The Book of the Law II,76 — Solution to the Riddle AL

by Frater Nothing 0=1

Liber AL vel Legis — the Book of the Law — contains one of the most discussed unsolved puzzles in Thelemic literature. Chapter II, verse 76 presents a cipher: "Aye! listen to the numbers & the words: 4 6 3 8 ABK 2 4 ALGMOR 3 Y X 24 89 RPSTOVAL." Aleister Crowley himself wrote that the solution, when found, "will be unquestionable" and "marked by the most sublime simplicity." He never publicly claimed to have solved it.

This post from alt.magick.serious (May 2004) presents one of the more rigorous attempts at a solution. The author, posting under the magical motto Frater Nothing 0=1, applies the method Crowley himself outlined for reading qabalistic ciphers: decode each number and letter-group through its corresponding Hebrew word in the Sepher Sephiroth (Crowley's numerical lexicon of Kabbalah, printed as an appendix to his 777). Each element maps to a Hebrew root; the roots, read together, yield a sentence.

The result is not a grand mystical revelation but a tightly constructed hermeneutical argument — the kind of close reading that the tradition demands. Whether it is "the" solution, Frater Nothing does not claim. He presents the method, traces each step, and lets the reader verify. The cipher's final phrase, RPSTOVAL, is resolved by noticing that it conceals three Hebrew words in sequence: RPS (sepher/word, written backwards), TVB (good/glad), and AL (God) — "the glad word reversed is AL." That reversal, LA, means "not" — a Thelemic pun on divine negation that Crowley would have found elegant.

The Exegesis

In Aleister Crowley's Liber AL vel Legis (The Book of the Law) II,76, there is a code or a cipher commonly referred to as the "Riddle AL." In Magickal and Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of the Law, Aleister Crowley writes: "This passage...appears to be a Qabalistic test (on the regular pattern) of any person who may claim to be the Magical Heir of the Beast. Be ye well assured all that the solution, when it is found, will be unquestionable. It will be marked by the most sublime simplicity, and carry immediate conviction."

So, for the solution of this passage, one is well advised to use the Hebrew Qabalah, which is Kabbalah on the regular pattern.

The "voice" instructs the reader to listen to the numbers and the words. This indicates same-sounding words, and that there really are words to listen for. If you are familiar with Hebrew, then most of the words are heard on first reading.

In his explanation on how to use 777, Aleister Crowley provides an example, writing: "We take this Book, and look at 17. We find that 17 is the number of Squares in the Swastika, which is the Whirling Disc or Thunderbolt. Also there is [ChVG], as Circle or Orbit; [ZVD], to seethe or boil, and some other Words, which we neglect in this Example, though we should not dare to do so if we were really trying to find out a Thing we none of us knew. To help our Deduction about Redemption, too we find [HDH], to brighten or make glad." (777, p.15–16.) Crowley uses this sort of theological in-joking constantly in his writings. Actually, though, the number 17 is a key to the cipher — there happen to be 17 words in it. Also 17 is the numerical (gematria) value of TVB (good, blessed, glad), which is a significant word in Liber AL II,76.

The Hebrew transliteration here follows that of 777 (and The Kabbalah Unveiled).

The Method

All of these words may be found in the Lexicon of 777. When you see a number in Liber AL II,76, simply find the first word under that number in 777. When you see letters, simply divide them into their respective Hebrew words and then translate them. For example, RPSTOVAL is actually a sentence made up of three Hebrew words (RPS TVB AL), and in English is translated as "The glad word (reversed) is AL."

How did I get "glad word" out of RPSTOV? TOV (correctly transliterated TVB), means "good," "blessed," "glad." RPS is the word sepher [written word], or sephar [spoken word] depending on how one decides to point it. Because it is written aversely, it indicates that the meaning should be understood by the rules of Qabalistic exegesis, as explained in 777: "...there is a method called ThShRQ, Thashraq, which is simply writing a word backwards." (777, p.4.) In any case, it should be translated as "word" in this context as opposed to "book." It is for this very reason that the "scribe" is instructed to tell this "glad word" to men — which in this case would be LA (Not): the glad word.

The Key

The following key to Liber AL II,76 may be proven in Crowley's Sepher Sephiroth within 777. The cipher reads:

"Aye! listen to the numbers & the words: 4 6 3 8 ABK 2 4 ALGMOR 3 Y X 24 89 RPSTOVAL."

4 = ABA [Father], p.1
6 = GBA [to gather, to bind], p.1
3 = AB [Father], p.1
8 = ABH [to will], p.1
ABK = ABCh [to conceal; numeric value 11], p.2
2 = A∴A∴ [Arikh Anpin, Vast Countenance], p.1
4 = ABA [Father], p.1
ALGMOR = AL [God; numeric value 31], p.4; GMR [to finish; numeric value 243], p.29
3 = AB [Father], p.1
Y = Yod, 10 ["the hand," symbolic for the Power of God in Kether; numeric value 20], p.3
X = Roman numeral 10 [symbolic for the Kingdom of Malkuth]
24 = AHVBY [He whom I love, My Beloved], p.4
89 = GVP [to shut up, silence], p.14
RPSTOVAL = RPS (SPR) [written or spoken Word; numeric value 340], p.37; TVB [good, blessed, glad; numeric value 17], p.3; AL [God; numeric value 31], p.4

The Reading

When arranged as lines, the elements resolve into verse:

ABA GBA
AB ABH ABCh
A∴A∴ ABA AL GMR
AB Y X AHVBY GVP
RPS TVB AL

Father, to bind
Father, to will to conceal
A∴A∴, Father, AL, to finish
Father, Yod, X, the Beloved, to silence
The glad word reversed is AL

Colophon

Written by Frater Nothing 0=1, posted to alt.magick.serious, May 28, 2004. An original qabalistic decoding of the "Riddle AL" (Liber AL vel Legis II:76), applying Crowley's own Sepher Sephiroth lexicon from 777 to resolve the cipher's numbers and letter-groups into Hebrew roots. The method is transparent and verifiable against the published 777 tables.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: <[email protected]>.

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