kaos

See also The Book of Lies (Liber 333, first published 1913), Chapter 11, “The Glowworm”,
where Crowley writes of “a seeming duality of Chaos and Babalon” and
comments “Chaos and Babalon are Chokmah and Binah, but they are really one”.
Chapter 49, “Waratah-blossoms”, takes Babalon as its subject. The waratah is a
“voluptuous scarlet flower” common in Australia, hence its use for a chapter about the
Scarlet Woman, which parallels the Book of Revelation in its repeated use of the number
seven. Revelation 17 contains the famous Biblical depiction of the Great Whore:
And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having
seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and
decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness of her fornications. And upon her forehead was a name
written, mystery, babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations
of the earth.
Although precisely which beast of those mentioned in Revelation “Babylon” rides is
ambiguous—see the essay “The seven-headed dragon and the demon Choronzon”
later—in Revelation 13:18 it is written: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his
number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Crowley exactly parodies this verse with his
similar statement at the end of Chapter 49 of The Book of Lies: “Here is Wisdom. Let
Him that hath Understanding count the Number of Our Lady; for it is the Number of
a Woman; and Her Number is An Hundred and Fifty and Six.” In his commentary
Crowley notes: “…the author frankly identifies himself with the beast referred to in
the book, and in the Apocalypse, and in Liber Legis.” One of the fundamental insights
of the 156 current is that Chaos is the Beast, and not Crowley himself. Crowley certainly
hints as much in his writings, but the importance of this distinction appears to have
been lost on Crowleyites, hence the subsumation of the 93 current by the 156 current.
Chapter 49 also reproduces the seven-pointed star sigil of babalon, which is the
official seal of the A∴A∴ (Argenteum Astrum, “The Order of the Silver Star”,
supposedly Sirius). This seven-pointed star appears to have been modelled on the Sigil
of Æmeth received by John Dee and Edward Kelly, a design of heptagons and
heptagrams, plus a pentagram, which in itself appears to have been based on a similar
figure found in Liber Juratus, more commonly known as The Sworne Booke of Honorius.
In Chapter 56 of Lies, “Trouble with Twins”, Crowley writes “Holy, holy, holy, unto
One Hundred and Fifty Six times holy be our lady that rideth upon the beast!” and
comments “156 is babalon”. See also “The Star Ruby” and “Starlight”.
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