Trigrammaton Qabalah

R. Leo Gillis

My lecture at NOTOCON VIII centered around the Holy Book of

Thelema known as "Liber Trigrammaton sub figura XXVII: Being the Book
of the Mutations of the Tao with the Yin and the Yang," or "Liber 27" for
short. 1 Aleister Crowley penned this book in D ecember 1907, and later called
it "the ultimate foundation of the highest theoretical qabalah." 2 This lecture
set out to prove the truth of this statement, and to show that such a qabalah
can be created from " Liber 27 ." It consisted of numerous excerpts from The
Book cif Mutations, a large work that I compiled over the last fifteen years 3 and
which develops the theoretical framework of Trigrammaton Qabalah (T. Q.).
"Liber 27" consists of a set of 27 three-line figures, or trigrams, accompani ed by a short text for each. Every trigram is made up of a combination of
tao, yang and yin lines (thus the subtitle of the book). The key to unlocking
the meaning of this book is the realization that the trigrams are graphical
representations of all the numbers from 0 to 26, written in base-3 notation.
Normally we express numbers in the decimal, or base-10 system, which
has ten possible digits (0 through 9). Most of us are also familiar with the
base-2 or binary system, which has only two digits, (0 and 1). In base-3, or
ternary notation, there are only three digits: 0, 1, and 2. If we consider that
the tao represents 0, the yang represents 1, and the yin represents 2, then each
of the trigrams ca n be given a numerical value, based on the number and type
of lines, and their position in the trigram . The first axiom of the T.Q. is
therefore that tao = 0, yang = 1 and yin = 2.
Using the traditional method found in the I Ching, a trigram (or any
larger n-gram ) is built from the bottom line upwards. In the case of " Liber
1

In [Aleister C rowley], 8EATHW (London: s.n, 1909); rev. exp. ed. The H oly Books of
Thelema (York Beach, ME: Weiser, 1988).
2
[Aleister Crowley]. "A Syllabus of the Official Instructions of A:.A:. Hitherto Pub3 lished," The Equinox, Sep 1913, 1(10) : 45.
http: // www.lulu.com/ us/ en / shop/ r-leo-gillis/ the-book -of-mutations/ ebook/ product-16232925. html.
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27," the three positions of the trigram lines have a value of1, 3 and 9, i.e., 3 1 ,
3 2 , and 3 3 . Depending on which lines occupy these positions, the full value of
the trigram is revealed. A tao means that the position has no value, a yang
means the value is one times the position number, and a yin means the value
is two times the position number.
So for example, a trigram that has a tao, yang, and yin in ascending order
will have a value of 0 x 1 = 0; plus 1 x 3 = 3; and 2 x 9 = 18. The sum of all
three lines is therefore 0 + 3 + 18 = 21. This same method is used for all 27
trigrams. The result is a non-linear sequence of numbers: although all the
numbers from 0 to 26 are included in "Liber 27 ," they are not in numerical
sequence. For the record, the 27 trigrams appear in this order, as expressed in
decimal notation: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 6 - 9 - 18 - 4 - 5 - 7 - 8 - 10 - 11 - 19
- 20- 12- 15- 21 - 24- 13- 14- 16- 22- 17 - 23- 25 - 26.
What makes this base-3 notation capable of creating a theoretical qabalah
is the graphical nature of the trigrams. Based on the types of lines included in
the trigrams, the 27 figures fall into four distinct categories: the 0 contains
three tao lines; the next six trigrams contain two tao lines; the following
twelve trigrams contain one tao line, and the final eight trigrams contain no
tao lines, i.e., they are identical to the eight trigrams of the I Ching (which
does not make use of the tao) .
Note that the number of trigrams in each category corresponds with the
number of parts of a cube: 0 is the center; 6 are the faces, 12 are the edges,
and 8 are the corners. In fact, all 26 non-zero trigrams can be placed on the
cube in such a way that simple addition determines which trigrams occupy
which positions, and all trigrams are accounted for, with no gaps and no repetitions. This arrangement can only be accomplished by recognizing that each
trigram has an opposite, or complementary trigram, which is graphically
similar, but has different types of lines in it. This requires use of the second
axiom of the T.Q.: the tao is neutral, while yang and yin are opposites. The
use of the second axiom results in the concept of the "antigram." Two
trigrams are antigrams if their lines are occupied by opposite line types. Thus
if a trigram has a structure of 102, then its antigram will have the structure
201. The fundamental pair of antigrams are the numbers 1 and 2, which are
represented in a ternary trigram as 001 and 002.
In order to place all 26 non-zero trigrams correctly on the parts of a cube,
antigrams must be placed in physically opposite positions. We may begin by
placing trigrams 1 and 2 on oppo ite sides of the cube; then antigrams 3 and 6
are also placed on opposite sides, and finally antigrams 9 and 18 occupy the
remaining two ides. When this is done, the positions of the twenty remaining
trigrams is simple to determine: the edge, which is where two sides meet,
takes the value of the sum of those two sides; the corner, where three sides
meet, takes the value of the sum of those three sides. Using this tnethod, the
result is the placement of all 26 trigrams on the cube, uch that trigrams
which are on opposite positions on the cube are always antigrams.

