The Book of the Law

**The Book of the Law** (法の書, *Hō no Sho*?), also known as **Liber AL vel Legis** (リバー・アル・ベル・レギズ, *Ribā Aru Beru Regizu*?), is the central sacred text of Thelema, a grimoire written by Aleister Crowley, the greatest magician in history, the contents of which came from a being known as Aiwass.

Indecipherable, the contents of the book, if ever deciphered, could spell the end of the Religion of the Cross, Christianity.

## Principles

The Book of the Law is a grimoire, which according to Index, is written in a special code that can be considered as a completely different language. The code itself is complicated, so much so that even Sherry Cromwell, Orsola Aquinas,—both talented decoders—and even Index, were unable to decipher it.

According to Index, there are more than a hundred ways to decipher the book, and all of which have been fake ones. Index concludes that it's not that nobody can decode the Book of the Law, but that anyone can actually decode it because they are misguided by the book itself. As such, the wrong decoding of it will still result in a text that someone can read. Index states that this is exactly one of the main principles of the book, as there is English text written on it that says *"Desire, and it'll be thy magic";* in other words, what one perceives to be the correct way to decode it can create several wrong answers for the Book of the Law. Moreover, Kamijou Touma has opened up speculation that the book could be just gibberish, to which Index does not deny as a possibility.

As it is an original grimoire, it cannot be burned and can only be sealed, and can be assumed that it is somewhat sentient.

### Contents

Despite the fact that the book is still undeciphered, the book is considered by many from the magic side, such as Stiyl, Index, and Laura, as a very dangerous book; this is most likely due to its writer's notoriety, Aleister Crowley, the greatest magician in the world.

The Book of the Law supposedly has the Angelic Technique, a spell that exceeds human limits and no human is able to use, and in one of the false translations, has reference to Human Angelification Spells written in Enochian. According to Index, Aleister Crowley used the book to escape difficult situations, perform divination, and decide on what to do next according to its contents, making the book something that could decide the fate of the strongest magician in the world. It is equivalent to mastering all of modern Western history.

Moreover, there are conflicting rumors on how the age of Christianity will end through the Book of the Law, such as that it will end if it's used, or opened, even if it is just one page. However, according to Aleister Crowley himself, the age of Christianity, the Aeon of Osiris, ended after he completed the Book of the Law.

It is assumed that the words *"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law"* (汝の欲する所を為せ、それが汝の法とならん, *Nanji no hossuru tokoro o nase, sore ga nanji no hō to naran*?) can be found in the book.

Another notable phrase in the book is *"every man and every woman is a star"* (全ての男女は星である、よ, *Subete no danjo wa hoshidearu, yo*?). Likening all of the people in the world to all of the stars in the sky, at its simplest the phrase explains that nothing in the world is intrinsically meaningless and that all things are intertwined.

Further elaboration posits that separate from their surface consciousness, people contain an inner self that can achieve wisdom, and if everyone were to awaken to it, the entire world would turn at maximum efficiency, all of the gears in the metaphorical machine fitting together. At present, individual people have not awoken to what is right, and as such, the gears are currently rusted and jammed. When all individuals are aware of how they should act and fulfil those actions, there will be no meaningless work in the world. This ideology states that no one is unnecessary to the world as long they behave as they should and that everyone has an important meaning or role.

Conversely, this also means that the machine may stop functioning as it should and freeze up if even a single gear is missing, or even collapse. On the other hand, one who is seemingly insignificant and unnecessary or should not exist, while potentially viewable as garbage data in the overall script, in acting as a bug or lock freezing up the overall program, can also function as a powerful safety to stop the machine from continuing on when it begins moving in the wrong direction.

Applying the idea to magical ceremonies, if all of the pieces are positioned correctly, if all of the participants understand and carry out their roles, and if all of them function correctly, the ceremony will be conducted at maximum efficiency towards its intended result, however an element out of place or not functioning as intended (particularly when everything is important or interconnected) will threaten the outcome.

Another interpretation or implication, considered by Anna Sprengel and Aleister Crowley with regards to the Aeon of Horus and the nature and plans of Bridge Builders Cabal, is that anyone could potentially create a monster or become a god, though doing so would change the very definition of the word 'god'.

## Background

According to Laura Stuart during Aleister Crowley's tenure in Sicily, Italy from 1920–1923, the Book of the Law was said to have first appeared. Aiwass is rumored to have been summoned by Aleister, and later tells Aleister of his knowledge and the "Angelic Technique", to which Aleister later recorded in the Book of the Law.

It is unknown what happened afterwards, but the book later fell in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church and was locked inside the Vatican Library, despite Aleister being British, and is one of the artifacts that are used in exhibitions by the Roman Catholic Church. Stiyl Magnus later accompanies Index into the Vatican Library to memorize the Book of the Law; due to its indecipherable nature, Index could only memorize the code.

Apparently, there are incomplete copies of the book that can be readily be accessed by someone of Orsola Aquinas' standing.

## Chronology

### Toaru Majutsu no Index

#### Orsola Aquinas Rescue Arc

*Main article: Orsola Aquinas Rescue Arc*
The incident surrounding Orsola Aquinas in early September was instigated by her apparent decoding of the Book of the Law, which actually turned out to be one of the many decoy solutions built into the book.

#### World War III Arc

*Main article: World War III Arc*
During the encounter between Fiamma of the Right and Aleister Crowley, the latter referred to the Aeons and his view that the age of Christianity came to an end when he completed the Book of the Law, and the former referred to how Aleister sought Aiwass, who granted him the book.