Abbreviations and Sigla

8.1 Scope of this chapter

This chapter sets out when to abbreviate in Thelemic and esoteric writing and how abbreviations and sigla are punctuated, capitalized, and set. It gives the general and scholarly abbreviations the field’s writers meet most often, the sigla for the Thelemic corpus with a concordance of Liber numbers, and the standard sigla for other primary sources. It closes with the forms for journals, reference works, and repositories.

8.2 Abbreviations and sigla

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or name: fol. for folio, MS for manuscript, O.T.O. for Ordo Templi Orientis. A siglum is a short form that stands for a text, a manuscript or version of a text, a book, or a periodical, and that combines with a locus to make a reference. The two are punctuated and set differently. Abbreviations take periods by the rule in 8.8; sigla take none and are set as 8.13 describes. A practice siglum stands for a ritual and takes no locus (see 8.33).

8.3 When to abbreviate

Use abbreviations in notes, parenthetical references, tables, lists, and bibliographies. In running text, write words out, except for initialisms defined at first use (see 8.4, 8.27), the abbreviations of dates and times (see 3.58–3.60), and sigla where 8.13 and 8.33 allow them. Confine e.g. and i.e. to parentheses and notes; in running text, write for example and that is.

Define an abbreviation for a term or title only if it is used five times or more in an article or chapter. Below that number, use no abbreviation, except that one better known to some readers than the full form may be given once, in parentheses after the first use. The sigla in 8.29–8.34 are the standard forms of reference for the works and rituals they stand for, and a work uses them at every reference, however few.

8.4 Expansion at first use

At the first use of an abbreviation or siglum, give the full form followed by the short form in parentheses, and use the short form thereafter where 8.3 and 8.13 allow it. In an article, expand at first use in the article; in a book, expand at first use in each chapter. Where the first use falls in a note, expand it in that note. An abbreviation defined in an abstract is defined again in the text. Some abbreviations need no expansion: the general abbreviations in 8.15–8.18, the language abbreviations in 8.23, the abbreviations for the books of the Bible in 8.35, the era abbreviations CE and BCE, and abbreviations the work’s dictionary enters as nouns, such as URL.

8.5 Lists of abbreviations

A book that uses sigla, or abbreviations beyond the general ones in 8.15–8.18, carries a list of abbreviations in its front matter. An article that uses more than five such forms gives the list in its first note. Arrange the list alphabetically by abbreviation. Give each abbreviation in the form and type used in the text, followed by its expansion; give titles in full, italicized where the title takes italics. Include every Thelemic siglum the work uses, and where the work cites a text from one edition throughout, name the edition after the title. A list does not replace expansion at first use (see 8.4).

8.6 Tables and captions

A table may use abbreviations and sigla that the text does not, where its width requires them. Any that the work’s list of abbreviations does not carry are defined in a note to the table. In a column headed Class, a class may be given by its letter alone; elsewhere write Class A. A caption follows the practice of running text.

8.7 Titles and headings

In the title of a work and in its headings, write names, titles, and terms in full, without sigla or scholarly abbreviations. A heading that names a single passage may give it by siglum and locus. A title quoted from a source keeps the abbreviations it prints (see 8.12).

8.8 Periods

Write an abbreviation that includes two or more capital letters without periods, even where it also has lowercase letters: MS, TS, CE, NHC, UGLE, PhD, DPhil. Any other abbreviation that ends in a lowercase letter takes a period: fol., vol., cf., Fra. A body that writes its own initials with periods keeps them: O.T.O., E.G.C. A motto written as initials is given as its bearer wrote it, periods included (see 3.27). Initials standing for a person’s given names take periods. Sigla take no periods (see 8.13).

A∴A∴ is a name, and its marks are not periods. It has one form; do not give an expansion of the name as its equivalent (see 3.16).

8.9 Spaces and line breaks

Close up an initialism, with or without periods. Initials standing for a person’s given names take a space after each period. Put one space between a siglum and its locus, and no space within a numbered reference such as 1:40, II,3, or 3.10. Keep a siglum on the same line as its locus, and a folio or page number on the same line as its abbreviation; in typeset and web text, join them with a nonbreaking space. Do not break an initialism, or A∴A∴, at the end of a line.

8.10 Capitals, type, and position

An abbreviation keeps its capitalization wherever it stands, with one exception: a lowercase abbreviation that opens a note is capitalized. In running text, recast a sentence that would open with a lowercase abbreviation or a siglum, or write the word out. Set initialisms and era abbreviations in full capitals, never in small capitals. Sigla for texts are roman, and abbreviated titles of books and periodicals are italic (see 8.13).

