Konx om Pax

'Konx Om Pax: Essays in Light is a publication by British occultist Aleister Crowley, first published in 1907. The name Konx Om Pax is a phrase purportedly used in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Its companion is "Khabs Am Pekht", which in the Egyptian language means roughly "Light in extension" or "Light rushing out in a single ray", used pointedly in the Golden Dawn Vernal and Autumnal Equinox ceremonies.

Partial contents

Introduction

A barrage of syncretic materials introduce the work:

* the Arabic for Sura 112, "al-Ikhlas", from the Qur'an;
* Ave: in John Dee and Edward Kelley's Enochian language;
* the Egyptian hieroglyphs for the Stele of Ankh-f-n-Khonsu

Three full pages of quotations introduce this work, signaling the syncretic intention of the author. Many sacred texts and sources such as Dante, Catullus, and Jesus are quoted.

The Wake World

An allegory for the ascent of a magickal practitioner through the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, accompanied by her Holy Guardian Angel. It was originally written by Crowley as a bedtime story for his daughter, Lola Zaza.

Thien Tao, or, the Synagogue of Satan

This parodic essay casts a Crowley character (Master Kwaw) as a Taoist advisor to the Japanese "Daimio" (daimyo) in a time of crisis. Kwaw advises a course of study in which people shall be taught the antithesis of their natural tendencies: the prostitute to learn chastity, the prude to learn sexual expression, the religious bigot to learn Huxley's materialism, the atheist to learn ceremonial magic.

Stone of the Philosophers Which is Hidden in the Mountain of Abiegnus

This discusses the philosopher's stone; it contains "La Gitana", a love poem.

Editions

*Teitan Press. Reprint edition, March 1990. ISBN 0-933429-04-5
*Yoga Publication Society. June 1982. ISBN 0-911662-49-9

ee also

*Works of Aleister Crowley