Introduction
In this interview Jack Fox-Williams, the author of The Black Star of Nuit, provides some very in-depth answers to my questions. I really appreciate Jack taking the time and effort to answer these as I put a lot of thought into how best to discuss his book as there is just so much inside. Take a look at the contents that I have shared below:
Introduction
Gnosticism
Interpretations of Nothingness
Satanism
Heru-Ra-Ha
Cosmogenesis
The Nightside of Eden
The Mystery of Daath
The Thoughtless Light
Pravritti and Nivritti
Manvantara and Muhapralaya
Negative Archetypes
Vajrayana Buddhism
The Qliphothic Spheres
Emptiness and Fullness
Ain: Absolute Nothingness Beyond Being and Non-Being
Ain Soph: The Centreless Centre in the Womb of Infinite Nothingness
Ain Soph Aur: The Luminosity of the Eternal Void
Conclusion: Uniting the Left and Right-Hand Path
Practical Magic
You can see more information about this book here.
Interview
Unifying Paths and Dualities
PAA: In what ways does The Black Star of Nuit aim to “unify both currents” of the left-hand and right-hand paths? Discuss how the book treats pairs of opposites (such as creation/destruction, being/non-being, God/Satan) as projections of a supreme nothingness beyond all duality.
Our magical order immersed ourselves deeply in many different spiritual currents, such as Gnosticism, Buddhism, Theosophy, Anti-Cosmic Satanism, and Luciferianism, and discovered that there were certain distinct, yet overlapping features. The anti-cosmic satanists view Ain (or nothingness) as the highest principle because they want to merge with the emptiness of fullness. While they consider themselves ‘left-hand path,’ this is the aim of many right-hand practitioners, particularly those in the East, who similarly wish to merge with the formless Parabrahman.
We have great respect for the anti-Cosmic satanists since we also view nothingness as one of the highest metaphysical principles. However, our tradition also differs insofar that we do not see nothingness as sterile, barren, or even ‘anti-cosmic’ but the impossible possibility that gives rise to the Oneness of Beingness while simultaneously transcending the “I AM.” Other right-hand practitioners, however, aim to merge with total unity or Oneness. At the moment, the spiritual marketplace is saturated with books on ‘unity-consciousness,’ Presence, and Pure Being. This all well and good. However, people fetishize unity to the point that they do not realize that even unity has its groundless ground in absolute nothingness. The number of spiritual new-agers who think I am describing ‘non-dual consciousness’ when I discuss absolute nothingness is startling. To attain absolute nothingness, one must even annihilate the concept of unity.
Then, there are Luciferians or Laveyan satanists who affirm a radical individualism, in which they separate themselves from the unity of God and strength their individuality. The aim of our spiritual praxis, however, is to attain all three objectives simultaneously. The highest grade in our initiatory order is Kaivalya, when the initiate recognizes their divinity and individuality, as symbolized by the Black Diamond. Crowley conceptualizes the soul as a point of implicit potentiality, following its unique orbit through infinite space, expressing its creative potential as the many simulacral forms that we see around us while simultaneously transcending them. In this sense, the soul is more akin to an eternal process, movement, going, or unfolding, than a ‘thing’ per se.
It is Beingness in Eternal Becoming, at once universal and unique, inseparable from the One Supreme Mind while retaining its Kosmic Individuality. Beingness overcomes itself through itself so that it can return to itself, allowing it to overcome itself again, ad infinitum. This process is aptly symbolized by the Ouborous eating its own tail while giving birth to itself. At the same time, it has its groundless ground in nothingness.
The demiurge is an incredibly complex point of discussion since there are many ways of interpreting it. For Plato, the demiurge was not an ‘evil’ or ‘malevolent’ figure but the Grant Architect, similar to Freemasonry, who fashioned the universe from the primal chaos of Tohu.
Jack Fox-William
Gnostic Demiurge vs. Self-Deification
PAA: What is the role of the Gnostic concept of the “demiurge” in The Black Star of Nuit? How does the book depict the Tree of Life path as tied to the demiurge’s divine order, in contrast to the Qliphothic path that seeks to “usurp the demiurge” in pursuit of self-deification and personal godhood?
