The Letter A
A - THE STAR Value: 4⨀
A is the Star: that Fire Visible in the Sky corresponding each one to a Living Soul on Earth. It is that Point of Light that shines in the Darkness of Night; it is that which is fixed above the revolving Earth to guide the Traveller. Its sound when prolonged is the Song of Ecstasy (Aaaaaa!). When punctuated with H, or the Light, it is the sound of discovery (aha!) so that the A in itself concentrates already that Light into the Wheel, whereas the I, is the Ray, the Hollow Tube wherein was hidden the stolen Fire of Heaven. By extending the middle bar, it becomes the Pentagram. In this way the A, the Star, can be seen as the concentration of this Light, whereas I is the projectile Light1. And these are both the feminine and masculine forms of 4.
| Title | Value | Attribution | Sex | Weapon | God/Goddess |
| The Star | 4 | The Sun | Male | The Lamen or Bow & Arrow | Apollo, Helio, All Solar Dieties... |
Notes
The letter A takes as its origin the letter aleph, which in the Old Key was the first and enumerated as 1. The revelation of the Aeon and the Aethyrs reveals three positions (1, 2 and 3 or E, F and C) preceding the A in the new system2. Together, these three engender and provide the framework for the manifestation of the Star. They are: the Triple Flame and Light (E), the Separation of Space (F) and The Night-Sky (C) without which there could be no suns.
Finally note that the lower case ‘a’ suggests an ear3 in Form, and the common manner of drawing an ear is an ‘a’ with a loop around one end of it. The Student will note that “the ear’ equals 111 when T is taken as final, and that 111 is the full enumeration of aleph in the old key. One can proceed with such analyses to determine the precise manner in which the glyphs have transitioned. To provide another example, we take the next letter: B, the Book, which in the old Key is beth, which is beth-heh-tau which spelt in full as beth-yod-tau he-he teth-aleph-vau = (2 +10 + 400) + (5 + 5) + (9 + 1+ 6) = 438 = 8 + 200 + 200 + 30 = Book, etc. Indications of this nature abound. The student may profit greatly from meditation upon them.
1 ‘A’ is also the Arrow after a certain mystery (see Liber 418), wherein its projectile nature is also evinced.
2 The proper ordering of the glyphs by their value is presented at the end of the chapter.
3 The organ of Spirit.