AN ACCOUNT OF A.'. A.'.

    Issued by
    the Order of the
    Thelemic Golden Dawn
    (Novus Ordo Aurora Aurea)

    Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

    It is necessary, my dear brothers, to give you a clear idea of the
interior Order; of that illuminated community which is scattered
throughout the world, but which is governed by one truth and united in
one spirit.

    This community possesses a School, in which all who thirst for
knowledge are instructed by the Spirit of Wisdom itself; and all the
mysteries of Nature are preserved in this school for the children of
Light.  Perfect knowledge of Nature and of humanity is taught in this
school.  It is from her that all truths penetrate into the world; she
is the school of all who search for wisdom, and it is in this
community alone that truth and the explanation of all mystery are to
be found.  It is the most hidden of communities, yet it contains
members from many circles; nor is there any Centre of Thought whose
activity is not due to the presence of one of ourselves.  From all
time, therefore, there has been a hidden assembly, a society of the
Elect, of those who sought for and had capacity for light, and this
interior society was the Axle of the R.O.T.A.  All that any external
order possesses in symbol, ceremony, or rite is the letter expressive
outwardly of that spirit of truth which dwelleth in the interior
Sanctuary.  Nor is the contradiction of the exterior any bar to the
harmony of the interior.

    Hence this Sanctuary, composed of members widely scattered indeed
but united by the bonds of perfect love, has been occupied from the
earliest ages in building the grand Temple (through the evolution of
humanity) by which the reign of L.V.X. will be manifest.  This society
is in the communion of those who have most capacity for light; they
are united in truth, and their Chief is the Light of the World
himself, V.V.V.V.V., the One Anointed in Light, the single teacher for
the human race, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

    The interior Order was formed immediately after the first
perception of man's wider heritage had dawned upon the first of the
adepts; it received from the Masters at first-hand the revelation of
the means by which humanity could be raised to its rights and
delivered from its misery.  It received the primitive charge of all
revelation and mystery; it received the key of true science, both
divine and natural.

    But as men multiplied, the frailty of man necessitated an exterior
society which veiled the interior one, and concealed the spirit and
the truth in the letter, because many people were not capable of
comprehending great interior truth.  Therefore, interior truths were
wrapped in external and perceptible ceremonies, so that men, by the
perception of the outer which is the symbol of the interior, might by
degrees be enabled safely to approach the interior spiritual truths.

    But the inner truth has always been confided to him who in his day
had the most capacity for illumination, and he became the sole
guardian of the original Trust, as High Priest of the Sanctuary.

    When it became necessary that interior truths should be enfolded
in exterior ceremony and symbol, on account of the real weakness of
men who were not capable of hearing the Light of Light, then exterior
worship began.  It was, however, always the type or symbol of the
interior, that is to say, the symbol of the true and Secret Sacrament.

    The external worship would never have been separated from interior
revel but for the weakness of man, which tends too easily to forget
the spirit in the letter; but the Masters are vigilant to note in
every nation those who are able to receive light, and such persons are
employed as agents to spread the light according to man's capacity and
to revivify the dead letter.

    Through these instruments the interior truths of the Sanctuary
were taken into every nation, and modified symbolically according to
their customs, capacity for instruction, climate, and receptiveness.
So that the external types of every religion, worship, ceremonies and
Sacred Books in general have more or less clearly, as their object of
instruction, the interior truths of the Sanctuary, by which man will
be conducted to the universal knowledge of the one Absolute Truth.

    The more the external worship of a people has remained united with
the spirit of esoteric truth, the purer its religion; but the wider
the difference between the symbolic letter and the invisible truth,
the more imperfect has become the religion.  Finally, it may be, the
external form has entirely parted from its inner truth, so that
ceremonial observances without soul or life have remained alone.

    In the midst of all this, truth reposes inviolable in the inner
Sanctuary.

    Faithful to the spirit of truth, the members of the interior Order
live in silence, but in real activity.

    Yet, besides their secret holy work, they have from time to time
decided upon political strategic action.

    Thus, when the earth was nigh utterly corrupt by reason of the
Great Sorcery, the Brethren sent Mohammed to bring freedom to mankind
by the sword.

    This being but partially a success, they raised up one Luther to
teach freedom of thought.  Yet this freedom soon turned into a heavier
bondage than before.