The demiurge is an incredibly complex point of discussion since there are many ways of interpreting it. For Plato, the demiurge was not an ‘evil’ or ‘malevolent’ figure but the Grant Architect, similar to Freemasonry, who fashioned the universe from the primal chaos of Tohu. Many gnostic thinkers, however, believed that the demiurge was the ‘Blind Fool,’ the cosmic-creator, born from the womb of Sophia, who trapped the divine soul in the realm of matter. This view has since influenced many anti-cosmic sects, such as the Temple of the Black Light.
Our magical order, however, views the demiurge as symbolic of the mundane ego and its psychological characteristics. It represents the tyranny of organized religion, pushing certain spiritual practices to the margins of our cultural history because it considers them evil, depraved or taboo, such as tantric sexuality, self-immolation, sadomasochism, or intoxication. This is symbolized by the story of Cain and Abel. Abel represents the religious sheeple who blindly follow the ‘slave-morality’ of organized religion because they cannot appreciate any other perspective. He sacrifices animals in the name of Yahweh to appease his insatiable bloodlust. When Cain’s offerings were rejected because he refused to take sentient life, he murdered his own brother in lawless defiance, pushing Yahweh’s twisted logic to such an extreme that it bent and broke. In symbolic terms, this represents the initiate who not only breaks free from their cultural conditioning but symbolically ‘kills’ that which they love, including friends, family, and lovers, as part of the Negative Way so they can ascend towards the Three Negative Veils of Existence.
The demiurge also represents the mundane ego’s tendency to identify with phenomenal appearances and thus equate the Self with the relative plane of existence rather than the abstract principle of Beingness itself, the ineffable light in which creation and destruction take place. When our order claims that we wish to usurp the demiurgic intelligence to ‘become the demiurge,’ we mean that the initiate aims to ascend to a higher state of spiritual awareness, beyond the shackles of the mundane ego, the false king, so that he can not only discover his spiritual immortality but his eternal connection to the divine. When we emphasise the principle of separation over unity, we mean that we reject the ‘static unity’ of social conditioning, cultural programming, and religious brainwashing. This is what we mean by the ‘Killing of the King’ (the name of a freemasonic ritual in the 33rd degree). Primordial Unity is still revered as a fundamental metaphysical principle.
However, one must remember that separation is not only central to the alchemical process since the dross is separated from the god but shamanic rites of passage, where the initiate is ‘separated’ from the community so they gain acquire greater self-knowledge. The Infernal King, Asmodeus, is primarily associated with the alchemical processes of calcination, mortification, and separation, where the initiate burns the dross away from the gold through the dark night of the soul. This represents the initiate destroying their negative karma, mundane attachments/aversions and connection to the dominant cultural paradigm. We invoke Asmodeus through the primal element of fire, symbolizing the transmutation of the soul through the trials of calcination.
Thelemic Mysticism and the Left-Hand Path (Hadit & True Will)
PAA: How are Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic concepts integrated into The Black Star of Nuit? For example, what roles do Thelemic deities like Hadit (the “Hidden God” at the center of Nuit) or Ra-Hoor-Khuit (part of Heru-Ra-Ha) play in the text, and how does the book combine these with Left-Hand Path practices (such as traversing the Tunnels of Set and awakening the “Luciferian Light” in the seeker)?
The Black Star of Nuit espouses the view put forth by Sri Aurobindo, the Indian poet, who claimed that the individual Atman (or Hadit) is inseparable from the Supreme Self, the “I AM”, the One and All. This is what our order understands ‘Hadit’ to be – the conjunction of divinity and individuality. The Supreme Self is One insofar that it encompasses both subject and object, yet is neither since it cannot be characterized as one or the other. However, at the same time, it is infinitely multiplistic insofar that it fractures itself an infinite number of soul-centres so that it can express its replete possibility. There are an infinite number of Gods. You are God. I am God. Everyone is God. However, at the same time, they constitute the primordial unity behind the waking ‘dream’ that we call reality since each star is an infinitesimal point of supernal awareness. Each of these soul-centres is unique insofar that they possess a True Will. This is not individuality as we know it but Kosmic Individuality. When the initiate is transformed into the Black Diamond, the Ubermensch, the God-Man/Woman, the Boddhisatva, he/she does not deny the relative plane of existence, however, nor does he succumb to samsaric delusion, since he recognizes that the soul cannot be limited to phenomenal appearances, mental constructs, and emotional experiences, even as it makes them possible.
