(this excerpt from an unpublished study by Frater Asar-had-on of Crowley's "The Book Of Lies" is presented for its suggestive value, and is not to be taken in any way as an official instruction of O.T.O.; also, in this era of AIDS the practices it describes may be dangerous to your health, hence caution and discretion are strongly advised---Editor)
This is the Holy Hexagram.
Plunge from the height, O God, and interlock with Man!
Plunge from the height, O Man, and interlock with Beast!
The Red Triangle is the descending tongue of grace; the Blue Triangle is the ascending tongue of prayer.
This Interchange, the Double Gift of Tongues, the Word of Double Power--- Abrahadabra!---is the sign of the GREAT WORK, for the GREAT WORK is accomplished in Silence.
And behold is not that Word equal to Cheth, that is Cancer, whose Sigil is 69?
This Work also eats up itself, accomplishes its own end, nourishes the worker, leaves no seed, is perfect in itself.
Little children, love one another!
The title is a pun to gladden the hearts of lovers of cornball every where! It refers to the two fluids basic to the performance of the Hexagram ritual, seed (the sperm and seminal fluid) and eggs (the menstrual blood containing pieces of the expelled ovum). Though this chapter contains much information about the Hexagram ritual in general it refers specifically to a certain asana of performance, which may be called (as per line 1) "The Holy Hexagram". This asana is described in the second and third lines of the chapter; it is formed by the interlocking of two human beings in such a way as to form a six-pointed star, the four outer points created by their legs, the two central points created by the conjunction of each one's head with genitals of the other. An even more exact configuration is described if we consider that "Man" refers to the mouths of the yogis, while "God" refers to the erect penis, and "Beast" to the lubricous vagina. Of course, this is merely an exoteric understanding of the text. God, Man, and Beast also refer to "psychological" states. The pages of Ovid are full of examples of the various repressions, compensations, and metamorphoses to which the human psyche is subject. Among the more relevant to this topic are the stories of Pasiphae and the bull, Jupiter and Io, Jupiter and Callisto, and especially Jupiter and Europa. Perhaps the most relevant exposition of all is found in the classic Greco-Roman novel, "The Golden Ass of Apuleius". At the initiated level the meanings of these terms are perhaps best revealed by study of Liber Tzaddi, particularly the "glittering Image in the place ever golden" and the "Blind Creature of the Slime".
The chapter's next line can be interpreted in many many different ways, but a few in particular stand out. The two triangles can represent the two partners in the operation; the descending tongue of the Red (active) partner is inspired by pure love to lavish attention on the very maw of hell, while the ascending tongue of the Blue (reactive) partner is Boccaccio's "Decameron" - 3rd Day, 10th Tale). Another interpretation is that the Red triangle is itself the descending phallus which sheds its "grace" in the form of sperm (which sacrifice all for their purpose without lust of result), while the Blue triangle is the ascending cunnus which oozes out its "prayer" in the form of an egg (which yearns but for completion until it can no longer even hold itself together). Both these interpretations can be blended if we match the lusty Red tongue and member of one partner to the worshipful Blue vulva and tongue of the other. The triangles also describe the different natures of the mental/spiritual states proper to each of the participants; the physical sexes of the partners are far less important than their unity of will, which can only be achieved by a balancing of complementaries. Here it can be useful to reflect upon the difference between love and adoration, between giving and taking.
In the next sentence Crowley evokes the single-minded trance states which must be achieved by the operators if their operation is to work successfully. The word Abrahadabra is especially important in this context. In Equinox I(5), and in Liber D, Crowley diagrams the eleven letter Word of Power as a Pentagram and Hexagram (three variations) and as a Triangle and two Squares, thereby showing the word's relationship to the Great Work, and to the Tree of Life. He fails to include in those publications the "true" geometric arrangement of Abrahadabra, but this present chapter of The Book of Lies provides evidence that he had discovered it by 1912 c.e. (whether his failure to publish it was purposeful or not I do not know). Twelve letters are required to create the pattern of a "classic" hexagram of interlocked triangles. However, the hexagram of Water, formed by two triangles with their apices interlocked requires only eleven letters to diagram (this hexagram is also emblematic of a pyramid viewed from above; this fact, plus the fact that the letter of Water is Mem, indicates the possibility of linking Abrahadabra with the Word of a Neophyte, but then that connection is best revealed by Silence - as Mother always said, "Don't speak with your mouth full!"). When the eleven letters of Ra-Hoor-Khut's great Word of Power are arranged as a hexagram of Water some remarkable coincidences occur:
The diagonal line of five A's divides the other six letters into two triangular Hebrew words: BRH, to eat; and DBR, to speak. These are the two main uses of the tongue! The diagonal also connects two of the keys from Liber Legis III,47 (that is, the "line drawn" and Abrahadabra). The "line drawn" itself touches exactly eleven letters, making another connection between these two keys (I will not comment on the fact that the letters touched are an anagram of "satisfy Beta"). The next sentence of the chapter shows the connection to the sign of Cancer and to its (better known as "sixty-nine"), hence our chapter numeration. It is also interesting to note that 6, the number of Tiphareth, is solar, while 9, the number of Yesod, is lunar.
The penultimate sentence reveals that operators must entirely consume and completely absorb the sexual fluids, all while they are fully concentrated on their object. Only in this way may they achieve complete success. A question arises here of "communion in both kinds", that is, is not the inevitable outcome of this act the consumption of only one of the types of sacramental fluid by each partner, rather than a mixture of the two. This potential problem can be remedied by a change in position, after mutual orgasm(s), to bring the tongues of the practitioners into contact and allow the formation of a complete elixir, which is then mutually absorbed in a prolonged kiss. Nonetheless, it is well worth experimenting with a pure "communion in one kind", especially in the early stages of one's workings; this makes for greater appreciation of both the obvious and the subtle differences between these two types of communion.
The final sentence of this chapter is a poignant exhortation to each of us to practice and perfect this ritual. It is also a reminder that, in this aeon of the Child, Love is the principal weapon in the armories of our Wills!