ON is a transliteration of the Egyptian Iwnw, the ancient name of the city of Heliopolis, and by extension a name for the solar god Ra or Khephra in his aspect as the self-begotten, self-creating light. As a magical formula, ON signifies the solitary assertion of divinity—the Word that declares itself without pre-existing matter or consort. It resonates with the root meaning 'to be' or 'to exist,' capturing the essence of being from and through itself.

Position on the Tree of Life

ON occupies Path 25, the 25th path of the Tree of Life (the 26th scale step in the 0-to-32 enumeration used in Liber 777). This path connects Netzach and Hod, translating the sphere of Victory (Neptune/Venus) into the sphere of Splendor (Mercury). It is the path of the Arrow, ruled by the zodiacal sign Sagittarius, whose glyph is the arrow aimed at the center of the target. This position emphasizes directed force, aspiration, and the single-pointed will that burns through illusion—a fit vehicle for the formula of self-begotten existence.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

The astrological correspondence of Path 25 is Sagittarius, the ninth sign of the zodiac, a mutable fire sign. Its planetary ruler is Jupiter, but in the qabalistic schema of Liber 777 the path itself is assigned to the element of Fire in the Yetziratic attributions (the 25th path is called the Intelligence of Probation, or the Tentative Intelligence, and is placed under the dominion of Fire). The formula ON, then, operates through the fiery, questing energy of the centaur’s bow: the concentrated flame that seeks to unite the lower will with the higher light, consuming all that is not self-kindled.

Historical context

In Egyptian theology, Iwnw (Heliopolis) was the cult center of the sun-god Ra-Atum-Khephra. Here the primordial hillock emerged from the waters of Nun, and Atum (the self-created) masturbated or spit forth the first gods. The name Iwnw itself meant 'column' or 'pillar,' referring to the obelisks that stood as petrified rays of the sun. The Greeks called it Heliopolis, 'city of the sun.' Within the esoteric traditions of the Golden Dawn and Thelema, ON is taken up as a compressed divine name for the solar aspect of Kether—the crown as a point of pure, unconditional being. It appears in the Bornless Ritual (the Preliminary Invocation of the Goetia) in the phrase Aia Thoth Ass-on On: 'I am Thoth, the self-begotten.' Aleister Crowley, in his Book of Thoth, associates ON with the Atu of the Universe (the last card of the Tarot), but more directly, Path 25 is related to the Tarot trump The Art (Temperance) in some correspondences, and to the Prince of the Chariot (Sagittarius) in the Thoth deck. The formula ON is used in certain high magical operations to represent the phase of self-generation: the creation of a god or a talisman from one’s own substance without external aid. It stands in parallel and contrast to other two-letter formula like AL and LA, but whereas AL ('God' in Hebrew) implies an object, ON implies pure subjectivity—the I that says 'I am that I am.'

In the context of the magical formulae column of Liber 777, ON appears specifically at Path 25. This placement ties the formula to the self-assuming, arrow-like nature of Sagittarius: the force that projects consciousness into being. It is the cry of the initiate who, having passed through the phases of generation and dissolution, declares the self-created light that requires no other source.