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'{{Short description|English Qaballa system of James Lees}} {{about|the ''English Qaballa'' system of James Lees|other systems|English Qabalah}} '''English Qaballa''' ('''EQ''') refers to a system of [[mysticism]] related to [[English Qabalah]] that interprets the letters of the [[English alphabet]] via an assigned set of values developed by James Lees in 1976. Unike most of the systems developed since the death of [[Aleister Crowley]] (1875-1947), it was not created or invented by any mortal or human mind: having discovered the Key, Lees and his group conducted their research with the intent of gaining a better understanding of the mysteries elaborated in his inspired works, especially those in ''[[Book of the Law|Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law]]''. According to Jake Stratton-Kent, "the English Qaballa is a qabalah and not a system of numerology. A qabalah is specifically related to three factors: one, a language; two, a 'holy' text or texts; three, mathematical laws at work in these two."{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988|p=17}}{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988b}} This system has also been referred to as the '''ALW cipher''', '''New Aeon English Qabalah''' or '''NAEQ''' by third parties (see [[#Other names|Other names]] section). ==Order and value== In 1904, Aleister Crowley wrote out the text of the foundational document of his world-view, known as ''Liber AL vel Legis'', ''[[The Book of the Law]]''. In this text was the injunction found at verse 2:55; "Thou shalt obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet, thou shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto" which was understood by Crowley as referring to an English Qabalah yet to be developed or revealed.{{sfnp|Crowley|1974}} The "order & value"{{sfnp|Crowley|2004|loc=ch. 3, v. 47}} discovered by James Lees lays the letters out on the grid superimposed on the page of manuscript of ''Liber AL'' on which this verse (Ch. III, v. 47) appears (sheet 16 of Chapter III).{{sfnp|Crowley|2004|loc=ch. 3, v. 47}} Also appearing on this page are a diagonal line and a circled cross. ''The Book of the Law'' states that the book should only be printed with Crowley's hand-written version included, suggesting that there are mysteries in the "chance shape of the letters and their position to one another" of Crowley's handwriting. Whichever top-left to bottom-right diagonal is read the magickal order of the letters is obtained.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988}} As there are ten squares per column, this method is equivalent to taking every eleventh letter of the alphabet as the ''order'' and then assigning them sequential ''values'': <CENTER><TABLE BORDER=5 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=5 > <TR> <TD valign=center> <pre>A=1 L=2 W=3 H=4 S=5 D=6 O=7 Z=8 K=9 V=10 G=11 R=12 C=13 N=14 Y=15 J=16 U=17 F=18 Q=19 B=20 M=21 X=22 I=23 T=24 E=25 P=26</pre> </TD> </TR> </TABLE></CENTER> In the original handwritten text, the string of letters and numbers in the 76th verse of the second chapter is divided into two lines, the first ending with "Y" and the second beginning with "X". Stratton-Kent thought that in the manuscript the 'X' at the beginning of line two looked like a multiplication symbol, so he added each line's values together and multiplied them; 17x11=187, the numerical value of the phrase "English alphabet", which he felt confirmed the correctness of the system.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988|p=18}} ==History== ===Initial discovery=== The first report of the system known as English Qaballa (EQ) was published in 1979 by [[Ray Sherwin]] in an editorial in the final issue of his journal, ''The New Equinox''. In his editorial, Sherwin reported that the "order & value of the English Alphabet"{{sfnp|Crowley|2004|loc=ch. 3, v. 47}} had been discovered by an English magician, James Lees, in November 1976.{{sfnp|Lees|2018}} Lees subsequently assumed the role of publisher of ''The New Equinox'' and, starting in 1981, published additional material about the EQ system over the course of five issues of the journal, extending into 1982.{{sfnp|Lees|2018}} The first software designed to perform textual analysis of ''Liber AL'' and the other ''Holy Books of Thelema'' was written in 1984-5 by Trevor Langford.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988}} Langford subsequently worked with Jake Stratton-Kent on ''The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema'', in which further original material on EQ was summarized by Stratton-Kent in the March 1988 issue.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988}} ===Solution to ''Liber AL'' II:76=== Early on, Jim Lees also discovered the first proof of the system{{sfnp|Thompson|2016}} based on ''Liber AL'' II,76: {{quote|4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24 89 R P S T O V A L. What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever. There cometh one to follow thee: he shall expound it. But remember, o chosen one, to be me; to follow the love of Nu in the star-lit heaven; to look forth upon men, to tell them this glad word.{{sfnp|Crowley|2004|loc=ch. 2, v. 76}} }} When he first became aware of Lees' system, Jake Stratton-Kent described this solution. In 1988, he wrote: {{quote|When I first had my attention drawn to the existence of a purported English Qabala, my first reaction as a qabalist was to use it on this meaningless string of digits and characters. I converted all the letters into their numerical equivalents in the E.Q., and added them to the numbers in the series.