Crowley provides a Taoist view of the True Will in which he claims that it is each soul-centre in a process of endless Becoming. To fully understand this concept, we must examine his notion of Hadit, in which he conceptualizes each soul as a star following its true orbit through infinite space. He writes, “I am a Star in Space, unique and self-existent, an individual essence incorruptible; I am also one Soul. I am identical with All and None. I am in All and all in Me; I am apart from all and lord of all […] I am the All, for all that exists for me is a necessary expression in thought of some tendency of my nature, and all my thoughts are only the letters of my Name. I am the One […] for all my all is mine and not another’s mine, who conceive of others like myself in essence and truth, yet unique in expression and illusion.” When the individual attains Kaivalya, they realize that the individual Atman is unique insofar that it is the creator of ‘our’ own universe, our unique reality tunnel, yet is also inseparable from the One Supreme Self insofar that it is Beingness in Eternal Becoming. Since this Becoming is without beginning or end, it is all that has ever been, can be, and will be, and thus the One Supreme Reality. Thus, ironically, Eternal Becoming is the essence of Beingness, the One Primordial Principle that can never be rationalized or denied. This is similar to Heraclitus’ claim that “change is the only constant.” It is also reminiscent of Madame Blavatsky’s concept of abstract motion. This Eternal Becoming is symbolized by the sacred spiral, the Ouborous, the serpent that gives birth to itself while devouring itself. Beingness overcomes itself through itself to return to itself even as this return discloses its further potential for self-overcoming. All relative change, transformation, and flux is an expression of the soul’s eternal motion as it moves through infinite space, however, it cannot be limited to any specific movement since it is the archetypal principle of change itself.
The True Will is the spiritual destiny of the soul, the very imperative, impulse, or drive that propels its motion through infinite space. Chokmah is not only associated with creative movement but wisdom because it wills for the spirit to ascend through the relative plane back and reunite with the soul, understanding the fundamental nature of the Self, before it descends into the realm of matter again and aids each other soul in attaining liberation with the wisdom of emptiness and the skill of compassion. This is the Oath of the Boddhisatva. There is no end to this process and thus the True Will is boundless. The Supreme Self fractures itself into an infinite number of soul-centres, each sentient creature on its path to liberation. The Bodhisattva guides others through the relative plane, aiding them in breaking free from the illusion and achieving their own transformation. In the words of Nagarjuna, “nirvana is samsara and samsara is nirvana.” In other words, when a new-born soul comes into the world, the spirit descends into the world of matter and the individual succumbs to samsaric delusion. When the spirit reunites with the soul once more, it acquires knowledge of the Self before it returns to the samsaric plane to awaken others in an endless cycle. This is because the Divine seeks to endlessly express its boundless Love. The Boddhisattva does not deny the relative plane of existence, however, nor does he attach himself to it since he realizes that he is the ineffable light of awareness that makes subject and object possible. The body and mind become the conduits through which the True Will can express itself. He negotiates every situation with boundless dynamism since the conscious and subconscious are working in alchemical conjunction. There may times when he has to use physical force, strength, and power to neutralize his enemy, and there may be others where he has to use negotiation, deception, and rhetoric. However, he does not attach himself to the concepts of violence and non-violence because each situation demands its own rules of engagement. The True Will facilitates change on the relative plane, transforming each situation into an opportunity for greater liberation. The Boddhisatva understands that their actions are contextual, specific to each moment as it arises, however, they also realize that the True Will is ever limited to any specific situation since it is the higher imperative guiding their actions, facilitating transformation on the relative plane while continuing in its orbit.
In this sense, the Boddhisatva becomes a living embodiment of the godhead. They become the Black Diamond, the Ubermensch, the God-Man/Woman, the ultimate symbol of apotheosis. In the words of Nagarjuna, “nirvana is samsara and samsara is nirvana.” In other words, when a new-born soul comes into the world, the spirit descends into the world of matter and the individual succumbs to samsaric delusion. When the spirit reunites with the soul once more, it acquires knowledge of the Self before it returns to the samsaric plane to awaken others in an endless cycle. This is because the Divine seeks to endlessly express its boundless Love. One might ask themselves why the universe must unfold in this way, however, when the individual is fulfilling their True Will, all questions of ‘how’ and ‘why’ become redundant. Those of a nihilist predisposition may say, “well, all could remain in the emptiness and fullness of absolute nothingness,” however, Beingness is not antithetical to nothingness but its first and inevitable instantiation.