    Then the Brethren delivered unto man the knowledge of nature, and
the keys thereof; yet this also was prevented by the Great Sorcery.

    Now then finally in nameless ways, as one of our Brethren hath it
now in mind to declare, have threy raised up One to deliver unto men
the keys of Spiritual Knowledge, and by His work shall He be judged.

    This interior community of light is the reuinion of all those
capable of receiving light, and it is known as the Communion of
Saints, the primitive receptacle for all strength and truth, confided
to it from all time.

    By it the agents of L.V.X. were formed in every age, passing from
the interior to the exterior, and communicating spirit and life to the
dead letter, as already said.

    This illuminated community is the true school of L.V.X.; it has
its Chair, its Doctors; it possesses a rule for students; it has forms
and objects for study.

    It has also its degrees for successive development to greater
altitudes.

    This school of wisdom has been for ever most secretly hidden from
the world, because it is invisible and submissive solely to
illuminated government.

    It has never been exposed to the accidents of time and to the
weakness of man, because only the most capable were chosen for it, and
those who selected made no error.

    Through this school were developed the germs of all the sublime
sciences, which were first received by external schools, then clothed
in other forms, and hence degenerated.

    According to time and circumstances, the society of sages
communicated unto the exterior societies their symbolic hieroglyphs,
in order to attract man to the great truths of their Sanctuary.

    But all exterior societies subsist only by virtue of this interior
one.  As soon as external societies wish to transform a temple of
wisdom into a political edifice, the interior society retires and
leaves only the letter without the spirit.  It is thus that secret
external societies of wisdom were nothing but hieroglyphic screens,
the truth remaining inviolable in the Sanctuary so that she might
never be profaned.

    In this interior society man finds wisdom and with her All -- not
the wisdom of this world, which is but scientific knowlege, which
revolves round the outside but never touches the centre (in which is
contained all strength), but true wisdom, understanding and knowledge,
reflections of the supreme illumination.

    All disputes, all controversies, all the things belonging to the
false cares of this world, fruitless discussions, useless germs of
opinions which spread the seeds of disunion, all error, schisms, and
systems are banished.  Neither calumny nor scandal is known.  Every
man is honoured.  Love alone reigns.

    We must not, however, imagine that this society resembles any
secret society, meeting at certain times, choosing leaders and
members, united by special objects.  All societies, be what they may,
can but come after this interior illuminated circle.  This society
knows none of the formalities which belong to the outer rings, the
work of man.  In this kingdom of power all outward forms cease.

    L.V.X. is the Power always present.  The greatest man of his time,
the chief himself, does not always know all the members, but the
moment when it is necessary that he should accomplish any object, he
finds them in the world with certainty ready to his hand.

    This community has no outside barriers.  He who may be chosen is
as the first; he presents himself among the others without
presumption, and he is received by the others without jealousy.

    If it be necessary that real members should meet together, they
find and recognise each other with perfect certainty.

    No disguise can be used, neither hypocrisy nor dissimulation could
hide the characteristic qualities which distinguish the members of
this society.  All illusion is gone, and things appear in their true
form.

    No one member can choose another; unanimous choise is required.
Though not all men are called, many of the called are chosen, and that
as soon as they become fit for entrance.  Any man can look for the
entrance, and any man who is within can teach another to seek for it;
but only he who is fit can arrive within.

    Unprepared men occasion disorder in a community, and disorder is
not compatible with the Sanctuary.  Thus it is impossible to profane
the Sanctuary, since admission is not formal but real.

    Worldly intelligence seeks this Sanctuary in vain; fruitless also
will be the efforts of malice to penetrate these great mysteries; all
is indecipherable to him who is not ripe; he can see nothing, read
nothing in the interior.

    He who is fit is joined to the chain, perhaps often where he
thought least likely, and at a point of which he knew nothing himself.

    To become fit should be the sole effort of him who seeks wisdom.

    But there are methods by which fitness is attained, for in this
holy communion is the primitive storehouse of the most ancient and
original science of the human race, with the primitive mysteries also
of all science.  It is the unique and really illuminated community
which is absolutely in possession of the key to all mystery, which
knows the centre and source of all nature.  It is a society which
unites superior strength to its own, and counts its members from more
than one world.  It is the society whose members form the republic of
Genius, the Regent Mother of the World.

    Love is the law, love under will.