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        Key entry by Frater Occultus Non Extinctus - IXth O.:T.:O.:
                         Spell-checking by Nemo.
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                                Liber   L X X
                             The Cross of a Frog

                             STAUROS BATRACHOU,
                     the Ceremonies proper to obtaining
                     a familiar spirit of a Mercurial
                         nature as described in the
                      Apocalypse of St. John the Divine
                             from a frog or toad



                              STAUROS BATRACHOU

                              He had crucified a toad
                              In thee basilisk abode,
                              Muttering the Runes averse
                              Mad with many a mocking curse.


                                      0
  In this Ritual the Chief Officer representeth a Snake, because of Mercury.
  (the proper  food of snakes  is frogs.) The  Mystery of Conception  is the
  catching  of the  frog in  silence,  and the  affirmation of  the Will  to
  perform this ceremony.

                                      I
  The frog  being caught  is kept all  night in  an ark or  chest; as  it is
  written, 'Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's Womb'. Presently the frog will
  begin to  leap therein, and  this is an omen  of good success.  Dawn being
  come,  thou shalt  approach the  chest with  an offering  of gold,  and if
  available of frankincense  and of myrrh. Thou shalt then  release the frog
  from the chest with many acts of  homage and place it in apparent liberty.
  He may,  for example, be  placed on a quilt  of many colours,  and covered
  with a net.

                                     II
  Now take a vessel  of water and approach the frog, saying:  in the Name of
  the Father + and  of the Son + and of the Holy  Ghost (here sprinkle water
  on its head) I baptize thee, O creature  of frogs, with water, by the name
  of Jesus of Nazareth.

                                    III
  During the day thou shalt approach the frog whenever convenient, and speak
  words of worship. And thou shalt ask it to perform such miracles as thou
  desirest to be done; and they shall be done according to Thy Will. Also
  thou shalt promise to the frog an elevation fitting for him; and all this
  while thou shalt be secretly carving a cross whereon to crucify him.

                                     IV
  Night  being  fallen, thou  shalt  arrest  the  frog,  and accuse  him  of
  blasphemy, sedition  and so forth, in  these words:

     Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Lo, Jesus of Nazareth,
  how thou art taken in my snare. All  my life long thou hast plagued me and
  affronted me. In thy  name - with all other free souls  in Christendom - I
  have been  tortured in my boyhood;  all delights have been  forbidden unto
  me; all that  I had has been taken  from me, and that which is  owed to me
  they pay not - in thy name. Now, at last, I have thee; the Slave-God is in
  the power of the  Lord of Freedom. Thine hour is come; as  I blot thee out
  from this  earth, so surely shall  the eclipse pass; and  the Light, Life,
  Love and Liberty be once more the Law  of Earth. Give thou place to me, O,
  Jesus; thine aeon is  passed; the Age of Horus is arisen  by the Magick of
  the Master the Beast that is Man; and  his number is six hundred and three
  score and six. Love is the law, love under will.
  [A pause.]
     I, To Mega Therion [The Great Beast], therefore condemn thee, Jesus the
  slave-god, to be mocked and spat upon and scourged and then crucified.

                                      V
  This sentence  is then  executed. After  the mocking  upon the  Cross, say
  thus: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I, the Great Beast,
  slaying thee,  Jesus of Nazareth,  the slave-god,  under the form  of this
  creature of frogs, do bless this creature in  the name of the + Father and
  of the +  Son and of the +  Holy Ghost. And I assume unto  myself and take
  into my  service the elemental spirit  of this frog,  to be about me  as a
  lying spirit, to  go forth upon the earth  as a guardian to me  in my Work
  for Man; that  men may speak of my  piety and of my gentleness  and of all
  virtues and  bring to me love  and service and all  material things soever
  where I may stand  in need. And this shall be its  reward, to stand beside
  me and  hear the truth that  I utter, the falsehood  whereof shall deceive
  men. Love is the law, love under will.
     Then shalt  thou stab  the frog to  the heart with  the Dagger  of Art,
  saying: Into my hands I receive thy spirit.

                                     VI
  Presently thou shalt take down the frog from the cross and divide it into
  two parts; the legs shalt thou cook and eat as a sacrament to confirm thy
  compact with the frog; and the rest shalt thou burn utterly with fire, to
  consume finally the aeon of the accursed one. So mote it be!

  An XII                                                  The Adams Cottage
   Sun in Cancer                                           Near Bristol
    Moon in Aquarius                                        New Hampshire
                                  Therion                   U.S.A.

