Book of Lies Study Group : Chapter 4

[mol]

4

{Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Delta}

PEACHES

Soft and hollow, how thou dost overcome the hard
and full!
It dies, it gives itself; to Thee is the fruit!
Be thou the Bride; thou shalt be the Mother here-
after.
To all impressions thus. Let them not overcome thee;
yet let them breed within thee. The least of the
impressions, come to its perfection, is Pan.
Receive a thousand lovers; thou shalt bear but One
Child.
This child shall be the heir of Fate the Father.

[Semele]

This also sounds to me an aweful lot like birth and the wonders it contains. Maybe I am preoccupied or something.

[loopy]

Originally posted by Semele
This also sounds to me an aweful lot like birth and the wonders it contains. Maybe I am preoccupied or something.

That's what I was thinking too. :)

[mol]

"Receive a thousand lovers; thou shalt bear but One
Child. "

Looks like another 'Little Death' reference, eh?

[slvr_phoenix]

Heh heh.

The first half of so sounds to me like he's just ranting on and on about ye olde oyster yet again. (Only this time from a more appetizing perspective.)

But then maybe he was just fruity.


Soft and hollow, how thou dost overcome the hard
and full!Heh heh. Maybe my mind is just in the gutter, but darn if that doesn't sound very suggestive of the two gender's bits-o-genitalia to me. **L** And yet again he's taking the point of view that women are superior. (Which I won't argue for or against, just point out that seems to be his view.)


It dies, it gives itself; to Thee is the fruit!Open up and say "ahhhhhhhhhhhh". ;)


Be thou the Bride; thou shalt be the Mother here-
after. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. And he promises to do it over and over and over again until it's right. **L**


To all impressions thus. Let them not overcome thee;
yet let them breed within thee.Umm ... I think he's saying, "That's what these bits and pieces are for, so don't worry about it. Embrace them. Use them. Enjoy them." **L** Or something like that...


The least of the
impressions, come to its perfection, is Pan.I'm not sure what his obsession with Pan is, but it sounds like he thinks Pan is 'da MAN'. Is Pan hung like an animal? Or is Pan just horny? Heh heh heh.

Sorry. I can't help dishing out this pun-ishment. He he he.


Receive a thousand lovers; thou shalt bear but One
Child.
This child shall be the heir of Fate the Father.I'm not sure if he's talking to Pan now, and implying that Pan is only going to have one kid (albeit sounding to be a very special one), or if he's still talking to the women. And if he's still talking to the women, then I'm kind of lost as to what he's trying to say. (Well, other than to be a slut.) I'm not sure if I agree with Mol's 'little death' interpretation or not, but I also can't think of anything better. **L**

[mol]

Originally posted by slvr_phoenix


I'm not sure what his obsession with Pan is, but it sounds like he thinks Pan is 'da MAN'. Is Pan hung like an animal? Or is Pan just horny? Heh heh heh.


Pan seems to be a big symbol of virility (if I spelled that correctly.) Which is why Crowley was partial...

[slvr_phoenix]

Heh heh heh.

It figures. ;)

Thanks for the heads-up, Mol. :)

[Semele]

Originally posted by mol
"Receive a thousand lovers; thou shalt bear but One
Child. "

Looks like another 'Little Death' reference, eh?

Or else a woman on a desperate search for the man who would father her child!!!

[Lilu]

If I might jump in for a second and then be on my way again? ;)


Soft and hollow, how thou dost overcome the hard
and full!

This sounds like sex to me. Soft&Hollow=vagina Hard&Full=Penis



It dies, it gives itself; to Thee is the fruit!

Sounds like orgasm/ejaculation to me.



Be thou the Bride; thou shalt be the Mother here-
after.

???



To all impressions thus. Let them not overcome thee;
yet let them breed within thee. The least of the
impressions, come to its perfection, is Pan.

I found it interesting to see him switch from Egyptian pantheon to Greek. Many believe Min to be the Egyptian counterpart of Pan, and I find this interesting because of the mythology surrounding the death and resurrection of Osiris.

It is said in some myths that Isis was at the temple of Min (some say they were lovers, but I haven't seen this mentioned much in mythology) when she heard that Set had murdered Osiris. She went into immediate mourning for Osiris and cut off a lock of her hair. Afterwards would ensue the hunting down of all the pieces of Osiris and with the help of Nephthys and Thoth, Isis resurrected him and conceived Horus.



Receive a thousand lovers; thou shalt bear but One
Child.

I'm not sure about the thousand lovers, but I thought it was interesting that Osiris and Isis were married for such a long time and never conceived, and then during his resurrection she conceived Horus (who Crowley talks about in one of the earlier chapters). If I were to look at it like that, it might not be lovers as in numbers, but the amount of times they actually had sex only to conceive but once?


This child shall be the heir of Fate the Father.

??? Not sure about this ...

These were just some observations I had when I was reading the passage, don't know if anyone will find them interesting or not, but thought I'd share anyway.

BB
Lilu

[Swanspirit]

Bowing out of this thread :>....
Much too busy in real life ; good things happening :>
Love and Light
Swannie

[Semele]

Originally posted by mol

Be thou the Bride; thou shalt be the Mother here-
after.

THIS IS MOL:

Sounds like...after impregnated...she shall be bride no more, but Mother.

[Lilu]

Originally posted by Semele


THIS IS MOL:

Sounds like...after impregnated...she shall be bride no more, but Mother.

Bride could mean maiden, as in maiden, mother, crone. A transition from one phase of life to another?

:) Lilu

[Semele]

Originally posted by Lilu


Bride could mean maiden, as in maiden, mother, crone. A transition from one phase of life to another?

:) Lilu

I like that Lilu. Perhaps he is alluding to the fact that a woman who is to be your bride, will change roles once she is. Meaning that we become the mother's of our husbands. Not literally, but think about it. We cook and clean (hush Mol), nurture our husband like his mother did before us. On the same token the Husband works and provides for the family, as our Father did for us.

Now, I know these are stereotypes, but look at the time when he wrote this, and even today, though the roles may be a little different, the majority of society still sees the husband/father as the provider and protecter and the wife/mother as the homemaker and nurturer. I know it sounds a little Freudian, but I do find many similarities in freud and Crowley...both obsessed with sex. But if you have a big enough shovel, you can usually dig through some of the....uh....material and find some faint coorelation.

[mol]

Here is Crowleys commentary:

COMMENTARY ({Delta})

Daleth is the Empress of the Tarot, the letter of
Venus, and the title, Peaches, again refers to the Yoni.
The chapter is a counsel to accept all impressions;
it is the formula of the Scarlet woman; but no impression
must be allowed to dominate you, only to fructify you;
just as the artist, seeing an object, does not worship it,
but breeds a masterpiece from it. This process is
exhibited as one aspect of the Great Work. The last
two paragraphs may have some reference to the 13th
Aethyr (see The Vision and The Voice).

[slvr_phoenix]

Hmm, that's an interesting point of view to work with. I'd almost be taking it one step simpler with that. Maiden = innocence, Mother = phase after innocence lost? (Innocence in this case being that defining point between virginity and loss thereof.)