8.11 Plurals, possessives, and articles

The plurals of the common scholarly abbreviations are fixed: MSS, TSS, pp., nn., vv., chs., fols., vols. Any other all-capital abbreviation forms its plural with s and no apostrophe: URLs. A siglum has no plural; write both texts, or name each. For possessives, see 3.15.

Choose a or an by how the abbreviation is read aloud: an O.T.O. lodge, a UGLE lodge. A text siglum takes no article. A practice siglum takes the article its expansion takes.

8.12 Abbreviations in quoted matter

Quoted matter keeps its source’s abbreviations, with their periods and capitals, however they differ from the forms in this chapter: Crowley’s e.v., a correspondent’s A.'.A.'., a diarist’s abbreviated months. Titles likewise keep the abbreviations they print. Where an abbreviation in a quotation would puzzle a reader, explain it in brackets at its first occurrence or in a note; never expand it silently (see 3.69). In a received text, explain it only in your own sentence or in a note (see 3.70).

8.13 How sigla are set

Set a siglum for a text in roman, without periods, closed up, and in the capitalization fixed for it: AL, Cor, VV, NHC, PGM. A siglum that abbreviates the title of a periodical or a book is italic: Eq, AQC, DGWE. A siglum keeps its form in every position, in text, notes, tables, and lists alike.

With a locus, a text siglum is followed by one space and the reference, in arabic numerals except where a roman numeral is part of an object’s designation (see 8.37): AL 1:40; NHC II,3; PGM IV.475–829. The verse reference, its ranges, and its divisions are set out in 6.13–6.17; a siglum for a work cited by page takes the form given in 8.34. In running text, name a work by its title and put the reference in parentheses. A siglum with its locus stands in the sentence itself only where 6.17 allows. Without a locus, a text siglum does not stand for its work in running text.

8.14 Defining a siglum for one work

Define a siglum of your own only for a work cited often in one book or article, and only where a short title will not serve (see 5.8). Define the siglum at first use and in the work’s list of abbreviations where the work has one (see 8.4, 8.5). Form it from the distinctive word or the initials of the title, without periods: roman for a text, italic for a book or periodical. Do not define a siglum that repeats, or differs by a letter from, one in this chapter, and never use a numeral alone as a siglum except 777 (see 8.34). A work that has a siglum in 8.29 or 8.34 is cited by that siglum.

Apart from those in 8.34, Crowley’s prose works have no standing sigla. Cite them by title or short title (Confessions for The Confessions of Aleister Crowley). Initialisms such as MWT for Magick Without Tears, common in informal writing, appear only where a work defines them, and are italic as 8.13 sets a book’s siglum.

8.15 Manuscripts and documents

The abbreviations below describe documents and their leaves. Use MS and TS in notes, citations, and tables; in running text, write manuscript and typescript, and always write holograph. A shelfmark keeps the repository’s own form, including its form of MS (see 8.41).

Cite a foliated document by leaf and side: the folio number followed by r or v, on the line, with no space and no period. Give ranges in full. Do not use p. for a foliated document or fol. for a paginated one.

8.16 Latin abbreviations

Set the Latin abbreviations in roman. A Latin word that is complete in itself takes no period: et in et al., and passim. Use cf. only to send a reader to a passage for comparison; where the reader should simply look, write see.

8.17 Citations and textual notes

The abbreviations below marked textual notes belong to notes that report the readings of a text, each reading attributed to the witness that carries it (see 6.24). The others belong to source citations, in the positions shown in 5.15–5.31.

Where a date or place missing from a source is known from elsewhere, supply it in brackets in place of n.d. or n.p.

8.18 Units of reference

The abbreviations below name the divisions of a work. Use each with an arabic numeral, except where 3.52 keeps a roman one (p. xiv), and give inclusive numbers in full (see 3.53). Do not add v. to a reference that already joins chapter and verse with a colon. Write line and lines in full, never l. or ll. Write no. for number, never #.

8.19 Symbols

Use § (section) and ¶ (paragraph) only in notes and parenthetical references, before a number and followed by a space; double them for the plural. In running text, write section and paragraph. Keep an ampersand that belongs to a title or to the name of a firm, and do not use one for and in running text or in a note. The equals sign in a statement of numerical value is not an abbreviation; its use is set out in 6.62.

8.20 Dates and times

Write the names of months and of days of the week in full in text, notes, and bibliographies. In a table, a month may be given by its first three letters without a period. Quoted diaries and records keep their own forms (see 8.12). Times of day are treated in 3.58.

