Now here is the Mystery of the Origin of Evil. Firstly, by Evil we mean that which is in opposition to our own wills: it is therefore a relative, and not an absolute, term. For everything which is the greatest evil of some one is the greatest good of some other, just as the hardness of the wood which wearieth the axeman is the safety of him that ventureth himself upon the sea in a ship built of that wood. And this is a truth easy to apprehend, being superficial, and intelligible to the common mind.

All evil is thus relative, or apparent, or illusory: but, returning to philosophy, I will repeat that its root is always in duality. Therefore the escape from this apparent evil is to seek the Unity, which you shall do as I have already shewn you. But I will now make mention of that which is written concerning this in The Book of the Law.

The first step being Will, Evil appears as by this definition, ``all that hinders the execution of the Will.'' Therefore is it written: ``The word of Sin is Restriction.'' It should also be noted that in The Book of the Thirty Aethyrs {Book 418} Evil appears as Choronzon whose number is 333, which in Greek importeth Impotence and Idleness: and the nature of Choronzon is Dispersion and Incoherence.

Then in the Way of Love Evil appears as ``all that which tends to prevent the Union of any two things.'' Thus The Book of the Law sayeth, under the figure of the Voice of Nuit: ``take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me.'' For every act of Love must be ``under will,'' that is, in accordance with the True Will, which is not to rest content with things partial and transitory, but to proceed firmly to the End. So also, in The Book of the Thirty Aethyrs, the Black Brothers are those who shut themselves up, unwilling to destroy themselves by Love.