The image of the ‘black star’ plays such an important role in our magical order because it symbolizes the fact that awareness illuminates both subject and object while transcending them, never becoming an objective reality
Jack Fox-Williams
The Nature of Nuit and Nothingness
PAA: Why is Nuit used as a central symbol in the book? Considering that Nuit is described as the “Goddess of absolute nothingness” in Thelemic cosmology, what does the “Black Star of Nuit” represent in terms of infinite potential and the dissolution of all opposites?
The image of the ‘black star’ plays such an important role in our magical order because it symbolizes the fact that awareness illuminates both subject and object while transcending them, never becoming an objective reality. It is like a black light. This is why the archetypal image of the ‘black star’ is so important within our order. For us, it symbolizes the ineffability of the soul as inseperable from the Great Mother-Void of Nuit. Henri Corbin, the French mystic and theologian often referred to awareness as a ‘black light’ since it illuminates all while remaining mysterious. At the same time, the soul retains its Kosmic Individuality. The Primordial Unity expresses its fundamental truth through an infinite number of soul-centres, each one divine and unique. That which we describe as ‘Hadit-consciousness’ is incredibly hard to put into words. It must be spiritually intuited by each initiate. However, in essence, ‘Hadit’ symbolizes the point at which unity and (divine) individuality are brought into conjunction. Many Hindu mystics believe that when the soul dissolves into the impersonal Oneness of Brahman, there is no space for individuality. We believe it is far more complex, subtle, and nuanced than this since the individual Atman is both unique and universal. When the initiate attains spiritual enlightenment, he becomes a living embodiment of the godhead, the warrior-mystic, since he does not identify with phenomenal appearances, yet views them as a simulacral expression of the soul, a shadow-play of the black star. To reiterate, Hadit is like an artist, who uses the Kosmos as its canvas, however, in the same way that an artist can uniquely create, yet is never limited to their creations, the individual soul expresses itself through the relative plane, yet is never bound by it, since its Beingness is Eternal Becoming. The reason why Hadit is inseperable from Nuit is because the Self is not a metaphysical substance but the first primal instantiation of the formless void – it is the suchness of nothingness. This is explained in greater detail in Liber Nuit.
Meditation and the ‘Neither-Neither’ State
PAA: What is the “neither-neither” state of absolute consciousness mentioned in the book, and why is achieving this state important? How does the book suggest one can reach this state through meditation or mental discipline, and what does attaining such a state signify about the practitioner’s understanding of reality and the self?
Both Aleister Crowley and Kenneth Grant connect Nuit to absolute nothingness insofar that she is the ‘space beyond space.’ In the same way that space is without a boundary or perimeter, so too is absolute nothingness beyond all mental limitations; it is without a conceptual boundary. This is why Ain Soph means ‘without limit’ since every intellectual contrivance is an unnecessary limitation; it cannot ever qualify the Absolute. As Nagarjuna, the Buddhist philosopher, observed, enlightenment is not being, not non-being, not both being and non-being, and not neither being nor non-being, since it transcends all positive and negative dualities, even that of duality and non-duality. As the Taoists say, the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. In Hinduism, the yogi uses the technique of ‘Neti-Neti,’ meaning ‘not-this-not-that,’ where they negate all phenomenal appearances, mental constructs, and emotional experiences, until they eventually reach absolute nothingness. Many people characterize nothingness in a negative language of ‘non-being,’ ‘non-existence,’ and ‘non-consciousness,’ however, it is beyond absence and presence, emptiness and fullness, ‘is’ and ‘is not.’ As I extensively discuss in Liber Nuit, each Qliphoth sphere can be interpreted as an initiatory gate through which the negational process deepens with each step before they are catapulted into the Three Negative Veils of Existence. They negate the body, mind, space, time, motion, soul, spirit, even the Self, until they reach absolute nothingness. However, since they have opened the dark chakras – Lalata, Lalana, Golata, and Sunya – they open an energetic gateway to the formless void while simultaneously affirming all that was previously negated while simultaneously recognizing that all appearances are transient, empty, fleeting, and ephemeral. They undergo change precisely because the Absolute is changeless. Everything is viewed as a shadow-play of the luminous void. For