underwood Dudley'sNumerology, Or, What Pythagoras Wrought.^[13]

In 1904, Aleister Crowley wrote out in English the text of the foundational document of his world-view, known asLiber AL vel Legis,The Book of the Law.In this text was the injunction found at verse 2:55; "Thou shalt obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet, thou shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto" which was understood by Crowley as referring to an English Qabalah yet to be developed or revealed.^[14]

Order and value

The "order & value"^[15]proposed by James Lees lays the letters out on the grid superimposed on the page of manuscript ofLiber ALon which this verse (Ch. III, v. 47) appears (sheet 16 of Chapter III).^[15]Also appearing on this page are a diagonal line and a circled cross.The Book of the Lawstates that the book should only be printed with Crowley's hand-written version included, causing Crowley to surmise that there were mysteries in the "chance shape of the letters and their position to one another" of his own handwriting.^[16]As there are ten squares per column, this method is equivalent to taking every eleventh letter of the Alpha bet as theorderand then assigning them sequentialvalues:

A=1 L=2 W=3 H=4 S=5 D=6 O=7 Z=8 K=9 V=10 G=11 R=12 C=13
N=14 Y=15 J=16 U=17 F=18 Q=19 B=20 M=21 X=22 I=23 T=24 E=25 P=26

Methods

Calculation and comparison

The first method of English Qaballa is simplearithmancywith a numerical dictionary. The value of the word, phrase, or sentence is calculated and the resulting value is looked up in a numerical dictionary,^[17]an example of which may be found in an appendix ofThompson (2016).For example, the value of the word 'Jesus' is 68; other words with this value are 'life' and 'change'. The meaning of these 'word collisions' must be determined by the individual qaballist.^[17]

Initial and final letters

The second method is to calculate the value of the first letters of a phrase or sentence, and also the value of the last letters of the phrase. As with the first method, the resulting values are then looked up and utilized in the same manner. This analysis is intended to indicate how a process indicated by the phrase will begin and how it will end.^[17]

Reversal yields the reward

The third method is reversing the digits in the value of a word. This method is based on Liber AL III:1 "Abrahadabra! The reward of Ra Hoor Khut." In this example, 'Ra Hoor Khut' sums to 97, and 'Abrahadabra' sums to 79. Thus the verse provides its own example of how the reward may be calculated.^[17]

Counting well

The method of 'counting well' involves two words and is represented by the symbol '%'.^[17]To 'count well' the value of two words is to multiply the value of the first word by the number of letters in the second word and vice versa, then sum the two values thus obtained.^[18]Thus 'Jesus % Christ' yields (68 x 6) + (81 x 5) = 408 + 405 = 813. As with the first method, the resulting value is then looked up and interpreted in a similar manner.^[17]

Other methods

A fourth method involves summing the word progressively (e.g. 'word' yields 'w' = 3, 'wo' = 10, 'wor' = 22, and 'word' = 28). These successive values are then interpreted as a sequence which may elucidate the meaning of the word. A fifth method is to divide word into two or more parts, then sum each part separately, again producing a sequence of numbers to be interpreted. The sixth method is to replace a word with other words of the same value in a sentence or verse in order to clarify the meaning of the word in that specific context.^[17]

History

Initial report

The first report of the system known as English Qaballa (EQ) was published in 1979 by Ray Sherwin in an editorial in the final issue of his journal,The New Equinox.In his editorial, Sherwin reported that the "order & value of the English Alphabet"^[15]had been described by an English magician, James Lees, in November 1976.^[19]Lees subsequently assumed the role of publisher ofThe New Equinoxand, starting in 1981, published additional material about the EQ system over the course of five issues of the journal, extending into 1982.^[19]The first software designed to perform textual analysis ofLiber ALand the otherHoly Books of Thelemawas written in 1984-5 by Trevor Langford.^[16]Langford subsequently worked with Jake Stratton-Kent onThe Equinox: British Journal of Thelema,in which further original material on EQ was summarized by Stratton-Kent in the March 1988 issue.^[16]

Solution toLiber ALII:76

Early on, Jim Lees also proposed a solution.^[17]In the original handwritten text, the string of letters and numbers in the 76th verse of the second chapter is divided into two lines, the first ending with "Y" and the second beginning with "X". Jake Stratton-Kent thought that in the manuscript the 'X' at the beginning of line two looked like a multiplication symbol, so he added each line's values together and multiplied them; 17x11=187, the numerical value of the phrase "English Alpha bet", which he felt confirmed the correctness of the system.^[20]