8.21 Eras

For CE and BCE, and for EV in a work that gives Anno dates, follow 3.59. In a work that also cites versions of the Bible, write English version in full, never EV.

8.22 Place names

In running text, and in the sentences of a note, write the names of states, provinces, territories, and countries in full, whether they stand alone or follow a city (see 3.43). The one exception is US, without periods, which may stand for United States where the meaning is clear. In the facts of publication, in tables, and in lists, give a US state or territory, or a Canadian province or territory, by its two-letter postal abbreviation, without periods, never by an older form such as Mass., Calif., or Ont.; for the abbreviations themselves, see CMS chapter 10. Countries are written in full there as well. Where a citation gives a place of publication (see 5.23), add the state, province, or country to the city only where readers might not know the city or might take it for another of the same name.

8.23 Languages

Write the name of a language in full in running text. In notes, tables, glossaries, and parenthetical glosses, abbreviate it, choosing the longer form where two are in use: Gk., Heb., Lat., Skt.

8.24 The Liber apparatus

Liber, vel, and sub figurâ are part of a title and are never abbreviated, whether in text, notes, tables, or indexes. The form of a Liber title is set out in 3.46.

8.25 Frater, Soror, and Brother

Abbreviate Frater as Fra. and Soror as Sor., never Fr. or Sr. Use the abbreviations only where space requires, as in tables and lists; in running text, citations, and index headings, write the word in full (see 3.26). The plurals Fratres and Sorores are not abbreviated. The Masonic Bro. is kept in quoted matter and in titles; elsewhere write Brother.

8.26 Personal names

Do not reduce a person’s name to initials of your own making, such as AC for Aleister Crowley. After the first mention, use the surname or the form the work has settled for that person (see 3.22–3.24). Initials that a person used as a signature or motto keep the form the person wrote (see 8.8), and a source’s own short forms for a name are kept in quotation (see 8.12).

8.27 Orders and other bodies

Give the name of an order or other body in full at first use, with its initials in parentheses, and use the initials thereafter in the form the body writes them (see 8.8). Do not abbreviate the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn; after the first mention, the Golden Dawn serves. A∴A∴ is written in its one form throughout (see 8.8). The names of orders and bodies are treated in 3.30.

8.28 Grades and degrees

Grade and degree notation (5°=6□, IX°, 32°) is not abbreviated further; its forms are set out in 3.31–3.34. Do not abbreviate the name of a grade. Where a compact form is wanted, give the name with its notation once, and the notation alone thereafter.

8.29 The Thelemic text sigla

The sigla in the table below are the standard forms of reference for the Holy Books and the other received texts the field cites most. Use them in every work, in exactly the forms shown. The Title column gives the house form of each title, used whatever form an edition’s title page prints (see 3.47). The Liber column gives each number as the title prints it, with its arabic value; the Class column gives the A∴A∴ class of each text, explained in 6.8; the English title column gives every established English title. The References column gives the span of references each text takes, formed as 6.13–6.14 and 6.30–6.31 direct. Cite any other text by the siglum the concordance in 8.34 gives it, or, where it has none, by its title or by a siglum defined for the work (see 8.14).

8.30 Liber AL: manuscript, TRV, and OTOV

The siglum ALM stands for the manuscript of Liber AL, Liber XXXI. Use it where a statement concerns the manuscript itself, and AL for the text. The siglum TRV (textus receptus version) marks the text of Liber AL without the O.T.O.’s emendation of 2013, as the controlling editions print it (see 6.6), and OTOV (Ordo Templi Orientis Version) the emended version. Use either only where a cited verse differs between the two. How the manuscript, the printings, TRV, and OTOV are cited is set out in 6.21–6.26.

8.31 The Comments

Four comments on Liber AL have sigla, listed below. Never write the Comment alone. In running text, give a comment its full name; in references, use its siglum. How the Comments are cited is set out in 6.33.

8.32 The Equinox

The siglum Eq is the abbreviated title of The Equinox and is set in italic. Follow it with one space, then the volume and number in arabic numerals joined by a period with no space around it: Eq 1.7 for vol. 1, no. 7. A page in that number follows after a comma. Use Eq in notes, tables, and parenthetical references once the title has been given in full; in running text and in a bibliography, write The Equinox. How works published in The Equinox are cited is set out in 6.35–6.36.

8.33 Practice sigla

The sigla LBRP and LIRP stand for the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram. Expand them at first use (see 8.4). They name the ritual as practiced; cite a printed text of the ritual by its own title (see 6.44). Name other rituals in full, or define a siglum for the work under 8.14.