us, this is the meaning of Kaivalya, meaning true liberation, which is when the dualistic, relative, archetypal, and absolute perspectives, are brought into conjunction. This is far from nihilism but ecstatic affirmation. The initiate becomes a living embodiment of the divine reality. I think many readers may have found my view that we are living in a ‘solipsistic universe’ confusing or controversial, however, I use the word ‘solipsistic’ in a metaphysical (rather than social) sense, meaning that, at the highest archetypal level, there is only the One Supreme Mind experiencing itself through itself. However, while most right-hand practitioners stop at Kether, we aim to go beyond the Trees of Life and Death, catapulting into the formless void, before we are spat out again, recognizing our divinity and individuality. Nothingness does not cancel these out entirely but actually makes them possible. In the Book of the Law, Hadit claims that he is the worshipper of Nuit, meaning that nothingness makes the Supreme Self available while transcending’ it. While the Supreme Self is Eternally Alone, it also fractures itself into an infinite number of soul-centres so that it can better understand itself through itself. Thus, unity and infinite multiplicity are two sides of the same coin. This paradox can only be intuited at the highest levels – one must understand how the Supreme Self is One and All, Eternally Alone, however, at the same time, there are an infinite number of soul-centres, each one unique, yet inseperable from the Self. The Universal One is reflected in the individual one, even as the former retains its Primordial Unity (or Eternal Aloneness), yet, the individual one is also reflected in the Universal One, even as it retains its Kosmic Individuality. Both, however, from the absolute perspective, are nothingness. Everything arises from nothingness, abides in nothingness, and returns to nothingness.
Multi-Traditional Synthesis / Uniting Left & Right-Hand Practices
PAA: The Black Star of Nuit draws upon a variety of spiritual traditions and philosophies. Which traditions are referenced, and how are their concepts woven into the book’s vision of spiritual evolution? In practical terms, how might a practitioner combine elements of the Left-Hand Path (individualism, self-empowerment, working with darker energies) with elements of the Right-Hand Path (devotion, compassion, unity with the divine) in their spiritual practice?
You are right. Our magical scheme is highly dynamic insofar that it combines various aspects of Qliphothic, Thelemic, and Typhonian magic. It is not limited to any specific paradigm. As I extensively discuss in Liber Nuit, we invoke the Qliphothic powers so that we can better understand the nature of the Negative Way. Each sphere is an initiatory gate through which the initiate annihilates the body, mind, space, time, motion, even Beingness, so that they can return to absolute nothingness. In this sense, our magical scheme shares a certain similarity with anti-cosmic traditions, such as the Temple of Black Light. However, meditation is also fundamentally important to our magical scheme since we believe that the initiate can only attain the ’neither-neither’ state when all bodily sensations, emotional experiences, and mental constructs are cancelled out. Many people equate this state with ‘non-being’ when this is nothing more than a dependently originating concept in itself. Moreover, we also use ritual to connect with certain archetypes on a much deeper level. The Black Star of Nuit, for example, contains many rituals to invoke the forces of Set, Horus, Hoor-Paar-Kraat, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit, because we believe that each of these reflects a certain aspect of the Supreme Reality. Through the use of magical correspondence, one can intuit these archetypes on a much deeper level. Again, these archetypes span a wide variety of mystical paradigms since we believe that the truth can only be discovered in the intersections between the right and left-hand path, rather than adhering to either one. Soon, however, I will be publishing further work on the more practical aspects of occultism, including tantric sexuality, self-immolation, intoxication, martial arts, dark empathy, ecstatic dancing, and so forth. These will be explored in the Tantric Qliphoth and the Order of the Dark Shaman, both of which should be published by Aeon Sophia Press next year. The Order of the Dark Shaman is a subsect of the Black Star of Nuit which aims to revive a pre-Christian shamanistic/tantric spirituality within a Qliphothic context.
Closing Note from Jack Fox-Williams
Thank you very much for your time and your interesting questions. It was a pleasure.
If any interested readers would like to contact me, you can reach me on the following email: jfoxwilliams@yahoo.co.uk
PAA: I really enjoyed these answers thank you so much for spending the time.
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