Hollywood

By Scarecrow

I am one
And none
And us
And them
And he
And she
And me
An actor of the silver screen
Without a script to be
Dreaming fame and fortune for myself
I'll rule the world, you'll see.
I'll start right now
I'll improvise
I'll dare to succeed
But don't let on that I am you when the two of us should meet.
Here I go?!

We've been discussing the Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley, in the Academy's Crowley 101 Class, offered by Robert Anton Wilson. In light of these conversations, as well as the discussions centered on WHO Crowley IS, I was inspired by Kent Daniel Bentkowski's poem Wu-Wei to create my own cabalistic poem.

Lines 1-10 are a description of the world from an actor's point of view. I choose an actor's P.O.V. because Crowley, to me, seems a good example of a man familiar to wearing a variety of masks. Line 1 describes Kether, as well as the religious belief that there is only the Prime Source. Line 2 describes Ain, Ain Soph, and Ain Soph Aur and thereby declares that the 1 gave birth to the 0, as well as the religious belief that there is only Nothing. Line 3 describes Chokmah, and the 2 since when we have 2 we have the possibility of saying us; it also describes the religious belief that there is an All Powerful God and there is a Human Soul. Line 4 describes Binah, and 3 since I can now talk about Them; it also describes the religious view that there are multiple Gods. Line 5 describes Chesed, and the Male Line 6 describes Geburah, and the Female Line 7 describes Tipareth and the beauty of it, is that I haven't declared the sex of the actor whose voice I'm using, and therefore it's open to your opinion on the matter. Line 8 describes Netzach, and mentions art Line 9 describes Hod, and mentions a set of rules Line 10 describes Yesod, and mentions dreams Line 11 describes Malkuth, and worldly might

In all there are 11 Lines "the great magical number, as uniting the antitheses of 5 and 6" (Crowley, 777 pg 43) Also this number is attributed to The Fool, and if ever there was an actor of impeccable style, it was the fool.

The poem ends with 5 lines that are attributed to the 5 Powers of the Sphinx. Ordinarily there would be 4 powers of the sphinx, Knowledge attributed to line 12, Will - line 13, Courage - line 14, and Silence - line 15. However, in honor of Crowley, I've added his To Go (see Magick Without Tears).

I also like the last line as it declares my intention in the Great Work to destroy my ego or my "I".

Finally the ?! symbol on the end has a variety of meanings, besides simply paying homage to our online class discussions of the Soldier and the Hunchback. One meaning is evident when we consider that H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D is 9 characters and H-E-R-E-I-G-O-?-! are 9 characters, 9 being the number of which Zoroaster says: "The number Nine is sacred, and attains the summit of perfection." Also G, seems to me to be a circle that hasn't connected its two ends. It has something left to do, it feels incomplete. The questioning hunchback also is incomplete; it seeks something. Then the O is a complete circle and is perfect in every way, just like the ! soldier answers our ? question. Implied by having the sequence of ?!?!, is that the process of questions and answers is never ending; there will always be another ?. Also the HERE is meant to mirror YHVH, and the I afterwards is meant to remind us that there is an additional Hebrew letter, when added into YHVH that spells the name of Christ, also called Joshua, my name. That letter is I. And the world, the 4 elements, are the Here.

I certainly hope this poem and incomplete explanation of the divine glory imprisoned within my words inspires you to GO and do likewise in whatever manner appeals to your sensibilities.

Go forth and Love,

Scarecrow

© 2005 Scarecrow

All rights reserved. Used with permission