Memorising the holy books

 The practice of memorising chapters of the Holy books for A.'.A.'. students is one of the basic tasks of the grades. It is also, apparently one of those that seems to take the longest. I know that some instructors don't require this task, viewing it as time wasted on Crowley's bad poetry that could be more profitably employed elsewhere. 

I understand this attitude, I'm not a fan of them either, though I suppose I once was. As I've gotten older, what initially I took for a high style rich in references to the classics and various abstract concepts (they are in there) now strikes me as turgid, ponderous, pompous even, and a lot of it, especially the Book of the Law sets forth a philosophical system which, while some aspects bear up to observation, seems inherently flawed, and no matter how they are explained away many verses still give the impression of a sort of spiritual fascism of 'might makes right', a worm at the core of Thelema that I utterly reject. I don't want to go into that too deeply, but you only have to take the text for face value, with it's inherent spiritual aristocracy and trampling of anyone weaker than yourself it advocates, a sort of spiritual darwinism, let alone the sort of people who head the most visible Thelemic orders, to see.

However, despite my misgivings, I still advocate the memorising of the Holy Books in their respective grades. My reason is simple, I found in my own practice, that the memorisation tasks were a thread that ran through the whole grade work and strung it all together. When I was a Probationer I was working part time as a cleaner in my college, I would get up early in the mornings and spend two hours a day cleaning toilets, mopping floors and the rest. I kept a copy of Liber 65 in my pocket and whilst working, I would recite from memory verse by verse, over and over, checking from time to time and systematically adding a verse when I had memorised adequately. 

The task as I have said, strings the grade work together. It also discourages the casuals. I know of no initiate who has completed the grade work who hasn't also memorised their chapter, and those who have come to be tested before they were ready invariably had also not completed this task. But it really is that level of dedication to daily consistent practice that is necessary for anything worthwhile to come out of being an initiate. To put it simply, the act of going through the practices, literally forges you into that sort of person, develops the will, the consistency, and the self discipline that are necessary not just for the A.'.A.'., but for life in general. 

While I have my reservations, I have no alternative but to retain Crowley's Holy Books on the syllabus, though it's not my syllabus to change and since I no longer teach it, this makes no difference. My practice these days is with the Heart Sutra, and I have to admit that is going slowly, I am not as consistent as I could be, but then I am not trying to get anything out of it, no grade to attain, no goal, so I take a leisurely approach. However, I know full well from my time learning the Holy Books, that were I required to do so I could probably have it memorised, in chinese, within a year. That is what you get out of the tasks, and no initiate of the A.'.A.'., in my opinion, should neglect this task of the benefits to be gained from it.