Hadit (sometimes Had) is a deity in

Thelema Thelema () is a Western esotericism, Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and a new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial ma ...

, a Western esoteric and

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

social or spiritual philosophy and a

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...

founded in the early 1900s by

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

(1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. Hadit is the principal speaker of the second chapter of ''

The Book of the Law ''Liber AL vel Legis'' (), commonly known as ''The Book of the Law'', is the central sacred text of Thelema. The book is often referred to simply as ''Liber AL'', ''Liber Legis'' or just ''AL'', though technically the latter two refer only to ...

'', which was written or received by

in 1904.

Descriptions

Hadit identifies himself as the point in the center of the circle, the axle of the wheel, the cube in the circle, "the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star", and the worshipper's own inner self. When juxtaposed with

Nuit Nuit (alternatively Nu, Nut, or Nuith) is a goddess in Thelema, the speaker in the first chapter of ''The Book of the Law'', the sacred text written or received in 1904 by Aleister Crowley. Nuit is based on the Ancient Egyptian deities, Ancient ...

in ''

'', Hadit represents each unique point-experience. These point-experiences in aggregate comprise the sum of all possible experience, Nuith. Hadit, "the Great God, the lord of the sky", is depicted on the Stele of Revealing in the form of the winged disk of the Sun,

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

of Behdet (also known as the Behdeti). However, while the ancient Egyptians treated the Sun and the other stars as separate, Thelema connects the sun-god Hadit with every individual star. Furthermore, ''The Book of the Law'' says: "Every man and every woman is a star." Hadit is the Secret Seed. In ''The Book of the Law'' he says; "I am alone: there is no God where I am." He is "the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star." He is identified with kundalini; in ''The Book of the Law'' he says, "I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one. There is great danger in me..."

History

The earlier, Egyptian version, went by the name of Heru-Behdeti or

of Behdet ( Edfu), Haidith in Greek. Thoth let him take the form of the solar disk to help a younger version of Horus—Re-Horakhty, or Ra-Hoor-Khuit—in a battle with

Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

and his army. Both versions of Horus appear in the Egyptian image that Thelemites call Stele 666, a Dynasty 25 or 26 offering stele formerly in the Boulaq Museum, but now in the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

in Cairo, also known as the Stele of Revealing.

Identity

In ''Magick in Theory and Practice'', Hadit is identified by Crowley as

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

. This assertion is made in a footnote where Crowley is discussing the Devil, who he asserts does not exist. He goes on to clarify his statements by explaining that the Devil is in reality a label for the God of any people that one dislikes, and that this fact has led to so much "confusion of thought" on the subject that Crowley prefers to:

Descriptions

History

Identity

See also

References

Works cited

Other sources

Further reading