Trigrammaton Qabalah

75

N aturally, base-1 0 is perfectly capable of showing how this arrangement

works out mathematically. But only the graphic structure of the base-3 trigrams
can explain why the pattern works in this way, and in no other way. For th ere is
only one arrangement of numbers that can accomplish this result on the cube.
The correlation between the "Cube of Space" and the trigrams shows
that, at a very fundamental level, there is a deep connection between the first
26 whole numbers, and one of the five Platonic solids, the simplest geometric
forms. But without the antigrams, and the base-3 expression of the numbers,
this fascinating correlation would have nothing to do with " Trigrammaton."
As it stands, "Liber 27" has allowed this very fundamental set of mathem atical
data to becom e known for the first time.
H aving established a numerical equivalent for each trigram , the next step
in the creation of a theoretical qabalah is to attribute the traditional categories
of the H erm etic tradition to the various trigram s. This is accomplished by
once again considering the trigrams in four groups, based on their graphical
stru cture, as noted below.
Group 1 contains only one trigram, with three tao lines. This is the zero,
which is the quintessence, or spirit. It is analogous to the Hebrew qabalistic
world of Atzilut.
Group 2 contains six members, each with a pair of tao lines: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9,
18. These six trigrams are attributed to the fundamental pair of yang / yin, and
the four Empedoclean elements of fire, water, air, and earth. As a gro up, they
are analogous to the qabalistic world of Briah, the creative world where something comes from nothing.
Group 3 contains twelve m embers, each of which has a single tao line: 4,
5, 7, 8, 10, 11 , 12, 15, 19, 20, 21 , 24. Note that this gro up sums to 156.
These twelve trigrams are attributed to the zodiacal signs, with each set of
four cardinal, fixed, or mutable signs having the tao line in the sam e position.
As a group they are analogous to the qabalistic world of Yetz irah, the formative world, w here som ething com es from som ething.
Group 4 contains the eight trigrams of the I Ching, which have no tao
lines: 13, 14, 16, 17, 22 , 23, 25 , 26. Like the previous group, these also sum
to 156. They are attributed to the seven sacred planets, as well as Gaia, planet
Earth. The planetary attributions are m ade based on structural principles that
align a planet's trigram with the zodiacal trigram wherein it rules or is exalted.
As a gro up, these eight trigrams represent A ssiah, the material world.
The next attribution given to every trigram is a letter of the English
alphabet. T his was done by Crowley in his commentary on " Liber 27 ." 4 T he
purpose of attributing letters to trigrams was to fulfill verse II:55 of Th e Book
of the L aw, whi ch states, "Thou shalt obtain the order & value of the English

Aleisrer Crowley, H. P Blavarsk:y, ]. F. C. Fuller, C harles Sransfeld Jones, Commentaries

on the Holy Books and Other Papers (York Beac h, ME : Weiser, 1996), 346-7.

