Sunday, August 7, 2011

Lambskin

Special thanks to all those who responded to the last two posts. To wrap up the subject of Qabalah and the Bardo for the time being I'll leave you with this symmetrical poem from Crowley:

LAMBSKIN
Cowan, skidoo!
Tyle!
Swear to hele all.
This is the mystery.
Life!
Mind is the traitor.
Slay mind.
Let the corpse of mind lie unburied on the edge of
the Great Sea!
Death!
This is the mystery.
Tyle!
Cowan, skidoo!

from ch.38, The Book of Lies

Cowan and Tyle are terms from Freemasonry with meanings I know not. Skidoo alludes to ch. 23 of the same book, a key chapter related to what has been presented here.



1 comment:

  1. The Book of Lies is one of AC's more interesting books, but fairly obscure to me.

    Cowan--'One who does the work of a mason, but has not been apprenticed to the trade. 2. Hence, One uninitiated in the secrets of Freemasonry 1707. 3. slang. A sneak, eavesdropper.'

    http://www.masonicworld.com/education/files/dec04/cowan.htm

    I suppose the first line means, 'Get lost, uninitiated!' or something along those lines.

    I can't find 'Tyle' but the word 'Tyler' is the outer guard of a masonic lodge, but that may not be relevant.

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