4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24 89 R P S T O V A L. What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever. There cometh one to follow thee: he shall expound it. But remember, o chosen one, to be me; to follow the love of Nu in the star-lit heaven; to look forth upon men, to tell them this glad word.^[21]

In 1988, Stratton-Kent described this solution. He wrote:

When I first had my attention drawn to the existence of a purported English Qabala, my first reaction as a qabalist was to use it on this meaningless string of digits and characters. I converted all the letters into their numerical equivalents in the E.Q., and added them to the numbers in the series.^[20]

In the original handwritten text, the string of letters and numbers is divided into two lines, the first ending with "Y" and the second beginning with "X". Stratton-Kent says,

There are seventeen numbers and letters in the first line and eleven in the second... but in the manuscript the 'X' at the beginning of line two looks like a multiplication symbol, so I made this calculation; 17x11=187, the numerical value of the phrase ENGLISH ALPHABET.^[20]

21st century

Little, if any, further material on English Qaballa was published until the appearance of Jake Stratton-Kent's book,The Serpent Tongue: Liber 187,in 2011.^[3]This was followed in 2016 byThe Magickal Language of the Book of the Law: An English Qaballa Primerby Cath Thompson.^[17]An account of the discovery, exploration, and continuing research and development of the system up to 2010, by James Lees and members of his group in England, is detailed in her 2018 book,All This and a Book.^[22]

Reception

In 2020,Lon Milo DuQuettewrote "[...] I cannot hide my personal enthusiasm concerning the English Qaballa [...] and marvelous work being done by Jake Stratton-Kent and others who are continuing to develop and enrich it. They deserve the admiration and thanks of every student of modern magick."^[23]

References

Citations

^Stratton-Kent (1988),p. 17.
^Stratton-Kent (1988b).
^^a ^bStratton-Kent (2011).
^Collier & Keith (n.d.).
^^a ^b ^cHalsey (1967).
^Jeffrey (1961).
^Acevedo (2020),p. 50.
^Riedweg (2005).
^Walker (1998),pp. 33–42.
^Agrippa von Nettesheim (1993),Book II, ch. 22.
^Mostofizadeh (2012).
^Dee (1975).
^Dudley (1997),pp. 49–51.
^Crowley (1974).
^^a ^b ^cCrowley (2004),ch. 3, v. 47.
^^a ^b ^cStratton-Kent (1988).
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱThompson (2016).
^Stratton-Kent (1986).
^^a ^bLees (2018).
^^a ^b ^cStratton-Kent (1988),p. 18.
^Crowley (2004),ch. 2, v. 76.
^Thompson (2018).
^DuQuette (2020),p. 85.