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988|p=18}} }} In the original handwritten text, the string of letters and numbers is divided into two lines, the first ending with "Y" and the second beginning with "X". Stratton-Kent says, {{quote|There are seventeen numbers and letters in the first line and eleven in the second ... but in the manuscript the 'X' at the beginning of line two looks like a multiplication symbol, so I made this calculation; <nowiki>17x11=187,</nowiki> the numerical value of the phrase ENGLISH ALPHABET.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988|p=18}} }} ===Other names=== Well subsequent to the original discovery and publication of the English Qaballa (EQ), several self-published authors attempted to appropriate and rebrand the system.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|2011}} In 1994, [[Allen H. Greenfield]] referred to the system as the "ALW cipher"{{sfnp|Greenfield|1994}} in his self-published book, ''Secret Cipher of the UFOnauts'' (Illuminet Press, 1994; [[Lulu.com]], 2006).{{sfnp|Collier|Keith|n.d.}} In 2003, Gerald Del Campo also presented the same system, referring to it as a "New Aeon English Qabalah" or "NAEQ" in his book, ''New Aeon English Qabalah Revealed''.{{sfnp|Del Campo|2003}} In 2004, John L. Crow also referred to the system using the same nomenclature in a book published under the same imprint, ''The New Aeon English Qabalah Dictionary''.{{sfnp|Crow|2004}} ===21st century=== Little, if any, further material on English Qaballa was published until the appearance of Jake Stratton-Kent's book, ''The Serpent Tongue: Liber 187'', in 2011.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|2011}} This was followed in 2016 by ''The Magickal Language of the Book of the Law: An English Qaballa Primer'' by Cath Thompson, who had inherited the original writings of James Lees and the order, of which she was a member, that had originated the EQ.{{sfnp|Thompson|2016}} An account of the discovery, exploration, and continuing research and development of the system up to 2010, by James Lees and members of his group in England, is detailed in her 2018 book, ''All This and a Book''.{{sfnp|Thompson|2018}} ==See also== *[[Gematria]] *[[Isopsephy]] *[[Numerology]] ==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist|25em}} ===Works cited=== *{{cite web |last1=Collier |first1=Wren |last2=Keith |first2=Alynne |date=n.d. |title=About NAEQ |website=naeq.io |url=https://www.naeq.io/about/ |access-date=2020-02-19}} *{{cite book |first=John L. |last=Crow |title=The New Aeon English Qabalah Dictionary |location=Marietta, Georgia |publisher=Luxor Press |year=2004}} <nowiki>ISBN 1-891948-07-5.</nowiki> *{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Aleister |year=1974 |title=Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of the Law |publisher=93 Publishing |location=Montreal}} *{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Aleister |title=The Book of the Law: Liber Al Vel Legis |publisher=Red Wheel Weiser |year=2004 |isbn=978-1578633081}} *{{cite book |last=Del Campo |first=Gerald |year=2003 |title=New Aeon English Qabalah Revealed |location=Marietta, Georgia |publisher=Luxor Press}} <nowiki>ISBN 1-891948-06-7.</nowiki> *{{cite book |last=Greenfield |first=Allen H. |title=Secret Cipher of the UFOnauts |publisher=Illuminet Press |year=1994}} *{{cite book |last1=Lees |first=James |editor=Thompson, Cath |title=The New Equinox: The British Journal of Magick |publisher=Hadean Press Limited |year=2018 |isbn=978-1907881770}} *{{cite journal |last=Stratton-Kent |first=Jake |date=March 1988 |title=The English Qaballa |journal=The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema |volume=VII |number=1 |pages=17–25 |issn=0953-7015}} * {{cite journal |last=Stratton-Kent |first=Jake |date=May 1988b |title=What is a Qabalah? |journal=The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema |volume=VII |number=2 |pages=59-61 |issn=0953-7015}} *{{cite book |first=Jake |last=Stratton-Kent |title=The Serpent Tongue: Liber 187 |location=UK |publisher=Hadean Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-907881-07-7}} *{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=The Magickal Language of the Book of the Law: An English Qaballa Primer|publisher=Hadean Press Limited |year=2016 |isbn=978-1907881688}} *{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=All This and a Book |year=2018 |publisher=Hadean Press Limited |isbn=978-1-907881-78-7}} ==Further reading== * {{cite web |author=Frater D.T. |title=The New Aeon English Qabala: A Brief Introduction |website=QBLH.org |publisher=Hermetic Alchemical Order of the QBLH |year=1996 |url=http://www.qblh.org/naeq/naeq.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216150925/http://www.qblh.org/naeq/naeq.html |archive-date=2004-12-16}} * {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=Finding New Symbols |publisher=Hadean Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-907881-51-0}} * {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Cath |title=House 418: The Circle Squared |publisher=Hadean Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-914166-03-7}} ==External links== *[https://gematriaresearch.blogspot.com/2021/05/history-of-ciphers-part-4a-thelemic.html "History of Ciphers" (part 4a) - The Thelemic Ciphers (I)] *[https://naeq.io/ Online EQ summation and lookup tool] [[Category:Hermetic Qabalah]] [[Category:Kabbalah]] [[Category:Practical Kabbalah]] [[Category:Thelema]]'