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Alphabet; th ou shal t find new symbols to attribute them unto." T hese " new
symbols" are the trigram s, and when the E nglish letters are attributed to them,
th ey can then be given the numerical valu e of the trigram . T his creates a gematria of the E nglish language, w hich can be used to investigate the H oly Books
of T helema, and The Book of the Law in particular. I refer to this system as the
Trigranm1aton E nglish Gematria (T.E .G.). It should be noted that o f all the
many attempts to create an English gematria, this is the only one whose letter
attributions are derived fro m Crowley himself, and which does not use any type
of permutation of the received o rder of the alphabet.
Another set of attributions to the trigrams is the Tarot trumps. Since there
are only 22 trumps, but 26 no n-zero trigrams, the fo ur Princesses are elevated
to the status of trumps fo r this arrangem ent. N ote that the attributi ons do not
follow those of the Golden D awn and C rowley's T hoth Tarot, but are an
original set of correspondences that correlate the three broad categories of
trump subj ects-the estates of man, the trials of life, and the eschatological
realm-with the three groups of non-zero trigram s.
The resulting attributi ons of H ermeti c categories, alphabet letters and
Tarot subj ects are summarized in the T.Q. table on the next page.
The 27 trigram s are analogous to the eight I C hing trigrams and, like
them , they can be j oined in all possible combinati ons with each o ther, to
create a total of 27 x 27 = 729 hexagram s. Where the I Ching uses only 64
hexagrams to identify various energetic situatio ns, the T.Q. dramatically
expands this universe of discourse. 729 is a number of great mystical significance. It is known as " Plato's number" since it was expounded on by him at
length in his dialogue called the Timaeus. 729 is also the number of cells in a
27 x 27 magic square. Such a m agic square can be filled with every possibl e
TQ hexagram , and used for the operations of sigil magic.
The 729 hexagram s also occur as a neutral zero, and 364 pairs of antigram s. In this arrangem ent, the antigram pairs can be used to determine a
T helem.ic calendar of th e solar year, with zero as the day of the equinox, and
the other 364 pairs attributed to the remai ning days of the yea r (with each day
having a daytime and nighttime hexagram).
The methodology behind the creation of such a calendar relies on a curious
fac t abo ut the antigrams: fo r every w hole number, there is one and only one
antigram pair whose members diffe r by that number. For example, the numbers
156 and 204 are antigrams in ternary notation; they are represented as 012210
and 021120 respectively. This antigram pair diffe rs by 48, i.e. 204 - 156 = 48.
N o othe r antigram pair differs by the value of 48. T herefore, this pair can be
attributed to D ay 48 of the year, and so on for all the other 364 antigram pairs.
What makes such a calendar T helemic is the fact that it begins with a zero day
on M arch 20, the feas t of the Equinox of the Gods. From this starting po int,
day 93 is the Ju ne solsti ce, and day 186 (2 x 93) is the September equi nox.

Trig rammaton Q abalah

77

Hermetic, Alphabet, and Tarot Attributions of the TQ 5

Trigram
Value

Hermetic
Attribute

English
Letter

Tarot
Trump

Spirit

Yang

M agician

Yin

Fool

Fi re

H ierophant

Water

Priestess

Air

Emperor

18

Earth

Empress

Sagittari us

Tempera nce

Virgo

H anged Man

Gemi ni

Justice

Pisces

Lovers

10

Aries

Princess Wands

11

Libra

Princess Swords

19

Capricorn

Pri ncess Disks

20

Cancer

Princess C ups

12

Leo

Fortitude

15

Taurus

C hariot

21

Aquarius

H ermit

24

Scorpio

D eath

13

Su n

Sun

14

Saturn

D evil

16
22

M ercury

Angel

Ju piter

World

17

Venus

Star

23
25

Gaia

Wheel of Fortu ne

Mars

Tower

26

M oon

Silence

Moo n

T ills table reflec ts the le tte r- trigran1 attributi ons g ive n in Crowley's co nm1entary o n
''Liber 27." N ote that the rece ntly recove red C rowley-Windram copy of Thelema
(1909) gives slightly differe nt attributi ons.-ED.

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T he fact that each antigram pair has a unique difference-value provides an

alternative w hen studying th e properties of a give n number, w hether through
gematria or for some other reason. We can look at the number in isolation, or
in conjunction with its antigram, or as the value of the difference between two
antigrams. In the practice of gematria, this would be developed by looking at
all words that equal the sam e number, then by looking at wo rds that equal
both a number and its antigram , and finally by looking at words which represent a value that is the difference between two other antigram numbers.
The pairs of antigrams also open a window o nto another key methodology beyond just the difference value between them . Since antigran1s are
composed of lines that are of the opposite type, we can use them to create a
new formula , known as a "Transitional Triad." In order to create such a triad,
we must consider that the sequ ence of tao -yang-yin-tao-yar1g-yin makes a
repeating cycle. In order to go from tao to yin, we mu st go through yang. In
order to go from yang to tao, we must go through yin. In order to go from yin
to yang, we must go thro ugh tao. In effect , each type of line is the 'transition'
between the other two. This concept, first explored by Frater RVS in the
Valley of Buffalo and give n its nam e by the present author, is a powerful new
methodology available to the qabalist, for it allows the discovery of previously
unrelated numbers, and anything associated with those numbers.
Given any two numbers at random , one can discover a number that is
hidden between them , completing th e triad. For example, the decimal number
93 is written in ternary as 01011 0. The number 666 is written as 220200. If
we compare these two hexagrams side by side, we see that the number created
by transitioning between them is 100020, which is 249 in decimal. When the
line types are the same, there is no change made in the final hexagram. When
the line types are different, the final hexagram is given the third line-type,
which is the transition between them . In the case of 93 and 666, there is th e
number 249 hidden between them, and the qabalist should investigate this
number to see what light it might shed on the concepts associated with 93 and
666. In this instance, the number 249 is the English (and Greek) gematria
valu e of the sentence "The word of the Law is 9EATJ[W."6
When applying the Transiti onal Triad method, if two of the members of
the Triad are antigrarns, then the third m ember is always zero. Thus it turns
out that th e concept of antigram s is only a special case of the m ore general
rule about Triads of ternary numbers.
One might be forgiven for thinking that the Transitional Triad m ethod is
simply an intriguing m athem ati cal exercise. But it does have a certai n application in the physical world. If one co nsiders the periodic table of the chemical
elements, it is obvious that the elements are arranged in a grid w here all
elements in the same column, or "group," have similar chemical properti es.
6 AL 1:39.

