Description
Robert C. Stein
Black Jackal Press, York Beach, Maine, USA, 2012. Hardcover. First Edition. Limited edition, limited to 418 hand-numbered copies. This is copy no. 65. Air-fixed bookplate signed by author. Contains pencil notes which can easily be erased but I have left as they are scholarly and interesting. Near Fine.
“The Mystery of the Letters and The Tree of Life” begins with an examination and analysis of the “Class A” texts of the Thelemic canon, with special emphasis on the manuscript of “The Book of the Law” which the author reminds us was unequivocally declared by Crowley to stand above all other texts as the first and final authority on Thelemic belief and philosophy. Stein surveys the mysteries and questions it poses, and encourages his readers to study a copy of the manuscript themselves, so as to derive a personal understanding from it. He then examines the symbolism of Thelema by comparison to archetypal messages expressed historically through god-forms, kabalah, trigrams (I Ching), Tree of Life models, and alphabets. Stein further proposes a three-dimensional Tree of Life, relates it to Tarot and the paths in Liber 231. “The Mystery of the Letters and The Tree of Life” is not an “introductory work” or a “beginner’s guide,” but a serious and challenging study of a complex subject.
The author, Robert C. Stein, is a Professor Emeritus of Biology in the State University System, whose involvement in the study and practice of Thelema spans three decades and travels in five continents. In writing this study he has, as far as possible, approached the texts from a scientific and logical viewpoint, and in most instances has included facsimile excerpts of the pertinent material illustrating the basis of his thought.