Works cited

Acevedo, J. (2020).Alphanumeric Cosmology from Greek Into Arabic: The Idea of Stoicheia Through the Medieval Mediterranean.Germany: Mohr Siebeck.ISBN 978-3161592454.
Agrippa von Nettesheim, Heinrich Cornelius (1993). Tyson, Donald (ed.).Three Books of Occult Philosophy.Translated by James Freake. Llewellyn Publications.ISBN 978-0875428321.
Collier, Wren; Keith, Alynne (n.d.)."About NAEQ".naeq.io.Retrieved2020-02-19.
Crowley, Aleister(1974).Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of the Law.Montreal: 93 Publishing.
Crowley, Aleister (2004).The Book of the Law: Liber Al Vel Legis.Red Wheel Weiser.ISBN 978-1-57863-308-1.
Dee, John (1975).The Hieroglyphic Monad.Translated by J. W. Hamilton-Jones. Weiser Books.ISBN 1-57863-203-X.
Dudley, Underwood (1997).Numerology, Or, What Pythagoras Wrought.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-88385-524-0.
DuQuette, Lon Milo(2020).Allow Me to Introduce: An Insider's Guide to the Occult.Red Wheel/Weiser.ISBN 978-1-57863-654-9.
Halsey, W., ed. (1967). "Numerals and systems of numeration".Collier's Encyclopedia.
Jeffrey, L. (1961).The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lees, James(2018). Thompson, Cath (ed.).The New Equinox: The British Journal of Magick.Hadean Press Limited.ISBN 978-1-907881-77-0.
Mostofizadeh, Kambiz (2012).Magic as Science and Religion: John Dee and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa.Mikazuki.
Riedweg, Christoph (2005) [2002].Pythagoras: His Life, Teachings, and Influence.Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.ISBN 978-0-8014-7452-1.
Stratton-Kent, Jake (1986). "Counting Well".The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema.V(1).ISSN 0953-7015.
Stratton-Kent, Jake (March 1988). "The English Qaballa".The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema.VII(1): 17–25.ISSN 0953-7015.
Stratton-Kent, Jake (May 1988b). "What is a Qabalah?".The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema.VII(2): 59–61.ISSN 0953-7015.
Stratton-Kent, Jake (2011).The Serpent Tongue: Liber 187.UK: Hadean Press.ISBN 978-1-907881-07-7.
Thompson, Cath (2016).The Magickal Language of the Book of the Law: An English Qaballa Primer.Hadean Press Limited.ISBN 978-1-907881-68-8.
Thompson, Cath (2018).All This and a Book.Hadean Press Limited.ISBN 978-1-907881-78-7.
Walker, Julia. M. (1998).Medusa's Mirrors: Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, and the Metamorphosis of the Female Self.University of Delaware Press.ISBN 0-87413-625-3.

External links

Thelema Now! Guest: Cath Thompson- discusses EQ in this podcast
Stellar Magick & the Discovery of the English Qaballa
"History of Ciphers" (part 4a) - The Thelemic Ciphers (I)
Online EQ summation and lookup tool

[FOOTNOTEStratton-Kent198817-1] Stratton-Kent (1988),p. 17.

[FOOTNOTEStratton-Kent1988b-2] Stratton-Kent (1988b).

[FOOTNOTEStratton-Kent2011-3] Stratton-Kent (2011).

[FOOTNOTECollierKeithn.d.-4] Collier & Keith (n.d.).

[FOOTNOTEHalsey1967-5] Halsey (1967).

[FOOTNOTEJeffrey1961-6] Jeffrey (1961).

[FOOTNOTEAcevedo202050-7] Acevedo (2020),p. 50.

[FOOTNOTERiedweg2005-8] Riedweg (2005).

[FOOTNOTEWalker199833–42-9] Walker (1998),pp. 33–42.

[FOOTNOTEAgrippa_von_Nettesheim1993Book_II,_ch._22-10] Agrippa von Nettesheim (1993),Book II, ch. 22.

[FOOTNOTEMostofizadeh2012-11] Mostofizadeh (2012).

[FOOTNOTEDee1975-12] Dee (1975).

[FOOTNOTEDudley199749–51-13] Dudley (1997),pp. 49–51.

[FOOTNOTECrowley1974-14] Crowley (1974).

[FOOTNOTECrowley2004ch._3,_v._47-15] Crowley (2004),ch. 3, v. 47.

[FOOTNOTEStratton-Kent1988-16] Stratton-Kent (1988).

[FOOTNOTEThompson2016-17] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱThompson (2016).

[FOOTNOTEStratton-Kent1986-18] Stratton-Kent (1986).

[FOOTNOTELees2018-19] Lees (2018).

[FOOTNOTEStratton-Kent198818-20] Stratton-Kent (1988),p. 18.

[FOOTNOTECrowley2004ch._2,_v._76-21] Crowley (2004),ch. 2, v. 76.

[FOOTNOTEThompson2018-22] Thompson (2018).

[FOOTNOTEDuQuette202085-23] DuQuette (2020),p. 85.

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Thelemic texts	Aleister Crowley bibliography The Book of Lies The Book of the Law(Liber AL vel Legis) The Book of Thoth Clouds without Water Collected Works Confessions The Diary of a Drug Fiend Eight Lectures on Yoga The Equinox The Blue Equinox The Equinox of the Gods The Holy Books of Thelema Konx Om Pax The Law is for All Liber 777 Liber Aleph Liber OZ Liber Resh Liber Trigrammaton Little Essays Toward Truth Magick (Book 4) Magick Without Tears Moonchild One Star in Sight The Stratagem and other Stories Thoth Tarot The Vision and the Voice White Stains
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