Trigrammaton. Qabalah.

79

For example, copper, silver, and gold are all in group 11 together, and have
very similar p roperties.
As it turns out, in certai n sectio ns of the periodic table, if one takes three
consecutive atomic numbers from the sam e column, the result is a Transitional
Triad. The first instance of this is argon (18), krypto n (36), and xenon (54).
The numbers 18 and 36 make a triad with the number 54, since they are
represented in ternary as 000200, 0011 00, and 002000. Obviously, since they
are all " noble gases," argon, krypton, and xenon have very similar properties .
T he fact that their atomic numbers make a triad seem s hardly a coincidence,
especially since the phenom enon occurs repeatedly in the table. We can therefore see that the applicati on of this m ethodology has consequences we could
not have imagi ned w hen looked at strictly in mathem atical terms. Just as the
periodic table is the theoretical fram ework for chemistry, so is "Liber 27'' and
its trigrams the theoreti cal framework for a new qabalah.
The T.Q. is, to use a shopworn phrase, a new paradigm. By dispensing
with the fram ework of the decimal system , and replacing it with ternary notation, many aspects of arithmology becom e revealed for the first time. In addition to that, a new system of classification can be achieved , which absorbs the
m ore specific rules of the H ebrew qabalah and the I Ching into a more
general synthesis, a G rand Unified Theory of qabalah, if you will. Perhaps the
simplest way to look at the trigrams of " Liber 27" is to consider the precedent
set by C rowley when he created all the numerous tables found in his book
777.1 In the new Aeon, these tables of correspondences must have as their
very first column the 27 trigrams. The second column would then be the
numerical equivalents of these trigram s. And all the remaining columns wo uld
be arranged according to the structural aspects of the first column, with each
of the 27 rows applying to a single trigram , in all its variety of m eanings.
T he extent to w hich the T.Q. can be developed and applied is vast. For
example, the trigrams can be attributed to all of the Plato nic solids, in a
similar fas hion to the C ube of Space. Such arrangem ents can be used to determine the layout of a magical temple. Pentagrams for banishing and invoking
can be created from the interaction of trigrams, and their numeri cal values can
be used for the gematria of phrases utilized in the banishments and invocati ons. Numerous m agic squares of va rious sizes can be created from the
hexagram s, m any of w hich have the novel featu re of being able to reverse the
order of digits in each cell, and still rem ain a magic square. Sigil m agic can
then be done with th ese squares, using any conve nient gem atria system to
determine the design of the sigil. And of course the trigram s ca n also be used
as the basis for an E nglish gematria, with all the con equences that entails.
Astrological characteristi cs and data can be qualified and quantified using the
7

[Aleiste r C rowley], 777 vel Prolegomena Symbolica ad Systmwm Sceptico-Mysticae Viae Explicande, Fundamm.tum H ieroglyphic11m Sa11ctissimorum Scientiae Summae (London: Walter
Sco tt, 1909).

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trigrams, both as symbols for planets and signs, and as coordinates for zodiacal
degrees and as pects (both tropical and sidereal). The qabalistic Tree of Life ca n
be seen in many new aspects, incorporating the English alphabet and the I
C hing hexagrams. Scrying these pathways can be assisted by use of the
trigrams. And m ost importantly, the ability of the trigrams to be used for classification can bring astrology, the H ebrew, Greek, Runi c, and English alphabets , the Tarot, the I C hing and many other system s together under one roof.
And all of this is du e to the fact that Crowley's assessment was correct; "Liber
27" is truly " the ultimate foundation of the highest theoretical qabalah ."