Anthony Testa - The Key of the Abyss.pdf

Adept; he is pushed onward by the irresistible momentum that he has
generated. Should he fail, by will or weakness, to make his self
annihilation absolute, he is none the less thrust forth into the Abyss;
but instead of being received and reconstructed in the Third Order, as
a Babe in the womb of our Lady BABALON, under the Night of Pan, to
grow up to be Himself wholly and truly as He was not previously, he
remains in the Abyss, secreting his elements round his Ego as if
isolated from the Universe, and becomes what is called a "Black
Brother". Such a being is gradually disintegrated from lack of
nourishment and the slow but certain action of the attraction of the
rest of the Universe, despite efforts to insulate and protect himself, and
to aggrandize himself by predatory practices. He may indeed prosper
for a while, but in the end he must perish, especially when with a new
Aeon a new word is proclaimed which he cannot and will not hear. 133
First, note that Crowley here states that the Ordeal of the Abyss is not
optional; an Exempt Adept will be drawn into it in spite of his wish not
to. Now Crowley makes a curious statement regarding the
consequence of failure; (the magician who fails) remains in the Abyss,
secreting his elements round his Ego as if isolated from the Universe,
and becomes what is called a "Black Brother". This, it should be
noted, is yet another definition of a Black Brother. There are at least
three that we have thus far encountered
1. The magician has refused to sacrifice himself and anchored
himself to the lower universe by blood sacrifice
2. The magician that falls from the tree on being ejected from the
Abyss
3. The magician is trapped in the abyss.
If the Black Brothers are situated in Da’ath, then we may ask, where
does the one who has been ejected from the Abyss and falls from the
tree end up. That is to say, if the towers of the Black Brothers are
locate in the Abyss, how does he fall altogether from the Tree of Life
and to attain the Towers of the Black Brothers 134
133 Magick - A glimpse of the structure and system of the Great White Brotherhood.
134 Ibid.
95