8.34 Liber numbers

Many works carry a Liber number, and some carry a second number after sub figurâ. A reader who meets a work by its number, in roman or arabic numerals (Liber CCXX, Liber 418), can find it in the concordance below, which lists the Libri the field cites most in order of value. In writing, identify a work by its title or siglum (see 3.49). The Siglum column gives the standing siglum of each work that has one, set as 8.13 directs: roman for a text, italic for a book. A siglum there for a work that is not a received text stands in place of the work’s title in the reference 6.19 gives it: the siglum, a space, the division, and the page (see 6.37, 8.9). The title of The Vision and the Voice begins Liber XXX Ærum, but its number is CCCCXVIII; Liber XXX is Liber Libræ. Liber DCCCXIII vel Ararita appears twice, under its Liber number and under its sub figurâ number.

8.35 Books of the Bible

In running text, write out the names of the books of the Bible. In parenthetical references and notes, abbreviate them in the traditional forms: Gen., Exod., Ps., Matt., 1 Cor., Rev. Number a book with an arabic numeral. Give chapter and verse in arabic numerals joined by a colon, with ranges in full. Give several references in the form set out in 6.16. Name the version after the first reference, and after each reference where a work cites more than one version, using the standard abbreviations: AV, NRSV, LXX, MT, Vulg. The books of the Apocrypha are abbreviated in the same traditional style. Ps. stands for one psalm and Pss. for more than one. For the full lists of book and version abbreviations, see CMS chapter 10.

8.36 Classical authors and works

For Greek and Latin authors and works, use the abbreviations of the Oxford Classical Dictionary. Write the name in full wherever an abbreviation could stand for more than one writer. Give book, chapter, section, and line in arabic numerals separated by periods. Name the edition wherever a classical work is cited by page, and name the translator wherever a translation’s wording is quoted.

8.37 Other ancient and esoteric corpora

The table below gives the sigla standard in scholarship for the other ancient and esoteric corpora the field cites. Give the title of a work at its first use, with the siglum and locus in parentheses (see 8.4). A roman numeral stays only where it designates a physical codex or papyrus, as the codex in NHC II,3 and the papyrus in PGM IV.475–829 do; the divisions of a text are arabic. Distinguish copies of one work among the Dead Sea Scrolls by a superscript lowercase letter. Name the edition or translation used (see 6.47–6.57).

8.38 Golden Dawn texts and grimoires

Golden Dawn documents have no sigla. Cite a document by its own designation, with its title at first mention where it has one, and a grade ritual by its grade name and notation; name the edition used (see 6.48). Grimoires likewise have no sigla. A grimoire’s title, such as Clavicula Salomonis, names a family of manuscripts and editions; cite the manuscript or the named edition used, never the title alone (see 6.51). Do not abbreviate the titles of a grimoire’s parts or books. John Dee’s records of his angelic conferences are cited by repository and shelfmark (see 8.41), and Meric Casaubon’s printing of part of them, A True & Faithful Relation (1659), as Casaubon’s text (see 6.52).

8.39 Journal titles

Write the title of a journal, series, or reference work in full unless the table below gives an abbreviation for it. Apart from Eq for The Equinox (see 8.32), never abbreviate a one-word title or the title of a series. An abbreviated title is set in italic without periods and is defined at first use and in the work’s list of abbreviations where the work has one (see 8.4, 8.5). For another title cited often in one work, a writer may define an abbreviation under 8.14. The table gives the field’s most-cited titles and the form each takes in citations.

8.40 Naming a repository

Name a repository in full at its first mention in a work, with its city where the name does not show it. Thereafter a short form of the name may be used. Give the name the repository uses now; where earlier literature cites it under a former name, give that name once, in a note. Use an abbreviation for a repository only where the work’s list of abbreviations defines it, and then use the repository’s own initials. Form no sigla for repositories or their collections. The citation of archival sources is set out in 5.43.

8.41 Shelfmarks

Give a shelfmark exactly as the repository writes it, with its own capitals, spacing, abbreviations, and punctuation, even where these differ from the forms in this chapter. Do not add, drop, or move MS. Where a shelfmark has changed, cite the current one, and give the former one in a note where earlier literature cites it. A folio follows the shelfmark (see 8.15). An item in a private or uncataloged collection has no shelfmark; describe it, and never invent one.

8.42 Repositories the field cites

The repositories below hold collections the field cites often. Each is named in the form for first mention. Where a repository’s own catalog names a collection differently from this table, follow the catalog.