Significance of the ALW System Explained

In 1976 James Lees and his colleagues decided to work on the riddle in the Book of the Law:

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 (AL II:76)

They tried to solve this riddle via Hebrew Gematria, in which they were well-versed and
experienced. Every calculation they made resulted in the wrong value for this sequence: 286.
Lees noticed that this was “the wrong result, but the right answer as far as AL was concerned”.
286 was the result of 22 x 13, reflecting the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the 13 months
of the Jewish calendar (revealing the importance of the Moon in Judaism, as the first day of every
month begins with a new moon).
286 was also the result of 26 x 11, reflecting the 26 letters of the English alphabet and the number
11, which is mentioned several times in Liber AL as a number of importance:

“I am the Empress & The Hierophant. Thus eleven, as my bride is eleven” - AL II:16 (Hadit's
chapter)
“My number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us” - AL I:60 (Nuit's chapter)

Lees thought that if 13 showed a key to the Hebrew alphabet, then 11 could indicate a key to the
English alphabet. As per the grid in Crowley's manuscript of Liber AL, Lees counted every 11th
letter of the alphabet as the order and then assigned them values in sequence. AL states that it
should only be printed with the hand-written manuscript included - “for in the shape of the letters
and their position to one another: in these are mysteries that no Beast shall divine”.

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

Lees discovered this cipher precisely on November 26, 1976. That date will become especially
revelatory on further examination.
“L”, Lamed, is the 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and it follows “A” or Aleph, the 1st Hebrew
letter. “L” is also the 12th letter of the English alphabet, following the first letter “A”. Continuing the
sequence of counting every 11th letter beginning with A and L, the next letter in this sequence is
“W”. The first three letters in the sequence thus form ALW – an anagram of LAW (As in The Book
of the LAW, or Liber AL vel Legis), and also heavily implied by verse 19 of Nuit's chapter in that
same book:

“O Azure-Lidded Woman, bend upon them!” (AL I:19)

For what other reason would those specific letters be capitalised? But this is not the only fascinating
curiosity in the cipher.
For instance, it was discovered on November 26, which is 26/11, again referencing the 26 letters of
the English alphabet and the cycle of 11 that is inherent to the cipher.
Also, it was in November 1976 or 11:76, which when written out forms the exact verse in which
the riddle of Liber AL is located [AL II:76].
Let us take a moment to examine the grid of letters and numbers in the manuscript of AL that forms
the Key to solving this riddle:

The Y axis is denoted by the numbers 1-10, as the X axis is denoted by the letters A-H. We find in
AL III:47 “then this line drawn is a key...and Abrahadabra”, which explicitly tells us that the
Qabalistic Order and Value can be found on the diagonal line indicated in the text. Abrahadabra is
a word of 11 letters, which only gives us more evidence that this is the Key itself.
To add more evidence of the grid's significance, the grid itself is also a map that shows where the
Key was discovered. That diagonal line is, in actuality, a public road; the “circle squared” (on
column d, row 7 on the grid) represents a portion of land which a property dealer had named “Rosy
Cross” after he had successfully bet on a horse under that name in a race. When the whole diagram
is interpreted as a literal roadmap thus, James Lees' house is located precisely on the word
“whence” in the grid (row 5, column C).
Another extremely curious detail comes from the text of Liber AL - “then this circle squared in its
failure is a key also”. The circle squared that is mentioned is in the square corresponding to the
letter “K”, whose value is 9 according to the ALW cipher. The square of 9 is 81, which is precisely
the value of “Rosy Cross” according to the cipher – the actual physical location which corresponds
to the area in which the squared circle was drawn in the manuscript.
If one were to continue the sequence of letters in the grid from top to bottom and from left to right,
then this circle squared in its failure also intrudes into the adjacent square which is alotted to the
letter “U”, whose value in the cipher is 17. Adding the values of both letters that correspond to the
squares which contain the circle (K=9 and U=17) gives 26, as in the 26 letters of the English
alphabet.
Now, the string of letters and numbers in AL II:76 has a total value of 351 according to the ALW
cipher. Adding the value of every letter in the English alphabet according to that same cipher
produces a total value of 351.
In the page of the manuscript that contains the string of letters and numbers, the string is divided
into two lines. The first line has 17 letters and numbers, and the second has 11. The second line
begins with the letter X, which suggest multiplication. Multiplying 17 x 11 produces a total of 187,
which is the precise value of “English Alphabet” according to the ALW cipher. Curiously, the
phrase “in its failure” (referring to the squared circle in the manuscript's grid) also totals 187 when
using the cipher.
Another key verse of Liber AL is called into question at this junction:

“Thou shalt obtain the Order & Value of the English Alphabet; thou shalt find new symbols to
attribute them unto.” (AL II:55)

This appears to be grammatically incorrect: “English Alphabet” is a singular whole, and the text
does not appear to say “the letters of the English Alphabet”, so the “them” in that verse must refer to
the “Order & Value”. According to the ALW cipher, “Order & Value” = 117, just as “Letters” also
totals 117. With that in mind, the sentence can be read:

“Thou shalt obtain the <letters> of the English Alphabet; thou shalt find new symbols to attribute
them unto.”

Finally, the ALW cipher which forms the English Qaballa also answers a great many other riddles in
Liber AL. In verses 22-24 of the first chapter we find:

I:22. Now, therefore, I am known to ye by my name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I
will give him when at last he knoweth me. Since I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof,
do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing &
any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt.

I:23. "But whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!"

I:24. "I am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty."

I:25. "Divide, add, multiply, and understand."

Nuit says that she has a “secret name”, and in that same verse the capital letters used in her
description form the name ISIS (the wife of Osiris in the Egyptian mythology), the ALW value of
which is 56. The value of Nuit is 78, and if we take the book's advice and divide that value into two
numbers and multiply them together, 7 x 8 = 56.
Finally, the number 93 is extremely important in Thelema – the two most important concepts in the
Law of Thelema are “Thelema” (Will) and “Agape” (Love). Both of these Greek words add to 93 in
the Greek system of Isopsephy (an equivalent of ALW, Hebrew Gematria, and such systems). In our
communications with each other, Thelemites will often abbreviate the second half of the Law of
Thelema - “Love is the law, love under will” - to 93 93/93 (Love love/will). The ALW cipher
throws this into an entirely new light:
Love is the law, love under will has an ALW total of 279, which is 93 x 3.
All of this seems to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is a lot more to this system than
mere coincidence. Applying the ALW cipher or English Qaballa to the Book of the Law reveals a
great many fascinating patterns and curious correspondences. This has given way to an entirely new
structured system of esotericism, with its own rules and principles.
The significance and synchronicity of the ALW cipher is such that if I refused to use it in my own
work and denied it its validity, I could spend another decade studying Thelema and Qabalah without
making any progress whatsoever.